HDA - Classified Secrets by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

Frank, Joe, and Fenton Hardy returned to the hotel where they were staying less than 45 minutes later. As they entered their room, Joe helped his brother onto the bed. Frank looked exhausted, but he was ready to try and tackle the case. Joe scooped up a handful of recent newspapers to start looking through that he had been collecting. Fenton excused himself for a few minutes to grab some sodas for himself and his sons from a vending machine down the hall. Joe was about to set everything up when Frank suddenly spoke up.

"Joe?"

Joe looked at his brother quizzically. "Yeah? Are you okay?"

Frank smiled weakly. "Well, yeah. All things considered."

"Maybe you should get some rest first. Dad and I can go through these. We’ll wake you if we need your expertise. Besides, I’m sure I can figure out anything you can."

Frank just shook his head and said dryly, "Yeah, of course you can."

"ANYWAY," Joe interjected, "Did you want something? Dad’ll be right back."

"Actually, yes. Can you do me a favor? Can you get Callie from next door? I just want to see her and tell her I’m back, and that we’re working on this."

Joe froze, the thought of seeing Callie angering him again. "No!"

Frank look surprised. "What? Why not? What’s the matter?"

Joe tried to catch himself. "I just meant that she’s ….. uh…. sleeping."

Now Frank looked suspicious and Joe cringed inwardly, trying to figure out a way of this. Keeping a step ahead of Frank, even when he was injured, wasn’t easy.

"Really, Joe?" Frank said sarcastically. "And how would you know that? We just got here."

"Well…" Joe paused. "I mean, before I went to get you, Iola and me and Calle talked and she was really tired." Joe tried to sound as sincere as possible. It was the truth, after all. Well, sort of.

"You spoke with Callie? Why didn’t you tell me? She’s okay, isn’t she?" Joe sensed the disbelief in his brother’s voice, but he also noted concern as well. Joe tried not to get angry, but the old feelings he had kept at bay about Callie were coming back. His father’s words echoed in his head. "I don’t think you should tell Frank about your fight with Callie." Still, Joe wanted to tell Frank, and to confront him about his part in this as well.

His hesitation made Frank worried. He repeated his question. "Joe? Is Callie okay?"

"Yeah. She’s okay." Joe couldn’t help but to add, "SHE’S always okay."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Frank raised his voice. Joe could tell it was draining his brother to have this argument, but he felt it had gone too far at this point.

"Look, Frank, I don’t think you should see Callie anymore. You have no idea who she really is."

Frank looked utterly confused. "WHAT?! I thought you two were getting along." Frank sat up quickly, and grabbed his side again. Joe was worried, but anger was blinding him.

"Get rid of her, Frank. She’s … there’s no words for her."

Frank’s breathing grew heavier, and he felt a little light-headed. Still, he managed, "WHAT are you talking about? Look, Joe. Right now, I don’t even want to know. I don’t have the strength for this argument. I don’t feel well. We need to focus on the case. Try to be thoughtful for once n your life and respect the fact that Callie is my girlfriend, and you’re not going to change that. I’ll give you plenty of reasons why. Later."

With those words, Frank laid back down on the bed, breathing deeply, trying to get his bearings. However, Joe was preventing that.

"What about you?!"

Frank lifted one eye open. He closed it again. After counting slowly to ten mentally, he opened both eyes and looked at his brother, who was visibly angry. Of all times to start an argument, this was not a good one.

Calmly, he said to his brother, "I don’t know, Joe. What about me? Because I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Since you obviously have some sort of problem with me, you might as well tell me now, because you’re just going to blow up about it." Frank knew Joe well enough to let him speak. Whatever was bothering him he wanted to tell Frank about. So, ignoring his own confusion and discomfort, he decided to be rational and to just hear Joe out. He simply didn’t have the will or the strength to argue back..

"Why didn’t you tell me about Vanessa?!" Joe said angrily.

"What?!"

"Don’t pretend not to know! Callie told her to answer one of those ads. Now, she may be in danger all because of your stupid girlfriend! What about trust? I can’t believe you’d protect Callie instead of telling me the truth!" Joe immediately felt better for saying what was on his mind. The feeling didn’t last.

Frank sat up again, and Joe saw the pained look in his brother’s eyes. He also saw something he wasn’t expecting, though—he saw anger.

"Did you have a fight with Callie? Because if you did, I’d like to know about it." Frank said the words calmly, but Joe sensed at once that there was a nasty undertone to them.

"You didn’t answer my question!" Joe snapped back.

"You didn’t answer MINE!!!" Frank yelled. Joe stopped. Frank NEVER yelled.

"Yeah," Joe replied, more calmly than before. "I did."

"Where is she?" Joe noticed Frank was working himself up, and he didn’t look good.

"Calm down," Joe told him.

"Me?! You’ve got to be kidding." Frank’s breathing was more ragged, and now Joe regretted saying anything. Suddenly, it wasn’t important.

"Frank…" Joe made a motion towards his brother, who stood up facing him, leaning heavily on one crutch that he had put against the dresser.

"You know what, Joe? Let me tell you a few things." Frank’s eyes were glassy, but his gaze was steady.

"Sit down, Frank, come on." Now Joe was getting really worried.

"Shut up!" Frank seethed. Joe’s mouth dropped open. Never in his whole life had Frank ever intentionally tried to silence him. He was stunned.

"Okay, little brother, you want to know all about Vanessa? Okay. First, let’s face the obvious fact. Callie wouldn’t have said anything to her if you had treated Vanessa the way you should have. I mean, you dump her- fast- for Iola. That’s fair."

"Now wait…" Joe began, but was cut off instantly.

"Second, Callie was trying to help her. Were there better ways of doing it? I’m sure. I was like you- I told her it was a bad idea. She MEANT WELL, Joe. Doesn’t that count for anything?!"

"No!" Joe managed.

"No? Okay. How about this, then. Callie told me to TELL you, Joe. She felt really badly, even before we knew what this case was about. You know why you didn’t know? Because I didn’t tell you. Callie had nothing to do with that. So I guess you can hate me now."

Frank looked shaky. Joe wanted this to stop.

"That’s not what I meant…"

"Really? Because according to you, what people MEAN doesn’t really matter!"

Frank tried to calm down. His stomach felt upset, and he could see little dots in front of his eyes. He felt his legs begin to give out, so he pushed himself back and landed on the bed.

Joe ran to his side. "Frank? Frank, I’m sorry." Joe felt his hart beat faster. ‘Can I help? What can I do?"

Frank, very pale, motioned to Joe. "Get me a garbage can," he croaked.

Joe was confused for an instant, but ran to get one from the bathroom. "Here."

"Now go away."

"What?"

"Now!"

Joe went into the hall. Frank’s words were still reeling in his mind. On one hand, he DID blame himself for leaving Vanessa alone. He knew that, and the guilt was a difficult thing to try and force down. On the other hand, he didn’t quite believe Frank. He couldn’t fathom that Frank had chosen not to tell him about Vanessa. Despite any of Frank’s words, Joe was still seething about Callie Shaw. It was her fault; it had to be. Frank wouldn’t betray him like that. Above all, Joe regretted getting Frank so upset. His gnawing suspicion that Frank was worse off than he was letting on was becoming apparently clear, and Joe prayed it wouldn’t get worse.

Their father was still not back. Joe couldn’t stand this. After about three minutes, he returned to the room. He saw immediately that Frank had gotten sick. He looked a little better now, but the strain of everything was still showing on his face. Without saying a word, Joe grabbed the can and threw it in the bathroom. He felt horribly.

He gave Frank a few minutes. Finally, Frank looked up at him from the bed where he was again lying. "Joe," he said softly, more calmly than before. "I’m sure Vanessa is okay. Please, next time get mad at me, not at Callie, okay?"

Joe went to say something, to tell him it WAS Callie’s fault, but Frank held up his hand. "Joe, I never say things like this, but I’m telling you now. LISTEN to me. I’ll support you in whatever you do, even if I disagree with you. You have done some stupid things in your life, and I’ve never abandoned you. I’m not perfect either, but you constantly get on my case about Callie. I could do the most idiotic thing at school and embarrass you to no end, and what would you say to me at home? That Callie probably made me do it. It’s not fair."

"I…"

"And one more thing. You have to learn to think before you act, at least a little. I have no idea what you said to Callie and, believe it or not, she most likely wouldn’t tell me. I don’t even really want to know. But I’m going to tell you something totally uncharacteristic of me, okay? You probably know it, but I’m telling you anyway so you can HEAR me for once. Joe, I LOVE Callie. I’m not all over her in public, and I’m not as emotional as you are. Maybe I should be. But I really, truly, LOVE her. We’re young- we’re going to different colleges, and I have no idea what the future holds. Right now, though, I cannot imagine my life without her. And just as I love you, I wouldn’t let anyone speak ill of you. I’d do anything to protect you, and I’d never want to see you hurt. You need to understand that I feel the same way about her. And it really—bothers me—when you can’t see that. Don’t make me choose sides, Joe. You’re my brother, and you always will be, and I guess if push came to shove, I’d have to choose you. But in the process, I’d lose my best friend, and my first love. So please. For me. Just—stop." Frank ended his statement emphatically, feeling not only emotionally, but physically, depleted.

Joe didn’t know what to say. Frank never expressed his feelings like this. In all the years he’d overheard Frank and Callie talking, he had never once heard Frank actually tell him how he felt about Callie. That was BIG for him, and Joe recognized that. It was just so different from his own actions. Joe told everyone how much he loved Vanessa and Iola, at different periods in his life. He was expressive and emotional and had heard "get a room!" more times than he cared to remember from some of his friends when he was kissing his girlfriends in the hallway.

Joe had no idea what to say. He was trying to reconcile his own feelings about Callie with what Frank just said, and he was having a really hard time doing it.

He looked at the floor, and mumbled, "Sorry."

Wow, I have a way with words, he thought dryly.

Suddenly he looked at Frank, who was beginning to regain a little color. He had almost forgotten to tell him what Callie had said. "Frank- Callie mentioned that Vanessa isn’t at home now, and that’s why I’m worried." With that, he repeated as much of Callie’s story as he could remember.

He watched his brother’s expression change. "Hmmm. That’s interesting. It is a bit odd."

Frank looked at Joe’s worried expression, and said quickly, "But it could still be nothing. Look, Joe, we need to seriously solve this case fast. Let’s look at these papers." He paused. "Where on earth is dad?"

At that moment, the boys heard a loud screeching noise outside the window. Joe rushed to the window, and barely caught the tail end of a truck as it made it’s way out of view. He then saw someone run after the truck, waving some sort of paper in his hand.

"Oh no!" Joe gasped out loud. "A truck just sped away. I hope they don’t have dad! He just came from that direction!" With those words, Joe ran for the door, hoping to get to his father in time.

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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.