Chapter 7

"Keep your head down," Joe was ordered and a rag was pushed into his mouth to keep him quiet. He was lying half onto one of the back seats of the mini van with his legs hanging down into the footwell.

"Here comes the brother," said the driver, "Do you want me to stop and see if we can get two for the price of one?"

Joe attempted to rise, but his arms were yanked painfully up his back via the cuffs and a hand applied to his neck that ensured he couldn't move. All he could do was listen to a confusing jabber of strangers' voices and the engine growling.

"No, lose him – too risky. We've already pushed our luck with the neighbour. We've probably got five minutes before he recovers from his fright and the cops are alerted."

"Shouldn't be too difficult in that old banger."

"He's not in his brother's car, he's in some sort of souped up convertible."

"He's a good driver. I'm going to have to make some quick moves to get him off our tail. Hold Hardy steady, we're gonna get tossed around a little."

Joe started to be thrown about on the seat as the car was driven at a breakneck speed around a series of bends. Finally, it slowed and they were travelling along a long straight run.

"I think we lost him."

"This is where I get off."

"You know what to do?"

"Yeah."

The vehicle pulled over and one of the men exited the car. As he stepped down, the edge of the road must have been lower than the asphalt surface because the man's face was suddenly visible for a second as he ripped his woollen mask off and threw it back into the vehicle. He didn't see that Joe had observed him, and almost as quickly as he was out of the car, the door was shut and he was invisible to him again.

They drove for a few more minutes and eventually pulled off the flat road and onto rougher ground. They stopped shortly thereafter. Behind Joe, a door opened and he heard footsteps trudging around to his side of the car. The mini-van was opened one last time and he was wrenched out and thrown to the wet ground, landing on his knees. Joe couldn't see the road anymore so it was impossible for passers by to witness what was happening.

He was helped back to his feet with two men gripping his arms. Another was in front of him and Joe could hear one further away behind him rummaging about in the car. All were dressed identically. All in black, all gloved, hooded and masked. Including the driver and the guy who'd bailed out earlier, Joe calculated that they were a team of six – not favourable odds! One leant forward and pulled the gag from his mouth and then unzipped his jacket and pulled it open.

"What do you people want?" Joe asked, jerking away.

"We ask the questions, you talk." The faceless man nodded at the two holding him and they started marching him further into the undergrowth. They eventually emerged into a clearing and one of the men indicated to a tall, straight tree.

They pulled him back against the trunk and held him there while the man who'd spoken to him pushed a length of nylon rope through each elbow and tethered him securely. Then they all stood back while their self-appointed spokesperson came back around the front to accept a large, silver equipment case from the fourth man who'd now caught up with them after obviously fetching it from the vehicle. This was now he placed down on the ground in front of Joe and the catches were clicked open allowing the lid to fall wide open.

Joe saw what was inside the case and knew that the contents were being unpacked in front of him in order to unnerve and intimidate – and it was working. "You're kidding, right?" Joe asked. "All this over a fraud case? It wasn't even that much money!"

"You know this is nothing to do with your fraud case." The man replied.

"Then why am I here?"

"You know why you're here."

Joe was completely bewildered and didn't have the first clue as to what was being insinuated. "If you could be a bit more specific, Dude, I'm sure I'll be only too happy to answer your questions, without all of… this," he said, indicating the case with his chin.

Now lying on the grass was a selection of items that had been removed from the bag as well as the gun – now with a silencer attached. A handful of different sized and shaped knives, a pair of pliers, some sort of wicked looking hammer-type thing that Joe couldn't identify, and what appeared to be two electric cattle prods or stun batons. This was confirmed to be so when one was selected and the switch flicked up to reveal a brilliant blue light, zipping between two prongs that were jutting out of the end. Suddenly, the reason for earlier unfastening his jacket was obvious.

Joe strained against the rope. "Aw…come on, this is stupid. Whatever it is you want, just tell me."

The man stepped right up, nose-to-nose with Joe and held the baton up. "The thing about this beauty is that it has a low amp, which means it won't actually burn, but I've jacked up the volts nice and high so as to cause a lot of discomfort. So it won't mark you, but it'll sure make you dance! Allow me to demonstrate …" he took a pace back and pressed the head of the probe hard into Joe's shoulder.

Joe had never experienced anything like it. There was an internal explosion, his body felt as though all strength had left and he instantly began jerking and spasming uncontrollably. His brain closed down, his mind only able to centre on the excruciating pain that was coursing through every bone, muscle and sinew. He was burning, going up like a firework and spraying out sparks in all directions! Whether or not he had screamed he had no idea, but suddenly he was back down in the clearing, breathless and emitting some sort of high-pitched noise that he'd never heard himself make before, and the ropes the only things supporting him.

"What…why?" for a few seconds he was too bewildered to respond in any sort of cohesive manner.

"Tell me about Pandora."

"Who?"

Another hit to the shoulder, this time for a shorter amount of time which allowed the younger Hardy to recover and respond quicker.

Anger and disbelief were Joe's major feelings at this juncture. "I don't know anyone called Pandora! What's wrong with you people!?"

"Don't be a stubborn man…"

He was jabbed again.

Desperation was starting to creep into Joe's countenance, which had the double effect of imparting a feeling of shame for demonstrating a weakness. "Why are you doing this? I just told you, I don't know anyone called Pandora!"

"Liar."

Jabbed again, but for longer this time.

Eventually, Joe was allowed to catch his breath and his tormenter waited and considered the young Hardy up and down for a few seconds.

"You've either got a high pain threshold, or you're obstinate as hell!" he observed. "We know how you and your brother operate. We know that you work as partners and that you share everything. Your brother would not have kept this from you. You will tell us where the key to Pandora is or I'll apply this above your heart which may or may not kill you."

Joe raised his head and stared straight into the man's eyes. "Listen to me, are you demented or something? You are wasting your time; I can only repeat that I don't know anything. If Frank is involved with this Pandora then he's not told me. He's a free agent and he can see whomever he likes. But, to be honest, if you're a typical example of one of her friends, when I speak to him next, I'll be encouraging him to chuck her."

He got zapped again.

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Joe shook his head in resignation. "No, of course not…"

"Then tell me what I want to know."

"I can't, I don't know anything…"

The man advanced with the baton again and Joe shrank way. But this time, instead of immediately assaulting him, the man paused. He went into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Turning his back, he proceeded to read something from the screen. "I thought I could feel something vibrating – other than you of course!" he said and turned back. "It would seem we've got some news for you, Joe Hardy. My associate who left the car earlier has captured your brother so I don't think we'll need you any more."

Despite the dire situation he was in, Joe couldn't help but sneer. "Yeah right…tell it to the Judge! No way your man could have taken Frank on single-handed. My brother would have kicked his ass all the way to Canada!"

"I assure you that he has, you weren't exactly a challenge to apprehend were you? Now, what you really need to be asking yourself is how much of this type of abuse your brother can handle? You're tough, but we know that your brother isn't, shall we say, as durable as you?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I don't think so," he taunted; "especially when I go to work on him with one of these." he said and picked up one of the knives.

Joe jerked in his bindings and tried to lunge at his oppressor. "You lay one finger on my brother and I swear to God, I'll kill you!" he snarled.

Joe got prodded for his trouble.

"Come now, Joe Hardy, you're hardly in a position to be issuing threats. Just tell me about Pandora and the key and we'll let Frank go and you'll save him a whole lot of pain! Don't tell us, and he'll get twice the amount of discomfort that's been metered out to you – and that I can guarantee."

"I don't know ANYTHING! Do you really think I'd allow you to do this to Frank if I could stop it?"

The man paused for a few short seconds and appeared to be thinking. Then, with a small shrug, he took the baton again and pressed it home, but this time in the middle of the younger Hardy's chest.

This time Joe did hear himself screaming – long and hard, over and over again. And then he couldn't breathe and the crying ceased – but not the pain – and then everything stopped and went a grey colour.

Joe must have been cut loose from the tree because when he came around, he was on the ground with his cheek pressed into the grass, his hands still cuffed, and a foot in the middle of his back. He decided to play dead to allow himself some thinking time. He could hear the gang talking amongst themselves again:

"It appears he really doesn't know anything."

"From what we understand of the Hardy brothers, they're close-knit."

"If one of them was given the option of giving up information, or even their lives, in order to save the other, that's what he would do. Frank Hardy has chosen not to share with his brother this time, which is a bit of a nuisance, especially as we've inadvertently given him an early warning."

"Take the equipment back to the car and get the engine running. We'll join you once he's come to. He'll be useful to us as a tool for putting pressure on his brother – I'm sure the removal of a finger or two will do the trick!"

Joe listened to the sounds of movement and then the foot that was pressing down on his spine was removed. He opened his eyes slightly to take a peek at what was happening and was in time to witness two of the men walking off and entering the trees – presumably to return to the car. He must have been dragged from his original position as he was now lying some way away from where he'd been tethered.

The third man was heading back to where the silver case had once been. He stopped and bent down to retrieve something that had been left behind.

The final man – who Joe supposed had been the one whose foot had been pressing on his back, and therefore was the guy who'd been asking the questions – was standing just by his lower legs, watching what his accomplice was doing.

Joe quickly came to the conclusion that if he was going to get himself out of this situation, he needed to make a move now while everyone was distracted!

He rolled silently onto his back, bent his left leg and rammed his foot into the soft earth, then snapped his right leg up at an angle and landed a kick just behind the inquisitor's knees, taking him by surprise and knocking him flat. As soon as he was on the ground, Joe bought the leg straight down again and pounded the heel into the middle of the guy's abdomen. With a loud grunt the man curled up into a ball completely winded.

As quick as a flash, Joe drew his legs back and, with the help of his conditioned abdominal muscles, flipped himself up onto his feet in one fluid movement.

By this time, the other man had realised something was happening and had turned.

Joe looked up and realised that the thing the man had gone back for was actually the gun. The man raised his arm and directed the weapon straight at him. Joe froze, unsure as to what to do next.

There came a strangled cry of warning from the man lying at Joe's feet. He was obviously still struggling to catch his breath, so his voice was raggedy at best. "Don't aim for the body, take a leg out – we need him!" he ordered.

The man with the gun lowered his aim and pointed it at Joe's right leg and tensed his arm.

Joe waited for the sound of gunfire, but the shot was taking its time being administered. Inexplicably, the man uttered the word "Dammit!" and turned the weapon on its side to inspect it. Then a dawning realisation hit home; the man's weapon had jammed! And then Joe knew that he was the luckiest human being on the planet – he'd been given another chance – and by God, he wasn't about to squander it!

One quick glance down at the guy on the ground, who was still showing no signs of being able to raise himself and Joe was running in the opposite direction, towards where he believed the main road was, the one they'd left in order for him to be dragged to the hellish clearing. He plunged into the trees ensuring that he would not now make an easy target.

Shouting came from behind him, but he had a winning head start and he was fast and he was determined…and just a little panicked...

"…and you pretty much know the rest." Joe said to his audience. "I tripped and fell down the ravine after nearly getting run down twice and almost having my head taken off by a bullet." He looked across at his father. "And then I got shot by a stray slug and then the next thing I knew, you were there like the Caped Crusader to save my bacon." He looked down towards the end of the bed, fear waxing his features. "So there you have it, they tried to get information out of me that I didn't have because I know nothing. And now I'm here, and safe and it's Frank they're looking for – and for all I know, they've actually already captured him and are welcoming him into the bosom of their hearts in their own inimitable fashion. With cattle prods, knives and one hell of a big gun. And all for the love of a mysterious girl called Pandora!"

Shocked silence prevailed, which was only broken when Fenton jumped up. His chair made a loud squeaking noise against the floor tiles and slid back until it connected with the wall behind with a dull thud. He uttered a word that Joe never thought he would ever hear come out of his father's mouth, followed by a few other choice expletives. Nancy grimaced and shied away from Fenton as he raged and stomped about the room.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry you went through that!" Vanessa said and leant in to take him softly into her arms.

Joe allowed himself to be drawn into the embrace, enjoying the warmth and security while trying to block out the sounds of his Father's understandable frustration and anger. Then he started to really not feel so good, and then everything started spinning and he was clinging to his girl for dear life, sensing that he was going to be tipped from the bed.

"Joe?" Vanessa said, pulling back to look at him. "Joe, baby? What's wrong?" She turned to Fenton with a frightened expression, "Mr Hardy, get someone, something's wrong!"

Nancy was already reacting and hitting the red button. Two seconds later and hospital staff were entering the room.