RESCUE
ME!
by
CQB
Chapter 3
The Chapters
“So there’s a ghost in your new computer?” Callie Shaw asked skeptically, eyeing the machine. The crinoline under her full blue gingham skirt rustled as she brushed against Frank’s desk chair. Her shoulder-length honey blond hair was pulled into pigtails and tied with blue satin ribbons.
The boys had told the girls all about the computer and Timothy Gantz.
“Try typing and see what happens,” Frank challenged as he emerged from the bathroom, dressed as the Tin Man.
“Go for it,” Vanessa Bender grinned, sitting on the edge of Frank’s bed. Callie smiled and tried typing. A white light started pulsing in the center of the monitor.
“Check out the plug,” Joe said, coming back into the room. He’d gone to his own room to change into his Scarecrow costume.
Vanessa sat up and glanced at the limp power cord. “It’s not plugged into the outlet.”
Callie glanced at Joe. “So, it’s got battery back-up, right?”
“Usually,” Joe grinned, “but not this time. Frank never put batteries in the computer and it didn’t come with any.”
“So what happens now?” Vanessa asked.
“Cal, if you’ll allow me to sit at the desk, we’ll see if the computer will ‘talk’ to us again.” Callie moved aside to let her boyfriend’s brother sit down.
Joe faced the monitor and spoke. “Okay Mr. Gantz. We’re back. Will you talk to us again?”
The four young people waited and watched the pulsing light on the screen. For several minutes, nothing happened.
“This is just a joke, right?” Callie said with a smirk, but then she gasped as several letters appeared on the screen. She checked to see if Joe was touching the keyboard, but his hands were on his lap, in plain sight.
HELLO JOE.
ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME?
“How is this happening?” Vanessa asked, leaning near Joe’s shoulder and watching with fascination.
“We can’t explain it.”
IS SOMEONE WITH YOU?
“My girlfriend, Vanessa; Frank’s girlfriend Callie is here, too,” Joe replied.
ARE THEY GOING TO HELP ME?
“Okay, I’m hooked,” Vanessa said. “What kind of help does it, I mean he need?”
Joe looked up at his brother. “We’re supposed to be at the Morton’s soon.”
PLEASE HELP ME.
“Nothing will get going right away at the Morton’s. What do you say girls?” Frank looked from Callie to Vanessa.
“Let’s at least see what it…he needs,” Vanessa stated. Callie nodded in agreement.
“Alright Joe,” Frank patted his brother on the back. Joe nodded.
“Mr. Gantz, we want to help you. What do you need?” Joe asked.
THANK YOU.
I NEED YOU TO WARN HER.
“Her?” Frank asked.
MY SISTER, AMY.
“Warn her about what?” Joe questioned.
I DESIGNED A NEW GAME JUST BEFORE I DIED.
I SOLD MY GAME’S MARKETING RIGHTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS,
BUT I HADN’T SIGNED ANY CONTRACTS YET.
“How does this have anything to do with your sister?” Frank asked.
PLEASE BE PATIENT.
I AM TRYING MY BEST TO EXPLAIN.
“I’m sorry,” Frank apologized. “Please, go on.”
CYRUS LANDLES WANTED TO BUY THE RIGHTS
TO MARKET THE GAME.
I HAD WORKED WITH HIM BEFORE.
HE CHEATED ME THE LAST TIME WHEN HE
MARKETED MY GAME, ISLANDER.
“So, you didn’t trust him and didn’t want to sell him the new game,” Joe surmised. “A great game, I might add. I have it.”
CORRECT, AND THANK YOU. I DID NOT TRUST HIM.
AFTER OUR FIRST MEETING, I BEGAN
GETTING THREATENING PHONE CALLS.
“The calls were from Landles?” Frank asked.
I COULD NOT PROVE IT, BUT I AM SURE IT WAS HIM.
“Wait a minute,” Joe rubbed his chin. “You didn’t kill yourself did you?”
NO. I BELIEVE LANDLES KILLED ME.
“You don’t know for sure?” Frank inquired.
I NEVER SAW HIM.
SOMEONE GRABBED ME FROM BEHIND.
HE STRANGLED ME.
“Gantz was found hanging from a tree in his backyard,” Joe interjected, reading from the article in Frank’s magazine.
“A clever way to cover a strangling,” Frank added.
AMY KNOWS WHERE THE MASTER COPY IS HIDDEN.
HE WILL KILL HER TO GET IT.
“So what do you want us to do, Gantz? Protect your sister?” Joe asked.
“How, Joe? Go up to Amy and say, ‘Hey, your dead brother wants us to protect you’?” Callie quipped.
Joe blushed, “Yeah, well…you got a better idea?”
“Chill, you two,” Frank ordered, rubbing his forehead. “Look, no one’s going to believe Tim Gantz communicated to us through a laptop computer from the grave, but what if he had sent us a message before he died?”
“But, he’s already dead. How can he do that?” Vanessa asked, running her slender fingers through her ash blonde hair.
Joe was grinning as he said, “I can see the wheels turning in your head, big brother. Give us the whole picture.”
“I can hook up my desktop printer to the laptop. Gantz can send us a letter telling us why he feels the game needs to be relocated and protected,” Frank explained.
Frank turned to face the computer. “What do you think, Mr. Gantz?”
I BELIEVE IT COULD WORK.
I CAN USE MY PERSONAL LETTERHEAD TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL.
AMY WILL RECOGNIZE IT.
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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.