Frank opened his eyes. He blinked a few times. As the basement came into focus, he realized he hadn’t been dreaming. He was shackled in the cool, damp basement with no place to go.

Letting out a breath, Frank arched his back and winced as he felt the wounds from the whipping open. He could feel the blood running down his back and knew leaning against the pipe wasn’t good. He had seen the rust spots before and knew his back could become infected if the wounds weren’t treated soon.

Closing his eyes once again, Frank wished for sleep. His stomach had stopped rumbling, but he could feel an ace at the lack of food and water. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but felt it had been too long. He knew if help didn’t arrive soon, it wouldn’t matter.

Frank tried to keep his thoughts together.

Okay, think about things that won’t make you crazy, he thought.  Okay, more than likely, Joe is already on the trail trying to find you. He is persistent when he wants something done and won’t stop until he gets his way. And Joe will get here. I just hope he wasn’t seriously hurt when that thug slammed his head into the sidewalk. That was a dangerous move. But Joe has a hard head and always seems to bounce back quickly. And he had to this time.

With all this time waiting here, I’ve been able to think about a lot of things. First and foremost has been Joe. He and I are the best of friends and I know I can count on him no matter what. He has proven time and time again that he will be there in a pinch.

I know I might not say this enough to him, but I do appreciate everything he does for me. If it weren’t for Joe, I probably wouldn’t have any fun at all. Joe made me have fun and I need to thank him for helping me to be a well-rounded person. He really has made an impact on my life. And I have to tell him so.

And then there’s Mom and Dad. They have been the best parents any person could ever ask for. Both of them have always offered encouragement to get us to work at the best of our ability. Even if we did something wrong, we were punished, but learned our lessons from our mistakes. Mom and Dad did a great job instilling us with the values to make us who we are today. They have done a great job and I need to thank them.

And then there’s Caren. She means the absolute world to me and I acted like a jerk. I should have been honest with her about what was going on, but because I didn’t want her to get hurt, I ended up pushing her away. I know that should I get out of here, I will have to apologize for my behavior. And even if she does move back to Georgia , then I will know how things were meant to be. She has been the light in my life and woman I do love. I have to be able to tell her so.

But that will only happen if I can get out of here. And right now, it seems impossible. I can’t get out of these shackles and I haven’t had anything to eat or drink in days.

I don’t know how much time has actually passed, but I do know this situation is grave.

A squeak in the corner forced Frank to open his eyes, Straining to see in the dim light, Frank was able to make out two beady little eyes in the corner.

He watched as the rat slowly approached him, its nose twitching with each step. Frank tried to verbally scare the rat away, but all that came out was a soft whisper. The rat reached his legs and started sniffing his pant legs. Frank tried to shift his legs, but the shackles were even tighter than before. There was no place to go.

“Ah, I see one of your companions has come out of hiding.”

Frank looked up the stairs and saw Anthony Perrelli standing there. Glancing back at his leg, Frank saw the rat had scurried away at the noise.

Perrelli once again made his way down the stairs. The two men who had whipped him were close behind. One man was carrying a bucket that was full of water. The other was carrying a floor fan.

Frank watched carefully as the fan was set up a few feet from him and plugged in. The fan was turned on and he could feel a cool breeze hitting his bare skin.

“I do hope you are enjoying your stay, but I believe the pleasantries you have enjoyed are about to end.”

“Revenge is not the answer,” Frank whispered. He decided he wasn’t going down without a fight. “My father had nothing to do with your son’s death.”

“HE DID!” Perrelli yelled. “He was the one who put my son in jail and caused him to die! He is the only one responsible.”

“My father did his job,” Frank stated, his voice stronger than he was feeling. “What happened at the prison had nothing to do with my father.”

“Your father ultimately sentenced Mario to his death by his investigation. And when my family is hurt, someone is bound to pay. And since you are the same age as when my son was killed, the favor is about to be returned.”

Before Frank could say anything, the bucket of ice-cold water was thrown at him. He coughed up the water that had gone through his nose and mouth.

“Watch him carefully. And when the time comes, move him to his final resting place.”

Frank began shaking uncontrollably. He felt as if he had plunged into the water of Barmet Bay in the middle of winter. As he shook, he could feel the shackles around his wrists begin to tighten. He knew he had to stop shaking, but he couldn’t. His arms were pulled further over his head and he winced in pain as his back touched the pole.

The pain continued on his back and started to increase. He closed his eyes trying to focus on the pain, but the snap of the whip forced him to look at the two burly men. With a quick flick of his wrist, the whip connected with Frank’s chest. The whip kept coming, hitting his chest and arms. He wasn’t sure how many times he had been hit when his head slumped forward. Suddenly, he felt three kicks to his chest, adding to the pain.

As he lost consciousness, the one thug said,  “Let’s get this over with. His family already thinks he’s dead.”

“No!” was Frank’s last thought.

 

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.