Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the Hardy Detective Agency Presents "In the Name of Love" by CQB

"Dad?" Frank Hardy looked across the console between the front seats of his father’s silver Concorde. "How exactly did Adam Whiteside die? I mean, I know he died on the cliff the day Joe was found, but what exactly happened?"

Fenton looked at his son and sighed. "Collig and Riley were real close to him on that path outside the cave. I was really beginning to worry that he was going to toss your baby brother over the edge; he kept moving closer and closer to that precipice."

"He was getting more agitated with every minute. I kept trying to move closer, too. We needed to get Joey out of his arms. He kept ranting about how much he loved your mother and how much she had betrayed that love. Your mother and I continued trying to reason with him to let us have Joe."

"I was about 6 feet from him when he turned toward the edge of the path. I knew I could probably grab him, but I wouldn’t reach your brother in time. Adam cried out that this was all Laura’s fault and moved to jump with Joe still in his arms."

"I couldn’t see what Collig or Riley were doing, so I leaped as far as I could. I grabbed for Adam but caught nothing but air. I thought for sure both Adam and Joe were over the cliff’s edge."

"When the dust cleared and I looked up, Collig was laying on his stomach, his arms over the edge of the path. I crawled over to him and peered over the edge. Con was holding on to Joe’s ankle with his right hand and holding on to Collig with his left. I called to Sam and Chief Waters. Waters held on to Collig while Sam held on to me. I reached down and grabbed Joey. Sam pulled us up while Waters and Collig pulled Con up."

"Whiteside fell to his death?" Frank asked, his face pale at the thought of having almost lost Joe at such a young age.

"Unfortunately, yes," Fenton concluded. "His body was recovered and sent to California to be buried. We never learned where he was staying while he was in Bayport. At the time, we were more concerned about your brother. Looking back now, I’m lead to believe that Adam may have been in touch with his brother Andrew through that whole ordeal."

"The tape that Mom got with her singing on it," Frank speculated, "Red probably got that from among his brother’s belongings."

"Probably," Fenton agreed. "Here’s the ‘Stardust’ Motel, our first stop." Fenton pulled the car into the gravel parking lot of the motel.

* * *

Andrew Whiteside had stopped to fill up the car with gas across the road from the ‘Stardust’ Motel. He had just finished paying the attendant when he saw Fenton and Frank Hardy walking toward the motel office.

* * *

Joe Hardy gagged and retched on the dirty linoleum floor. He knew more than ever that he had to get away before Whiteside returned. He pulled himself to his feet and staggered out the back door. There was no way he’d go back to the front of the office to use the phone, the picture of the dead man clearly etched in his mind.

Joe walked along the building and peered around front. No cars were in sight, so Joe ran as quickly as his bare feet allowed across the tarred parking lot.

Joe had nearly reached the edge of the lot when a car came screeching into the parking lot. Joe recognized Whiteside’s Lumina just as the man caught sight of Joe. Joe back-stepped, then spun around and headed across the parking lot, knowing it was probably a useless act.

Andrew stared in shock for several seconds at the fleeing youth before he turned the car toward Joe and bore down on the gas pedal. Joe heard the car coming up fast behind him and knew he couldn’t outrun it. He dove toward the building in hope that it would give him a bit of protection from the on coming vehicle.

Andrew Whiteside saw Joe dive and pulled the car up in front of him. Joe crashed into the front fender with a dull thud. Andrew jumped from the car and ran up to where the boy sat, shaking his head and trying to get to his feet.

"Ar-r-rgh!" the man growled, coming up to the blond youth. Joe glanced up just as Whiteside’s foot connected with Joe’s wounded shoulder. "Stupid kid!" Whiteside yelled, almost drowning out Joe’s scream of pain.

Andrew pulled Joe to his feet, grabbing the boy’s injured arm. He shoved Joe against the side of the building and landed a solid punch to Joe’s abdomen, causing the youth to gasp in agony.

"What were you thinking, Joe?" Whiteside spat, grabbing Joe’s throat and forcing the boy to look at him, "How far did you think you could get? Huh?" Andrew pulled Joe forward, and then slammed his head against the brick wall of the building. Joe crumbled, unconscious.

Andrew pulled the boy to the trunk of the car, popping the lid and pulling out a role of duct tape. He hefted Joe inside, quickly taping the boy’s wrists, ankles and mouth before slamming the lid closed. He glanced at the door to the room where Joe had been imprisoned. ‘No,’ Andrew thought, ‘No time to clean up. It won’t matter anyway.’ He climbed in the driver’s seat and backed the car out of the parking lot of the ‘Evergreen Motor lodge’.

Driving away from Bayport, Whiteside glanced back at the motor lodge in time to see a familiar silver Concorde pulling into the parking lot. He pressed the gas pedal to the floor, putting as much distance as possible between him and the Hardys.

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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.