"Iola's missing?" Joe said in shock. "And what bad things supposedly happened to us?"
"My sister's missing?" asked a visibly shaken Chet. Joe motioned him to be quiet as he tried to listen to Mrs. Morton.
"She was out with James Grant. They were having dinner at the Bayport Diner, and from what James told us, she forgot her purse in James' car. So James gave her his car keys, and she went to his car to get her purse. When Iola didn't return, James went out to his car, and found the passenger door open with Iola's purse on the floorboard, but Iola was nowhere to be found!" Mrs. Morton cried.
"Were the police called?" Joe asked.
"James had called them from the diner," Mrs. Morton said. "After he called the police, he called to let me and my husband know. The police must still be investigating there. Right after James called me, I got a call from them two hours ago asking me to get a hold of your mom and your aunt so that they could come here. The policeman said they had some information to share with them about you, Frank and Chet. Something about you three having had something bad done to you, and the police wanted to tell all of us parents at once. So I called your mom, and she said she would be right over with your aunt. But they haven't shown up."
Joe look alarmed. "Mrs. Morton, don't go anywhere! Frank, Chet and I are on our way to you!"
"What happened to my sister?" Chet demanded as Joe hung up the phone.
"We need to get to the van now!" Joe exclaimed. "We need to take Dad with us! Chet, I'll explain everything in the van. But time is of the essence!"
The boys picked up the still-unconscious Fenton Hardy and rushed him to the van they borrowed from Phil. Frank initially wanted to use their van, but he remembered that their van was still bugged. As soon as they put Fenton Hardy in the back of the van, Frank fired up the engine, and they departed for the Morton farm.
"Iola was at the Bayport Diner with James Grant," Joe explained, "and apparently, she left her purse in his car. He gave Iola his car keys and she went to his car but never returned. James went to check on her a few minutes later, and found the passenger door opened, along with her purse still on the floorboard. But no sign of Iola anywhere. James called the police."
"And why are we going to my parents' house instead of the diner?" Chet demanded.
"Your mom said the police called the house and told her to get a hold of our mom and Aunt Gertrude because the police had information about something bad happening to us. That's when Mom and Aunt Gertrude left, but they never made it to your house." Joe continued.
"This is Huntley's doing!" Frank exclaimed. "The police would have called Mom and Aunt Gertrude directly. They never would have asked the Mortons to call Mom and have her go there! And even if they had, they would have asked for Dad first since they know him so well!"
"I'm sure Mom didn't think that way and probably got upset about us being hurt or worse," Joe pointed out.
"I'm not blaming Mom," Frank said. "I'm saying that Huntley gave himself away. He vowed revenge for us rescuing Dad, and it looks like he lived up to that promise."
"And right now, Chet, we need to make sure nothing happens to your parents!" Joe exclaimed.
Chet turned red with anger. "If Huntley lays one finger on my sister, I'll beat him up myself!" he declared. "Making fun of my weight is one thing, but kidnapping my sister crosses the line!"
"You know," Joe said thoughtfully. "We left for Bayport a couple of hours ago. How did Huntley act so fast?"
"He probably had goons in town, ready for Huntley's orders. Remember, Huntley wanted to make sure that we were obeying him. He wanted to settle his score with Dad without us interfering. Now that we ruined that, he wants revenge," Frank said grimly.
"Maybe the big boss was keeping tabs on things here?" Joe asked.
Frank shook his head. "No way. He contacted you over your earpiece on Staten Island, remember? That earpiece has a two-mile range. The big boss wasn't in Bayport. It had to be either Huntley's thugs or the big boss's thugs who did this. Now, in the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for Mom's station wagon."
At this point, Frank had exceeded the speed limit on the highway to the Morton farm. But he was also afraid of something happening to Chet's parents. Joe, in the meantime, was scanning the highway for any signs of his mother's station wagon.
"Frank! Slow down!" Joe yelled out. "There's fresh tire tracks going off the shoulder!"
Frank immediately slowed down and pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Joe jumped out and ran towards the skid marks, which evolved into tire tracks in the ground just off the shoulder. The grass was very tall off the shoulder, and Joe followed the tire tracks. Frank followed Joe, but ordered Chet to stay in the van with their dad. Both boys had their flashlights on. Joe caught a glimpse of yellow in the tall grass.
"Frank! It's Mom's station wagon!" he yelled out. "Mom and Aunt Gertrude aren't inside! I think they've been kidnapped, too!"
Frank clenched his fists. "We've got to call Chief Collig! But there's no phone in that van!" he exclaimed. "There's a house about a half mile back! I'm going to run that house and see if I can use their phone! Joe, get back to the van and stay with Chet! We can't afford for Chet to be overran by these thugs if this is a trap!"
"Be careful, Frank!" Joe exclaimed as Frank took off at full sprint towards the farmer's house.
"You too!" Frank yelled back. "Take care of Chet and Dad!"
Joe jumped back in the van, where Chet was watching over Fenton Hardy, who was still unconscious. Chet looked worried.
"Where's Frank?" he asked, visibly upset.
"We found Mom's station wagon, but Mom and Aunt Gertrude weren't in the car. Frank went to the farmer's house back there to call Chief Collig," Joe said. "As soon as Frank is back, we'll head to your house and talk to your parents."
"This is bad, Joe," Chet said in a shaking voice. "What if something happens to my sister?"
"You can't think like that, buddy," Joe said, "They'll make contact with us first. Huntley will have demands. He'll call and make a ransom demand of some sort. He's not going to harm Iola. As long as Dad is free, Huntley will be in a panic. Dad obviously knows too much. I just wish Dad would wake up!"
"Do you think he'll demand your dad back in exchange for Iola, your mom and Aunt Gertrude?" Chet asked.
Joe jumped up and snapped his fingers. "Holy smokes, Chet. I think you're on to something! That makes absolute perfect sense! And also, it means that your parents are probably safe!"
"You think so?" he asked with some certainty back in his voice.
"I think the odds are pretty good, Chet. I can't guarantee that, but if your theory is true, then your parents are most likely not even being targeted," Joe assured him. "But your theory is probably the soundest thing I've heard yet!"
Chet looked pleased but his face was still lined with worry. "Thanks, Joe," Chet said.
Suddenly, a vehicle pulled up in front of the van. Joe assumed a defensive stance.
"It's Huntley's thugs!" he fumed. "Chet, we've got to take them down!"
Joe ran up to the front of the van to look out the window, and relaxed his defensive stance when he realized that Frank was getting out of the vehicle from the passenger side.
"Thank you, Mr. Davenport!" Frank said as the man in the vehicle drove off.
Frank jumped in the van. "Mr. Davenport was still awake at his farmhouse," he explained. "Anyways, Chief Collig should be here within minutes."
"Chet has a great theory," Joe said. "What if Huntley had Iola, Mom and Aunt Gertrude taken so that they can be exchanged for Dad?"
"I didn't even think of that, but wow, way to think on your feet, Chet!" Frank exclaimed.
"I hope I'm right," Chet said. "But I just remembered that Huntley said something about 'revenge'. So I hope that doesn't mean that he harms them!"
"If your theory is correct, Chet," Frank said, "then he mentioned revenge as a scare tactic. He's about to learn that we don't scare easily. Oh, and check this out – Chief Collig was able to confirm that nobody from the Bayport police called Mom to tell her and Aunt Gertrude to meet at the Morton house and there was no report of something bad happening to us."
"That figures," Joe said in a disgusted tone. "That doesn't surprise me one bit."
"Same," Frank said. "And I believe I'm seeing red and blue lights!"
Seconds later, Chief Collig's car pulled over to the shoulder, along with Con Riley's car and two other officers.
"It's not often I say this, but man, am I glad to see you guys!" Joe exclaimed as he and Frank jumped out of the van.
Chief Collig smiled thinly at Joe's joke. "What kind of case are you and your dad investigating?" he asked. "For Iola Morton, Laura Hardy and Gertrude Hardy to be kidnapped, you must be involved in something quite serious!"
"We can't talk much about the case," Frank said. "It's under CIA jurisdiction, so we're not at liberty to discuss it."
Chief Collig's eyebrows raised. "Oh, one of those cases!" he exclaimed. "Ok, we'll make this quick. We need statements from you two and Chet. Then we'll cordon off the area as a crime scene after you guys leave."
All three boys gave statements to the police, and Chief Collig said he would get statements from Chet's parents first thing in the morning. As the Hardys and Chet took off the in the van, Joe saw in the passenger side mirror that Con Riley and the two other officers were putting up crime scene tape. Minutes later, they arrived at the Morton house.
"We can't leave Dad in the van alone!" Joe exclaimed. "I'll stay in the van with him this time. You guys go ahead and talk to the Mortons."
After an emotional reunion with Chet, the Mortons told their story to Frank and Frank told the Mortons about finding his mom's station wagon.
"Frank, I'm sorry about your mom and your aunt," Mrs. Morton cried after Frank told her what happened.
"We think the same people who took Iola also took Mom and Aunt Gertrude. We think it's tied to a case we're working on," Frank explained.
"So you boys weren't camping?" she asked.
"No, and I'm sorry we had to lie to you about camping. We had to stay undercover for our safety as well as your safety," Frank apologized. "We're going to get Iola back, I promise."
Suddenly, the phone rang, and Mrs. Morton answered it. "Frank," she said, perplexed. "It's for you."
Frank gave a bewildered look and answered the phone. "This is Frank Hardy," he said.
Maniacal laughter was on the other end. "You're going to get Iola back?" the disguised voice said. "Don't make promises that you can't keep! Now listen close, Frank, and don't say a word back! We have the Morton house bugged. You're going to head back to New York City right now! We have your mom and aunt, too. Remember when I said I'd hate to see Aunt Gertrude get harmed? That's still a true statement. You have two and a half hours to get to Central Park, at the zoo, where all of this started. If you're not there in two and a half hours, we kill Iola, Mom and dear Aunt Gertrude."
"What do you want?" Frank demanded.
"It's quite simple, really. I want your father," the man said. "Your father in exchange for all three women. Oh, and you're going to take your police van. I need to keep track of you guys. If you don't show up in the police van, I'll kill all three women. That van is bugged. I don't know how you managed to elude us with the other van, but I can assure you that you won't fool us again!"
"How do I know you have them?" Frank countered, "and that this isn't some scam you're trying to pull."
"Aunt Gertrude, you can do the honors," the voice said. "Say hi to your nephew Frank."
"Frank?" Aunt Gertrude said with a very shaky, upset voice. "Please do what this man says!"
"Enough!" the man shouted and he took the phone back. "Get going, Frank. You now have 2 hours and 28 minutes to get to Central Park!"
The phone hung up, and Frank looked at Chet. "We have to go!" Frank said. "It's our only chance to save Iola!"
"You bring her back, son!" Mrs. Morton said with a determination in her voice.
Frank and Chet ran back to the van. Frank started it up and left the Morton farm.
"What's going on?" asked Joe.
Frank filled Joe in on everything that was said over the phone.
"Two and a half hours?" he exclaimed. "Is that enough time?"
"We don't have a choice," Frank said. "We need to get Iola, Mom and Aunt Gertrude back."
"What if it's a trap?" Joe asked. "We know what happened when we went to the zoo this last time!"
"We have to take that chance," Frank said. "We can't afford to mess with Huntley and have him kill them out of anger."
"You're looking at the wrong guy," said a faint voice from the back of the van.
"Dad?" Joe asked, surprised, jumping out of his seat to run back to his father.
Fenton Hardy faintly smiled but was still clearly waking up. "You're focusing on Huntley. He's just a bit player in this."
"But he kidnapped you, Dad!" Joe exclaimed.
"No, he didn't," Fenton said. "He was just my guard. He's not the one behind all of this."
"Then who's behind it, Dad?" asked Joe.
Fenton Hardy sat up, quickly regaining his strength. "Harry Young!" he exclaimed.