hardy boys fan fiction
CLASSIFIED
SECRETS
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
Cherylann Rivers
Chapter
10
hardy
boys fan fiction
THE CHAPTERS
Inside was a lovely piece of stationary that matched its accompanying envelope. A note was typed on it that Vanessa absorbed with her eyes and her heart.
My dear Vanessa,
I was pleased to receive your correspondence and picture the other day. Since I receive hundreds of pieces of mail each day, my staff helps me to select the ones that they believe I would be most interested in. I believe they have chosen wisely. You certainly look like a Princess!
I have enclosed for you a round-trip ticket from your hometown of Bayport, which seems to be THE PERFECT small town, to Florida, where I am currently staying. Upon your arrival at the airport, you will be picked up by limousine and will be invited to stay at my Palace for a few days. Any accommodations you wish for shall be granted to you. You will have your own room to stay, and will have access to call whomever you would like once you are there. At that point we shall meet.
There is one stipulation, however. Due to my national search for a Princess, I prefer to keep all details of my location a secret. Thus, it is my request that you tell no one where you are going. You will be back in three days time, at which point you will do whatever you choose. However, by that point, perhaps you will want to share my in my Kingdom of the Heart forever. You wrote that your heart has been broken; I specialize in areas of the heart, and hope to mend it.
Looking forward to crowning my Princess,
Prince Charming
Vanessa re-read the letter several times. It was so mysterious, and yet, at the same time, exciting! She couldn’t believe that she had been selected above so many other girls from around the country to meet this man. Vanessa realized she shouldn’t do it. It was probably harmless, but there really were no specific details in the letter. Besides, what would she tell her mother? Then, she remembered that he mom was leaving for a conference in Manhattan on computer graphics and design that would last for four days. Vanessa could leave and return without her mother ever knowing the difference!
"Oh, this is silly!" she said out loud. But then she looked up at her dresser, where pictures of her former real Prince Charming now stood. There was Joe and her at Christmas; then there was Joe goofing around at the beach; finally, there was a picture of the two of them that Callie had taken just three months ago, as they had danced together on Valentine’s Day. Joe had loved that picture so much he had gotten it framed for her, and on the frame was engraved, "I love my Vanessa!", which was the perfect way of Joe being goofy and emotional at the same time.
Suddenly Vanessa realized that she had been crying, and blinked her tears back. "Fine, Joe Hardy" she said out loud to herself. "I’ll show you that someone else might think I’m a Princess!" Fighting back the sadness that enveloped her, Vanessa put down the letter and began to pack, trying to convince herself that another man could just as easily take Joe’s place in her heart.
*****
Joe Hardy, meanwhile, was sitting outside his car with Iola. Frank and Callie were inside together, waiting for a few more minutes before they would start their search of the area for clues. It was dark out now, and the last of the officials seemed to have gone home for the evening. They had try and time the circulation of the police cars at a distance, this way they could snoop inconspicuously. Joe could tell at this vantage point that he cops didn’t seem to take their job too seriously, obviously thinking that since they were even around, no one would try to deliver anything. Each time they passed, their routes began to get longer and longer, and Joe could even hear radio and laughter at different intervals. "Remind me to hire professional guards if I ever need it" he said jokingly to Iola.
Iola seemed distracted. Joe sighed. He couldn’t believe it, but he was beginning to run out of things to say to her. They’d look at each other and smile, but she seemed somehow different. He found himself thinking, as he looked into the starry sky, of what Vanessa must be doing right now. He’d never run out of things to say to her. Unlike Iola, Vanessa joked with him all the time, liked to play fight, and could spend hours challenging him to video games. She loved action movies, and was always interested in his detective work. He was beginning to realize that he missed her; a lot.
"Joe?" With a start, he realized that Iola had been speaking to him, and he felt incredibly guilty for letting himself think about Vanessa. He was so lucky to have Iola back in his life; he had loved her so intensely, and he had dreamed forever about what their perfect love reunion would be like. Yes, he thought. Iola had to be the one for him.
"Hey," he said softly, wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her to him.
Iola smiled, but Joe thought he picked up the faintest trace of hesitation on her part. "Joe, I’m tired. And I’m cold. And I’m hungry. I really don’t know if it’s a good idea that I’m out here with you. Besides, I’m not much of a help anyway. I mean, Callie’s more into this sort of thing."
Joe tried to pick up the positive pieces of Iola’s comments. "Callie? Nah. She’s a pain in the neck. She’s Frank’s little eye candy, that’s all she’s good for. I mean, she helps every once in a while, but Frank winds up trying so hard to protect her he forgets about the bad guys."
Iola pulled away from Joe. "That’s not very nice. I like Callie."
"Why?!" Joe questioned. He didn’t like where this conversation was going.
"For a lot of reasons. Frank is right. You two are a lot alike."
Joe hated that comment. He thought he hated it more and more each time Frank or anyone else said anything like it. "You don’t know what you’re talking about!" he snapped at her.
Iola looked totally taken aback, and Joe watched her eyes fill up with tears. Instantly, he felt terribly. How could he have raised his voice to her?!At once, Joe reached out to Iola and held her tightly. "I’m sorry," he whispered into her hair. " I shouldn’t have done that. I.. I’ll take you back to the hotel, okay? We can all come back here, and be back in an hour. I shouldn’t have taken you here."
Iola looked up at him. He was so handsome, and she really did love him, even though… even though there was something different now. Iola ignored the thought. "Thank you, Joe," she said. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem,… dear" Joe responded. Somehow, he couldn’t call her "baby." That was what he called Vanessa all the time, and he couldn’t say it to Iola. It wouldn’t be right.
Joe knocked on the car window, where he couldn’t help but to notice, glancing in, that Frank and Callie were laughing at something, their heads close together. For an instant, he felt a brief pang of jealously. After all these years, his brother and Callie, despite anything he had tried to say or do, still looked very much in love. He wondered how it came so easily to them, and it was so hard for him now."Yes?" Frank questioned, rolling down the window.
"Ah… Iola’s not feeling so great, so I thought I’d drop her off at the hotel and we can come back in an hour or so."
Frank looked suspicious. "Joe, you know we can’t wait that long. I kind of wanted to check things out now."
"Well…" Joe began.
"Its okay," Callie said from inside the car. "Frank and I will stay here and check things out. Take care of Iola. Come and get us in an hour or so."
Joe couldn’t believe it! Callie had just bailed him out. He was sure he’d hear about that for some time to come, but for right now, he took the bait. "Thanks, Callie," he said to her, as he and Iola switched places with Frank and Callie.
After they drove away, Callie looked up at Frank and asked, "What now?"
"Well, you could tell those officers didn’t look too enthused about staying in one place. Why don’t we go around the back and start looking for drop off points? Meet me in fifteen minutes. Be careful," he added at the end.
"Yes, honey," Callie said with a straight face, and they both headed in opposite directions. After fifteen minutes they met up.
"Nothing unusual on my side," she told him.
"Mine either."
"Okay, then. We’ll split up again, Meet me at the front entrance of the school in somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. That should give us plenty of time to be thorough. If we don’t find anything there, the chances are pretty good that this will be an example of a mail drop-off and not a delivery. Remember to avoid the cops. Any questions?" Frank asked her.
"Nope! But Frank?"
"Uh huh?"
"Be careful."
Frank just smiled as he watched Callie head off in the opposite direction.
After about 10 minutes of searching, Frank was about to give up. This place is big, he thought, but there’s not much room for a drop-off point where something could easily be found. It was then that he heard it. There was some sort of noise in the distance, and it seemed to be getting closer. At first, Frank thought it was the rustling of the leaves, but he soon recognized the sound as footsteps approaching him in the distance. Frank stayed down low and watched as two men, dressed in black, seemed to head in the direction of the gym. "Oh, no," Frank breathed softly. "Callie’s over there!"
Frank knew he had to do something to protect his girlfriend. He crept over towards that direction and finally the men planted what appeared to be a package, which Frank resumed was the "slipper", right by the gym entrance. Much to his relief, Callie was nowhere in sight.
As they headed back in the initial direction from which they had come, Frank decided to follow them. He needed to find out who these guys were. Soon, they disappeared from his sight, but he had managed to see something fall from one of the men’s pockets. Frank waited a few minutes, and then, when it looked like the coast was clear, he went to check it out.
That turned out to be a big mistake. Just as Frank went top pick up what seemed to be a wallet, he heard someone return. Since he was in the middle of an open field, there was simply no where to go. The man looked as stunned as he was. There was one difference between the two, though, as they stood facing each other. The other man had a gun.
Before Frank could react, he saw the man grab the gun, and he heard a soft "thwp" as a bullet ripped through the air. "A silencer" was the last thing Frank Hardy had time to think before he felt an incredible burning sensation in his right side. He was hit. Grabbing his side, Frank fell to the ground. Vaguely, he heard the man run and pick up his wallet. He was running away when he must have had a second thought, "don’t let him chase me." With that, Frank Hardy felt a second sharp, shooting pain through his right knee as a second bullet hit him. The pain was so horrible that Frank, lying on the ground, and struggling to breathe, felt himself wishing for unconsciousness, but it simply wouldn’t come.
When Frank hadn’t returned after a half -hour, Callie began to get worried. If there was anyone who was meticulous about being prompt, it was her boyfriend. She decided to retrace his path, or where he should have been, anyhow. After 5 minutes, she didn’t see anything. Then, for some reason, she just felt a compulsion to look towards the spot where she and Frank had initially spoken. She walked there. Nothing. As she was about to give up, she saw a small figure, way in the distance, huddled on the ground. Fear gripped her, and she instantly knew.
Running as fast as she could, she found her boyfriend, lying on the ground. His face was pasty white, and his shirt was covered in blood. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that his leg was as well.
"Oh, God, God!" Callie cried frantically. She sank to her knees beside Frank. He was shaking terribly. Callie felt her heart stop beating, and she could barely breathe. Not Frank, she thought silently to herself. Oh, God. Don’t let anything happen to him! Reaching over, she took off her light jacket and covered Frank with it, as she tried to put pressure on his wound with her hand. The touch made him cry out in agony. Tears streaming down her face, she cradled a semi- conscious Frank in her arms and wished to God Joe would get back.
"It’s okay, baby. It’s okay," she sobbed. "You’ll be okay."
"Oh," she moaned , holding him tightly. "I love you."
Crying, all she could do was wait.
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation, The authors 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 them without express permission of the authors.