Fenton quickly delivered two more blows to the man which slowed him down; but nothing more. Before another blow could be delivered, the door flew open and four uniformed officers entered the room. The man who had been about to send a blow to Fenton's face dropped his arms in defeat and stood still. Fenton stepped back and Frank dropped his arms and moved away so the police could get close enough to place the man under arrest. As two of the officers moved closer, the man grabbed at the weapon on the waist of one of the officers and pulled it out, shoving the officer into the first one at the same time. He lifted the gun in Fenton's direction and fired. Fenton fell to the floor, his head seeping blood, as the other two officers rushed over and subdued the man.

***

"Oh dear," said Gertrude Hardy, the stern, elder sister of Fenton Hardy as she entered the emergency room a little later that day. "Frank, are you all right?" she demanded of the brown headed youth who so closely resmebled his father.

"Yes, Auntie, I'm fine," Frank assured the distraught woman who had raised him since his mother's death almost eight years ago. "Dad is too," he added, his soulful brown eyes still alight from the news he had just received from the doctor prior to his aunt's appearance. "The bullet just nicked his head. He's going to be fine. The doctor said we could even take him home in the morning."

"Can we see him now?" she asked, her own brown eyes losing some of their fear.

"I was just waiting on you," Frank answered. "They have him in room 315." The two walked down the hall and entered the elevator which took them to the third floor. When they entered room 315 they could see that Fenton was still unconscious and the two took seats to wait for him to awaken.

Nearly an hour had passed when Fenton moved his head and groaned. "Laura," he whispered the name. His eyes flickered open and he winced when the harsh light from overhead hit his eyes. Soon, his eyes had become accustomed to the light and they remained open.

"How are you feeling dad?" Frank asked, coming to stand beside his father's bedside.

"Like I got run over by a locomotive," Fenton replied. "What happened?"

"Burkett got a hold of one of the officer's guns and shot you, but the bullet just scraped your head and went into the wall," Frank informed him. "Burkett and Davis are both in jail now. I gave Officer Riley the evidence you found. He says he doesn't think they will ever stand a chance of getting out of jail after this." Burkett and Davis had been arrested several times but each time something had happened to either cause a mistrial or to have the charges dropped. Fenton Hardy, a private investigator who had once worked for the New York City Police Department had decided to get some hard evidence against the men so no witnesses would actually be needed to convict them.

After almost four months of searching, he had found the evidence he needed. Luckily, he had been in Bayport when he found it. Fenton had become convinced that someone in the NYPD was altering evidence to allow for the mistrials. With the arrest occurring in Bayport, this could not happen. Fenton had vowed he would find the perpetrator in the NYPD but his old partner on the force, and the current Chief of Police, had promised to take care of that matter if Fenton would just get the evidence needed to get Burkett and Davis off the streets. The way his head felt now, he was glad Sam Peterson had promised to handle the matter.

"Dad, who is Laura?" Frank asked curiously, remembering the name Fenton had mumbled before he had been fully conscious.

Fenton gave a sad smile. "Laura Quinn," he replied. His eyes took on a far-a-way look as he thought about her. "I had forgotten," he added.

"Forgotten what?" Frank demanded.

"Just before you were born, I resigned from the NYPD," Fenton began his explanation. "My first case as a private investigator took me to a small town in California. There I got into a brawl with Damien Thompson, the man I had been chasing concerning securities fraud. He got the upper hand and attacked me. He must have thought I was dead because he left me lying in a ditch near the outskirts of town. When I came too, there was the most beautiful woman staring down at me with blond hair and blue eyes. She helped me up and to her car and then drove me to her home. I couldn't remember anything. I didn't know why I was in town, why I had been in the ditch, or even my own name.

"Her father was the local doctor. He took care of my injuries and contacted the police. No one claimed me. After a month, I still didn't know who I was. I started going by the name Joe Daniels. It was a favorite of Laura's. She and I became close. We....we became lovers." Frank looked at his dad in shock. "I had gone undercover and left my wedding ring behind," Fenton explained in his own defense. "I had no idea I was married. Anyway, another month went by and Thompson returned to town. I didn't recognize him, but he recognized me. I was on my way to work, I had gotten a job at the local restaurant as a cook, when he jumped me. He told me I should have died last time, but now I would die and everyone would think I had died trying to fight off a mugger. He used a crowbar to take me down.

"When I woke up, I was in the hospital and this young woman was there by my bedside. She seemed awfully concerned. The sheriff arrived and I told him about Thompson, explaining the last attack and the previous one. The doctor came in and was glad to see I had regained my memory. I didn't even know I had lost it. I remembered the two seperate attacks, but none of what had gone on in between. The woman asked how I was doing. When I asked who she was, she turned away from me and the doctor and the sheriff left the room.

"She told me she was the doctor's daughter and had found me in the ditch after the first attack. I thanked her and asked her what day it was? When she told me, I demanded a phone so I could call Sarah," Fenton smiled at Frank. "I was terrified you had been born in my absence," he added. "I called Sarah. When I asked if you had been born yet, Laura went very still. When I hung up, I was relieved and told her I hadn't missed my child's first appearance in the world." Fenton quit speaking and his eyes grew sad.

"What happened then?" Frank asked, seeing his dad was hurting.