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

-PAST...
4-year old Joey Hardy began to tremble. As the man moved away from the hole, the light from the lantern faded, and soon it was so dark, the child could see nothing. Never fond of being in the dark, Joey was terrified. He began to whimper and tried to curl up in a tight ball on the cold ground. He cried and he wanted to go home so bad that it hurt.

‘Daddy!’ he screamed through the tape on his mouth, ‘Frankie! Help me! Mommy, please find me!’

Joey lay very still on the cave floor and had almost fallen asleep when he felt something. The child sat up and shook his taped hands. Something was crawling on his hand! Moments later, Joey felt something crawling up his pajama leg. He wriggled his body against the ground to stop whatever it was, but to his horror, he felt more crawling sensations; on his arm, in his hair, on his feet, on his belly, even on his face. Joey rolled on the ground, trying to rid himself of the creeping creatures, until he fell into an exhausted sleep.

While the child slept, the spiders continued to explore his small body, some hiding in folds of pajama fabric, others spinning webs from the boy to the ground nearby.

* * *

Gertrude Hardy, Fenton’s unmarried, older sister, opened the front door of her brother and sister-in-law’s house in response to the ringing of the doorbell. She had come to Fenton and Laura’s as soon as she heard about little Joey’s abduction. Grieved beyond measure at her nephew’s absence, she was calmly trying to be a help by watching Frankie, when he wasn’t in Laura’s arms, fixing meals and tending other menial chores.

"May I help you?" Gertrude asked the young man standing on the front porch.

"Hello," he smiled, "I’m Adam Whiteside, an old friend of Laura’s. I was in town for a few days and saw her at the park the other day. Thought I’d stop by and visit a bit before I left."

~ ~ ~ PRESENT...

"What are your plans for the day, boys?" Fenton Hardy asked at the breakfast table. He was sitting across from Frank and Joe was getting a cup of coffee at the kitchen counter.

"We’re picking up Callie and Vanessa for a picnic," Frank said, smiling as he thought about spending some time with his girlfriend, Callie Shaw.

"Callie is bringing her famous fried chicken!" Joe added, his eyes twinkling. Just then, the phone rang.

"I’ll get it," Joe offered, walking toward the phone on the kitchen wall.

"Hello?" Joe said into the receiver, "Hey, ‘Ness!"

Frank watched his brother’s face. Joe had been smiling when he first answered, but his smile faded as the conversation progressed. According to Joe’s body language, something was wrong.

Joe hung up the phone and slid into an empty kitchen chair. "Guess you will have Callie’s chicken all to yourself, Bro!" Joe said. "Vanessa has to leave in an hour for California with her mom. Apparently, Mrs. Bender’s sister is really sick and she asked if they could come and help her out for a week or two."

"Too bad, Joe," Fenton said, rising from his chair, "But I wouldn’t let it ruin your day. You’ll have fun with Frank and Callie." Fenton ruffled his youngest son’s blond hair. "I’m off to my office for the rest of the day, if you guys need me for anything."

"Dad’s right," Frank smiled at his younger brother, "We’ll have fun. Anyway, I’ll need help polishing off all that chicken, Joe!"

Joe shook his head, "No way, Frank. I’m not going with you. I’d feel like a chaperone or something."

Frank tried unsuccessfully to change Joe’s mind. He really didn’t want to leave Joe alone, but Joe was adamant. Joe assured Frank that he was fine and would feel better knowing that Frank and Callie were having some time alone together. Finally, Frank gave up and took off in the brother’s black van, promising to be home early.

Joe washed up the dishes, and then headed out to the garage. He decided to clean up his tools and reorganize his tool chest.

"I thought you and Frank were going picnicking with your young ladies today?" asked a voice from the garage doorway. Joe almost fell over when he heard the voice. He had been so absorbed in his task, he never heard Mr. Reed approach.

"You scared me half to death," Joe managed to say, dramatically clutching his chest.

"Sorry, Joe," Red chuckled, "Didn’t mean to. I heard you puttering around in here and was surprised to find you home. I thought you said yesterday that you were all going on a picnic together."

"’Were’ is the operative word," Joe stated sadly, "’Ness had to go away for a while with her mom. I didn’t want to be a third wheel for Frank and Callie."

"Understandable," Red agreed, but then added with a sly smile, "but I can think of something a lot more fun to do if your mom will allow it."

Joe glanced at his neighbor. "What did you have in mind?"

"If you’re allowed, come on over and we’ll work up a good sweat in the basement. Then we’ll take a ride in the T-bird to cool off," suggested the man.

"Mom’s doing some work at the Red Cross office, but I’ll check with Dad," Joe grinned, heading toward the door into the kitchen.

With his father’s permission, Joe quickly changed into workout clothes and headed over to Red’s house.

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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.