There were about two dozen or more men in the room. Joe held back from smacking all of them in the nose.
Everyone grabbed some refreshments (Joe gladly helped himself) then sat at the dining table.
Once organized, Emperor spoke, "We're going to go around and speak our names, and the girl's names, ages, and why you want to trade or sell them." He pointed towards a man, who told of a thirty-year-old woman he kidnapped. For an hour, Joe listened to all the people boast about their treasure. Right before it got to Frank, a man of 32 years spoke.
"I'm PirateoftheCaribbean. Ya'll can just call me Pirate. I caught a real pretty girl. She's eighteen or so, has short, brown hair, and is really… satisfying." Gag. "I wanna trade her because I am suspected of kidnapping her."
One man called from the opposite end of the table, "I call dibs. What's her name?"
The man smiled and answered, "Callie Shaw."
Frank Hardy's heart froze in place. He had not talked to Callie in months. He had no idea she was... Oh, my god. Frank was bewildered and taken aback.
Joe eyed his brother and gave him a stare, which read Don't give us away. Frank sat on his hand in order to keep from strangling the man beside him.
"Next!"
The teen broke from his daydream as the Emperor yelled at him. "Oh yeah. Well, we also got a real good one. Her name is Amy Johnson. My friend and I took her about two weeks ago from Los Angeles. We can't keep her, because... uh... well, we got bored with her."
Joe looked as though he was straining a straight face. "She's also eighteen, has strawberry-blonde hair, really cute, and a big bonus: she's blind." There were definite looks of approval around the room. The Hardys listened for another hour or so as everyone explained their women. Frank didn't bother listen. All he thought about was Callie. He had missed her, and now he was frightened for her.
The Emperor stood up and smiled. "Now that we have heard our options, we will go back to join our guests. There are blank pieces of paper beside each girl. That is where you will put down what you will pay for her or what girl you will give for her. You may talk to them, whatever. You can trade girls all over the place." This guy is mental! Bidding for girls! Joe inhaled very deeply. "Come, let us meet them."
All men went, no, ran, for the door. Once inside, Frank looked around for Callie. He couldn't find her. He walked around for a few moments, then spotted a brunette. There you are! He ran over to the girl. She looked terrible. Scars and bruises decorated her face. She looked tired more than anything.
Someone was already bidding on her. He looked up at Frank, then left. The man had written a name. "Katie Strathmore." He recognized the girl's name. She was sweet, but not what these kidnappers really wanted.
His eyes met Callie's, and he used every drop of self-control not to hug her. Her eyes met his, and she brightened. But Frank looked sternly at her, telling her to not show any sign of recognition.
Frank grabbed a pen, and stated. "So, you're Callie?" The girl did not answer. "How did you get here?"
"Juan Jackson kidnapped me a few months ago." Juan Jackson. Frank remembered doing a case on him. He had kidnapped a baby girl, but was caught. The ten years in jail probably hadn't done him any good.
"I guess you really haven't been treated well. How would you like to come visit San Francisco with me?" He winked at her. There were men standing around the girls, so whispering wasn't an option.
She gave him a look. "You are gross."
Frank touched her cheek. "So what?" The teen scribbled, Amy Johnson on the paper, then walked off. Frank watched a group of men crowd around Nancy, all bidding high for her.
After an hour, Joe was amazed at the prices people were bidding for girls. But many girls weren't getting bided at all. And what happened to girls that didn't get bought? They were killed. So Joe spent his day bidding on everyone who wasn't getting any bids. He decided to use money, and wrote $100 on 34 pieces of paper. He could afford it, but would have a lot of car washing to do to get the money paid off. The more women he got, the more were safe. On the other pieces of paper (those of the girls that had been bided on) he wrote a higher price then what the previous kidnapper had written. He bided high on every girl, except Nancy. He was determined to get them all, even if he ended up broke in the process. When he totaled it up, he owed $7,670.
At the end of that day, Joe had received 49 girls. For THAT day. People would continue bidding throughout the trip. Joe was very pleased. This would be a chance to get everyone's trust. But he had to do it in a way without letting it slip that he was not a kidnapper. Some of the women might squeal. But how would he do that?
I will tell the older women, he decided. That way he could gain their trust, and they could reassure the children. That night, while he spoke to the older of the group, Frank was talking with Callie.
Don't blow it, Joe wanted to tell his brother. He couldn't blame Frank for being upset. But he couldn't fall behind on the case.
It was always harder on a plan when it got personal.
The next day…
Nancy listened as the men laughed. Several of the kidnappers had gotten together to play poker. Once in the room, they all acted unusual... as though they knew each other.
"That stinkin' teenager got, like, all the girls. How did he get so much money?"
"He wants all the girls, the greedy kid. Too bad that's not going to happen." The six men howled with laughter. Even though it was a pretty normal comment, Nancy thought it sounded a little odd.
"Truth be told, I think he just wanted to show us he's rich." Nancy heard the sound of chips being tossed around.
"Well, that's good. Then we know who to go after." Nancy froze. Go after? "Imagine those guys' faces when he turns up dead!" The men hooted. Dead! Nancy wriggled uncomfortably. She would have to warn Joe!
"Amy, what do you think I should I play?" Nancy figured one of the men was holding his cards in front of her face. Again, the men laughed. Nancy hated tolerating their stupidity.
After a few moments, one man spoke. "I'm getting bored. Why don't we just kill the dude right now?"
Another man answered, "Because he's with all those girls." There was the sound of a chair sliding, followed by footsteps. "Not for long!" Several noises came, which Nancy figured were the men, getting up and getting their guns.
"C-c-can I come?" Nancy did all she could not to yell.
"You don't want to witness this, babe." A man joked.
"But I can't see," she pretended to act stupid. They chuckled, and one man said,
"Sure. Get 'er up." Nancy felt two strong arms pull her to her feet. She was slowly dragged out of the room, and into the hallway.
It felt like eternity until Nancy was pushed to the floor. She felt soft padding on the ground. They were back in the gym. Nancy heard Joe yelling at the girls, some of whom cried.
"Hey," Joe was called to the group. "We need to talk to you."
Nancy panicked. Think, Nancy, think! Before they had gotten to the island, Joe talked about a code. If she scratched the back of her ear, that meant she needed his attention. If he coughed, that meant he was watching her. From there, she would do sign language. Nancy dearly hoped none of the people there understood signing.
She scratched the back of her ear for almost three minutes until she heard Joe cough. Nancy put her hands behind her back, so no one could see her hands but Joe, and quickly signed, They are going to kill you! Though she didn't know it, Joe's eyes widened.
Calmly he spoke to the group, "Sure, we'll talk. Go ahead."
"Not here," a gruff voice came from Pirate. "Outside."
Joe hesitated. "Why not here?"
Pirate grew impatient. "Because we don't want the girls to hear." There was a silence, and Nancy knew Joe was thinking.
"So, are you coming?" Pirate challenged Joe. Something happened there. It took Nancy a couple seconds to realize that Pirate had pulled a gun on Joe.
"Okay, okay, chill out." Poor Joe was forced to go with them. The men left, forgetting Nancy. Please don't kill him, please don't kill him...
Bam! The gunshot echoed through the halls, ending all noise completely.
