Reflexively, Frank raised his arm to deflect the knife, and it cut through his jacket slicing across his forearm!   

Crying out more in shock than pain right now, Frank still managed to tackle William and the two hit the ground hard.  As they rolled together on the floor, with Frank trying to avoid the spreading flames as William tried to push him into them, they grappled for control of the knife!

* * *

Sam couldn’t get a clear shot, and ran to try and pull the twin off the older boy, glancing at Joe to make sure he was okay. The youngest Hardy was tied in a chair, but didn’t seem to be any immediate danger….

* * *

Coughing against the smoke, Joe’s eyes were unnaturally wide in his pale face as he watched the life and death struggle going on only a few feet away from him!  

He hadn’t gotten over the shock of seeing his brother’s blood after the knife cut Frank, and although Joe knew the older boy was hurt, he just wasn’t sure how badly, yet.  

An angry yellow flicker diverted his attention, as a snakelike tendril of flame crept towards the chair.  Joe knew he had a problem, a very big problem.  

Struggling against his bonds again, he glanced back up and saw that William seemed to have the upper hand on Frank, as Sam fought to keep the knife from cutting either of them; but the enraged twin refused to yield, and fought furiously against them both.   

With his eyes starting to water painfully, Joe tried to rock his chair enough to move it, but it wouldn’t budge!  The chair was sturdy and he had been bound too tightly to have enough leverage to move it. Toppling it over was not an option, as the flames were now threatening him from the sides as well.  

Still coughing, Joe tried to call out for help, but his voice was lost amid the commotion in the room.  

He glanced down again at the approaching fire. It was almost at the chair….

* * *

As Frank struggled with William, he could hear Joe coughing, and he knew they had to get out of here soon.  

He had no idea what kind of shape Joe was in yet, as he didn’t get a very good look at him, except to see he was bound in a chair; but his own arm was demanding attention, and if it wasn’t for Sam, he knew that William would have finished him off by now.  

Where’s Dad? Frank wondered desperately as he tried to get a hold on William’s other arm; he should have seen the smoke by now!

* * *

Fenton took the stairs, two at a time.

* * *

The first squad car was already radioing for the fire department before it even passed Foundling Hall.

* * *

Chief Collig heard the request and floored the gas pedal.

* * *

Biff bargained with God.

* * *

Tony Prito smiled at the two officers who walked into the Pizzaria even as they said, “We need to talk to an employee of yours.  Doug Ranier.”  

Angelo Prito, Tony’s older brother, came to stand next to Tony.  “May we ask what this is about?”  

The one officer looked at the other and then said, “We need to discuss his involvement in the kidnapping attempt of Joseph Hardy.”

* * *

Doug heard and bolted for the back door. He had just gotten to work….  

Another officer was standing in the back alley, and he said to Doug, “Going somewhere, Mr. Ranier?”  

Angelo looked at his younger brother as they watched Doug being handcuffed and put into the back of a cruiser.  “Have you spoken to Frank or Joe this weekend?”  

Still in shock, Tony just shook his head.  His mouth finally moved but he had no idea where the words came from.  “No. Not since school on Friday.  Frank left me a message to call him, but I’ve been busy…”  His voice trailed off and he looked up at the older boy and finished slowly, “not as busy as they have, though…apparently.”

* * *

William felt the flame even before he realized what was happening.

* * *

Fenton raced through the door, his keen eyes quickly appraised the situation and he made his move….  

Towards Joe.

* * *

Screaming, William dropped the knife and struggled to pull away from Frank and Sam, as his pants legs burst into flames!  Some of the accelerant had spilled on him…and now he was on fire!

* * *

Joe had never been happier to see anyone in his life as when his father seemed to just appear out of the smoke like an apparition.  

His lungs were burning now with each cough, and he wasn’t sure if it was an effect of the smoke, breathing in the kerosene fumes, or more likely, a combination of the two!  

As his father reached him, pulled the chair away from the fire and gave him a tight hug, Joe managed a weak smile as he croaked, “H-hey…d-dad.”  

And then Fenton pulled away from him, his eyes wide in horror….

* * *

Both Frank and Sam felt the heat at the same time and let go of William, watching in shock as his clothes caught fire!  

But then they heard Fenton’s voice, panicked and loud against the roar of the fire, “Joe’s covered in kerosene!”

* * *

William lunged to his feet and raced from the room frantically trying to beat out the flames as he ran….* * *

Fenton savagely hacked at the ties that still had Joe bound to the chair, as Frank lurched over to them, his good hand holding his cut arm.  

“Y-you…okay?” Joe coughed as his eyes searched his brother’s face, and Frank fixed him with a wan smile before he coughed himself,  

“I am…now.”  

Hurriedly they got Joe loose from the chair, but didn’t bother with the handcuffs for now – they had to get him out of the building and into a shower as soon as possible.  Kerosene was nothing to be trifled with.  

With Fenton and Sam helping Joe, Frank followed quickly behind them, sparing only a quick glance around for William.  They had seen him run out of the room, but had no idea where he went.  

A loud creak of the stairs was the only warning they were given, before the whole structure collapsed, dropping the four of them heavily onto the floor beneath them. Instinctively, Fenton used his body to shield Joe from the rubble of the falling staircase, as Sam did the same for the injured Frank.  

“Everyone…okay?”  Sam coughed, being the first one to come to his senses enough to ask.  Frank groaned something and the sleuth helped him sit up.  

“Dad? Joe?”  Frank asked, still slightly stunned from the fall. They were lucky that they weren’t far from the ground when the stairs collapsed, but that also meant there was more stuff to fall down on them.  

No one answered.  

“Joe?  Dad?” Panic tinged Frank’s voice as he struggled to stand up, and with Sam’s help he started pulling on pieces of rubble.  His heart hammered loudly as he refused to believe that they had rescued Joe only to lose both him and their father now!  

“Are you guys okay?” Frank turned and saw someone hurrying towards them.  It was a fireman.  But before he could say anything, he heard a familiar voice and he sagged in relief.  It was his father!  

“We’re fine,” Fenton said, coming to his senses and pushing himself   and then Joe up and out of the debris.  Joe coughed and closed his eyes against a stinging pain.  His head was now beginning to throb, and he hoped the burning feeling that was creeping over his skin was just his imagination.  

Sam moved to help Fenton with Joe again as Frank staggered towards the fireman.  “My brother’s…been doused in…kerosene— ”  He explained as quickly as he could, but before he could say anything else the fireman was already turned and barking orders to unseen people. They knew exactly what to do.

* * *

As Joe was rushed to Foundling Hall and into the shower to wash the accelerant off his skin, Ezra Collig’s car screeched to a halt, and he and Biff got out.

Biff panicked when he saw the fire department, the police, two ambulances, Mr. Hardy and Mr. Radley, but didn’t see either Frank or Joe.  But Fenton quickly rushed to reassure him.  “They’re okay, Biff,” and then he amended, “or they will be, anyway.  Frank is with the paramedics over there…” he pointed to the ambulance, and now Biff could plainly see his friend being checked out by a dark-skinned woman, “and Joe is in Foundling Hall.  He had a bit of kerosene on him that needs to be washed off.”  He didn’t elaborate on anything just yet.  

Biff excused himself and hurried over to talk to Frank.  

“Thank goodness!” he said, his pale blue eyes wide with worry as he saw the medic wrapping a bandage around Frank’s arm, “You had me worried for a moment!”  

Frank smiled wearily at the muscular youth.  “We’re pretty lucky, all things considered.  This cut isn’t deep and we found Joe before it was too late.  He’s going to need to go to the hospital to be checked out, but he’s going to be okay.”  And then Frank asked, his own eyes carrying concern, “How’s Con?”  

“In surgery, but he should be okay.  That’s what the docs told the Chief just before we got here, anyway.  So what happened to William?  Did you get him?”  Biff asked as the medic finished with Frank and they hurried towards Foundling Hall to see Joe.  

Frank stopped and looked back at Usher Hall.  The building was consumed in flames now, and the fire department had their hands full trying to keep it from spreading.  

He shook his head.  “I don’t know Biff.  In there somewhere, I think.” He spared very little thought to it, though as the last image he had of William was forever burned in his mind – his pants on fire, running through the hallway….  

He needed to see Joe.

* * *

The pain was intense, and William screamed as he tried to escape it, but couldn’t.  Suddenly the floor beneath him gave way, and he was falling.  

He heard a sickening crack as he hit the floor, and a shower of debris rained upon him.  Struggling to push himself up, he cried out in pain as the upper half of his body screamed in agony. But curiously enough as he glanced down and watched the flames creep up his body, he felt nothing below the waist.  

Lying back down in the rubble, William knew this was it, and he started to laugh…  

“You were right, little brother,” he laughed, “Roderick did go down with the house…”  

And then the rest of the upper floor fell down upon him.

* * *

Frank raced into the shower room as he heard a terrifying scream of agony and knew it had come from Joe.  

The paramedics had taken over his care and, after stripping the doused clothes from his body, they had put him under a shower to wash the kerosene from his skin, in an attempt to keep the irritation to a minimum.  

Without any warning, Joe had just suddenly curled in on himself and let out this gut-wrenching scream that tore through the hall and unsettled anyone who heard him.  

“Joe!” Frank cried as he saw his brother, “What’s wrong?” He was terrified that the younger boy had been more injured than they had thought….

* * *

Joe had never felt pain like that before in his life, and it had taken him by surprise.  He saw Frank and read the compassion so plainly on his worried face, but he was shaking too badly to say anything, yet.  

He only knew one thing.  

Joe had felt it as plainly as if it had happened to himself….  

William Doe was dead.  

And Joe Hardy was finally free.  With that knowledge, Joe spared a weak smile for Frank, and then passed out.

 

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.