Joe was sitting on the front step trying to stay out of the way. For the last hour Chief Collign had been turning the Hardy home into a base of operations. He had called in Missing Persons and they had taken over. Fenton, Jess, Con, Collign and the Missing Persons detectives sent were all locked away in his Fenton's office. Laura had excused herself, and gone to her room. Joe was left on his own.
A green SUV pulled into the Hardy's drive. Out climbed Biff, Paul and Chet, dressed for a game of basketball. Joe looked at them, his tired mind trying to figure out why they were here. Then it hit him. 'Damn it, I forgot to call them and tell them….'
"Hey Joe!" Biff called, as he and the others walked over. Joe stood shakily, and gave his friends the best smile he could. It wasn't very good, because they all just stopped in mid motion.
"Joe, what's wrong? Where's Frank?" Chet asked, fear starting to build in him. The last time Joe had smiled like that was after his sister's, Iola's death.
"I'm sorry I didn't call…" Joe began weakly, looking at the ground. He took a deep breath and continued on. "I can't go play today. Sorry, I should have called."
"Joe, what's going on? What's happened? Does this have anything to do with your call last night?" Phil asked.
Joe was losing his composure, lack of sleep, worry and frustration was taking its toll. He had to breath deeply a few times before he could answer. "Last night Frank was kidnapped. The leading suspect, in fact really the only suspect, is the Kolplay Cult."
"You mean the ones who did those bombings? The cult that killed the four children? And the ones who brutalized their own people?" Phil asked, paling slightly.
That was it. With Phil listing off the Kolplay's rap sheet, Joe started to lose it. He started to stumble a little, tears falling from his eyes. Biff grabbed a hold of him and lowered him to the step.
After a moment Joe pulled himself together. "Sorry, I've been up all night. We just found out…."
"Hey Joe, you don't have to apologize for anything," Biff said, taking a seat next to him. "And I'm sure Frank will be alright. I mean, they need him alive, right? They wouldn't have taken him if they didn't want something."
"Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. But you didn't hear him. He sounded…he sounded like he was giving up or something. I mean, it didn't sound like Frank."
"Joe, it'll be ok, Frank's been kidnapped before," Chet said.
"Yeah, that's not what has Joe upset. The Kolplays don't play nice. I mean, have you been paying attention to the news?" Phil said.
"Not really, why?" Chet said, confused.
"Because if you had, Chet, you would have heard how the tortured their last victim. He was suppose to turn state's evidence ageist them, but now he won't speak. He's like, twenty, and he can't go to sleep in the dark," Joe said. "They're going to do that to Frank."
"You don't know that Joe. What exactly did he say? You said Frank called right?"
"He didn't call, they gave us a recording. He said they were going to play a game of hide and seek."
"Hide and seek?" Biff asked.
"Yeah. Sick isn't it?" The four stayed silent for a while, when Joe remembered something.
"Frank said something at the end of the tape, "Your first clue is Pinewood…" does that mean anything to any of you?"
Biff and Phil shook their heads, but Chet's face was a mask of concentration. "It sounds familiar. I think…when we were arranging for Iola's funeral…we were looking for a coffin maker…Pinewood sounds like the company we looked at."
A/N Sorry it's so short. I'm a little unsure on what's going to happen next. I'll have more in a day or two, after i get some sleep.