Thank you to everyone for your wonderful reviews. Here is my new chapter. Sorry to leave it at another cliffhanger, However Hardy boys do get to kick some butt. I think you going to like. Let me know what you think?
Iola's Treasure 23
"Mr. Douglas, I don't need any medical attention." Chet said, pulling away from Frank and Joe. "I have a slight headache, but I'll be okay. Thanks for offering anyway." He stumbled forward, but caught himself and held on to the back of a chair for support.
Frank knew he was lying. He could see the pain written all over his friend's face. He couldn't blame Chet for refusing medical treatment from Douglas and his men. The man had tried to kill Joe!
"If that is what you wish, young man." Douglas answered Chet. Then he continued on addressing the boys, "Before you boys are escorted upstairs to change out of your wet clothes. We have to make sure you're not carrying any weapons."
He turned to Underwood, Jim and Marty. "Pat them down." The three nodded in agreement and did as Douglas had order and began separating the boys.
Jim caught hold of Frank's shirt collar, using it to shove him against the wall. "What's in this?" He said, ripping the black bag off the boy's shoulder and tossing it to Douglas.
"Hey!" Frank shouted, trying to make a grab for the bag.
Suddenly Jim pushed him hard enough to make him stumble forward and smack his head against the wall, stunning him. "Don't move… or else." He snapped.
Frank felt rage shoot through him as he felt the need to rip Jim apart, but struggled to remain in control for Joe and Chet's sakes. He thought it was a bit strange that neither Douglas nor his men had pulled any weapons on them. It made him wonder what they were planning.
Joe was standing just a few feet away. Frank saw the fury in his brother's blue eyes, glaring at Jim. He knew Joe was about to burst.
Frank mouthed the words "keep your cool" to him.
Catching Frank's eye, Joe gave him a slight nod; he was doing his best to remain calm, but he could feel his temper rising. No one was allowed to get their hands on Frank! Just then he heard Chet moaning in pain.
He actually started to see red at the sight of Marty patting his friend down. Clearly in pain Chet was leaning against the wall as he rested his head against his arms; it looked like his legs would buckle under him any second.
"Leave, Chet alone!" Joe exploded. "You won't find any weapons on him!"
"He's clean." Marty said, ignoring Joe.
"Chet, are you alright?" Joe asked anxiously, once Marty had finished patting him down.
"Peachy," Chet replied moaning in pain keeping his head resting on his hands.
"It's your turn." Marty said, standing nose to nose with Joe. Joe just glared at him.
"Wait! Allow me." Underwood spoke up.
Marty moved out of the way letting Underwood take his place. Underwood smiled smugly at Frank. Quickly, before Joe could move, Underwood grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, throwing him against the wall. "Assume the position." He demanded, forcing Joe to put his whole weight on his hands and his palms flat against the wall.
Underwood began patting Joe down. He looked right at Frank, pleased to see the look of anger on his face. To taunt the older Hardy boy, he decided to take it a step further.
Frank knew Underwood was trying to get a rise out of him, and it was working. His blood began to boil as Underwood ran his hands down Joe's body, starting at his shoulders, going all the way down to his legs.
"Get your hands off of me!" Joe hollered at him. Then, Underwood brought his hands back up his shoulders, stopping at his neck.
"You have some nasty bruises on your neck." Underwood whispered coldly in his ear. "Wonder how that happened?" All at once Joe began to tense as his breathing quickened; in his mind's eye he could see a pair of gloved hands coiling tightly around his throat.
"Get off me!" Joe demanded through clenched teeth. Frank knew his brother well enough to know that he was thinking back to the attack.
Joe turned his head to the side as flashes of a man in a black ski mask went through his mind. Then in a flash the masked man turned into Douglas.
"It was you!" With near maniacal strength Joe shoved his hands off the wall, causing his body to bump into Underwood. This caused Underwood to stumble back as Joe whirled around to confront his assailants. "You two tried to kill me!"
"Stupid kid!" Underwood snarled, slapping Joe across the face. "You've ruined everything!' Joe fell backwards against the wall. "Albert should've squeezed the life out of you!" Underwood lunged, hands aiming for Joe's neck. "I'm going to finish the job!"
"Oh no, you won't!" Joe replied kicking him hard in the stomach.
"Oof!" Underwood hit the floor doubling over in pain. As he recovered Underwood jumped to his feet making another attempt at getting to Joe. "You'll pay for that!" he spat venomously.
"I don't think so!"
Underwood spun around to see Frank standing behind him. Joe slid down the wall letting out a sigh of relief; his brother had come through for him once again.
Before Underwood could make a move, Frank sent a roundhouse kick to his midsection. Unfortunately, Underwood anticipated the move and caught Frank's foot, giving it a hard twist.
"Aww!" Frank cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees.
"Frank!" Joe exclaimed, leaping to his feet to help his brother.
Then to everyone's surprise, in a kneeling position, Frank spun around, pivoting on his left knee. He threw out his right leg and swung it around in a swift sweep, catching Underwood just behind the ankle, knocking his leg out from under him. Clearly caught off guard by this, Underwood flew backward and landed on his back hitting the floor hard.
"I told you, Underwood, that you'd be sorry." Frank stood over him puffing out his chest and hissing. "I always keep my promises!" He stated quite simply, "No one gets their hands on my little brother if I have anything to say about it!"
Underwood glared up at Frank his cheeks turning red as his eyes were flooded by anger. In between painful grunts he shouted back, "Jim! Marty! Kill him!"
Jim and Marty came charging up to Frank like a pair of stampeding bulls. Frank stood his ground ready to defend himself.
"Enough!" Douglas boomed, immediately stopping everyone in their tracks.
Frank and Joe clenched their fists, hardening their expressions when they saw Douglas holding Chet in front of himself, using him as a human shield. His left arm was wrapped around Chet's neck in a choke hold while his right hand held a pistol to Chet's temple.
"Let him go!" Joe exploded, taking a step towards the big man.
The brothers' faces paled as Douglas pressed the gun harder against their friend's head, right onto the visible injury. "Take one step and your friend dies!"
"Awww!" Chet screamed.
Joe froze in his tracks balling his hands into fists. "Stop it your killing him!"
"Let Chet go Douglas!" Frank yelled. "Or…"
"Shoot the kid!" Underwood demanded, rising to his feet and glaring at the Hardy boys. "It'll be pay back for all the trouble they've caused."
"No!" the brothers exclaimed.
"Awww!" Chet screamed again.
Frank noticed the black bag on the floor, resting beside Douglas' feet. Thinking fast he asked in desperation, "Douglas, how about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?"
"We have something you want."
Douglas raised an eyebrow at this, genuinely curious. "I'm listening."
"If you open the front pocket of that black bag," Frank said as the nodded towards the bag. "You'll find a map to James Barmet's vault."
"What are you doing?" Joe looked straight at Frank. "Are you crazy!?"
Ignoring Joe, Frank continued, "Let Chet go and it's yours".
Underwood practically flew to Douglas' side, scooping up the bag. Quickly unzipping the front pocket, he pulled out the Ziploc bag that contained the map to James Barmet's vault.
"I don't believe it!" He shouted triumphantly, holding up the map. "Finally we have the map!"
"Wahoo! We're gonna be rich!" Jim and Marty exclaimed, hooting and hollering over their prize, all while keeping their greedy eyes glued to the map clutched in Underwood's hand.
"No, you're not," Frank argued, "release Chet first!"
"Very well" Douglas replied coolly, throwing Chet at the brothers' feet like a rag doll, his arms splayed out to either side.
"Chet!"
The brothers fell to their knees at Chet's side. Frank placed two fingers under his neck. He let out a breath he was holding. Oh, thank God. He was alive... unconscious, but alive.
Immediately jumping to his feet, Joe lost the grip he'd had on his temper and rushed up to the big man. Releasing his anger, he began puffing up his chest as his breathing got heavy and ragged. "I'll kill you!"
"I wouldn't if I were you!" Douglas said, aiming his gun at Chet's head.
"No! Don't kill him!" Joe shouted, stopping in his tracks as the reality of the situation hit him.
"Give me the map!" Douglas demanded, snatching it out of Underwood's hand. "Richard, go get my yacht going." He continued barking out orders.
"Marty and Jim will escort you boys upstairs to one of my cabins so you can change out of your wet clothes and rest up".
"So rest up", Douglas looked at Chet, seeming all sympathetic to his plight. "Your friend looks like he could use it. Dinner is in an hour. Like I said you will attend." He looks at Frank and Joe. "See you boys in an hour. Trust me; you will need it after what I have in store for you."
Jim and Marty whipped out their guns from their back pockets. "Pick up your friend" Jim ordered, using his gun to gesture towards Chet.
Keeping Chet in mind, the brothers reluctantly did as they were told. They got Chet on his feet, moving to either side of him, offering their continued support.
"Okay –march up the stairs." Marty said nodding towards the staircase.
Marty led them down a narrow hallway. Opening a door on their right he announced, "Here you go boys, your suite". As the three stepped inside they saw the room was spacious; the paneling was tan colored and there were two full sized beds with white linens. And just like the living room down below there was a large panoramic window that delivered plenty natural light and a stunning view of the ocean.
"The bathroom is to your right." Jim said pointing to a door on the other side of the room. "You will find clothes in the dresser." He added with a nod to the dresser between the beds.
"We'll be right outside the door, so don't try anything." Marty said giving them a warning before smiling, "Enjoy your stay." Then with that they left locking the door behind them.
Frank and Joe carefully lay Chet down onto the first bed. Chet opened his eyes and looked up at the brothers, his eyes foggy. Frank could see a nasty bruise forming on the side of his head.
"We need to make a cold compress". Frank instructed, "Joe, will you see if there are any towels in the bathroom? If yes, take one and run over it with cold water. Then bring it out here."
"Okay". Joe agreed and hurried into the bathroom. A few seconds later he came back with a cold, wet towel and handed it to Frank. Joe knelt next to his brother, showing his support for his friend.
"Hopefully this will help." Frank took the towel and gently placed it on the side of Chet's head, covering the lump.
"Frank... Joe" Their names came out of Chet's mouth in a soft whisper. His voice quivered, tears dancing in the corners of his eyes as he started to shake involuntarily.
"I'm not going to make it out of here… am I?"
"You are not going to die." Frank said firmly, trying to stay calm. He placed a hand on his friend's trembling shoulder. "I promise you Chet. All three of us are getting out of this alive".
"Just try and relax. Maybe your head won't hurt as much." He placed both hands on Chet's shoulders. "But don't go to sleep."
"Okay." Chet replied and began to calm down. "On top of spaghetti…" he started to sing again.
"That's good Chet." Frank nodded. Out of the corner of Frank's eye he saw Joe standing across the room, looking out the window and staring morosely at the ocean.
"Chet, I'll be right back. Keep singing."
"All covered with cheese… I lost my poor meatball… When somebody sneezed…" Chet continued to sing.
"Joe, are you okay?" Frank asked, approaching his brother.
"If hadn't been so hell bent on us coming to Barmet Island. I just want to get it back for Hattie, and to find those stupid coins." Joe said with anger rising in his voice as turned his head to look at Frank.
"Look at where it got us, there's a hurricane heading towards us. We nearly drowned in the middle of the ocean. Not to mention that ordeal downstairs with Douglas and his men. This is all my fault. Now Chet...if he dies... I'll never forgive myself."
"Joe, right now is not the time for this. In about an hour or so, we're going to be sitting down to dinner with the man you tried to kill you."
"I know. I feel sick just thinking about it." Joe replied in disgust. "What do you think they've got were planned for us?"
"I don't know."
"I was thinking we could try and take the yacht." Joe suggested. "Then we could get to the control room and find a radio and call for help. It won't be hard for us to take out Jim and Marty. Then we can figure out how to take out Douglas and Underwood."
"We can't take the chance with Chet." Frank disagreed racking a hand through his hair and looked over at Chet. "So we'll go along with Douglas just to see what he wants. At lest until we find away out of this, in one piece." Then he added. "I don't know about you, but I want some answers to some questions."
An hour later the brothers were changed but refusing to rest as they both felt they needed to stay with Chet. Then suddenly there was a knock on the door. Jim came into the room with a gun in his hand.
"It's dinner time boys."
Frank and Joe started to get Chet up from the bed. "Not him." Jim said as he pointed his gun at Chet. "Albert just wants the two of you."
Frank shook his head. "There's no way we're leaving Chet."
"He won't be alone." Marty said coming into the room. "I'll be watching him."
"No. No way." Joe adamantly shook his head.
"Don't worry. Nothings gonna happen to your friend." Jim said, as he turned to Marty with a grin on his face. Looking at each other they started laughing, "Right now he's a valuable person to us."
Frank and Joe exchanged puzzled frowns. What was going on here?
"Come on, let's go boys!" Jim shouted, rolling his eyes and losing patience. "I wouldn't keep the boss waiting, if I were you."
Chet looked up at his friends. "You guys better go." He whispered to them. "I'll be alright."
"Chet, we'll be right back for you. I promise." Frank said rising to his feet.
"You're gonna be okay." Joe said, giving his friend's hand a squeeze. "Don't you dare leave us".
Chet gave him a slight nod as a tear rolled down his cheek. "On top of spaghetti..." he started to sing again. With that Frank and Joe reluctantly followed Jim out of the room. Fearing that this would be the last time that they'd see Chet alive?