"We’re here?" Vanessa asked in a sleepy voice, having napped the last two hours of the ride.

"Finally." Sam replied. Turning towards the backseat to see if Callie was awake, he began to chuckle. She was indeed awake and staring out the window at the huge structure in front of them with her mouth gaping open.

"Wow," Vanessa finally managed, staring in much the same manner as Callie, "This is a safe house?"

"You’d be amazed at the kinds of connections Fenton Hardy has. It would make even the President envious." Sam replied with a smile, getting out of the car.

Walking to the back of the car, he opened the trunk and unloaded the bags as the girls got out and stretched, looking at their new home although there was little they could see of the grounds in the middle of the night. As he handed Callie and Vanessa their bags, he began to give them a few rules regarding their temporary stay.

"When we go in, stick close to me until I make sure everything is secure." He said.

"That hasn’t been done all ready?" Callie asked nervously.

"Yes, but I like to see for myself." Sam smiled. "You can pick whichever rooms you want, but it’s best if we stay in the same wing."

"The same wing?" Vanessa repeated, incredulous as she followed Sam up the front steps. She thought of Joe and wished he were there with her, knowing he’d get a thrill out of exploring the large house and expansive grounds.

Sam opened the door and stepped inside a large foyer. Off to the right was a large room with two fireplaces, each with their own seating area. To the left was what appeared to be a library, with another fireplace, several comfortable couches, chairs and loveseats. Each wall had a built in floor to ceiling bookcase, which were filled with books. A dimly lit corridor was straight ahead of them, next to a huge staircase leading to the next level of the mansion.

Keeping the girls close to him, Sam checked both the sitting room and the library, then started down the long hallway that ended in a huge kitchen. To the left of the kitchen was a large formal dining room and to the right was a smaller, cozier version of the same thing. Again, he checked both rooms then walked through the kitchen into a pantry that led out into the backyard and gardens.

Circling through the smaller dining room, Sam led the way back into the sitting room and through another doorway. Flipping on the light, Callie and Vanessa found themselves in what looked like a mini movie theater. A huge screen hung from one wall with theater style seating in front of it, although it appeared much more plush than what was found in the average theater. The other half of the room was taken up with the largest television Vanessa thought she’d ever seen in her life. A selection of several hundred DVD’s was nestled underneath the screen. Surround sound speakers hung from every wall and various video game controllers could be seen neatly laid out on a table next to the television.

"If Joe ever saw this room he’d never leave." Vanessa smiled. "He’d be in video game heaven."

Sam laughed agreeably, well aware of Joe’s passion for video games of every kind. "Never mind all the sports he could watch on the big screen. You’d never see him again, Vanessa. And just wait ‘til you see the next room."

Continuing on through the next doorway, the three stopped on the threshold of a game room. Two pool tables, several arcade games, an air hockey table, a skee ball game, a state of the art sound system complete with a huge selection of CD’s and a bar with a small seating area filled the room.

"If I’d known this is what a safe house was like, I would have asked for protective custody a long time ago." Callie joked.

"Believe me, this is one of a kind. I think we’ve only used this house once before when a good friend of Fenton’s and mine was being stalked by a serial killer. Not everybody gets this kind of treatment. Shall we check out the upstairs?" Sam asked gesturing towards the doorway.

"Do we get a map of the house?" Vanessa joked. "I know I’m gonna get lost!"

"I did the first few times I was here." Sam told her leading the way back into the foyer and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs long, wide corridors led off in opposite directions. "East wing or west?" Sam asked.

"Oh, west wing, definitely." Callie replied.

They followed Sam down the corridor to the right where he passed a door on the left, stopping at the next one, which was on the right side of the hall. "I’ll take the first room." Sam explained gesturing to the one they had just passed. "You can take any of these." He said, his arm sweeping across the hall in front of them. "They all have king size beds, a fireplace, private bath with Jacuzzi, sitting area, a desk and computer and balconies looking out over the front or back gardens."

"Um, okay." Vanessa replied, a little stunned. "I guess I’ll take this one." She pointed off to the right.

"And I’ll take this one." Callie gestured to the room a little further down on the left.

"Great. Listen, I know it’s the middle of the night, but after you put your bags away I need to talk to you for a minute before you turn in, okay?" Sam requested.

"Sure. Should we come to your room?"

"Please." He responded and watched as the girls each headed into their own rooms. Turning back down the hall, he walked to his room and opened the door, placing his overnight bag on a valet next to the dresser. He’d unpacked a few things when Callie and Vanessa appeared in the doorway. Motioning towards the seating area they all sat down.

Leaning forward, Sam rested his elbows on his knees and looked directly at Vanessa.

"Vanessa, there’s something I need to tell you." He began "Before I do, I want you to know this was all my idea. Frank wanted to tell you right away but I talked him out of it. So if you need to be mad at someone, it should be me."

Vanessa glanced at Callie getting a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She nodded in response, indicating Sam should continue.

"Frank found some evidence that leads us to believe Joe may have been hurt when he was ambushed. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before this but I was honestly afraid if you knew you wouldn’t leave Bayport."

Vanessa looked at Sam angrily but didn’t say a word to him. Instead, she turned to Callie. "Did you know about this?" She asked stonily.

"Not until right before we left. I’m sorry, Van." Callie shrugged apologetically. "But would you have left if you knew?"

Keeping a tight reign on her emotions and her anger, Vanessa turned back to Sam, ignoring Callie’s question. "Does he have any idea how badly Joe was hurt?"

"No, not really." Sam replied.

"What evidence did Frank find to make him think that?" Vanessa pressed, determined to get every piece of information she could now that Sam had decided to come clean with her.

"There were drops of blood on the grass and on Joe’s car."

"Anything else?" Vanessa asked getting the distinct feeling Sam was still holding something back.

Looking down at the floor, Sam took a deep breath. He had hoped Vanessa would just take his word for it and not ask for details but he knew now she wouldn’t let him get away with anything other than the complete truth.

"He found a baseball bat hidden in the underbrush. It had blonde hair and blood on the end of it."

Vanessa closed her eyes for a moment, her lower lip trembling as she tried to fight back the tears.

"Van?" Callie said softly. "Are you okay?"

There were several tense seconds before Vanessa opened her eyes looking first at Callie then at Sam. She nodded once in response to Callie’s query, then stood and strode quickly out of the room without uttering a word.

*****

Sitting on the floor of his office, surrounded by sheets of paper with meticulously mapped out plots of land encompassing the heavily wooded area just past Hunter’s Crossing, Frank was thoroughly engrossed in his task. Having spent several hours on the Internet submerging himself in details of the area where Joe had been ambushed, Frank had then divided the dense forest into equal sections in preparation for the next day’s search. He had contacted Chet Morton, a childhood friend of his and Joe’s, who promised to get in touch with the others in their close circle of friends for a meeting at the Morton farm the next morning. Frank was preparing all the information they would need, not wanting to waste time in getting started on the search for Joe and his parents.

Having grown accustomed to the silence of the night, Frank jumped when his cell phone rang at three a.m. Checking the caller ID, he then answered immediately.

"Sam?"

"We’re here." Sam replied, easing Frank’s nerves slightly. "Any word from Jarrell?"

"He called earlier. He said I’d get instructions in the morning. He also said if I don’t follow them to the letter, Joe will die a very slow and painful death while my parents watch." Frank replied, the threat still haunting him.

"It’ll never get that far, Frank. You’ll find them." Sam tried to reassure him. "Did you call your friends?"

"I called Chet. He was going to call the rest of the guys and we’re going to meet at the Morton farm at eight tomorrow morning."

"Have you gotten any sleep?" Sam asked, hearing the tiredness in Frank’s voice.

"Don’t have time. I need to map out that whole area before tomorrow. None of us is familiar with it. This whole thing obviously has something to do with my testimony. That means I only have two days to find them." Frank said with determination.

"Frank, you’re already going on two days with no sleep." Sam argued. "You don’t want to make a mistake because you’re too tired to see straight."

"Did you tell Vanessa yet?" Frank changed the subject without commenting.

Sam sighed, knowing that meant the subject was closed. "Yeah. She wasn’t too happy."

"What did she say?"

"Not much actually. She’s pretty ticked off at me. I’m hoping she’ll understand once she sleeps on it."

"I hope so." Frank agreed, feeling a twinge of guilt at deceiving her. "Can I talk to Callie?"

"Sure." Sam hesitated a moment. "Frank, promise me you’ll try and get some sleep tonight. I know you’re on a tight deadline, but you can’t help Joe and you’re parents if you’re exhausted."

"I’ll try." Frank promised.

"Okay. Hold on, I’ll get Callie." Sam replied, knowing that was the best he was going to get.

After speaking with Callie for a few moments, Frank spoke to Sam one more time. Sam told Frank they would now stay out of contact until they heard from him letting them know it was safe to communicate once more. Hanging up the phone, Frank stared at it for several moments, now feeling truly and completely alone.

Going downstairs to the kitchen, Frank poured himself another cup of coffee and returned to the project at hand. An hour and a half later, when Frank was satisfied he had covered every last detail, he finally headed to bed for a few hours of restless sleep. When the alarm sounded at seven o’clock Frank felt as if he’d barely been asleep for a few minutes, instead of the three hours he’d managed to squeeze in.

He quickly showered and dressed then went downstairs to the kitchen. Putting on a fresh pot of coffee, Frank walked out to the foyer and opened the front door. Stepping out onto the porch, he picked up the paper lying there and straightened up. Turning back to the door, he stopped and stared at a large manila envelope sticking out of the mailbox. Retrieving the envelope, Frank went back inside and sat on the couch. Dropping the paper on an end table, he opened the envelope and pulled out the contents – a handwritten note and several neatly typewritten pages.

The note was from Jarrell instructing Frank to memorize the attached pages, as they contained the sworn testimony he was to give at the trial the day after tomorrow. If he stuck to the attached statement during questioning, Joe, Laura and Fenton would all be released as soon as his testimony was concluded. Should he choose to tell the truth, however, they would all be killed, starting with Joe.

Tossing the note aside, Frank began to read the prepared statement, suddenly understanding the cliché ‘Stuck between a rock and a hard place.’ The carefully worded testimony would completely discredit Joe, and allow the entire upper tier and most of the middle level of the terrorist organization to go free. The prosecution would still score a victory by getting convictions within the lowest level of the organization, something Frank knew they would accept rather than face a mistrial.