Fenton Hardy kept hearing an insistent ringing in his ear, he slowly realized that it was the phone. He turned on the small lamp next to his bed, staring with bleary eyes at the digital clock radio. The time read 2:15 am. With a weary sigh, Fenton answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Fenton is that you?”

“Ezra?”

“Fenton, is Joe at home?”

“What? Of course he’s home, he’s in bed, sleeping.”

“Are you sure? He didn’t decide to see Vanessa Bender?”

“Ezra, what’s wrong? What are you trying not to tell me?”

Laura, used to late night calls, hadn’t been worried when the phone rang. Hearing the fearful tone in her husband’s voice, she sat up in bed. Laura gently touched Fenton on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Fenton, a hit and run accident was called in tonight. I’m at the scene now. Fenton, I swear the young man could be Joe….”

Dropping the phone, Fenton jumped out of bed and ran out of the room, his heart pounding with fear as he ran towards Joe’s room. Laura gasped with fright as her husband ran out of their room, she grabbed the phone off the floor. She could hear Ezra Collig yelling her husband’s name.

“Ezra, this is Laura, what’s going on? What did you say to cause my husband to run out of here?”

Throwing the door to Joe’s room open Fenton found the light switch and bathed the room with the bright light. There was Joe, lying on his bed fast asleep. When the light shined in the room, Joe mumbled incoherently, pulled the blankets over his head and rolled over.

Fenton slowly approached the bed, carefully sitting down at the edge. He pulled the blanket down a bit so he could see Joe’s face. Needing to feel his son, Fenton gently stroked Joe’s hair. He was safe; his son was safe at home.

“Fenton?”

Turning, he saw his wife standing at the door. He saw the fear in her face. Fenton got up and went to his wife, turning off the light and closing the bedroom door. Taking Laura into his arms, he held her tight.

“It’s okay, he’s sleeping. He’s safe at home.”

“Ezra told me it was a misunderstanding, but this seems like it’s more than that. What’s going on?”

“Ezra! Oh my gosh I left him waiting on the phone!”

Before Fenton could leave, Laura stopped him.

“It’s okay, he hung up. He wants you to meet him over at the University, parking lot B.”

“I better go then. Honey, I promise to tell you everything in the morning.”

“Alright.” Laura sighed. “But if you’re going to meet with the Chief of Police, don’t you think you should put something a little more decent on?”

Chuckling softly, Fenton looked down at his pajamas. “You don’t think Ezra would appreciate moon and stars pajamas?”

An hour later found Fenton Hardy standing next to Chief Collig. They watched as the EMT’s took Henry “Hank” Palmer to Bayport General Hospital.

“Do you think he’s going to make it?” Fenton asked.

“I don’t know, from what the EMT said, it doesn’t look good. He’s lucky to still be breathing right now, Fenton.” Collig sighed. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

“Is it about that late model BMW I see parked at the stop sign.”

The two men started walking to the BMW.

“Nothing gets past you does it?” Collig chuckled. Fenton gave his friend a wan smile.

“The car belongs to a Tina Wilbert, she’s a student here and Mr. Palmer’s girlfriend.”

“I’m impressed, you really know your town.”

“Cute, Hardy, cute. Miss Wilbert’s parents called the station when she didn’t come home. Mr. Wilbert told me that Tina had cheerleading practice she was expected home by nine o’clock, ten-thirty at the latest. They weren’t worried about her being here alone because they knew Henry was going to be here as well.”

“How soon did they call and report her missing?”

“Just after one o’clock. They were hoping she and Henry had gone out and she had forgotten to call them.”

While Fenton and Collig searched the car for clues, they didn’t notice the lone figure watching them.

Alice stayed hidden in the shadows, watching the two men search the car. Growing tired, she turned to leave. Reaching her car, Alice opened the trunk and peered inside.

Tina Wilbert lay unconscious inside of the trunk, she had been tied and gagged. Slowly regaining consciousness, Tina opened her eyes, at first feeling elated when she saw Alice. Tina tried to tell Alice to call the police, but all that came out of her mouth was a muffled noise. Realizing that a gag had been put over her mouth, Tina began to cry. She screamed as Alice began to close the trunk.

The last thing Tina heard was Alice saying….”You can’t have him, he’s mine.”

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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.