Frank’s head jerked up. He was disoriented. He had no clued as to where he was or how much time had passed. Trying to move his body, he groaned when it wouldn’t respond. Frank wiggled his fingers trying to get the blood flowing.

Looking around at his ‘living’ arrangements, Frank realized he hadn’t been dreaming. He was being held against his will and he had no way of getting out of the shackles that held him in place.

Leaning back, he closed his eyes once again. He was exhausted. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he did know that right then, things were very bleak. After the man, who he assumed was Anthony Perrelli, left, several rats had come out from the shadows and approached him. He moved as best as he could to shoo them away, but they weren’t scared. They kept coming. After a while, he gave up on the losing battle and fell into an uneasy sleep.

As he sat there, he wondered if Joe and his father were out searching for him. They are, he thought. Joe would not let anything happened to me. He would move heaven and earth to get to me. But right now, he is probably going out of his mind. More than likely, they haven’t received any word about me and that is probably driving Mom and Dad crazy.

I wish there was some way I could let them know where I am, but with the way they have me trussed up, they made sure I wasn’t going anywhere. But I just have to be patient. I know they will find me. I have complete faith in them.

Frank attempted to move his legs a little to alleviate the soreness from sitting in the same position for so long, but he didn’t get far. There was only about an inch of room to move.

The slamming of a door forced Frank to look at the stairs. The same man he had seen before made his way down the stairs. He was holding a sandwich in his hands.

Frank felt his stomach grumble as he realized it had been a while since he had had something to eat. His mouth began to water.

The man stepped onto the floor and paced in front of Frank once again. Frank watched him, anxious to know what was in store for him. The man stopped pacing and stared down at him.

“I do hope you are enjoying your accommodations,” he said. “I wish we could let you stay someplace else, but unfortunately, there is no other place.”

“Then let me go,” Frank said. “Nothing has really happened to me yet. If you let me go, no one will come after you.”

“Unfortunately, you are wrong. Even if you did turn up somewhere, the authorities would be trailing me. But we no longer have to worry about that. Any connection between you and I has been destroyed.”

“I don’t understand why I was taken,” Frank said. “I don’t know you. I’ve never me you before in my life.”

“That’s right. We haven’t been formally introduced. But I do have a feeling you do know who I am. I am Anthony Perrelli.”

Frank asked, “Why did you do this? Why did you take me from my family?”

“You ask too many questions,” Anthony said. “And those questions are unimportant. And in the end, it won’t matter.”

Before Frank could ask any more questions, the door to the basement opened again. Frank looked up the stairs and saw two burly men making their way in his direction. Both of them had their hands behind their backs. An uneasy feeling settled on him.

When they reached the floor, they stepped over to Anthony, who looked at each of them in turn. Anthony said, “You have your instructions.”

Anthony turned and headed up the stairs.

As the door was closed, Frank eyed the two men. Both of them were over six feet tall and had muscles that were evident under their shirts. He had no idea what they were planning.

One of them reached down and unlocked the shackles on his ankles. But before he could move his legs, the man grabbed both his ankles and rolled him over. Frank ended up facing the pipe his arms were shackled to. He couldn’t break free even if his body listened to his commands to move.

Frank felt his shirt get ripped from his back. He glanced over his should as he heard the snap of a whip. A moment later, the whip connected with his back.

Frank winced and bit his tongue to keep from calling out. The whip continued to make stinging contact with his back. The strikes kept coming. He wasn’t sure how many he received when he finally yelled out in pain. Instead of stopping, the whipping continued.

By the time they stopped, Frank was breathing fast and on the verge of passing out. He had never felt so much pain.

He was roughly rolled over once again and watched as his ankles were shackled again. He arched his back slightly so it wasn’t touching the pipe.

The two men made their way up the stairs closing the door behind them.

Frank took several deep breaths trying to calm down. He had no idea what Anthony’s plan was for him. But he did know that he needed to be rescued and fast.

Dad, Joe, he thought, I know you’re both looking for me, but you need to get here soon. I don’t think Anthony Perrelli will let me out of here alive. And I get this feeling this was just the beginning. Whatever else is planned is going to be a whole lot worse.

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.