Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Frank awoke too early for his liking, the next morning. Evidently his body was still running on Eastern time, and thought it was long past mid-morning. The slivers of light coming in around the edges of the heavy drapes, however, looked more like early-morning sunlight, not the full blaze of day. When he blinked sleepily and focused on the bedside clock, he found it was only just past six a.m. Ugh! I could have slept for another hour, at the very least! That meet-and-greet doesn’t even start until eight, and we don’t have to be there for the whole thing!

Irritated but now too wide-awake to return to his slumbers, Frank sat up slowly, and stretched, sighing. He looked over at the other bed, and smiled when he beheld his younger brother. Joe was lying sprawled on his stomach, the blanket shoved down and wrapped about his pajama-clad legs; his face turned sideways and partially hidden by a pillow. Apparently reacting to Frank’s movements, he snuffled and rubbed at his face, then turned over, away from his brother and the soft light edging the windows. He pulled the pillow after him and pressed it close against his face once more. One deep sigh, and then it was very evident that Joe Hardy was deeply asleep again.

Frank got up, striving for silence, and trotted into the bathroom. There was no reason to wake Joe up this early, but since he couldn’t sleep, he might as well get on with the day. Lucky Joe, able to sleep in! He hoped that Vanessa was able to do the same, since she was still recovering from that nasty cold – and the dunking in the ocean last night probably hadn’t helped that recovery!

Showered and shaved, Frank got dressed, again making a real attempt to be quiet enough not to waken Joe. He chose one of the nicer outfits he had brought along – pressed gray slacks, a dark red polo shirt, and dress shoes. Since I’m officially working as Dad’s assistant at this seminar, I ought to try and make a good impression! He scribbled a brief note to Joe, advising his brother to do the same when he got dressed, and laid it prominently on the bathroom counter, where Joe couldn’t possibly miss seeing it. Briefly, Frank admired the polo shirt in the mirror; it was one Megan had helped him select, when he was buying clothes for school last fall.

Rubbing a towel over his dark hair as he emerged from the bathroom, Frank grinned upon seeing his brother’s state. Joe was now lying on his side, the blanket had slithered halfway to the floor, and his face was nearly obscured beneath the pillow. Stifling his laughter, Frank perched on the end of his bed and continued drying his hair, then pulled a comb through it until it was styled to his satisfaction, looking in the mirror over the bureau. He picked up his seminar packet, and rummaged through it to locate his name tag, which he fastened to his shirt.

Ready to go, Frank looked at the clock again. A little before seven…. He glanced at Joe once more. He really ought to be getting up…he won’t want to be late.

“Joe?” He touched Joe’s shoulder lightly. “Joe, wake up.”

A muted grumble was the only response Joe made.

“Joe. Wake up.” Frank tried again, shaking a little harder this time.

Joe moved, brushing a hand across his face, and for a moment Frank thought he’d succeeded in his attempts, but instead of opening his eyes, Joe merely rolled over onto his other side and snuggled deeper into the pillow.

Sighing, the elder Hardy abandoned the effort. “All right, you’re on your own,” he said aloud. A sudden idea made his dark eyes sparkle wickedly.

Frank exited the room and scanned the hallway. Deserted. Too early for the housekeeping staff to be about, and evidently too early for any other of the hotel’s occupants to be stirring, either, at least on this floor. He crossed the hall and tapped on the opposite door.

A moment later, it opened a crack and Vanessa peered out inquisitively. Seeing who it was, she gave him a sleepy smile. “Good morning.”

“Morning, Van. Megan up?”

The blonde girl nodded. Her face was all Frank could see; she seemed to be concealing herself behind the door, and Frank realized belatedly that he’d probably gotten her out of bed. “She’s awake. She says—” She pulled back, and Frank heard his girlfriend’s muffled voice say something indecipherable. Vanessa popped her face into view again. “She says she’ll meet you in the coffee shop in ten minutes.”

“Okay. That works.”

“Joe still asleep?” Vanessa inquired then.

“Of course – need you ask? But he needs to get up pretty soon, to make it to that eight o’clock meeting on time. Think you could get him up?”

“You so underestimate my powers of persuasion,” Vanessa said, with pardonable pride. “You would be amazed at what I’m able to get Joe Hardy to do! So, no problem. I’ll let him sleep a while longer, then pound frantically on the door until he has to answer it, for starters.”

Frank reached into his jacket and produced his key card. “Better yet…” he said, letting his words trail off suggestively, and grinned, handing her the card. “Just get this back to me when you get downstairs.”

“Got it.” Vanessa winked, and withdrew. “See you at the meet and greet,” she said, and closed the door.

Deciding to grab a cup of coffee to hold him over until the Continental breakfast offered for the seminar attendees, Frank got in line in the coffee shop located beside the hotel lobby. He whistled softly to himself as he waited. I really love Hawaii. The early-morning air pouring into the open-walled café smelled sweet, like jasmine – or some other flowery fragrance he couldn’t pin down. What had those trees been? They were everywhere…. Megan had said…plumaria, that was it. I’ve always loved Hawaii, when we were here on cases before – or ended up on a case without meaning to, he amended, recalling prior incidents. Wish I could have seen more of the scenery when I was here before; everything’s so pretty. Well, maybe we’ll be able to do lots of sightseeing after the conference is over.

“Frank? Or Joe?” he heard a voice behind him say. Frank turned, to see a man standing behind him in line. Obviously Hawaiian, the man was large, quite large – at least two or three inches taller than Frank, and sturdy. He probably outweighed Frank by 50 pounds at the very least. He wore his dark hair long, brushed back into a ponytail that trailed halfway down his back. A badge was attached to his belt. “I’m Detective Meka Ekela, of the Hana police, on Maui. I’m assuming you’re one of Fenton Hardy’s sons?” There was a definite Island accent to his words, but it was easy to understand him.

Frank nodded and smiled, tapping his name tag. “You’re right. I’m Frank. Pleased to meet you.”

Detective Ekela explained that he was the sole representative of the Hana office attending the seminar. “It’s not a very large precinct, but I’m honored to be part of it – and I’m happy to meet you, Frank. Have you been on the island long?” The big man kept his eyes fastened on Frank, taking his measure.

“No, we just got here yesterday afternoon. I’ve been to Oahu and Maui before, and I was here on the Big Island for a science project a couple of years ago – but I’ve never gotten to see as much of the area as I’d like to. I’m hoping to correct that, this trip.” Frank was slightly unnerved by the big detective’s scrutiny, and felt uncomfortable for a moment – and then realized he recognized the look. It was identical to the one he’d seen his dad give to someone he was sizing up – or investigating. He’d seen it on Con Riley’s face too, and Chief Collig’s. He relaxed, recognizing the expression as ‘I’m a cop; I’m never off duty.’

“Hey, Frank!” The soft voice and a hand slipping into his, announced Megan’s arrival. “No coffee yet? We’re going to have breakfast at the meet and greet, right?”

“Right, we are; no, I haven’t, and good morning, beautiful.” Frank dropped a light kiss on the top of Megan’s head. “Detective Ekela, this is my – this is Megan Wright. Megan, Detective Meka Ekela, from Hana, on Maui.”

Megan’s dimpled, mega-watt smile was turned on the policeman, and he smiled in automatic response as he nodded. “Aloha, nani wahini. I’m pleased to meet you.” But despite the welcoming words, Ekela was using that same scrutinizing gaze on Megan as he had leveled on Frank – and Frank found he wasn’t nearly as comfortable with that laser stare now. “She is yours, Frank – your girl?” the detective grinned, his dark eyes twinkling. “She belongs to you?”

Frank laughed at that. “I doubt that Megan would care to be listed as one of my possessions,” he said, “but yes, I have the pleasure of being her boyfriend.” And it goes further than that, his mind continued silently.

Megan smiled demurely, gently rubbing the ring on her left hand. She gripped Frank’s hand a little more tightly, then laughed as Ekela continued to speak.

“If I were a few years younger, youngster, I’d give you a run for your money with this one!” He winked at Frank, as Megan blushed.

Frank felt himself blushing too. He laughed again, and nodded. “Megan’s the most special girl in the world, sir – I’m glad people know it when they see it.”

“Frank…” Megan shook her head at him, her cheeks turning even pinker.

“I’d better go; I can grab coffee at the Continental breakfast,” Ekela decided, and turned away. “Nice meeting you both.” Moving swiftly despite his bulk, the detective disappeared from the café.

Securing their coffee, Frank and Megan found seats at a small table beneath a towering palm tree. Several other linen-covered tables were scattered about the large lanai. A long, narrow pond curved itself about near the tables, filled with brightly-colored koi swimming lazily and poking their snouts out of the water, hoping for handouts.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Megan commented, with a contented little sigh. She looked down at the fishpond. “I wish I’d bought some toast or something, now – they want to be fed.”

Frank chuckled. “They don’t need to be fed, they just WANT to be fed. They’re fat as it is! I remember a hotel we stayed at in Honolulu – there was one restaurant that was built around a whole lot of koi ponds. No matter where you sat, you were near the fish.”

“There’re your parents,” Megan observed, pointing to Fenton and Laura as they emerged from the elevator bay and approached the coffee shop. She waved, and they smiled and returned the greeting. They were walking slowly, hand in hand, obviously relaxed and enjoying their surroundings. Megan was reminded of Lake Tahoe once more…before things had started going downhill.

When his parents reached them, Frank tilted his face up to receive a light kiss on the cheek from Laura. Fenton busied himself pulling two more chairs up to the table.

“Don’t you need your laptop this morning, Dad?”

Fenton nodded, seating himself. “I’ll get it a little later. I didn’t want to lug it down here to the coffee shop.”

“How are you two this morning?” Laura inquired, calmly annexing Frank’s cup of coffee and sipping.

“I’m great! I can’t wait to get out and see more of Hilo!” Megan smiled. “But even this is incredible!” she added, gazing happily around the beautiful café.

“I agree, it’s great here,” Frank concurred. “I love it too. Dad, what do you have planned for this morning’s session?” he asked.

“I’m going to kick it off with ‘observing your surroundings,’” Fenton replied. “Something to emphasize the importance of observation. It’s a hands-on sort of class, so I’ll need you both there to help. Frank, I’d like you to run the slide presentation on the computer; that starts the presentation. Megan, I’m going to assign you the incredibly important job of handing out paper, pencils and pens, course outlines, and all that sort of thing. All the things they should have brought, but forgot to.”

Megan dimpled. “I think I can handle that. I’d be more than happy to.”

Seeing that if he didn’t take pre-emptive action his mother was going to abscond with all his coffee, Frank made a hasty trip to the counter again, and brought back cups for both his parents – and a piece of toast for Megan to shred and toss to the fish. By the time the bread was gone, Fenton had gulped down his coffee and was rising to his feet.

“I think I’d better go get the laptop and maybe run through the slides once more; make sure everything’s in order. After all, this was a really last-minute affair to put together…”

“Relax, darling, you’ve gone through them a dozen times already,” Laura said soothingly. “You know you’ll be fine – you’ll be great!”

Her husband shrugged and grinned shamefacedly. “I admit, I’m nervous about this. I haven’t had much prep time, it all came up so suddenly. I just need to work through the jitters, I suppose.”

“Mr. Hardy – uh, I mean…Fenton,” Megan corrected herself, seeing his dark eyes twinkle at her teasingly, and recollecting their conversation in the Los Angeles airport. “I know you’ll be great; I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say. I’ll get the benefit of learning from you as well as working for you!”

Fenton raised an eyebrow at that, but he smiled and patted her hand, and then tugged affectionately at one of the red-gold curls. “Thank you, honey.” He leaned over and kissed Laura, then turned and headed for the elevators.

Frank, who had not been privy to the particulars of his father’s talk with Megan, elevated his eyebrows in simulated shock. “Fenton? You’re calling him Fenton?”

Frank finished securing all the connections from the projector to his father’s laptop computer, then hit the buttons on the remote control provided for the projector. Thankfully, everything seemed to be working correctly, and the laptop display showed up where he expected it to. Breathing a sigh of relief, Frank glanced over at the entrance to the big conference room, and spotted Megan handing out outlines and other paraphernalia to the various police officers as they entered.

She’s charming the socks off ‘em! he thought, as he saw the dimple flash, and heard that irresistible soft laughter that characterized the petite redhead. She was speaking to nearly everyone who came in, welcoming them with the grace and poise which came so naturally to her. He saw a familiar blonde head and face in the doorway, towering over most of the others – Lt. Dylan McCullough had arrived.

McCullough paused to speak to Megan, and the watching Frank saw her blush, and heard her laughter peal out again. Evidently Dylan was still being as aggressively charming as he had appeared the day before! Slightly disgruntled, Frank kept his eyes on them – and as if he had felt the gaze, McCullough looked up, grinned in a friendly fashion at Frank, and sketched a half-salute of greeting, a sort of one-finger tap to the side of his forehead. It was as if the older man had said, Hey, I know you’re there – trust me, I’m harmless! Frank relaxed and grinned in return.

Getting back to work, he blanked the projector so he could run through the slides, then set the slide show onto the first slide and turned the blank off again so the first slide appeared on the large screen just behind and above his father’s head, reading: Do You See What You Really See? Then he looked again at Megan, who caught his eye and smiled and fluttered her fingers in a tiny wave, before she returned to handing out more outlines.

Frank wriggled slightly, getting more comfortable on his stool, and watched as his father walked up to the podium at the front of the stage, and set a notebook on top of it. Fenton tapped the microphone lightly, to make sure the sound system was working properly, and at this subtle suggestion, the police officers began making their way to seats.

When everyone had found his or her place, Megan quietly shut the doors and took her own chair next to them. Fenton cleared his throat, and began his talk, introducing himself, welcoming the officers, and then launched into his talk.

“Observation is one of the most important aspects of law enforcement and detective work, and an integral part of any security procedure—”

After being assured his father was well into his speech, Frank spent the next few minutes watching his girlfriend, instead of listening. Megan, on the other hand, seemed enraptured by Fenton’s talk. Well, she hadn’t grown up with it being discussed over the dinner table, as he and Joe had, Frank mused, and smiled as he turned his attention back to the front. He switched on the projector at the appropriate moment, and started the slide show.

Just as one slide changed smoothly to the next, however, an alarming thing happened – the overhead lights, which had been partially dimmed to allow the slides to show better, suddenly went completely dark, leaving the room illuminated only by the soft glow of the slides themselves!

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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.