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

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. The series started as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles but is now completely AU. F/21 and J/20. In the first story (Taken), the boys are J/16 and F/17 and they have aged as the series continued. Takes place about 2 months after Sometimes 'Never' Happens.

Summary: Taken Series: What was supposed to be a simple meeting at the bank for Joe becomes anything but ordinary. Circumstances are clouded as Elise Sacco and her daughter are also at the bank. Is it a bank hold-up or is something more going on? F 21/J 20

**Don't even try to make sense of this story without having read the rest of the series. LOL No, I'm serious! Go all the way back to Taken and read them all through. LOL Well, I guess, you can read it without having read the others, but it will mean a whole lot more if you read them all as I often tie my stories together.

Author's Note: I just want to thank a guest reviewer named "Leah" who left a review on my most popular HB story: "Taken." I love getting reviews on my older stories and finding that new people are finding and enjoying them. Thanks to Leah and to all those who read and review!

And sorry for the delay. Real life has inserted its ugly head and kept me busy for a few weeks. I will also be out of town next Monday, so you'll have to wait at least 2 more weeks for what I think is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

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

Chapter Eleven

~ End of June…

Joe sat in the conference room of Hardy and Radley Investigations. His leg bounced as it usually did when he either had too much energy or he was nervous. This time, it was nerves. He thought it ironic that he could face someone with a gun and not have anywhere near the nerves he was feeling right now. But the good opinion of Fenton Hardy meant a lot to him. Fenton called out something to Sam and Joe heard him moving in his direction. He looked over his shoulder to see his father enter and close the door.

"What is it, Joe? Something you need for me to do while you and Vanessa are off on assignment?" Fenton said with a smile as he put some mail on the table and pulled out a chair to sit next to his son.

Joe looked at his father a moment before he said, "That's just it, Dad. Vanessa and I aren't going on a mission for the Network. It's personal."

Fenton leaned back with a perplexed look on his face. "What's going on, Joe? Why this ruse?"

"About a month ago, Elise Sacco met with me and gave me the new name and location for Travis Rosetti."

Fenton sat quietly. He was piecing it all together. "That explains where you and Vanessa are going but it doesn't really explain why you didn't tell the rest of your family."

This time, Joe sat quietly and finally he spun his chair so he could look out the window on the street outside. He didn't want to see his father's reaction to what he was going to say. "I didn't tell you because I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

"Ah." Then it was quiet. "But I know what you're going to do."

Joe spun the chair back quickly and leaned forward slightly. His voice was tense as he said, "How can you know when I don't even know myself?!"

Fenton's tone was calm and measured, "I know, because I know what kind of man you are. You can only act in a way that is you."

Joe shook his head from side to side. "That's almost what Elise told me."

"What did she say?"

Joe sighed, leaned back, and closed his eyes. His arms rested on the armrests but his knee still bounced. "She said she knew me now and she knows what kind man I am and that is why she gave me the name and address. I didn't think she had told Nick, but before she left, she said he knew." He paused a moment, opened his eyes and tilted his head to stare at the ceiling and added, "She's a formidable woman."

"Joe. Look at me." When Joe looked at his father, Fenton continued, "She knows that you aren't the kind of man to kill someone without good reason."

Joe snorted. "I have good reason."

Fenton shook his head no. "You might want payback and justice, but you wouldn't kill a man that wasn't in the process of doing harm. Every person you have shot was doing that."

Joe sat looking at his father, "Elise believes that when I have the opportunity to kill Travis, I won't."

Fenton nodded yes.

"I wish I was that certain."

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

~ Later the next week…

The summer tourist season was kicking into gear around Marquette, MI. Some said that it wasn't really summer like in the southern states, and it wasn't. But it was a heck of a lot warmer than January. At least that was what the locals told him. It was a little warmer than the last time he'd been in the UP, but the weather hadn't been a problem for him. He was in a small town just outside Marquette. They had eaten at this little pub a couple of times. Right now, his lovely wife, 'Valerie,' sat across the table from him. Her hair was a beautiful blonde and was completely straight and pull back in a tight ponytail. Her large frame glasses didn't make her any less noticeable. And anyone looking at him wouldn't know him. His sunny blonde hair was now a light brown as were his eyebrows and beard. Vanessa had joked with him that he had a Thor Ragnarök look and while he was taking this trip very seriously, he couldn't help but make a few Thor jokes. In all honesty, they still made a striking couple, but with all the tourists, they weren't the only ones.

Joe looked over Vanessa's shoulder toward the entrance and said, "He just came in and went to the bar."

Vanessa dabbed her mouth with a napkin and went to the bar to get a mixed drink. Her license showed Valerie to be twenty-one, so there wasn't an issue. She chatted with the man sitting at the bar while she waited for her drink. When she came back to the table, she sat down and took a sip. She made a face. "I should have gone with a virgin drink."

Joe's eyes were still on the man at the bar.

Vanessa realized that Joe was focused and not in the mood for his usual joking around and she respected that. This was important. "I dropped the tracker in his pocket." She paused and continued, "He and the bartender seemed to know each other well and get along."

Joe's eyes were on 'Ted.' "Bet that would change if they knew he was a torturing murderer."

Vanessa's hand reached across the table to Joe's and finally his eyes left the man to look at his wife. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to.

Joe let out the breath he had been holding and said, "Let's go."

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

Back at their room, Joe booted up the laptop and signed into the tracking software. "He wore that jacket when he went hunting last week and on the other hunting trips Bentley documented, so hopefully he'll wear it again tomorrow."

Joe had paid for a private investigator contact of his father's to do some preliminary investigation into Ted Cassini to learn his routine and favorites. They knew that he went hunting every Monday and usually wore the jacket he had on. Joe and Vanessa had been secretly shadowing him and watching him interact with the community as well as his family for the past week. That was the hardest, as the Sacco's had relocated just Travis Rosetti, his wife, and his son's family which was the son, daughter-in-law and three-year-old little boy who was now four. All appeared to be peaceful, law-abiding citizens. And according to the private investigator who followed him for three weeks, it was an accurate description.

Joe had told his family that he and Vanessa would be off on assignment but last week he couldn't handle the deception and told his father. He would tell Frank… maybe. It all depended on what choice he made. He could live with his choice; he just didn't know if he could live with his brother's reaction.

There was no way he wasn't telling Vanessa, and to be honest, he needed her help.

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

The next morning, Joe was up before dawn manning the laptop. When Vanessa came out from the shower, he said, "He's on the move. Looks like he's heading to the same general area as he went last time."

Vanessa nodded and then paused on her way to the bed to grab her clothes. "Joe, do you think it's the best idea to confront him while he has a gun?"

His eyes didn't leave the screen. "It's the perfect way to shoot someone and have it blamed on a hunting accident."

Vanessa didn't say anything. She just started getting dressed.

Joe closed his eyes. He had told Vanessa that he wasn't going to shoot Travis, that if he did anything, he'd bring him in. But the only crime they could arrest Travis for was Joe's own abduction and torture. He had heard Travis say he had killed and tortured others, but he didn't know who or when. Police had checked after his recovery, but there wasn't any actionable information for other crimes and Travis didn't have other arrests or convictions. So, the question was, did he really want to go through a trial and relive that horrific night? Maybe, if it brought justice for the others that Travis had hurt. Different thoughts had been going through his mind since the day Elise had given him the name and address. He had expressed his conflicted thoughts to his father, but his father said he trusted him to do the right thing. Joe also knew that Elise expected him to let Travis live. She had basically said he wasn't a murderer.

However, the Assassins said he was.

I guess today is the day I figure what kind of man I really am when it comes to making life and death choices for people who have hurt me.

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

Joe got out of the rental vehicle. He was already dressed in his hunting gear and hunter's orange vest. He had brought his sniper rifle with him but had removed the most distinguishing features so that he could blend in better. Vanessa rolled her window down and said, "I'll be waiting here for you."

He nodded and turned to go down the trail, his phone in hand, showing him where to find Travis.