Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Now that’s strange...very strange! Megan held out the phone receiver and frowned at it. Her apprehensions about a possible crisis with her mother were rapidly disappearing, to be replaced with puzzlement. Who could have been calling me – and why did they hang up before I could answer? Slowly, she replaced the receiver, still wondering what was going on. Had someone cut the call off? Had the mystery caller been on a cell phone and the signal had been lost?

Definitely a mystery here!

She walked over to the reception desk to see if she could get any more information about the call.

“Excuse me,” she began, once she caught the receptionist’s attention, “but do you know who was calling for me? Megan Wright? Whoever was on the line hung up.” She indicated the phone with a tilt of her auburn-curled head.

The receptionist shook her head. “I didn’t take any calls for a Megan Wright,” she replied. “Are you sure the call was for you?”

“Fairly sure,” Megan said. “A messenger came out onto the beach and told me there was an emergency call for me – but when I came in, there was no one on the phone!”

“I’m very sorry, Miss Wright, but there haven’t been any emergency calls,” the receptionist told her. “I apologize for the inconvenience. I don’t know why anyone would have given you that message.”

“Well...thank you anyway.” Perplexed, Megan retraced her steps back to the beach. When she arrived at their beach chairs, however, she stopped in surprise. Frank wasn’t there! And not only was Frank absent, but his lounge chair had fallen onto its side, and the towel he’d had over his eyes was lying in the sand.

Megan’s heart began to thud painfully in her chest. She bit her lower lip and looked around, hoping to spot him somewhere. Telling herself that Frank would soon return, Megan set his chair back in its place, and sat down on her own. A sudden thought occurred to her, and her relative peace was unsettled: what if Frank had awakened, found her missing, assumed something had happened to her, and charged off in search of her!? She looked around again and worried at her lip, undecided. If I go inside to look for him, I might miss him when he comes back out. If I stay here and wait,, and Frank’s inside looking for me, then he’ll be upset and worried....

After a brief mental struggle, she decided to wait for a few minutes here, and if Frank didn’t return, she would go in search.

She settled down on her lounge chair, but didn’t relax. She no longer appreciated the beautiful ocean vista spread out before her. The children who had been building the sand castles had finished their projects, and were now sitting on blankets or towels nearer the water, munching on picnic fare their parents had provided. There were a few people playing Frisbee further down the beach, and some others paddling about in the shallow waves, but Megan barely gave them a passing glance, other than to note that Frank was not among them.

She strained her eyes, hoping for a sight of Joe and Vanessa – or even Fenton and Laura. The more time passed, the more unsettled the girl became, and this was something she did not want to deal with alone! What if something terrible had happened to Frank?

You’re being silly, she chided herself a moment later. Nothing bad has happened to Frank. The Hardys don’t even know anyone here; there’s no way someone would have kidnapped him!

But silly or not, she couldn’t help worrying. Based on past experience, she knew that the unexplained disappearance of dependable, trustworthy Frank meant that he was in trouble – even here in this island paradise.

Unable to sit and wait any longer, Megan went inside the hotel and headed up to Frank and Joe’s room first. Perhaps he’d needed to come upstairs to get something or other, and couldn’t wait until she’d returned....She knocked on the door several times, and even called Frank’s name, although still making an attempt to not disturb the other hotel guests. But there was no answer.

She returned to the lobby, and walked down the corridor to the little shops connected with the hotel. She didn’t expect to find Frank there – now her quest was for help. She was looking for Joe and Vanessa!

When she finally spotted them coming out of one of the little stores, Megan felt a surge of relief. Surely Joe could find his brother!

“Vanessa! Joe!” Calling their names, Megan ran towards her friends. “I can’t find Frank!”

“You can’t find him?” Joe frowned in puzzlement.

“We went to the beach and he was lying down, asleep, and then I got this phone call, only when I got there no one was on the other end, and the receptionist said that there hadn’t been any call for me, and when I got back outside he wasn’t there anymore, and his chair was knocked over, and I’ve looked all over, outside and here in the hotel; I even went up to your room and knocked and there wasn’t any answer, and I can’t find him anywhere—”

“Whoa, whoa, Red!” Joe put up his hands to stem the tide of words. “Slow down.”

The little redhead stopped, embarrassed by the way she’d hurled the information at Joe and Vanessa. “It’s probably silly, but I’m worried,” she finished, striving for calm. “It’s not like Frank to just...disappear!”

“It’s not silly,” Joe assured her. “You’re right. It’s not like Frank to just disappear with no explanation. We’ll all work to find him, and I’ll call Mom and Dad if we need to. Let’s go up to the room, first. Maybe he’s there, and just didn’t hear you knocking.”

They returned to their floor, and Joe unlocked his room. There was no sign of Frank; the room had been tidied and the beds made by the hotel staff earlier in the day, and they looked undisturbed. Joe checked around, just in case his brother had set down a room key or something – but there was nothing to show he’d been there.

“Well, this is a strike-out,” he sighed. “Let’s go back downstairs and wander around down there. Maybe Frank will find us. I’ll check out all the men’s restrooms on the main floor...and once we’ve looked everywhere we can – searched top to bottom and side to side – then if we still can’t find Frank, then I’ll contact Dad and hotel security.”

“Shouldn’t we tell hotel security now?” Megan asked. “Or even one of the police officers who were here for the seminar? Lieutenant McCullough, maybe?”

“No.” Joe shook his head. “It hasn’t gotten to that point. Frank hasn’t been missing all that long, and there’s no way local law enforcement would take us seriously yet.” Although Joe was striving to make his tone upbeat and encouraging, there was a shadow of worry in his blue eyes. “Let’s start on the mezzanine. I’ll check out the bathrooms, then we’ll split up. One of us will stay in the central lobby area while the other two go in opposite directions. Then we’ll meet back in the lobby – with or without Frank in tow!”

Accordingly, they did so, but Joe’s search of the men’s rooms didn’t produce any results. No Frank.

“I’ll stay in the lobby,” Vanessa offered, and coughed a little.

“That’s a good idea, babe; you’re starting to look tired. You stay put.” Joe now had two reasons to worry: Frank’s disappearance and Vanessa’s tired appearance. Vanessa settled down on one of the comfortable sofas in the main lobby, and Megan and Joe separated to search in opposite directions.

Megan was on the end with all the shops. There were four separate corridors that led through the various boutiques and stores connected to the hotel, and she carefully went down each and every one of them, thoroughly examining the interior of each store before proceeding to the next one. Her stomach was starting to twist up into knots from anxiety as more and more time passed and more and more ground was covered...and there was still no sign of Frank Hardy!

What’s going on, anyway? If Frank’s okay, then where did he disappear to? If he’s been...kidnapped...why? We don’t know anyone here, except a bunch of police officers! And who would – how would anyone? – benefit from kidnapping Frank? There were those car thieves, she supposed, but Joe and Vanessa had seen them, not Frank!

Megan reached the end of the shopping mall with no glimpse of her boyfriend. Sadly, she retraced her steps, again looking into the shops as she passed them. When she got to the mezzanine, she found Vanessa talking to Laura and Fenton.

“Did you find him?” Fenton asked, as Megan approached – although of course, he could see that Frank wasn’t with her. Megan noticed that the detective’s brown eyes were concerned, but not really worried, and Laura still looked serene.

“Nothing.” Megan shook her head. “He’s just not there. He’s not anywhere. I looked...”

“Maybe Joe will find him,” Fenton said reassuringly. “Or he’ll turn up on his own in a little while. Maybe he went for a walk—”

“Mr. Hardy, he wouldn’t have just strolled off for a walk – especially without leaving a note or something!” Megan said sharply. “And why was his chair overturned? Why did I get that weird phone call?”

Fenton looked a little more worried now. “I don’t know, honey,” he admitted. “But we’ll find out.” I’ll find my son, one way or another, he added silently.

Joe arrived a few minutes later, shaking his head and looking grim. “No sign of him,” he reported. “I checked everywhere I could think of, and even took a quick jog back to the beach, but – nada.”

“Well, we can check the beach more thoroughly,” Fenton suggested, “but first I’m going to alert hotel security.”

Rather than waiting for him to return, the whole group trailed in Fenton’s wake. They saw Chief Pauahi crossing the lobby, and Fenton intercepted the police chief. In a low voice, Fenton told him of the strange occurrence of Frank’s disappearance.

Speaking in a voice as muted as Fenton’s, Pauahi questioned the detective for particulars. Megan, straining her ears to hear what was being said – without looking obvious about it – heard Mr. Hardy explaining about the mysterious phone call which had summoned her away from Frank’s side, and the overturned chair and abandoned towel on the beach.

Pauahi frowned in concern. “I’ll call the station and have a team sent over to lend a hand,” he offered quietly. “But this being New Year’s Day, we’re already stretched a little thin, lots of officers want the day off. You understand. Since Frank is over 18, I can’t contact Hawaii 5-0 yet; not enough time has passed – but that doesn’t mean I can’t give you a little unofficial assistance in finding him. If it turns out to be nothing, there’s no harm done. But time is a factor....”

They continued on and informed the hotel manager and desk clerks of the situation; the manager immediately went to contact the hotel security chief.

At that moment, Detective Ekela strolled up, looking cheerful as a cherub – until he saw the worried looks on Pauahi and the Hardys’ faces. “Aloha, Mr. Hardy – Chief Pauahi...is anything wrong?”

“My son Frank seems to be missing,” Fenton explained in a tone which was beginning to be clipped with frustration. He went on to explain the particulars of Frank’s disappearance.

“I’ll help look for him,” Ekela offered immediately. “I have to leave for Maui in a few hours, but I can spend that time productively, helping hunt down the missing boy.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Fenton said. He was about to continue, when a new voice interrupted him:

“Mr. Hardy! Mr. Hardy!” It was one of the front desk clerks hurrying over, towing a woman – one of the hotel maids, by her uniform – behind him. “This is Kachina Malari. She works the swing shift here in the hotel.” He drew the young woman forward. “Tell them what you saw, Kachina.”

Kachina, a typically pretty Hawaiian in her mid-twenties, with long black hair and dark brown eyes, nodded briefly before she began to speak.

“I was coming into the hotel through the back entrance, about two hours ago,” she began, “when I saw something I thought was strange. I didn’t realize then what I was seeing – but now I do. I saw the boy that was with the red-haired girl – you,” she indicated Megan, “being pushed into a large van. I didn’t think he was being pushed, then – I thought the two boys with him were just helping him get in. But I’m sure who it was. It was the dark-haired boy who is usually with you – or him.” She pointed to Joe now. “And he was being taken away!”

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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.