Frank found his mind drifting once again towards Jay. What had happened in this girl's past to make her lose faith in people. She seemed not to want to trust anyone, and certainly wasn't willing to share any information on her past. Frank knew that if anyone could get the information from her, Joe could. He also knew that his brother really wanted to help the girl.

The only thing he was afraid of was that if Jay did decide to open up, that Joe would have to carry the burden of her past and whatever secrets that held. Frank wondered if Joe would be able to take on Jay's trauma when his own ordeal at the hands of Keith Rashman was so fresh in his mind.

The sound of the phone ringing halted Frank's train of thought. His father answered, and after a brief conversation Fenton Hardy said "thanks for telling us," and hung up the phone. His face was grim.

"That was Chief Collig" Fenton looked at Frank.

"Well, what could he tell us?" asked Frank, growing increasingly anxious.

"The body found at the mouth of the caves was identified as a man called Rob Taylor. We don't know too much about him at the moment, but from what I remember, Mr. Taylor's main occupations weren't exactly flower arranging and bird watching, if you know what I mean" Fenton sighed, and Frank could see that he was clenching and unclenching his fist nervously.

"So he's a bad guy then I take it"was all Frank said.

"Yes" , replied Fenton "And what's more, he was supposed to know those caves pretty good and his known associates are extremely bad.@

"Well I guess the first thing we ought to do is to find out some information about them." As he spoke, Frank Hardy began to sort through some papers on the desk.

Fenton fished his cell phone out of his jacked pocket. "How about you call the FBI and NYPD and I will call some contacts that I have, to see what I can come up with."

Several phone calls later, Fenton hung up the phone and turned to Frank.

"We got problems. Or should I say Joe and Jay have problems.@

Frank looked at his father, "You've been worried about that since you found out who the man was, haven't you Dad? So, how bad is it?@

"Those known associates of Mr. Taylor are smugglers and killers. If Rob was in that cave, then maybe they are too.@

Franks face visibly paled at his fathers words. "Dad, that means Joe and Jay are walking into the midst of these guys.@

"I know son. I just pray that they are still okay. Let's go, we have to get to those caves as soon as we can. I'll call Chief Collig and arrange for back up on the way.@

A little over an hour later Frank, Fenton, and every police unit available met at the top of the hill about a 100 yards from the cave entrance. They could see Jay's truck parked a little ahead of them.

Immediately some of the policemen, along with a search and rescue team and sniffer dogs, started exploring the outer caves. Frank and Fenton could only wait outside, each caught up in their own thoughts. Frank was worried and scared for Joe, but part of him couldn't help feeling angry at his brother for ending up in yet another dangerous situation while trying to help someone. He hated this waiting, not knowing anything, and dreaded yet another visit to the hospital and yet another bedside vigil.

Chief Collig made his way over to where the two men were standing. "Sorry, Fenton," he said, "We aren't having much luck. We did go back to the cave room where they found Frank and the girls. The dogs had their trail for a while, but they lost it. We think that there must have been another cave-in and so we can't go any farther for the moment.@

"Jay knows that cave. She and Joe probably had to find another way out," said Frank, hopefully.

Chief Collig nodded, but the expression on his face was far from hopeful. He patted Fenton comfortingly on the shoulder and then turned his back to them and started back towards the caves.

Fenton turned to his son. "Frank, lets go and get Phil. The two of you go to the university and find the 3-D maps of this cave that Jay was plotting. See if you can find where Joe and Jay will turn up,"

Frank nodded, and the pair started to walk towards the car. As they walked Frank talked to his father in a quiet voice. "Dad, I think they are in a lot of trouble, we need to hurry.@

Fenton Hardy knew that his sons shared a bond. That bond sometimes helped the two of them connect almost telepathically at times. It was something that Fenton had at one time been jealous of, it made him fell as if he was shut out. He had come to appreciate his son's almost sixth sense though, as it had saved their lives on more than one occasion. Fenton was feeling the same thing that Frank was feeling. It was a feeling of dread.

"I know, Frank, lets just go and get Phil," said Fenton.

Frank called Phil on his cell phone and asked him to meet him at the university in Professor Tollington's office. They arrived to find Phil had already talked to the professor.

As Fenton and Frank walked in Phil walked over and gave Frank a hug. "Don't worry, Frank, Mr. Hardy, I'm sure we will find them. Joe's gotten himself into worse scrapes before and survived them.@

Frank nodded silently. Professor Tollington and his father were already deep in talk and the four quickly made their way to the computer lab. Phil sat down at the computer and with the professor's password was able to find the map.

"I wish there was some way to take this with us," said Fenton.

Phil grinned "I am way ahead of you, Mr. Hardy," said Phil. "I brought my laptop and we can download the maps onto it and bring it with us.

Frank gave his friend a pat on the back. "Smart thinking, Phil, maybe now we have more of a chance of finding Joe and Jay.@

As the four of them silently studied the map, it became increasingly obvious that there were a couple of possible openings that Joe and Jay could have taken. The most obvious one was at the opening of the river, and Fenton quickly phoned Chief Collig and asked him to send a team of officers to it.

Frank sat back wearily and ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay, that just leaves this opening here," he said, pointing to the map. "I guess Phil and I will go there and see what we can find.@

Frank nodded, at looked over at his older son, worry lines creasing his forehead as he sat there. "Just be careful, both of you" .