"Joe?" Chet asked as Frank entered.
"He's gone," Frank said, his voice barely a whisper. Chet tried to rise but Frank stopped him. "I've already called the police," he said. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Chet told him about the car crashing into the trashcans and going to see about it but getting knocked out when he took a step outside. "You think Danny, Beverly or Paul took Joe?"
"Beverly?" Frank asked, his face registering the confusion he felt. Beverly wasn't high on their list of suspects.
"Yeah. Joe noticed she worked with both the missing models and Paul for someone named Gilbert," Chet informed him, closing his eyes and wincing as the blare of sirens came closer. Frank remained by Chet's side until the paramedics arrived. While they prepared Chet for the trip to the hospital, Frank called his family to have them meet him there.
"Frank," Chet said as he was put on the stretcher. "You don't need to come with me," he said. "Work on getting Joe back."
"Sure?" Frank asked, relieved because he had really wanted to get started but feeling guilty because Chet was one of his best friends.
"Yeah," Chet replied, giving Frank a brave smile. "I'll be home by tomorrow and you had better have Joe back or Iola will kill me."
Frank watched the ambulance drive away then went upstairs to join Sergeant Riley who had been given the call on the assumption Joe's abduction was tied in to this homicide case.
"Find anything?" Frank asked when he entered Joe's bedroom.
"Just the note you mentioned," Con replied, looking at Frank quizzically. "What disk are they taking about?"
"You know, that doesn't make any sense," Frank said, shaking his head slightly as his forehead developed little wrinkles. "For that matter, none of this makes sense. No one at the studio knows who Joe or I really am or where we live. Too, if it were the killer who took him, why would he offer an exchange? As for the disk, it's lying on my desk and these papers," he added, waving his left hand around at the scattered sheets, "are part of what was on that disk."
"Disk?" asked a new voice from the doorway.
"Dad!" Frank shouted in surprise. "Joe has been kidnapped," he added then explained about their case.
Fenton was frowning by the time Frank finished. "I don't think this has anything to do with your mystery," Fenton told Frank. "I took a computer disk from the office of a man who has been laundering money for Severus Clearwater."
Con, recognizing the name, gave a low whistle. "He's been under surveillance for over two years. No wonder he wants the disk back."
"We better get a move on," Frank said, glancing at his watch. "It's after seven and the disk has to be there by nine." Frank looked up to see his father wince. "What?" he demanded, his face white. "What's wrong?"
"I don't have it," Fenton admitted. "I turned it over to the FBI before I left. There's no time to even get a copy of the disk!"