Joe didn’t waste any time trying to get into his house but ran around the back as the bullet lodged harmlessly in the side of the fence. He slipped on the wet grass, his own gait unsteady already, with adrenaline being the only thing that kept him on his feet.  

Clumsily, he went over the fence into their neighbors’ backyard in his frantic race to outpace the police who were chasing him. In hindsight he realized he probably should have just done what they had told him and waited for the whole mistaken identity to get sorted out. But he wasn’t thinking very clearly and his instincts had taken over…so he fled.  

The teenager had one advantage over the police and he used it. He knew the area around his home like the back of his hand. Growing up, he and Frank had spent countless hours staking out the neighborhood and playing hide ‘n seek.  

Who would have thought all those hours playing with Frank would come in so handy now? Joe thought as he ran; and then he tumbled over another fence and was momentarily stunned as he hit the ground hard.  Oh big brother, I could really use your help about now….  

But there was no sign of Frank.

* * *

“He’s crazy!” Doug was saying to a young policewoman as he sat in the front seat of her cruiser. Collig had two units - one unmarked and one a regular patrol vehicle – to keep an eye out, in case William Doe showed up at the Hardys.  

The teenager continued channeling his fear of what William was going to do to him when he found out that Joe had escaped, into his statement about Joe.  “He just kept ranting that he needed to kill his brother and that no one was going to stop him!”  

The policewoman nodded her head sympathetically.  “You were very lucky to get away from him.”  

“You’re telling me!” Doug gushed, “You know you always hear these stories about what can happen when you pick up a hitchhiker, but it’s cold and raining, so I thought I’d give the kid a break…. Man, I’m never going to do that again!”  

“That would be very wise,” the officer said, and then she was on her radio a few seconds later with his next statement.  

“No kidding! Oh and I should tell you – he’s got a gun!”

* * *

Frank Hardy frowned as he pulled away from the police station. It didn’t feel right to go and leave Joe there.  

Oh sure, he knew that Con would take good care of his brother, and he understood the necessity of this precaution for now; but something still did not feel right.  

It was a nagging at the back of his brain like a dull headache steadily thumping against his skull.  Frustrating, because he couldn’t place its origin any further then something wasn’t right….  

Sighing Frank waited patiently at a red light and listened to the clicking of the windshield wipers on the van.  He started to turn for home when the light became green but then changed his mind. He really had no desire to go back to his house so soon. The knowledge that Joe wouldn’t be coming home tonight or for some time pressed down on him heavily, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was go home.  

His first thought was to go and visit Callie, but he axed that idea right away. Frank still had not spoken to his father about what had happened at school or about Mr. Shaw’s visit, but he had the impression that right now he would not be the most welcome face to show up on the Shaws’ doorstep.  

So he wouldn’t go to Callie’s.  

He thought about going to Mr. Pizza’s and hanging out with Tony, Angelo and their cousins, but decided he wasn’t feeling like being that social this evening.  

Chet’s was too far to drive on a wet night like this….  

He could go to Phil’s – after all, the brainiac was Frank’s best friend…but for some reason he didn’t want to go to Phil’s tonight either. The solace he sought wouldn’t be found there.  

That left him with one other place, and he couldn’t help but see the irony of his choice.  

Biff Hooper’s house – Joe’s best friend.

* * *

William followed Con Riley down into the underground parking at the police station. His head was still pounding, but he was too keyed up to give in to any thoughts of rest.  

They got into Con’s white GMC Yukon and pulled away from the station.  

“It’s going to be okay,” Con said, after he and ‘Joe’ had been driving in silence for a while. So far ‘Joe’ hadn’t had much to say, but Con chalked it up to the effects of his concussion coupled with being thrust into this difficult situation.  

He knew the goodbye with Frank had to have been hard on him, if the restrained emotion he saw on the older boy’s face was any indication.  But so far ‘Joe’ hadn’t really said much except to thank Con when he took the heavier overnight bag to carry for him.  

William looked over at Con and sized him up. The cop was sharp, and the teen knew that although Con didn’t know Joe as well as Frank or his family would have, Will would still need to exercise caution in dealing with him.   

After a moment he gave a small smile.  “I know…” he hesitated just enough and then added, “but thanks, Con, for saying it anyway.”  

“You’re welcome Joe,” Con said, and then added as he peered out of the windshield and into the dusky gloom, “I just wish things could be different. You don’t deserve this. Hell, no one deserves this.”  

“Deserves what?” William asked, watching the cop carefully.  

“Deserves to have a brother like William,” Con supplied as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, “But we will get him, Joe. And when we do, he will pay.” Con turned to look at ‘Joe’.  “I promise you that.”  

William turned away and glanced out the side window. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, officer, he thought as his eyes darkened briefly. Inside, the anger that he held for his brother smoldered hotly.  

Joe is the one who is damned… not me, he thought and once again his mind became obsessed with getting back to Usher Hall.  

His brother was waiting.

* * *

Chief Collig read the report and when he raised his head, his eyes glowered darkly, as he looked at the officer who had brought it to him.

Then he nodded and dismissed the officer.  “Thank you. That’s all.”  

Picking up the phone, he dialed the cell phone number and waited for Con to answer – the officer needed to know.  

When he heard the other man’s voice on the end of the line he just said curtly, “William was spotted outside the Hardy house. Use extreme precaution Con, according to the witness Will has a gun. Do not take any chances at all. He is armed and to be considered extremely dangerous…act accordingly.”  

Hanging up the phone a few minutes later, Collig sat back in his chair and pursed his lips.  

“Damn it,” he muttered as he reached up to massage an ache he felt coming on in his neck, “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. William Doe, you stupid kid, this stunt is going to be the death of you….”  

Letting out a heavy sigh, he reached for the phone again.  He had to call Fenton and let him know their worst suspicions were true.  

William was back in Bayport…and he was gunning for Joe.

* * *

It was no easy task, but Joe lost the cops who were chasing him. Now his biggest worry was if they called in the K9 unit. But he hoped the heavy rains that had him now drenched in places that should never be able to get wet, would help confuse the dogs.  

Limping heavily, the exhausted teen dragged himself over one more fence and landed with as much grace as he could manage – in other words, not on his butt.  He was soaked and cold and his head was still pounding; amazing him that he was still on his feet, since things had been sliding in and out of focus for a while now. But he couldn’t rest yet.  

The yard he was in was only a few blocks from his own house, and Joe had specifically chosen it for one reason; he could take shelter there.  

He needed to get out of the rain; and he needed to get some rest. He’d take care of those two things first and then try and figure out how to get to Frank.  Joe had no doubt in his mind that if he could reach his brother everything would be okay.  

Frank would take care of him. He always did.  

Letting out a relieved sigh when Joe saw what he was looking for, the teen stooped down onto his hands and knees, crawled through the heavy flap and sat down. It wasn’t really very warm, but it was dry at least, and he knew he could sleep here without fear of being discovered.  Not by anyone anyway.  

If the house’s owner did find him, Joe was sure that he really wouldn’t mind.  

In fact he was counting on it.  

Closing his eyes, the boy finally gave into the demands of his body and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Not far away with his nose pressed firmly against the glass of the large patio door, the bloodhound’s face had a quizzical expression on it.  

Why was his master’s friend sleeping in his doghouse?

 

 

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.