Thank you everyone so much for your reviews! I was worried it wouldn't go over well. So in this case… should Fenton find them or will they be sold?
Whoops, almost forgot – I have no possession of the Hardy boys. Please review my work of fiction!
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The man cracked his knuckles, advancing on Joe, smiling. He frowned as his cell phone rang. Frank sighed in relief.
"Hello?" he asked. "Yes, I have them both… Yes, we're on our way… Yes, yes… what? No, I'm not killing anyone. Oh. I see. Oh. Okay." He hung up the phone. Frank's eyes widened in terror.
"You're not going to like this," the man warned, advancing on Joe.
"Don't hurt him!" Frank yelled, getting in front of Joe as best as he could and giving the criminal a defiant look.
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Fenton held the documents in his hand terrified. He was reviewing the case of Tom Clancy, the villain who had abducted his sons.
"He's up to how many murders?" Fenton yelled into the phone. "TWENTY MURDERS? TWENTY NEW MURDERS? OH MY GOD, WHY WASN'T I WARNED OF THE MURDERS?"
"We're sorry, sir," the police officer said, "but they weren't in the Bayport area."
"I don't give a crap that they weren't in the Bayport area! This man has my sons! No telling how far he'll go!" Fenton steamed into the telephone.
"Fenton," the man said, "You need to calm down, and we're doing absolutely everything we can."
Fenton sighed. "You're right."
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The man shoved Frank out of the way and pinned him down to the floor. "You will not disobey me!" he yelled into Frank's face, laughing as the youth's eyes widened in terror. Frank swallowed hard as the man grabbed a stick-like object out of his pocket. The semi swerved and parked.
The man smiled as he went to the driver's side and came back with a large, sharp object.
"What's that?" Joe asked inquisitively. He was worried now. Knives and bad guys were never a good thing.
"What do you think, dumb ass?" the man taunted. He held the knife in front of him and then placed it on the floor for a quick second as he untied Joe's hands and legs. He glared at Frank who made a move towards the knife. "Don't try anything he stupid," he said, kicking Frank in the side. Frank winced and sat down as best he could.
He grabbed the knife and made a sharp mark in Joe's shoulder. Joe screamed and the man made a not-so-deep slice in his shoulder.
Frank's eyes widened. "What the…" he let his voice trail off as the man kicked him again. The man bandaged Joe's arm and let him rest for a second before explaining.
"I have to brand you, telling everyone that we're your sellers," he explained. The tone in his voice gave Joe the creeps "This is our mark." The mark, designed to show that they were Tom Clancy's group, was a cross with a mark through it.
Frank's eyes widened as the man advanced as him, untied his ropes, and made the same cut on Frank's arm. The man made it deeper though, laughing as Frank screamed in terror.
The man quickly bandaged Frank's wound, then closed the semi's door, leaving Frank and Joe both alone.
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Fenton sighed. Laura entered the door, humming a cheerful tune as she put down some groceries on the table. Then she stopped as she saw his face. "Fenton what happened?" she asked.
"You better sit down, honey," said Fenton, escorting her to a couch and helping her sit down before she stood back up.
"I AM NOT SITTING DOWN! What happened?"
"Laura," Fenton said, after a few minutes of pausing, "the boys… the boys have been kidnapped."
"Oh my god," Laura said, sitting down on the couch in disbelief. Suddenly she stood back up her eyes widening in terror.
"Fenton, they weren't kidnapped by the group you're after, were they? The slave people?"
Fenton sighed, his eyes lacking their normal radiance and sparkle. " Yes, Laura," he said.
Laura's mouth turned into a big "O", her mouth dropping open as she fainted.
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Frank sighed as he looked at Joe. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" Joe spat. "Yeah, I'm just fine, considering I've just been 'branded' – or whatever the heck he said - by people who think it's perfectly normal to ship slaves off every day!"
"Oh, and what," Frank said, "You think I don't feel the same way?" he sighed. "Sorry," he said.
"Sorry," Joe replied back. "Any way we can get out of this hell hole?"
Frank shrugged. "I doubt it. Our best bet is to jump them when hey come back," he added. He stood up and looked around. "Well, it could be worse," he said.
"What?"
"We could be stuck in a freezer truck."
"Oh, that makes me feel a lot better," Joe spat.
Suddenly the semi swerved and Frank fell down. "Dang it, I need to learn before I stand up in these things."
Joe grinned. "Yeah. I don't think I'll follow your illustration."
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Fenton sighed and helped Laura awake and sit up. As she was sitting up the doorbell rang. He opened it to find Chief Collig. "Thank God you've come," he said.
"Hello, Fenton," the chief said.
"Please, come in," Fenton said. The three men sat down at the table. Laura quickly got up and made coffee. "What do we know, if anything?"
"Reports are that there was a car spotted two blocks away from your boy's school. It's definitely your son's. Whoever was on the passenger side was crashed into – that door is badly dented. Your son's friend, Tony, says he thinks he saw Frank driving the car. However, because both boys are of age, they can both drive the car. We found some blood on the dash that we're sending for testing as we speak."
"If it's my sons?"
"If it's your sons, one of them has a minor head damage. The air bag failed to go off, so the crash wasn't that serious, at least that's what our forensics officer tells us. However, because there is substantial damage to the driver's door, we have reason to believe otherwise. Fenton, do both your boys wear seat belts?"
"Always," Fenton said.
"Good. Then they definitely aren't that injured. Hopefully, neither of them is injured."
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Joe sighed as he listened to the semi's wheels go click-click-click. "Are you okay?" he asked Frank. "That's a nasty bruise."
Frank nodded. "I'll be fine," he said.
Suddenly the semi screeched to a halt. A man came to the door and opened it. Frank stood up, and the man yelled, "SIT DOWN!"
Frank quickly did as he was told. "Sorry," he said.
"Sir!" the man yelled, closing the door. He waited for the semi to get moving again. "We're advancing on a weighing station. Say anything and you boys will be feeling pain. I don't give a damn who said it. Always say sir when you are addressing the one in charge!" he yelled, smacking Frank in the face so hard that his lip started to bleed.
Frank winced and nodded. His lip hurt like hell, but he didn't say anything.
"I'm going to give you a down play of the rules," the man said. "First, like I said, always address your master or mistress as sir or ma'ma, or whatever they want you to address them as. Do everything they say, in spite of when or how they say it. Secondly, obedience. Always obey your superior! I cannot stress how important that is. Thirdly, do not talk without being spoken to. Even then, keep conversation to a minimum. I can't stress how important this is, either. Those are the basic rules. Your master or mistress will set the non-basic rules. Do you understand?"
Joe and Frank both nodded. "What did I say to say?" he yelled menacingly.
"Yes sir!" they both said at once. Joe was already terrified of the man, no saying what he'd do if they disobeyed.
"Very good," the man said. "Soon we will be approaching the compound. Speaking of which, that brings one more rule I almost forgot: Eating. Eat as little as possible. We do not provide food or water on our compound. However, seeing as both you boys haven't had anything to drink from the time when you left your household this morning, you may each have a bottle of water. No talking," he ordered as the semi stopped. "That reminds me… I really nearly forgot this! No complaining!" Before leaving he handed each of the boys a bottle of water. He then opened the door and stepped out.
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Fenton sighed. "So we don't know that much about this guy?" he asked.
"No," Chief Collig said. "Not much at all."
"Great," Fenton said. "Just great. How many murders has he committed so far?"
"Forty that we know of. He's wanted for slave trafficiting here, I don't think he's done anything out of the country yet."
"Well, that's good news," Fenton said, sipping his coffee. "We only have to search the whole USA."
Chief bit his lip and silently counted to ten. "Fenton," he said, "we're doing the best that we can."
"I know you are. I'm just worried."
Chief Collig sighed. "I know you are. I want to catch him too."
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Ten hours missing
Frank sighed as he glanced at Joe. Joe wasn't saying anything, either. None of the boys wanted to be overheard. Frank motioned for Joe to be quiet as the truck stopped. He waited a moment in silence and then checked around the room for bugs.
He didn't see any, but checked carefully under everything – not that there was much there. Glancing around, he sat next to Joe. "I think we're okay if we whisper."
Joe nodded. "How is your lip?"
Frank shrugged. "Hurts. I'll be okay. What about you?"
"Besides him scaring me to death? I'm fine."
"Good," Frank said. He paused.
"Frank?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, buddy?" Frank replied.
"I'm scared."
"Me too," Frank admitted. "Me too."
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So what do you think – should Fenton find them or should they be sold? If sold, what type of people should they be sold to, do you think? Thanks so much for reviewing! Hope I kept it realistic!