Within Will and Without Courage
Joe's descent towards the the frigid waters ended abruptly with a loud splash of which Joe was unable to hear above the roaring sea. With a sudden burst of adrenaline Joe fought his way to the surface. Gasping for breath he quickly turned his head to see where the cries of help came from. It was only a second later when was knocked back underwater and was desperately trying to to swim back up. A larger wave this time carried him up and slammed him mercilessly into a rock. Closing his eyes to will off the the pain and nausea Joe breathed deeply and when he opened his eyes he gasped at the sight of red water lapping up against the rock. Whilst clinging hard to his stronghold Joe quickly checked himself for injuries. No,none and that's when he realized the blood didn't belong to him, it belonged to a body about twelve feet from where he where he was.
Joe sucked in a breath and swam freestyle over to the body. A man most definitely. In his sixties maybe,Joe put his middle and index fingers to the man's neck and cursed silently when he felt no pulse. Of course as he surveyed the area surrounding the body he figured it made more sense. Blood was splattered against the dead man's neck and little pieces of broken rock sat on his chest. Joe shivered and studied the body sadly,maybe he should come faster,maybe then-
"Help!"Came a terrified scream. Joe's head shot up and then again without thinking he let go of the rock and started off towards the cry of help. Struggling against the monster waves that threatened to overturn him was almost impossible but Joe wasn't going to give up. With a big wave in sight he took a breath and dived under to avoid direct impact. "Help!Please Help!"Came the cry again,it sounded muted to Joe's water logged ears and for a second he couldn't tell if he was underwater or above it. Fighting off the growing panic inside him Joe grabbed something in the murky water and swam up.
Taking another deep breath he looked over to what he was holding on to and realization dawned on him,it was the capsized sail boat."Help!" A third time, Joe looked up and gasped. A young woman,a little older than himself clung like her life depended on it-wait, it did, to the boat's mast which had fallen over and was hanging dangerously over the raging sea.
Grabbing the inside of the boat Joe grunted and lifted himself up.
"Hold-hold on, I'm coming." His voice sounded hoarse and raw, standing on his feet he had to force himself not to fall,*CRACK*!Joe barely had time to look up before pieces of the mast rained on top of him pinning him to the boat.
Frank Hardy was exhausted,his head was throbbing,his zip-tied wrists were killing him and the man holding them hostage in their own house wouldn't shut-up. But when he closed his eyes the pain became more bearable."Frank honey,how are you feeling?" It was his mother again,
"Good."He answered,"Just peachy."He hated feeling like this, unable to do anything...
"Is he not coming?."Came an angry sounding man,he had an accent. Middle eastern maybe. Frank's eyes snapped open and he struggled to focus on the Boss. Frank was sure he had seen this man,or at least heard the description of him.
"Oh my goodness!"Frank heard his mother gasp behind him,
"Mom,"realization dawned on him,"That's the guy from..."He couldn't even let himself finish. He now knew where he seen this man, apparently he was wanted for a string of murders and terrorist attacks in the middle east. The man-the terrorist,Frank couldn't place his name,stepped towards the three hostages. Frank gave him an angry look. What do you want with us?"The terrorist gave him a surprised look.
"You haven't figured it out yet? Maybe you thinking you learned from the best was wrong. You learned from your father, a terrible detective. "Frank could feel his father stiffen behind him, Fenton Hardy hadn't said a word since...since. Frank's train of thought was interrupted by a sharp kick to his shins. Startled Frank looked up into the face of the leering terrorist. "I'm here for my son, he was taken away from me after my wife was brutally murdered by an American Soldier. They took him to England and took away everything I tried to teach him,then he came here to-why am I not surprised? Fenton Hardy's family."F rank's thoughts were racing to try to keep up with everything the terrorist was saying.
Why are you holding us here then?"A scoff,
"Zanier obviously loved your family, he did spend a lot of time here and-"The terrorist was interpreted with Fenton Hardy standing up."Ah-I see the old keep the villain talking then I shall escape trick."The terrorist smiled," Good for you Fenton,I say we settle this man-to man what do you think?" Laura Hardy gave a cry of fear behind him, it only took a second for Frank to conjure up a plan. Slipping his Swiss Army knife out of his shoe(with a lot of difficulty),Frank managed to pass it to his mother and motion for her to cut his bonds. Fenton Hardy cracked his neck,there was something more then anger in his eye, but Frank didn't remember ever seeing it.
"All right Aziz, let's do this."Fenton agreed. Aziz, Frank gave himself a moment to let that name sink in before focusing on the fact his father and this man knew each other.
"Frank,you're free."Mrs. Hardy whispered,Frank nodded and prepared to stand to his feet when-*KNOCK,KNOCK,KNOCK*.The room fell silent and Frank glanced towards the door hopefully,it could be Joe but even if it wasn't there was still a chance of them being rescued.
"Franklin,why don't you open that, I see you've already gotten your mother to cut you free."Aziz said beckoning smoothly to the door. Feeling sick Frank stood to his feet unsteadily,taking a step forward he winced as the cool hard blade of a knife-desert eagle, probably, was pressed to the back of his neck."Go."Aziztwhispered savagely and Frank hurried to obey.*KNOCK *KNOCK *KNOCK!
"I'm coming!"Frank called out to whoever was on the other side of the door and set put his hand on the door knob,opening it just enough to see who was there." Chet!Ummm,what are you doing here?"Chet looked up and put his hand down from the door.
"Hey Frank,where's Joe? He was supposed to work with Iola on the school paper,can I speak to him?"Chet moved to come in and Frank quickly blocked the door with his body.
"Sorry Chet, Joe's in bed with the flu." Frank's lie came fast and Chet shrugged,
"Okay, I'll tell Iola. Frank what happened to your head?" Chet asked and Frank felt his head and winced softly when he felt a egg sized bump,glancing around the room behind him for an excuse.
"Boomerang,I recommend you don't play with a boomerang inside Chet, it's dangerous. Chet nodded and turned back to his pick-up.
"Bye Frank,tell your brother to get well soon!" Frank nodded and watched Chet back up with a lump in his throat.
"Inside now."Aziz hissed and Frank realized that he was standing outside in the pouring rain. Frank gave one last longing world to the world before stepping back inside . His mother gave him a look of desperation and question and Frank had to shake his head. No,no one that could rescue them," Is he coming?"Aziz asked one of his guards releasing Frank from his grip.
"No, Saleem. The boy is being stubborn ,"The guard replied and instantly as soon as the words were spoken Aziz spun and in a fit of anger threw his knife at the guard. It only took a second for the knife to lodge itself into the guard's throat. The guard had no time to duck,he hadn't even seen it coming. He stood still for a moment before sliding down against the wall and hitting the floor.
"Marshall,get me my desert eagle!"Aziz screeched angrily and the tall English guard hurried to obey. After the blood stained knife was place into his hands Aziz held it threateningly out towards Mrs. Hardy and beckoned her forward. Holding it to her neck the terrorist began to make a threat."Listen Fenton,call your younger son-Joesph he must know where Zanier is,if you do not comply I will kill her. If he argues with you and refuses to come I will send my guards out to kill him and bring my son here. You know I will Fenton, you know me." Frank saw the veins in his father's neck twitch out of anger and moved to help when his arms were roughly tied back behind his back.
"Thank you Marko,I almost forgot about Franklin."Aziz smiled evilly at Frank before placing the cell phone into Fenton's shaking hands.