Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

When Fenton Hardy at last returned to the house in the very early hours of the morning, he found both his wife and older son asleep in the living room. Shaking his head at the likely long hours of worries that they must have endured before sleep finally overcame them, he made his way to the kitchen.

Moving about quietly, he set about putting on a fresh pot of coffee. He wished desperately that he had better news to tell his wife and son, or at least offer them some form of hope that Joe would be found soon. He rubbed his aching eyes in frustration. Some private detective he was, he thought bitterly. His own son was missing and he had not one solid clue to follow up on.

"Fenton?" his wife's soft voice called out hesitantly.

He turned and saw Laura standing by the kitchen doorway, with an equally anxious looking Frank by her side.

Fenton held out his arms to her and Laura quickly ran into the welcome embrace. He reached out and pulled Frank into the hug as well.

"Did you find anything, Dad?" Frank asked in a tight voice.

Fenton released them both and looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry." He gestured to the readied pot of coffee." Frank, bring the pot of coffee to the table, and some mugs. I think we all need some right now."

Fenton took a sip from his steaming cup and regarded the two anxious faces before him, and the unspoken questions in their haunted eyes.

"We searched the surrounding areas last night," Fenton began and then paused in uncertainty.

"And --?" Frank asked, knowing that there was more to come.

"We found signs of some form of struggle in a nearby alley way. Joe's blood was found at the scene," Fenton forced the difficult words out.

Laura gasped audibly and Fenton quickly went over and wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders.

"How do you know it was Joe's blood? It could have been anybody's. Fights are not uncommon in that neighbourhood," Frank protested, his mind denying what he had been told.

"We had the blood tested already at the lab. It was Joe's," Fenton said wearily.

"But --, so where is he now?" Frank asked. "He cannot be dead. They would have just left him there if they had killed him."

"It looks like he was taken away in a car. The trail of the blood droplets ended abruptly at a curbside," Fenton said and felt his wife's body shudder within his arms.

"So Joe can't be dead," Frank said with determination. "Did anybody see anything at all? Surely somebody must have seen something."

"We weren't able to seek out too many people last night. Sam's heading back from New York even as we speak and he and I are going to track down what we can in terms of witnesses later on this morning. Ezra is going to have the area searched more extensively as soon as it gets lighter out."

"But Joe might not even be in the area anymore," Frank said. "We may be wasting time searching for him there."

"We have to start somewhere, Frank," Fenton said patiently. "Right now we aren't even sure who has Joe, though I am fairly certain it's related to Jason somehow. I did go up to Taylor Grady's apartment last night, just in case he might have seen or heard something that might help us. Nothing."

"What about the van? Did they check for fingerprints?" Frank queried.

"Nothing other than yours and Joe's," Fenton answered.

"What can I do to help?" Frank asked.

"There's not much that you can do right now. The police will be combing the neighbourhood. Sam and I will try to track down anyone who might have seen something. The best thing for you to do is go to school today. It will help you to keep your mind off things," Fenton said and braced himself for the inevitable protest.'

"But Dad, I can't just sit back and do nothing. Joe is out there, and he's hurt. How can I just go to school as if nothing's happened?" Frank asked angrily.

"Frank," Laura cut in quietly. "Your father and the police will be doing all that they can to find Joe. I agree with your father. Go to school, and let them handle this. Joe is missing already. I don't want to have to worry about you coming to harm as well."

Frank shook his head vehemently. "No, I have to be doing something. I have to, Dad. Joe needs me."

"Oh, honey," Laura moved from her husband's embrace to give her son the comfort of her own arms. "No matter what happens, I don't want you to think for a moment that you have failed your brother. None of this is your fault, anybody's fault, except for the bad guys, and maybe Joe's. None of this would have happened if he had listened to your father in the first place." Her voice suddenly hitched and she struggled to keep her tears back. "Part of me is so angry with him for putting us through this and yet I know, if he is returned to us safely, I would be so thankful that I would forgive anything."

"I know I should feel angry at him too," Frank said softly. "But I'm too scared for him to feel anything else right now."

Fenton gave him a firm squeeze on the shoulder. "Just remember what your mother said. None of this is your fault."

Frank looked at his parents sadly. "Isn't it? Joe got into this mess because he didn't listen to you, Dad. It's not the first time that he's ignored your orders. You know, Callie might be right when she said we let him get away with murder. Maybe we have been unintentionally encouraging this reckless behaviour of his, simply because we put up with it."

Fenton frowned. "There's probably some truth to that, but now's not the time to dwell on those thoughts. I can assure you that your brother will be getting an earful from me once we find him, and you will not defend him when that time comes."

"We have to find him first," Laura said softly.

Fenton gave her a brief but fierce hug. "We will, love. We will find him."

At that moment, the phone rang, echoing eerily through the silence of the house. For several seconds, nobody made a move to pick it up as they all stared at it with unspoken fear. In the end, it was Fenton who reached over and picked up the receiver while the other two watched him in breathless expectancy.

"Fenton Hardy here. Oh hi, Ezra." Fenton listened in silence for the next couple of minutes, his brows crinkling in a deepening frown and his lips pressed into a hard, uncompromising line. "I see. And where were they found again? Your boys are searching the surrounding areas already? Nothing so far? All right, I'll keep in touch. Thanks for calling, Ezra. I really appreciate all your help in this."

"What is it, Dad?" Frank asked as soon as his father had hung up the phone. "What did they find?"

"They have just found the bodies of Ribera and Scala," Fenton said quietly.

"What?" Frank exclaimed unbelievingly. "They're dead?"

"Ribera and Scala?" Laura looked at her husband with a questioning look. "Aren't they the ones after Jason?"

Fenton nodded grimly.

"No!" Frank cried. "They are the ones who most likely grabbed Joe. And if they're dead, how will we find Joe now?"

That very thought had already crossed Fenton's mind. Ribera and Scala had been a vital piece of the puzzle in Joe's disappearance, and if they were now out of the picture, Fenton wondered, with no small amount of despondency, where they would go from here. He had hoped that by tracking down these two men, they would be able to find out where Joe was being held, assuming that the two men were the ones who were responsible for Joe's disappearance. But if they were now dead, their knowledge of Joe's whereabouts had died along with them.

Seeing the look of increasing hopelessness on both his wife's and son's faces, Fenton forced himself to sound confident. "Ezra has promised that he will have every inch of the crime scene combed thoroughly for clues. The forensic team is at the site already. They will come up with something that will lead us to Joe."

"But how long will that take? We don't have the time. Joe doesn't have the time," Frank said.

"They will do their best. They know what's at stake here," Fenton said grimly.

Frank slumped down in his chair, looking totally defeated. Laura watched him anxiously while her own heart was being ripped apart by an all-consuming fear. She turned her bleak eyes to her husband. "How did those two die?"

Fenton grimaced. "A bullet to the back of the head. It was an execution."

Laura shivered. "Sounds like gangland type of killing."

"It doesn't surprise me," Fenton said. "They were dealing in drugs and if they were connected at all with the string of recent drug related deaths in that neighbourhood, then obviously the guys above them did not like what they were doing. It's bad for the drug business if the stuff that they are selling is killing the users. Looks like these two went beyond what was acceptable."

"Acceptable?" Laura echoed. "We are talking about drug dealers here, Fenton. How can anything be acceptable in that circle?"

"As strange as it might sound, they do have their own code of ethics. Not that I condone any of it, but they do weed out what they consider to be unacceptable," Fenton explained. He looked at his crestfallen son. "Perhaps word of their deaths will get out and Jason might at last turn himself in."

Frank looked up at his father. "Or perhaps they have Jason as well Joe."

"We have to remain optimistic," Fenton said gently. He glanced at the clock and stood up. "I am going to take a shower. Sam will be coming by later with Ethel. Ethel will be staying with us until -- well, for the time being. She doesn’t want you to be by yourself." Fenton was looking at his wife. "I am going to try to grab a couple hours of sleep before heading out with Sam." He turned and regarded his son. "Frank, I want you to go to school this morning. No, I don't want any argument. There's nothing else for you to do right now anyway."

"I can help to search the area," Frank said.

"Where do you propose to look?" his father asked. "The police are already in the area. Let them do their job. Sam and I will be talking to as many people as we can. Now that those two are dead, people might be more willing to talk about what they might have seen." He laid a gentle hand on his son's shoulder "I know you want to help, Frank, but there really isn't much for you to do right now. I promise to keep you informed of whatever we might uncover, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Now go to bed and grab whatever sleep you can before you head out to school."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," Frank said morosely, knowing that he was not going to win this argument with his father.

"Well, at least lie down and rest," Fenton suggested.

"Come, honey. Let's all try to get a little rest," Laura said as she slipped her arm through that of her son. "It won't help things if we all collapse from exhaustion."

Feeling as if he was abandoning his brother, Frank slowly followed his parents up the stairs.

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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.