Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thanks once again to Wendylouwho10 for reading over this for me!

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is kinda blue spine and AU. Joe and Iola are 16, Frank and Callie are 17.


Chapter Three

The next two weeks went by in a blur as Callie and Frank seemed to be starting a relationship and romance seemed to have blossomed with the remaining bachelors of the group. All but Joe that is.

So the last Friday of the month rolled around and the group of friends was in the school parking lot discussing their plans for the evening. It seemed that almost everyone was going on a date. Joe looked at Iola's crestfallen face as she listened to Frank tell everyone that he and Callie were going out to eat. Joe gave Iola a slight elbow to the side and whispered to her. "I don't have anywhere to be. The two of us can still meet at Prito's."

She sighed and said with melancholy, "Sure. Why not? It's not like I have a date or anything."

Joe's heart sank. He was hoping that she might think of it as a date, but then he didn't ask her on a date. Great going, Joe. Don't wait to be put in the friend zone, just put yourself there. He shook his head at himself; maybe he could fix it at dinner.

.**********.

Joe and Iola were halfway through their meal and Joe was tired of hearing about Frank. Putting down his slice of pizza, Joe interrupted her, "Isn't there anyone else, Iola?"

Iola paused what she had been saying and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, is it only Frank? Isn't there anyone else you're interested in?" he asked with some irritation.

"No. And why are you getting snarky with me?" she asked with her own hint of irritation. "You've known for a couple of months that I was interested in Frank."

"Who hasn't?" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Iola asked heatedly.

"Nothing. It's just me and my big mouth."

Iola calmed down and said, "There's just no one but you that I can talk about this with. Chet isn't an option and I don't really have any close girlfriends."

"Gee, thanks," Joe said with a grim laugh.

She shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to talk with you about it." She moved the half-eaten slice of pizza around on her plate. "It's just hard when you like someone so much and they don't like you back." Her voice was quiet and Joe thought he saw a tear slip down her cheek.

Before he realized what he was doing he reached over to brush the tear away, his hand lingering on her cheek as she looked up at him in surprise. "I understand completely," he whispered back. Seeing the confusion on her face, he dropped his hand back to the table.

"You do?" At his nod, she asked, "Who?"

"It's you, Iola."

"Me?" she asked in surprise.

"I've wanted to ask you out for months but didn't have the nerve and then you started talking about Frank." He shook his head. "Do you know how hard it is to hear that the girl you like has feelings for your brother?" Joe looked at the pizza on the table and pushed it away. "I'm not hungry anymore. You?" At her nod 'no' Joe signaled that he needed a box.

Neither spoke as Joe boxed up the pizza and paid the bill.

"I should give you my half," Iola said quietly. "After all, this isn't a date."

Joe's jaw clenched as he stared at the cardboard box. It seemed that his declaration hadn't meant anything to her. "It's okay, I'm getting the leftovers." He looked up startled when she placed her hand over his.

"Then I think we should call this a date."

"But you like-"

"Don't say it," she said with a shake of her head.

Joe frowned and said it anyway. "You like my brother. You can't have changed your mind so quickly." Joe could see the confusion in Iola's eyes. He had surprised her with his revelation and maybe she did have feelings for him. Well, he knew she had feelings of friendship, but she had never suggested more. And a quick turnaround wasn't going to convince him. "Listen. I surprised you. Just think about it."

Iola glanced around the restaurant. There were still plenty of seats. "Can we stay and talk some more?"

"You want to talk to me? Please tell me it's not about Frank."He didn't think he could handle that after putting his heart out there.

Iola laughed. "No, but you've heard the questions before. I want to know your answers to the questions not what Frank thinks about it."

Joe looked at her carefully. "You don't have to do this just to be nice."

"I'm doing it because I want to know the answers," Iola said with an uncertain smile.

"Then… okay."

The pair spent the next two hours talking and laughing as they asked each other questions. They had talked so long that Prito's was now closing for the night. "Time to go, Joe," Mr. Prito said with a smile as he walked by their table. "I'm going to lock the door. Meet me there."

"Guess we really should get going," Joe said as he slid out of the booth seat and held his hand out to Iola. When she took it, he felt a small surge, almost like electricity.

"Back in the building buddy!" a gruff voice sounded from the entry.

Joe turned quickly and put Iola behind him. Mr. Prito had gone to lock the door, cutting off lights as he went when two burglars in masks had pushed into the restaurant. Both had handguns that Joe could see.

"Dammit! There wasn't supposed to be anyone in here but the staff!" The burglar in a brown jacket said as he saw Joe and Iola.

"Doesn't matter! You there!" the second burglar in a black jacket yelled at Mr. Prito. "Open the register and give me all the money." He shoved a bag into Mr. Prito's hands.

"I don't want any trouble," Prito said as he moved through the darkened space to the register.

"Everybody in the back get out here now," the brown jacket burglar said. He went to the swinging kitchen door and made sure they all exited. "On the floor! Now." They all did as they were told and he motioned for Iola and Joe to do the same.

As Joe and Iola were moving to comply a light shown in the window. The burglar in the black jacket grabbed Joe by the hair and pulled him up and in front of him as Iola screamed. Joe could see it was a Bayport Police Officer who moved away from the window quickly.

"You've got to hurry!" the man holding Joe said to the other.

"I've got it, let's go."

"We can't just go; we've got to take a hostage! That was a cop out there! We take one and we go." Joe was pushed roughly to the floor as brown jacket grabbed Iola by the arm.

"We'll take her. She'll be the easiest to control." Iola screamed and hit at his hand. The burglar went to backhand her when Joe threw up both hands.

"Wait! Take me!"

Black jacket laughed. "Yeah, right. You look like you play football. We're taking the cheerleader instead." Brown jacket jerked Iola up who was still struggling.

"Listen, my dad works with the police department. I'll be a better bargaining chip if you need it." His eyes went to Iola and he said, "Plus she's my girlfriend and I promise to behave." For a moment Joe's eyes locked with Iola's and then his attention was drawn back to the man before him.

"Hey, Prito!" Black jacket called.

"Yes?"

"I need zip ties and I need them now! If you don't have them to me in a minute I may just need to wound a few of your employees."

Joe could hear Mr. Prito searching through a cabinet and then his heavy breathing as he ran to bring the ties. "Here they are. Please, you don't need to do this. The money wasn't that much. Just leave! Go!"

"Back on the floor, Prito," the black jacket said and then motioned Joe to stand up and turn around. Joe did as he was told and as he felt his wrists restrained by the ties, he heard a venomous whisper in his ear. "I have no love loss with the police and so if hurting you hurts them… well, it's a win win situation in my book."

"Everyone stay on the floor! Anyone tries to be a hero and blondie here gets a bullet!" The burglar took one last look over the people on the floor and moved toward the door with his hostage. He pushed open the door and manuevered Joe into the opening. "I know you're out there, pig! You take any shots at us and I promise the kid here will pay! What do you think? A shot through his back and out through his stomach? A nice slow bleed out? That's what I'm promising! Do you hear me?!"

"Yeah! I hear you! No shots!" The voice came from a darkened area of the parking lot.

"Here we go boy, no heroics," the burglar whispered in Joe's ear as he pushed him toward a dark sedan. The below freezing temperature gave Joe an involuntary shiver as he was pushed further into the night air. He really wished he had put on his coat before the robbers came in. But he couldn't do anything about that now. Joe looked around. He couldn't see a police car but then it could be unmarked. The sound of sirens began to be heard and the men moved faster.

The second burglar headed around behind them and quickly opened the back door and then ran to the driver's side and got in. Joe was pushed head first into the back of the car and the kidnapper got in right behind him. The door slammed shut and the car peeled out. The burglar in the back with him rolled his window down and looked behind him to see if anyone was following. There wasn't. "The cop must have gone in to check on the hostages. A break for us that he didn't have a partner with him." He looked over at Joe. "And with our insurance here, we're sure to get away." Finally taking the time to look at Joe, he asked, "What's your name boy?"

"Joe Calhoun."

"Calhoun huh?" He shoved Joe over into the floor space on his face and reached into his back pocket and pulled out Joe's wallet. Flipping it over, he read out loud, "Says here Joe Hardy, not Joe Calhoun." He tossed the wallet onto the seat and prodded Joe with his foot. "What's the reason you lied? Huh!" He had begun yelling. "I think I'll do a little research on you once we get to our destination."

Joe closed his eyes as he lay on the floor. Since the guy didn't seem to recognize his name, he was probably safe from retaliation from him. Might as well go ahead and tell him what he would already find out. "My dad is a private detective. They're not always well-liked. That's why I lied."

"The coast looks clear," said the driver.

"Yeah," the other replied. "Go to one of the parking garages downtown."

Joe frowned as he lay wedged between the front seat and the back with his legs drawn up under him. Were they switching cars at the garage? Did they already have one there? Bayport only had two parking garages to help ease the limited parking for the narrow downtown streets. This time of night, the number of cars and people would be limited. The vehicle stopped and the driver rolled the window down. The window went up and the vehicle moved forward, its movement indicating that they were heading up a parking structure.

"There!" the driver said and pulled the vehicle into a spot that was on an upper level. The driver got out and left the door open. A moment later, an alarm sounded and then was silenced. "Got our new ride ready," he said into the open door.

"I think I'll talk with Joe here for a few minutes." There was a pause. "You can go now." The tone was a dismissal and the driver's side door closed. It made Joe wonder about the pair.

"So, Joe Hardy. We are at the end of our time together." The black jacketed burglar's voice was calm. "You know it's the thrill of the heist and the chase that I like." He paused. "And now I find that kidnapping is a rush as well." He pulled on Joe's hands that were still restrained behind him and got him onto the seat.

Joe tried to remain calm but he was honest with himself as he looked at the masked criminal. He was VERY worried. If these were the same guys that had been doing robberies in the neighboring coastal cities, they had never shot anyone, much less killed anyone. But then they had never taken a hostage before and he was worried that tonight might be a night of firsts.

"So you're dad's a PI, huh?"

"He prefers private detective," Joe couldn't help but say in a smart tone. His nerves were not being his friend right now.

The man laughed. "Detective, then." He maneuvered so he was facing Joe and pulled a knife out of a hidden sheaf.

Joe stared at the knife in horror. This was all going so very wrong.

"So that was your girlfriend back there?"

Joe really wasn't sure what his relationship was with Iola but he had named her as his girlfriend so he nodded as the man looked at the blade.

"I've been waiting for a time to use this, but in all our jobs up to now, I didn't feel like I had the time." His eyes moved to Joe. "Now I do."