"Maybe," C. J. admitted, "but why are they giving the information away so freely? It’s almost they want to be caught without giving themselves away."

"What should we do next," Joe asked.

"Call this number," Frank answered, "And tomorrow we’ll be heading out again for somewhere else." C. J. got the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello," she asked, "Yes, I would like to know what ride leaves at 1:50 please…Really? Thank you. What time do the others leave to go…You’ve been very helpful…Bye."

"Well," Joe asked after she had hung up, "Where are we going next?"

"Houston," she replied, "and we’re going by bus tomorrow afternoon. We’ll get checked out in the morning and be ready to go on the earliest ride possible."

Vicki stared at the door to the small room, hoping to find it suddenly gone. Luck wasn’t with her though, and the door was still standing. She had tried for hours to undo the ropes, but her kidnappers were experts at knots. There was no way she could undo them.

A bright light came into the room as the door opened. Vicki looked up to see a man silhouetted in the doorway. Then came the sound of footsteps coming over. He screwed the lightbulb in tighter, allowing more light to come from it. He then turned to leave.

"Hey," Vicki said, "Can you tell me something really quick?" He stopped and turned to her.

"Depends on what you want to know," he replied, "There is only so much I can tell you."

"I only want to know two things," Vicki told him, "What did those papers contain and what did my dad say?"

"Your dad said that he didn’t have the other papers. We still need his final answer. As for the papers…it’s better that you don’t know what they contained. Let’s just say that if it got around, it wouldn’t be good."

She was about to say more when he turned and shut the door. Okay, she told herself, so you’re not going to get anything from him. Who else is there? As far as she knew, there were only three other men there. More footsteps sounded in the hallway. She decided to try again.

"Hello," she called out, hoping someone would answer. Minutes went by without anyone stopping. Well, she thought, I guess my idea didn’t work. Suddenly, the door was opened again to another man.

"Quit yelling," he demanded and walked in, "You’re disturbing everyone’s work. Would you be quiet?" Vicki was going to reply, but decided against it.

Vicki could only glare up at him now. He walked out again and slammed the door shut. Seconds later, he opened it again, "By the way, later today we’re going to need you to talk your dad into this agreement for us, okay? Thanks." The door shut for the last time, the light above once again glowing dimly in the darkness.

The next morning, C. J. and the brothers took the earliest bus out to Houston. The trip was pretty uneventful. They didn’t receive any more papers or other clues so when they arrived, they weren’t expecting to find anything.

When they all had gotten off the bus, an announcement came over the intercom, "Will a Frank or Joe Hardy please come to the front desk?" The brothers looked at each other before walking over.

"What could this be about," C. J. asked them. Frank and Joe shrugged and continued walking, C. J. following. They reached the front, where Frank told her who they were. The girl behind the desk handed him an envelope.

"Thank you," Frank said, looking at the package strangely, "Do you know who left it?"

"No," the girl replied, "It was left here before I got on duty just a few moments ago. I assumed that someone wanted it delivered and was in too big a hurry to stay."

The three walked to a nearby table and opened the envelope. A paper and small silver key fell out, "What are these for?" The paper didn’t list times like they had expected. Instead, a note had been left. It read:

‘I have left this clue to help you out. You’ll have to find out what it belongs to yourselves, but I don’t think it’ll take you long. Good Luck.’

C. J. took the small key and inspected it, "I would guess it went to a locker in this building. I think I saw some back that way."

"Who knew we were on this ride," Joe asked, "and why leave the key?"

"Perhaps the key leads to the next clue," C. J. suggested, "It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s the only thing I can think of."

"Let’s check it out," Joe said eagerly, "Is there a number on it?" C. J. nodded. The numbers 1-4-7 were etched on it.

They made their way to the small rows of lockers and found the correct number. The key was inserted and turned inside. A soft click was heard and they pulled the locker open. Inside, a piece of folded paper was seen!