Not long after dawn broke in Black’s Forest, Callie and Joe tentatively approached the edge of the fast-flowing stream. It had not been terribly difficult to locate as the rush of the water coursing along could be heard from some distance away. Callie had managed to sleep for several hours with Joe silently guarding her throughout the night. Now they had followed the instructions left in the note.

‘I don’t see anyone,’ hissed Callie, standing with her back to Joe’s.

‘Just look and listen,’ Joe told her, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of life.

‘Well good morning, Joe! Good morning, Callie!’ a male voice rang out from across the water. Startled, Joe and Callie turned to face the tall, rugged man who was emerging from the undergrowth.

‘I trust you had a comfortable night together. I know Callie’s not really your type, Joe, but you have to admit she’s pretty.’

‘Where are our friends?’ Joe demanded, his shoulders tensed and his fists clenched. This man’s over-confident manner unnerved him. He seemed to be enjoying himself too much.

‘Come now, Joe!’ the kidnapper admonished him. ‘Aren’t you going to admit how much you enjoyed having Callie all to yourself? It would have been totally fair, you know. Frank and Vanessa have been more than taking advantage of the opportunity to get to know each other more intimately.’

Joe felt his blood boiling inside of him. He didn’t believe a single word of what this creep was saying, but he was enraged and anguished that his brother and girlfriend had been at a sick man’s mercy for more than twenty-four hours.

‘What do you want?’ yelled Joe finally. The man laughed.

‘Temper, temper! I just want what everybody else wants!’ he boomed. ‘To have a little fun. To play some games. You love games, don’t you Callie?’

Callie looked fearfully up at Joe and then ventured a little closer to the water’s edge.

‘Please,’ she implored him. ‘Can’t you just let our friends go? We haven’t done anything to you.’

Erupting into hysterical laughter, the man undid a coil of rope that had been attached to his belt.

‘Oh, I know you can do a lot better than that Callie! You’re not the type to plead so pitifully! Where’s all that fire and brimstone you love to shoot at Joe here? I heard you the other night, getting all prissy and cross with him. You’re pretty to look at, but to be honest, I’m a bit surprised he hasn’t put a gag on you by now!’

The man was manipulating the rope as he called out to them. Joe was becoming increasingly impatient and angry.

‘What’s the point of all this?’ Joe yelled across the water. ‘

‘Well, this new game is all about you making a choice, Joe!’ yelled the man. ‘You can try to follow me back to where I have your friends, or you can play the hero. All you have to decide is whether Callie here is worth the effort!’

Joe barely had time to wonder what he meant. Without warning, the kidnapper twirled the rope above his head. Before either Joe or Callie realised what was happening, it came flying across the stream, roping Callie around the waist. With a savage tug, she was dragged into the raging current. Lunging forward, Joe got his fingertips to the edge of her jacket but couldn’t get enough of a grip to stop her from being pulled in. The kidnapper let go of the rope. Without hesitation, Joe plunged in after Callie.

Callie was screaming, her head disappearing beneath the water’s surface as she was hurtled along. Submerged branches scraped against her bare wrists. She bounced painfully against rocks. She imagined that at any moment she would be dragged to the opposite shore where the kidnapper had stood, but the rope had gone slack. She desperately tried to right herself, but the force of the water was too strong. It was like being in a crazy ride at a water theme park, but this ride was out of control. ‘This is it!’ Callie thought in a panic. ‘This is how I’m going to die!’

Giving no thought to his personal safety, Joe Hardy half swam, half stumbled after Callie. The water was freezing and almost took his breath away. Up ahead of him, he could hear Callie screaming whenever she managed to get her head above the water’s surface. Praying that he wouldn’t break an ankle and be unable to continue, Joe put on a fresh burst of speed. As the stream neared a bend, Callie’s course slowed enough for Joe to catch up. Joe managed to grab hold of one of her flailing arms and gained his footing. It took all of Joe’s strength to stand still, hold on to Callie, and keep his ground with his back against the rush of water. For several moments it was as though they were frozen, neither able to move in case their balance was lost. Gradually drawing Callie closer to him and encircling her waist with one arm, Joe pulled her into a standing position in front of him. He could feel the muscles in his upper body and in the backs of his legs straining. Callie, gasping for breath, gratefully leant back against Joe and grabbed hold of the arm he held her with. She couldn’t speak. The rush of the water was like a deafening roar.

‘We’re gonna move sideways to the bank!’ Joe yelled into her ear over the sound of the water. ‘Baby steps! Okay?’

Callie could only nod slightly in reply. She was shaking badly; a result of the cold water and shock. She willed her numb legs to move in the same direction as Joe’s. The pair gradually inched their way to the bank. Finally, Joe managed to half carry, half drag Callie up onto dry ground. Callie collapsed front first onto the grass, coughing and spluttering. Joe scanned the opposite bank for signs of the kidnapper. As sure that he could be that the man had gone, he slumped down onto his back beside Callie and closed his eyes. Callie finally stopped coughing and rested her head on her arm, looking at the side of her rescuer’s face. In such close proximity, with his eyes shut, hair slicked back from his forehead, and mouth serious, Joe Hardy looked completely different to her. Or perhaps it was because he had just put his own life at risk to save her! As Callie recalled the moment she had felt herself being dragged into the creek, she shut her eyes and shuddered. When she opened them again, she found herself staring straight into Joe’s blue ones.

‘You okay?’ he asked her.

‘Yeah,’ she nodded. ‘A bit cold and bruised, but I’m okay. What about you?’

‘Just great,’ he replied. ‘Nothing like an early morning swim.’ And there was the Joe Hardy Callie knew. Despite the seriousness of their situation, the blue eyes were amused and the corners of his mouth were upturned.

On an impulse, Callie reached across and removed a piece of twig from his hair.

‘Thank you,’ she told him quietly. ‘You saved my life.’

Joe raised his eyebrows, secretly pleased and touched by her sincere gratitude.

‘Well, if I’d have let you drown, Frank would have never let me hear the end of it,’ he said. ‘He IS quite fond of you apparently. Although I think I’m gonna recommend he give you a few swimming lessons ASAP.’

Not giving her time to retort, Joe wearily got to his feet, held his hand out to Callie, and helped her up.

‘Let’s get back to camp,’ he said grimly. ‘We need to come up with a plan.’

…..

After a cold, uncomfortable trek back to their camp, Joe decided the most important thing was to get warm. His own body felt frozen to the core. Callie, he thought, must be freezing, although she hadn’t complained once. In fact, she had said very little on the trek back. Perhaps her tongue was frozen, thought Joe with an inward smile. He had never known Callie to go so long without having a go at him about something!

‘I didn’t bring a spare coat,’ confessed Callie, her teeth chattering. Joe hauled a duffle bag from inside one of their two tents and began dragging out several items of warm clothing.

‘It’s a lucky thing for us that Frank always likes to come prepared for just about anything,’ he muttered. ‘He’s like the world’s oldest boy scout. Here; these tracksuit bottoms and tops should fit you okay. You’ll just have to roll up the legs a bit.’

‘W..w..w..what about you?’ stammered Callie, her lips beginning to turn blue and her teeth chattering. She accepted the clothes gratefully.

‘I’ve got stuff to change into,’ Joe assured her. ‘You change in the tent and I’ll change out here. One of us needs to keep watch in case that loony arrives.’

It was while Callie was turning up the legs of Frank’s tracksuit pants that she noticed the note resting on Frank’s pillow. Swallowing the panic in her throat, she called to Joe.

‘Joe, I think you’d better come in here.’

‘What for?’ hissed Joe. ‘You’re not gonna ask me to zip anything up are you?’

‘Just grow up and get in here quick!’ Callie managed to snap back.

Ducking his head to get into the tent, Joe warily joined her. Callie pointed to the note without saying a word. Joe picked the note up and read it, his eyes narrowing. At her insistence, he read it aloud to Callie:

Joe folded the note and put it into his back pocket. He looked over at Callie whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

‘We’ll find them,’ Joe told her with a conviction he wasn’t sure he felt.

Callie was suddenly hit with the full realization that Frank and Vanessa were in absolutely dire trouble, they had no way of contacting anyone, and it was up to her and Joe to do something.

Joe realised that he was again up against a man with evil intentions and a cunning mind. Instead of fighting the evil with his brother, however, he was going to have to join forces with Callie. Seeing the fear in his brother’s girlfriend’s face, Joe stepped towards her and drew her into an embrace that she did not resist.

‘Don’t worry, Cal,’ Joe told her. ‘We’ll play this guy’s game, but it’s gonna be by MY rules.’