Free No Way Out by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

the steps of the carved staircase two at a time. Inside the guest suite, Joe fired up his computer at the small table by the window while Frank took a quick shower.
    Joe clicked into his private files and opened the folder labeled
Vincenzo Blackstone.
Inside was one file, named
VB.
    â€œMmmmm, that’s weird,” he mumbled. “There should be four files in that folder.” He clicked on
VB
, and the file opened onto the screen. There was only one page:
    Hey, Joe Hardy
    Think you’re pretty smart?
    Well, you’re not even close.
    Think you’re a hacker?
    You’re nothing when it comes to fighting me.
    Think you’re a detective?
    You’re nothing when it comes to FINDING me.
    Stay out of my computer.
    Stay out of my business.
    Or you’ll be one sorry jouster.

9 Ring of Fire
    Joe stared at the note for a few seconds. Then a spurt of adrenaline spurred him into action. He copied the file onto a CD and raced to Ray’s room to print out the note. Then he grabbed the copies and charged back to the guest suite. Frank was ready in fresh jeans, sweater, and a jacket.
    â€œLook at this.” Joe showed Frank the note hacked into his computer. “This has to be from Blackstone,” Joe reasoned. “It was in the folder I set up with his data. He traced my research back to my computer, hacked in, and left me this note.”
    â€œHe knows your name,” Frank pointed out.
    â€œHe got that from my own computer files.”
    â€œHe knows you’re a detective.”
    â€œHe could have gotten that from my files, oreven from some article on the Internet about a past case that we cracked. And if he knows who I am, he knows who you are too,” Joe pointed out.
    â€œHere’s the best part,” Frank read. “He calls you a jouster. That means only one thing.”
    â€œThat he was in the stadium last night,” Joe said with a nod. “There’s no reason to call me that otherwise.”
    â€œOr someone who works for him was here,” Frank suggested, “and fed him a report.”
    â€œAt this point, I’d bet anything that Blackstone’s at least on the island.”
    â€œAnd his message is pretty clear,” Frank said with a grim frown.
    â€œLooks like Blackstone just moved to the top of the suspect list,” Joe said, folding two copies of the note and sticking them in his sports bag.
    â€œI agree,” Frank said. “And let’s not tell the family about this. They’re already worried enough.”
    â€œOkay—let’s get going. We need to get this investigation moving and find Alan.”
    The Hardys took the stairway two steps at a time again and skidded into the kitchen.
    â€˜Where’s Officer Chester?” Joe asked.
    â€œHe left,” Kay said. “He got a call to check out a fender bender in the village square.”
    â€œWhy?” Ray asked. “Did you find out anything?”
    â€œUh, nothing … well … I have some information on Blackstone for him, that’s all,” Joe said.
    â€œWe’ll take it to him when we go to the village,” Frank said. “We’re going in to see the rough cuts of the footage,” he explained to the others.
    â€œFirst, have some lunch,” Penny urged. “It’s been a hard morning, and it’s already two o’clock. We have to keep healthy so we can find Alan.”
    Over a bowl of hearty soup, and sandwiches piled high with turkey and cheese, the Hardys and Ray told Kay and Penny about Frank’s accident. Kay got maps of both the property and the mine, and laid them out on the big table.
    â€œHere,” Ray said, pointing to the spot where Frank disappeared. “This is where he fell through.”
    Frank and Joe both studied the maps, getting an idea of where the sinkhole was in relationship to the house, the stables, the maze, and the rest of the estate.
    â€œAnd this must be the caretaker’s