Joe and Jay turned slowly and found themselves staring at four very large men that were pointing guns in their direction. One of the men pointed his gun at Joe and smiled and said, "I would say your hearing is pretty good."

Joe was thinking why me? What have I done now? Do I have a sign on back that says please kidnap me? Could Frank be right and I am a magnet for trouble? Oh, well. Here we go again. Come on, big brother, I need you.

The second man, a tall dark figure with large tattoos dotted all over his arms made a grab for Jay.

But she wasn't going to be grabbed by anyone and to his and everyone else's amazement, she managed to deftly flip him over her shoulder. However, as she turned around, ready to take them all on it seemed, a third man man with a scar on his cheek put a rather large gun in her face.

Jay merely stared at him, willing him, defying him to use it. Joe was amazed at how strong this girl was, she didn't seem scared of anything or anyone. However he also figured that he needed do something to stop the situation this before it got out of hand so he stepped up beside Jay and touched her shoulder.

"Jay, cool down. You are not going to win against a gun. No one ever does."

"Drake, don't hurt the young lady," said a slightly older man, whom Joe had heard addressed as Mr. Mustache. "We need her to get us out of here. And we need blondie to help carry our merchandise."

"Alright Mac. But let's get on with it. I'm ready to get out of here," Drake replied.

Joes's heart sank as he listened to the interaction between the two. He understood clearly that once these goons got what they wanted, he and Jay were dead. They did not hide their faces and they were saying their names.

He looked at Jay and wished that she were not here, alone he had only himself to worry about. Jay was obviously wound up like a coil and he was afraid she would say or do something to provoke these men futher, which was the last thing that they needed. He started silently praying that God would send help. Come on, big brother. I need you.

"Okay, you two how do we get out of here?" asked Mac, waving the gun between Joe and Jay.

Jay stood there, angry, defiant and silent. Joe looked at her and looked at the gun, and made silent decision. "Well, for starters we have to go through that hole," he finally said, pointing to the tunnel.

"Good. I'll go first then the girl, then Josh, then blondie, and you two," said Mac.

Jay and Joe were forced to help carry heavy duffel bags as the group made its way down the dark narrow tunnel. Joe wondered what was in them but with those guys watching his every move he couldn't risk trying to look.

After they had gotten through the tunnel, Mac turned to Jay and said, "We heard you tell blondie that there were three ways in and out of this cave. So what are they?"

So these guys have been following us for a while though Joe to himself, silently angry at not having notive, he was supposed to be the detective after all.

Jay glanced at Joe, not willing to give the men the information they were looking for, however something in Joe's eyes told Jay that he wanted her to cooperate.

"The first way is the way that we came in, the second is an underwater route, the third is the most dangerous." She spoke in short bursts, and the frustration and anger in her voice was clear.

"What about the third?" asked Mac.

"I call it the Devil's Nest. It has extremely dangerous insects, and rats, a lot of twists and turns and tunnels and it takes a long time to get through." Jay looked at the four men, noting with satisfaction that their expressions had grown pale at her explanation of the route.

"Well, since the police know about your little entrance we will not go that way. And we cannot put our merchandise in water."

"That only leaves the Nest. So we go that way," said Mac, although he didn't look very happy at the idea.

Jay looked at the four men. "You really should choose another route. The way to the nest is not easy. We have to crawl through some very small and long tunnels. Then there are the insects and rodents who given a chance, will take a bite. All of them are poisonous. I really think you just choose another route,"

Joe wondered was Jay exaggerating or was this third route really as bad as she was describing, somehow, he had a feeling that it was. However he too noted that the other three men didn't seem to excited about the idea themselves.

However 'Mac' as he was called, wasn't going to be scared easily, he merely cocked his gun at Jay once more. "Sounds exhilarating," he said, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Lead on."

"Ok". Jay shook her head but leaned down to pick up her backpack, which had all her caving equipment inside. She had left it out side of the cave room, when Joe and she had gone through the tunnel.

Drake quickly grabbed her hand.

"I don't think so," said Drake fiercely.

"If you want to get out of here, then we are going to need everything in it," said Jay looking at Drake and Mac

"Drake, check out the contents. If everything is okay, then give it to her," said Mac.

The burly man rummaged through the backpack for a few moments as Jay looked on angrily. "Its okay," said Drake handing the backpack to her.

The group followed the girl in the opposite direction, away from the cave room and the opening that she and Joe had descended from.

They walked on for about half an hour. Joe felt as if they were going deeper into earth. The going was tough everyone was becoming exhausted and grouchy. Carrying the packs of merchandise didn't make it any easier.

Joe wondered again what the merchandise could be and what they had managed to stumble into. Who were these people and how had they known that Jay and he were down in the caves. Was she somehow connected to them? However, he dismissed this idea, figuring that it may have just been a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Maybe, Joe thought, maybe this could have something to do with Marcus Atkinson and those stolen computer chips. It was a long shot, but he decided to keep a close eye on the bags they were carrying, and on the men.

The group finally came to a huge wall of rock. Jay pointed to an opening like a tunnel and said that was the direction they were going.

"Alright," said Mac. "Let's take a ten minute break."

Joe and Jay sat next to each other under the careful eye of Drake and Josh. Jay leaned toward Joe and whispered, "You think you could find your way back and go get help?"

Joe looked at Jay with surprise and said, "Are you crazy? I am not about to leave you alone with these thugs."

"Look, they are going to kill us as soon as they get what they want. Right now, they need me. So I live until you go and get help and rescue me. They just want you for insurance and a mule."

Joe shook his head. "I know. But I have no idea what these creeps are capable of if they are pushed to desperation. So forget it. They are too dangerous."

"Listen. I am not scared of these creeps. I have been around a lot worse. I can handle whatever they dish out to me."

"No," said Joe a little louder than what he had planned.

Drake turned and looked at them, so they decided they better get quiet and eat their snack. They didn't know when the next rest stop would be. As soon as Drake turned back to talk to the other man whose name they had learnt was Josh, Joe leaned toward Jay and said again, "No way. I am staying and that is that."

Jay rolled her eyes, beginning to realize that Joe Hardy was a very stubborn person. She also realized however, that he was probably right, he would never be back in time, and even she couldn't take on all four of the men alone, however much she wanted to!

"Time's up. Let's move," said Mac.

"First I have to do a little pest removal," said Jay. The others looked at her curiously as she reached into her bag and pulled out a spray bottle and a box of matches.

First she sprayed the liquid in the tunnel, and then she took a match, lit it and threw the match into the tunnel. As the fire lit up the tunnel, they heard squeaks and squeals coming from inside of the tunnel.

The men stared at each other first. Then Josh and Drake started asking questions. "What was that?" "Are there anymore?" "Do they bite?" "Are you sure that got rid of them?"

"It did the last time," said Jay, a small smile spreading across her lips as she noted the scared expressions on the men's faces.

"This is really going to be interesting," said Joe, I have a feeling the worst is yet to come!