Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Chapter Title: Conspiring in a Motel Room

A petite woman walked down the corridor of the hotel. She brushed back a bright red lock of hair. The red was so garish that her hair had to have been dyed. She carried a purse over one shoulder and dragged a suitcase on wheels behind her. She stopped and read a room number. This was room 302. She looked carefully both ways. She knocked in a strange pattern and waited. Minutes passed with no response. She quickly took an envelope out of her purse. She shoved it under the door.

She then went to the next door. The even numbered rooms were all on one side of the hallway and the odd on the other. That made this room 304. The faint sound of a television came from it. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly in an effort to relax, and then knocked firmly.

There were sounds from inside the room, then a male voice said, "What do you want?"

The red-headed woman replied, "I was sent from Nevada ."

"Did you gamble?"

"I won twelve thousand, three hundred and twelve dollars."

The magic code given by that number, the man came and opened the door. Inside the room were a black-haired man and a dark-haired woman. Both held handguns.

The woman smiled and put down her gun, "Karen, I didn't think they'd send you."

"Hello, Joyce. Long time, no see. I just flew in and came to the hotel by taxi."

Joyce turned to the man, "Jason, remember Karen from training camp a few years ago?"

The man lowered his gun too and said, "The quiet, shy girl? Sure. Karen, you looked too frail for the exercises, especially since it was so blasted hot in that desert, but you always performed almost as well as me. Sorry about the guns. We can't be too careful since we killed one of the Hardly Boys today!"

Karen's face twitched, then she asked, "Which one?"

"I forgot his name. The light-haired one," Jason replied

"He means John, but I don't think we got him," confided Joyce. "Don't tell Tomlin, but Jason screwed up."

Jason said, "Don't just stand there in the hallway, Karen. Come on in!"

She did, pulling her suitcase in with her. Jason closed and locked the door. Karen noticed two leather coats tossed casually over a chair. She hung them in the closet so she would have a place to sit, then sat in the chair.

Joyce announced, "We're waiting for the TV news."

Jason insisted, "The bomb exploded just after we drove off. I still think we got the light-haired one!"

Joyce argued, "John Hardly was chasing you, for goodness sake! We barely got away!"

Karen instructed them, "Tell me what happened."

Jason and Joyce did so.

Jason ended, "I just can't figure out how the Hardly Boys discovered what I was up to. They were nowhere in sight. I did notice a mall guard watching me just as I was finishing putting in the bomb."

Joyce suggested, "The fat guy by the glass doors?"

Jason nodded.

Joyce offered, "I saw him too."

Karen wondered, "It might have been that mall guard who spilled the beans."

Jason smiled, "The mall guard probably thought I was just stealing a radio. He might have informed that light-haired Hardly boy. More brave than the mall guard, the light-haired boy chases me away to protect his radio. After I escape, he checks if the radio is still in the van, triggers the switch, and it’s all over! I think that’s what happened."

"His name is John," Joyce reminded him.

"Was John! He's dead now! Too bad we didn't get the dark-haired one too! I didn't see him anywhere."

"His name is Fritz," explained Joyce. "Sometimes, I'm amazed you remember your own name, Jason."

Jason said, “Nobody will care what their names are after they’re dead.”

Karen said, "Excuse me, I ate something that disagreed with me."

Karen went into the bathroom. Water ran and then the toilet flushed.

Joyce called out, "Hurry up, Karen! The news is starting!"

"This is going to be great!" Jason said with gusto.

Karen came out, her face slightly damp. She was pale and she unsteadily said, "Never eat at an airport restaurant. My stomach feels terrible."

Jason pointed at the television, "Look, there’s the story! Look at the damage my bomb did! I love setting off bombs!"

Karen informed him, "We won't be using explosive bombs for the rest of this mission."

Jason replied, "I know, I know. I think using the device Tomlin told us about will be fun too. It'll be elegant to kill people without destroying objects. Granted, I think destroying objects is fun, but this'll be a nice change of pace."

Karen remarked, "Tomlin provided me with a small scale version of that same device. It's in my suitcase. We are going to practice with it, but it is a working device and dangerous."

“Can I see it?” Jason begged.

"Let’s wait until after the news is over," Joyce insisted.

The television cut from surveying the lot to show Gordon Snuff being loaded into an ambulance.

"Who is that big guy?" demanded Jason.

"I have no idea," said Joyce.

"He's a detective," said Karen confidently.

Jason asked, "How'd you know that?"

Karen thought a moment, then replied, "I grew up in this city and know my way around. That’s why I was sent to help on this mission. He caught me for shoplifting when I was a young girl."

The narrator on the news explained that mall security officer Gordon Snuff was injured the explosion at the mall. He was out of surgery and listed in satisfactory condition. He was expected to make a full recovery.

Jason screamed, "Look at the TV! There he is! The light-haired kid!"

"John," Joyce supplied again.

Footage showed a trim, light-haired young man being strapped to a back board by E.M.T.'s, then being very gently lifted onto a stretcher.

Jason gloated, "I told you we got him! Look at that chick coming over! It's got to be his girlfriend! She's crying! Ha, ha! The light-haired kid...John...looks like he's going to kick the bucket! Tomlin will be pleased! Even if John doesn't die, it looks like his back was broken! That'd be even better as he'll be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life! I love what my bombs can do!"

Jason was so excited he got up and did a little dance. Joyce moved out of his way. Neither Jason nor Joyce noticed Karen wasn't even looking at the television. The newscaster then announced that John Hardly had received only minor injuries and had already been discharged from the hospital.

"Only minor injuries? That's not fair!" Jason growled as he stopped his dance and snatched up an ashtray.

He looked like he was about to throw it into the television, but Joyce jumped in the way.

Joyce said, "Not this time, Jason! I've had it with you breaking things when you get mad. Smashing the television attracts the wrong kind of attention."

Karen stood, reached out, and grasped the ashtray in Jason's hands, saying as she did so, "You drew blood. John just got lucky. We'll get him and his brother next time."

Jason let go of the ashtray and Karen set it down.

With John Hardly not on the screen anymore, Karen could finally bear to take a look. The camera was panning over the wreckage of what had once been a van.

Karen noticed, "It's hard to tell through the television picture, but that van looks like it had some kind of armor in it."

Jason said, "When I last spoke to Tomlin on the phone, he mentioned that possibility. I took that into account and used an extra powerful explosive. I know what I'm doing. Last month, I blew up an armored, bullet-proof limousine and killed a prime minister in South America."

On the television, a reporter said, "It appears the alert Mr. Snuff, a former private detective, discovered a bomb was being placed in the vehicle. While another mall security officer and the Hardly Boys kept people away from the van, Gordon bravely but unsuccessfully tried to disarm it. The true hero of today was Gordon Snuff."

The news show went to a commercial break.

"Tomlin is going to punish us for failing," remarked Joyce.

Karen asked, "Have you ever met Tomlin?"

Joyce replied, "Never, only spoken to him by phone. We know him by his reputation as the most effective Obliterator ever. Have you met him?"

"Yes, several times."

Joyce looked at Karen with new respect.

Jason slammed down a fist, "The Hardly Boys are cowards. That's why it didn't work!"

Karen asked skeptically, "What do you mean?"

"The fat mall cop...wait, I can remember his name...Gordon Snuff. See, I can remember names when I want! Gordon was sent to check out their van. Sacrificial lamb, see? Saves their neck, and he is too dumb to realize he's being used!"

"Tomlin’s not going to buy that excuse. We'll just have to try again!" announced Joyce.

"What's the big deal with killing these two young brats anyway? Our talents would be better used overthrowing a government again," Jason snapped.

"Tomlin ordered me not to tell you two to know the final target until after the Hardly Boys were disposed of," replied Karen.

Joyce asserted, "I heard there's a mole in our organization who’s doing even worse damage than the Hardly Boys, but they are the next worse threat. The Hardly Boys have crippled many Obliterator projects over the past few years. I'll bet we're taking them out to prevent their later interference in this mission."

“I see. A preemptive strike,” Jason said.

Not exactly confirming that, Karen said, "This job is so important that Tomlin sent me here to see you did the job properly. Tomlin didn't think you two could hack it. So far, it seems he was right, but I think we can turn that around."

The TV commercials were over. The newscaster started a retrospective of the bombing of the car at the same mall a few years ago.

The announcer said, "In that earlier explosion, Ivana Morrow lost her life. She was a straight‑A student at Port City High."

A photo of Ivana was shown on the screen. It looked taken from a high school yearbook, which it was.

Joyce announced, “Hey, she looks like you, Karen.”

Jason looked from the TV to Karen, "Karen looks totally different."

Joyce came close to Karen and looked closely at her face. Karen confidently held her gaze, chuckling as though amused.

Joyce recanted, "Karen’s face is a lot thinner. More haggard. Ivana’s face was cherubic."

Jason asked, “What’s that word mean?”

Joyce explained, “Cherubs are chubby, rosy-faced angels shown on greeting cards.”

Jason pondered, “You mean Ivana’s face looked like those fat angel baby faces?”

Joyce agreed, “Exactly. Karen’s face is nothing like that.”

Jason insisted, “That’s what I noticed when I said Karen looked nothing like Ivana. I just didn’t know that word: cherubic.”

Karen sighed in exasperation and said, "Now that you’re done with the paranoid games, we need discuss killing the Hardly Boys! It has to happen before Friday evening."

Jason said, "It's already Thursday. I wish Tomlin would tell us more."

Joyce pondered, "Jason, it could be Tomlin thinks you or I might be the mole, so is limiting what he tells us."

Jason looked at her in surprise, "It never occurred to me that he could suspect you or me! We’ve been with the Obliterators for years!"

Joyce said, “The rumor is that so has the mole.”

The television news then had a report about the President of the United States coming to Port City on Friday evening to give a speech. A few years ago when he was only a presidential candidate and visiting Port City as part of the campaign circuit, the Hardly Boys had stopped an Obliterator from shooting him. The Hardly Boys had known and proven that same Obliterator had earlier planed the bomb in their car. Like all Obliterators were trained to do, when about to be caught, he had taken his own life to protect the organization and its secrets. Joyce and Jason knew about and admired that man. They also knew what his final mission had been.

Joyce announced, "That's got to be our final target! Although our organization failed to kill him when a candidate, we can get him now while President. Since the Hardly Boys saved the man before, no wonder we have to take them out first this time."

"Tomlin said that you don't need to know the final target yet," insisted Karen.

Jason ignored that and happily gloated, “The President is a worthwhile target!”

Karen held her stomach, "That airport food is bothering me again. Excuse me."

She hurried in the bathroom and locked the door.

Karen looked closely at herself in the mirror.

She muttered to herself, “Wow! Joyce was right. My face has gotten a lot thinner and more haggard. I wonder if my own parents and brother would recognize me now.”

She was indeed Ivana Morrow. The stress of the past few years as the mole in the Obliterators showed in her face far more than she had realized.

There was a tapping at the door and a voice said, "Karen, honey. It’s Joyce. Are you okay?"

"I’ll be out in a moment," Ivana said.

Ivana Morrow rearranged her red hair. She then opened the door.

Back in her role as Karen, Ivana said, "I came up with a foolproof plan to kill the Hardly Boys. It’ll also serve as a test run for the big event on Friday evening! I guess I can’t keep it secret that you guessed the final target."

Joyce speculated, "A small scale test of the device?"

Ivana nodded and said, "Let me get it out of my suitcase."

Jason said, "Great, Karen! I can't wait to use it."

Joyce insisted, "Neither you nor Karen will use it. I will. It’ll take being unnoticed, and he stinks at that! I’m excellent at it."

“I can manage the task and should do it,” Ivana suggested.

Joyce declared, “You aren’t stealing credit for this kill away from me. I’m doing it.”

Jason protested, "I don't stink at being unnoticed!"

Joyce insisted, "Yes, you do. You flunked those courses at training camp. Karen was better than you, but not nearly as good as me. Look at today. Gordon Snuff spotted you, dear. I am much better at being unnoticed. I'm going to be the one to do something even Tomlin never managed. I'm going to assassinate the Hardly Boys!"