HDA - Where Troubles Melt by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

"Frank! Hey, Frank!" Joe Hardy barged into his father’s office, calling his brother’s name. Both Frank and Fenton jumped when they heard the door slam open, as they had both been transfixed staring at and flipping through documents.

Fenton squinted at his son. "Joseph, you really have to learn to knock, son. Although I appreciate your youthful exuberance, you really should learn to control it."

Joe stared at his dad for a minute. Exuberance? "Um, yeah. Sorry."

"What is it, Joe?" Frank asked, looking up at his brother. "Dad and I were just talking about his theory. He…"

"Cool," Joe interrupted his brother, who gave up trying to talk. When Joe had an announcement, the world had to stop to take notice. "Listen! I think that there’s been another robbery. Check it out!" He plopped unto his dad’s leather couch and made himself comfortable.

"Yes?" Fenton asked, dryly. For some reason, he knew that Joe tended to be a little off in his theories a lot of the time, although even he had to admit that Joe tended to come through when the timing got really crucial.

"Okay," Joe began. "Iola just called me…"

"Really?" Frank cut in, giving him a surprised glance.

"Yes, really," Joe said, ignoring the implication of Frank’s knowing glance. "Stop interrupting!"

Fenton had to laugh at the irony of that statement, but then politely stopped and let his son continue.

"Anyway," Joe went on, "She told me that there was another robbery in West Virginia in a town called Idaria. It took place at noon, I believe, in a jewelry store called Larkin’s. We need to get on this right away!" He paused as he looked at the blank stare on Frank’s and his dad’s faces.

"Yeah? What is it?" He eyed them suspiciously, perplexed.

"WHAT does that have to do with a case where ruby’s and amethysts have been stolen?" Frank asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Joe had forgotten the most important detail. "Well, I forgot to tell you that only sapphires were stolen this time, and again, it looks like nothing else was touched or disturbed. At least that’s what I think. AND, Iola said that the only type of sapphires stolen were something called Io-…. Iul…."

"Iola?" Frank guessed.

"No, he means Iolites," Fenton cut in. "They’re a rare form of sapphire, I believe."

"Yeah! That’s it! How’d you know that, dad?" Joe questioned.

Fenton smiled. "I’ve been on my share of investigations regarding the robbery of jewelry, Joe," he answered.

Frank bit his lip. "Well, if what Joe is saying is true, then it DOES look like it’s another hit. But West Virginia? And Iolites? What—are these guys now going for only specialty jewelry? I don’t understand."

"Me either," Joe replied.

"Let’s look it up on the Internet and see if any news has been posted about the robbery. I mean, it’s almost 5:00 now. If it took place at noon, maybe there’s been some information posted already," Frank surmised.

"Good idea, son," Fenton responded, and within minutes, Fenton managed to pull up a local news site in West Virginia that updated stories as they occurred. Together, they read the article.

Idaria- 3:00 p.m.- Just three short hours ago, Idaria experienced one of the most bizarre thefts that it has ever seen. At 12:00 noon, in broad daylight, two masked thugs dressed all in black robbed one of the town’s premier jewelry shops, Larkin’s, on the corner of Main and West streets. Strangely, there was no attempt to confiscate any of the most valuable jewels; Larkin’s is known for it’s collection of jade and emerald stones. Rather, the thieves went right for the sapphire collection, and wound of leaving with only a handful of the more rare "water" sapphire stones, known as Iolites. Apparently, they demanded the specific stones immediately, which, according to authorities, suggests that the robbery was pre-meditated. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident, although a small child was taken hostage by the criminals. Details are still under investigation, although we DO know that the thugs took off in an older model car with an unidentified license plate appearing to have numerous colors in it, according to eyewitnesses. This small town sees very little of crime, and residents are concerned….

All three stopped reading at that point, and turned to one another. "Well," Frank spoke first, "We can definitely say that these cases all appear connected somehow."

Joe shot Frank a pointed look. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

Fenton sighed. "Boys, please stop arguing. Frank’s right, although…. Well, it is kind of obvious."

Frank blushed, and Joe smirked.

"Well, what were you two talking about before I came down here? Do you really think that your men—the ones who escaped from prison—could be behind this? I’m curious." Joe sat back, and waited for either his father or brother to explain it to him.

Frank began, slowly. "Okay, Joe. If it is these guys, we know a few things. First, they were angry—not only because dad busted the ring, but because their friends, Chris "the Wizard" Ramses, and Shelley Butler, the literature genius, died in the attempt to escape. Remember, their bodies were burned to a crisp—not exactly a good way to go."

"Well, I guess we can rule those two out," Joe joked.

Frank ignored him. "The two remaining ones, Robert Smith and Jeremy Wilkins, were never found. Dad says that a full investigation is still ongoing, but family members were questioned, as well as friends and relatives. Nothing turned up. So, as I was saying before, they were angry. However, since Smith was also good with computers and Wilkins was into architecture, AND they were able to jam alarms before, couldn’t they do it again? I mean, there was no alarm here or in Radley, and I presume the same thing happened in Idaria. It makes sense."

Joe nodded. "Okay, I see your point."

"PLUS," Frank continued, "They did swear revenge on dad and all of us, they promised the world’s greatest heist, and they’ve robbed jewelry before…."

Joe paused, then spoke up, trying to piece this together. "There’re some major holes in your theory, bro."

"Like what?" Frank looked taken aback.

"Like what?" Joe repeated. "Like the fact that there is no indication whatsoever that these guys are after us. I mean, the crimes are moving away from Bayport. You didn’t get hurt and you were AT the robbery. There’s also the fact that although these robberies are weird, to say the least, they’re not exactly the world’s greatest heists. PLUS--you have at least three, not two, guys. The robberies are in small, nondescript towns. They’re riding around in an old car from the seventies with a license plate that’s the name of a town in Northern New Jersey and yet is obviously not a REAL license plate since the description doesn’t match any state. Need I go on? Because I can, you know."

Frank looked like the wind had been let out of his sails. Still, he tried to save face. "Look, Joe, those are all good points. But my gut instinct tells me..."

Joe burst out laughing. "Your gut instinct? What is this—a role reversal?! I’m the logical thinker and all you have is gut instinct?" Joe continued to laugh, although he was only half-joking. Let Frank see what it felt like to be laughed at when you didn’t have a shred of evidence- only a feeling. He stopped, though, when he saw the look on Frank’s face.

"Joe- I don’t care if you believe me or not. I plan on going to talk to the families of Smith and Wilkins, both of whom were Ivy League graduates from Harvard. Dad tells me that their families are still in Massachusetts. Come with me if you want, or don’t if you don’t want to. I don’t care. I’m going, and I’m getting ready to leave tonight." He stood up, turned around, and left the room.

Joe turned to his father. "Dad? What’s…"

Fenton frowned. "I don’t know, son, but he is determined to go. He told me that before you even came down here. And, even less to my liking, he told me that he wants Callie Shaw to go with him, for some odd reason unbeknownst to me. I mean, it shouldn’t be dangerous, but there is a point at which you should separate your personal and business life. Frank has always been able to do that—until now. He seems to need to be around Callie too often. Do you have any idea what’s going on?"

Joe groaned. He had forgotten to talk to Callie. Oh, well. He’d have plenty of time now.

"I’ll… see what I can find out," he said to his father. "And if Frank’s bringing Callie, I’m bringing Vanessa."

He was about to leave when he saw his father give him a small smile.

"What?" he asked.

"You’re assuming Vanessa is free, one, and two, that she has nothing better to do than to go with you. You and your brother can be a little bossy with your girlfriends sometimes. Callie has stuck with Frank for a long time, but Frank’s usually pretty thoughtful. You, on the other hand, have to realize you’re not God’s gift to women. I hope Vanessa is understanding."

Joe, caught between annoyance and surprise, decided to make a joke of it at the last minute. "But dad- I AM God’s gift to women. Vanessa’ll go. She lives to serve me."

Fenton shook his head in amusement. "Well, Lord Joseph, let’s pray you’re right."

Joe laughed, and then headed up after his brother. He had a long trip to get ready for.