"I am extremely disappointed in you, Callie. I thought we had an agreement."

Laura stared at Callie through narrowed blue eyes, trying to gauge just how deeply Callie was involved with these men. While Callie had been startled by the sudden invasion, she seemed to know exactly what this man was talking about. Hearing a very soft whimper, Laura shifted her gaze to Vanessa and her heart broke. While Vanessa was doing her best to stay calm, her grey eyes were huge and filled with terror.

"We kept our part of the deal, Callie." The man continued. "Unfortunately, you didn’t."

"Yes, I did." Callie whispered, purposely avoiding Laura’s intense gaze.

"No, I’m afraid you didn’t. The file is incomplete. Half of the information is missing. What we have is useless without the other half."

"What exactly are you talking about?" Laura demanded, angrily.

"Your daughter-in-law knows what I’m talking about." The man replied, never taking his eyes off Callie. "Now who has the other half – Fenton Hardy or Joe Hardy?"

Vanessa gasped at the mention of Joe’s name and Laura was suddenly chilled to the bone. She prayed that whatever these men were after was in Fenton’s possession. Instinctively, Laura knew they intended to take a hostage in order to get what they wanted and she was determined it would not be Vanessa.

Staring intently at Callie, Laura practically willed Callie to turn and look at her. She had to get Callie to understand that no matter who had the information this man wanted, it was imperative that Callie tell them Fenton had it. Looking at Vanessa once more, Laura knew if she were taken captive by these men, the repercussions would be devastating, for both Vanessa and Joe. From where she sat, Laura could see Vanessa was visibly shaking.

"Well?" the man pressed. Holding the gun to Laura's head, his eyes bored into Callie's. "Which one of them has the other half of the file?" he asked calmly.

'How did they figure it out?' Callie panicked. 'Even I couldn’t tell it wasn't complete and I knew half of it was missing!'

Callie heard the unmistakable click of the gun being cocked and looked from Laura, who was completely calm, to Vanessa who was on the verge of a breakdown. Callie could tell all she was thinking about was the rape. Even though she had made great strides in her recovery, and tried to make everyone think she had gotten over it, she still clung to Joe; still needed his presence to feel safe.

If Callie told them Joe had the other half of the file, what would they do? Kidnap Vanessa to trade in exchange for the file? Even if they never once touched her, that alone would destroy all the progress she had made. And Joe…

Tears formed in her eyes. Callie focused on the man who held the gun to Laura's head.

"What are you going to do if I tell you?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Come on, you're not stupid. You know we'll need something - or rather someone - of value to trade for the file. Now you have ten seconds to tell me who has it. If not…" he tugged on Laura's hair for emphasis. "…she dies."

As frightened as Laura had to be, she never let it show.

"Joe." Callie whispered. "Joe has it."

Vanessa couldn’t stop shaking, knowing what was about to happen, fearing her worst nightmare was going to occur all over again. She never made a sound but the tears fell in a steady stream down her cheeks, feeling there was no way she could live through that again. The man standing in the doorway pulled a rag and a small bottle out of his pocket and moved towards Vanessa.

"NO!" Laura shouted, frantically. "Please - don't touch her. If you need a hostage, take me….please!" She pleaded with them. "I'm Joe's mother. Do you really think he'd let me die over some stupid file? You don’t need her!"

Ignoring her pleas, the man poured a sickly sweet smelling liquid on the rag. As he brought it up to Vanessa's face, Callie's blood ran cold at the look in her friend’s eyes - pure, unadulterated fear.

‘You’re the best friend I ever had!’ Callie heard Vanessa’s voice echoing in her head. Tears Callie had been trying so hard to contain finally spilled over as she watched the man hold the rag over Vanessa's nose and mouth. Within thirty seconds, Vanessa had collapsed in his arms. Picking her up, he carried her out the back door.

"Please!" Laura begged. "Leave her here. Take me instead!"

"Sorry." The gunman said, actually sounding sincere, as he tied Laura to the chair. "We have our orders. Don't worry. We really only want her to trade for the file. She won't be hurt."

‘I’m sorry, Van! I’m so sorry!! I never thought this would happen!’ Callie thought, as she felt her wrists being tied behind her. She prayed Vanessa wouldn’t be hurt, knowing she could never live with herself if Vanessa was harmed in any way. ‘But she’s already been hurt – mentally, emotionally, psychologically. Oh, yeah, you’re a great friend.’

Laura looked on helplessly as the gunman walked out the door. She waited until she heard the sound of a car engine start then began working on the ropes that bound her wrists. Silently, she cursed herself for not hearing the car when it had approached the house, before realizing she had no reason to think her home would be invaded. Glancing at Callie, she wondered how deeply her daughter-in-law was involved with whatever was going on.

"Callie, who were those men?" Laura asked. "You seemed to know exactly what they wanted."

"I…I don’t know." Callie replied, her voice shaking.

Laura sighed. Even if Callie didn’t know who the men were, she knew a lot more than she was saying and whatever she knew had just put Vanessa’s life in danger.

"Callie…Callie look at me!" Laura said a little more forcefully. "What is this file they want so badly? And why were they convinced you knew where it was? That you even knew what they were talking about?"

Callie looked at Laura briefly, then quickly looked away, guilt written all over her face.

"Vanessa is in serious danger! If you know anything at all about what’s going on and why they took her, please tell me." Laura waited for Callie to respond and was met with silence. "I don’t know why you are trying to protect them, but when Joe gets back and finds Vanessa gone he’s not going to be very patient waiting for you to explain what just happened here."

Callie leaned her head back and closed her eyes as the meaning of Laura’s words hit her. Even with everything Joe had been through, he was still extremely over protective of Vanessa, hating to let her out of his sight. Frank had told her it had taken quite a bit of convincing to finally get Joe to agree to go to the baseball game tonight. Frank and his father had finally convinced Joe that Vanessa would be perfectly safe at Fenton and Laura’s house. What could possibly happen to her there?

"He’s going to kill me." Callie whispered to herself.

As Fenton Hardy pulled into the driveway of his house, he exchanged a smile with Frank. Neither of them had spoken on the drive home, unable to get a word in edgewise as they listened to Joe excitedly recount every play, every at bat, every hit, every home run. As Fenton turned off the engine, Joe flung open the rear door and jumped out of the car, having already removed his seatbelt.

"I can’t wait to show this to Vanessa!" Joe smiled, clutching the wayward ball he had caught in the 8^th inning. Even in the dark, Fenton could see the thrill of catching the ball still evident in his son’s blue eyes. He chuckled as Joe took off across the lawn, heading for the front door. He was suddenly assaulted with memories of the many times he had taken Frank and Joe to the ball park as children until Frank’s voice cut through the pleasant thoughts of times past.

"This was a great idea, Dad." Frank said, watching his younger brother throw open the front door and call out Vanessa’s name. "I haven’t seen him like this…"

Frank was cut off by Joe’s anguished cries. "Dad! Frank!!"

A feeling of dread washed over Frank at the tone in Joe’s voice. He took off at a run with his father on his heels, knowing something was horribly wrong. Running through the front door and down the hall, he came skidding to a stop in the dining room, momentarily stunned at the sight before him.

Callie and Laura were each tied to a chair, Callie with tears streaming down her face, looking at Joe strangely. Joe was kneeling behind their mother, desperately trying to untie the ropes holding her wrists, but his hands were shaking so badly he was having very little success. Quickly scanning the room, Frank’s heart stopped. Vanessa was nowhere in sight.

Fenton moved behind the chair Laura was seated in, gently moving Joe aside. He quickly untied Laura as Frank did the same for Callie. Joe stood with tears in his eyes, looking completely and utterly lost.

"Where's Vanessa?" he choked out.

The silence that followed was unbearable.

"I'm sorry, honey." His mother whispered, putting an arm around him. Laura glanced at her husband and oldest son before looking back at Joe. "They took her."

He squeezed his eyes shut, causing the tears to spill over. 'God, please don't let it happen again.'