Message for Nightwatcher'sunknowngirl - don't worry, gal! Give it a couple of chapter - you'll get so much Joe action you'll be reeling! It'll be worth the wait. Hold onto you hat, it's action all the way now. :-)

Chapter 24

Feeling euphoric, Frank arrived back at the hotel. The journey had taken longer than he would have liked, as he'd had to re-attach the snow chains as soon as he'd travelled back into the outskirts of Bayport. Most of the roads were now clear and well gritted, but the roads outside of the main town were pretty ropey. By the time he was back, darkness had fallen. He mounted the back steps and tapped on the door.

Mrs Holliday answered it a short while later. "There you are!" she said. "I'd just about given up on you two young people returning today." She looked past his shoulder. "Where's Nancy?" she asked.

Frank frowned, "What do you mean – isn't she back?" he asked.

"No, I haven't seen her all day."

He stared at Mrs Holliday, fervently hoping she was joking, but her face was dead serious. "Did she phone to say she was running late?" he asked, looking back at the road in the hope that he'd see a cab on the horizon.

"No, I haven't heard a thing. Is something wrong?"

"I hope not," he said and walked past her into the house.

He drew his cell phone out and texted Nancy: Where r u? F

He had to wait five minutes before he got a reply and it wasn't the reply he was hoping for. It was a picture of Nancy in the back of some sort of vehicle, her eyes down turned and frightened. For good reason, that familiar gun was trained at her head. Along with the picture was a text message that gave a map grid reference and the simple notation: she's waiting.

Frank swallowed hard. "No…no way…no way is this happening!" he shouted out, making Mrs Holliday jump. Feeling suddenly very light-headed, he sank into one of the chairs, put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, his brain working feverously. "This wasn't part of the plan, they were supposed to come for me, not Nancy!"

He squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with his palm, self-incrimination instantly stabbing him in the chest – he'd made another mistake, and at the expense of his adored Nancy this time! The original plan had been to get Nancy to solve the game for him and then ditch her at the earliest opportunity and go it alone so she would be out of the danger zone – not as a girlfriend, but as a partner. But the more emotionally involved he'd become, the less clearly he'd been able to define the possible consequences, his focus, usually so sharp had become blunted. He knew he'd always been attracted to Nancy, but he hadn't bargained on just how much. He'd found himself totally unprepared and had been swept along by it, falling head-over-heels.

So he'd delayed the inevitable, not wanting to be parted from the clever and sassy Nancy for even an instant. He'd continually dragged his feet in order to give himself the excuse not to leave her behind – heck, he'd even changed 'The Plan' in order to keep her with him as long as possible. She'd been his anchor, his rock, his escape to normality, but now 'they' had her, and it was all his doing.

Things were starting to unravel.

"Stupid Frank…stupid dumb idiotic imbecilic selfish Frank! Incompetent twisted moronic…"

"What is it?" Mrs Holliday asked, cutting into his slithering, serpentine thoughts and taking the phone out of his hand to see what had sent him into a panic. "Oh no…" she muttered, clearly shocked. "Poor Nancy."

Frank mentally kicked himself, "Concentrate!" he ordered himself, and raised his head to look steadily at Mrs Holliday.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, white as a sheet.

"The only thing I can do, I'm going to help my girl," Frank said, all calmness now. "Mrs Holliday, can you possibly get me a long piece of rope?" he requested. "A length of washing line will do."

"Shall I telephone the police?" she asked.

She was really frightened, Frank could tell.

"No, don't do that, the rope is all I need." He arose from the chair and walked stiffly into the hallway to get a pad and a pen and began writing. "Afterwards, I want you to get into your car and go to this address." He tore the page free, handed it across and then put his hands on her shoulders to make her concentrate on what he was saying. "Tell them that I sent you and that I need you to be looked after. Tell them that if I've not made contact in the next three hours that they are then to get hold of my father, but not before – be really insistent on that – not before! Stay with them, and don't go anywhere else. Do you understand?"

Mrs Holliday nodded and looked at the piece of paper. "Sam and Ethel Radley?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yes. Sam used to work with my dad before he retired and Joe and me took over. He'll look after you. And then, after 24 hours, whatever is going to happen will have, and then you can come home. But don't worry, these people who took Nancy are really not interested in you; it's me they want. Now go get me the rope."

"Is it normally like this for you?" Mrs Holliday asked.

"Not usually this bad, no."

He watched as she scuttled away and went to the bookcase to get the map of Bayport that he'd seen there previously, put it down on the table and spread it open. Using the grid reference he'd been supplied with, he was quickly able to confirm that the location was the same patch of ground where Joe had been taken before. "Men of habit," he decided – or maybe they were just keeping it easy for him? Probably the latter…"

By the time he'd confirmed where he was supposed to go, Mrs Holliday had returned with the rope.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"Perfect, thank you." He looped it over his shoulder and retrieved the car keys from his jacket pocket. "Come on Mrs Holliday, it's time to go." He took her arm and began to lead her from the house. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"Don't even worry about that, young man, just worry about helping Nancy." She gave him a hard kiss on the cheek. "Good luck to you, young Frank," she said and went to her SUV.

He walked to Nancy's car and watched as Mrs Holliday drove away from the property. It was only when he could no longer hear her engine that he finally allowed the emotions that he'd been internalising for so long to spill sweltering forth. So intense and powerful that he stumbled.

The tears came, heavy and angry; full of regret and grief for the girl he'd only just found and might now be losing, the family he might be leaving behind and the hurt he'd caused to his brother and best friend, and his father. The sobs raked at his heart and left him staggered and breathless – he knew now that if he survived the inevitable physical fight he was facing, he'd then be confronted with the far tougher psychological battle of clawing himself back to the Frank that was.

He braced himself against the hood of the car, hot tears sliding off his face and hitting the metal work, forming instant ice-trails in the black paint. Eventually, he made a fist and drove it home, putting a sizable dent in the bodywork and damaging his leather gloves.

Turning around, he sat back on the hood and put his heels up onto the fender. He took the time to inhale deeply, concentrating hard on getting a tighter hold on himself and to wipe his face dry. Finally feeling in control, he got into the car, did a mental check to ensure he'd not forgotten anything and started driving.

Frank left Nancy's car a little way along the road, rather than to announce his arrival and went the rest of the distance on foot – but not before disconnecting the snow chains from the car's wheels. If it was at all possible, he wanted Nancy to have the opportunity of escaping quickly and not be held back by the chains. He was confident he could barter for her release, but wasn't convinced that they wouldn't simply go after her once he'd surrendered. But he knew Nancy was a brilliant driver and stood a more than reasonable chance of escape with a good head start, no matter how competent the other guy's road skills were.

He trudged between the trees until he could see the clearing that Joe had been brought to before. The sound of voices wafted towards him so he knew he'd come to the right place. He selected a suitable tree, discarded his gloves on the ground to improve his grip, and started climbing. His knee instantly began to complain, but he ignored its protests and continued on up. Eventually, he was about halfway up the entire height and could see both Nancy's car in the distance and men down below. There were three strangers milling about, a mini-van parked up and a small car. He couldn't see Nancy, but it was a fair assumption that she was in one of the vehicles.

He straddled the branch and retrieved the rope from over his shoulder. Taking the one end, he threw it up and over one of the branches above and then tied it off. And then he found the other end and twisted it into a crude noose, which he dropped around his neck and tightened. He then gingerly got back onto his feet, careful not to slip, and reached up until he found a handhold to grip onto for balance.

"Right boys, let's play!" he thought.

"HEY!" he yelled. "You guys been looking for me?"

The men all started and began looking around trying to pick him out in the darkness. The snow was causing the noise of Frank's voice to reverberate about and they couldn't get a fix on where he was. One of them eventually showed enough initiative as to look up. He was holding a large hand-held flashlight, which he trained up the tree until he picked Frank's lonely figure out.

"Yes, hello, it's me." Frank said, and waved." I believe you may have my girlfriend and may be interested in a little exchange?"

One of the men came forward. "Yes we are. Come on down and we'll talk about it."

Frank shook his head. "I don't think so, pal. I'm calling the shots now and you don't get anything unless you go get Nancy and bring her out here."

"Or, I could just shoot you down out of the tree!" the man responded, pulling the gun forth, "I'm an excellent shot and promise I won't kill you. I'll just wing you a little just to ensure you come down."

"Buddy, that wouldn't be clever." Frank interjected. "You want the key don't you? If you shoot me, then I'll fall out of this tree and my drop will come to a very sudden and jarring end when this noose tightens." He wiggled the rope with his free hand to illustrate his point. "And also, if you try and force me down by hurting Nancy, then I'll just jump and that'll have much the same effect and you'll never get your memory stick." He paused to give them a chance for his words to sink in before continuing: "On the other hand, if you bring Nancy out here, and then let her walk away, I'll come down voluntarily and you can have the key. I've hidden it in the principal's office, in his safe at my old high school."

Obviously appreciating Frank's side of the bargain, the man with the gun silently pocketed his weapon and walked back to the mini-van, where he opened the back door and leaned in. Some long seconds later, he and another man exited the car. He was leading Nancy with him by the upper arm. She was cuffed, exactly the same way Joe had been and looked shaken but otherwise unharmed. He marched her up to the tree.

"See, she's completely unmolested," the man said.

"Shut the hell up!" Frank ordered, "You snatch her off the street and then have the audacity to claim she's been 'unmolested'. You make me sick." He looked at Nancy again. "Are you okay, Nan, did they hurt you?"

"No, they didn't," she said. "It was more inconvenient than anything else, I was looking forward to a nice dinner!"

Frank laughed at her sassiness, Jeeze, he loved this girl! "Take the bracelets off her," he instructed the man, who did as he was bid, although he didn't release his hold on her bicep.

Frank then turned his attention back to his girlfriend. "Nancy, you need to leave now. The car's just down on the road." He pointed in the general direction. "The keys are in it, and there's plenty of gas. Go and get out of here, hon."

"No, I'm not leaving you here Frank."

"Yes Nan, you are. You're going to leave because you promised you would, do you remember? I need you to go. Walk away, Nancy."

She opened her mouth as if to argue. Frank locked eyes with her. Gradually, he made her understand that this wasn't up for negotiation. This was no game of cards in which she was ultimately going to beat him with a trick hand. Frank held the winning run this time. "Frank?" she called.

"What?"

"I love you, and I'm coming back for you whether you like it or not." She shrugged herself free of the man who was holding her arm and started to move.

"I love you too, baby." Frank called after her. "Now get gone!"

Frank watched her steadily enter the trees before starting to run.

"Come down now Frank Hardy, we've kept our end of the bargain," the man said.

"I told you to shut the hell up!" Frank reminded him. "I'm not coming down until I see her drive away," he said, and continued watching until Nancy reached her car. She looked back one more time in the direction of the tree, though he doubted she could have spied him, and then she was in the car, starting the engine and wheel spinning away. He continued observing until the car was out of sight before looking down at the men beneath him, and considered his next move.

Jumping wasn't really an option, he didn't actually want to die, not while there was a chance that he could be with his family and Nancy again, but equally, he didn't fancy his chances with these morons either. He wondered how long he could fool them into believing he was prepared to hang himself in order to protect a tiny memory stick.

Not for very long. Within seconds, two of the men were mounting the tree and climbing up after him.

Watching the men getting closer, Frank was really hoping that Nancy hadn't been exaggerating about her photographic memory, because he really needed her to recall a conversation they'd had days earlier, and he needed her to recount it to Joe. He knew he was putting a lot of faith in them both and felt depressingly guilty at putting so much weight on their shoulders – even if Nancy didn't know that yet.

Nancy reached the car and noted immediately that the chains had been unlinked from the tyres. It was just like Frank to think ahead. She knew she could make a much faster exit with not having those on the car, although the ice and snow would make for interesting road traction if she didn't stick to gritted areas. She turned and looked towards the tree she knew Frank was standing on with the rope about his neck. That was an inspired plan, she'd never have thought of that herself. She really hoped he didn't slip! Tears tugged at her eyes.

Whatever was to happen, her journey had to be quick, and it had to be straight to the hospital because she needed to see Joe to ask him something. Once they'd got Frank out of the tree, they'd take him elsewhere and she reckoned she could pinpoint that location and get there with Fenton before even the men did. She was mistakenly assuming it would take some time for them to force the location out of Frank – she was, of course, unaware that he'd sold that information to them already in order to bargain for her freedom.

When she'd been pulled into the back of the mini-van outside the library, she'd been introduced to another prisoner. He was one of the men who'd helped to capture Joe – but he was actually an undercover Network agent who had managed to infiltrate the gang's operation. He'd been there the entire time Joe had been tortured and had purposely jammed the gun and had allowed the younger Hardy to escape. He had done his job as best he could to save Joe's life, but the only problem was – he'd given himself away in the process. The gang wasn't fooled for an instant that he'd just not noticed the safety catch was on, and he paid the ultimate price.

After picking her up, the gang had driven them both to the cliff above Barmet Bay and then calmly hurled him off the edge. Nancy didn't watch, she shut her eyes tight and refused to. But it didn't stop her from having to listen to the screams and rendering thuds as his body was smashed to pieces against the rocks on the way down – she didn't have to see a thing, the sounds were bad enough. They'd then informed her, in a very matter-of-fact way that if Frank didn't give himself up, worse would happen – not only to her – but to him as well. They'd then taken her photograph and laughed as they'd returned the phone to her.

Nancy started the car and shot away with a wheel spin, tears blurring her vision. She wiped them angrily away and made herself concentrate. Losing control was not an option. Panicking was not an option. Fainting was definitely not an option. Getting to the hospital in one piece was the only option. There would be time for shock to set in later. Frank needed help and he needed it quickly, before they decided to pitch him to the winds as well.

She could see Bayport's lights on the horizon and just set the nose of her car pointing in that direction and put her foot down. Like Frank, she was intelligent enough to know that they wouldn't let her escape if they could help it – no more than they'd intended on Joe eluding them. One of the men would be coming after her at some point and she had to put as much distance between him and her and possible.

Ten minutes later, and sure enough, she could see headlights some way off behind her, which were gaining fast. Although their car wasn't physically very big, it had a far more powerful engine than hers. But by now, she was very near the edge of Bayport and about to enter the town.

Nancy roared past the 'Welcome to Bayport' sign and took the familiar right she'd taken before with Frank the last time they'd gone to the hospital. Her vehicle had just made the turn when the little car she'd been fleeing from finally caught up. It was driven straight up to her rear bumper to give her a nudge, which caused her vehicle to fishtail in the slush. "Crap!" she shouted and fought the car, turning it into the skid and managing to keep herself on the road – just!

The other car next attempted a run around the side of her, but she slewed along in front to prevent him from passing. Unperturbed, he went the opposite side and tried again, but she'd second-guessed his intention and was already in position before he could complete his move.

Nancy was running on pure instinct – he was a good driver, but she was better! He was speeding into turns which was a rudimentary mistake and harder to control. She was doing the opposite and slowing down so she could speed out of the corners. So although he had a faster car, she was using what power she had at her disposal to greater effect and her car had better traction.

And then, glory-be, there was the hospital's front entrance, an ambulance just leaving. Nancy hoped there wasn't a patient in the back because she intended on using it as a shield against her pursuer. Not giving way, she took a wide berth around the front of the ambulance, half mounted the sidewalk in front of it, and then locked the wheel until she was turning on a dime – just missing the front fender of the paramedic vehicle and jarring the underbelly of her car. The pursuing vehicle couldn't make that move because by that time, the ambulance was blocking the entire road. Her car skidded on the mixture of grit, salt, ice and snow and nearly ended up down a ditch, but somehow, she controlled it and shot forward into the hospital parking lot. She took the car around to the back, applied the brake, and slid it straight into the wall, just outside the back entrance, not far from Joe's window.

Nancy had braced herself, but her forehead still hit the wheel and the impact was such that it tossed her back into her seat. Luckily, she'd managed to slow the car down, but the slippery asphalt had ensured that the car would collide with quite some power, not enough to do herself any permanent damage, but still banging herself senseless. She slumped sideways half across the passenger seat.