“Considering that we’re…living together...I thought it would be more appropriate. Besides, you call me by my first name!” She smiled sweetly at him as she leaned back against the headboard.

He stared at her, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of something to say. He finally clamped his mouth shut and sat down on a chair.

“So how did the accident happen?”

“I scraped the back end of a car while trying to run down a girl,” Allie replied nonchalantly.

“What…you did what?!” He stared incredulously at her.

“She was a little too fond of my blond! She deserved it! I just didn’t realize she was going to be so nimble!”

“Allie…my dear – I promised you that I would get him and his brother back to you….But it’s imperative that you stay here in the house!” Henry almost shouted.

“Why do you get to go out and have all the fun?” pouted Allie.

“I promise, once I’m done you can have all the fun you want!” sighed Henry in desperation.

“All right, I promise.” Allie lowered her eyes, staring at her sketch. A small smile flitted across her face. She glanced at Henry, whose back was turned, and he didn’t see her smile grow. If he had seen her smile, he would have known that there was no way she was keeping that promise.

*****

Later that evening a man and a woman walked into a pawn shop where the owner was known to buy stolen goods. He didn’t question the couple when they presented several diamond-studded pieces of jewelry. Although the woman became agitated when the shop owner quoted a price, her companion convinced her it was the best they would get.

The young woman stalked away and stood sulking by the door. The man waited to get paid and thanked the pawn shop owner before going over to his companion and leaving.

*****

Frank picked up the small sketch, staring at it and wondering if she really had sent it. He was so deep in thought that he never heard Joe enter his room.

“Frank…hey, Frank! Are you okay?” Joe looked at him with concern.

“Wha…? I’m fine – just thinking,” Frank replied softly.

“Do you think…Alice sent that to us?” Joe shuddered just thinking about her.

“No…I don’t know. I mean…she died in the prison riot. I’m thinking that…it could be a copycat or maybe her cellmate with a sick sense of humor?”

“I hope so. It was really freaky when it came and then Vanessa almost getting run down…” again Joe shuddered.

“That was probably an accident…some jerk who wasn’t watching where he drove. Vanessa said that she didn’t recognize the driver.”

“Actually, she said she didn’t get a good look because she was too busy jumping out of the way!” Joe corrected his brother.

“I don’t think we have to worry about Alice Walker anymore.”

Frank threw the sketch in the small trash can. He then walked over to his window to open it a little more. It wasn’t hot enough to use the air conditioner. Frank had his ceiling fan on low – the night was cool, so the light breeze from the open window made the bedroom comfortable.

“I hope the weather stays this way for Saturday.” He turned to smile at Joe.

Joe walked over to stand next to Frank. He looked out the window, staring up at the stars. “Yeah me too. I hope the sky is clear; a nice romantic walk on the beach sounds really good right now.”

Frank had to agree. They stood silently for a time before turning away from the window. They never noticed the lone figure standing by the tree.

She stared hungrily at the two brothers, wanting so desperately for them to see her. It wasn’t until they moved away that she came out of the shadows.

Staring up at the window, Alice Walker shivered with excitement.

*****

Henry Samuel Nicholson was down in the basement. He never heard Alice leave the house; he thought she was upstairs asleep. He carefully read the instructions he had gotten off the internet, being cautious as he handled the dynamite. He glanced at his watch – he still had time. He double-checked the instructions against his work.

The bomb was crude but it would have to do – it cost too much money to hire a hit man. Alice couldn’t withdraw any because she was ‘dead’. It was a good thing that she had remembered about her special hiding place. The jewelry had belonged to her grandmother. Alice used to play with it, pretending to be a princess. She had hidden the jewelry during one of her play outings.

Satisfied with his work, Henry put his bomb inside a paper bag. Moving quietly he left the house. He pushed the car down the driveway, not wanting Alice to hear him leave. Little did he know that she wasn’t there.

He parked the car two blocks away from High Street, walking down Elm till he reached the house on the corner. He noted that most of the houses on the block were dark, besides the Hardy home, only a few houses had a porch light on. Henry smiled when he saw that the brothers’ van, parked in the driveway, was close to the house, blocking the view of Mr. Hardy’s car. The house next door was dark, giving him ample coverage. Carefully lifting up the hood of the car, he took out a small flashlight and went to work, attaching the homemade bomb. Once he was done he lowered the hood and left.

*****

Frank and Joe woke up early the following morning. They wanted to head to the park to play basketball before it got too hot. Joe had already gone out to the van, but when Frank walked out he found his brother standing forlornly.

“Joe?”

“We must have run over a nail or something – the back tire is flat.” Joe let out a sad sigh.

“Well, just put on the spare and we’ll replace that one.” Frank started to open the back doors.

“That is the spare,” sighed Joe.

“What did you say?”

“That is the spare – I forgot to replace the other one. It’s still in the back of the van.” Joe smiled sheepishly at his brother.

“I’ll ask Dad if we can borrow his – we’ll get a new tire first before we go to the park.”

“Sorry, Frank. When does your car get back from the shop?”

“Not soon enough,” mumbled Frank.

A few minutes later Frank returned and tossed the car keys to Joe. As they got in the car, Joe noticed that the hood was unlatched.

“Hold on, Frank – look, the hood isn’t closed all the way.”

“Hmmm – Dad did mention something about the oil light, maybe he checked the oil and didn’t realize he didn’t close it properly.”

“Maybe.” Joe got out of the car. Normally he would have just pushed the hood shut from the side, but something made him go around to the front. He was about to raise the hood when he saw two colorful wires.

“Frank, you better come over here!”

Hearing the urgency in his brother’s voice, Frank quickly got out.

“Joe, what’s wrong?”

“Look,” was all Joe said.

Frank did. “Oh crap!”

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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.