Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

Later that night, Frank, Callie, Joe and Vanessa found themselves back at the house. This time, Chief Collig had ensured that there was ample police protection; he was taking no chances on anything more happening. Despite the horrible scenario earlier in the day, the remnants of which still remained vividly clear in the twilight hour, all four were glad, finally, to be together, finding security in each other.

As Frank and Joe worked together in the family room, trying to sort through details of the case, Callie and Vanessa sat together, upstairs, in the guest bedroom. Vanessa took one last bite of pizza and stared forlornly out the window.

"Van?" Callie asked, gently placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you okay? I hope…" She fumbled for words.

Vanessa looked up from her seat at the window and questioned Callie. " You hope what?”

With a sigh, Callie gave a weak smile. "I just hope that you'll want to continue to stay with Frank and me. I know it seems like you can't feel secure in your own home, wherever that is. But I promise you—Frank and I will do everything we can to make you feel safe. Besides…if there weren't enough cops outside already, I'm sure the neighbors are fully ready to call them on us any minute anyway, with everything that's happened," she joked softly.

Vanessa felt her eyes burn with tears, a feeling that was becoming all too common lately. Callie had a way, with her total support and kindness, of making Vanessa speechless. Instinctively, she reached over to Callie and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, Cal," she managed, resting her head on her shoulder. "You're too much, you know that? You and Frank don't deserve any of this. You're worried about me feeling safe? You're the one who…I mean… you saved my life!" She pulled back and looked Callie in the eyes. "If you hadn't taken the package outside, I… well, I can't even say it. Thank you—for everything. You're the best friend in the whole world and I love you!"

Blushing, Callie sat straight back. Like Frank, and decidedly unlike Joe and Vanessa, she wasn't used to these outpourings of emotion, this ability that they had to just say what was on their minds and hearts with no reservation. It was the quality that she perhaps loved best in both of them.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Callie finally answered, sincerely. "And you will be, you know—okay. It might take some time, but we're all here for you, especially that boyfriend of yours," she concluded.

"Yeah," Vanessa answered with a smile. "He's the best."

"His brother isn't too bad, either," Callie teased.

Taking a deep breath, Callie knew she had to gently broach a subject that she'd already discussed, albeit painfully, with Frank on the way back to their house this evening. Noting the irony of the fact that she was about to comfort Vanessa with something that she, herself, should need comforting about, she came out with it.

"Um, Van? I need to talk to you about something," she began.

Interest piqued, Vanessa raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"I'm just going to be direct here, Van," she started. "As you know, in order to get to the bottom of everything, there's been a division of labor. Joe's researching Timms and Hughes, Frank is researching Dee, and Mr. Hardy is interviewing everyone—and no doubt doing research himself."

"Uh huh," Vanessa concurred. Then, she beat Callie to the punch. "And the point is what?" she asked.

Shaking her head at Vanessa's forthright nature, Callie let out a small laugh, but then prepared mentally for what she was about to say.

"The point is that in order to cover every angle, the reports from Leslie and Mandy need to be reviewed. And the other—victims—" she paused before continuing, "need to be interviewed as well. That means you and Charlotte."

"Okay," Vanessa agreed and patted Callie's hand. "Don't worry; I'll be strong. If Charlotte can hold it together…" she shuddered at the thought, "then the least I can do is recount everything again. Anything to help."

Seeing the opportunity, Callie seized it. "Anything?" she questioned.

"Yeah. Why?" Now Vanessa was interested,

Here we go, Callie thought before speaking. "Because Chief Collig and Nancy are in charge of the interviews."

"What?!" Vanessa asked, outraged, "I will not speak to Nancy Drew. You've got to be kidding me!" She stood up and began pacing the room.

Expecting this, Callie sat back, arms crossed, and listened to Vanessa's at times expletive- filled tirade about Nancy. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Van! Please stop," she cut in after what seemed like hours, but was, she knew, really only a few minutes.

"What?! Why should I stop?!" she countered, fire in her blue-gray eyes.

"Because, Van."

"Because why?" she answered, furious.

"Because she hurt me, not you," Callie finally answered, beginning to get a headache. This had been worse than she thought.

"No way, Cal. Not good enough," Vanessa answered. "If she hurt you, then she hurt me. That's what best friends are for. To get—ANGRY-" she paused, watching her wording, finally, "on your behalf."

Despite herself, Callie smiled.

"See? You agree with me!" Vanessa challenged.

"Thanks, Van. You're so loyal—you're just like Joe! Remind me not to get on your bad side," she answered.

"Never, Cal," Vanessa responded, finally smiling back.

"But seriously… you have to listen to me," Callie began, and she held up a hand to silence Vanessa as she was about to interrupt again.

"Nancy is good- very good- at what she does," Callie began.

"Apparently!" Vanessa answered sarcastically.

It was only when she saw the stricken look on Callie's face, even for an instant, that Vanessa shut her mouth. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt her best friend.

"Okay, Van," Callie conceded, warily. "You win. Look, I'm obviously very upset about everything that happened, and not just with Nancy—with Frank. Actually, even more so with Frank. He should have known better."

Vanessa just nodded, afraid to interrupt this conversation that was obviously painful to Callie.

"In addition, you know what? I like Ned. He's actually pretty nice. And he was every bit as upset as I was. But I've forgiven… and I've moved on. I hope Nancy and Ned have, too. I don't wish anyone bad. I just…I just want everyone—me, you, Charlotte, and everyone who knows us—to stop living in fear. I want this case solved, Van. I'm tired. I want to think about my house which, at this point, obviously needs some work." She smiled weakly before continuing. "And I want to have FUN again, and to plan for a beautiful wedding. I want to spend the rest of my life with the man I love and put everything behind me. So PLEASE—cooperate with Nancy, okay? I think everyone will benefit."

Vanessa looked at her friend, again amazed by Callie's strength, dignity and class. Here she was, trying to calm her down, when Vanessa knew that she should be reaching out to Callie and reassuring her.

"All right," Vanessa grudgingly agreed. "I'll do it. For YOU," she emphasized.

"Thank you," Callie answered in response.

With an evil grin creeping onto her face, Vanessa added, "but I still think I could kick her…"

"Eat your pizza!" Callie cut in.

With those words, they shared a small laugh, content to feel secure- finally- in each other's company.

*****

Frank and Joe, meanwhile, sat in the family room, dozens of files and papers spread before them. As soon as they had arrived back home, they had begun their research—and neither one had stopped, each lost in his own thoughts. Both of them consciously put the fear they had about Vanessa and Callie to the back of their minds in order to concentrate on the task at hand.

Finally, Joe let out a frustrated grunt and flung a file onto the coffee table. Leaning back in the recliner, he rubbed his temple, frustrated by the lack of progress he'd made.

Frank raised his eyebrows and gave a small smile. "I take it you haven't discovered anything new," he quipped.

Joe sighed, then responded, "No. I thought we HAD it, Frank. There's just so much evidence—and I know it's circumstantial, but it's there—that Jacobs is involved somehow in all of this. I know what dad said, and I agree—kind of—but I still think he knows something."

Frank paused, considering, and then concluded, "I agree."

"You do?" Joe asked, surprised.

"I do," Frank responded. "I have to be honest—the thought that all of us, but especially Callie and I—spent so much time with that guy, kinds of gets to me. He seemed really… nice, I guess. It's hard to believe. I mean, EVERYTHING points to him being at least partially responsible for the attacks—somehow. But there's no DNA evidence to support it, and I think he was actually telling the truth about a lot of things. I just need to know how he knows Dee. And it's driving me crazy trying to find out. I have absolutely no idea how anything here is related." He raised his hands in a gesture of frustration.

Joe sat up straight again. Slowly, he was beginning to feel the old juices of adrenaline start to flow. Here, alone with his brother at last, he felt their connection, and had a feeling that as they both tried to work things out together, they'd accomplish something at last.

Looking up, he saw the expression on Frank's face and the small nod of silent agreement on the topic he hadn't even vocalized.

Joe smiled. "Let's see if we can figure it out, huh?"

"Agreed," Frank answered. "So… did you find out anything new—AT ALL—about Hughes or Timms?" he prodded.

"No… that's the frustrating thing. They were all basically childhood friends. Collig had friends and family interviewed, and still nothing new. What WAS weird is that Hughes sort of disappeared for a while. He was involved in the rape of Leslie Smith, and presumably her murder, but the attacks on Charlotte and Mandy seem to have been carried out by Dee alone. Why would Hughes suddenly turn up and go after Van? It doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't," Frank agreed. "But that means he must have maintained some sort of contact with Dee. Still, subpoenaed phone records don't show that. I don't know… maybe he just got afraid and decided to eliminate any other witnesses?" he asked.

Joe shook his head. "No, that doesn't make sense. Even if he DID do that, why not start with Charlotte? She was the easiest to go after. Hell, he could have gone after Callie more easily than Van." He saw the look on his brother's face and paused for a moment before continuing. "Sorry, Frank, but it's true. Callie lives in her parents' house—or here—where there's little security. In my building, there are security tapes."

"Well, that's another thing," Frank interrupted. "We still haven't figured out what happened to the tapes at your place or at Van's work."

"I know," Joe agreed. "But Collig's on that. Hopefully, he'll get something."

Frank shook his head, exasperated. "Okay, let's revisit briefly what we know here about these guys. DNA evidence is NOT wrong—based on everything I've seen, no evidence was compromised at the scene or in the lab. So Hughes, Dee, and Timms raped Smith. We're ASSUMING, based on a confession, that it was DEE alone who raped and murdered Mandy and who raped Charlotte. There was no DNA; Dee used protection. Certainly it couldn't have been Timms—he's dead."

With a small smile, Joe chimed in, "Yeah, well—that would pretty much eliminate him."

Frank rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I'm not overlooking anything."

Joe laughed. "I'll remember that for next time; eliminate the dead guy as a suspect."

Blushing, Frank continued. "ANYWAY, that leaves Hughes, who appeared out of nowhere. We still have to figure out how and why. Did you look at HIS phone records?"

"I did, actually," Joe answered. "The only recurring number to his cell phone is a pay phone in Bayport—and you KNOW that that will be impossible to trace." He sighed in frustration.

"But it means, Joe, that SOMEONE has been in contact with him—presumably someone involved in this case. If he acted alone, we can't do anything except to figure out a motive. BUT, if he was working with someone, then we need to figure out who was making those phone calls, and why. And then we need to figure out why it's so important to continue attacking the girls. Someone is very afraid that Callie, Van or Charlotte will identify him. But I don't get it!" He slammed his hand down, startling Joe, who was unused to this level of emotion from his otherwise quiet brother. "Who IS there to identify anyway? Dee is in jail—HE committed the crimes! Hughes is dead now; so is Timms. So who is going after the girls, and why? It's pretty much a closed case from the legal perspective."

"I have no idea," Joe responded, evenly, to calm his brother down a bit. "Um... did Cal get any info about the UPS guy? That was pretty smart to check his ID."

Frank managed a smile. "Yeah, I told her to always be careful. Anyway, dead end there, too. Standard drop off and delivery. The guy wasn't involved."

"You sure?" Joe asked.

"Yup," Frank responded.

"Okay then—let's look at Jacobs again. Even if I think he didn't know anything, and you know that's not the case, why is someone trying to frame him? I mean,.. the one thing that IS clear is that he had access to Dee in jail. Do you think he'll talk?" Joe asked.

Frank sighed. "Probably not. He had a lawyer and a union rep with him. Dad pretty much read him the riot act. Collig has him on suspension. Why would he even cooperate?" Frank added.

With a shrug, Joe answered. "Well, if nothing else, he looked pretty eager to clear his name."

Frank looked doubtful. "OKAY…" he began slowly. "What should we do? Ask Collig? Dad? Have him called to the jail? Follow him?"

Joe looked perplexed. "Uh… I wasn't getting that complicated."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked. "What was your idea?"

"I just thought we'd—you know—go over and ask him," Joe finished.

"WHAT?" Frank asked, incredulous. "We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Joe prompted. "It'd avoid the hassle of a warrant, it'd get Collig off our case since he'd be none the wiser, we wouldn't have to listen to Dad telling us about harassing a suspect, and everything he told us would be perfectly legal since he'd be cooperating."

Frank stared at Joe for such a long moment Joe actually began to squirm in his seat. "What?" he asked, finally.

"That idea is so….weird, so outrageous, so against everything we've ever been taught… it might actually work," Frank answered in awe.

Joe smiled and got up. "I'll go tell the girls that we're taking a little trip," he answered. "Don't you love how I think outside the box?" he added as he turned to leave.

Shaking his head, Frank just muttered, "Way outside…" as he watched his brother disappear from sight.

*****

An hour later, Frank and Joe were sitting outside Jacobs' house, trying to come up with a strategy. Actually, it was Frank who was trying to think of a strategy; Joe was simply opening the car door and getting ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Frank asked, still unsure of this crazy plan.

"To the door," Joe stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Unless you'd like me to break in some other way. Come on," he finished, and did exactly as he said he would, marching deliberately to the front of the house.

Cursing under his breath, Frank did the only thing he could… he followed Joe.

Arriving at the front door, Joe knocked as he noticed his brother stand beside him.

"What's the PLAN?" Frank whispered.

"I don't really have one," Joe responded with a shrug as he waited for the door to open. Before Frank could think of a response, he heard a creaking sound as the front door opened to reveal a very pretty young woman with red hair and brown eyes. It took Joe only a second to also notice that she was pregnant; Jacobs hadn't been lying about that.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes," Frank responded, not giving Joe an opportunity to talk. "My name is Frank Hardy, and this is my brother, Joe. We, uh, talked with your boyfriend—fiancé- earlier today. Is he around?"

Suddenly, her expression grew wary. "Hardy, huh? You guys are the detectives who called Tom in today. He didn't do anything!" Her eyes showed nothing but total loyalty, and Frank actually felt bad for her.

Before he could respond, however, Tom Jacobs came up behind his fiancée and looked out onto the porch. "It's okay, honey," he said to her. "Wait inside."

"But—" she interjected; he simply repeated, "Really. It's okay."

Slowly, she turned into the house as Tom Jacobs walked outside.

"Frank, Joe. What brings you here?" he asked.

For a moment, Joe was shocked at his lack of hostility and the fact that he called them by their first names. Then again, he HAD spent a good portion of the last month on a pretty friendly basis with both of them. Joe felt conflicted. His gut was telling him to like this guy; his logic was telling him not to. Since he didn't have a plan of action, he spoke off the cuff, this time pre-empting Frank from speaking.

"We came to talk to you, Tom," he answered. "There're a few things we need to know."

Jacobs sighed and crossed his arms. "Why should I talk to you? Seriously. I said everything I needed to at the station. I told the truth. As a result, I've had nothing but trouble. I'm on suspension and I'm expecting a baby, which I need my job to provide for. Chief Collig doesn't respect me any more, and my otherwise pretty good reputation has been harmed. Why? Because someone is trying to set me up. And you don't believe me!" he finished, more matter-of-fact than angry.

Joe took the lead. "I … we… want to believe you," he answered, sincerely. "Don’t forget, if you're telling the truth, it is terrible for you. We know that. But my girlfriend was attacked, and three important women in my life have been terrorized. No one wants to solve this case more than us, believe me. So—will you help?"

After a long pause, Jacobs shook his head, a small smile on his face. "I can't believe that you had the—guts, we'll say—to just come here and ask me!" he finally answered.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Joe simply said, "Thanks. So—will you help?"

"What do you want to know that I haven't already told you?" he answered, leaning against the porch wall.

"First, just verify a few things," Frank cut in. Before he got to the real question, he knew he had to show Jacobs that they had been listening at the station.

"Shoot," Jacobs replied.

"Your cell phone was stolen and you didn't report it. You had no knowledge of any calls being made to your phone. You volunteered to watch all of us as part of overtime duty to help your family, and it was pure coincidence that you were off when the attacks took place—and you have no alibi."

Jacobs bit his lip. "Yeah. I can't believe it, either. Who would want to do this to me? Do you have any clue?"

"No," Frank replied honestly. "Do you have any enemies?"

"No," he responded, a bit too quickly.

Frank and Joe looked at each other. Joe decided to just get it out.

"Tom?" he began. "THAT's why we think you're lying… about something. What aren't you telling us? Come on! Let us help you. If you're telling the truth, who are you protecting, and why?"

The brothers noted immediately the look of confliction in his eyes. Whatever he was going to say, he was thinking it over, weighing whether it would be more beneficial to stay silent or to speak.

Finally, after several minutes, he answered. "Off the record?" he asked.

Joe sighed. He HATED when people asked for things off the record. Still, the chance he had to take that this guy would reveal something to help Vanessa was probably worth taking. Before he could speak, though, Frank answered for him.

"Not totally," Frank cut in. "Let us talk to our dad. That's it."

Praying silently that Frank had not just blown their one opportunity, Joe was shocked when Jacobs answered, "Okay. But just your dad." He hesitated. "I hear he's a good guy. Maybe he can help me."

Frank nodded. "What were you going to tell us?" he asked, gently.

Jacobs sighed before answering. "Guys, a long time ago… when I was a kid… I got involved in some pretty bad stuff. It started out pretty innocently and then got progressively worse as I made friends on the street. We were KIDS," he emphasized, trying to make Frank and Joe understand.

"Go on," Joe encouraged.

"To make a long story short, I wanted to turn my life around. A lot of the guys I was hanging out with… well, I knew they were headed for jail—or worse. Some of the little crimes I was involved with, like graffiti or shoplifting, began to become more violent, like robbery and assault. I witnessed my "friends" involved in an assault on an innocent girl, and I wanted no part of it."

"You watched your friends rape a girl?"! Joe cried, outraged.

Jacobs looked confused for an instant. "No, not rape. A mugging. BUT—I could see things were getting more violent, and I wanted out before they got worse. So I … well, I turned on my friends and managed to get out. My family moved so I would be out of the neighborhood and away from bad influences. I thought I was away from everything."

"But?" Joe asked.

"But then I moved here, to Bayport, and I transferred to the PD here. I loved it! Collig is a wonderful man, and I thought that life was pretty great. Then I heard about this case, and I heard the names… and I KNEW."

"You knew what?" Frank asked, getting anxious.

"I knew that the people behind it were the people I grew up with. Three of the four of them seem to have gone down the wrong path. So, you see, I wanted to get on this case to protect you all from them—they're dangerous. And I knew Collig would never let me on a case where I knew the suspects."

Shaking his head and trying to process the information, Joe finally spoke. "Wait," he began, something clicking. "You thought Collig would find out about your past and use it against you, and that you wouldn't be allowed on this case."

"Right," Jacobs answered.

"But you also said that three out of four of you turned out for the worse."

"Yes," he answered again. "Once I got out."

"So… so there were FIVE of you?" Joe asked, making sure he heard correctly. "Who?"

Jacobs looked uncomfortable. "This is what I didn't want to get into," he said, softly. "My--- my ex-friend seems to have turned his life around, too, and the last thing I would want is for him to be implicated in any of this. We don't talk now, other than to acknowledge each other, but I don't want to ruin his life… like mine has been," he finished sadly.

"If he's innocent, he has nothing to be afraid of," Frank responded. "Who is it?"

Jacobs paused.

Joe picked it up. "You're the good guy here. Then there was Dee, Timms, Hughes, and?…"

Jacobs sighed. "I can't believe you didn't know this already," he answered.

"Know WHAT?" Joe pressed, sensing their first big break.

"Jimmy Dee."

"What about him?" Frank asked.

"Did you check his birth record?" Jacobs asked.

"No," Frank conceded. "Why? I have every other record on him."

"Because if you did," Jacobs cut in, "You'd see that he legally changed his name at sixteen. 'Dee' is simply 'D', as in the letter. His original last name…"

"Yes?" Joe cut in.

"Was Daley. He's John Daley's brother."

Shocked, the brothers could only stare at him….

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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.