Sorry for the delay I've had a lot going on. Thank you to everyone for your reviews and reading my story. Here's my new chapter. Hope you like it.
Iola's Treasure Chapter 26
Joe clutched the locket in the palm of his hand and held it securely to his chest. "Frank, it's a sign from Iola!" He wiped the rain water off of his face as his blue eyes lit up.
"I'm sure of it!"
Frank sighed wearily. Oh boy. Here we go.
"I told you a part of Iola was still on the island!" Joe started getting himself wound up; he was so excited he thought his heart would beat out of his chest.
"I was right!"
"Joe…" Frank started to say but Joe cut him off with his continuous rambling. So he just sat there in the pouring rain, listening to his rambling brother as he waited for his moment to jump in.
Thunder boomed over their heads.
"Don't you see, Frank?! Finding Iola's gift and letter in my closet was no coincidence! She was sending me a message! Because she knew what those creeps were going to do to the island!"
"She wanted me to come back to find our treasures and save Barmet Island!"
"Oh no, no." Frank's eyes widened as he shook his head.
Joe had almost had him convinced until he got to the last thing he said. Wiping the water off his, Frank firmly grabbed his brother in order to get his attention.
"Joe stop, stop! Take a breather and listen to me!"
"What?!" Joe drew back, catching his breath. He looked at Frank as though he'd only just appeared in front of him.
"I am happy you found your treasures! I really am!" Frank paused as he thought about the statement he was about to make, and hated it. "And maybe you're right; maybe Iola did send you a message! I don't know!"
He didn't want to hurt Joe. But right now Frank had a lot on his shoulders on top of dealing with his brother's drama.
Douglas and Underwood would be on them any second now, demanding to know the location of James Barmet's vault not to mention wanting to kill them.
Then there was Chet who was hurt and in need of medical attention as well as being held hostage on Douglas' yacht. God only knew what was happening to their friend right now. Frank prayed that his friend was alright and most importantly, alive.
All Frank wanted to do was get Joe and Chet and get the hell off the island, before the hurricane hit, preferably in one piece. He hadn't forgotten his promise to Chet that all three of them were getting out of this alive; he was going to make damn sure they would.
But he couldn't do it alone. He needed help. He needed Joe.
If he had to knock some sense into his little brother, "by God, I'm going to do it. Joe needs to hear the truth, it's as simple as that".
"Little brother," Frank calmly took a deep breath and looking Joe straight in the eye, stated, "I'm sorry but there's no way we can save Barmet Island!"
"It's much too big for us to handle by ourselves. We have to save ourselves. Maybe the hurricane is nature's way of taking care of it!"
"Frank we have…" Joe began to protest.
"No Joe!" Frank called out before once again wiping the rain off his face and allowing his breath to rush out.
"You're not okay; I can see that. When we get home and this case is over, I'm speaking to Mom and Dad...about getting you some professional help... because I can't bear to see you like this!"
"I'm not crazy!" Joe shouted, turning away from Frank. Then another blast of thunder boomed above them.
"I never said you were crazy!" Frank yelled out in frustration.
"Do you even know what's going on here?! Look at where we are, Joe! We're on this island on a treasure hunt to find some old coins, with a couple of madmen in the center of a hurricane!"
Joe remained silent.
"Remember Chet! We made a promise to him that we'd all get off this island! He's really hurt Joe! He needs medical attention. I don't know if he's even still alive. Douglas is holding him hostage on his yacht, we have to help him!"
"But in order to do that we have to find James Barmet's vault!"
Frank was on the verge of tears, trying his hardest to get through his brother's thick skull. "I need you! I can't do this without my partner; we're supposed to be a team or have you forgotten that too?!"
"Joe, help me!"
As those words left Frank's mouth, Joe turned to face his brother. For the first time he saw pure desperation in his big brother's eyes.
Frank was never one to ask for help; he was the one who usually came to Joe's rescue; he'd bailed Joe out of trouble more times than Joe could count.
Frank had always had Joe's back; he'd stuck with him through the whole mess their lives had recently become. Hell, he was determined not to let Joe go to jail alone when he'd broke the restraining order.
Frank had almost quit investigating because Joe hadn't been allowed to participate in the case.
Frank had always had Joe's best interests in mind and was willing to watch Joe's back. Now here Frank was the one asking for help!
All this ran through Joe's mind and made him feel guilty. He'd been the one who talked Frank into going to the island after their father had explicitly told them not to.
Frank had defied their father's orders; something he'd never ordinarily do, all for Joe. Joe's selfishness might've caused a rift between his brother and father.
"I… I'm sorry Frank!" Joe exclaimed as the realization hit him. "I never realized how much my stupidity has put you through!"
"Of course I'll help you! I'm your partner!" He placed Iola's locket as well as the book back into the old lunch box before closing it.
There was a smothering silence between the brothers. Frank narrowed his eyes, wondering if his brother was being serious.
"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of getting wet!" Going into detective-mode, Joe wiped the rain off his face exposing a smile. "Let's find the damn coins and save Chet and get the hell off this island!"
Relief washed over Frank when he saw the smile. It wasn't a fake smile, either. It was a real Joe Hardy smile. He recognized right away that something had changed in Joe. He wasn't sure what it was, but it didn't matter; it was a glimmer of hope that his brother was back.
"Little brother, that's the smartest thing I've heard you say today!"
Getting back to the matter at hand, Frank pulled James Barmet's map out of the bag he had around his shoulders. He did his best to shield it from the rain as he spread it over the lunch box. "Let's get this done!"
"Okay, according to this map," Frank pointed to the little house surrounded by trees. "I'm thinking this is Barmet's cabin!" He said, recalling the photograph of James Barmet standing outside a rickety old cabin that they'd found in Hattie's photo album.
"And here," He began to trace the sketch of the trail with his finger, stopping at the initials "JB". "The trail ends here by this large rock formation."
"The vault has to be here!"
"Wouldn't Douglas and his goons have come across it with their machines when they were ripping up the island?!" Joe moved closer to Frank to help block the map from the rain as much as possible.
"They probably hadn't gotten to this part of the island!" Frank shouted to be heard over the thunder. "This makes me believe we're in the right area!"
"What do you think about this?" Joe pointed to the drawing of the three boats. "Maybe the cabin is near the beach?!"
"I'm not sure!"
Suddenly another clap of thunder exploded above them, startling the boys out of their thoughts. The wind also began to pick up; blowing branches and debris all over the island.
"Hurricane Barmet is here!" Joe shouted giving the storm a name before dodging a tree branch that flew over his head. "We have to hurry and find the trail!"
"I know!" Frank said dodging another branch and began looking around the area.
"Wait! I do remember a trail that Chet's dad told us about! We couldn't hike it because he said it was too dangerous! I think it started as a steep footpath that had a lot of loose rocks!"
"That must be where the vault is!" Joe exclaimed. "Do you remember where it is?!"
"Yeah, I think so!" Attempting to shield his eyes from the rain, Frank glanced up and caught a glimpse of a large boulder peeking over the tree tops. "I think I found it!"
"I strongly suggest you find it soon!" Douglas' voice boomed out. "Before we put a bullet in your brain!"
The boys were on their feet in an instant. They whirled around to find Douglas and Underwood, both soaking wet, both had their guns out pointing at the boys' heads. Their faces were covered with pure hatred as their directed their murderous gazes at the brothers.
"What took you guys so long?!" Joe coolly replied. "You gotta learn to keep up if you're gonna hang with us".
Clearly not amused by Joe's witty remark, Underwood growled. "Albert, let me kill this kid!" The gun never wavered from Joe's head.
Frank swallowed a lump in his throat as his eyes locked onto Underwood's gun. Douglas had his gun aimed at him. There was no way he would get to Joe in time without getting shot himself.
"Not until we get the coins!" Douglas just glared at the brothers. "But I assure you, they won't make it off this island alive!" With that he took his gun off of Frank.
"Fine!" Underwood roared as he lowered his gun, ""But I get to kill blondie!"
"Let's go!" Douglas thundered. More thunder exploded above them, as the wind began to increase blowing more branches and debris all over the place.
Frank pulled Joe to him and whispered in his ear. "Stick close to me, no matter what. You hear me?"
Joe nodded. He began to follow his brother but not before stuffing the map and Iola's treasures inside the black bag. No way was he going to leave it behind.
He raked his fingers through his wet hair to get it out of his eyes. He couldn't resist grinning at the two crooks, "Well if you want your coins, let's go!" He quickened his steps to catch up to Frank.
"Let me shoot him, please!" Underwood shouted hastily aiming his gun at the back of the younger Hardy's head.
"First we get the coins!" Douglas bellowed as they took off after the boys. "Then we kill them!"
More thunder exploded above them.
Frank led the group about twenty feet past the tree where Joe and Iola had buried their treasures. He had the map and photograph memorized. Though the rain was making it difficult to see, he kept glancing up to the tops of the trees, hoping to find the boulder on the map.
He could see the ocean waves crashing against the rocks. In the photograph James Barmet was standing in front of his cabin on the beach. So he knew to stay close to the beach.
"It has to be here."
Just a few yards away, Frank saw a weather beaten cabin surrounded by trees.
"Yes the cabin!"
They all ran towards the cabin. As he ran Frank noticed a dank, rotting piece of wood nailed to tree. Barely legible, the sign read, "No Trespassing".
"This is it!" Frank shouted. He turned to make sure Joe was beside him. And of course Douglas and Underwood were on their heels the whole time.
As they stopped in front of the cabin, they saw the trail Frank had spotted. The trail went around the boulder and led upwards; the ocean lay in the opposite direction.
"Dangerous was definitely the right word". Joe gulped nervously. "This'll be a fun hike with all the wind and stuff".
More thunder exploded above them, as the fierce wind began to blow more branches and debris all over the trail.
"Get going!" Douglas roared, shoved Joe towards the trail. Before Joe could react he felt the point of a revolver pressed against his back.
He looked to his brother.
Frank gave him a slight nod and mouthed the words "keep your cool" and, "Stick close to me, no matter what." Joe nodded back and took a deep breath and then followed his brother up the trail.
Joe found the trail difficult to climb; it rose so steeply. He feel pebbles shifting under his feet with every step he took; the rain and wind weren't helping matters at all as he had to fight to keep his balance. He forced himself to block out the storm and kept up a pretty good pace beside his brother the whole time.
Then suddenly Joe felt the beginnings of a panic attack come over him.
Joe's breathing started to get faster. He thought back to what Frank had said earlier, about them being on a deserted island with madmen while on a wild goose chase, looking for gold coins.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" His heart continued to beat furiously in his chest.
"Someone's going to die here!" The thought of "Frank" flashed in his head. "I almost lost him after that big wave knocked us out of the boat!"
"No! Not Frank...I can't lose him!" At that same moment, Joe tripped over a branch that had fallen into his path and, losing his footing, fell over the edge of the cliff to the ocean below.
"Joe!" Frank caught him, keeping an iron grip on his arm. The incident caused a chaotic train-reaction as Douglas and Underwood almost lost their footing.
"Watch it, you stupid kid!" Underwood spat just as another blast of thunder exploded above them.
"Do that again, I will KILL you!" Douglas roared, wiping rain off his angry face.
"Joe, are you okay?" Frank asked, catching his breath.
"Yeah, yeah I'm..." Joe replied breathlessly.
"Let's go!" Douglas bellowed.
Frank just threw Joe a questioning look.
"I'm fine!" Joe assured him. He finally got his breathing under control. "Really Frank, let's keep going".
Frank knew he was lying, but said nothing and continued on.
Joe exclaimed when they were halfway up the trail. "Frank, look over there in the water!"
Frank's mouth dropped when he saw what Joe was talking about. There in the water, moored against some rocks were three wrecked boats. "Just like the map showed!"
He knew they were close to finding the vault. He also knew the further they went, the more the danger would escalate.
When they finally reached the top of the hill, Frank saw something else that made his heart drop to his stomach. Sitting there was a large tombstone with a crudely engraved inscription.
James Joseph Barmet: died November 19 1933
"This has to be it!" He heard Joe say.
Frank's gut feeling agreed with his brother; they'd found it. James Barmet's vault!