Humming softly to herself, Laura Hardy opened the front door and then stared in surprise at the person standing on her front step.  Her surprise quickly turned to delight as she smiled at the short man and gave him a big hug.  

“Dr. Blair, what a wonderful surprise!  Please come in. Fenton!  Frank!  Joe!  We have a visitor!”  She called out loudly to her husband and sons as she ushered the doctor in and had him sit in a large comfortable chair in the middle of the living room.  

The doctor smiled back at her, but the smile stopped at his eyes – it was apparent to Laura that he was uneasy and nervous.  This made her wonder as she quickly took his jacket and offered him a cup of tea…which he declined.  But before she could ask him if everything was all right, she heard her husband and older son coming down the stairs.  

World-renowned private investigator Fenton Hardy went over and warmly greeted the other man, while his older son Frank stood to the side and waited for introductions, as he did not recognize him.  

Dark haired with dark brown eyes, the 6’1”, 18-year-old was the more serious and methodical of the Hardy brothers.  

Laura turned to him and smiled warmly, “Where’s Joe?”  

Before he could answer, 17-year-old Joe Hardy came in from the kitchen, trying to brush the crumbs off the front of his sweater.  He had obviously been raiding the fridge, making Laura wonder how much of the banana bread was left and whether or not it was worth offering to their guest.  

Paling when he saw the blond-haired boy, the doctor gasped, “H-he looks j-just like her!”  

Assuming that he was talking about Joe’s similarity to his blond-haired, blue-eyed mother, Fenton said warmly, “Yes, he looks a lot like Laura.” 

The only real difference was in the color of their blue eyes.  While Laura’s were a translucent pale blue, Joe’s were a very vivid sapphire blue, that shone with such intensity when he was angry it was very hard to look him in the eye without shuddering.  

Frank was the spitting image of their dad, and had the same dark chocolate hair, brown eyes, and chiseled jaw line.  Slightly leaner in build than his brother, Frank made up for it by being an inch taller.  

“Dr. Blair, these are our sons – Frank and Joe.  Boys, this is Dr. Blair;” Fenton paused and looked directly at Joe, “he’s the doctor who delivered Joe.”   

Joe’s face broke into a wide easy grin as he stepped forward and held out his hand.  The doctor barely shook it and Frank couldn’t help but notice that the man wouldn’t look his brother in the face.   

Taking out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from his brow, Blair dropped heavily into the chair and spoke gravely, “Please sit down – all of you. I need to talk to you.”   

Immediately they sat down, Fenton and Laura sat together on the couch, while Frank and Joe sat on the arms on either side of their parents.  It did not escape the doctor’s notice that Frank sat near his father and Joe near Laura, and he absently wondered if that was a coincidence or not.  

“Is something wrong, doctor?” asked Fenton when it looked like their guest was not going to continue. He glanced at his wife, for he was beginning to get a bad feeling.  The doctor threw one more glance at Laura and Joe before he crumpled up the handkerchief in his hand and then continued to fiddle with it while he spoke.   

“Laura, what do you remember about the night Joe was born?”  he asked.  

Again the couple exchanged a look before Laura started to talk.  Joe and Frank moved off the couch arms so they could look at their parents.  

“Well, it was a horrible stormy night.”  

She stared at Joe affectionately as she went back in time to the night he was born.  “Fenton was in L.A. , just wrapping up something he was working on.  I had spent most of the day inside, putting away baby clothes.  Joe was due in two weeks and everything was wonderful…Frank had just started to walk, and Fenton’s sister, Gertrude, was here to help me out until he could get back – he was supposed to be back later that night, but then the storm moved in and his flight was delayed.”  

Fenton took her hand and his face grew soft as he listened to his wife talking and remembered it as well – lost in the memories of the night his younger son was born.  He didn’t get home in time for the birth, and he treasured listening to Laura talk about it.  

“Around supper time I started to get contractions that grew in such intensity that within an hour, Gertrude called an ambulance for me.  She wanted to drive me – I remember that – but I was too worried about her and Frankie being out in the weather.“  

Frank blushed as he heard his mom call him by the pet name that he had asked her to stop using when it started to embarrass him at age 10.  

Joe took the opportunity to elbow him, and only a stern glance from their father prevented all-out brotherly assault.  

“It starts to get hazier then…I was so sick, and afraid that something was wrong with my baby.  It was more then just contractions, I was dizzy and throwing up with each contraction.  I remember being in the ambulance and hearing the paramedics saying they couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat….I remember being wheeled quickly through the hospital corridors.   

Everything was dark and in shadows, and one of the nurses told me the power had gone out and they only had the emergency generators.  I was never so scared before as I kept hearing them checking my heart rate, checking the baby’s heart rate and yelling things back and forth.  After that I remember you…Dr. Blair, telling me that everything would be okay.  I blacked out then…the next thing I remember is hearing Joey cry, and you telling me I had a baby boy. “   

She paused, her eyes shining with tears as she remembered the joy of holding her newborn son.  Dr. Blair started to sob quietly then, too, and it took him a few minutes to regain his composure.  

“Do you always get so emotional when you think back about babies you delivered?”  Joe’s voice broke the memory trance, and Dr. Blair quickly stood up and said he had to go.  

Frank grabbed his arm and stopped him.  “Excuse me Dr. Blair, but did you just come here to hear my mother rehash the night my brother was born, or is there something else you wanted to talk to us about?”  

Fenton was wondering the same thing, but Frank had got there before he had a chance.   

The doctor wavered before taking a deep breath, and not being able to face them, he looked down and fiddled with his watch.  “No, I didn’t,“ he sighed, and continued, “What I’m going to say is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say in my life.”  

He paused for a long time before he continued, “But I want you to realize some things…you will probably hate me and I don’t blame you…I pretty much hate myself right now.  But I did what I felt was best for everyone and seeing you all here right now…I know I made the right choice…And given the same set of circumstances I would have done the same thing.”  

Turning, he went over and knelt in front of Laura and took her hand. “I always remember that night as well.  However, I remember it a bit differently because I was not on any medications and I was not in the amount of pain that you were in, but here is what I remember.  

“Yes, it was a horrible night.  We lost power shortly after suppertime, and we were getting worried about the emergency generators holding up.  

“I was working OB that night when two very sick, pregnant women were rushed in.  We were short staffed, and not expecting any other help…I had both woman placed in the same room.  Neither woman had any family with them, so it made the decision easier to keep them together.  That way I could attend to both at the same time – or instruct my nurse in what to do while I was helping the other out.  

“Both mothers were critical and hemorrhaging – one woman’s child was in trouble and I knew that I would need to do a C-section on her to save the child.  The other woman’s child was already dead, but I had to let her body deliver it as naturally as possible.   

“She was going to have to go through the trauma of losing the child…if I could spare her the pain of surgery I would do that.  She was unconscious at the time, and my nurse was with her.  

“Two babies were delivered that night, but only one of the women survived.  I made a decision.  Laura….”he looked her in the face, unaware of how white the Hardy men had become.  “Joe is not your son.”  

Laura gasped and jumped up. She ran over to a white-faced Joe and grabbed him in her arms.  “No!  This is my son – why are you saying this?”  

Fenton rose to his full height of 6’2” and Frank came to stand beside him.  “What are you talking about?”  His voice was a growl that none of them had ever heard before.  

In shock, Joe felt numb.  This is not happening, he said over and over as he waited to wake up.  But he didn’t, and every word the doctor said seemed to take a little more away from him.  “Laura your baby was dead.  She…”   

“SHE!”  Laura screamed, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE!”   

Fenton pulled her into his strong arms to keep her from physically grabbing the other man, while Frank put his arm over Joe’s shoulder and felt his brother trembling.  The younger boy had turned a sickly shade of gray.  

Laura, on the other hand, had turned a brilliant crimson. The words, blood pressure, kept running through Frank’s mind, but then he turned his attention back to his brother….His father was taking care of his Mom.  

“Yes ‘she’…Laura, your baby was a girl.  She was already dead and there was nothing I could do for her!  But I could do something for you.   

“The other woman was in terrible shape.  She made me promise that I would take care of her baby and not let anyone hurt it.  She was hysterical and kept insisting that no one was to know about the baby.   

“Before she died, she saw you and heard me pronounce your little girl dead, and she just starting screaming, “This is her baby!  This is her baby!”  She died before I could even tell her she had a son.”  

Everyone grew quiet.   

The doctor continued, ignoring them all. “The baby was motherless.  The woman had insisted that the father would not take care of the baby, and would hurt him.  You, Laura, had no baby.  I couldn’t tell you…I promised her I would protect her baby and that is exactly what I did.   

“Joe’s natural mother and you could have been sisters, and when I looked into his little face I knew that he could pass as a Hardy.  So I gave you her baby.”  

“What did you do with my baby?’  Laura whispered, although horrified at what his answer might be.  

Dr. Blair looked directly into her face and spoke softly, “I paid for their funeral.  It was the only thing I could do.  I had them placed in the same coffin and in the same plot.  She would watch over your baby for all eternity until you could come collect her in the afterlife.”   

This was too much, and Laura collapsed against Fenton and he held her tightly as she sobbed; his own face was an anguished mask as he fought back the wave that this confession threatened to drown him in.  

Frank sucked in a shuddering breath, trying to keep a rein on his emotions….His baby sister was buried in someone else’s grave.  

Everyone broke down…everyone, that was, except Joe.  He just stood there and stared at them – for the first time in his life he didn’t feel a part of them.   

Joe didn’t know who he was.  Even Frank’s tight grip on his shoulders did nothing to reassure him.  

He had to ask: “Why are you telling us this now?  It’s been 17 years, I have…had a life here….Why now?  Why are you doing this?”  

The doctor looked deep into the vibrant blue eyes in torment in front of him. He looked away, unable to deal with their intensity. “Because….because someone else knows.  And that someone wants you back.”

* * *

“What?”  Frank was ready to strangle this stranger who had come into their house and turned their whole lives upside down.  He was too angry to even wonder what this was doing to Joe.   

His baby sister was in an unknown grave…  

“Look, Amelia – that was her name.  Amelia told me a lot of things before she died.  She’d been in the hospital long enough to tell me enough…and what she said had a tremendous impact on my decision that night,” the doctor sighed, and indicated for everyone to sit back down. They did, except for Joe, who shrugged Frank’s arm off and went to look out the big picture window in the living room.  

At least outside his house, things still looked normal.  

Frank cast a worried glance at his brother but he too sat down, next to his father. He needed to hear what this man had to say.  

Dr. Blair continued sadly, “Amelia was married to a very abusive man.  He beat her almost every day of her married life, and it did not end during her pregnancy.   

“In fact, she had just undergone such a severe beating that it made her go into labor and ruptured the placenta.  She told me that if she died and the baby went home with her husband, her husband would kill the child!  

“She said he had already killed their other child.  I didn’t know if she was telling me the truth or not, but I wouldn’t take the chance to sentence any baby to that.  

“Amelia had had the crap beat out of her, and I knew it wasn’t the first time.  So I did what I did.  What I would still do.”  

He paused, this time to look directly at Joe, but the teen still stood with his back to them, although from the way his chest hitched, they knew he had heard what the doctor was saying. “Joe, I did what was best for you at the time.  However, I can’t protect you any more.”  

He turned back to Fenton.  

“Somehow…Amelia’s husband found out about the switch.  I don’t know how, as the only other person who knew what had happened is dead.  My nurse, Rachel, died 6 years ago in a car accident.  Anyway, now he wants his son back and I had no choice….I had to come here.”   

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.  Frank was the one to open it, and for some reason he was not surprised to see a strange man standing there – a strange man with Joe’s eyes. 

* * *

The man pushed past Frank and stopped dead when he saw Joe.  

“Amelia?” the name seemed to be painful for him, as his face paled.  Obviously Joe must have looked a lot like his dead wife.  

He quickly recovered and grabbed a shocked Joe in a big bear hug; tears streaming down his cheeks while the Hardys watched in shock.  Everything was moving too fast.

* * *

Frank kept reliving the next two hours over and over again, trying to make some sense out of what had happened…but he couldn’t.  

All he knew was that this fellow, Jack, left…and took Joe with him.   

Joe was his son, and he said he was not leaving without him.  

Fenton and Laura angrily protested, but in the end it was Joe, not wanting things to turn ugly, as he watched his normally even-tempered brother getting angry at this stranger’s gumption as well, who stopped everything by agreeing to go with Jack for a coffee while they had a talk.  

Joe promised he would be home afterwards, and they could try and work something out.   

The younger boy was very confused, and when Frank followed him into the kitchen to get his jacket, he desperately wanted to do anything to take the haunted look out of his brother’s eyes.  

He grabbed Joe in a tight hug as he started to break down, but then quickly pulled himself together and smiled…not very convincingly…as he said to Frank, “Don’t worry, big brother, I’m only going to talk with him.  Blood doesn’t make him my dad, or make you any less my brother.”  

Frank was shocked; Joe was trying to make him feel better, while it was supposed to be the other way around!  

 “Joe…”  

Joe put up his hand to stop him.  “Please Frank, let’s talk later, okay.  I really need to get this over with.” 

Then he was gone, before Frank could say anything else.

* * *

The older boy didn’t know how long he stood in the kitchen, but it was long enough for this man, Jack, and his brother to leave, and for his father to come looking for him.  

“How’s Mom?” Frank asked, his voice sounding hollow even to him.  His father looked like he had aged 10 years in the last two hours.  

“I don’t know. She’s just sitting on the couch holding a pillow and not saying anything.  I called Dr. Bates and he’s coming over.  I just don’t know…” the great detective admitted, frustrated, as he ran a hand through his dark hair, a trait normally more prevalent in his older son’s anxious habits.  

They went back into the living room, and Frank tried to talk to his mom, but she had the same haunted look on her face that Joe had.  So they sat together and waited in silence until their family doctor and long-time friend arrived.  He gave her something to help her rest as he listened to Fenton and Frank fill him in on what happened.  

He shook his head sympathetically.  “That’s too bad.  Yes, it’s very sad that Laura lost the baby, but what he did was inexcusable.  I mean no offense…because I know that you love Joe and I’m quite fond of the little rascal myself, especially seeing how much time I spend with him as a patient,” he chuckled at that, thinking of how Joe seemed always to find himself on the wrong end of everything, and then continued, “But I still don’t understand why this doctor would have done that.  It wasn’t like Laura was too old to have another child.  It just doesn’t make sense…I mean you said that you had never met him before the delivery – how could he have known what wonderful people you are…?”  

Sighing, he continued, “Anyway, that is just an old doctor rambling on…here,” he passed Fenton a prescription; “get this filled.  I suspect it might be needed a bit more before everything is said and done….It’s just a mild sleeping pill. You, Frank or Joe could try one if you’re having trouble sleeping.  Say hello to Joe when you see him,” the older doctor grinned ruefully, “seems kind of odd to leave this house without taking a look at him.”  And then with a wink, he left.

* * *

“Dad?”  

“Hmmm?”  Fenton seemed lost in his own thoughts, and Frank knew how hard his father must be finding this, although he was doing a much better job of hiding it than his mother.   

“What do we do know?”   

“I don’t know, son…I don’t know…”

* * *

Joe did not like this man who was supposed to be his father.  

He couldn’t place his finger on it, but as he loved to say, “My Spidey senses are tingling,” - a saying that drove his brother crazy.  

Joe had only agreed to go and talk with him to keep everything civil.   

This man was very cold and crass, and he kept ignoring the fact that Joe had spent the past 17 years living with and loving these people.   

Jack was acting like they had stolen his property, and they were supposed to just hand it right back without a fight.   

The younger boy knew his family loved him…but he also knew he needed to find out about this man, his real father.  

He tried not to stare at the man driving the car, but that was next to impossible. And he couldn’t help but think that he must look more like his mom, because he certainly looked nothing like this man.  

Jack was a big man, standing at least 6’3” and built like a solid brick wall.  Except for his electric blue eyes, he was very dark – and not just his hair, even his skin coloring was dark, suggesting maybe some Italian in him.  At first glance he looked more like someone who should be breaking legs for the mob, and Joe frowned as he kept hearing Dr. Blair say that this man used to beat his mom.   

He was pretty sure that he and Jack would find out they had nothing in common, if they even liked each other at all.  Then Joe could file Jack away in the back of his mind and go back to being Joe Hardy.   

After all, he had a football game on Sunday…

* * *

Once it became clear that they were not going towards the downtown where Joe was expecting to go for a coffee, Joe asked, “Um, where are we going?  I was thinking of one of the coffee shops down on Main , which you can get to by taking the next right.”  

He thought that maybe his new dad just didn’t know his way around too well…   

Jack didn’t even bother to look at him as he brought up his right fist.  Unsuspecting, Joe never even saw the blow coming.  The last thing he remembered before blacking out was thinking…maybe this was not such a good idea…after all.

* * *

Frank was worried.  

Joe had been gone for over 3 hours now, and they hadn’t heard a peep from him.  

He knew his father was worried as well, but Fenton tried not to show it as he sighed and said, “Frank they’ll have a lot to talk about.  There is nothing I can do right now.”   

Tired and frustrated, Frank stormed up to his room and slammed the door.  He wasn’t really mad at his father but he just couldn’t understand why Fenton was sitting around and not doing something…anything.  

But then as he tried to calm down, he realized that maybe there was nothing any of them could do.

* * *

Lying on his bed, Frank put his hands underneath his head and stewed for a while, until a thought hit him like a ton of bricks.  Bolting upright, he raced downstairs and crashed into his father’s office to find him on the computer.  “Dad!  Joe could be in danger…!”  

His father held up his hand to stop him.  “Frank…”  

“No Dad!  Listen to me!  Dr. Blair said that Jack had beaten Amelia and that Amelia said Jack would kill the baby.  How do we know he won’t try and hurt Joe now?  I mean, why now after 17 years, is he here?”   

“Frank—”  

But Frank wouldn’t let his father get a word in edgewise.  “Dad we don’t know anything about Jack…”  

“FRANK!”  

Finally Frank stopped and looked at his father.  Fenton seldom raised his voice and when he did, it was never a good sign, so Frank cut his protests off dead short.  

“Sit down and breathe.  I know you’re worried about your brother and so am I.  That’s why I’m searching the FBI files right now to find out what they have on Jack Tryner.  Now if you can go and check on your mother, I’ll finish this and let you know what I find.” 

* * *

Joe awoke with a groan, and it took him a few minutes to remember what had happened.  Trying to move, he realized with growing anxiety that he was being restrained.   

Slowly forcing himself to full consciousness, it took him a few more minutes to realize that he was tied face down to a four post bed…and that his shirt had been removed!  

His split lip ached where Jack had hit him, but he knew that was the least of his worries.  Hearing the door open behind him, Joe tried to look towards it but the door was at the foot end of the bed.   

A second later he screamed as he felt the metal end of a belt buckle tear into the flesh of his back.   

“Welcome home son,” Jack whispered as he raised the belt again and brought it down hard on Joe’s bare back.  Within minutes the walls were speckled with little droplets of blood as Jack’s beating was relentless…and then mercifully, Joe once again lost consciousness. 

* * *

Jack continued the beating long after Joe had passed out, and only stopped when he saw all the flesh had been stripped from the boy’s back.   

At that moment Dr. Blair came into the room and paled when he saw what Jack had done. “Oh my God…”   

Jack turned and smiled at the good doctor.  “Why are you looking so shocked?  You know I’ve always had a talent for flaying.  Or did you forget…little brother?”  

Dr. Blair put a hand over his mouth and rushed from the room, trying not to throw up. He waited until Jack had left the cabin to go back and check on Joe.

The boy had not regained consciousness and he was losing a lot of blood.  If Joe did not receive medical attention soon, he would die.   

The doctor tried to get Joe to drink some water so he wouldn’t dehydrate, as he used cold compresses to try and stop the bleeding.  Joe moaned in pain as Dr. Blair apologized over and over to him, “I’m sorry Joe, I’m so…so sorry.”

* * *

Fenton Hardy was in shock.  Jack Tryner should not even be here…and now he was extremely worried about his son.

* * *

Frank returned to report that Laura was still sleeping soundly, to find that his father was on the phone with Bayport City Police Chief Ezra Collig.  He motioned with his hand for his son to come in.  As soon as he put the phone down he looked at Frank, and once again Frank saw that same haunted look, only this time on his father’s face.  

“Frank, call your friends.  Tell them Joe is in trouble and we need to set up a net to find him, as soon as possible.  I’ll explain everything in detail once they all get here.”   

Frank was gone in a flash, and twenty minutes later the living room was standing-room-only.  Chief Collig and Officer Con Riley were there, along with longtime friends of Frank and Joe’s: Chet Morton, Biff Hooper, Tony Prito and Phil Cohen.  Frank’s girlfriend Callie Shaw and Joe’s girlfriend Vanessa Bender were also there.  

Fenton spoke quickly to emphasize the fact that they had no time to spare.  

“Joe’s in serious trouble.  He left here earlier tonight with a man claiming to be his real father, Jack Turnbull.”  Frank saw both Chief Collig and Con Riley pale at the mention of the name.  “The doctor who delivered Joe came here this morning with a long tale of how he switched babies on the night Joe was born, and that Joe was not our son.  Joe left to talk to Jack a couple of hours ago and nobody has heard from them since.”   

Everyone gasped, and Fenton paused only long enough to take another breath before continuing, “I ran the name Jack Tryner though the system tonight, as that was the name he had given us when he left with Joe, but it came back as an alias for one Jack Turnbull.  Jack Turnbull is a certified psychopath.   

“He was married to a woman named Amelia Whiwater and they had a son.  Jack beat his son to death with a belt and then left him tied to a tree in the woods to die.  The child was only a year old.  Turnbull was found not guilty by reason of insanity, spent 10 years in a mental institution but escaped three years ago, and has been on the run ever since.   

“Jack Turnbull is delusional and considered extremely violent.  In addition to the murder of his son, he was charged with the beating death of his wife, along with numerous other charges of physical and mental abuse.  And now he has Joe.”

* * *

Dr. Blair drove back towards Elm Street .  He knew that he didn’t have much time to spare, and he only hoped he wouldn’t be too late.  

He couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been.  Sure Jack was his big brother, but he always knew how violent Jack was…especially with his own family.  

Dr. Stephen Blair himself had scars on his back as testimony to life with big bro Jack.  But then Jack had escaped from the hospital, and came to Stephen for help.   

Stephen wanted to turn him in, but Jack convinced him that he had changed and that he couldn’t go back to the hospital because they were trying to kill him, and would never let him leave.  Stephen wanted so desperately to have the big brother back that Jack used to be….  

He didn’t know how it had happened.  Jack had always been the most caring and sensitive person that you could ever hope to meet, but then one day he changed…one day, he tied his younger brother to his bed and beat him for “borrowing” a shirt without asking.  And then it was never the same.   

But Stephen had always hoped that someday his big brother would be normal again, and now this hope might cost an innocent boy his life.   

He drove faster.

* * *

“I don’t know where to even begin looking…but if we can split up and work in groups of two we can cover a lot of area.  As we speak I’m trying to track down Turnbull’s brother.  Who knows, maybe he can help,” explained Fenton.   

Con Riley had left the room to wait for the search results and came running back a few minutes later with a printout.  

 “What did you say the OB ’s name was who delivered Joe?”  

“Dr. Stephen Blair,” Laura’s voice came from behind them.  She had been listening from the top of the stairs for a little while now, but decided she needed to come down.  Her family needed her – her son needed her – Joe needed her.  

Riley didn’t even look up as he read; “Steven Tryner legally changed his name 17 years ago to Stephen Blair… Dr. Stephen Blair.”

* * *

Jack Turnbull, aka Jack Tryner, was surprised when he came back into the room and found himself looking into Joe’s pain-filled blue eyes.  They had a faraway glazed look in them but he was awake.  “My my, aren’t you the feisty one.  I wasn’t expecting you to be awake when I came back.  Oh well – that really is too bad for you…but all the better for me.”   

Continuing to smile at the youth, Jack sat down beside him for a moment, “I kind of thought you’d look like Amelia….” and to Joe’s shock, the man deftly removed the blue contact lens he’d been wearing – his real eye color was as dark as his hair.  “So I decided a bit of blue might make it more convincing…speed things up, even.”  

After the initial shock wore off, Joe just stared at the man without really seeing him.  He was in so much pain that he felt detached, like he was a spectator watching this happening to someone else.  His back throbbed and felt like it was on fire – but for some reason it seemed like the cut on his lip was giving him the most discomfort.   

His throat was dry and he felt so weak.  But all he could think was that he needed to escape.  Futilely, he tried to pull his hands from the ropes, and was surprised when they both came free.  His surprise quickly perished as he realized it was Jack cutting him down.   

“W-why?” the question took most of Joe’s remaining strength and it seemed for some reason that Jack found that question to be extremely funny.  

“WHY?” he roared, “because I can!”   

He continued to cut Joe loose and then he savagely rolled him onto his back, causing Joe to moan as new pain shot through his already ravaged back and he felt the stickiness of blood.  

Jack started to tie Joe’s hands in front of him as he continued to torment the teen, “Amelia took everything away from me.  How dare she die…and then have the audacity to take my child with her!  I loved her.  I let her live.  I could have killed her so many times and yet I let her live.  And what does she do?  She dies giving life to…you.”  

He spit the last word out and then he stopped and pushed his face within an inch of Joe’s blurry eyes so he could see the total effect of his next whispered confession, “But that is a lie then…isn’t it?  She died trying to give life to a baby.  But you see…here’s the kicker. My baby was already dead!” 

* * *

Stephen Blair pounded on the door so hard he thought the hinges would come off.  He basically fell into the arms of blond-haired, beefy Biff Hooper, who had been standing closest to the door. Pushing away from Biff, he raced into the living room, ignoring the surprised looks of everyone in the room.  “I LIED!” he shouted.  

“WHAT!”  

Whether Frank, Laura or Fenton shouted the question first, it didn’t matter as Stephen was already trying to pull Fenton towards his car.  

“I’m so sorry!  He made me do it.  I’m so sorry.”   

The man was becoming hysterical but then Laura grabbed his arm, and when he still kept babbling apologies, she slapped him.  The room went quiet; no one had ever seen Mrs. Hardy raise a hand in their lives.  But it worked; Stephen, holding his reddened cheek, took a few deep breaths and started:  

“There was no baby switch.  Joe is your son.”  

“Why are you doing this?”  Frank’s voice was so cold; Callie, who had been trying to comfort him, stepped back in surprise.  

“Look…Jack is my brother.  He….oh I don’t have time to explain right now – I didn’t know he would hurt Joe, or I never would have gone along with this! But he made it seem so genuine that he wanted a second chance…and I could give it to him.  Please, if you don’t come with me now, it will be too late…I…I don’t know how much more Joe can endure.”  

More chilling words were never spoken, as everyone rushed to their cars, except the girls and Laura, who would stay at home by the phone just in case Jack or Joe called.  Chief Collig was already on his phone calling for backup. 

* * *

Fenton and Frank jumped in the car with Stephen, while Chet, Biff, Phil and Tony were close behind in Chet’s jalopy; Officer Riley and Chief Collig brought up the rear in a patrol car.  

As they drove, Stephen tried to explain.  

“When Jack first escaped he came to me – he’s my big brother….I could hardly turn him away.  He told me he’d changed and he seemed to have.  The last couple of years have been great.  You couldn’t ask for a better friend or brother…then about a couple of months ago, Jack started to get depressed.   

“He insisted his depression was over James, his son.  He said it really plagued him what he had done and that he mourned for his lost chances to be a good dad.  Jack said that was all he ever wanted to be.  When I told him he could always have more kids, he became insistent that Amelia was the only woman he loved and that when she and the little girl died, he had lost everything!  

“His grief seemed so sincere that I found myself telling him about what had really happened that night in the labor room….I don’t know why I told him about Laura being there, but I did.  Then he started to get very excited and talked about how I was giving him a second chance.  I didn’t know what he was talking about…but then he said all I had to do was say that I had switched the babies and that you raised his son while we buried your daughter.  

“At first I was against it, but then he started saying how everything would be so perfect.  You guys could all share Joe and he would have a chance to be the dad he never was.”  

Fenton and Frank listened in disbelief.  This man had walked into their lives and taken away their son just to make his brother a dad?  If it were not for the fact that Stephen was driving, Frank would have beaten some sense into him right then and there.  

His mind kept flashing back to the hell that they had all just gone through, especially his mom and Joe – Joe!  He needed to start focusing more on his brother right now and worry about his own anger later.   

His dad must have asked Stephen what had happened after that, because Frank heard him say something and then Stephen told them about the beating.  Laying his head back against the seat of the car, the older boy felt the bile rising in the back of his throat, and it was intensified when he heard his father calling the Chief and asking him to have an ambulance standing by…his baby brother was out there and he desperately needed them, now. 

Frank only hoped that it was not too late.

* * *

Joe didn’t know where he was the next time he regained consciousness, but he was very cold.  It took a few minutes for him to get his bearings, and when he did a paralyzing terror seized him.   

“Welcome back, son.”  

The words chilled Joe’s heart but he didn’t have the strength to even turn towards his tormentor.  

“I hope you’re comfortable.  Well I gotta go now.  That lame ass brother of mine has probably taken his bleeding-heart confession back to your family, and I’m expecting they’ll be here shortly…too bad for you though…as it won’t be short enough.”  

He took one more look at his stolen son…he was extremely satisfied and felt on such a power high that even if he died right then he would be happy.  This had been the most fun he had ever had.  Sure, it was one thing to torment his own family, but when he would get the lasting pleasure of the continued torment that Joe’s family would be in….that just iced it for him.  

 “See you later, cadaver.”  

With that, Jack headed back into the woods, whistling a happy tune.  In his mind he would forever see this last image of Joe Hardy, and it was a wonderful image.  Bruised, bloody, beaten and tied to a tree in the middle of nowhere…oh, but what a wonderful memory.

* * *

Joe was alone.   

The woods were quiet for a while after Jack left, but then he started to hear the sounds of the life around him – the chirping of birds, chattering of squirrels and insects.  

The sound of the insects was what started to worry him.  He knew that his back was in bad shape and probably still bleeding, and it terrified him to think about the insects….

* * *

Stephen Blair rushed into the cabin as the others hid from sight.  They were hoping that Jack would not have missed him, giving them an opportunity to rescue Joe without doing a full-fledged assault on the cabin.  

Jack’s car was still parked outside the cabin, and Frank hoped he was still there. Looking around, he was struck by how lonely it was up here, and how this was the perfect place to torture someone – who would hear Joe screaming?  

On the whole ride up and into the woods, he had to force himself to stop tormenting himself with images of finding Joe mutilated or even worst  - dead…and of Frank not being able to save him.  

Now he just wanted to run into the cabin, find his brother and tell him everything would be okay…and that no one would ever hurt him again.  Swallowing fearfully, he just hoped he would have that chance.

* * *

Biff moved over beside him in the darkness., “Sorry we’re a little late; I had to make a quick stop at my house first.”  Frank was just about to ask him for what when his attention was pulled back to the darkened cabin.  

Stephen rushed back out of the door shouting, “They’re gone!”  

Immediately, a dozen flashlights were turned on as the area was flooded by the rescue team. Frank, his father and friends ran up to Stephen and they rushed back inside, to see if they could find any clues to where Joe might have been taken.  

Fenton and Con Riley were the first ones in the back room, and Fenton felt lightheaded when he saw the blood and remains of cords that had bound Joe to the bed.  Although in his career as an investigator he had seen horrible things, this was about his son…and that made it different.  

Frank gasped when he saw the droplets of blood everywhere, and he gasped, “Joe” before the air in the room became too heavy to breathe and he felt the darkness pulling him down….   

Biff, the one closest to Frank, grabbed him, and Fenton helped move Frank over to a chair and put his head between his legs.  Almost immediately Frank came to, and ignoring their concerned looks, he pushed himself back up.  “I’m okay….We gotta find Joe….Now!” 

“Okay.  Dr. Blair….”  Fenton turned his attention back to the other man while keeping a surreptitious eye on Frank – just to be sure.  “You know Jack the best, where do you think he would take him?”  

“Well…”  Stephen’s brow knitted together as he tried to think of anything that might help.  

And then Phil’s voice cut in.   

A soft-spoken person, his words seemed to speak a volume as he said, “Well, didn’t Mr. Hardy tell us that the last time… Jack tied his son to a tree to let him die?  Maybe he’s done the same thing with Joe?”  

Everyone froze for a moment as they realized with no doubt that Phil was right.  

It was Con Riley that broke the trance, “It’s dark, we won’t have much time!”  

Chief Collig was immediately calling in the K9 search and rescue unit as Fenton broke everyone up into teams to search the area.   

Biff took off running towards his car.  Frank shouted after him, “Biff where are you…” his words dropped off as he saw the reason for Biff’s hurry, and the reason why Biff had gone back to his house.  

120 pounds of pure bloodhound slowly pulled his lazy self out of the backseat of Chet’s car – it was Biffs bloodhound, Sherlock! 

* * *

In the midst of everything else that was going on Frank could not believe the one thought he had as he saw Biff hooking up Sherlock’s working harness - how in the world did that car manage to hold Chet, Phil, Tony, Biff and a bloodhound?  

Tears of hope dampened Frank’s cheeks, but he hurriedly brushed them away as he saw the transformation of Sherlock from the laziest laid-back pooch ever, to a serious tracker when Biff finished putting the harness on him.  

Frank patted the dog’s head, “Hey Sherlock, long time no see,” and then he turned to Biff.  “How’d you know we’d need him?”  

Biff shrugged as they started back to the cabin. “I couldn’t get that image out of my head of the baby tied up in the woods.  I thought what was good for one son…”  

“Was good for another,”  Frank finished for him. “Thank you,” he said to Joe’s best friend, his voice laden with gratitude.  

“Hey man,” Biff said softly, “Joe is like my brother too…and so are you. I would…” he paused and looked towards their other friends, “We would do anything for either of you.”  

“And we would for you…” said Frank.

* * *

Sherlock had no idea what a sense of relief his being there was for everyone. The Chief had already put in a request for dogs, but he knew it would be at least 30 minutes or more before they could get there.

And time was something they all knew that Joe did not have.   

The ambulance crew offered to help look, but Fenton told them they should stay here. “When we find Joe, we’ll at least know where you are.”  

Joe’s t-shirt had been found in a ball on the floor of the room, and it was quickly brought to the dog, but before Biff could get him to scent it, Fenton grabbed it. “Wait!”   

Frank started to speak but Fenton continued, “Scent him on Jack.  His car is here so he’d have walked… chances are, Joe is not walking so Jack will probably have carried him to…”  his hands indicated the woods, “to God knows where.”  

Frank knew his father was right, and minutes later the bloodhound was given a pair of gloves that Stephen found, belonging to his brother.  

Everyone watched with anticipation as the dog began to work the area.  Bloodhounds are not the fastest but they are the best, and within minutes Sherlock found the scent and took off into the dark woods, pulling Biff along with him.   

Fenton Hardy’s face was set in a grim mask as he raced to keep up with Biff and the dog.  Although he was in good shape, it had been a long day…but he was determined to be there when they found Jack, and hopefully, Joe.  

Jack had not only physically taken his son, but he had ripped a hole right in the middle of the Hardy family with his lies.  It didn’t matter to Fenton whether Joe was his biological son or not – he loved both of his sons the same, but it still had hurt to think that he might have had a daughter that he had never seen.  

Even if Laura had had a stillborn child, they would have loved her, held her, cherished her and then buried her…buried her with the Hardy name.   

Quickly he shook that off because it had all been a lie – there was no stillborn baby girl, no switch.   

There was only his son and with that thought, it hit home that he might lose him as well. 

* * *

Fenton stumbled but Frank grabbed him, “Are you ok?”  he panted as they began running together.     

“I will be,” he gasped back, and he and Frank ran side by side behind Biff.  “As soon as we get Joe home!”   

Frank nodded in agreement, not wanting to waste his breath on speech; he needed it to run.

* * *

As the dog let out a loud bark, Frank saw his father pull his gun out and motion for him to get behind him.  In that instant a shot rang out and everyone scattered.  The bullet lodged harmlessly in a tree, but it was soon followed by two more shots.  

Biff was struggling with Sherlock to try and get the dog out of harm’s way, but before anyone could help him, Sherlock pulled away and raced into the darkness.  He had seen his quarry, and nothing would make him give up the chase.  

Fenton and Con Riley, who was only a few steps behind them, both returned fire, not expecting to hit Turnbull, as it was now pitch dark, but mostly to keep him from having time to take better aim or to fire at the dog.   

“AAAHH!” suddenly they heard Jack yell, and then they heard Sherlock growling.  The men raced into the trees and found Jack locked in a deadly battle with the bloodhound.  Sherlock had grabbed him by his gun hand and was not letting go – Frank stooped down and picked up the gun where Jack had dropped it when Sherlock attacked.  

“Heel!”  yelled Biff, terrified that Jack would kill his dog.  And to his amazement…mostly…Sherlock released his grip and came over to sit by Biff, who hugged him proudly.  That was the one thing that he had problems with – Sherlock did not always listen to him as much as he would like.   

Except for starting a trail…he rarely ever did what he was told.  

Biff beamed as Tony, Phil and lastly, Chet Morton, who was red faced from the race, came over to pet the big dog as well.  

Chief Collig came out of the darkness as Fenton pulled Jack to his feet.  Con Riley immediately snapped handcuffs on him, as they wanted to make sure the physical confrontation was over as quickly as possible.  Jack was a big man, and if he fought, it would be bad.  

But Jack let them pull him to his feet and cuff him without so much as a little struggle.  

He found Frank’s eyes glaring at him, and he smiled sweetly back.  “You know, of all the people that Joe cried out for when I was beating him…he screamed for you the most.”

* * *

Before anyone could stop him, Frank jumped on him, his eyes black with fury.  It took Biff, Chet, Tony and Phil to pull him off the big man.  They had never seen Frank so mad.  

“Frank!”  The sternness in his father’s voice broke his rage, and Frank pulled away from his friends.  

“Let me go – I’m okay now.”  

He tried to shut out the sound of Jack’s laughing, and then he heard his father demanding to know where Joe was.  

“I don’t know,” Jack laughed, “probably half way to being digested by now.”  He hardly got the words out before Fenton’s fist connected solidly with his jaw and he slumped over.  All eyes turned to Fenton in disbelief; they had never seen him so angry that he lost it before…but at the same time wishing they had gotten that chance.

All Frank kept thinking about was how much he and his father were like Joe.  Everyone always thought Joe was the impulsive one and quick tempered, but really he and his father were no different.   

Fenton had years to learn to control himself while Frank…Frank would love to have the freedom that Joe had to come quick to anger, but Joe had one advantage that he did not.   

Joe had a big brother.  And no matter how much they loved and took care of each other, Frank would always be the BIG brother, he was born first and it would always be his responsibility to pave the way for his little brother.   

Frank did not resent this…because Joe also gave him something that Joe did not have – Frank had a little brother.  

Panic overwhelmed him; this was not getting them any closer to Joe.

* * *

Suddenly, one of the other officers yelled “Get the paramedics up here NOW!” and that brought everyone running.  

Everyone except the officers who were already hustling Jack out of the woods.  Stephen cast a sad eye at his brother but he did not follow him.  He was a doctor, and right now a family that loved each other so much it ached him to be near them, needed him.   

He just prayed they were not too late.  

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