It was early in the morning and Joe was pouring over all the information they had on Anthony Perrelli. He had not slept in 24 hours and it was becoming evident in his actions. He kept dropping papers to the floor and was dozing off every little while. He shook himself awake and forced himself to concentrate on what he was reading.  

Joe knew he need to get some rest since he was still recovering from the concussion, but the urgency to find Frank outweighed him taking care of himself. He knew he would have plenty of time to rest once Frank was back home.  

“Son, I think you need to take a break,” Fenton said, getting Joe’s attention.  

“Dad, we can’t waste any more time. It’s been more than 48 hours since Frank was taken. Each minute counts.”  

“Joe, I know that. But you are pushing yourself to the brink of exhaustion.”  

“We have to keep searching.”  

“I know that, son. But you can’t keep going like you are. If you do, you’ll end up in the hospital again. And then you won’t be any help to your brother.”  

“I know Frank is counting on us,” Joe said. “He knows we wouldn’t give up on him.”  

“And we aren’t,” Fenton said. He got to his feet and moved around to the front of the desk. He took the papers from Joe and placed them on the desk. “But you need a break. I want you to go upstairs and rest for a little while. If you let your mind relax, you may come across something that we have missed.”  

Joe remained quiet for a moment. He knew his father had a point. He could be missing valuable clues because he was tired.  

Joe sighed. “All right. I’ll go rest for a little while, but I’m setting my alarm to wake me.”  

“Give it a least three hours,” Fenton said. “No less.”  

“All right,” Joe agreed reluctantly. He got to his feet and made his way out of his father’s office. He slowly made his way upstairs. As he started down the hall to his bedroom, he stopped outside the door to Frank’s bedroom. Pushing the door open, he looked inside. Everything was just as Frank had left it. He just hoped Frank would be coming home to it.  

Instead of continuing on to his room, he went inside and moved to the bed. He sat down. He placed his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.  

Joe made his way through the building, searching for his brother. For some unknown reason, he had been drawn to this building. As he slowly checked each room he passed, he got the feeling he was getting closer to finding his brother.  He finally reached the last room and pushed the door open.  

On the floor in the almost empty room was Frank, pale and lifeless. He ran to his brother and quickly placed his fingers against Frank’s neck. There was a very weak pulse.  

“Hang on, Frank,” Joe said. “I’ll get you out of here and to help.”  

“Joe?” he whispered.  

“I’m here,” Joe said, watching Frank’s eyelids flutter open slightly. “But save your strength. I’ll have you out of here in a minute.”  

“Joe, listen.”  

“Frank, please,” Joe begged. “Time is a factor.”  

“It’s too late,” Frank whispered.  

“No, it isn’t,” Joe protested. “Just trust me.”  

“Joe, you need to know something.”  

“Frank, come on.”  

“Please, Joe.”  

“What is it?” Joe finally asked.  

“I…love…you.” Frank’s head lolled to the side.  

Joe pressed his fingers against Frank’s neck again. Tears began streaming down his face. It couldn’t happen. It shouldn’t have happened. His brother was dead.  

“NO!”  

Joe sat up quickly, breathing hard. He looked wildly about the room, trying to figure out where he was. He was in Frank’s bedroom and had been dreaming. Joe could feel his heart thumping inside his chest. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm his breathing. Reaching up, he felt his face was covered in perspiration.  

As he was calming down, he heard quick footsteps in the hallway. A moment later, those footsteps entered the room.  

Joe opened his eyes and saw his parents standing there. Laura sank down on the bed beside him and pulled him into her arms.  

“It’s all right, Joe,” she said soothingly, caressing his back to calm him down. “It was only a dream.”  

Joe closed his eyes and buried his head against his mother’s shoulder. Her gesture helped to calm his nerves. After a couple minutes, he leaned back and looked at his mother, offering her a small smile.  

“Thanks, Mom.”  

Laura smiled as she brushed the blond hair back from this fore head. “Are you all right?”  

“Yeah,” Joe said, taking a deep breath. He could still feel his heart pounding in his chest. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.  

Fenton sat down on the bed beside Laura and asked, “Do you want to tell us what the dream was about?”  

Joe looked at his parents. He knew they wanted to know, but he couldn’t tell them. He couldn’t. It was too scary to even think about.  

“You don’t have to tell us,” Laura said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But remember, everything will be all right. What you had was a dream and that’s all it was. It wasn’t real.”  

Joe knew she was telling the truth, but a small part of him screamed that the dream was real. He said, “I know.” He looked at his father. “We need to get moving.”  

“And we can,” Fenton said.  

“I’ll make you both some coffee,” Laura said, getting to her feet with Fenton.  

“I’ll be down in a minute.”  

“I’ll see you in my office,” Fenton said.  

As Fenton and Laura left the room, Joe shakily got to his feet and made his way into the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and leaned against the sink for a minute. He reached his hands under the faucet, cupped them and collected the cold water, which sent a chill through him. He brought the water to his face and dunked his face into his hands. He felt slightly refreshed.  

After doing that a couple times, he shut the water off and looked in the mirror. Staring at his reflection, he saw a pale face with dark circles under his eyes staring back. The water dripped from his face. He hoped it had only been a dream and not an omen as to what was to come. The dream had scared him and left him worried.  

Joe grabbed a towel and dried his face. He put the towel back on the rack and headed to his father’s office to find the clue they were searching for.  

 

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.