RESCUE
ME!
by
CQB
Chapter 13
The Chapters
Fenton Hardy met the police in the front yard of the Gantz house. The Southport police took custody of the two prisoners and confiscated the game Timothy Gantz had completed before he died.
Cyrus Landles, after spending some time in Fenton’s trunk, was more than willing to turn on his former partner and immediately began spilling his guts to the officer in charge.
Sergeant Dan Shank took brief statements from the teenagers before they left for a Halloween party back in Bayport. They promised to come by the station the following day and sign their statements. He also would have to get a statement from Sam Radley, but the man needed medical attention first. He had one of his officers take Radley to the local hospital to be checked.
All of them discreetly left out any mention of Frank’s computer and Timothy’s ghost.
Sergeant Shank approached Fenton Hardy. The man looked weary, yet relieved. “Mr. Hardy?” Fenton looked up and gave the officer a tired smile.
“I’m supposed to be at that party with my kids,” the detective said, “but I’m afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to even dance with my wife.”
“You’re free to go, if you’d like,” Shank stated. “I’ve got enough to file my preliminary report and we have Landles blabbering like an idiot. We have plenty to hold them both on.”
The sleuth shook his head. “This may sound crazy, but I need to see where Gantz held my boys.”
“The fire department is hooking up a new generator so our people can get down there, collect evidence and confiscate all of Mr. Gantz’s work. Let’s go see if it’s running yet.”
The two men walked back through the woods to the cement block building hidden in the woods. Firefighters had a new generator connected to the electric box under the lean-to.
“Can we get inside?” Sergeant Shank asked one of the men.
“Yes, sir,” a young man answered. “There is electricity, the elevator is operational and the air system is working again.”
Shank and Fenton made their way inside and rode down the elevator with two CSI. They were all amazed at the display of computers and electronic components.
“What’s going on Murphy?” Shank asked a uniformed officer toying with one of the machines.
“Captain Martin ordered us to download all of the files in these computers to disks, but none of them are responding.”
“They have power?”
“Yes, sir, but nothing seems to be working.”
“Maybe you need passwords to get into his files,” suggested Fenton, rubbing his chin.
The officer shook his head. “That’s probably the problem, sir. We can’t even get the machines to cooperate yet, though.”
“Let’s just get them all loaded in the police vans and we’ll have the experts check them out back at the lab,” Captain Martin bellowed as he came into the room. He walked up to Shank and Fenton.
“Mr. Hardy,” he reached out and shook the detective’s hand. “I’ll show you the escape route your boys found.”
As Fenton looked over the escape tunnel, he felt his heart swell with pride. Despite the dire situation Frank and Joe faced, they had kept their heads and found a way out.
Satisfied with what he had seen, Fenton bid the Southport officers goodnight. He planned to stop and check on Sam Radley before heading back to Bayport.
* * *
“Well, well,” Chet Morton grinned as he watched his friends approaching. “Frank, Joe, where have you guys been?”
Frank couldn’t help but laugh at Chet’s choice of costume. The stout youth was wearing black and white striped pants with a matching shirt and cap. A foam ball and chain around his ankle completed the ‘convict’ ensemble.
Before Frank could tell Chet about their adventure, he, Joe, Callie and Vanessa were whisked away by Mrs. Betty Morton and Mrs. Laura Hardy. The two women made sure the teens had enough to eat before they told their story.
By the time the kids had finished eating, Fenton Hardy arrived with good news. Sam Radley’s injury was minor. The doctor was keeping him in the Southport hospital overnight as a precaution. Amy Gantz and Cyrus Landles were in police custody and Timothy’s new game was secure.
The Hardy men, along with Callie and Vanessa, told the assembled guests the rest of the story, including Timothy Gantz ‘talking’ to them through Frank’s new computer.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Biff Hooper, dressed as a skeleton, howled, “A ghost?”
“A h-h-haunted comp-p-puter!” Tony Prito said. The Italian youth in a baker’s outfit pretended to be frightened.
“I can actually believe you guys got caught up in a case,” Luke Martin added, rubbing the brim of his police officer cap, “but a ghost in the computer? You gotta do better than that!”
Fenton led the women away from the group of teens, chuckling.
Frank, Joe and the two girls exchanged glances. They all grinned and shrugged their shoulders. It didn’t matter if the others believed them or not, the four of them knew something strange and supernatural had happened earlier that evening.
But for now, the young sleuths and their girlfriends were just going to enjoy the rest of the Halloween party.
“Dad,” Joe called out to the retreating adults, “did you happen to see the name of Timothy Gantz’s new game? We never actually got to see it and that is one game I’ll definitely want to buy.”
“Yes,” Fenton smiled. “It’s called, ‘Rescue Me’.”
* * *
In the dark silence of Frank Hardy’s bedroom, the small laptop computer hummed to life. The screen on the monitor filled with a bright white light and the printer, still attached to the computer, began printing on a single sheet of paper.
As soon as the paper stopped in the finishing tray, both the computer and printer shut down completely. The room became deathly silent.
On the paper were two words:
THANK YOU.
THE END
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.