"I won’t let you dictate my friends," Joe told him, ignoring his father’s command. He got up and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door.

"Fenton," Laura said, getting up and going to stand in front of him, both hands on her hips as she glared up at him with blazing blue eyes. "I can understand your not wanting me to spend any time with him. But there is no reason why Joe shouldn’t be allowed too. Stan has been nothing but nice to Joe. He took him fishing after you," and here she rammed her finger into his chest, "promised and backed out. He has spent more time with your son in the past two days than you have in the past two months!"

"I know!" Fenton shouted angrily. "I know," he added, more softly. "It’s just..."

"Just?" Laura pushed, not letting him get away with his behavior.

"I don’t want Joe bonding with Axemeyer. I want him bonding with me," Fenton admitted sadly. "He’s been pulling away from me for quite some time now."

"Can you blame him?" Laura demanded.

"No," admitted Fenton with a sigh. He headed upstairs and to Joe’s room, rapping lightly on the door. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"I guess," mumbled Joe.

"I’m sorry," Fenton said, coming in and sitting down at the foot of Joe’s bed. "I was wrong."

"But what do you have against him?" Joe asked.

"Nothing," admitted Fenton. "Except for the fact that you were spending so much time with him."

"Huh?"

"I’m jealous," Fenton told Joe, looking at him with sad puppy dog eyes. "I want to be the one to take you fishing and golfing if that’s what you want to do."

"Dad, I know you have obligations," Joe said. "It’s okay. Really."

"No, it isn’t," he denied. "And I intend to make it up to you. Once this case is over, what say you and I go on a week long camping trip? Just the two of us? No phones or radios."

"What about Frank?" Joe asked, knowing Frank would want to go too.

"He’ll get his turn," Fenton promised, smiling at Joe.

"I’d like that," Joe agreed, his smile genuine. "A lot."

Joe went back downstairs with his dad. Frank looked up as Joe took a seat beside him. Joe smiled at him and then the two boys turned to their father.

"Did you find anything at the hotel?" Frank asked.

"Not much," Fenton said. "I found a coil of wire sealed in plastic and taped tot he back of the toilet. There was also a miniature detonation device beneath the shower head."

"So we’re definitely dealing with terrorists," Frank stated the obvious. "Any idea how many are, or were, involved in this?" he asked.

"No," was the dismal reply. "I don’t even know who or what the target is."

"Dad," Joe spoke up, an idea floating around in his head. "The Excelsior is a really pricey hotel."

"Yes, go on," Fenton urged him, wondering what he was getting at.

"And the two guys who tried to kidnap me were at the golf club. I know, they snuck in. But they had to have some knowledge of the lay out."

"You think someone, maybe a member of the club, is behind this?" asked Frank, his brow furrowing in thought.

"That’s a good theory," Fenton congratulated his youngest son. "We assumed the men rented the rooms at The Excelsior. But perhaps someone else took care of that detail for them."

"Reservations are required for the Royal Suite," Frank put in. "And that means they had to of used a credit card."

"I’ll call Ezra right away," Fenton said, moving over to the phone. He put through a call and told him of Joe’s idea. A few minutes later, he hung up.

"He’s going to get a warrant and find out who reserved and paid for the rooms," Fenton told his sons. "I’m going down to the station and will accompany him."

"Can we come?" asked Joe.

"I would rather you stayed here and took it easy for the rest of the day," his dad said. "You’ve been through enough for one day."

"Besides, tomorrow is a school day," Laura put in. "Do either of you two have any homework?"

"No ma’am," Joe responded and Frank shook his head.

"Why don’t you two go outside and shoot some hoops or something while I fix lunch, then?" she asked.

"An excellent idea," Fenton concurred. "It will take Ezra a little while to get the necessary paperwork." He stood and followed his sons through the kitchen and into the back driveway where the basketball net had been set up.

***

After lunch, Fenton headed down to the station and Frank and Joe went downtown tot he five and ten store to get Frank a new notebook. As they were leaving, a woman, not paying attention to where she was going, walked into Frank. She fell to the ground at his feet.

"Are you okay?" asked Frank in concern. The woman planted her hands on Frank’s feet to steady herself.

"Oops, sorry," she said, realizing what she had done. Frank helped her to her feet. "Oh, it’s you boys," Marylin said, recognizing the Hardys. "I am glad I bumped into you...well, not glad I literally bumped into you but," she gave a small laugh. "You know what I mean. I wanted to thank you for sending Chet and Callie over. They are working out great."

"I’m glad," Frank said. "We felt kind of bad about leaving you in the lurch like that."

"Think nothing of it," she told him. "I’m glad you two caught those hoodlums. That is not the type of clientele we want at The Excelsior."

Bidding her goodbye, the two boys headed hoe as she entered the store. "Want to shoot some more hoops?" Joe asked.

Frank shook his head. "I don’t think that is an option," he said. "Didn’t you see mom looking at the yard when she called us in to lunch?"

"Yeah, I guess it does need our attention at that," Joe agreed with a grimace. "I’ll mow if you’ll take hedge duty?"

"Deal," agreed Frank.

Joe had already gone inside to shower and change while Frank put up the lawn mower when Fenton returned home. "What’s wrong?" he asked, seeing the frown on his father’s face.

"It was a bust," he replied. "The credit card had been stolen from a house that was burgled while the owner was on vacation."

"Great," groaned Frank. "We’re right back where we started," he said as they entered the house.

"Not necessarily," Fenton quickly corrected him. "Joe still had a good idea. Someone at the club may be involved."

"I can go in undercover," Frank said. "But since Joe went with Axemeyer, he can’t."

"But I can go back as Stan’s guest," Joe said, coming into the room, his hair still dripping from his shower. "I’m sure Stan wouldn’t mind taking me back. He did want to give me another golf lesson."

"I’m sure you’re right," Fenton said, gritting his teeth. Frank could see how much effort it was taking for their father to agree. Frank glanced at Joe but he seemed oblivious to the animosity Fenton actually held toward the other man.

"I’ll go over and see if we can go tomorrow after school," Joe said, heading toward the front door.

"Dad," Frank said after Joe had left.

Fenton shook his head. "It’s okay," he said smiling sadly. "Joe was right. I can’t tell him who he can and can’t have as friends. And Axemeyer hasn’t done anything illegal. Not even anything immoral."

***

The next day after school, Frank and Joe were getting into the van when Stan’s jeep came to a stop behind the van. Frank his surprise as Joe ran over to the jeep.

"I thought we could get an early start," Stan told Joe. "Hop in."

"Great!" enthused Joe. "Let me give Frank my pack." He walked over to Frank and handed him his backpack. "We’re headed over to the golf club now," Joe told his brother. "Be careful when you get there. We don’t know who knows us and who doesn’t."

"Relax," Frank told him. "I’ll be careful. You just watch your back." Joe nodded and hurried back to the jeep. Seconds later, he and Stan were off.

Frank stood still, watching the jeep drive out of sight. Why was Stan so buddy-buddy with Joe? Could he be involved with the terrorist threat? He could have arranged the attempts on Joe; even his kidnapping the day before. It would be a great way for Stan to know what was going on in the investigation. And for someone who had kept their distance for three years, he seemed to be around a lot lately.