A buzzing sound greeted him as he slowly came to. His head hurt, as did the rest of his body. He moved his arm ever so slightly and groaned in pain. He remained still as his other senses started to take over.  

In the distance, he could hear a muffled page for a doctor and he knew he was in the hospital. He moved his fingers of his left hand and felt the softness of the blanket covering him.  

“He’s coming to,” a female voice said.  

The voice sounded familiar and he had to open his eyes.  

“Come on, son. Wake up.”  

He finally opened his eyes and blinked several times against the brightness. After a few minutes, he was able to tolerate the light.  

“Thank goodness you’re awake, Joe,” the female voice said.  

Turning his head to the right, he saw his parents standing beside his bed. He moistened his lips and asked softly, “What happened?”  

“What do you remember?” Fenton asked.  

Joe let out a breath and tried to think back to the last thing he could recall. He and Frank had gone to get something to eat, but that was it.  

“Easy, Joe,” Fenton said. “Don’t force it. Everything will come back. Just give it time.”  

“How long have I been here?”  

“About 15 hours,” Fenton answered.  

Joe found the controls for the bed and lifted himself to an upright position. He closed his eyes as his head began to throb again. Joe reached for the back of his head and felt a bandage covering a lump.  

As he lowed his hand, he opened his eyes and looked at his father. “Where’s Frank?”  

“We were hoping you could tell us,” Laura said.  

Joe stared at his parents. Before he could ask anything, Dr. Bates entered the room. “Good day, Joseph. How are you feeling?”  

“All right, I guess.”  

“Any headache? Pain?”  

“I do have a headache and I’m a little sore.” He looked at the doctor. “When can I get out of here?”  

“Actually, I would like you to stay for another day, just for observation. You do have a concussion and I want to be sure you’re all right.”  

Joe sighed. He didn’t want to stay in the hospital but knew there would be no way to get out of there until Dr. Bates discharged him. “All right.”  

“Get some rest and I will see you later.” Dr. Bates left the room closing the door behind him.  

Once the doctor was gone, Joe looked at his parents. “Where is Frank?”  

“We don’t know,” Laura said, taking Joe’s left hand in hers.  

“Right now, I don’t remember much of what happened. So, tell me what you know.”  

“Well, we got a call from the police informing us you had been brought here. When we arrived, Con Riley was waiting and told us you had been found. He told us the station had received a call about an unconscious male on the sidewalk by the pizza place. When Con arrived, he quickly recognized you and came here with you.”  

“Did anyone see anything?”  

“Not that we know of,” Fenton answered.  

“Dad, does this have anything to do with Anthony Perrelli?”  

“I think it’s a possibility,” Fenton said.  

Joe pushed the covers off himself. “Then we need to find him and rescue Frank.”  

Fenton put his hand on Joe’s shoulder to keep him from climbing out of the bed. “You’re not going anywhere,” Fenton said. “You are spending the day here like the doctor said.”  

“We can’t sit and do nothing,” Joe stated.  

“We’re not doing nothing,” Fenton said. “I have Sam and several of my contacts out trying to track down Perrelli and his men as we speak. We will find Frank before anything happens to him. You have my word.”  

Joe leaned back on the bed and looked at his father. He knew his father wouldn’t stop searching for Frank, but he hated the fact that he was unable to help in the search. He wanted to find his brother before anything happened.  

“Joe, we ill find Frank,” Fenton repeated.  

Joe nodded his head, but inside, he heard a voice ask, “But what if it’s too late when you do?” Joe just hoped that voice was wrong.  

* * * * *  

He struggled to roll onto his side to get away from the coolness touching his back as he sat up. He shivered uncontrollably as his sense kicked in. He could hear a steady drip from somewhere nearby, but that was all the noise he could hear.  

Feeling the need to know where he was, Frank opened his eyes. It too a few minutes, but he finally realized he was in some sort of basement from the dim light hanging in the middle of the room.  

Looking up, Frank saw shackles on his wrists were hooked through a loop high above his head. He pulled on the shackles. Instead of giving himself more room to move, it seemed as it the shackles became tighter. Frank let out a breath knowing he wasn’t going to get loose that way. Glancing at his legs, he saw another pair of shackles had been wrapped around his ankles. He knew for certain he wasn’t going anywhere for a while.  

Frank closed his eyes thinking back to what had happened. He and Joe had dinner together at the pizza place and did a lot of talking. When they had finished, they had paid their bill and left. As they were heading to the van to head home, they heard a voice and turned to see who it was. A fight broke out and three people overpowered him. He had been taken down the street and placed in a car as Joe lost consciousness on the sidewalk. The last thing he remembered was getting hit on the head.  

He wasn’t positive as to who the men were that grabbed him, but he had a feeling they worked for Anthony Perrelli. But that didn’t matter to him. Right then, he was more concerned about getting out of there and seeing if Joe was all right. He didn’t like seeing his brother motionless and knew it was possible Joe had been seriously hurt.  

The sound of a door slamming forced Frank to open his eyes. Looking up, he saw a man, probably in his late 50s, making his way slowly down the stairs. He was dressed in a jet-black suit with a royal blue shirt and black tie. His polished shoes had a slight gleam from the dim light.  

“Hello, Mr. Hardy,” the man said as he reached the floor. “I hope you’re comfortable.”  

Frank remained quiet as he glared at the man. He wasn’t about to give anything away.  

“Mr. Hardy, Frank, your silence will not help you.”  

“Where am I?” Frank demanded.  

“You do speak. And the answer to your question is not important.” The man began pacing in front of him. “I do hope you like your accommodations, but you shouldn’t get too comfortable. You won’t be here for long.”  

“Why did you take me?”  

“I didn’t take you. I haven’t done anything to you.”  

Frank realized this man was literally keeping his hands clean.  

“Why did you have your associates take me?”  

“You are smart, but unfortunately, I will not answer that questions.” He stopped in front of Frank and looked him in the eye. “Now, enjoy your time and I will be back later.” He leaned closer to Frank. “I hope your friends here in the room will enjoy your company. They have been lonely for a while and will relish having a companion.”  

He turned and made his way up the stairs, slamming the door behind him.  

Frank let out a breath as silence settled on the basement once again. He had a feeling had just met Anthony Perrelli and knew whatever was planned for him wasn’t good.  

Glancing back up at the shackles holding him in place, he hoped his father and brother were searching because he doubted he would get out of there on his own.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.