Langford's admission had cleared Joe of the murder charge but he had been unable to give a lead to either McCormick's whereabouts. Frank arrived home shortly after dark. He found both his parents in the living room.

"Where's Vanessa?" Frank asked, coming in and taking a seat across from his parents.

"I sent her home," Fenton replied. "She looked almost as bad as your mother."

"She really loves Joe," Frank told them. He then told them about Langford.

"I'm glad Joe won't have to worry about that," Laura said. "Now if we could only get him back."

"We will, honey," Fenton said, kissing her forehead.

"Dad, can you clear it with Jerry's dad so he can skip school tomorrow?" Frank asked.

"Why?"

"We're out of leads," Frank replied. "Langford is no help. Barnes and Blevins are both dead and neither McCormick can be found," he summed up the situation. "Jerry said he, Brad and Joe were all unconscious for a period of time on their hiking trip. I think that's when this case really began."

"And you want to check out the area," Fenton surmised, nodding his head in agreement. "I'll call Jerry's father now," he said, getting to his feet and going over tot he phone.

"It's all set," Fenton said, a few moments later, hanging up the phone . "Be at his house by dawn," Fenton told Frank.

Laura got up. "I'll go make some dinner," she said. "Then I want you in bed," she told Frank. He nodded his agreement.

Joe had no idea how long he had been left alone, but he was, once again, dry. He had started coughing, or tried to, but he quickly realized coughing with your mouth taped shut was one of the most miserable experiences he had ever encountered. He shivered. He was so cold. He knew the first frost of the year was close at hand. They had been talking about taking care of crops outside during a frost on the news for some time now.

He heard a sound and looked over at the old table. A huge rat was by it's leg, sniffing around for more of the bits of food the McCormicks had dropped earlier. His stomach growled and he closed his eyes. Soon he was asleep.

He awoke with a start sometime later as a large amount of water poured down over his head. "Wake up Sleeping Beauty," Paul said, grinning at him.

Tony was standing beside Joe, an empty bucket in his hands. "We decided it was easier to bring the water to you," he told Joe, setting the bucket down and picking up another. Joe closed his eyes, expecting it to be poured over his head also, but instead Tony stepped in front of Joe and threw it at his chest.

"Get the camera Tony," Paul ordered his brother. Tony stepped over to a back pack lying on the floor and pulled out an instant camera. He took a picture of Joe just as he started his muted coughing.

"Do you smoke?" Paul asked, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Joe glared at him. He lit a cigarette and took a couple of puffs. Smiling, he looked over at Tony. "Bad habit," Paul said to him. "I really should quit." He stooped down in front of Joe and smiled up into Joe's frightened blue eyes. "This might sting a little," he said, pushing the lit cigarette onto the top of Joe's foot. The camera flashed as Joe winced in agony.

Paul stood up and punched Joe in the stomach. The camera flashed and Joe fell backwards. Paul put a foot on Joe's chest and stared down into Joe's eyes, now filled with pain . "One more, I think," he said, and jumped on Joe's chest. Joe saw the camera flash once again before his eyes closed and remained shut.

Paul looked over at Tony. "Leave'em on the the Hardy's doorstep," he instructed. Tony nodded, grabbed the pictures and put them in a manila envelope.

"Help me get him outside," Paul ordered Tony as he got ready to leave. "This chair has had it." The two of them disengaged Joe fromt he chair remains and hauled him outside into the cool night air. They tied him to a tree behind the cabin and went back inside. Picking up their things, they left the cabin and headed back to their car.

Paul dropped Tony off a block from the Hardy household. "Want me to wait?" he asked.

Tony shook his head and got out. "Nah, I'm gonna do some damage before I head in," he replied.

"You're really getting into this," Paul observed, grinning at his brother.

"Hardy killed Dad," Tony responded simply. "He deserves everything he gets," he added, getting out of the car. He closed the door and watched Paul drive off before heading for the Hardy home.

Tony crept into the Hardy's garage. He had decided to leave the envelope after he had finished fixing the brakes on the car he had seen the other Hardy kid driving. He pulled out a flashlight, switched it on and crawled under the car. Twenty minutes later he had finished. He reached for the flashlight but instead dropped the wrench on it and went rolling from under the car. He heard footsteps rushing toward the garage. He quickly got from beneath the car and grabbed the envelope. He rushed outside but stopped in utter amazement when he saw not Fenton and Frank Hardy but several of the Hardy's friends. He dropped the envelope and tried to make a run for it. He crashed through two blond-headed girls, knocking them down and ran toward the street only to be brought down in a tackle by the large blond one.

Hearing the commotion from within, Frank and Fenton left their barely touched dinner and raced outside. Laura phoned the police before following.

Frank reached the group first and stared in surprise. Callie, Phil and Biff had formed a circle around two people on the ground. Lying, face down, was Tony McCormick, and sitting on top of him was Chet Morton.

"He was messing with the brakes," Tony Prito said, coming out of the garage. He had gone in to see what the thug had been up to while Chet tackled the man.

"Where's Joe?" Frank demanded of Chet's captive.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Tony snarled. He started bucking and twisting. "Get this brat off of me."

"You should be under a ton of dirt instead of under Chet," Callie told him. Frank ran forward and grasped Tony's collar, pulling him to his feet as Chet stood up. Frank brought back his fist and belted Tony in the nose. The blood started pouring as Frank brought back his fist for another punch. Fenton rushed forward and grabbed hold of Frank's arm as it started it's forward momentum.

"Why did you do that?" Callie demanded of Fenton. "He deserves it and more."

"If he's unconscious, we can't learn anything from him," Fenton explained, not disagreeing with her.

"No!" a terrified shout interrupted the group. Everyone turned to look at Laura whose face had drained of all color. She looked over at Fenton, and collapsed.