CHAPTER 15
Frank Hardy slammed down the phone, and started pacing. Oh, no. What am I going to do? How could I possibly rescue Callie and Phil, and try not to endanger Liz's life at the same time? He never felt so helpless in his life – not knowing what to do, while Morris was happily in a process of torturing Callie, and Phil.
His hands balled into tight fists just thinking about it. He remembered too well about Morris's 'toys'. The electrocution, the thumbscrews, the rack…A wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him when he recalled what he had gone through when Morris had kidnapped him. He was quite lucky that Morris didn't use the thumbscrews or the rack on him. He could only hope that Morris had said that just to frighten him.
Callie and Phil don't deserve this. It's all my fault. I should at least tell Phil about the chip. Stop whining!
He knew he had to be calm and think carefully. He glanced at his wristwatch and groaned inwardly. Five hours before midnight, he thought. Five hours of endless waiting – and suffering.
He took out the chip from his pocket. He couldn't help giving it a scowl for starting this whole mess.
"You're nothing but a worthless piece of trouble," he told the chip angrily. He felt like flinging it as far as the end of the galaxy, when his mother suddenly appeared at the doorway of the dining room.
"Aren't you eating, Frank?" his mother asked curiously.
"I'll be there," he replied vaguely as he casually pocketed the chip.
His mother still hadn't backed away. "Are you all right? I heard you shouting a minute ago," she asked worriedly.
"It's okay, Mom. Just false alarm," he forced a smile. He wouldn't want his mother to get worried over him – not now.
"Okay, honey," his mother replied before giving him one last look and returned to the dining room.
When Frank came back for dinner a moment later, his appetite had depleted. But he made a big show of focusing on his dinner.
"Who was that on the phone?" Joe asked him.
"Wrong number," he fibbed. Frank could feel Joe's eyes stabbing him with a disbelief look from across the table, but Joe didn't press further, much to his relief. He would have to tell his brother about it after dinner.
But after dinner, Joe immediately went to the bathroom for his shower, while Mrs. Hardy prepared the guest room for Liz. Frank was forced to wait until Joe was done.
"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Joe demanded when he stepped out of the bathroom a while later. He was surprised to see Frank, and Liz in his room. Liz was sitting at his desk. Frank was pacing like a caged tiger. And Joe was embarrassed – especially in front of Liz. He was only clad with a towel around his waist. He couldn't do anything but clutched the towel protectively.
"Oh, boy. Sorry, Joe, but Frank wants to speak to all of us – ASAP," Liz replied, reddening in embarrassment.
Joe rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Really, Frank, you should have given me an advance notice before picking my room."
"Sorry, but we've got an emergency," Frank told him anxiously.
Liz was about to get up when Joe stopped her. "Don't worry, I'll go and change in Frank's room," he told her and quickly grabbed his clothes from the dresser before disappearing behind the bathroom door.
Joe came back a few minutes later in his clean jeans and T-shirt, toweling his damp blond hair.
"So, what's up?" he asked, sitting on his bed.
"Phil and Callie have been kidnapped," Frank announced simply.
Joe shot up from his bed. "What?" He wondered if his ears were functioning correctly after his shower. Maybe the water had clogged his ears.
Frank quickly explained about the phone call, and relayed the message he had received from Morris.
"This doesn't sound good at all," Joe remarked thoughtfully. "We can't jeopardize Liz's life."
"We can't let Callie and Phil die, either," Frank retorted.
"I think we should just do what they want," Liz suggested plaintively. "After all, this is all my fault. I started the whole thing. I shouldn't have hidden the chip in the first place."
Joe was about to protest, but Frank cut him off.
"We have no choice, Joe," he told him matter-of-factly, even though he hated as much endangering Liz's life.
"But what about Dad? He would want to know what you've done to the chip," Joe pointed out.
"I'll save for that later," Frank replied. He didn't care about the consequences at the moment. All he could think about now was saving Callie and Phil.
"We can't let Morris and his goons get away for this," Joe still protested. "We should have backups just in case if anything goes wrong."
Frank sighed in frustration. "Why do you pick such a bad time to be cautious, and levelheaded now?"
"Because every time something happens to Callie, you never think straight!" Joe retorted. "This time we'll do it my way!"
"But –"
"No buts," Joe held up his hand to stop him. "I might not be that good in planning strategies, but we'll do as Morris says, and I'm going to be there, too – in my own way."
"But –"
"Nope."
"Joe, th–"
"I'm not listening."
"Wh–"
"End of discussion."
Liz shook her head in amazement. "I bet stubbornness runs in this family, huh?"
***
The Bayport Park was a small park, which was situated almost at the outskirt of town. Half of the area actually was a landscape garden, built in the late 19th century by an English nobleman. Since then, it had been one of Bayport's attractions. The recreational park didn't get built till the early 1950s.
But Joe Hardy didn't have time to pay much attention to the garden as he parked the van across the road from the main entrance. From this distance, he could observe the meeting without getting caught. He pulled out his infrared binoculars from the glove compartment.
Joe had decided to be at the park half an hour earlier, so that he could scout around the area to find the best place to hide the van, and observe the exchange at the same time.
Frank, who was sitting next to Joe, tried not to glance at the clock every second before the meeting. The few hours had been like eons. Now he could understand how Joe felt about waiting. He felt he should be able to do something while waiting. Something that he could do to save Callie and Phil.
Ten minutes before the meeting, Frank and Liz got out of the van and headed toward the park. First bench on the right, Frank recalled what Morris had told him. Woods covered mostly on the right side of the park, and he found the particular bench just in front of it, under a canopy of red-turning leaves that carved the luminous night sky like black and red crochet. A single streetlight at the entrance helped illuminated the front of the park.
Liz looked nervous. She clutched her jacket tighter around her against the cold night air.
"What time is it now?" she suddenly asked Frank.
He glanced at his wristwatch. "Eleven fifty-five."
"I hope it'll go smoothly," she said, almost to herself than Frank.
"Me, too."
They had planned to give the chip to Morris after he released Callie and Phil. And Joe would be ready for Morris to rescue Liz. But Frank wasn't sure if Morris would be coming alone; even though Joe had assured him he had it under control, whatever that means.
"I still feel guilty about the whole thing though," Liz admitted.
"You didn't know this would happen," Frank told her.
"But I was one of the people creating the chip," she pointed out. "And now it's a fair game by people like Massalski, and the government."
"Some people would exploit others for their own sinister intentions, and you and your colleagues were deceived by Mr. Garcia's false motives. It's not your fault."
Before she could say anything, a dark sedan suddenly pulled up in front of the entrance. A man in dark clothes came out of the car. He glanced around before walking slowly toward them.
Frank tensed and braced himself up against the newcomer. There was no way Joe could handle Morris. The man had brought his goons. One was the driver, and maybe one more in the passenger seat. And what about Phil and Callie? Were they in the car? He hadn't heard them calling out in panic or anything. Could this be a trap? Or had Morris killed them? Stupid, stupid me, why didn't I think of this before?
"Good, both of you are here," the man said crisply. Even though Frank hadn't seen his face the last time, he still could recognize Morris's deep, smooth voice. But this time the man didn't bother hiding his face – he was about in his late thirties with dark crew cut hair, and dark eyes. He was a few inches shorter than Frank, but stockier.
Then Liz gasped when Morris pulled up something from his jacket. It was a .44 Magnum revolver. And it was pointing directly at Frank.
"What are you doing? This isn't part of the deal," Frank Hardy said calmly to Morris as the man trained his weapon on him.
"There's been a change of plan. Like I said, I don't play by your rules," Morris replied with a twisted smile.
"Where are Callie and Phil?" Frank demanded.
"Got 'em tucked somewhere," he replied cryptically.
Frank didn't think he liked the sound of Morris's tone of voice. But he must do whatever it takes to get them back safely.
"You mean they're not here?" Liz asked. Her voice was slightly shaky.
"Do you see them?" Morris sneered.
Frank clenched his hands into fists, fingers digging into his flesh until his knuckles turned white. "Then where are they?"
"Sorry, time's over," Morris's voice turned cold. He swiftly pulled the trigger and shot Liz and Frank point-blank.