The door shut and locked behind Joe's unknown attacker. Joe lay still for several minutes before rising shakily to his feet. Sore, but feeling nothing broken, he climbed the steps to the first floor. After checking the knob to see if it would turn, he pulled up his pants leg and removed a nail file, which had been filed down in places to resemble the fittings of a key. Joe knelt by the lock and inserted the file. A minute later, the lock sprang open and Joe opened the door.

Joe made his way to the restroom and quickly repaired his disguise. Either Freddie or Steve had just tried to kill him and he intended to find out why.

Joe left the restroom and headed back to the second floor. He had just picked up his hammer when Steve came into the office looking for him. "Ah, there you are," Steve said, smiling at Joe. "It's almost over and..."

Steve's last words were lost as Joe leapt to his feet and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him up against the wall. "Why did you just try to kill me?" Joe demanded, his voice low and gutteral.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Steve managed to wheeze.

"You didn't tell Freddie for me to meet you in the sub-basement a few minutes ago?" Joe demanded.

"No," Steve croaked. Joe glared at him. "Honest."

Believing him, Joe released his throat and stepped back. "Then it was Freddie who tried to kill me," Joe declared.

"We're all getting together at Peter's again tonight," Steve told Joe, a frown on his face. "We'll make Freddie explain then."

"We?" Joe asked, lifting an eyebrow in question.

"You said Freddie said I wanted to see you," Steve reminded Joe. "That means he was trying to blame me for trying to kill you." He looked at Joe questioningly. "What did he do to you anyway?"

"He shoved me down the steps toward the boiler," Joe replied grimly.

"So, if you hadn't caught yourself, you would have hit the boiler and gotten seriously burned if not worse," Steve observed as he was leaving.

But he hadn't caught himself, Joe thought, going back to work. If he had been pushed harder, and he was positive Freddie could have, then Steve was right. Had Freddie just wanted to scare him? And if so, why?

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Frank returned home and told his father about his conversation with Joe. "Good, good," Mr. Hardy said, rubbing his hands together. "We can build on that. I'm setting up a file with the CIA on Jim Daniels. He is going to be as slick as Andrew claimed Peter was," he added. He picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to Frank. "This is all I could come up with on Peter Carruthers."

Frank looked at the fax his father had handed him. Peter Carruthers had received three parking tickets and one speeding ticket in his life. He had also been arrested for participation in a riot to allow MTV to be seen on campus while he was in college. The time served was brief, tweny-four hours, as the college had dropped all charges and re-installed the channel.

"This is it?" Frank asked, looking back up and returning the paper to his father. "This isn't worth shaking a stick at."

"Right," agreed Mr. Hardy. Then he handed Frank another FAX. "This, however, is a list of suspected activities, none of which could be proven."

This FAX listed such crimes as espionage and sabotage against the USA. Frank gave a low whistle. "If we can nab him for the theft at Hanover and/or the attempted selling of the documents of an actual aircraft, then they would throw the book at him."

Mr. Hardy nodded his head in agreement. "Let me finish with Joe's cover and then you can call Biff," he said. "Then I want you to go back to Hanover's and see if he knows what Peter Carruthers has against him."

Frank went to his room to dispense with his disguise while his dad worked on Joe's cover. When he had finished, he returned to his father's office. "Dad," Frank said as he entered. "I have an idea."

Mr. Hardy looked up at his son expectantly. Frank took a chair in front of his dad's desk and leaned forward. "If we could get Freddie, Steve and Greg out of the way, we could concentrate on the stolen DOD contract."

"What did you have in mind?" Mr. Hardy inquired.

"We know Carruthers is planning on laying the blame on those three but we don't know how," Frank began. "Freddie already wants to turn state's evidence. What if he could convince Steve and Greg to confess before Carruathers and the others finish what they are doing? Then Carruthers won't have any place to lay the blame."

"Go on," Mr. Hardy encouraged Frank. "We'll have the CIA pick up Freddie. He'll talk and that will give them a reason to pick up the other two. When they realize they could get in trouble as traitors, I'm sure they'll tell everything. We have the virus as evidence. We just have to find the accounts they have put their shares of the money in and that should be easy for the CIA," he concluded.

"That isn't a bad idea," Fenton congratulated him. "And Joe's cover will help immensely."

"How so?" Frank queried.

"If Joe could let slip the CIA has a file on him, then that might shake them up and at the same time make Carruthers trust him," Mr. Hardy stated.

"He might even decide to pin the whole thing on Joe," Frank said thoughtfully, understanding where his father was going.

"Which would be perfect," Mr. Hardy said. "If he tries to pin it on Joe and it doesn't work out, which it couldn't with the CIA knowing about Joe's cover, then Carruthers would have to be indicated in this case."

"Unless he puts it on Ardenholdt, Jeff and the Simmons'," Frank pointed out.

Mr. Hardy smiled. "I've got an idea about those," he said.

"Oh?" Frank asked with the lift of an eyebrow.

"That's what I'm working on today," Mr. Hardy said and handed Frank a sheet of paper. "Go call Biff and then head over to Hanover's."

Frank took the paper and left his father's office. He stopped by the phone in the hall and called Thompson Security and asked to speak to Biff Hooper. A couple of minutes later, Biff answered. "Hello," he said into the receiver as he lifted it to his ear.

"Biff, I've got Joe's cover set up. Give it to him and tell him he needs to let slip he has a profile with the CIA," Frank said.

"Will do," Biff promised. "Let her rip."

Frank read from the sheet in his hand, "James Daniels, orphan and suspected terrorist."

"Terrorist?" Biff interrupted.

Frank silently read down the paper he held and grinned. "Yeah, Dad's got Joe set up so he could sell the aircraft once it's been assembled or just the parts," he explained. "Jim Daniels has been associated with terrorists in different countries but more recently, he has been seen in Iran. No one has been able to pin anything on him and he hasn't been seen in almost four months. He was reported killed in Iran in a bombing."

"Killed?" Biff asked.

"I guess that is so he could get a job with security clearance," Frank replied. "He would have had to obtain a new social security number, but as a terrorist, that would be no problem."

"You are talking like Jim is a real person," Biff commented with a grin.

"Until this case is over, he is," Frank replied earnestly. "I'm leaving for Hanover's now, but if you need me, I'll have my cell phone."

"Gotcha," Biff replied. "I'll talk to Joe as soon as I can," he promised before hanging up.

Frank arrived at Hanover Industries a little over an hour later. He went straight to Hanover's office and met Marcia at her desk.

"Hello," Marcia greeted Frank, standing up as he came closer.

"Hi," Frank returned the greeting. "I need to see your husband. We've found out who is behind your problem."

"That's great news!" she enthused. "Why aren't you happier?"

"Do you mind if we discuss this with your husband present?" Frank asked her with an apologetic smile. "Then I won't have to keep repeating myself."

"Oh, of course," she said, then led the way into Doug's office. "Darling," Marcia said as she and Frank entered the office. "The Hardys have found the culprits."

"Marvelous!" Doug boomed, standing up and coming over to shake Frank's hand in greeting. "Who is it?"

"Do you know a Peter Carruthers?" Frank asked. Doug's smile faded and Marcia let out a gasp of surprise. "You do know him," Frank observed. "How?"

"Peter is my ex-husband," Marcia answered Frank. "I started going out with Doug a couple of months before our divorce finalized."

"That would explain the personal vendetta," Frank said thoughtfully.

"Excuse me?" Doug asked for clarification.

Frank explained about the plot to get Doug in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service via the computer virus.

"I don't believe it," Marcia said, shocked. "I'm so sorry," she apologized to Doug, her eyes bright.

"Ssh," Doug said, going over and taking her in his arms. "You've nothing to be sorry for," he told her, taking her chin in his hand and lifting her face so that she was looking into his eyes. "No one has any control over what Peter does, except Peter," he said firmly.

"But..." she began, but he put a finger to her lips and silenced her.

"Not another word," Doug insisted and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He turned back to Frank, still holding his wife close. "And he is behind everything?"

Frank nodded. "The First National Bank was robbed as a cover to set-up and transfer funds to a special account in your name."

"When are you going to arrest him?" Doug inquired.

"Hopefully, today or tomorrow," Frank replied.

"Hopefully?" Doug demanded an explanation.

"He is covering his tracks," Frank told the Hanovers. "Right now, all we have is verbal testimony. That's not going to get him convicted."

"Then what are you going to do?" Marcia asked.

"We have a plan," Frank said. "My dad is working out the details now. We just needed to know why Carruthers had targeted you personally," he said apologetically to Doug.

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It was almost quitting time before Biff had a chance to talk to Joe. "Boy, am I glad to see you," Joe said when Biff walked into the room where he was laying carpet. "Has Dad fixed my cover?"

"Oh, yeah," Biff replied with a grin, then told Joe what Frank had told him. When he finished, he headed for the door. "Remember to let it slip about the CIA," Biff added before leaving.

Joe put his tools away and headed downstairs and outside after making a quick stop in the bathroom to check his disguise.

Steve and Freddie were waiting by the gate when Joe got there. They all walked to Steve's car and went straight to Peter's house.

Shandra and Jim were the last to arrive. Shandra saw Joe's set face and went over to sit beside him on the sofa. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Someone tried to kill Jim today," Steve answered for him. "And tried to frame me for it," he added, glaring at Freddie and turning the statement into an accusation.

"Freddie?" Peter asked, looking at him.

"He's a traitor," Freddie snarled. "He deserves to die."

"It was established last night, that we can all be classified as traitors," Greg pointed out.

"Yeah, but we don't specialize in it," Freddie retorted.

"What?" Peter, Jim, Steve, and Shandra all demanded at once, while the others present turned to stare at Joe.

Joe was thrilled. This was the perfect opportunity for him. "You've been hacking into the CIA files," Joe accused Freddie with a frown. "Not a wise thing to do at the present."

"Is this true, Freddie?" Peter demanded, looking at Joe with interest.

"Uh, yeah," Freddie answered. He couldn't very well tell them he had gotten his information from Frank Hardy.

"What is in your file?" Peter asked Joe.

Joe shrugged. "I have connections," he admitted. "I've sold a few things."

"You conned your way into our group," Peter said shrewdly.

Joe nodded. "I already had a buyer lined up for the aircraft," he lied. "You gave me no choice."

"You like to play hardball?" Jim asked Joe.

"It's the only way to get anywhere," Joe replied, looking him in the eyes. "To begin with, if I were running this show, I would eliminate the package in the basement," he stated.

"Um, there is no package in the basement," Steve said.

"You already killed him?" Joe inquired with a smile, knowing full well Frank had escaped.

"You and Shandra were outside when we found Freddie tied up in the basement," Jeff said.

"Frank Hardy managed to free himself and overpower Freddie when he went to check on him last night," Peter informed Joe.

"He hit me over the head as I went down the stairs," Freddie lied defensively.

Joe's face hardened. "If he tells his old man he saw me, we're in big trouble."

"Then we'll just have to step up our plans," Jim said.

"I've got a better idea," Joe said. "Why don't I pay you, say, twenty million dollars, for the aircraft plans and take off? You can keep the supplies you have acquired to construct it."

"I don't think so," Peter replied, frowning at Joe. "You are definitely more than you appear to be."