Joe climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV. "Everything alright Joe?" Biff asked, eyeing him courteously.
"Yeah. Just touching base. So, we're going to head out to Bayport Farmlands, it's about two hours north from here," Joe said looking at the map he had printed out.
"Great," mumbled Biff.
"Alright then, now that we are all situated," said Jimmy Kolplay, as Jake, Mike, Slim and Shorty all gathered in the computer room. "Slim, Shorty, you know your parts, so I will just leave it to you. Now, Mike, you make your living off of breaking and entering, and steeling what you can, correct?"
"For the most part, yeah," Mike said, keeping an eye on everyone.
"How many banks have you broken into? Not just robbed, but broken into?" Jimmy asked him, already knowing the answer.
"Ten; nine were successful."
"And these successes, they were…?"
"All planned. Guess you could call them night jobs. We entered after hours and cracked the safe."
"Good, good, that's what we want. Today the Federal Reserve Bank of Bayport is closed, pending evaluation, whatever the hell that means. But that's not what I care about. What I care about is the fact that it's closed," Jimmy said, as he pulled a disk from his back pocket. "Now Jake, on this disk is everything we could find on the bank. Blue prints, guard shifts, security information, and stuff. I guess you probably already know what I'm going to say…."
"You want us to rob the bank. I get to crack the safe, while JR here gets to watch my back," Mike said unimpressed.
"Exactly. Think you could handle it?"
"It's not like you're asking me to steel the crown jewels," Mike stated sarcastically. "Just give me a minute to look at the blue prints, so I can see what kind of safe it is."
"That's fine, you'll have plenty of time to study it on your way to the compound."
The SUV pulled to a stop about a half a mile a way from the Kolplay's compound, and the four boys got out to stretch.
"So Joe, what's the plan? Are we just go up to the first person we see and go, 'hey have you seen where the buried any living teenagers? We think you made a mistake and got our friend instead,'" Biff asked. He was met by three glaring faces.
"No, actually I was thinking about taking you and throwing you over the fence," Joe said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you have?"
"Well, we could pose as lost, broken down, teenagers," Joe said. "Just go up there, knock on the door, and ask for help. Two of us stay here, with the car; we're going to have to pop a tire, and two off us go knocking."
"Yeah, but how will that help us?" Phil asked.
"Well, it'll give us a chance to look around the complex. See if there is any place they could have buried someone. It'll also give us a chance to talk to a few people. Some of them are just there because they get money, but a few of them have to know what's going on," Joe answered.
"Hmm, sounds like a plan. But you're paying for the tire if we have to get towed," Biff said.
Thirty minutes later, Joe and Chet were arriving at the front gates of a camp, with a sign that read, 'Good Old Times Camping-fun for family and friends.' "Oh yeah, learn how to become fanatics, and go on murdering rampages just like your dad used to," Joe mumbled under his breath.
"Hey Joe, wait up!" Chet said, slightly breathless.
"Sorry Chet," Joe said as he stopped to wait for him.
"Man, that's a long walk. This it?" Chet said coming up to him.
"Yeah, you ready?"
"Yeah, lets get this over with," Chet said while he pushed the gate open.
The two friends walked in and up the path past friendly looking cabins, and families playing in the warm summer afternoon. A few people gave them curious looks, to which they only smiled and nodded to. Before long, Joe found a cabin that looked like it was an information center, or an office, and thought he'd give it a try. Joe knocked on the green door and waited.
Before too, long there was an answer. An elderly woman opened the door, "Hello?" she said very sweetly, eyeing the two boys, "Oh you two look plum worn out, come in here and I'll fix you something to drink," she said, ushering them in.
"Thank you ma'am," Chet said as he and Joe walked in. They're instincts had been right; the cabin was an office, and a general store. There was a counter with hiking maps and pamphlets; shelves that displayed different clothes, boxed goods, and other assorted camping needs. The woman guided the boys to a set of chairs behind the counter, "Now you boys wait here, and I'll go fetch some water."
The boys did as told, and the woman disappeared into a back room. She reappeared moments later with two cold bottles of water, and two men. One was an old, gruff looking man, and the other was a younger version of the latter.
"This is my husband, Gus, and out son JR. My name's Rosemary," she said as she handed the boys the water.
"Thank you very much Mrs. Rosemary," Joe said, while he and Chet took long drinks.
"It's a hot day out theres. You boys want to tell me why yous walking around in it, 'specially out here?" Gus barked.
"Oh hush Gus. Let the boys catch their breaths. You two just take your time, Gus can wait," Rosemary said, motherly.
"Um, yes sir. See, my friends and I are on our way to go camping, and we took the wrong exit. Well, we were just about to turn around and head back, only our car got a flat," Joe fibbed.
"I see. Well, do you have a spare?" Gus asked.
"Gus, do you think they'd be walking in if they had one?" Rosemary said, turning to the boys. "Don't you two fret none. We'll be happy to give you a tire, and I'll send JR along with you, so you don't have to walk."
"Thank you ma'am," Chet said.
"Yes, thank you. Um, if you don't mind my asking ma'am, is there a place where I can wash up?" Joe asked.
"Sure, there's a bath house just out there, to your left, next to all the cabins."
"Thank you," Joe said, and excused himself.
Mike had been walking around the 'friendly' part of the Kolplay's complex. He had about forty minutes before he had to put Jimmy's plan into action, and he was trying to calm his nerves before he left.
It wasn't the job that was making him shake, he was never afraid of a job. He had just seen the latest tape they had made of Frank Hardy. 'The poor kid, they're never going to find him in time. God, there has to be something I can do! I don't want a murder wrap, and sure as hell not if it's Hardy's boy,' Mike thought, and tried to shake the feeling that Jake was only four years older then Frank.
Mike decided to head to the General store, where he knew Rosemary would be, so he could talk to her a little. He loved Rosemary, he had met her just this morning, but she had instantly become a friend. She was just so friendly.
Mike was almost there, when he saw two boys heading in that direction. He recognized the blond haired boy, and an idea started to form in his head. He made sure that they were going to the General store, knowing that if they enter they'd be there for a good twenty minutes at the least.
He ran to the other side of the complex, the Nazi side, and in to a building where they kept most of their computers and video equipment. Making sure that no one was paying attention, he quietly slipped in.
He walked over to the editing equipment where he had seen them making the video. They had edited it down to about five minutes, catching on to the code that Frank had tried to sneak past them. However the original had been left in the VCR; very carelessly of them.
Mike took the tape, and quickly ran back to the General store. He was just in time to see the blond haired boy leaving. Mike started to follow him, careful not to catch anyone's eyes. At first it looked like he was heading to the bathhouses by the cabins, but then he cut to the left and started to head away from the cabins altogether.
Mike cursed under his breath, knowing exactly where the boy was heading to, and knowing exactly what would happen if he got there. He took a deep breath and ran to catch the boy, coming up behind him and grabbing him around the middle, with one hand over his mouth.
He dragged the now struggling boy into the shadows of a cluster of trees. "Now just hold up, stop struggling. I'm not going to hurt you; I actually want to help you. Now I'm going to let you go, so don't make a sound. There isn't anybody around here who will want to help you, not after the ones who run this place tell them who you are."
Mike released Joe, and Joe spun to face Mike.
"Who are you? What are you talking about?" Joe demanded.
"That's not important. What is is that I want you to know I have nothing to do with what they're doing to Frank. I wanted no part of this."
Joe felt his blood go cold at the mention of his brother. "What do you know about it?"
"Only what they tell me. Look I don't have a lot of time. Here's something that's going to help you. Your brother's not here and I don't know exactly where he is. I can't tell you, but this might help. Good luck," and with that Mike darted, leaving a bewildered Joe holding a VHS.
Ya know, i'm starting to think ya all stopped reading. I mean, i haven't gotten any reviwes... maybe i should just stop writing?