Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

“I don’t know if it was a good idea to even use my truck, Bull,” Stan began as he helped lift Joe Hardy from the truck. “I mean, I was at Bayer’s place this morning. What if someone recognized it?”

“They’d think it belonged to someone in the neighborhood,” Byron answered, grabbing Joe under the arms.

“I knew I could get the kid out easy enough after his ordeal last night,” he continued.

Byron led the way with a flashlight held in his teeth. The pair carried the Hardy boy into a narrow opening in the canyon wall below Balcony House. The winding chasm was harder to navigate with the unconscious youth between them, but ten minutes later, they were in the depths of the cave.

“Howdy, Chris,” Stan Lomayaktewa greeted the young man bound hand and foot against the wall of the narrow cave. They put Joe down and Bull lit a small lantern.

Chris Bayer stared wide-eyed at Stan. He was a part of this too? After his initial shock, Chris noticed the still form the two men had laid on the floor of the cave.

His heart beat faster as Chris realized he was looking at Joe and there was blood on the boy’s blond hair.

“What did you do to Joe?” Chris asked, his voice hoarse from hours of calling for help.

Byron looked at Chris and shook his head. “Told you it was a waste of breath to yell. Sound never reaches the mouth of this cave. Don’t understand how it works, but it made this place a perfect hide-out for our little operation.”

“Too bad we have to move on,” Stan added. “First Campton got in the way, now you and your nosey little friends are in the way.”

“You killed Mark, didn’t you?” Chris asked, wondering how he could have ever thought of Stan Lomayaktewa as a ‘good man’.

“He found out about our smuggling operation and when he didn’t like the cut we offered him, he tried to blackmail us,” Stan explained.

“How does Cath fit into this? What was Mark trying to say by printing her name in the dirt before he died?”

Lomayaktewa chuckled, “He didn’t write anything. I did that!

“He threatened to tell Catherine everything. Told us he’d made a CD. When I killed him, I needed to divert attention away from myself and the operation,” Stan continued. “I never dreamt that fool sheriff would think Catherine killed Mark. I figured it would point to Dave.”

“That’s enough,” Byron ordered as he finished tying Joe’s ankles securely. He checked the knots on the cord binding the boy’s wrists behind his back before rising.

“We’ve got to get the other Hardy kid and Catherine,” Byron said, grabbing his flashlight. “Once we get them here, we’ll use some of I-Corp’s explosives to blow the mouth of the cave shut.”

Stan gazed at Chris and smiled as the man turned deathly pale. “Yeah, Bayer; once all you snoops are disposed of, the Hardy’s friends will go back to New York.

“We’ll finish off Billy Moss first, then dispose of all of you and get out of the country,” Stan concluded.

“Sorry Chris,” Byron said as he extinguished the lantern.

Chris felt a torrent of mixed emotions tearing at his heart as the light from the flashlight faded away.

* * *

Sheriff Leroy Longtooth sat in his office with the door locked. Too many things just didn’t add up. He thought about the conversation he’d had with Frank Hardy earlier that day.

“The man with the gun was definitely Native American,” Frank had explained. “He was in his sixties or maybe older, with long grayish hair. He wore it in two braids.”

The description fit Matoka Hrappowi perfectly. But Hrappowi ran the souvenir shop in Morefield Village. What did he have to do with Mark Campton’s murder? How did he tie in with the CD found in Campton’s cabin?

“Only one way to find out,” the sheriff said out loud. He picked up his Stetson and perched the hat on top of his black hair as he left the office and headed toward his jeep.

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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.