Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

The young man moaned and tried to move away from the stroking hand, tried to wave a hand to fight off the caress – but found that his arms wouldn’t work and his body refused to cooperate. Next, he attempted to open his eyes and see who was bothering him...but it was simply too much effort.

He finally settled back, deciding that he liked the softness of his bed, and relaxing into the soft stroking of the unseen hand.

“Can you hear me?” The voice was low and even, a little raspy. It lulled the young man even further.

“Yes,” he replied immediately.

“Good,” the voice continued. It wasn’t a familiar voice to the young man, but he didn’t really care; he was warm and comfortable, and the stroking was soothing and relaxing. “Now, let’s talk a bit, shall we?”

“All right,” he said agreeably. He didn’t mind talking, so long as he didn’t have to move. He felt even more disconnected from his body; as if he was floating in a large, calm body of water, moving serenely along with the tiny waves, content to be part of the scenery around him.

“Tell me,” the voice continued, “do you love your parents?”

“Yes.” Easy question.

“And your brother?”

“Yes.” That was easy too. Were there going to be harder ones?

“And your girlfriend?” The voice grew a little softer, the stroking more gentle.

“Yesssss,” the young man agreed fervently. His girlfriend. Oh, yes. He felt a smile grow on his face, and he sank dreamily into delicious lassitude. So warm...and comfortable....

The stroking stopped for a moment, and his smile diminished at its lack. Why had it stopped? Were they done talking? If they were done, he was going to sleep. No sense in being awake for nothing, right?

“Tell me.” It was the voice again, lower now, barely there. Maybe they weren’t done after all? But why was the guy talking so softly? “Have you ever...been with...your girlfriend?”

“What?” He was confused. He wanted to open his eyes, but they seemed to be so heavy – weighted down, almost as if he was buried in sand. He sighed. What a strange question! He was with her as often as possible, of course! He smiled again, at the thought.

“Have you slept with her?” the voice asked delicately.

“Sure,” he replied, still smiling. “Fell asleep beside her a few times, yeah.”

That answer brought a response that surprised the young man; a harsher word than he’d expected, in a harsher tone.

“Have you,” the voice continued in irritation then, much less gentle than it had been. The listener frowned in confusion. “Have you. Had sex. With your girlfriend?”

The young man would have blinked, had he been able to open his eyes. “No.” The question surprised him, and he suddenly found himself wondering why it was The Voice’s business, anyway. “Nope. Haven’t.”

The stroking resumed, gentle and even and comforting. “Good,” the voice said softly. “Very, very good. You’re as perfect as I thought.”

“Tha’s good,” he repeated sleepily. “Glad ya think so. Can I go t’sleep now?” The luxurious lethargy was pulling at him, drawing him down into slumber.

“Yes, go to sleep now,” the voice told him. “You will join us...soon.”

The young man stretched and yawned, then rolled over in bed and went back to sleep.

*****

Joe blinked his eyes open, squinting at the light streaming into his eyes through the open curtains. “Hey, why’re the curtains open?” he mumbled a protest. Sleepily, he debated the question of whether to simply roll over, away from the light, and go back to sleep, or get up, close the curtains, and then go back to sleep. He yawned and stretched, turning his head toward the other bed. He could see Frank asleep, lying straight and tucked in, as usual. Frank slept so neatly, it was almost annoying.

Lazily, Joe let his gaze travel toward the clock on the table between their beds – and then jerked to his feet in panic!

“Frank! Wake up! Get a move on! We have exactly ten minutes to get downstairs to the seminar!” Roughly, he grabbed his brother’s shoulder and shook it.

Frank bolted upright in bed, rubbing his eyes as he stared at the digital clock radio. “How’d it get so late? Why didn’t the alarm go off? Was it set?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember setting it. I don’t even remember going to bed last night!” Joe shook his head. For some reason, last night seemed very strange; he couldn’t remember what they’d done, or where they’d been....well, whatever. He felt fine now. “We’ve gotta run; we’re gonna be late!”

Joe threw on a blue, button-down shirt and dark blue slacks; he ran a wet comb through his hair, and brushed his teeth. “I’m ready! See you downstairs!” He grabbed his wallet from the dresser, checked to make sure the key-card was in it, and left, racing down the hallway towards the elevator.

Frank had been moving no less quickly; he’d donned brown slacks and a green-and-tan-striped shirt, and now moved to brush his teeth and run his electric shaver hastily over his cheeks. There were times he envied Joe’s blonde peach-fuzz; it was easier to get away with not shaving. He scowled at his reflection in the bathroom mirror as he combed his dark hair. Why had they overslept like that?

The question nagged at him as he made his way downstairs. He was almost always able to get up when he needed to, usually awakening before the alarm went off. Worse, he couldn’t even remember going to bed, and that set off warning bells inside his head. Why in the world wouldn’t he remember something like that? He was still puzzling over it when he reached the room where the seminar was being held, catching up to Joe just as his younger brother was entering. They spotted Megan and Vanessa, who waved them over.

“Hello, Sleeping Beauty!” Megan laughed as she gave him a quick, good-morning kiss and a hug. “We were about to storm the Bastille to rescue you from the depths of slumber! Neither of you responded to phone calls or us pounding on your door – what happened?”

Joe shook his head, sliding his arm about Vanessa, who handed him a cup of coffee. “Babe, I owe you my life for this!” He took a quick gulp, then continued, “I dunno, Red. I guess we were just dead tired. We both practically fell into bed, and slept right through the alarm – and we weren’t up that late; no later than you two. I woke up about ten minutes ago, and got him moving,” he added, jerking his head towards his older brother.

Megan feigned shock, staring at Frank in amazement. “HE got YOU up?” she gasped, her dimple flickering in her cheek.

Frank shrugged dismissively. “Even he gets lucky sometimes, you know? What’s Dad have for us – ow!”

Joe, having delivered a solid whack to the back of his older brother’s head, smirked.

This being the last day of the seminar, all of them had been requested to be on hand, both to be available to help, and to be around when thanks were extended at the end of the day. By now, they’d become acquainted with some of the attending law officers, at least enough to exchange friendly greetings with them. Detective Ekela gave Joe an appreciative nod and a quiet ‘thanks, young Joe,’ when the younger man was passing out evaluation forms; Captain Masukoko seemed much less formidable this morning than he had previously, as he smiled his appreciation of Megan’s offer of a cup of coffee. Chief Pauahi chatted with Frank about surfing, during the mid-morning break. And Lt. McCullough flirted openly with Vanessa all day, until Joe’s volatile temper began to rise. Vanessa, however, nipped the temper tantrum in the bud by giving her boyfriend reproving looks, and when that didn’t work to her satisfaction, turned her back on him and ignored him completely...until he grudgingly allowed that Dylan McCullough was no real threat, and settled down into what she considered polite behavior.

At two-thirty, Fenton declared the seminar completed, and smilingly accepted the fervent thanks of the Hawaii State Police Commissioner, plus several others. He re-introduced his ‘assistants’ – Megan got by far the loudest round of applause, to her blushing, dimpled delight – and the day was complete.

“Have a safe New Year’s Eve,” Fenton added a last admonition to the attendees as they exited the big room. “And Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!” a general chorus replied.

“You kids go on ahead and leave,” Mr. Hardy told his sons and the girls, when they gathered around him to ask for final instructions in gathering up his equipment and paraphernalia. “A lot of this stuff will simply get tossed into recycled paper; the equipment mostly belongs to the hotel. I’m going for a celebratory drink with Lt. McCullough and Captain Pauahi, and then Laura and I are going to the awards banquet for dinner, later. And then there’s a New Year’s Eve party at the hotel – for grownups, I might add.” He grinned. “You’re on your own!”

“So, what shall we do?” Megan queried the others, as they sat in comfortable chairs in the hotel lobby, debating their course of action for the rest of the afternoon.

“I’d kind of like to stick around the hotel – well, or close to it; the beach is fine – for today,” Vanessa said. “I still get tired faster than usual,” she admitted apologetically.

“Not a problem, babe,” Joe said, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “There’s plenty to do right here.”

“Tonight’s New Year’s Eve, too!” Vanessa went on. “I think there’s celebrations right here at the hotel going on – parties and stuff, and not just the one your folks are going to. Tomorrow, though,” she went on, “I know exactly what I want to do – Kilauea!”

“Yes!” Megan chimed in immediately. “The volcano! Let’s do that tomorrow!”

“Sounds like a good idea,” a voice unexpectedly broke in, and they jumped, surprised to see Fenton, accompanied by Lt. McCullough, standing behind Frank’s chair, grinning teasingly at their surprise. Evidently the two men were on their way to the bar for their drink. “I’ll see about arranging a tour for us, for tomorrow. A New Year’s Day outing.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Frank smiled his appreciation.

“No problem,” Fenton said. “Your mom and I want to see it too. See you later, kids.” He and McCullough moved on through the lobby.

“I’m hungry!” Joe declared. “I missed breakfast, and lunch was just a piddly little sandwich.” He flicked a surreptitious glance at Vanessa. “Do you suppose they have waffles on this island?”

She made a face at him, then laughed and stretched out her hand to meet his, as they sat in adjoining chairs. “It’s too late for lunch and too early for dinner, Waffle Boy! Maybe we can find a place that serves breakfast 24/7. But will you be hungry for dinner, then?”

“Sure!” Joe proclaimed. “I’m a growing boy, after all!”

Frank snorted. “I hate to break it to you, but you’ve probably already reached your full growth, so that excuse is out!”

“Hey, some of the NBA players had huge growth spurts while they were in college!” Joe protested. “Who says I won’t?”

“I do,” Frank said blandly.

“Don’t mind him, Joe,” Megan interjected, dimpling at the younger Hardy. “Maybe you will grow taller yet!”

Joe grinned, pleased. “Red, have I mentioned that you’re my absolutely favorite sister-in-law-to-be?”

She eyed him speculatively. “I’d hope I was your only sister-in-law-to-be!”

“Well, there is that....”

“You hungry?” Frank asked his girlfriend, who waggled her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture.

“If we eat now, then we might as well skip dinner,” Vanessa observed, glancing at her watch. “It’s already after three.”

Frank looked at his watch too, just for confirmation. He liked looking at it, since it had been his birthday gift from Megan. “We don’t have to skip dinner, we’ll just have a really late one,” he proposed. “We’ll be up past midnight tonight, celebrating, and we’ll eat late.”

Accordingly, they set out for the Mauna Loa restaurant, which was a short block away from their hotel. Once there, they were seated at a table outside, near the beach. A large umbrella shaded them from the sun, and the soft, tropical breeze wafted about them as they perused their menus.

“That’s what I want – a Krakatoa burger!” Joe said, enthusiastically.

Frank read the description, looked at the picture on the menu, and said, “If it’s named for a volcano, I wonder if it’s hot?”

“It sounds great,” his brother went back to extolling his choice. “It comes with prawns, grated cheese, and onions!”

Frank, shaking his head at Joe’s idea of haute cuisine, read through the list. He could see lots of things that looked good: lots of fish, steaks, chicken....

“I’m going to have the Opakapaka with grapes,” Megan announced, closing her menu. “It sounds yummy!”

“Hawaiian Fruit Platter,” Vanessa sighed blissfully. “Pineapple and more pineapple! And melons and kiwi! And mango sherbet on the side!”

“Ono with spinach and Gorgonzola,” Frank decided at last.

Joe huffed indignantly as he heard their choices. “There’s nothing wrong with a cheeseburger, ya know – you bunch of would-be gourmands!”

“Temper, temper,” Frank said placidly. “We’re not stopping you from having your burger, are we?”

When their meals were served, all the food was as delicious as they’d expected it to be. Joe admitted that his Krakatoa burger was a bit on the hot-and-spicy side...and he loved it, thank you very much! He offered to share bites, but only Vanessa took him up on it, and she shrieked after one nibble, and hastily returned to her fruit platter.

While they ate, they discussed how to spend the remainder of the day. Vanessa confessed that she wanted to do a bit more shopping, at which Joe rolled his eyes resignedly, and then pasted a sweet smile on his face. Megan said she wanted to spend some more time on the beach, swimming, catching the late-afternoon sun’s rays and deepening her tan.

“I can shop later, after the sun goes down,” she said, smiling. “How often do I have a chance to get a tan in December?”

“If we get done quick, we’ll join you on the beach,” Joe said hopefully.

They parted then, Joe and Vanessa heading for stores, and Frank and Megan walking slowly back towards the hotel, to get their swimsuits on and then head for the beach.

“See you in a little while,” Vanessa called back to Frank and Megan, as they left, and received affirming waves in return.

“What could be better than spending New Year’s in Hawaii?” Megan asked rhetorically as they walked along the warm sand. “Playing in the ocean and then partying the night away at a fancy beach hotel...Frank, this is Paradise, it really is!” She stopped, pulled her boyfriend to a halt also, and threw her arms about his neck. “Thank you for bringing me!” she whispered, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Frank didn’t bother to answer the question, he just held her tightly against him, agreeing completely with her. Paradise...surf, sun, sand, New Year’s Eve...and Megan. Oh, YEAH!

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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.