When they hit the ground, Frank and Joe had instinctively put their hands over their heads to protect themselves from the debris. The gravel that mostly covered the ground at The Rock had turned into shrapnel from the explosion, and the Hardys heard the gravel whiz over their heads and then heard multiple pops as the flying gravel hit their van. It almost sounded like gunshots hitting their van. After what seemed like an eternity, the dust had settled from the explosion. Frank and Joe got back on their feet.

"We walked into that trap!" Joe fumed. "I knew they had no intention of releasing Dad! They were trying to knock us off, whoever 'they' are!"

Frank shook his head. "Let's go check that dummy for any clues. I'm sure we'll find something."

Suddenly, Joe caught motion out of the corner of his eye. Chet let himself out of the van.

"You guys okay?" Chet asked as he ran towards them.

Joe nodded. "We're fine," he said, noticing a cut and blood on the back of his left hand. "I got dinged by flying gravel after the explosion, but I'm fine otherwise."

"I'm fine, too," said Frank. "You hid in the van. Genius move on your part, Chet!"

Chet smirked and blew on his knuckles. "Just call me Chet The Genius!"

"All right," Frank said, rolling his eyes. "We need to look at what's left of this dummy. Let's see if these guys, whoever they are, left any clues."

"Do you think this is the work of the LPR?" Joe asked. "Now that we don't have bugs surrounding us, we can finally talk freely."

Frank shrugged. "It could be the LPR, it could be Huntley, it could be anybody at this point. For all we know, Captain O'Rourke could be involved. But here's what we do know – Dad knows what's going on and that's why he was abducted. I think that much is obvious."

"I'd like to know what Dad found that made him realize this case isn't what we think it is," Joe said. "To be honest, I don't know what the case is about at this point!"

"Whatever it is, it has Dad's captors spooked enough to try to kill us," Frank said. "So there are some pretty serious implications happening here."

Frank looked at the area where the dummy had been thrown. There was a blast pattern from where the dummy laid on the ground. The scorched earth on the ground seemed to indicate a high velocity explosion with a high temperature agent used. The dummy was blown into bits, as well as their father's clothes. Other than some tiny bomb fragments and bits of wire, there was nothing left of the bomb.

"Whatever evidence there would have been, I think it's in tiny bits now," Frank said.

Chet, who had been concentrating in a spot about ten feet from the dummy, said, "Hey, guys, get a load of this!"

Joe looked up from the remnants of the dummy. "What did you find?"

"This scrap of paper," said Chet, giving the scrap to Joe. "Based on that note we found in New York, I would say this looks like your dad's handwriting."

Joe examined the scrap of paper closely. "It is Dad's handwriting!" Joe exclaimed. "I think this is an address that he wrote down."

"Let me see that," Frank said, taking the scrap from Joe. Examining the writing, Frank said, "It's an address, all right. And it's in Dad's handwriting, all right. I wonder if he was trying to give us a clue?"

"Like he knew they would take his clothes and put them on a dummy? Do you think his captors told him that?" Joe asked.

"That's what I'm wondering," Frank said, "and he slipped this in his clothing before they took them from him."

"But how did it survive the explosion?" Joe wondered. "This paper should have been blown to bits. Look at the bomb and the dummy!"

"I don't know, but here come the Shoreham police," Frank said, pointing towards a couple of squad cars responding to where they were. "Hold on to that scrap. We still need to keep the cops out of this. We can't risk something happening to Dad."

Two Shoreham police cars pulled up by the Hardys and Chet, and an officer got out of each vehicle.

"I'm Officer Madison," the first officer said. "We received the report of an explosion in this area."

"Hey, Madison," the other officer said as he exited his vehicle. "Look at this!"

Madison and the other officer look at the explosion pattern in the ground that the Hardys were looking at a couple of minutes earlier.

"I'm Officer Winston," the other officer stated. "What happened here?"

"I'm Frank Hardy," Frank started and then pointed to his brother. "This is my brother Joe, and that's our friend Chet Morton."

"Hardy?" Winston asked. "As in Fenton Hardy?"

Frank nodded. "Yes, officer. Joe and I are his sons. Our dad asked us to check out a lead here, and we were ambushed by this van who threw out what we thought was a body, but it was a dummy with explosives attached."

"What kind of gang are you guys investigating?" asked Winston.

"We're not completely sure," Frank said. "We were supposed to meet somebody here for a tip on Dad's case, but we got ambushed instead. We have no idea who these guys are!"

"Were you able to get a good look at them?" asked Madison, walking back from the explosion pattern.

"I wish we had," Frank said. "But it happened so fast that we don't know who they were, how many there were or what they look like. There had to be at least two of them, though. One who drove, and the other who threw the dummy out of the van."

"That van?" Winston asked, pointing to the Hardys' van.

"No, officer," Frank said. "That's our van. We were able to see the outline of a van, but we couldn't make out the color or type of van. It was too dark in this area to see anything. Not much in the way of streetlights in this part of The Rock."

"That's a good point," Winston said. "Can we get a hold of your dad for some leads?"

"He's undercover on this assignment," Frank said. "We have no contact information for him."

"Very well," Winston said, handing Frank his business card. "Have your Dad contact us whenever he's able to do so. In the meantime, I'll need to get official statements from you guys and then have you leave while we finish processing the crime scene."

All three boys gave statements, but were careful to not mention anything about their case, and instead followed Frank's lead on Fenton Hardy being undercover. Once they were finished with statements, they got into the van and left The Rock while the Shoreham Police continued their crime scene investigation.

The van phone rang. Joe picked up the phone.

"What on Earth did you brats tell the cops?" the same disguised voice demanded angrily. "Did you call them?"

"You're the one who got their attention by throwing that stupid bomb at us!" Joe retorted. "Bombs make very loud noises, or did you not get that memo? Don't blame us for your stupidity!"

Frank shot Joe a dirty look and gestured him to shut his mouth.

"It's not a smart idea to mouth off to the guy who has your dad's life in his hands, so I suggest you shut your trap before I shoot your dad," the disguised voice said evenly.

"I thought you were freeing our dad," Joe said, "So what happened? Cold feet?"

"Let's just say your dad and I have some unfinished business to settle first, and then, maybe, maybe, I'll let your dad go," the caller said. "So, in the meantime, you're going to be good boys and stay in Bayport. That is, if you want to see your dad alive again."

"Do you even have him?" Joe countered in an even tone. "For all my brother and I know, you could be bluffing. All we have from you is a bunch of hot air and no proof. So why don't YOU be a good boy and put him on the phone? You already lied to us about freeing him at The Rock, so as far as I'm concerned, you're lying about having him hostage. Right now, you have no credibility with us, and you have no leverage. So, if you want us to play ball with you, you put him on the phone right now and prove that you have him."

There was a pause, and then the caller laughed. "You drive a hard bargain, kid, but I like your style. Wish you would join my side. We would make for a great team. But sure, I'll put your dad on the phone."

A few seconds later, a familiar voice weakly said, "Who is this?"

"Dad, it's Joe," he responded, instantly recognizing his dad's voice.

"Joe, you and Frank must listen to this guy. He's dead serious and he means business. Do as he says and stay in Bayport. Tell your mom and aunt that you're no longer needed in New York and that I'll contact them when I'm able to do so. Also, tell your mom that I lo—"

"That's enough, Hardy," the voice said. "Now listen up, Joe. You're going to do as your father said, and go home. Go ahead and drop off your fat friend at his house, though. Once I hear you on the bug at your home, you will be free to remove the bugs. One is on the bottom of the vase on your living room shelf. And the other is in your smoke detector outside you dad's den. You may remove it and destroy it once I give you the signal."

"Which will be what?" Joe asked.

"I'll call the house and hang up after the first ring," the voice said. "That'll be your cue to remove them. But the van bug stays! I don't trust you kids, but I'm tired of listening to your mom and aunt talk about cooking and soap operas. Remember, if you touch the van bug, your dad is dead."

With that, the caller hung up.

"Well, home it is, then," Frank said. "Chet, we'll drop you off first."

"Fine by me," Chet said. "We never did get that Brooklyn pizza, though."

"Maybe another time, buddy," Joe said. "Blame it on the caller."

A half hour later, the van stopped off at Chet's house. Iola looked out the window, glared at Joe in the van and closed the curtain.

"Maybe Iola will grow up one of these days," Joe said, rolling his eyes. "Why is she glaring at me? She's the one who broke up with me!"

Chet joked, "I'll tell her you said hi."

Joe shook his head. "Gee, what are friends for?"

"See you guys later," Chet said as he closed the van door.

About fifteen minutes later, Frank and Joe arrived back at their house.

"Here goes nothing," Frank said after he closed the van door.

Frank and Joe walked in, and found that their aunt and mother were in the kitchen.

"Well, this is a nice surprise!" Laura Hardy exclaimed as she hugged her sons. "You two helped your father solve the case?"

"Well, not quite, Mom," Joe said. "We were only able to be limited help this time, so he sent us home so that he could finish the case. He thought our youth would help him find the suspect, but the guy dad had us get friendly with wasn't Dad's suspect, so he sent us home. He told me to tell you that he loves you, and that he'll call you when he's able to do so."

Suddenly, the phone rang. Frank and Joe looked at each other.

"Maybe it's your dad!" Laura Hardy exclaimed as she rushed to the phone, but it stopped ringing after the first ring.

"That's odd," Laura said once the phone quit ringing.

Frank excused himself and left the kitchen. He went into the living room, lifted the vase and found the bug. He removed the bug and took it upstairs to the bathroom, and Frank also quickly removes the bug from the smoke detector. Frank wrapped both of them in toilet paper and flushed the bugs down the toilet. Frank returned to the kitchen.

"Are you okay, son?" Laura asked. "You left for the bathroom in a hurry."

"I'm okay now, mom, thanks," Frank said, and nodded his head at Joe.

"Mom, we're going to go upstairs and unpack, if that's okay," Joe said.

"Oh, of course, sons," Laura Hardy smiled. "Dinner won't be ready for another hour."

Frank and Joe ran upstairs to Frank's bedroom.

"We should sweep the house for more bugs," Frank said. "I don't trust this guy."

Joe nodded. "Neither do I, but should we mess with more bugs? He might kill Dad if we do."

"He only said the van bug, remember?" Frank pointed out. "Also, I imagine that he would have mentioned other bugs, but let's sweep the house to be on the safe side. And let's check the phones and phone lines."

Frank and Joe grabbed the bug sweeping equipment and checked out the house, including the phone lines. No other bugs were found.

"Good, now we can talk freely," Frank declared once they put the sweeping equipment away.

"So what are we doing?" Joe asked. "Are we being good boys and staying in Bayport?"

Frank chuckled. "Far from it. We're not dropping this case. In the meantime, let's go have dinner with Mom and Aunt Gertrude, and then we'll come up with a plan."

The boys washed up and joined their mother and aunt at the dinner table.

"About time you boys showed up," Aunt Gertrude sniffed. "This chicken isn't going to eat itself!"

"I haven't eaten in hours," Joe said, realizing they hadn't eaten since the previous day before they even went to New York. "In fact," he grinned, "Chet must be starving!"

Frank laughed. "We were too busy to eat. He sure was complaining about us not having time to eat when we helped Dad!"

"You should have invited him over for dinner, Joseph!" Aunt Gertrude exclaimed. "He's only my biggest fan in all of Bayport!"

"Biggest fan?" Frank asked. "Don't we count, Aunty?"

Aunt Gertrude smiled. "Of course you count! I was talking about non-family members!"

After dinner, Frank and Joe helped cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen, then went upstairs to discuss the case.

Joe took the scrap of paper out of his pocket. "We have to figure out this address. Dad must've left this as a clue."

Frank went into their father's den, and then returned with a map of New York City.

"This has to be a New York City address," Frank said. "What's the street name again?"

"Walters Avenue," Joe said.

Frank studied the map, and a few minutes later exclaimed, "There's only one Walters Avenue in New York City, and it's on Staten Island! That's where Dad's being held!"