RESCUE
ME!
by
CQB
Chapter 4
The Chapters
Frank quickly hooked up the printer to the notebook computer. He typed in a few commands. “It’s all yours, Mr. Gantz.”
The computer clicked and hummed for several minutes.
Joe glanced at the bedside alarm clock. It was almost eight. He hoped no one would be too worried when they didn’t show up at the Morton’s on time. He glanced at Vanessa sitting on the bed and smiled. Her gold satin costume was trimmed in tawny ‘fur’. It even had an attached tail. Her long, blond hair was held away from her face with a hair-band, complete with two perky lion ears. Joe hoped he would get a chance to dance with his beautiful ‘feline’ girlfriend before the night was over.
“Here it is!” Frank cried. He pulled a sheet of paper from the printer. Across the top was the Gantz Games logo. Frank read the letter out loud to the assembled group.
After getting clear directions to Amy’s house from Gantz, Frank set the second part of his plan in motion.
* * *
The man and woman walking toward the silver Concord sedan looked like Dracula and his ghoulish bride. As they reached the car, the man’s cell phone chirped to life. He spoke briefly with someone, and then helped the woman into the vehicle.
“That was one of the strangest phone calls I’ve ever gotten,” Fenton Hardy frowned. His wife looked up at him questioningly.
“That was Frank. Somehow, in the past few hours, he and Joe have wound up smack-dab in the middle of a murder mystery,” he explained.
“Murder!” Laura exclaimed.
Fenton shook his head. “Don’t worry Laura. They know what they’re doing. Besides, this could all just be a Halloween prank of some sort.
“Either way, I’m going home to check on things, Love. I’m going to take you to the Morton’s first. I’ll call you there as soon as I know exactly what’s happening.”
* * *
“Vanessa and Callie, we want you to stay here until our dad gets here,” Frank instructed. “Introduce him to…Mr. Gantz, and explain that we’ve gone to see Amy.”
“We’ll call Cyrus Landles after we’ve spoken to Amy,” Joe told them. “If everything goes as planned, he’ll get to Amy’s as fast as he can to get the master copy of Tim’s game.”
“And you’ll need your dad there with the police to arrest him,” Callie nodded, understanding the plan.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a confession out of him,” Joe added, putting a mini voice recorder into the pocket of his Scarecrow pants. “If we don’t, he may never be charged for murdering Gantz.”
As the boys headed for the door, Vanessa asked, “Are we going to get to the Morton’s party at all tonight?”
Joe gave his girlfriend a grin, “Sure Babe. We’ll take care of this business and then we’ll dance the night away!”
“You don’t really believe we’ll wrap this up quickly, do you?” Frank asked his brother minutes later as he backed their customized van out of their driveway and onto Elm Street.
“I certainly hope so,” Joe answered, “otherwise, I would have changed out of this ridiculous costume first. Amy Gantz is going to think we’re a couple of overgrown Trick-or-Treaters.”
Frank glanced at silver lamé jumpsuit he was wearing. He felt his cheeks grow warm. “At least Callie didn’t have a chance to put on our costume make-up yet.”
Twenty minutes later, the Hardy Boys arrived at the address Timothy Gantz had given them.
“Well, it looks like she’s home,” Joe commented as he peered toward the one-story ranch home. Lights were on and the blue tinged flicker of the television was reflected in the large picture window.
Frank turned and faced his younger brother. “Good thing, too. Our whole plan would have been blown to bits if she wasn’t here. I never even considered that possibility.”
“Me either,” Joe grinned. He glanced back toward the house. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Frank led the way up the sidewalk, onto the porch and rang the doorbell. The brothers waited only a few moments. Amy Gantz opened the door and stared at the two strangely dressed young men on her porch.
“Well, if it isn’t Disco Dan and Barnyard Bubba,” Amy smirked. “Aren’t you two a little old for this?”
Frank and Joe blushed at Amy’s mocking scrutiny.
“We have a costume party to attend later,” Frank explained, “but we needed to see you first.”
Amy raised her eyebrows skeptically. “Who are you?” The Hardys introduced themselves and explained why they were there.
“Why should I believe you?”
“The letter, Frank; show it to her,” Joe urged.
Frank produced the letter and handed it to the woman. She hesitantly accepted it and read it carefully.
“I don’t understand. My brother committed suicide three weeks ago,” she glanced up from the paper. “When did you get this?”
“It just…arrived, ah, recently,” Frank said.
“Then we read about your brother’s death,” Joe continued. “We thought your life might be in danger.”
“What? Why?” Amy asked, stunned.
The brothers exchanged a glance before continuing. Frank faced Amy and said, “As your brother explained in his letter. He asked Joe and me to protect the master copy of his new game; the one he finished just before he was …ah, just before he died.”
“Why would he contact you? Did he know you?” Amy asked, skeptical again.
“Our father is Fenton Hardy, a private detective,” Joe explained. “We believe your brother may have known our father, or at least, knew his reputation. Dad’s specialty is personal security.”
“Okay,” she finally said after several silent minutes. “Come in. I want to know why Tim thought the disk needed protection.”
Frank and Joe hid their relief. So far, everything was going according to plan.
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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.