Doug had dropped William off a couple of blocks from the Hardys’ house before continuing on to work. He was still shaking his head at his friend’s audacity. It was risky.  

And then he snorted as he thought about William – that was one word not in his dictionary. He was the brightest and most dangerous person Doug had ever come across. The twin was quick-thinking and lethal; Doug had made sure to align himself with William’s camp early on.   

Doug would help William, although he really didn’t want to. But he would help his old friend because, as risky as it was, it was even riskier not to.   

Pulling into an empty parking spot in the back of the alley behind Mr. Pizza’s, he sighed and got out of the car.  

Doug found it very interesting that Tony Prito and Will’s brother were good friends. But he wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t seen Joe in the pizzeria before, because Doug worked in the kitchen and very seldom actually went into the restaurant part.  

He was no social butterfly, preferring to keep to himself. But he was also a good worker, so no one faulted his antisocialism – they just kept him in the kitchen.  

“Hey Doug,” Tony greeted when he saw the other boy come in the back door. Like Doug he also worked Saturdays… as the assistant manager now.  

“Hey Tony—” and then he paused before saying casually, “I might need to take off early today. I ain’t feeling too well.”  

The Italian youth looked at him sympathetically and nodded.  “No problemo, just let me know and I’ll cover for you myself if I have to.”  Doug had never given them any problem before, and was always reliable, so Tony had no problem making this concession for him today, if he needed it.  

“Thanks, man,” Doug said with a smile, and then promptly started his shift. He had his cell phone in his pocket, set on vibrate, and he really hoped he didn’t have to answer it today.

But with Will back in town, one never knew….

* * *

William’s mind was racing and at its forefront was the question: where was Joe?  

If the Hardys thought he was his twin, then where was his brother?  

As if on cue, Fenton gave him the answer.  

Sitting down on the side of ‘Joe’s’ bed, the detective sighed and said softly, “Son I know things sometimes can seem to be too much, but please, running away doesn’t solve anything.” He paused and then continued,”Now I understand that being sent to a safe-house might not be what you want to do, but Joe, we only want to protect you; and right now, this is our best chance. Honestly son, I can’t bear the thought of losing you…”  

Oh please, William thought as he watched the man fighting to control his emotions, spare me the waterworks!  But now he knew one thing – Joe had gotten upset and run out of the house.  

Predictable Joey, the twin thought and then he found some compassion, put it in his voice and said to Fenton, “It’s okay, Dad… I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have taken off like that.”  

“Damn straight you shouldn’t have!” Frank chastised from his other side, “Joe, what if William had been around?  Dad had just told us that that psycho was probably on his way back to Bayport, and what do you do? You give him the perfect opportunity to grab you!” Frank’s concern lent a sharper edge to his voice than he intended, but if it helped him get through to his brother then he wasn’t going to apologize for it!  

William actually scowled as he looked at Frank, and he bit his tongue to stop his natural response because it would have been rather un-Joe-like. Instead, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back.  

Almost immediately, he felt Frank leaning over him, his voice laden with concern. “Joe? Are you okay?”  

Oh Frankie…nothing really changes does it? he thought before he opened his eyes, favored his ‘brother’ with a weak smile, and then said, “Yeah, I just need to use the bathroom. Frank, can you help me get up?”  

In all honesty, his bladder wasn’t his concern – no, he needed to make a phone call, and a very important one at that.  

Joe had apparently taken off, and that meant he would come back… and when he did, the cat would be out of the bag. But right now this opportunity was too sweet to pass up; William had the perfect ‘in’ into his brother’s life and he was not about to give that up!  

So he was counting on using the bathroom excuse to get to a phone – he only needed two minutes to make his call.   

Two minutes to become Joe Hardy…permanently.

* * *

Joe actually had not run as far as Frank thought he did. He realized almost immediately that his knee, still not fully recovered from yesterday’s escapade, would not get him very far. But right now he needed some time to himself to help clear his head and try to deal with his surging emotions.  

So instead of running away, he ran around the side of the house and into his own backyard. And then he sat down on the back steps and waited.  

He heard Frank looking for him and he felt guilty for hiding out like this, but he just couldn’t talk to anyone right now – not even his brother.  

The teen then heard two male voices talking quite loudly. He recognized his father’s, but not the other voice. It was only when he heard his father’s exasperated attempt at placating the obviously upset other man that he realized who it was. And then he grimaced remembering how he’d almost knocked the man down.  

“I do understand, Mr. Shaw…however, I am sure that given the nature of their…ah…impropriety, we can rest assured that it will not be a problem again….”  

Joe’s curiosity was piqued – just what had Frank and Callie done to get detention, anyway? He had not had an opportunity yet to grill his brother, and made a mental note to do so as soon as he got the right chance. Apparently it would be a very interesting tale.  

This time he heard Mr. Shaw’s voice…  

“Mr. Hardy, I am doing my best to instill good moral values in my daughter, but I am afraid that your son—“  

His father cut the lawyer off, his voice tight but still fairly controlled.  

“Mr. Shaw, I can assure you that my son…both my sons…are good boys who would in no way attempt to corrupt your daughter….”  

Joe never heard the rest of what his father said, because his heart was pounding loudly as he heard himself being included in his father’s defense to Callie’s dad.  

He said…both my sons are good boys….He didn’t have to include me…but he did….  Joe was confused. If his family didn’t want him around anymore, then why include him in this response to Mr. Shaw? It didn’t make sense…unless….  

Joe heard his father’s voice again, but this time in his memory… “Joe, I refuse to take the chance that William will do something to hurt you – to take you away from us. We came too close to losing you already…” And he shuddered, and not just from the chill of the autumn morning.   

His confusion was escalating – his father was saying that he loved him, but that he was also a danger to them?  It didn’t make sense to his confused mind.  

Joe hardly heard Mr. Shaw leave or his brother come back to the house. But when he heard voices coming towards the kitchen, he stiffly stood up and crept away from the door, preferring to crouch down by the side of the house this time.  

And then a few minutes later, he heard the sound of a car starting and then pulling out of the driveway. He glanced around the corner in time to see that it was his father’s car, and both his brother and mother were in it with him.  

Where’s everyone going? he wondered, as he straightened up and then tried to work the kinks out of his body – the roll down the hill had left him a bit more sore than he’d anticipated.  

Carefully, he limped back into the house and then went upstairs to put his knee brace on.  Sitting down on his bed, he tried to make sense of everything that had happened since he left school yesterday afternoon…

* * *

Doug just about jumped out of his skin when he felt the gentle vibration in his pocket. Hastily pulling out the cell phone, he moved towards the back door, holding up his pack of smokes at the same time.  

Tony saw and nodded, recognizing the universal signal for ‘I’m taking a quick smoke break.’ It wasn’t busy right now so it wasn’t a problem.

* * *

“Hello?” Doug didn’t recognize the number on the call display, and figured it was William before he even heard the whispered voice speaking quickly and with urgency.  

“Doug, I don’t have time to explain right now. But I need you to go to the Hardys’ house and get Joe. If he isn’t there, then wait for him. I don’t care how you do it… but get him and take him to Usher!  I’ll call you again later.” William paused and then said, his voice lethal:  “Screw this up, Douglas , and you’ll wish to God you had never been born.”  

And with a click the phone went dead.  

Shit, Doug cursed, shit…shit…shit.   

But ten minutes later he was already on his way to the Hardys’ house…with a plan.  

William wanted him to get Joe; then he would get Joe.   

He just hoped his friend knew what he was doing.

* * *

When William finally got back, Frank and Fenton moved to help him ease back up on the bed. His mother had already straightened out the sheets and pulled the cover back for him.  

He gave her an appreciative smile. Oh this is too sweet, he thought as he settled back down in the bed and let them fuss over him, too sweet indeed.  

“Everything okay?” Frank asked, worry clearly reflected on his handsome face, and William favored him with a big smile.    

“Yeah Frank – everything is just fine.”  

William might hurt and he wanted to have a serious ‘chat’ with those three jerks…and their bat, but he did also owe them a debt of gratitude.  This was working out even better than anything he could have planned.  

Now all he had to do was hope that Doug came through on his end. If not, then things were going to go bad… real bad.

 

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.