Frank and the officer he was with got out of their car and cautiously made their way to the house where the kidnappers had entered.
"I can't believe he would sacrifice his own kid like that!" shouted one of the men, looking at the game on the computer that Frank had substituted for the missing disk.
"Call the boss and let him know," ordered the first man.
The ruffian picked up the pone and dialed a number. "You were right to take precautions," the man said. "Hardy didn't give us the right disk. What do you want us to do now?"
"Right. Uh-huh. Will do," he said, listening to the boss speak. He hung up and looked at the other two men in the room. "Ken, you take the car and head to the hideout. Benny and I are going to take off on foot. Scully thinks the cops may have followed us and are watching this place. Be careful and take evasive maneuvers. Benny and I are decoys."
"What if they catch us?" Benny whined.
"They got nothing on us," he said. "Now, let's get moving."
When Benny and the other man exited the house, they took off on foot in a southeasterly direction. The officer with Frank radioed dispatch to alert the other officers that the men were headed toward the waterfront. He and Frank returned to the unmarked car and waited for Ken to exit. Less than two minutes after they had settled into the car, Ken cam out and got in the Volvo and took off.
Frank called his dad to let him know what was happening but his cell kept ringing unanswered. Frank hung up and tried again two minutes later.
"I just talked to Severus," Fenton said. "They know about the disk already."
"Two of them took off as decoys and Ken, the one we're following, took the car and is heading toward the hideout," Frank told him.
"They are going to expect that," Fenton said. "Get close enough to be spotted and then let him lose you."
"But dad!" Frank objected fearfully.
"Easy," Fenton calmed him. "Sam can handle it."
"He better," Frank muttered after he hung up. He relayed his father's instructions to the officer who sped up to get closer to the suspect.
It didn't take too long for Ken to notice and to start trying to lose them. "Not very good at this, is he?" Frank asked with a little smile.
"Not at all," Officer Han agreed. "Want me to get us lost now?"
"Yeah," Frank agreed. "But don't make it look too easy."
Several turns later, Officer Han pretended to take a turn too sharply and the car went into a spin giving the Volvo time to get away. "Where to now?" Han inquired, looking at Frank questioningly.
"The police station," Frank said. "We can listen to what's going on from there."
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"Idiot," chirped Ken gleefully as he sped away from the revolving squad car. He made a left onto Danube street and two miles later turned right onto Squibly Drive and then all the way to the end of the street before making a left onto a gravel road. One more block and he pulled to a stop and got out of the car.
He went inside the building and shut the door behind him. "Hardy didn't deliver the disk and it wasn't at his place," Ken said, entering the room with Severus and three other hoods. He glanced over at the bound figure of Joe Hardy who glared at him in triumph. "I wouldn't be so happy if I were you, kid," Ken told Joe. "This only means you won't live to see sunrise."
"He's right," agreed Severus. "Take him to the bay and drop him in," he ordered Ken. "Jimmy, go with him and make sure he doesn't float."