Iola Morton shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, but it's very possible. They thought that they could hold me hostage, but then… everyone started acting as if I had died in that explosion, so they couldn't risk letting me go. They've been trying to convince me to join them by saying that it was Joe's fault to start with."

"Why are they trying to murder him so badly?"

"Come on! I may be a civilian, but even I know the answer to that question. Al-Rousasa was their best Assassin. He could get into places no one else could even think about. Why wouldn't they want to kill Joe for that?" The Gray Man nodded. He had known for a fact that Al-Rousasa's daughter would want revenge, the main reason he had not wanted Frank or Joe in Paris. There had been a good chance that the girl would have followed them there. Iola walked over to a pile of crates and looked through one until she found two that were safe to use as chairs. Dragging them over, she asked, "How do you Frank and Joe?"

"It's a long story."

"Then I hope you can tell it fast."

"Why?"

"They were expecting you. They plan to kill you to make sure that you don't escape and warn Frank and Joe."

"Why?"

"Contact has been made. Al-Rousasa's daughter is at the school with them."

Frank watched Taylor as she and Aunt Gertrude were helping with dinner. While Taylor wasn't very good at certain things, she was a fast learner. Mrs. Hardy was surprised to meet someone that was as gifted with languages as Taylor while Aunt Gertrude was marveling over her accent. Fenton Hardy had arrived a moment before Frank and Joe and was watching, surprised that Frank was already talking to another girl so soon after breaking up with Callie. Joe was in the den, claiming that he had homework. Fenton was tempted to go and ask what was going on, but decided against it.

Joe sighed as he tried using the Network's systems. Frank was the one that understood it, but at the moment was too busy pretending to be in a conversation with their father while he was watching Taylor. Joe finally found the file that he was looking for:

NAME: WESTBROOKE, TAYLOR

D.O.B: JULY 4th

HEIGHT: 5"9 ½"

WEIGHT: 147 lb.

HAIR COLOR: DEEP RED

EYE COLOR: EMERALD GREEN

BIOLOGICAL MOTHER'S NAME: CHANNING-WESTBROOKE, CLARA

BIOLOGICAL FATHER'S NAME: UNKNOWN

GUARDIAN: CHANNING, DIANE

CURRENT SCHOOL: BAYVILLE HIGH

FORMER SCHOOL: THE PERFECT LADY'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

PLACE OF BIRTH: LONDON, ENGLAND

INFORMATION: WESTBROOKE WAS BORN IN LONDON TO A FORMER NETWORK AGENT THAT WAS SENT UNDERCOVER FOR REASONS THAT STILL CARRY HCI-236544 LISTING. MOTHER WAS KILLED ON UNDERCOVER NETWORK AGENT. FILE STILL UNDER HCI-236544. WESTBROOKE'S FATHER IS LISTED AS UNKNOWN UNDER HCI-236544. ALL OTHER INFORMATION IS UNDER HCI-236544 AND CANNOT BE REVEALED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF MR. ARTHUR E. GRAY.

Joe blinked in surprise and then looked up HCI-236544. The definition didn't make him feel any better. "HCI-236544 stands for Highly Classified Information. This information must be denied to all, no matter their rank unless permission is given by the person that made the classification in order to prevent any dangerous information from being leaked to the Assassins." He read aloud. Joe turned off the computer and sighed. He then jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Taylor smiled at him and said, "You're father sent me to let you know that it's time for dinner."

During dinner, Taylor was more than happy to tell them about her old school. "The teachers were very strict. Once I was late to class by one second. They had me do lines for the rest of the class."

"What do you mean?"

"I had to write close to one hundred times 'I will not be late to class'. It filled the board!"

"That's terrible!" Mrs. Hardy gasped.

"Well, it was better than Physical Education. We were just learning archery a few weeks before I left. If you missed the target, you had to run ten laps. And if you missed the Bulls-Eye, that was twenty."

"But why?"

"They thought that 'proper young ladies' should be highly gifted in sports, but didn't sweat too much. Horseback riding was before that, and fencing before that."

"It sounds like fun."

"It was, but at the same time, very hard. I learned the majority of the languages that I know while I was there. But, instead of learning from the instructors, I learned them on my own."

"How old were you when you started at the school?"

"I was…eight years old."

"I see. Did you enjoy it?"

"I didn't enjoy it all the time. But whenever I was thinking about quitting, I thought of my father, and how it would make him proud."

"Where are your parents?"

"They died. My mother years ago, and my father recently, he was murdered."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I miss him, but I know one day, I'll make him very proud." Taylor smiled for a moment and added, "I will make him very proud of me."

When she returned home, Taylor looked at her mentor. "They fell for it."

"And the bugs?"

"Planted where you told me. Except for the computer. Joe was using it at the time."

"Good. Did you get the code?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Why are we using English, Mentor?"

"I want our guest to understand us." The man pointed to the Gray Man, who was tied to a chair. Taylor glared at him as she drew the gun from its hiding place around her ankle. Before she could use it, her mentor stopped her. "No, child. You may kill him later. For now, we let him live."

"Forgive me, Mentor."

"You are forgiven, child. But remember, we need him for now."

"Understood, Mentor."

"Gut, Kind. Sie haben nie mich enttäuscht. Immer macht, als Sie, Kind erzählt sind. Ich will Sie nicht verletzen".

"Ich werde, Mentor gehorchen".

"Gut. Bringen Sie dem anderen Haus die Brüder morgen. Ich will sie treffen".

"Ja Mentor". When Taylor left the room, the Gray Man was surprised that her 'mentor' was going to let him live, and was also confused by this.

"Do not look so shocked. I have my reason's for keeping you alive. I am going to use you to gain control of Frank Hardy."

"And why do you want him?"

"I have my reasons. None of them concern you, but I do have my reasons."

"Humor me."

"Very well. I suppose I could do that much. You see, I know everything that there is to know about young Mr. Hardy. I see potential in him that the Assassins can use that will give us our dreams in a matter of days."

"In other words?"

"He has the skill needed to take the place of our fallen Al-Rousasa. In truth, I see him surpassing Al-Rousasa. And then add his talents to Taylor's, they would be an unstoppable team."

"And you think I'm going to help you?"

"I don't see how you would have a choice." The man pulled a syringe from his pocket and walked over. The Gray Man struggled as the man injected the drug. The man took a step back and smirked. "Thorazine, Mr. Gray, has many side effects. I simply broke down the chemical components and made sure that you would only feel the side effects that I wanted you to." The man ticked each one off on his fingers, "Confusion, loss of balance control, mask-like face, shuffling walk, bizarre dreams, excitement, clumsiness, headaches, pain in joints, lethargy, memory loss, disorganized thinking, impaired motor, mild euphoria."

"W..Why?"

"Simple, if you escape, and I don't think so, they wouldn't listen to you. The police would just think that you're a harmless nuisance and would give you back to us if we came dressed as doctors looking for a lost patient. You see, Americans are so trusting of doctors."

"W..won't get away with this. Fen…Fenton will stop you."

"Oh, I plan on dealing with him in a different way. I plan on having him out of town for a few days. By the time he returns, it will be too late." The man turned and walked out, laughing. Two Assassins entered and carried the Gray Man upstairs and threw him into a room. They then closed and locked the door. As best as he could, the Gray Man went to the window and found that it had bars that were on the outside. He made his way to the bed and fell on it, uncertain how he was going to get out of the mess that he was in.

-

Translations:

"Good, child. You have never disappointed me. Always do as you are told, child. I do not want to hurt you."

"Gut, Kind. Sie haben nie mich enttäuscht. Immer macht, als Sie, Kind erzählt sind. Ich will Sie nicht verletzen".

"I will obey, Mentor."

"Ich werde, Mentor gehorchen".

"Good. Bring the brothers to the other house tomorrow. I want to meet them."

"Gut. Bringen Sie dem anderen Haus die Brüder morgen. Ich will sie treffen".

"Yes, Mentor."

"Ja Mentor".

-

I smiley the following people:

Red Hardy

Wilwarin Breila

And Ragna ICE. I will send the real thing when I get a chance.

And I ask the following of Ragna ICE(land:

Don't bite your head off. I'm a MAJOR fan of Iola, and don't forget, noone REALLY saw her die. In the book, the person that they were following turned the corner and then there was the explosion. Every one just guessed that she was at the car.

Oh! And to answer Wilwarin Breila's review for Chapter 2; I don't speak German at all. I just got lucky and found a very good translation web-site.