Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

As Frank made his way down the dimly lit stairway that led to the basement of the church, he was glad that he had the foresight to get from Joe the address of the Youth Centre when his brother first announced his intention of doing volunteer work there. This was his second time coming to the Centre. The first time he had made the trip alone as well, and without the knowledge of his brother. Frank had wanted to see for himself just exactly what his brother would be doing, and the people with whom he would be working.

If Joe found out about Frank's little reconnaissance mission, no doubt he would have rolled his eyes and muttered something about overkill in the overprotective department. But Frank had always been a firm believer in the motto of better be safe than sorry. And this belief had certainly proven to be true more often than not when Joe was concerned.

It wasn't as if he didn't trust his brother to look after himself. No, that wasn't exactly true either. Though Joe was more than capable in the direst situations, it was his tendency to forget that he was a mere mortal and not Superman during those dire situations that had Frank concerned. There were times that Frank wondered whether his too-frequent warnings of 'No, Joe!' were taken by his brother as an instant signal to dive headlong into danger at an even faster speed than if Frank had issued no warning at all. Frank shook his head. Someday he would have to ask Joe about that. Perhaps he should change his warnings from 'No, Joe!' to 'Go, Joe!'. Would they then have the opposite effect on his brother? He very much doubted it. When there was action and danger, Joe always wanted a front row seat, just like in concerts. That was his brother. And if he were any different, then he wouldn't be Joe.

Smiling to himself, Frank pushed open the door to the Youth Centre and was greeted by the smell of mildew and stale cigarette smoke that cloaked the air of the room before him. Though the place was brightly lit with fluorescent lights, the low ceiling gave the room a certain claustrophobic feel, as did the peeling institutional green paint that did its best, or worst, to mask the cinder block walls. Trying not to wrinkle his nose at the offending smells, Frank quickly looked about him, his eyes pausing briefly at each of the few scattered tables in the room. When he caught sight of the blond hair of his brother sitting in the far corner of the room, he let out the breath that he had been subconsciously holding.

He started across the room. A few sets of eyes glanced in his direction, but most did not acknowledge his entrance.

"Can I help you?"

Frank turned at the voice and saw a man dressed in scruffy jeans and faded T-shirt. The man looked to be in his thirties and had shoulder length hair that screamed out for a comb and a wash.

"I am here to get my brother," Frank said. "He's over there, Joe Hardy."

"Oh, the new volunteer. He's a good kid, settled right in. The kids seem to like him."

Frank smiled. "That's good to hear, but it's getting late and he was expected home a couple of hours ago. I am Frank, by the way."

"Good to meet you, Frank. I'm Carl. I'm sort of in charge here tonight."

"Good to meet you, Carl. Well, I better get Joe and be on our way."

"You can always come with your brother next time. We can always use volunteers here," Carl said, smiling.

Frank nodded. "Maybe I will. See you around, Carl."

Joe had already seen him and was watching his approach with a frown. "What are you doing here, Frank?"

Frank tapped a finger at his watch. "Running late, aren't you?"

Joe quickly looked at his own watch and groaned. "Oh, man, I didn't know it was so late. Sorry, guys, got to run."

"I gotta go too," one of the boys at the table said, and rose to his feet as well.

"Want a ride home, Jason?" Joe immediately asked. "We can drop you off."

The boy called Jason eyed Frank a little suspiciously and then shook his head. "Nah, I'll just walk. Won't be anywhere along your way."

"You sure?" Joe persisted as they headed toward the door.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm told not to go into a stranger's car."

Joe laughed. "Well, I'm not a stranger and this guy is my brother, Frank. Frank, meet Jason. Jason plays a mean hand of cards."

"Hi, Jason. So you've been teaching Joe how to really play cards? Good luck. I've been trying for years and still haven't succeeded," Frank said with a smile.

"My brother thinks he has a sense of humour," Joe cut in, tossing a glare in Frank's direction before turning to the other boy. "Look, are you sure you don't want a ride home?"

"Nah, it's cool. See you around."

"I'll be here again on Thursday. See you then?" Joe asked.

Jason shrugged. "Maybe."

"Bye Jason," Frank said as the other boy began to move away.

"Bye."

"How did you know where to find me?" Joe asked as they made their way to where Frank parked the van.

"You gave me the address of the place the other day, remember? Mom called me all concerned that you weren't home for dinner. She couldn't get a hold of you on your cell."

Joe immediately dug out his phone. "One missed call. That must had been Mom. Reception isn't the greatest in the basement. Weren't you supposed to be with Callie tonight?"

Frank climbed into the van and strapped himself in. "I was with Callie until Mom called."

Joe threw him a guilty look. "Sorry, Frank. I guess I'm not on top of Callie's popular people list right now, huh? Not that I ever was, of course. Are you in the doghouse now because of me?"

Frank worked hard to suppress a smile as he thought of the talk that he and Callie had earlier that evening. "Let's say she wasn't the happiest person around when I had to cut our evening short."

"Oh."

Frank glanced over at his brother and laughed. "Relax, kid. It's not the end of the world. Callie is a forgiving person."

"Not when your name is Joe Hardy," his brother muttered.

"If I were you, I'd be more concerned with how to deal with Mom. You could have called her, you know, if you were going to be late."

"I totally forgot about the time. Besides, it would be so uncool to whip out my cell in the middle of the card game to tell Mom that I'd be late for supper."

Frank glanced at his brother and shook his head. "Uncool? It's uncool to let Mom worry about you." Not to mention your big brother, Frank added silently to himself.

"Yeah, I guess I owe Mom an apology when I get home. And you too, big brother."

"And Callie," Frank prompted.

Joe sighed. "And Callie. Lunch is on me tomorrow then. I'll get you each a hamburger with the works and a big side of fries swimming in ketchup."

Frank winced. "I can't think of a surer way of turning off Callie's appetite. She'll be happier with a salad."

"No taste," Joe grumbled.

"Well, not everybody is on a high cholesterol diet like you," Frank grinned. "Some of us like to live to a ripe old age."

"What's the point of living to a ripe old age if you can't enjoy yourself? Bring on the steaks, fries and gravy. At least I'll die happy instead of starving to death on a diet of rabbit food. Speaking of food, I'm starved. I hope Mom left something for me."

Frank looked at his brother and smiled. "Speaking of Mom, shouldn't you give her a call and let her know that we're on our way?"

"Good idea. Then she can also start warming up my dinner too."

Frank shook his head. "The entire world caters to Joe Hardy."

Joe gave his brother his most charming smile. "Sounds good to me."

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.