Frank landed with no difficulty and no fanfare, and grinned to himself with satisfaction. Comes right back to you! I can see why Jack likes this business; flying like this is a real thrill! As he taxied the plane back to the hangar, Frank glanced at the lowering sun and frowned a little. He was running later than he had intended, for the offloading of his cargo had taken much longer than anticipated. I hope everything is still okay with Joe and April…wish Joe had let himself be checked over by the medics; man, that scared me – I thought he’d been blown to smithereens!…. I wonder what Jack has in mind, his plan to get Deke and Ernie…wish he’d told me….

Frank left the plane outside the hangar, and walked into the building, intending to check in with Jack before continuing with the work of cleaning up the plane and readying it for the next day’s flight. Jason had evidently left already; the big room was empty. Frank’s shoes made no sound on the concrete floor, and he could hear voices coming from Jack’s office; apparently Roger Taylor was there ahead of him. Frank slowed down, wondering if he should interrupt the conversation.

"Here it is, Jack." Taylor was saying. "This should make Deke and Ernie’s day. Their precious cocaine – for real, instead of what they got last time. Call them, and tell them you have their stuff."

Frank froze in mid-stride, holding his breath. No…no!

"I’m going to, right now." Jack replied. "I’m going to tell them I got their message, loud and clear. I was stupid to think that I could double-cross them. It’s not worth April’s life to make money off their stash. I’m ready to give it to them – no tricks this time."

Without conscious volition, Frank found himself dashing across the remaining distance to the office. He burst in through the half-open door, glaring at Jack, his dark eyes shooting sparks. Roger Taylor was leaning over the desk, on which he had just placed two plastic-wrapped white packages.

"Frank, what’s wrong?" Jack began, half-rising to his feet. He got no further; Frank darted around the desk, seized the front of Jack’s shirt, yanked him up and shoved him against the wall – hard.

"You jerk!" the elder Hardy boy shouted in fury. "Just when I thought I could trust you again, you do something like this! You had that cocaine all along, didn’t you? And now you’re going to deliver it to those creeps? I’m sick of you, Jack – sick and tired of all the lies! None of us deserve to be treated like this – least of all, April."

"Frank, listen—" Jack tried to speak, but Frank shook him sharply, and slammed him against the wall again. Jack gasped at the impact.

"You had the real stuff the whole time. What if Deke and Ernie had tried to drown April, instead of you? Would you have given it to them then? Or what if that bomb had killed her and Joe…would you have felt free to do what you wanted with the drugs then?"

Frank felt hands clutching at him; Roger Taylor was attempting to pull him away from Jack. "Frank, don’t do this, let us explain—"

Frank abruptly released Jack and turned on Roger. "And you – you call yourself an agent for Drug Enforcement? How could you let him get away with this? Was he cutting you in on the profits as well?" He doubled up a fist, aching to hit one or the other of the two men to give release to his anger. "How dare you?" he shouted.

Jack moved forward and caught his wrist before the blow could be delivered. "Frank, listen, please listen to me!" he pleaded. "You’ve got this all wrong! Roger brought this from the evidence room at DEA headquarters…Frank, listen," he repeated, as the elder Hardy struggled against the restraining hands. "It’s for another sting – ask your dad, if you don’t believe me!"

"He’s telling the truth, Frank," Roger Taylor added, releasing Frank’s arms, but moving out of range of his fists. "We’re setting up for another try to catch Deke and Ernie tonight. Your dad knows about it—"

"You probably lied to Dad, too!" Frank hissed, still trying to jerk free of Jack’s grasp.

"No, I don’t think he lied to me," a voice said from the door. All three of the room’s occupants jumped, and turned toward the sound. Fenton Hardy stood in the doorway, his face very somber. "Frank, calm down, son. I think you misunderstood the situation a little."

"Dad—"

Jack let go of Frank’s wrists as he felt the boy relax. "Frank, it’s okay. Let Fenton explain it, huh?"

Still suspicious, Frank let himself be steered to a chair. He sat down and stared up at his father. "You can explain it, Dad?"

"Jack is telling you the truth, son. We’re going to make another attempt to catch Deke and Ernie tonight. And the cocaine is here with the complete knowledge of Roger’s superiors at the DEA." Fenton placed a hand on Frank’s shoulder. "I understand how you read it wrong, walking on it like this, but it really is legitimate."

Jack sank into his own chair behind the desk. "Frank, what’s it going to take for you and Joe not to automatically assume the worst about me?" he said wistfully. "I thought we were friends."

Frank felt like a complete idiot, and very guilty. "I’m sorry, Jack. I just – I’m sorry. I guess I jumped to a wrong conclusion." He considered what his father had said. "Dad, Joe and I should be here tonight, shouldn’t we? For backup?"

"No!" Jack exclaimed, before Fenton could answer. "You two promised to look after April!"

"But two more people for backup – Jack, you need us! Deke and Ernie aren’t pushovers!" Frank insisted.

"You’re just boys," Roger Taylor said disdainfully. "This is a job for grownups."

Out of Roger’s line of sight, Fenton Hardy winced at that comment. That was the wrong thing to say! he thought, and waited for an explosion. To his surprise, Frank just stared at the DEA agent for a moment, and then turned away, but Fenton saw the hurt in his elder son’s dark eyes.

"Jack, you believe Joe and I are capable of helping with this, don’t you?" Frank asked now, very quietly.

"Of course you’re capable." Jack replied gently. "Roger is mistaken, if he thinks you aren’t. But Frank, remember – you told me today that Joe was capable of looking after April alone – and only a couple of hours later, both of them were nearly killed by a car bomb." Jack paused, recalling Joe’s telephone call about his discovery at the Waynes’ home. My fault – that was my fault again! But this will pay them back for it…. "Please, Frank – I really do care what happens to April. I won’t be able to carry through with this plan if I’m worried about her. You and Joe protect her, and trust your dad to do the same for me."

Frank bit his lip. You’re not being fair! It wasn’t Joe’s fault there was a bomb in that car! he thought. But as he opened his mouth to utter these words, Jack was continuing with his persuasions:

"What if Deke and Ernie plan something against April, expecting me to think she’s safe since they will be here with me? Some sort of retaliation for holding out on them in the first place?"

"She’ll be safe at our house, with Mom." Frank protested. "They don’t even know she’s there."

"But they do!" Jack quickly explained Joe’s recent phone call. "They must have heard me ask if she could stay at your house. Do you really want Laura in that position?" Jack didn’t ask Frank the question, he directed it toward Fenton. "Trying to protect April from something those two bums dreamed up?"

Now Roger added another brick to the wall. "Jack has a point there. Deke and Ernie aren’t known for playing with kid gloves. It would be just like them to try to send Jack a message by hurting April, even if they do get the drugs. It would be better if you and your brother are with her, Frank."

Frank looked from Jack to his father to the agent. All of them looked soberly back. They’re all against me…I can’t argue them all down.

Roger continued his argument. "Plus, I’ve seen April around the air strip. She’s a wild card here. I think it’s safe to say that if she had any inkling of what’s going on tonight, she wouldn’t stop until she found a way to check things out for herself. If nothing else, you and Joe can keep her from coming here and getting herself hurt again."

Frank dropped his eyes, defeated. "All right. I don’t like it, but I’ll go along with it." He raised his head and stared at his father. "But if you thought convincing me was hard, just wait until you try to convince Joe."

*****

Fenton had called Laura, telling her he would be tied up with work, and not home for dinner. Frank took a taxi home, and arrived later than expected, looking grim. In their shared bathroom, the boys met briefly before dinner, to share the events of the afternoon.

"…we were going to come straight home, but then April and I got to wondering how Deke and Ernie knew to set that bomb so that it would be there today." Joe related to his brother. "So we went over the Jack and April’s house and checked it out. There were phone taps and surveillance bugs there – they must have been planted the other day, after Jack had passed out. When you called him last night to tell him April and I were going to pick up her car—"

"—they heard the whole thing." Frank interposed dejectedly. "So it was really my fault – and Jack’s." He scowled darkly. "Just wait until you hear the rest…." As concisely as possible, Frank told Joe what had happened at the Wayne’s World hangar, and what was planned for that night. "…I offered to have one of us – or both of us – be there for additional backup. Deke and Ernie are tough customers."

"Yeah, I know." Joe rubbed his midsection reflectively, remembering an episode in a parking lot in the not-too-distant past. "So which of us goes?"

"Neither one," Frank muttered.

"Huh?" Joe stared, blue eyes wide. "But they need us…."

"Jack wants us with April." Frank explained. He related all the arguments that Jack, Roger, and Fenton had used on him. "Jack was especially adamant that we stay with her since you told him about the bugs – he realized that Deke and Ernie would know she’s here at our house. I couldn’t talk them down, Joe – I tried."

To the elder boy’s surprise, Joe took the news calmly, although his lips set in a grim line as he listened. He only shrugged, when Frank finished his explanation, and said, "I hope they don’t find out they were wrong." He slapped Frank’s shoulder and continued. "Let’s go down and have dinner; we can’t do anything about it now."

Accordingly, they went downstairs, where April and Laura were just setting supper on the table. Dinner conversation consisted mostly of talk between Laura and April; if either Frank or Joe was asked a direct question, he responded, but overall, both boys were quiet, lost in their own thoughts. April watched them, her eyes growing more and more suspicious as the meal progressed. She waited until Laura left the dining room to get dessert, and then addressed them both.

"Frank – Joe." She waited until two sets of eyes were fixed attentively on her face. "Look, I know something is wrong. You’re giving off bad vibes all over the place. I want to know what’s happened."

"It isn’t anything, April." Joe attempted to reassure her. "Sometimes we get a little antsy when Dad’s working on a case—"

"Stop it." she said quietly. "Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Does it have something to do with Jack?" She studied their faces intently. "Tell me. I heard what he said about doing something to stop Deke and Ernie, and I know he was going to ask your dad to help him. What’s going on?"

Frank looked across the table at his brother, and an unspoken thought passed between the two boys: We have to tell her…she’s been lied to enough already. She has a right to know.

"Jack’s setting up another sting operation for tonight." Frank said quietly. "He’s going to tell them he’s got their stash of cocaine, and to come to the hangar to get it. Dad and – Dad’s there with him." Frank almost said "Dad and Roger" before realizing that April knew nothing of the agent’s true identity.

"We wanted to go and help," Joe put in. "Or at least, one of us. But Jack wanted us to stay with you. He’s afraid those creeps might still try something else against you, since the car ploy didn’t work."

"Looked to me like it worked just fine," April commented wryly. "But I understand what you mean." Her forehead knotted in a scowl. "Darn Jack, anyway! What does he think he is, some kind of superhero?"

"What do you mean?" Frank asked, puzzled.

"He’s doing this because he thinks he has to prove to me that he’s some kind of great and perfect older brother!" she snapped bitterly. "Vengeance for Jesse Robertson! Capturing the drug-dealers and runners! Clean up the environment! Save the whales! Doesn’t he know that I would rather he would be just an ordinary big brother – someone who’s there in the evenings when I have a question about geometry?"

Joe, although he sympathized with April, was hard put not to laugh at her words. Oh yeah – been there, done that! He looked hastily down at the tabletop to hide his dancing eyes. Luckily, Frank was speaking.

"April – Jack said something to me – he thinks that you expect him to be the perfect older brother. That’s why he tries so hard to do everything – he thinks that’s what you want."

"Where in the world did he get that idea?" April stared at Frank in consternation, and swallowed hard before continuing. "I never knew my mother – and it was horrible, losing Dad last year. I just want to know Jack is there when I need him – to know that I’m not going to come home one day and find out he’s gone as well. I don’t expect him to be perfect – I just expect him to be there!" Sudden defiance sparked in April’s hazel eyes. "I’m not going to sit here and wait for you – or someone else – to come back and tell me that Jack’s gone now, too. If there’s anything I can do to help him, I’m going to do it."

"There isn’t anything you can do," Joe reminded her. "Jack doesn’t want you to be in danger."

"But I don’t want to just wait! " she wailed.

At that moment, Laura Hardy walked back into the room. "I heard what you were saying." she said quietly. "It’s one of the hardest things in the world, April." Laura sat down next to April and encircled her with a comforting arm. "It’s never easy for me to watch Fenton or the boys put themselves in danger; never knowing if someone is going to knock on the door, or I’ll get a telephone call – and hear that they’re never coming home again. But sometimes, April – sometimes you just have to trust the ones you love to come back."

April’s eyes were brimming with tears as she listened to Laura’s words. Frank felt his throat constrict with emotion, and when he glanced over at Joe, he saw his younger brother’s eyes were tightly shut, and he was biting his lip. Mom hardly ever says anything like that…we never thought about how she might feel….

"I’m sorry, Mrs. Hardy." April whispered. "I’ll…wait….I’ll wait for Jack to come back."

*****

In the darkness of the Wayne’s World hangar, Fenton Hardy crouched behind stacked crates. He could see light streaming from Jack Wayne’s office cubicle through the open door; it cast deep shadows around him. Although he could not see Roger Taylor, he knew the agent was somewhere across the room, also concealed from view.

If anyone had been watching Jack Wayne, that person would have assumed the pilot was talking to himself as he shuffled papers on his desk…but Fenton Hardy knew differently. Jack wasn’t talking to himself; he was talking to his companions, by way of the transmitter he wore concealed under his jacket. Fenton and Roger waited in the dimness, listening to the quiet monologue.

"….Fenton, I know I’m doing the right thing here…but I have to admit, I’m a little nervous. I trust you and Roger to back me up, but I know how risky all this is….the code phrase is ‘it’s been a pleasure doing business with you,’ right? See, I remember! Fenton, listen up here – I just want you to know that if things go down wrong, I’ve always appreciated and valued our friendship. Thanks for being here for me in this. Do me a favor, though, would you? If something happens, and I don’t make it, make sure April knows how much I love her…and make sure she’s all right."

The detective found himself swallowing hard as he listened to Jack’s words. He wished he could say something to comfort and encourage his friend, but he was only wearing a receiver; Jack was the only one who could transmit now.

"Just so you know, Fenton…I’m not afraid to die. If I have to die to bring down Deke and Ernie, I’m prepared for that. But I’m scared to leave April alone. She’s lost so much already – too much for a kid to lose. She shouldn’t have to go through this as well. Tell her for me – tell her she’s a great kid, and she’s going to make Mom and Dad – and me – so proud. I already am so proud of her….If the worst happens, tell her I’m sorry for everything I’ve put her through the past couple of months." Jack stopped speaking for a moment, and cleared his throat, then went on. "I know she sometimes thinks I resent having to give up things, so that I can look after her, but I don’t – I never have. Tell her that for me, Fenton…that as much as I wish Dad was still here, I never ever thought twice about being there for her."

Fenton raised his hand and dashed tears from his eyes. Dear God! I wish there was someone I could tell these things to – that in the event of something happening to me on a case…if I never got to tell Laura goodbye, and how much I love her – to tell Frank and Joe how proud they’ve made me….

In the darkness, a blunt object descended swiftly, and struck Fenton Hardy on the back of the head. A bolt of searing pain shot through his skull and the detective sank to his knees, then crumpled to the floor, without uttering a sound. As blackness closed over him, he heard Jack’s final words: "But what am I worrying about? I know you aren’t going to let anything happen to me…."