hardy boys fan fiction

MY BROTHER'S GIFT

hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction

by

CQB

Chapter 5

hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

“Joe’s Secret”  

Mom ordered room service to bring us some soup and sandwiches.  None of us were really hungry, but Dad said we weren’t doing Joe any good by not eating.   

I nibbled at a ham sandwich, but I kept seeing Joe stuffing his mac’n’cheese in his napkin at lunch, and I knew he was probably pretty hungry by now.  I felt horrible eating a sandwich while my little brother was probably much hungrier than me.  

I glanced at Mom and saw her trying to eat some soup.  She kept wiping her eyes with a tissue and I knew she was thinking about Joe, too.  

“I can’t do this, Fenton,” Mom said after a while.  She pushed the soup away and looked up at Dad.  I noticed that his sandwich was barely touched.  

“Joe hardly ate any of his lunch,” my mom continued.  “He’s starving by now and we don’t even know where he is!”  

I don’t know why I said it; I certainly didn’t want to upset Mom any more, but I ended up telling them about the food Joe hid in his napkin.  

They both stared at me for a minute, and then Mom said to Dad, “Fenton, Joe’s whole attitude, his running to the restroom so often…we thought it had to do with the trip, but what if he wasn’t feeling well?”  

Dad thought about this a while.  He looked at me for a minute and then spoke to both Mom and me.  “It would be just like Joe to not tell us if he were sick.  He wouldn’t want to ruin Frank’s birthday, even if he wasn’t particularly thrilled with the trip.”  

Dad was right.  Joe could be stubborn, he could be frustrating, he could be mean, hot-tempered and even annoying at times, but selfish was one thing Joe definitely was not.  He always seemed to be able to put other people’s wants and needs before his own.  

Mom was crying pretty hard so Dad took her into the room Joe and I were supposed to share.  While he was in there, someone knocked at the door.   

I called for Dad, but he must have been to busy with Mom to hear.  I stood on my toes to see through the peep hole in the door.  Two police officers were standing in the hall.  I left the chain lock in place, but opened the door wide enough for them to see me.  

They introduced themselves as Officer Harper and Officer Williams.  They both showed me their identification cards.  I checked them carefully, comparing the photos with the two officers.  

“I’ll get my Dad,” I finally said, taking their I.D.’s with me.  Dad followed me to the door and let the two men inside our hotel room.  

Dad started talking with the officers when he realized I was still there.  He excused himself and turned to me.  “Frank, go take a shower and get into your pajamas.  When you’re ready for bed, come back in here and you can sleep with me tonight.”  

I started to do as Dad told me.  I went into the other room and saw Mom sleeping in the bed.  I started for the bathroom when I heard one of the police officers say they were going back to the museum to look for Joe again.  

I was still feeling bad about Joe being sick and keeping it a secret from us.  I wanted to help look for him, but I knew the police wouldn’t let me.  I didn’t even think Dad would.  

I was still thinking about it when Dad came in the room.  I pretended to be looking for my pajamas in the big dresser.  Dad came over and put his hand on my shoulder.  

“Frank,” he said, “I’m going back to the museum with the police.  They are going to try and figure out where Joe went when he left the men’s room.  

“If Mom wakes up, you tell her where we’ve gone,” Dad finished.  He then pulled one of Joe’s shirts out of the drawer and went into the other room.  

There was no time to lose.  I ran to the bathroom and turned on the shower for Dad to hear, but then I opened the door to the hall in my room.  As soon as I saw the other door open, I ran back to the bathroom and shut off the water.  I wrote a quick note to Mom on the hotel stationary, telling her I was with Dad and not to worry.  

I grabbed my coat and raced out the door, across the hall and down the emergency stairs.  By the time I got outside, Dad was just getting into a police car.  

The street looked different at night than it had during the day, but I knew which way we had walked earlier, and I started running in that direction.  I stayed close to the buildings, in the shadows, just in case Dad happened to glance in my direction.  

The traffic was slow and I had little trouble keeping up with the patrol car.  When they got stopped at the traffic light, I kept going and actually got to the museum before them.  

There were several police cars already there.  Two officers were holding German shepherd dogs on thick leashes.  I guessed that was what Dad needed Joe’s shirt for; the dogs would get Joe’s scent from the shirt and follow it through the building.  

I got down on my hands and knees and crawled through the shrubs until I was really close to the door.  One officer stood there and opened and closed the door for everyone else.  

I saw the car Dad was in pull up to the curb.  He got out and one of the officers took Joe’s shirt.  They all started toward the door.  I scrambled and jumped up, hoping to blend in with the group.  

“Whoa there, Buddy,” someone said, grabbing my jacket collar.  “Where do you think you’re going?”  

I glanced around frantically, looking for Dad.  He was already inside with the other officers and the dogs.  

“Dad!” I shouted as loud as I could.  I saw Dad turn toward me and a shocked look crossed his face.  He came back to the door and the officer let me go to him.  

Dad asked me why I had disobeyed and came here on my own.  I explained that I needed to help find Joe.  I think Dad understood, ‘cause he wasn’t mad and he didn’t send me back to the hotel.  

“That was very dangerous, Frank,” Dad said softly.  He gave me a quick hug, and then said, “You must stay right beside me all the time.  The first time you disobey, I’ll have one of the officers take you back to Mom in the hotel.”  I nodded and gripped Dad’s hand.  

We all squeezed into the men’s room and the dog’s sniffed Joe’s shirt.  They went right to one of the stalls in the room, then moved out and headed to the back of the restroom.  

The police and Dad were all puzzled when the dogs went to the supply closet.  They barked and pawed at the door.  The closet had been searched earlier; why would the dogs go there now?

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