Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

After settling into their new home and making a run to the market for some groceries, Fenton Hardy spent the rest of the evening trying to get hold of Colt Tanner. Fenton was anxious to tell the Wyoming sheriff that they were living next door to Anderson.

Joe and Frank relaxed, knowing the days ahead would be busy for them. Not only would they be working on the case to clear Carl Whitefeather, they would also be doing plenty of physical work on the Wagner Ranch.

From time to time, one of the boys would move to the window and glance toward Anderson’s house, hoping the man would return home for the night.

By midnight, all three Hardys went to bed discouraged. Collin Anderson had failed to return home, though Lucy had stopped barking and settled down for the night, and Colt Tanner was still not answering his home, office or cell phone.

The following morning, Mr. Hardy tried again to contact Tanner, but had no success. He then found his boys fixing waffles for breakfast and joined them.

Over their meal, Fenton explained that he’d called Travis Wagner and arranged for the boys to have a tour of the ranch later that morning.

"Will we be expected to stay and work today?" Frank asked, reaching for the maple syrup.

"No," Mr. Hardy answered with a shake of his head, "Mr. Wagner wants to meet you both and show you around the ranch. His foreman, Lance McIntyre, will tell you what your duties will be when you start work on Monday."

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Frank and Joe had some time to kill before their appointment with Mr. Wagner. They decided to take a closer look at Collin Anderson’s house.

Frank and Joe walked up the back steps and Frank knocked on the door. Lucy, Anderson’s golden retriever, jumped at the door surprising Frank. He involuntarily stepped back, bumping into Joe and knocking the younger boy off balance. Joe reached out to grab the banister to steady himself, but knocked the planter off the rail in the process.

Joe noticed a key on the banister railing that had been hidden under the flowerpot. He smiled and picked the key up. Joe cocked his eyebrow and grinned, dangling the key in front of his brother’s brown eyes.

"That’s breaking and entering, Joe," Frank signed, "I don’t need to remind you that it’s illegal." Joe continued to dangle the key, ignoring Frank’s protests.

"No way Joe!" Frank continued, folding his arms.

"We’re not ‘breaking’ in," Joe countered, "We found a key. We can at least check on the dog and maybe see if anything looks suspicious."

"Check the dog," Frank laughed, "Yea, right!"

Joe quietly unlocked the door and cautiously opened it, looking for the dog he knew lived there with Anderson. Lucy came bounding at the door as soon as it opened, but stopped at the unfamiliar face that peered at her from behind the door.

Joe eased the door open, speaking to the dog in a soft, low voice, "It’s alright, Lucy. We won’t hurt you." Lucy growled and backed away, but recognizing her name, her tail began to wag ever so slightly.

Joe continued through the door moving very slowly, with Frank right behind him. Joe saw the dog’s empty food and water dish and reached to turn on the water faucet. When Lucy heard the water running, she whimpered and moved a little closer to the brothers. Frank picked up the water dish and handed it to Joe. Filling it, Joe set the bowl down and knelt beside it.

"Here girl," Joe said softly, "Here you go, Lucy." The dog moved cautiously toward the boy and, reaching the water, began lapping eagerly. Joe eased his hand on top of the dog’s head and gently rubbed behind Lucy’s ear.

"Now that you’ve made a friend," Frank whispered and signed at the same time, "I’ll take a quick look around." Joe nodded and went to search the cupboards for dog food.

* * *

"Ronnie, please!" Becky Watson cried to the young deputy as he paid his breakfast tab, "Williams won’t do anything, but I just know somethin’s wrong!"

"Look, Miss Becky," Ronnie Benson spoke softly to the distressed woman, "I got a feelin’ that somethin’ isn’t right, too. I’ll talk to Sheriff Williams..."

"You’ll be wasting your breath!" Becky sobbed, "He says Collin jus’ took off in the mountains or something. He ain’t even gonna look for him! I’m goin’ out to Collin’s place right now. You comin’ Ronnie?"

Ronnie Benson followed the attractive redhead out the door and they both climbed into the deputy’s police issue SUV. In minutes, the pair headed towards the outskirts of Silverthorne.

Homer Chotto saw them pull away from the diner. He suspected that their quick departure had something to do with the dead deputy. Chotto watched the SUV disappear out of his line of vision. He also noticed that he wasn’t the only one watching the truck head down the road.

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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.