Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

Con Riley let out a yawn. It had been a long boring day. Con was a Lieutenant working at the Bayport Police station. He had just finished his shift; he worked from three p.m. to eleven p.m. Changing out of his uniform and flirting with the pretty female desk sergeant took some time; it was a little past midnight when he finally left the building. Thinking about going to the 24-hr Wendy’s takeout window, Con was passing the town park when he thought he saw someone lying down on one of the benches.

Parking his car at the curb Con got out and slowly approached the park bench. As he got closer he saw a young girl – she appeared to be asleep; a large beige coat covered her slight frame.

“She can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen years old!” Con mumbled softly. He reached out and gently shook her shoulder.

“Hey – excuse me, miss? Are you okay?”

The girl sleepily opened her eyes; she blinked a few times and then focused on Con. Her eyes flew wide open with fright as she sat up.

“Easy, easy there,” he said in a soothing voice. “I’m a police officer – I’m going to show you my badge.”

Con took out his wallet and showed her his badge. She still appeared to be frightened but seemed to relax somewhat.

“Are you new here – did your family just move here?”

The girl shook her head sadly. “I – I don’t have any family. I was trying to find a shelter but I’m not familiar with this place.”

Con knelt down, he didn’t want to scare her any further by sitting too close to her.

“What happened to your parents?”

“I ran away from home. Please don’t make me go back there!” Tears welled up in her eyes as she beseeched Con.

Con patted her arm soothingly. “Okay, okay – don’t cry. I just want to find out about you. Can you tell me your name?”

“Lydia – my name is Lydia Barlow,” she whispered softly.

“Hi Lydia, that’s a pretty name. I’m Con Riley and you know I’m a police officer. As such I can’t let you stay out here. Now I can take you over to the station, or if you like I can call for a car to come pick you up.”

“Can – can I see your badge again?”

“Smart girl,” said Con with a smile as he took out his wallet again. He watched with amusement as Lydia studied his badge.

“I’ll go with you,” she finally answered, returning his wallet.

Taking the small bag Lydia had been using as a pillow, they walked back to his car. As he pulled away from the curb, Con heard Lydia’s stomach rumble.

“I don’t know about you but I’m really hungry. I don’t know why but I always get that way when I get off of work. There’s a Wendy’s burger a block away – if you don’t mind, I’d like to make a small detour.”

“I – I don’t mind.” Lydia smiled shyly at Con.

After ordering two double cheese combo burgers, Con drove back to the police station. He got Lydia settled into one of the interrogation rooms, and left her there to enjoy her meal while he went to phone Children’s Services.

“Riley, what are you doing here? I thought your shift was already over?!” barked out Chief Ezra Collig.

Con bit back a smile, not surprised to see his chief still at work. “I could ask you the same thing, Chief but I won’t!” he replied as he hung up the phone. A small frown crossed his face as he glanced over at the interrogation room. Turning to face Chief Collig, he quickly explained about finding the young girl sleeping on the park bench.

“I was about to call Gwen from Child Service to see if there was an extra bed at the children’s home or if she knew someone who could take her in.”

“Don’t bother with Gwen; I know who she will call at a time like this. Ms. Chase always has room for hard luck cases like this.”

A huge grin spread across Con’s face. Betsy Chase was a fifty-five-year-old widow with reddish-brown hair and green eyes. She had been taking in displaced children ever since her husband had passed away ten years ago.

“You don’t think it’s too late to call her?” asked Con worriedly.

“No – she’s had calls later than this,” replied Chief Collig. “If you want I’ll call her!”

“Thanks! She might take the call better coming from you!” Con said with some relief. He didn’t know why but Ms. Chase always intimidated him. She wasn’t that much older than he was – Betsy Chase had this authoritative aura about her. She sometimes reminded Con of Chief Collig.

“Oh Chief – she hasn’t told me much. Just that she ran away from home. Do you think that Ms. Chase could use her ‘magic’ and find out why?”

“A runaway, huh?” Chief Collig turned to look at the young girl – the window blinds were open and he could see her finishing her meal. “Okay, I’ll ask her – I want you to check if anyone has reported her missing. Maybe she got mad at her parents, didn’t like a punishment they gave her.”

An hour and a half later, Lydia Barlow was taken to Ms. Betsy Chase’s home.

*****

The following Monday morning.

Phil Cohen pushed his glasses back; they kept sliding down his nose. He needed to remember to have them tightened again. He was sitting in the high school library with several books opened in front of him. He was so engrossed in one of the books that he didn’t hear someone approach the table. It wasn’t until he heard a small cough that he was aware of someone standing in front of him. He looked up to see a pretty girl with long dark hair and green eyes smiling shyly at him.

Phil fought the urge to run his fingers through his hair to comb it back. He did, however sit up straighter in his chair. With his slightly wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, chiseled jaw-line and lean build, Phil was a handsome young man, but his shy nature made it hard for him to speak to members of the opposite sex.

“Hi,” the young girl ventured after realizing that she would have to make the first move. “The librarian said I should speak to you.”

“She…she did?!” Phil could feel his heart pounding as he stared at the girl. He noticed that her raven-colored hair fell past her shoulders and was held back by a red headband.

“Yes, I was looking for a book, a biography of Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd.”

“Oh, yes – yes I have it!” Phil searched through the books on the table and found the book.

Taking the book, the girl sat down next to him. “Thank you!” She gave him a smile as she opened the first page, then paused and turned back to Phil. “I’m sorry! I’m Lydia – Lydia Barlow. I won’t keep this long. I just need to look up something to finish my report.”

“Hi Lydia – I’m Phil Cohen.”

Frank Hardy walked down the school hallway, his younger brother Joe by his side. The brothers had been at the gym trying out for the basketball team. They were going to meet up with their good friend, Phil who was waiting for them.

“Why didn’t Phil wait for us in the gym? He could have studied there.” Joe adjusted his book bag more firmly on his shoulder.

“Phil says there’s not enough room for his books. You know he likes to have them spread out.”

“I guess it’s a good thing Mrs. Baxter likes to work late – otherwise Phil would have to suffer sitting on those hard benches!” chuckled Joe.

“I think it has more to do with the fact that Phil always turns his books in on time. I don’t think he’s ever paid a late fee!”

Joe let out a groan. “Oh man – you had to remind me! I still haven’t returned Great Expectations! It’s still in my locker – I’ll be right back!”

Frank laughed as Joe sprinted back to his locker. A few seconds later he walked into the school library.

“Hello Mrs. Baxter – is Phil at his usual table?”

“Yes he is. I don’t see your brother – is he waiting for you outside?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

“No ma’am – he ran back to his locker to get a book he needs to return.”

“I was wondering when he was going to return that,” mumbled the librarian in mock anger.

Frank walked towards the back, ready to give a greeting to his friend. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Phil laughing and talking to a pretty girl.

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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.