He still wasn't able to see anything, so figured his eyes must be blindfolded, or else he simply couldn't open them yet - drugs could do that to you.

He flexed his fingers and realized his arms could move. Moving a shaky hand out to the side, his fingers groped, trying to seek his brother out. He couldn't yet remember what had happened to him, but he wanted to see if Joe was with him. What he hit was something hard and cold right against the side of him 'a wall' he realized.

Frowning, he tried to remember exactly what had happened. He remembered shaving and having a silly argument with Joe about the bathroom and then remembered leaving the house...and then...masked men and a van!

He now knew his brother hadn't been taken with him.

He bought his hands up to try and rub his eyes, but found he was only able to raise them about half a foot before he hit a solid obstruction. Feeling around, he realized the obstruction stretched the full length of him, so he was unable to bring his hands up to his face at all. Groping around further and tapping on the sides only resulted in him growing afraid with his findings.

His heart began to pound painfully in his chest and the sound of the blood rushing around his brain became audible.

He started kicked upwards and push with his hands with all the strength he could muster in the tiny space available to him, but he was intelligent to know, deep down, that his efforts were going to be in vain. Panic gripped and a scream erupted from his throat, a scream that would not be heard.

What Frank Hardy now knew was that his eyes had in fact been open all along, the reason why he'd thought they were shut was because it was so dark, he could see nothing, not even a speck of light. He was buried deep down, in a box he couldn't move in, and he was on his own.

He felt he was suffocating.

*****

"Hello." Joe Hardy said into the telephone.

"Joe Hardy, unless you want to be an only child I’d suggest you get your brother on the phone in the next five seconds."

"It’s nice to hear your voice too, Callie." Joe replied sarcastically. He had not failed to notice over the last few years the number of attractive, sweet girls that had shown an interest in his brother. Why he had to stick with Callie was beyond Joe.

"I mean it, Joe. Your brother promised me a date tonight. A REAL date, not one involving a stakeout this time, and I intend for him to keep his promise!" Joe could quite easily imagine the look on his brother’s girlfriend’s face – one of anger and frustration. He’d had it directed at him more than once in his life!

"Why don’t you call him on his cell phone and tell him about it instead of arguing with me?" Joe replied. "He’s on his way over there now."

"That’s what he told me too- when I spoke to him two hours ago!"

"But he just left a little while ago. The game was just coming on when he went out the door and that was at 6……" Joe let his voice trail off when he looked at the clock and was surprised to notice that the time was now well past 8.

"As for your previous suggestion, I did try him on his cell phone. It just kept ringing."

Joe thought for a moment. Callie’s house was less than 10 minutes from their own. The fact that he hadn’t shown up yet or called to inform her of a problem was enough to cause Joe concern, besides the fact that he wasn’t answering his cell phone.

"Just sit tight Callie. Maybe he had car trouble or something."

With that Joe hung up and grabbed his jacket along with his mom’s car keys. He then advised her that he was going to make a trip to the store. No need to worry her unnecessarily.

He drove the route to Callie’s house slowly, scouting driveways and alleys for any sign of the van. He peered over roadside embankments where a car crash could go unnoticed. There was no sign of the van.

He was relieved a short time later when he appeared outside Callie’s house and spotted the van parked nearby. "I hope Callie’s finished her lecture by now, because it’s my turn." He said to himself as he guided Laura’s car into the driveway.

He had no sooner stepped out of the vehicle than the front door of the house flew open. Callie rushed outside and looked surprised to see Joe.

"I thought you were Frank!" she exclaimed.

"You mean he isn’t here?" Joe asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No he isn’t here, that’s why I called you in the first place!"

"But the van’s parked over there." Joe said, pointing. He and Callie looked at each other without saying anything further, then they sprinted for the van.

Joe hit the automatic unlocker on the way. Both threw open a door not really knowing what to expect. A quick search of the van proved that Frank was not there.

"I wonder why he would just leave the van like this?" Callie asked.

"He wouldn’t." Joe muttered, worry setting in.

"It’s cool in here. Almost as cool as outside." Callie stated.

"Which means it’s been sitting here for awhile." Joe said aloud, cementing what each of them had been thinking.

Joe instructed Callie to assist him in a more detailed search of the van this time, looking for any evidence of foul play. Nothing looked out of place however. Even Frank’s cell phone and wallet sat in their usual place. It seemed, as far as the contents of the van was concerned, that Frank had simply walked away with every intention of coming back.

"What do we do now?" Callie asked, tears of worry forming in her eyes.

"First of all, let’s go back to your house and call my Dad. If Frank got caught up in a case unexpectedly, he may have called him to let him know what’s going on.

"Wait, what’s this?" Callie asked, spotting something on the windshield. From under the wiper she pulled an envelope. "Fenton Hardy." She said aloud, reading the scribble across the front.

"Give me that." Joe said, holding out his hand. A missing brother coupled with a mysterious note had already caused dread to set in. He tore open the envelope and began to read.

"Well what does it say?" Callie insisted.

Wordlessly, Joe handed the note to Callie. As she read it, terror grew inside her.