Hiya peeps! I am so, very sorry I haven't been posting recently. I usually try to do a good job when updating, but last week I had bad internet and my device was malfunctioning. I am working on fixing it now and I am gonna post the chapters hopefully around every 2-4 days! =) As I usually say, I do not own the Hardy Boys. Okay, that is enough out of me for now! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Joe awoke in a dark room. If he could move his hands, he would barely be able to see them in front of his face. They were tied behind his back, he realized. So were his feet. He also recalled being gagged.

Joe tried to take in his surroundings the best he could. He figured he was lying on a thin mattress, but he couldn't really see much else. Everything that lead to this point was hazy to him. All he could recall was shouting Kayla's name just before a man burst in the room and gagged him.

Just then, Joe froze. He heard footsteps and whispers coming towards him and a door open. Joe quickly closed his eyes and pretended he was still out cold.

"Where is Victor, we have to go soon," Joe heard Jess say angrily as she was opening the door to the room he was in.

"I have no idea," Patrick grumbled. "We have to get to the bar soon. We only have an hour before we have to get there. Should we leave without him?"

Joe recalled the note that Frank found earlier. He soon realized that, based on the amount of light in the room, the meeting at the bar that he and Frank planned on going to was in the morning, not afternoon! Joe also figured, by what Patrick had said, that it was four a.m. right now.

"Yea we probably should. We don't want to get held up. He is supposed to be looking for that girl who escaped," Jess added. Joe heard her hit the light switch and light flooded through his closed eyes.

"The idiot is still knocked out. Should we just leave him here," Jess wondered.

"No, we should bring him," Patrick explained. "We could tie him up in the truck, so there is no chance he can escape. We don't want what happened before to happen again." Joe felt all eyes piercing through his skull and the tension in the room. He didn't need to have his eyes open to know that the people who stood before him were staring at him.

"Plus," Patrick added, "I think his brother was looking for him. If we bring him, the stupid kid's brother won't be able to find him." Joe felt relieved, despite the man's harsh words, that Frank was looking for him. He trusted his brother with his life and knew Frank would find him.

"Good point," Jess said. "The truck is all loaded. We should leave now. You get him, I'll get the last of the goods."

Joe felt hands grab him under his arms and drag him off the mattress. He also felt his feet being dragged through a hall and down a small flight of stairs. Not wanting to risk being caught awake, he kept his eyes firmly shut. As he was being dragged down the hall, though, he heard a loud thump.

"What was that," Jess whispered frantically.

"I am not sure, but I think it is coming from in there," Patrick replied. Then the group heard a muffled shout.

"I think that is a person," said Patrick.

"Yea, no duh," Jess retorted sarcastically. "But who?" They heard another loud, muffled shout and another thump. Then, what Joe assumed was a door, flew open. He dared to take a peek. Inside the supply room, was a gagged and bound Victor!

Jess and Patrick both shouted, "Victor!" Patrick dropped Joe roughly on the floor and rushed to untie Victor along with Jess.

They were not focusing on Joe, and he figured it would be the perfect time to escape, but he wanted to see what was in the truck and what the meeting was going to be about. He did take this as an opportunity to open his eyes and see what was going on, though.

"What happened to you," Jess wondered after taking off Victor's gag.

"Some stupid boy tricked me then attacked me," said Victor. "I would have got him, but then the girl who escaped knocked me out," he exclaimed while rubbing his head dramatically.

A sense of relief rushed through Joe. "Kayla escaped," he thought to himself.

Patrick looked suspicious. "Did this boy have brown hair and brown eyes?"

Victor groaned, "What does that matter?"

"Just tell me," Patrick shouted. Joe waited for Victor's answer anxiously.

"Uh-yeah, I think so."

Joe let out a sigh of relief. Now he knew for sure that Frank was looking for him and that Kayla escaped.

"No! You imbeciles! I warned you! That is the boy's brother!"

"Ugh! Forget it! We are going to be late! Just grab the boy and let's go," Jess exclaimed. Joe quickly shut his eyes again.

"Right," Patrick said and Joe felt the hands grab his arms again. After a few feet of being dragged, Joe heard Patrick exclaim, "Well, I could use some help!" Another set of hands grabbed Joe's feet and now he was being carried a few feet above the ground.

After what felt like forever, as Joe was a very impatient person, they reached the truck. He was tossed into the back and he felt the ropes that were holding his feet and hands together get tied tighter. Joe tried not to make a pained face, but the ropes were practically cutting into his skin. Finally Victor, Jess, and Patrick left to get into the front of the truck.

Joe opened his eyes once he felt the truck start to move. When he did, his eyes widened, shocked. All around him were boxes and boxes of what he assumed were stolen goods and jewerly!

He then turned his attention to the problem at hand. "Thinking is usually Frank's area of expertise," he mumbled to himself. His bonds were pretty tight, and after a few minutes of struggling and two bloodied wrists, he gave up.

"There has to be another way out of this," he figured. He looked around the truck for something that might be able to help him. His eyes rested on a glass jewelry box. He inched his way closer to it, then knocked it off of the crate it was resting on. The box broke into multiple sharp glass shards as the jewelry inside of it flew out. He then carefully reached for one with one of his bound hands.

"Yes," he thought triumphantly as he grasped the end of a shard. He then used it to cut the bonds on his hands. Once his hands were free, he untied his feet.

After he freed himself, he rubbed his sore wrists with satisfaction. All of a sudden though, the truck lurched to a halt, sending Joe tumbling backwards. He groaned as he got up, but went silent when he heard voices.

"It is 4:45," he heard Jess say as she and her group walk past the back of the truck. "The buyers are gonna be here in 15 minutes."

"Okay," Patrick added. "We should get seats and watch to see when they get here. After the meeting, the plan is to show them the goods in the truck."

"Then we have to get-" Joe heard Victor's voice fade away. When he was sure that they were gone, he pried open the back of the truck, silently praying that his captors didn't see him. Luckily, they didn't.

Joe looked around at the bar. It was very crowded (despite it being five in the morning) and smelt strongly of alcohol. The front door was lit up with neon lights and had the special of the day, including which band was playing. He also noticed there was an alley in between this building and the next. Joe knew there were pro's and con's of having 'bad guy meetings' (as he liked to call it) in packed areas like these. On one hand, people could easily see or hear what is happening. On the other hand, they would be harder to spot and they could blend in easier. These particular people were probably doing the latter.

Joe observed a window right at the front of the building, which he crouched under and peered into. The people around him were probably staring at him, but he didn't care. He was busy looking for Jess and her gang. He then saw three other, rather large looking men, sitting at the table around them. They seemed to be in the middle of a heated discussion. Once he noticed them though, he saw a familiar looking face sitting only a booth away from the men, listening to their conversation intently.

It was Frank.

Joe stared at Frank shocked. He was elated to see his brother, but this quickly faded when he saw that a man in Jess's party noticed Frank. He stood up and walked over to him. Joe gulped when this man grasped Frank firmly by the arm and walked him out the back door and into the deserted alley. Joe got even more nervous when he saw something that Frank had not yet seen.

There was a gleaming blade in the man's pocket!

Hii! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! It was refreshing to write it after so long not being able to! Yay! Joe is okay! But will Frank be... Thank you to all who are reading my story! I would also like to add...HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY! That is, if it is April Fools Day where you live. If it isn't, Happy April Fools Day anyway! Hope you all get a good laugh today or any day. I am sure we all need it. :D Bye for now!