"Grrugh," Joe grunted, unable to keep completely quiet at the contact. He moved his arm. It hurt like the dickens but at least he was sure it was back where it belonged. But there was more pain. Unnoticed before, he looked at his hands. The thing he had been holding onto had been overflowing with briars and his hand was bleeding almost profusely by now. Knowing he couldn't waste any more time, he tucked his hand under his arm and applied pressure to it as he turned back toward the road and began his trek home; planning on keeping to the underbrush beside the road this time even if it meant going at a slower pace.
"Any luck?" Fenton asked as Frank walked into his office followed by Biff, Chet, Tony and Phil. "What happened?" he demanded in concern.
Frank told his father about the trap. "But we did get one of them: Kent Gaines," Frank continued. "He wouldn't talk to us but the police are still trying to get something out of him."
"I think I will head down and listen in," Fenton said, rising from his chair. "Are all of you boys going to help?" he asked, looking at the new faces in this play.
"Yes, Sir," Chet answered for all of them.
"Good," Fenton replied, smiling. He was glad his sons had such loyal friends. ""I found out where the next robbery is going to take place." He lifted some papers from his desk and handed them to Frank. "This is a layout of the warehouse. I want you to familiarize yourself with the set-up, especially the exits. We'll be staking the place out tonight."
"But what if we don't have Joe back by then?" questioned Phil.
"They have Joe," Fenton stated. "Catching them is the only way we will get him back."
"How can you be sure?" asked Frank. "It is possible it was someone else. I mean, no one has actually said anything."
"The lead I was checking out this morning paid off," Fenton said. "Donald Thompson was involved with the robberies. That is how I know which warehouse is being hit tonight. He gave a full confession when we threatened to implicate his wife as an accessory."
"Was she?" asked Frank.
"I don't think so," Fenton answered. "But Thompson didn't want his wife involved in the actual proceedings at all. Anyway, he admitted that Joe is a prisoner of theirs although he couldn't tell me where Joe was being kept. He said Joe had been taken to the summer home of a friend of one of the gang's members. That was all he knew."
Fenton had been gone for less than thirty minutes before the phone rang. "Hardy residence," answered Frank.
"Frank, it's me," Joe said.
"Joe! Are you all right? Where are you?" Frank demanded, grasping the phone tightly.
"I'm at Bayport General," Joe answered. "I got away and flagged down a car but I kind of got hurt in the process. It isn't too serious but they need an adult here before they can take care of me."
"I'm on my way," Frank promised. "Wait here for dad," he told his friends. "Tell him Joe's at Bayport General but I should be bringing him back home in a bit."
Frank was surprised to see his father's car pull into the hospital parking lot directly in front of him. "Dad, how did you find out?" asked Frank, parking the van and running to catch up with his father.
"The hospital reported it to the police station," Fenton said. "Once your brother is released, I have to take him to the station to file a report. How did you find out?"
"Joe called," Frank answered, as they entered the emergency room.
"We're here to see Joe Hardy," Fenton said at the receptionist's area. "I'm his father."
The nurse handed Fenton a clipboard and pen. "You can fill that out after you have seen him," she said kindly. "Just go through those doors. He's in the first room on the left."
"No," Joe was saying as Fenton and Frank neared the room. "I can't have a transfusion. It's against my religion."
"But you have lost a lot of blood," the doctor ordered.
"I can't..." Joe began to object again but stopped speaking when his dad and Frank entered the room.
"Yes, you can," Fenton declared, not looking at Joe. "Just be sure that the transfusion is from donated blood, not one on one."
"That's the strangest stipulation of religious beliefs I have ever heard of," the doctor said, shaking his head. "But that's what we were planning on doing anyway."
After the doctor departed to make the arrangements Fenton looked at Joe. "Religious beliefs?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. He continued without giving Joe a chance to explain. "I'm guessing you're worried about catching AIDS or something," he said. "But they screen the blood so you don't have to worry."
"That's good," Joe said, relieved that his father hadn't demanded to know why he had been refusing the transfusion. He had been thinking of the transfusions Frank had given him and wasn't going to chance giving someone else the curse he now wore.
"I had better go call the guys and tell them they can go home," Frank said.
"Tell them to meet back at the house at eight," Fenton told Frank before he left.
"Eight?" asked Joe. "Are we going somewhere?"
"Your brother, friends and I are going to stakeout the next warehouse," Fenton said. "You are going home and to bed to recuperate."
"How is Vanessa? Is she mad?" asked Joe before his dad could make his exit.
"No," Fenton assured Joe. "She doesn't remember anything. But I know she will feel better once she knows you are okay and are going to stay that way by remaining home tonight."
"Fine, I can see I am definitely not going on the stakeout," Joe said. "But can we stop off somewhere before we go home?" he pleaded. "I'm starving."
At ten till eight the doorbell rang and Frank opened the door to allow his friends entry into the house. Fenton issued final instructions before turning to Biff. "Joe is upstairs in bed," he said. "He was exhausted. Turn the alarm on after we leave and keep it on. If you hear something, don't check it out yourself. Call the police."
"Yes, Sir," agreed Biff.
After everyone left, Biff flipped on the alarm and went upstairs to check on Joe. Reaching the top of the steps he bent over and grunted when a fist connected with his stomach. Before he could straighten up on his own, he was yanked by the arm and dragged into Joe's bedroom.
Joe sat up in surprise as the light flashed on and Biff fell onto the foot of his bed.
"We only need the Hardy brat," said one of the intruders. "Let's eliminate the waste now," he added, aiming his gun at Biff.