hardy boys fan fiction
DUPLICITY
hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by
Copagirl
Chapter 18
hardy boys fan fiction
THE CHAPTERS
“Is your name really Amanda Rowan? How old are you really?”
“Amanda Rowan is my real name and I’m twenty-four years old. But I did come from a foster home. I’ve been in a lot of them,” she replied, wiping away her tears.
“I don’t understand – why would you want to keep staying in one?” Phil waited for her to answer, wanting to understand what was happening.
“Phil…all my life I had people taking care of me. I was lucky that the homes I was sent to, the people were nice – but they only had a short term license. When I was sixteen I ended up at the O’Connors’ home. I was with them for two years! That was the longest time I ever spent with a family! I guess I didn’t want that to end.” The last was said in a whisper.
“Did you murder Mrs. Tanner and try to murder her husband?” Phil stared down at his feet, not wanting to see her face…not wanting to hear what she had to say.
“I didn’t murder her – it was an accident!” cried Amanda.
“How did you know her anyway?” asked Phil.
“Three years ago I was living in Chicago – she was a teacher at a school I attended. She wasn’t married then and I guess she must have seen me and recognized me. That day…I ran into her at the top of the stairs. Mrs. Tanner confronted me…I of course denied ever seeing her before. She…she grabbed my arm and tried to drag me down the stairs…I tried to pull away but her grip was too strong. I yanked hard one last time and pushed her…she took a step back and…and fell.” She looked at Phil, willing him to believe her.
“What about Mr. Tanner?”
Amanda leaned back against the pillow and sighed. She stared up at the ceiling.
“I got scared. When I learned that…Frank and Joe’s father was a private detective and that he had seen Mr. Tanner…I panicked. I wasn’t sure how much Mrs. Tanner had told him so I bought some drugs and put them in his drink. Then I led him to…to the garage…you know the rest.”
Phil wanted to ask her more questions but the door suddenly opened. Con Riley and a man whose picture he had seen in the newspaper walked in.
“Miss Rowan, I’m the Asst. District Attorney, Anthony Jamieson. I’m here to—”
“Mr. Jamieson…I’d like to make a full confession.” Amanda avoided looking at Phil when she spoke.
“Lydia…I mean, Amanda – maybe you should speak to a lawyer first?” said Con. Even though the evidence was against her, he had a soft spot for the young woman.
“No,” Amanda shook her head. “I know what I’m doing and I knew what I did was wrong. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”
*****
The Bayport News had a record sell-out of their newspaper the day Amanda Rowan, AKA Lydia Barlow, was arrested. Several national news conglomerates arrived in Bayport wanting to speak with the “Woman Who Wouldn’t Grow Up”.
The “vultures,” as Joe called them, descended on the Cohens’ home – they also appeared at the school trying to get interviews with the students and school staff. Principal Hayden immediately called Chief Collig who dispatched two units to get the press off the school grounds. Several determined reporters stayed but kept a respectable distance from the school grounds.
Principal Hayden couldn’t keep the students from gossiping. The majority of the female student population felt sorry for Phil Cohen. A few bullies tried to confront him, to ask him how ‘far he got
with “Lydia”. But they never got very far – Frank or Joe were never far from Phil. Biff, Tony and Chet had also rallied around their friend, as did Callie and Vanessa.
One senior, Bill Randal, had stopped Phil, and with a smirk on his face he began to ask him all kinds of sordid questions. Phil tried to get away but Bill had him pinned against the lockers. The sound of cracking knuckles, however, caused Bill to pause and slowly turn around. Standing behind him, their faces masks of fury, stood Joe, and Biff – who once again cracked his knuckles.
“Don’t you have detention, Randal?” Biff growled, flexing his muscles.
Bill stared at Joe and Biff, and thought about fighting them...until he saw Frank walking their way. He could handle Joe’s right hook but no way did he want to get kung-fued by Frank! He glared at Joe and Biff before walking away.
Because Amanda confessed to her crimes and the District Attorney had a solid case against her, the furor died down after three days. The school gossip, however, lasted longer. It took three weeks for the Bayport students to find something else to talk about.
Three months had gone by, and it was now late December. Christmas vacation was soon to begin. Phil was once again alone in the library; books surrounded him on the table. Only he wasn’t really reading them. He sat thinking of another time, a sad, faraway expression on his face.
“Hello – excuse me! Hellooo!”
Phil’s eyes blinked a few times then focused on the hand that was waving in front of his face. He found himself staring at a pretty girl with strawberry blonde hair. Her blue eyes twinkled with merriment behind her wire-rimmed glasses.
“Hi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said with a southern tinge to her voice. “Are you Phil Cohen?”
Phil nodded his head yes.
“My name is Vicky Matthews—”
Phil let out sigh. “Look, would you mind telling my friends that I’m okay. That they don’t have to set me up on a date.”
“Uh...okay, sure, if you tell me who these friends are!”
“No one sent you to see me?” asked Phil, his face turning a dark shade of red.
“Only Mr. Johnson my algebra teacher. You see…my family just moved here a few weeks ago. And I’m having a little trouble in my algebra class. Mr. Johnson told me that you sometimes tutor students. I was hoping you could help me…my folks would be willing to pay you!”
“Oh! Oh…sit down please…Vicky? I’m really sorry about the misunderstanding. It’s just…well, never mind.”
“Oooh….wait! Now I know why your name sounded so familiar! Some girl in my English class told me about you! I didn’t believe what she said though – you can never believe school gossip.”
“What did…what did she say?”
“Oh, that some woman fooled you into marrying her and then tried to kill you but that was before she got rid of another suitor.”
Phil stared at her in stunned disbelief, and then a smile spread across his face. He suddenly found himself laughing.
“I knew it wasn’t true!” Vicky laughed along with him.
Regaining his composure, Phil spoke. “Christmas break starts in a few days – if you don’t mind studying during that time...or would you rather wait till we get back in January?”
“I didn’t have any plans so I guess we can start right away. That is, if I’m not intruding on any of your vacation plans?” said Vicky with concern.
“No, you’re not.”
Phil took out his date planner; he and Vicky began to discuss what days to meet.
Frank and Joe were going up the stairs heading for the library. They were determined to get Phil and have him join them down in the cafeteria.
“Are you sure we should be doing this, Frank?”
“Yeah I am! It’s time for Phil to stop hiding in the library. He needs to be around his friends.”
The brothers walked in the library, going towards the back. They heard voices, then laughter. Joe looked at Frank with a puzzled expression on his face. “That sounds like Phil!”
They stopped in surprise when they found Phil sitting with a cute strawberry blonde.
Joe turned to Frank. “Isn’t this where we came in the last time?”
Frank couldn’t help but smile – something told him this time things were going to be okay.
The End
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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.