DISSONANCE
by
Duckling
Chapter 31
The Chapters
They were about halfway to their destination when Frank reverted to Bix’s earlier comment about returning home.
“So,” Frank asked quietly, “when will you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning, most likely. Or afternoon. We will need to get you a car.”
Frank nodded his head; he was currently driving Bix’s Ford Ranger.
“I thought that we could buy the car in the City, in your new name. New York City is big enough to risk that.”
“And once we bought the car, we could transfer your things from my truck and then, well then I guess I would be on my merry way.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a long lost triplet, would you?” Frank asked jokingly. “Because you sure sound an awful lot like me.”
“Well,” Bix replied with a grin, “Brad and I were born in the middle of a blizzard; anything is possible when the power goes out, even if only for a minute or two.”
“I knew it!” Frank declared triumphantly.
“But that would mean Joe isn’t your real brother,” Bix pointed out mischievously.
“I always thought he was adopted, or left here by aliens,” Frank said lightly.
“Well,” conceded Bix, “he could have been left by aliens. But either way, it would seem that you were the adopted one, if we follow the triplet theory.”
“Okay, triplet mine,” Frank joked. “But man,” he said suddenly serious, “I sure will miss having you around.”
“Same here, bud. Same here.”
Laura Hardy finally stood up from her seat by Joe’s side and stretched. They had been there for hours while the boy slept. Deciding it was time for a coffee break and some serious thinking, she glanced over at her husband.
“I’m going to go for a cup of coffee.” Then feeling that she ought to offer, she continued: “Want anything?”
Fenton Hardy blinked slowly and looked up at his wife. Shaking his head slightly he blinked once more and then answered her with a weary “No.”
Laura nodded and turned to the door. Within minutes she was pattering down the hallway to the elevators. This would take a bit of pondering, she thought, as the elevator doors slid shut and the elevator began to descend. Exactly how, she wondered, was she going to spirit her son away?
The hot cup of coffee Laura Hardy had bought an hour earlier sat practically untouched at her elbow. She had come to the cafeteria ostensibly for that particular purpose. In actuality, she came down to determine how she would take her injured son and flee somewhere to begin a new, and safer, life with Joe. She had come up with several workable options, but all of them shared the same flaw: she loved Fenton too much to inflict that much pain on him. If she left him, and took Joe with her, she knew her husband would be utterly devastated. Despite all his faults, he was a faithful and loving husband. He had tried to be a good father, and she couldn’t really fault him for decisions to which she had readily agreed.
Sighing in resignation, she stirred her cold coffee absently with a spoon.
“Hi,” a familiar voice said quietly. “Mind if I join you?”
Laura looked up into Sam Radley’s concerned face and gestured at an empty chair beside her.
“Hi,” she replied with a smile.
“Any word on Joe?”
Laura suddenly realized that in their haste to be with Joe, they had neglected to inform the others that his condition had improved.
“Oh, yes. He’s stabilized and the doctors are happy with his progress,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry. It absolutely slipped our minds. They let us up to see him earlier in the day. We’ve been there since. Fenton still is.”
“That’s wonderful news.” Sam said warmly. He took a sip of his own coffee as Laura began idly stirring her beverage again.
“Fenton’s taking this really hard,” Laura added after a minute.
“He takes it hard every time it happens.” Sam stated quietly.
“Well, yes,” Laura agreed somewhat confused. “But I meant that this time, well this time something’s different. He seems less sure of himself.”
“He probably is.”
Laura looked at her husband’s friend and partner in perplexity. “Sam, what do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“Laura,” Sam began, not answering her directly, “do you know how Fent is feeling about all this? Really truly feeling?”
“I know he’s angry at Frank.”
“And?”
Laura sat puzzled. What was Sam getting at?
“And he’s furious with himself, Laura.” Sam said gently. “No, he hasn’t said anything to me, but you don’t work with a man as closely as I have and not know how he’s feeling about a given situation.”
“Laura, Fent loves you and the boys terribly. And ever since Joe was kidnapped last March, ever since this whole mess began, he has struggled with an overwhelming fear and sense of failure.”
“Fear?” Laura repeated incredulously. “Failure?”
“He’s deathly afraid of losing you and he’s convinced that he’s a failure as a father and husband.”
“Oh no,” Laura breathed in shock, a hand at her throat. “He can’t really believe that?”
“But he does,” Sam asserted gently. “You see, he feels that Joe and Frank are already lost to him; you’re all he thinks he has left, and he’s not too certain that he even has that.”
Laura suddenly jumped up from the table. “I have to go see him, Sam. He must know that that’s not true.” And without further thought, she twirled towards the door and rushed out of the cafeteria.
Sam remained seated at the table, a smile breaking gently over his face. “You do that, Laura,” he whispered. “He needs you now more than ever.”
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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.