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  "She's caused a lot of trouble for us with her mouth," said Joe, "and she sounded willing to bend the law. We can't be sure of her."

  "I can't believe - " Jim started to say.

  Fenton cut him off. "Jim, you have to let us do our job. Joe's right. She's still under suspicion." He quickly outlined the situation to Addison.

  "How long till they call back?" the actor asked.

  "About half an hour," Joe said.

  While they waited for the phone call, the Hardys ran over their list of possible suspects for Jim's benefit. The people who could have wanted Fairburn dead included Mel Clifford and Jerry Morrall. Andrea was also on the list because of her attitude. "And that's just what we know now," Fenton said. "Fairburn made a lot of enemies. There may be - "

  The phone rang and Fenton grabbed it.

  "Yes?"

  "Hardy? Is Addison there?"

  Addison spoke up. "I'm here, whoever you are. What do you want?"

  The voice chuckled. "You'll know soon enough. Now, listen real close because I'm not going to stay on this line long enough to be traced, you understand."

  "Go ahead," said Fenton.

  "We want to make a trade. Addison for Trish. We figure that the TV company needs Addison to get this show finished, and they'll pay plenty to get him back in one piece, and you want to get the girl. Now here's what - "

  "Forget it," cut in Fenton sharply. "We can't be a party to - "

  "Then say goodbye to that cutie you're so worried about," the voice said roughly.

  Chapter 14

  "I'll do it, Fenton. I owe it to all of you," Jim said quickly so the voice wouldn't cut off.

  "Now, that's real smart. Like I said, if everyone plays it straight, no one gets hurt. We just want to make a little money, is all. Put Joe on the phone." Fenton handed the receiver to his son.

  "Here's the deal," the caller continued. "Addison and you will drive out to Black Creek Road - you know it?"

  "I know it," said Joe, his emotions on a tight rein.

  "Smart kid. You leave the highway and go two miles up Black Creek Road. There you'll find a dirt turnoff that goes up into the hills. Take it exactly half a mile, park in the clearing there, and just wait. You got that?"

  "Got it," Joe answered. "What then?"

  "Just wait. And nobody else shows up, especially no cops. Or you won't see the girl again. We'll be watching when you arrive. If you're not alone, you won't see us, or her. Ever. You have forty-five minutes."

  The line went dead with a click.

  Joe relayed the plan to the group. Fenton Hardy shook his head. "It's too dangerous, Jim. You're going in blind."

  Addison smiled. "It's funny. All these years of playing villains, I've been wanting to play a hero, without getting my shot. Now I have a chance to do it in real life, and I'm going to do it. Get Andrea in here."

  When the manager came into the office, Addison told her what was happening and why.

  Stuart laid a hand on his arm. "Jim, that's crazy. You'll be - "

  The actor stopped her. "One reason I'm doing this is that I feel a responsibility for what's happened. I want you to stay with Fenton until I get back, is that clear?"

  Andrea nodded and sank unhappily into a chair.

  Addison looked squarely at Fenton. "I want to go. That is, if you're willing to let Joe come with me."

  Joe spoke up. "I don't see what choice we have. Like you said, Dad, they have the upper hand; they're calling the shots for now. And if what they want is money, then they probably won't let anyone get hurt."

  Fenton frowned. Then he nodded reluctantly. "All right, Joe, we'll wait to hear that Trish is safe. But if we don't hear anything in an hour and a half, we'll notify the police."

  Jim Addison jumped up, eager to be on the way. He grinned at his manager.

  "Cheer up, Andrea, I'll be fine. Look, it's just like TV. The good guys always win in the end."

  Frank spoke quietly to Callie, "Yeah, except that on TV everyone follows a script. This script is being written as we go along, and I wish I could be sure that we're going to have a happy ending."

  They borrowed Andrea Stuart's sporty little car. Joe drove, and Jim Addison sat in the other bucket seat. They headed out to the hills behind Bayport.

  Addison was stiff and tense. Joe told the actor, "Look, I've been through this kind of thing. These guys don't play by rules. Stay loose and be ready for anything, but no heroics. They don't shoot blanks."

  By the time they reached Black Creek Road, there was no traffic. It was a two-lane strip of asphalt winding through scrubby woodland.

  As instructed, they drove two miles along the dark, silent street until they got to the turnoff. This took them onto a narrow lane of graded earth, just wide enough for the car to avoid the trees that hemmed them in on either side. The lane climbed steeply.

  Joe watched the numbers click off on the mileage indicator as he drove slowly and carefully over the rutted, bumpy surface.

  "That's a half mile," he said. There the lane widened into a clear space in the middle of the dense forest. There was no sign of another human being. They sat listening for any hint of movement. By the moonlight Joe could see Jim's face, pale and frightened.

  A voice came from out of the trees right behind the car.

  "Addison? That you?"

  "I'm here, and so is Joe Hardy," the actor replied steadily. "Now what?"

  "Get out of the car slowly, both of you. Turn around and put your hands up on the roof."

  They obeyed the orders.

  A pair of hands frisked Addison and tied his arms roughly behind him. He was blindfolded. Joe tried looking around, but the voice said, "Look straight ahead of you, kid. No peeking, now."

  Then Joe was searched and tied. As the ropes were being tightly knotted he asked, "Where's Trish? You said - "

  He was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around. Sam Freed gave him a gloating smile and growled, "I guess we kind of told you a fib, kid. Sorry about that. But I've been looking forward to seeing you again."

  A large fist drove into Joe's stomach. He sank to his knees, trying to get his wind back.

  Above him he heard Freed's voice again. "Women are nothing but trouble, punk. See what happens to you when you fall for a dame?"

  Joe was hauled to his feet, and a blindfold was wrapped over his eyes. He and Addison were marched through the clearing. Joe felt a gun barrel poking into his back. He realized that there was at least one other person with Freed. Who could it be? Certainly not Andrea Stuart. "Let's get out of here," Freed growled.

  Joe heard the tailgate of a truck being let down, and then he and Addison were roughly thrown into the truck bed. Both cab doors opened and closed. The truck lurched into motion and started back down the hill.

  ***

  At the Hardy home, Frank, Callie, Fenton, and Andrea Stuart waited for Joe's call. A full ninety minutes passed without a ring.

  Finally Frank couldn't take it any longer and said, "They've been gone too long."

  Fenton said, "Something's wrong. I'm afraid they've changed the rules of the game on us."

  "Is Jim - are they in danger, do you think?" asked Andrea.

  "All we know for sure is that the crooks haven't kept their part of the bargain," Frank pointed out. "We don't know why - yet."

  "No choice now but to go to the police and tell them everything," Fenton said gloomily. "Chief Collig won't like it that we've been holding out on him. But we have no alternative."

  "Do we have to involve the police?" asked Andrea Stuart. "Couldn't that be dangerous?"

  "The situation's already dangerous," Frank said. "They probably have Jim and Joe as well as Trish." He stopped for a minute, thinking, and turned to his father.

  "Dad, listen. There's no point in all of us going to the police. Why don't you and Andrea go, and meanwhile I'll scout their meeting place. Maybe Joe left some clue as to what happened out there."

  "I'll come with you," said Callie.

  Fr
ank frowned at her. "I don't know if that's such a hot idea. Maybe you should wait here just in case we do get a phone call."

  "We'll go together," said Callie firmly. "It'll be better if two of us search the area."

  Frank sighed, but he also knew that Callie could handle herself well in a crisis. "Okay, we'll go."

  "Watch yourselves," warned Fenton, "and if you find anything, let us know right away, at police headquarters. Don't go off on your own."

  "Okay, Dad," Frank assured him.

  After Fenton and Andrea Stuart left, Frank and Callie were almost out the door, when Frank suddenly stopped.

  "Frank?" asked Callie. "What is it?"

  He didn't answer.

  "Frank?" repeated Callie, louder.

  "Huh?" Frank looked at Callie with a smile on his face. "Oh, sorry about that, I was just - Listen, we're going to have to wait a few minutes before we go. I've got to make a call."

  "A call?" Callie was puzzled, then suspicious. "But we don't have any time."

  "No, no, trust me. We're just going to look around, like we told Dad, but I want to arrange a little backup, just in case someone has plans for us, too. It won't take long. Call it insurance."

  Frank was on the phone for five minutes, and then, before heading out to Black Creek Road, he stopped off at Bayport Studios.

  "Wait here," Frank told Callie, "I'll just be a minute."

  "What are you - " Callie started to ask, but Frank had already dashed into a building. He emerged a few minutes later and got back in the car.

  As they drove off, Callie gave Frank a long look. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what that was all about?"

  Frank replied, "It's better that you don't know. Honest. Can you just take my word on that for now?"

  Callie shrugged. "I guess I'll have to."

  He drove along the same route that Joe and Addison had taken earlier. Climbing through the wooded hills, they neared the clearing and saw Andrea's sports car.

  "They're all right!" Callie said happily. "They must still be waiting."

  Frank had to drive directly behind the other car before they saw it was empty.

  "It's what I was afraid of," Frank said quietly. "They've got Jim and Joe now, too. Let's take a look around for starters."

  They got out of the car. It was very quiet. Frank carried a powerful flashlight and shined the beam at the sports car. A rustling noise nearby made them both freeze.

  They stood motionless and heard nothing further. Frank relaxed. "Must have been an animal that we spooked," he said, and aimed the flashlight at the car again.

  Just then a voice came out of the darkness, chuckling. "Just like we figured. Grab one brother as bait, and the other is bound to come sniffing around after him."

  Frank flashed the light toward the voice.

  A gunshot roared and Frank heard a bullet whistle through the leaves just over his head.

  "Turn that thing off, kid," the voice ordered.

  "All you're doing is making yourself an easy target."

  Frank flicked off the light. There was enough moonlight to recognize Sam Freed as he stepped out from behind a tree, holding a .45 automatic trained on Frank and Callie.

  "And you brought another dame along, huh? Well, the more the merrier."

  "Where are they?" asked Frank, feeling Callie's hand clutching his tightly.

  "Relax. We'll take you to them," Freed said. "We'll use your car. Let's go."

  Frank gauged the distance between himself and the thug, trying to decide if he could jump him, but Freed read his thoughts.

  "Bad idea, kid," he said. "Take a look to your right. Just by the trees over there."

  Frank and Callie looked where Freed was pointing. They saw another figure, too deep in shadow to be recognizable. But the revolver he was holding glinted in the moonlight.

  "You try any dumb hero stunts and your girlfriend gets it before you move a step. So be nice. Don't be a wise guy like your brother."

  Frank said, "Why don't you let her go? She's got nothing to do with this, and she won't talk to the police, not while you have me."

  "Nothing doing, kid," Freed snapped. "She comes with us. That way, I figure you'll behave yourself and do what you're told. Now, move." Freed's eyes narrowed, and he said coldly, "This is the last time I'll ask you nice."

  "Okay, okay," answered Frank quickly. To Callie he said, "We'd better just go along with what they want, for now."

  Callie gave Frank a nod, and a nervous smile. Freed turned toward his shadowy helper. "Help me tie them up," he called.

  Seeing Freed's attention turned away for a second, Frank sprang forward, reaching for the thug's gun. But Freed stepped back and chopped at the back of Frank's neck with his gun butt. Frank fell flat on the ground, dazed.

  Freed snarled and aimed at Frank's head.

  "No!" screamed Callie. "Don't!"

  Chapter 15

  For a long moment Freed's automatic hovered an inch above Frank's head. Then Freed relaxed. "You take some dumb chances," he said. "The only reason you aren't dead right now is I want to be able to snuff you and your brother at the same time."

  Frank and Callie were tied and blindfolded and dumped in the back of Frank's rental car. Freed got in front. Before they pulled out, Frank heard another engine start up. I'll bet gangster number two is driving a pickup with no plates, Frank thought.

  After ten minutes the car stopped and Frank and Callie were hauled out and marched across some pavement. Then they were pushed farther, into a building this time. Finally their blindfolds were removed.

  Frank looked around. They were in a large, high-ceilinged, old brick building. Probably an abandoned factory, he thought. The rumbling sound they had heard was made by a heavy metal door rolling back as they entered. He could just make out heavy steel moorings to which machines had been attached. Dirty windows high in the walls allowed a little moonlight inside, and a few dangling, unshaded bulbs shed weak light.

  A section of the vast room directly across from the huge door was better lit than the rest, and Freed took Frank and Callie there. As they walked, Frank noted that the windows were too high to offer any chance of escape. He couldn't spot any other doors in the gloom.

  As they neared the opposite wall, Frank saw that a couple of portable electric lamps had been lit there. Huge rings set into the walls to anchor machinery had been fitted with chains, leg irons, and handcuffs. Three such setups were already occupied, by Addison, Trish, and Joe.

  "Is everyone okay?" whispered Frank.

  All three nodded.

  "Hey! Get over here and make yourself useful!" barked Freed at his accomplice, who had been hanging back in the darkness. "Get these two chained up!"

  The dim figure who had been with Freed now stepped into the brighter light.

  It was Vic Ritchey, the standin.

  Under Freed's guard, he quickly shackled Frank's and Callie's legs. But he ignored the handcuffs, leaving their arms tied with rope. He stepped back to survey the scene with a satisfied smile. Then he stepped forward to where Jim Addison sat on the ground. Bending down, Ritchey delivered a stinging slap to the actor's face.

  It was clear to Joe and Frank that Addison was shaken, but the actor kept quiet. Next to Joe, Trish gasped. Callie stared at Ritchey, horrified by his maniacal glare.

  Ritchey was fixed on Jim Addison. He began to speak softly.

  "Eighteen years now, I've been your standin. Never getting a chance to act. Never allowed to have my own career, my own shot. Never getting the big money. All thanks to you. Eighteen years, and I've hated you every minute."

  Frank looked from Addison's shocked face to Ritchey's. His eyes were burning with a crazy light. Carefully, quietly, he began to move his hands behind him, trying to loosen the ropes.

  "Vic," Jim said at last, "I saw to it that you had a job wherever and whenever I did. I didn't hold you down, Vic. You'd never have been able to make a success as an actor, you - "

  Ritchey cut Addison off
with another slap. A thin trickle of blood ran down from the corner of Jim's mouth. He said nothing more.

  Frank suddenly said, "Now I understand!"

  "Understand what, Frank?" asked Trish.

  "Joe, don't you get it?" Frank went on. "Don't you see how the eyewitness swore that he had seen Jim threatening Fairburn?"

  "Of course!" Joe said. He looked disgusted. "How come we didn't catch on sooner? I mean, even we mistook Ritchey for Addison from twenty yards away. That's why he was Jim's standin."

  "Right," Frank agreed. "Same build, similar features ..."

  Ritchey's laugh echoed in the room.

  "That's right, smart boys. It was me that guy saw with Fairburn. I made sure that someone was near enough to see when I picked a quarrel with Fairburn. I saw to it that he got a real good look at us before Freed took Fairburn away to finish him off."

  "You ought to watch your mouth," growled Freed. "You'll run it too much someday."

  But Ritchey didn't seem to hear, or care. He stooped down. Now his face was only inches away from Addison's.

  "I'm getting a lot of money for this, big shot," he sneered. "But you know what? I would have done it all just for the chance to have you where I can tell you what I really think of you, where I can give you what you deserve."

  Ritchey stuck his gun in Addison's face, and for an instant Joe was certain he would shoot the actor right then. But Freed yanked Ritchey away. "That's enough for now," he ordered. "You keep popping off and you won't live to spend that money you're talking about."

  Ritchey shrank back from Freed's flat, cold stare, looking pale and nervous.

  Frank's wrists felt raw and scraped, but he also felt that his knots had loosened just a fraction.

  Joe turned to Freed and said, "That answers some questions about this racket, but there's still the big one: who's paying Ritchey? Who's paying you? Who's running this show?"

  "You'll find out soon enough, punk," Freed said with an ugly grin. "Too bad you won't be around to tell anybody else."

  "I believe that I'm the one you're looking for," said a voice disembodied by the surrounding darkness. Footsteps echoed, coming closer. Frank strained to make out the figure just walking into the light.