Chapter 3
Frank rose to his shaky feet and looked around, narrowing his eyes against the lights of the mall and street lamps that seemed blindingly bright after the darkness of nowhere. His mind was still very hazy; the loud buzz in his head wouldn't let him concentrate and remember what had happened prior to his waking up on the wet asphalt of the parking lot, shivering from cold.
He put his cold shaking hand on his wet forehead, wishing there was somebody who could tell him what had happened. Suddenly his eyes widened, "Joe?" he called, turning around.
Several people were walking to their cars a little way away from him, but Joe was nowhere to be seen. "Joe?" Frank called louder, forgetting about his headache and shiver and frantically looking around. They were walking to the van when that man hit him.... "Joe, where are you?" Frank shouted.
He was frenetically rushing through the rows of cars, searching for Joe and calling out his name, but the only man to hear his cries was a young police officer.
"Frank? Is that you?"
Frank's heart leapt in hope, but then his spirits feel once again when he saw the speaker, "Jack...." Jack Wilson was an acquaintance of the brothers from the Bayport Police, they met him a few times when working on a case.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"I can't find Joe!" Frank replied, barely able to keep his emotions under control. He briefly told Jack about what had happened.
"Are you okay?" at Frank's nod, the officer took out his walkie-talkie. "Why hasn't anybody seen the attack?" he murmured and then started to talk someone on the other end.
Frank was watching Jack while he talked, anxiety taking the best of him. Joe could have been somewhere here, unconscious or hurt. He looked around the half-empty parking lot again, when he saw no sign of his brother, a chill ran down his spine. He didn't know whether it was from the cold that was making him shiver or from the fear that was creeping into him.
"...it's not only about Chet," he heard Joe's voice in his ears again. "Oh man...." He had completely forgotten about Chet. Frank covered his eyes with his hands, feeling his head get heavy with a bad anticipation. Could his and Joe's disappearances be connected?
"Frank, you okay?" Jack asked, watching the teen.
"No!" Frank replied rather sharply. Seeing the surprised expression on the officer's face, he apologized, "Sorry, Jack. I... I'm just worried."
"The police is on its way," Jack told him. "And security officers of the mall that survey the parking lot are already checking the tapes. We'll find him."
Frank only sniffed, finding no words to reply to that. If he had been more attentive he would have found out that they had been followed and nothing would have happened. He hated thinking about 'would have-s' and 'should have-s', but he just couldn't get rid of this feeling of guilt – if anything happened to Joe he wouldn't forgive himself.
"You're all soaked through," Jack said. "Why don't we go inside? You don't want to catch a cold in this weather."
Glumly admitting he could do nothing at the moment, Frank allowed to lead himself into the building. They were on their way to the mall when a car literally flew into the parking lot and before it halted two people emerged from it. Frank recognized them as Fenton Hardy and Chief Collig, they both ran to him.
"I was there when the Chief was called. What happened?" was the first question Fenton asked. "Are you alright?"
Frank nodded, "Dad... Joe.... I fell and when I came to he was gone. I.... I don't know where he is...." His voice was wavering with guilt, fear and pain.
A look of terror flashed across Fenton's face, "Frank, what happened?"
Barely able to keep his composure, Frank re-told him the story, starting from the call and ending with waking up. "I never got the chance to look at him, when I turned my head to see he just knocked me out and...." He swallowed and put his face into his hands. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I should have..."
"It's alright, Frank," his father hurried to assure him and put his hands on Frank's shoulders. "How do you feel? Does your head hurt?
"Maybe you should see a doctor?" Chief Collig asked.
"What I need is to know where Joe is," Frank replied.
"Let's go watch the surveillance tapes then?" Collig offered.
~~
A few minutes later they entered a spacious room where security officers were watching the activity inside and outside the mall: there were people on the numerous screens, strolling in and out of shops, ordering at fast food restaurants, sitting on benches, walking from and to their cars. Most of the visitors were teens, hanging out with their friends; Frank even recognized a few people from school.
One of the officers rose from his seat and went to the three. "Good evening, I'm officer Coyle," he introduced himself, shaking hands with them all. His eyes stopped on Frank, "I'm sorry we didn't notice anything on the screen."
Frank wondered how he could recognize him if he hadn't noticed anything on his screen, but nodded his head in accepting the apologize – the man's tone was genuine.
"How come no one has seen the attack?" Fenton Hardy demanded, his voice hard.
"The place of the accident was rather far away from the camera and was shadowy," the officer explained and beckoned them to follow him. "Let me show you the tape. But the picture's not too good – dark and indistinct."
He led them to one of the monitors and inserted a videotape into a VCR, Collig, Fenton and Frank came to stand behind him. Officer Coyle pressed some buttons and the screen sprang to life. It showed the parking lot where only cars stood in the dim light of the street lights. A few seconds later two dark figures appeared from the bottom of the monitor, Frank recognized them as himself and Joe. He looked fixedly at what happened next – one of the shadows moved a started after them.
"The picture is not too good, indeed," Collig muttered, watching the upper left corner of the screen.
Frank felt as he was hit again when he saw himself turn around and get the blow into his face before he had a chance to react. His eyes moved to his brother now. Joe, turning around, was already clenching his hand into a fist, but the man was quicker. A second later the attacker lifted him off the ground and blended with the shadows again.
Fenton had to admit it would be hard to notice the attack, yet it couldn't justify the officer – they were hired to make sure nothing happened to visitors in whatever conditions after all!
Frank was still dumbly looking at the screen, where he started to show signs of life. Why hadn't they parked in another place? If they...
"Frank, what about Chet?" his father's voice snapped him off his dismal thoughts.
"He should have been here three or so hours ago," Frank replied, gently touching his aching chin. Chet. Why hadn't they offered Chet a ride?
Officer Coyle readily offered them to view other tapes made earlier. They had to watch four tapes, made from different cameras, until they finally saw the stout figure of Chet Morton crossing the parking lot. At the farthest corner of the monitor he passed a dark sedan when a man stepped out of it. He came to Chet who nodded and lowered his head as if to look at his watch. The next moment the man hit the teen in the face with his fist and Chet fell. The man looked around to check if anyone saw, but no one was around, the picked up the body and carried him to the sedan. Moments later they were gone.
"A few seconds back," Collig told officer Coyle. "His face was turned to the camera for a second."
The officer rewound the tape to the moment when the man looked round.
"Can you zoom?" Fenton asked.
"I can, but I doubt the picture will be clear enough," officer Coyle said and rewound the tape again. He clicked 'pause' at the moment the attacker's face was turned to the camera. He zoomed in, but as he had predicted the picture was blurry. All they could distinguish was dark hair and...
"Isn't it glasses?" Frank said and pointed his finger at scarcely visible thin round lines around the man's eyes, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The other three leaned down to see better. "Looks like it," the Chief had to admit.
Fenton retrieved a sheet of paper from his pocket, Frank recognized it as a printed photo of Newman. His heart stopped for a second when his father compared the picture to the blurry face on the screen. The resemblance was scary.
Frank saw the knuckles on his father face become white as he gripped the photo in his hand. "Show me the car!" he snarled, not caring to keep his emotions under control.
Without saying a word, officer Coyle hit some buttons and the sedan came into view. The car stood in the shadowed place, so they could only see that it was of dark color. It stood too far away from the camera to distinguish the number on the plate.
"Blast it!" Fenton Hardy hissed in frustration.
"I'll make sure they are found, Fenton," Chief Collig said.
"They will be found in three days," he snapped. "But we must find them as soon as possible before that psycho has a chance to touch a hair on my son's head.... I'll kill him if he does, I swear I will..."
Frank felt dread creep into him as the reality of the happening was sinking into his head. Newman, that ruthless murderer, a human butcher as his father had called him, had his brother and his friend.
"I don't get it. Why would he need the both of them?" Collig mused, confused. "Newman never...erm..." he paused, searching for the right word, "he never had two people at a time. What is he up to?"
"I don't know," Fenton Hardy replied, his voice hard, "but Ezra, I want you to do the impossible to find them both before he even starts whatever he's planning for them."
The Chief nodded without saying anything, knowing no words would make either Fenton or Frank feel easier.
Frank rose to his shaky feet and looked around, narrowing his eyes against the lights of the mall and street lamps that seemed blindingly bright after the darkness of nowhere. His mind was still very hazy; the loud buzz in his head wouldn't let him concentrate and remember what had happened prior to his waking up on the wet asphalt of the parking lot, shivering from cold.
He put his cold shaking hand on his wet forehead, wishing there was somebody who could tell him what had happened. Suddenly his eyes widened, "Joe?" he called, turning around.
Several people were walking to their cars a little way away from him, but Joe was nowhere to be seen. "Joe?" Frank called louder, forgetting about his headache and shiver and frantically looking around. They were walking to the van when that man hit him.... "Joe, where are you?" Frank shouted.
He was frenetically rushing through the rows of cars, searching for Joe and calling out his name, but the only man to hear his cries was a young police officer.
"Frank? Is that you?"
Frank's heart leapt in hope, but then his spirits feel once again when he saw the speaker, "Jack...." Jack Wilson was an acquaintance of the brothers from the Bayport Police, they met him a few times when working on a case.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"I can't find Joe!" Frank replied, barely able to keep his emotions under control. He briefly told Jack about what had happened.
"Are you okay?" at Frank's nod, the officer took out his walkie-talkie. "Why hasn't anybody seen the attack?" he murmured and then started to talk someone on the other end.
Frank was watching Jack while he talked, anxiety taking the best of him. Joe could have been somewhere here, unconscious or hurt. He looked around the half-empty parking lot again, when he saw no sign of his brother, a chill ran down his spine. He didn't know whether it was from the cold that was making him shiver or from the fear that was creeping into him.
"...it's not only about Chet," he heard Joe's voice in his ears again. "Oh man...." He had completely forgotten about Chet. Frank covered his eyes with his hands, feeling his head get heavy with a bad anticipation. Could his and Joe's disappearances be connected?
"Frank, you okay?" Jack asked, watching the teen.
"No!" Frank replied rather sharply. Seeing the surprised expression on the officer's face, he apologized, "Sorry, Jack. I... I'm just worried."
"The police is on its way," Jack told him. "And security officers of the mall that survey the parking lot are already checking the tapes. We'll find him."
Frank only sniffed, finding no words to reply to that. If he had been more attentive he would have found out that they had been followed and nothing would have happened. He hated thinking about 'would have-s' and 'should have-s', but he just couldn't get rid of this feeling of guilt – if anything happened to Joe he wouldn't forgive himself.
"You're all soaked through," Jack said. "Why don't we go inside? You don't want to catch a cold in this weather."
Glumly admitting he could do nothing at the moment, Frank allowed to lead himself into the building. They were on their way to the mall when a car literally flew into the parking lot and before it halted two people emerged from it. Frank recognized them as Fenton Hardy and Chief Collig, they both ran to him.
"I was there when the Chief was called. What happened?" was the first question Fenton asked. "Are you alright?"
Frank nodded, "Dad... Joe.... I fell and when I came to he was gone. I.... I don't know where he is...." His voice was wavering with guilt, fear and pain.
A look of terror flashed across Fenton's face, "Frank, what happened?"
Barely able to keep his composure, Frank re-told him the story, starting from the call and ending with waking up. "I never got the chance to look at him, when I turned my head to see he just knocked me out and...." He swallowed and put his face into his hands. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I should have..."
"It's alright, Frank," his father hurried to assure him and put his hands on Frank's shoulders. "How do you feel? Does your head hurt?
"Maybe you should see a doctor?" Chief Collig asked.
"What I need is to know where Joe is," Frank replied.
"Let's go watch the surveillance tapes then?" Collig offered.
~~
A few minutes later they entered a spacious room where security officers were watching the activity inside and outside the mall: there were people on the numerous screens, strolling in and out of shops, ordering at fast food restaurants, sitting on benches, walking from and to their cars. Most of the visitors were teens, hanging out with their friends; Frank even recognized a few people from school.
One of the officers rose from his seat and went to the three. "Good evening, I'm officer Coyle," he introduced himself, shaking hands with them all. His eyes stopped on Frank, "I'm sorry we didn't notice anything on the screen."
Frank wondered how he could recognize him if he hadn't noticed anything on his screen, but nodded his head in accepting the apologize – the man's tone was genuine.
"How come no one has seen the attack?" Fenton Hardy demanded, his voice hard.
"The place of the accident was rather far away from the camera and was shadowy," the officer explained and beckoned them to follow him. "Let me show you the tape. But the picture's not too good – dark and indistinct."
He led them to one of the monitors and inserted a videotape into a VCR, Collig, Fenton and Frank came to stand behind him. Officer Coyle pressed some buttons and the screen sprang to life. It showed the parking lot where only cars stood in the dim light of the street lights. A few seconds later two dark figures appeared from the bottom of the monitor, Frank recognized them as himself and Joe. He looked fixedly at what happened next – one of the shadows moved a started after them.
"The picture is not too good, indeed," Collig muttered, watching the upper left corner of the screen.
Frank felt as he was hit again when he saw himself turn around and get the blow into his face before he had a chance to react. His eyes moved to his brother now. Joe, turning around, was already clenching his hand into a fist, but the man was quicker. A second later the attacker lifted him off the ground and blended with the shadows again.
Fenton had to admit it would be hard to notice the attack, yet it couldn't justify the officer – they were hired to make sure nothing happened to visitors in whatever conditions after all!
Frank was still dumbly looking at the screen, where he started to show signs of life. Why hadn't they parked in another place? If they...
"Frank, what about Chet?" his father's voice snapped him off his dismal thoughts.
"He should have been here three or so hours ago," Frank replied, gently touching his aching chin. Chet. Why hadn't they offered Chet a ride?
Officer Coyle readily offered them to view other tapes made earlier. They had to watch four tapes, made from different cameras, until they finally saw the stout figure of Chet Morton crossing the parking lot. At the farthest corner of the monitor he passed a dark sedan when a man stepped out of it. He came to Chet who nodded and lowered his head as if to look at his watch. The next moment the man hit the teen in the face with his fist and Chet fell. The man looked around to check if anyone saw, but no one was around, the picked up the body and carried him to the sedan. Moments later they were gone.
"A few seconds back," Collig told officer Coyle. "His face was turned to the camera for a second."
The officer rewound the tape to the moment when the man looked round.
"Can you zoom?" Fenton asked.
"I can, but I doubt the picture will be clear enough," officer Coyle said and rewound the tape again. He clicked 'pause' at the moment the attacker's face was turned to the camera. He zoomed in, but as he had predicted the picture was blurry. All they could distinguish was dark hair and...
"Isn't it glasses?" Frank said and pointed his finger at scarcely visible thin round lines around the man's eyes, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The other three leaned down to see better. "Looks like it," the Chief had to admit.
Fenton retrieved a sheet of paper from his pocket, Frank recognized it as a printed photo of Newman. His heart stopped for a second when his father compared the picture to the blurry face on the screen. The resemblance was scary.
Frank saw the knuckles on his father face become white as he gripped the photo in his hand. "Show me the car!" he snarled, not caring to keep his emotions under control.
Without saying a word, officer Coyle hit some buttons and the sedan came into view. The car stood in the shadowed place, so they could only see that it was of dark color. It stood too far away from the camera to distinguish the number on the plate.
"Blast it!" Fenton Hardy hissed in frustration.
"I'll make sure they are found, Fenton," Chief Collig said.
"They will be found in three days," he snapped. "But we must find them as soon as possible before that psycho has a chance to touch a hair on my son's head.... I'll kill him if he does, I swear I will..."
Frank felt dread creep into him as the reality of the happening was sinking into his head. Newman, that ruthless murderer, a human butcher as his father had called him, had his brother and his friend.
"I don't get it. Why would he need the both of them?" Collig mused, confused. "Newman never...erm..." he paused, searching for the right word, "he never had two people at a time. What is he up to?"
"I don't know," Fenton Hardy replied, his voice hard, "but Ezra, I want you to do the impossible to find them both before he even starts whatever he's planning for them."
The Chief nodded without saying anything, knowing no words would make either Fenton or Frank feel easier.