AN: Ok, you convinced me, I'll keep writing. It's only got a few more chapters anyway.

Joe stared at the disappearing man for a few seconds, and then hid the VHS he'd been given in his back pocket, making sure it was covered by his t-shirt, and quickly jogged back to the general store. Rosemary was busy talking up Chet, telling him about her 'grandbaby' and daughter's family. Chet, for his part, was making polite 'owws' and 'ahhs'. Joe smiled as he saw his friend's expression, however his smile faltered when he noticed Gus and JR weren't in the room.

"Sorry I took so long," Joe said as he walked back in.

"No problem, Hon. I just sent Gus and JR to get the tire and the jeep; they should be back in a few minutes. Now, I've been telling your friend here all about my family, and I want to hear about yours," Rosemary said as she guided a reluctant Joe to a seat next to her.

"Fenton, where the hell are the boys?" Ezra said as he entered Fenton's office, where Fenton was reviewing the VHS that had been given to Joe.

"Hello Ezra," Fenton responded, in a tired sigh of a voice. He stopped the VHS and turned off the TV.

"Fenton, I haven't seen or heard from Joe. Laura said that he left almost three hours ago with his friends, and I've checked, they haven't been heard from him either. So that leads me to two possible conclusions, and since the Kolplays didn't take Joe when they obviously had a chance to, well…."

"I know, I know, you just keep thinking that," Fenton said.

"You knew they were out there in the hallway listening, and you spoke extra loudly so Joe could hear, and so he went to the Kolplays' compound."

"Well I did say that I wouldn't set foot in the compound," Fenton said with a small smile.

"I don't understand you Fenton. You have one son who is in mortal danger, and you send the other one out to the lion's den! What are you thinking!"

"That Joe is seventeen years old, and he has solved half the number of cases that I have had in my whole career. I also know that Frank has less than, what is it, ten hours to live? We can't just sit here and wait for legality."

"You do realize that, anything he gets, any evidence, could be argued as hear say, or wrongfully obtained?"

"Hmmm, but knowing the Kolplays, nothing that wouldn't be circumstantial will be at their compound anyway."

"Then why send him?"

"Two reasons: it'll give him something to do, and while he's working on finding Frank, we can work on the Kolplay's real angle," Fenton said.

"Real angle? What are you talking about?"

"Well, think about it. I've gone over that tape enough to give me vivid nightmares for the rest of my life. Hell once was enough to do that. But there is no ransom demand, no 'I'm going to make you pay for such and such.' There is no reason given for the abduction."

"It could be revenge. It could be just a thrill thing, you know, pull one over on the great Fenton Hardy."

"Hmm…no I don't think so. There's no sign of torture. I mean, yes, you can see that they beat him, but there's no torture. If it was a thrill thing, then they'd want to hurt him, and they'd get off on inflecting as much pain as they could. If it was to get to me, then they would still torture him."

Ezra was a little put off by the seemingly unattached way that Fenton was speaking, but then he figured it would be the only way for him to solve the case. "But aren't they torturing him? I mean, being buried alive isn't exactly high on my wish list."

"Yes, they are. But I still think that they would have hurt him more. I mean, if you really wanted to make a parent suffer, wouldn't you not only send them a picture of their son buried, but also being beaten?"

Ezra had to agree, but he wasn't through arguing, "Yes, but you're working on trying to arrest Kolplay, aren't you? I mean a missing person's case. Maybe he's trying to get you off his back."

"Then why not send threats or warnings? Why not tell us that in his messages instead of playing this morbid game?"

"Alright Fenton, I give up. What do you think they're doing?"

"I think that the Kolplays are planning an attack. I think that they are up to something, and I think that Frank's kidnapping is a distraction."

"A distraction?"

"Yes, think about it. Frank is my son, which means that I'll stop everything to look for him. You are one of my closest friends, which means that you're going to help, which means police man power."

"Which means less attention on everything else," Ezra said, catching on.

"Right, so I did some checking," Fenton said as he turned to his computer. "There are a few options: one, the Mayor has an address later this evening. However, I doubt that this is their target. What interest do they have in city politics? And since the address is from his office, and is being broadcasted…"

"No big boom," Ezra said.

"You could say that. The second option is the Zoo's annual birthday party. An attack there would have a big impact. It's a family event, full of little children. It would be right up their ally."

"The third option?"

"The Federal Reserve Bank of Bayport is taking inventory today, which means no one will be there to interrupt any burglaries, except for the guards and possibly a few bank managers."

"I'll get officers to those two locations. We'll keep them low profile just in case," Ezra said, trusting his friend's hunch.

"One more thing, Ezra. Can we keep this between just you, me, and Con?"

"Why?"

"I'm not trusting your officer Reynolds. There's just something that isn't right."

"Hmm. He's new, but he's a good detective. What about Jesse?"

"Yeah I know I'm just being paranoid. Just humor an old man, ok?"

"Oh yeah, so paranoid that you send Joe to go and hunt for clues..." Fenton sighed and leaned back into his chair, preparing for another long lecture about letting his boys work on cases.

Twenty minutes after Joe had returned to the general store, JR had taken Chet and him back to the others and helped change the tire. Then he was gone. The others, now in the SUV, started questioning Joe and Chet.

"What happened? Did you guys learn anything?" Phil asked eagerly.

"Yes, actually," Joe said, handing him the VHS. Joe quickly told the others about his encounter with the man, and finished with "…And I saw this camp. It looked like a training camp of some kind. Totally opposite the family friendly image."

"And where were you Chet?" Biff asked, with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"I was…I was…." Chet started, slightly blushing.

"Surviving Rosemary, a nice woman who loves to talk," Joe said coming to Chet's defense.

"I see. The distraction as always," Biff continued to tease.

Chet blushed, and sunk in his seat a little, causing the others to laugh. For a few minutes they forgot about Frank.

Frank lay in his coffin. He had given up on trying to get out or trying telling anyone where he is. He had just about given up completely. His head and his hand pounded in time with each other. His back was sore and stiff from the constant pressure, and his muscles ached from the lack of movement. The air was hot and stuffy, and it felt like it was being sucked out of him. Then there was the coppery tasting substance and the mucus that kept dripping back into his throat, which caused him to cough.

Frank felt himself weakening. He could feel his chest getting tighter and his head getting fuzzier. 'I'm going to die. This is it, after everything that I've lived through, I'm going to die.'