Callie, Carper and Ross immediately took a cable car to the top of the outlook while the rest of the group had gone directly into the restaurant. Soon after, Frank arrived and made his way to the top of the outlook; moments later Carper had emerged from the lift and disappeared into the restaurant. That had been a good twenty minutes earlier and Joe was growing restless. What was taking so long? He hated this aspect of investigative work almost as much as the paperwork.

"Something’s wrong," Joe finally blurted out. Standing next to Vanessa just outside the restaurant, he watched the people walking by. The passing crowds gave them enough cover not to be noticed yet afforded them a clear view of the cable cars.

"Did you see something?" Vanessa asked, shifting her position slightly to get a better view.

"No, but something’s wrong…I can feel it." The words had barely left Joe’s mouth when they saw Ross emerge from the exit, looking very nervous and in a big hurry. A movement to his left caught Joe’s eye as he saw two Network agents closing in, confirming his never-fail gut instinct. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was obvious something had gone wrong.

Apparently, Ross had seen the agents too, as he suddenly began shoving people aside and broke into a dead run. The second an opening appeared he took off for the woods on the opposite side of parking lot.

"Stay here!" Joe called to Vanessa over his shoulder, already in pursuit of the fleeing Ross. "I hate it when I’m right," Joe muttered to himself as he easily dodged the surprised patrons. Taking a chance he glanced backwards, hoping the two agents he’d seen wouldn’t be far behind, but luck wasn’t on his side. They had become tangled up in a mass of people who were gawking at the fleeing Ross and Joe. Joe was on his own.

Surprised at the speed Ross possessed, Joe realized the man would be well hidden among the trees by the time Joe made it to the edge of the woods. Without breaking stride, Joe veered to the right, running straight for the rented snowmobile. Jumping on, it took him only seconds to start the engine and turn the machine around. Crouching down, Joe gunned the motor and couldn’t help but smile as the powerful machine lurched forward, making a beeline for the trees. Now this was Joe’s favorite part of his job – the pursuit, the chase, the capture!

Within seconds, Joe was weaving in and out of the heavily wooded area following Ross’ jumbled footprints in the snow. His world suddenly became a psychedelic blur of green, brown and white as he careened through the woods at top speed, shifting his weight effortlessly all the while flirting with disaster. One miscalculation could send him crashing through the snow into any one of the massive immovable objects that surrounded him.

Aware of the danger, Joe was still focused on one goal – Ross. He was in what Frank jokingly referred to as ‘The Zone’ – a place where Joe Hardy’s legendary stubbornness became his biggest asset. With a single-minded determination that bordered on obsessive, Joe would not stop until his quarry had been captured.

Joe kept his eyes glued to the fleeing Ross. The wind whipped through his blonde hair as bits of snow flew up in the wake of the snowmobile, melting seconds after they made contact with his skin. Low-hanging branches snapped dangerously close to his face, one of them slashing across his cheek so hard he knew it would leave a welt. Another branch slammed his upper arm as he whizzed by, causing Joe to momentarily lose control of the speeding snowmobile, sending him on a collision course with an imposing evergreen.

Taking his eyes off Ross for a second, Joe eased off the throttle and slowed enough to regain control before pouring on the speed once more. He quickly caught sight of Ross again who had obviously heard the snowmobile gaining on him. Ross began weaving in and out among the trees, taking the narrowest path he could find, attempting to make Joe’s task that much more difficult. Joe swore under his breath, as the trees seemed to get closer and closer together, closing in on him. If he slowed down enough to avoid crashing into them, Ross would easily get away.

‘Come on, help me out here! Slip…fall…something!’ Joe thought as Ross suddenly veered to the right.

Yanking the handlebars, Joe instinctively leaned to the right, gasping in surprise at a large tree trunk that seemed to come out of nowhere. He throttled down a bit and caught his breath at the narrowly avoided collision before setting his sights on Ross.

Just when Joe was certain Ross was going to win this round, he emerged into a clearing. A wide expanse of snow lay before him.

‘YES!’ Joe exulted, knowing he now had the upper hand. Already Ross was stumbling in the snow and with no trees getting in his way Joe was able to make up for lost time. Pouring on the speed, Joe rapidly closed the gap between them. Drawing even with Ross, Joe mentally crossed his fingers and leapt from the still speeding machine, landing squarely on Ross’ back.

Momentum carried them forward as they toppled over and rolled in the snow several times. Joe winced as the hard landing sent ripples of pain through his already bruised body, becoming somewhat mollified when they came to a stop with him on top. Using the element of surprise to his advantage Joe got off several punches, leaving Ross slightly dazed. He lay staring up at Joe, his arms splayed out in the snow.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Joe taunted him. Ross’ eyes turned dark with anger, but Joe didn’t let up. "What’s the matter? Can’t fight if your opponent isn’t tied up?"

Joe caught the movement just a second too late. Before he could react, Ross’ right arm came up, flinging a large handful of snow in Joe’s face. Temporarily blinded, Joe quickly raised his hands in a dual attempt to protect himself and rub the stinging snow from his now watering eyes.

Joe suddenly felt himself being flung to the ground like a rag doll, hissing at yet another insult to his injured midsection. ‘This is getting so old!’ he thought angrily.