HDA - Where Troubles Melt by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

The next afternoon, Joe Hardy found himself in the driveway of his home, shooting baskets into the net that was attached to the garage. He was trying to sort through the events of the past few days, and, unlike his brother, he couldn’t sit still when he was concentrating on things. Frank always concentrated on baseball or football, or whatever sport he happened to be involved with at the moment, looking for a strategy to outwit his opponent. Joe, on the other hand, tended to beat his opponents by sheer desire, a will to win, and an internal passion to do his best. He’d always managed to accomplish that by NOT thinking, just feeling, things. So, on this bright and sunny June afternoon, he tossed basket after basket through the hoop, and allowed his mind to wander on the two issues at hand that he was facing.

First, he thought about the case, and the information he knew thus far. Yeats Jewelers, in Bayport, had been robbed, but only for rubies. A little girl had been held captive, and it had taken place in broad daylight. There had been no attempt to take anything else or to break into the safe. There were at least three people involved—the two who robbed the place, and someone to drive the getaway car, which was an Oldsmobile Toronado from the 1970s. The license plate had read "Totowa", and it was either multicolored or really dirty. Then, there was the fact that his dad mentioned four criminals, two of which were now dead, and two of which were escaped, who had vowed revenge on his father for bringing them to justice.

Joe tried to piece the puzzle together, but he wasn’t coming up with anything just yet. Perhaps he and Frank should check out Totowa, New Jersey, or search for a listing of Toronados, which would probably be the next best thing to do. He aimed for the basket again, and with a "swoosh" it gracefully went through. Joe smiled, happy that he had at least thought of some course of action.

As Joe was about to head inside for a glass of lemonade, he saw his brother return from his usual run. However, rather than stopping to play basketball with him, or even to say "hi", Frank just returned through the kitchen door and went inside. "Is it me?" Joe muttered to himself, growing frustrated with Frank’s inability to speak with him about why he was so upset. And then, like bright sun on a cloudy day, a thought occurred to him out of the blue. If I can’t talk to Frank about this marriage thing, then maybe I should talk to Callie. With that epiphany, he started doing a little dance in his driveway, and would have continued had he not heard the laughter behind him.

Turning around, he saw Vanessa’s car parked on the street next to the house, and then saw Vanessa, herself, giggling at him. Instantly, he felt the color rise to his cheeks. "Great timing," he thought. He stopped dancing immediately and smiled, embarrassed, at his girlfriend.

"No, no, don’t stop for me," she teased him. "I was just admiring your moves from afar."

Joe decided that he could either give in to his embarrassment, or he could make a joke of it. He decided on the latter. Taking a sweeping bow, he said, gallantly, "That was a private showing for you, my lady. If you’re lucky, you may get more later." Straightening up, he jogged over to Vanessa and gave her a quick hug and kiss.

Vanessa grinned at him. "You’re so silly, Joe!" she said with a laugh. "But I will be sure to look forward to your dance moves later in the day!"

Joe returned her smile. "What brings you here, today, anyway? Not that I’m complaining, mind you."

Vanessa replied, "Well, it’s early in the afternoon. I thought you might like to hang out for a little while. I know you’re on a case right now, so I won’t take your whole day, but… well, I packed a nice picnic lunch and I thought I’d take a chance. Besides, I want to drop by and see Callie later tonight anyway. I haven’t heard from her in a few days, so I thought I’d see how she’s doing. So—what do you think?" She looked up at Joe with her big grey-blue eyes, and Joe felt incredibly happy at once. Vanessa always had a way of making him forget about his troubles.

"Well, Van, I hope you made my favorite turkey and swiss subs," he said with mock- seriousness. "Because anything less than the best for me simply wouldn’t be acceptable." He tried to keep a straight face.

Vanessa looked him right in the eye. "Well, if that’s your attitude, make your own lunch!" she quipped, and whirled around, heading for her car.

"Hey! I was just Kidding!" Joe said, grabbing her arm.

She turned back to him with a slight smirk. "I know. Had ya there for a moment, though, didn’t I?"

Joe laughed, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Van," he said, "I’d be delighted to go to lunch with you. Let me take a quick shower, if that’s okay, and then I’ll treat you to dessert or something, cause you’re so sweet."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and giggled at him, as she followed him into the house.

Joe was about to head into the shower when he heard his brother call his name from the living room. "Joe! Get in here! Quick!" Frank called out, sticking his head into the kitchen. "Oh, hi Vanessa," he said, more softly, when he noticed her presence.

Joe shot his brother a puzzled look, and then he and Vanessa entered the living room. "Joe," Frank said, his eyes still holding an intensity that his brother wasn’t used to seeing, "Look what’s on television! I can’t believe this!"

Joe stared at the news channel to which his brother was referring. The broadcaster was standing outside a store, and was reporting on breaking news. Joe squinted at the set. Whatever had Frank so worked up must be pretty interesting. He listened as the journalist spoke.

"I’m standing here in Radley, a suburb of Philadelphia, as you well know. Within the last hour, there’s been a report of a robbery in progress at the Eliot Jewelry Store here. Although no one was hurt, the suspects, described only as two armed men wearing all black, did, in fact, take a little girl hostage as the burglary took place just a half-hour ago. She was released back to her parents without harm before the suspects escaped. Interestingly, we do know, at this early hour, that the suspects apparently only had time to steal a collection of Amethyst jewelry. Clearly, although valuable, these stones were not the most valued of the collection of jewels in the store. The managers were certainly lucky in that respect. We’ll be following this story for the continuation of the afternoon, and we’ll bring you the latest developments as they are made known to us. Back to you, Rob."

Joe turned to his brother in amazement. They had been lucky to catch this news, since the Philadelphia television stations were on the outskirts of the Tri-State area’s coverage. "Wow!" Joe said, growing excited. "Frank! There’s probably a lot more to this story, but it sounds a lot like what happened here, huh? I think we should…"

"Check it out?" Frank asked, finishing Joe’s sentence for him. He rose. "Yeah, I do, too. This could be the break we’ve been looking for, especially if the car and the license plate is the same!"

Joe was surprised. So Frank HAD been paying attention back at the police station. He was slightly disturbed that he wasn’t able to read Frank all that well lately.

Vanessa sighed, loudly. The brothers both looked at her. "Listen, guys, I know you’re all jazzed about this case for some reason, and that’s cool with me. I would, though, like to spend some time with my boyfriend. And," she paused, going for the final punch, "I bet Callie would, too. Why don’t you let us come with you? I mean, clearly, the robbery is over, so there isn’t much danger to speak of. Besides, it’s a nice day, and maybe we can help." She smiled sweetly, knowing that Joe often couldn’t resist her.

He smiled back. "Why not? Besides, you’re right. We won’t know much until the police do their investigations, and Philly is only about two or two and a half -hours from here. What do you say, Frank?" He turned to his brother, and was surprised, again, by the look on Frank’s face. Before he could ask him what was wrong, Frank spoke.

"I… um… I don’t know if Callie could go. She…" He sputtered his words, tripping over them as he searched for the right ones.

Vanessa cut him off. "Well, let me just call her and find out!" She walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone.

Joe, left alone with Frank, raised up his hands to him in confusion. "WHAT is going on? I mean, Vanessa’s right. It WOULD be nice to spend time together. Besides, this case is getting weird—amethysts? I mean, come on! They’re not as valuable as rubies. I don’t get it. Why are you giving me that look?!" Now, Joe was trying not to get frustrated, but he was losing the battle.

He saw a spark of—was it Anger? Hurt? Sadness? SOMETHING- in Frank’s eyes right before he spoke. "How could you ask her to go?" Frank asked, angry.

"Who? Vanessa? What are you talking about?" Joe shot back.

"Callie!" Frank said, raising his voice.

Before the argument could continue, Vanessa entered the room again. "I didn’t mean to listen in," she began, "but I heard you mention Callie. I just spoke with her. She can be ready in an hour to go."

Joe didn’t miss the shocked look on his brother’s face.

"B… but…" he began.

"Stop it, Frank! You’re acting so weird lately!" Vanessa said to him. It was only after dating Joe for this amount of time that she felt comfortable enough around his family to speak her mind. "Callie said you’d probably be surprised, for some reason. She said to tell you something about how she had to keep going—life goes on, or something like that." Vanessa paused. "You two have flipped out since graduation, do you know that?"

Joe watched his brother’s face fall and he almost saw the expression of sadness come over it like a mask. At once, Joe decided that he’d speak to Frank soon about this, because clearly, Frank and Callie were losing their minds. With a wry smile, he thought that maybe they should get married at this point—they were both exactly alike. As soon as the thought came, it left him. What was he thinking? If he couldn’t reason with Frank, then he’d be sure to reason with Callie. Either way, this stupid wedding was going to be stopped. This had gone on too long. No matter how bad things were, getting married would only compound it. He was sure of that, at least.

"Okay, guys. Joe, go shower. Frank, relax. I’m going to eat my portion of what was supposed to be my lunch with Joe. In an hour or so, we’ll be heading to the city of brotherly love!" She smiled.

Joe quipped, "Kind of ironic, Vanessa, considering a robbery just took place there." He winked at her, and headed up to take a shower.

Vanessa couldn’t help but to notice that Frank looked distraught, and she said gently to him, "Frank? Sorry if I snapped at you. Don’t be upset, okay? I… I hope I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?"

Frank met her eyes. "I hope not," he said, softly, and turned away from her, heading slowly out of the room.

"I wonder what he meant by THAT," Vanessa couldn’t help but to think, as she waited to begin their journey.

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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.