Police Chief, Ezra Collig was a no-nonsense kind of man, and everyone who had ever met him knew that.  A recent widower, Ezra had thrown himself into his work three years ago after his wife passed away, and there were people who would argue that he hadn’t gone home since.

So it was this beautiful Saturday morning that Ezra was at the office going over some stuff when a knock came on his office door.  Raising his head from the file he was reviewing, he called out gruffly, “Yeah what?”

“Sir,” a nervous young rookie said, “I thought you might be interested in this report that we just got.”

Ezra raised a bushy eyebrow questioningly. “And why would that be, Officer Riley?”  he asked.

“Well,” the young man said nervously, “because it involves that dick, Fenton Hardy.” 

Con had only just finished training and was very intimidated by his boss.

Collig reached out for the report even as he rebuked, “Dick is a rather plebian word isn’t it?  Private Investigator, PI, Investigator, detective…any of those words would do, Officer.”

Realizing he was being dismissed, Con wiped a nervous hand across his face and hurried back to his desk.  A few other officers chuckled, amused by the young man’s reaction to the police chief.

As the police chief scanned the report he realized the rookie was right.  He was interested in this.

Picking up the phone, he quickly dialed the phone number he knew by heart.  Fenton would want to know that three guys he put behind bars were back in town and had been seen down by the marina first thing this morning.

Hearing the answering machine come on, Ezra frowned, but then remembering it was Saturday, he figured they were off doing family stuff.  Quickly flipping through his Rolodex, he found another number and dialed it.

If anyone would know where Fenton was, it would be his associate Sam Radley, and sure enough when he reached the other detective a few minutes later, Sam did know where Fenton and family were.  And as the police chief heard the response, he felt a chill go up his back.

“Fenton took Laura and the boys out on the bay today. Additional perk for a job well done,”Sam laughed, “Client had a cabin cruiser…who knew?”

Before hanging up, Ezra got the name of the boat from Sam, and then hung up, shaking his head. 

What were the chances that Fenton would be on the wharf this morning?

Placing a call to the coast guard and the Bayport Port Authority, Collig asked them to try and find Destiny’s Dawn, the boat the Hardys were on.  Normally he wouldn’t have been so concerned, as the guys were not maximum security kind of criminals, but the fact that they were in the same place at about the same time as Fenton’s family was enough to warrant a little precaution.

He had a soft spot for Laura, as she had been good friends with his wife Rachel since moving to Bayport six years ago.  And then when Rachel got sick and passed away, it was Laura who forced him to pick up the pieces and continue on with his life, although all he wanted to do was drink himself into an amnesiac stupor.

“Now you listen here, Ezra Collig,” Laura had said in a stern voice as she stood before him with her hands firmly planted on her hips, her mouth turned down in deep disapproval, “and you listen good. Before Rachel died she made me promise that I wouldn’t let this destroy you…destroy the man she loved more than her life!  And I’ll be damned if you are going to make me break that promise to her…do you hear me?”

Ezra had been jolted both by her ferocity and her use of profanity…Laura never swore, and he had never before seen her rise to such a fury as she was in now.  Looking down at the bottle in his hand, he felt ashamed.

Ashamed for what he was doing; ashamed for what he wasn’t doing; and ashamed for making his wife’s best friend so upset he could see her shaking with anger.

Lowering his head, he felt the first tears he had shed since Rachel died as he said more contritely than he had ever said anything before in his life, “Yes Ma’am.”

He gave her the bottle, took a shower, straightened up and never looked back.  He remembered his wife for always but he never looked back. Instead he took her into the future with him.

Every day.

And he thought about those two little boys who had become a part of his heart even as he pretended indifference.  His mind flashed an image of first meeting Laura Hardy and her boys.

Fenton had just started out as an investigator and Ezra hadn’t thought too highly of him, but his boss did.

Chief Bragg.  That name made him smile.  Bragg had only retired a couple of years ago, passing the job over to Ezra.

Fenton had mentioned to Bragg that he was going into the city for the night because he was needed in court early the next morning.  He was planning on staying with some friends there to save him the trip in the morning. 

Ezra had worked late that night, but on his way home, he took a run by the Hardy house to make sure everything was all right.  Bragg had asked him to because he knew that Laura was there by herself with a toddler and a newborn and he thought it would be nice to do that for the man.  So he did.

He hadn’t expected to see any lights on, and was surprised when he turned the corner and saw the living room light on.  Never having had children, he hadn’t thought that she might be up with one of them.

And then he saw a car pulling up in the driveway and a man who wasn’t Fenton got out of it and went up to the house.  Something didn’t sit right with the officer, so Ezra pulled over to make sure everything was all right.

Laura opened the door and then immediately tried to close it, but the stranger was stronger and pushed it all the way open before going in. Ezra quickly got out of his vehicle and went up to the house.

At first Laura didn’t answer, but then he called out that he was a police officer and she opened the door.  He saw immediately that she was terrified, so he stuck around to make sure the man left.  He did without even so much as a word to Ezra. Laura had never pressed charges, and explained that it was Fenton’s ex-partner. He still held a grudge about Fenton leaving the police force and had been by to ‘talk’ to him.

It was only then that he heard the sound of a baby crying, and he waited while she went upstairs to get the upset child.  It was their youngest, Joey, and she gave him to Ezra to hold while she went to get a bottle.

He remembered how nervous he was holding the newborn, as the child was only a few weeks old. 

Laura looked like she was going to drop, and his heart went out to her.  A young mother with two little kids, alone in a strange city…he did the only thing he could think of doing.  He called his wife.

Rachel came right over and stayed until Fenton got back.  And they had been fast friends ever since…well until almost three years ago when Rachel succumbed to breast cancer.

Sighing, he hoped that Fenton and his family were all right before going back to the file he had been reading before Con Riley interrupted him.

* * *

A small breeze sent a chill through Frank as he realized that it was getting colder, and knew they couldn’t stay here any longer.  They needed to get on the move.

Hating to do it but having no other choice, Frank nudged his brother gently. “Joey we gotta go.  It’s getting cold.  We gotta go now. 

Once again the other child was difficult to rouse, and Frank felt helpless as to what to do. He couldn’t leave Joe like this but he didn’t know how to make him move, either.

“What do I do?  What do I do?  Think Frankie, think,” the older child muttered to himself as he tried to think of the best way out of this. And then his eyes lit on the large dog that was lying placidly by his brother, offering him the warmth of his body as the child slept.

Slowly an idea formed in his mind, but Frank wasn’t sure it would work. It was taking a big chance but standing there on the side of cliff as the wind was picking up and night only a few hours away, Frank felt he had no choice. 

He would have to send Hero to the top and pray someone stopped when they saw the dog.  Frank had thought about having the dog carry his brother, but didn’t trust Joe to be able to hold on, as the incline was quite steep.  If Joe slid from the broad back…Frank shuddered, that was not an option.

The only problem was making the dog understand what they needed.  Once again he tried to wake Joe.  “Joey…please.  Wake up.  I need your help!”  Although neither boy would ever admit it, Hero was really Joe’s dog.  They had a special ability to understand each other and right now Frank needed Joe to make Hero understood what the dog needed to do.

He had no idea how to do it.

Joe struggled to open his eyes, but it was so hard.  He could hear Frank talking to him and knew he needed to get up so they could get help for their Mommy and Daddy but it was too hard.  His body was fever-ravaged, and just too weak.

Coughing weakly, he tried to tell Frank, but even that was too hard.  He couldn’t understand why he had gotten so sick so fast.

“Please Joey…please,” he heard his brother’s voice again, “I need you to talk to Hero.  Joey, I need you to tell him what he has to do!  JOEY!”  Now Frank was yelling.  If asking nicely wasn’t making his brother wake up, maybe yelling would.

Joe didn’t open his eyes but he did manage to answer, and Frank almost didn’t hear him over his own voice and the rising breeze. “W-what?  T-ell…H-hero…w-what?”

Ecstatic that his brother had heard him, Frank took what he could get. “He needs to go up to the road and bring back help. I can’t do it, Joey…I can’t.”

Everything felt so hard for the younger boy…even thinking.  He understood what he needed to tell the dog…but telling was another thing.

Finally he mustered what little strength he had left and opened his eyes.  His brother, seeing him awake, gently helped him sit up.

“H-Hero?”  Joe’s voice was barely a whisper but the dog heard him as if he was shouting and rose to a sitting position. His doleful brown eyes watched his boy carefully, sensing that he needed to pay attention.  The blond haired boy reached out and gently touched the dog’s soft muzzle as he struggled to reach into his back pocket before pulling out the compass he had brought for pirate treasure hunting.  He gave it to the dog, gently looping the string so that the compass part dangled between his large canines.  “G-Go boy…g-go to the…r-road…”  Hero stood up and stared back at the boy, and Joe managed to say this time a bit louder, “Th-the…r-road.  GO!”  And then he collapsed back against Frank in a coughing fit.

The dog gave one loud bark and then began its careful trek up the rest of the way of the cliff, the precious parcel still dangling from his mouth. 

* * *

“$153,000 smack-a-roos,” Stokes told Fenton as he pulled the briefcase out from under the floorboard where it had remained safely hidden for the past couple of years, “isn’t it beautiful!”

Fenton glared at him.  $153,000.00.  That was the cost of his two sons’ lives?  It was hardly fair…it was hardly a fortune.

“Is that it?” he asked disdainfully, “Is that all?"

“What do you mean?”  Stokes said indignantly, “Is that all?"

“You heard me,” Fenton said, “It’s hardly worth life in jail…is it?”

Stokes’ eyes were blazing as Fenton continued, “You murdered two children, boys.  When you go to jail, it’s hard time this time.  No minimum pussy stuff.  This is the real deal. I just hope that $153,000.00, divided among three, was worth it.”

Peterson and Hanes glanced at each other.  They hadn’t thought about it like that.  Oh yeah they thought it was funny enough throwing the kid over and then watching the other one jump, but to hear it summed up…it did sound kind of cheap.

“Well don’t worry your little head over it, Hardy.  We ain’t going to jail,” Stokes sneered as he shot his buddies a confident smile.

“No of course not,” Fenton cajoled coldly, “the world is an inviting place for baby killers.  What kind of reception do you think you’re going to receive when word gets around that you killed a six-year-old and a seven-year-old for less than the price of a nice house?  You are deluded.  Did you know that in jail, even the criminals reserve a special place for people who harm children?  Even psychopaths have kids they care about...” 

Stokes back-handed Fenton, splitting his lip. “Shut up Hardy…shut up”. 

With his tongue, Fenton licked at the side of his mouth where it had split as he shook his head. “Whatever you say Stokes…whatever you say.”

Laura watched in mounting horror.  Had her husband gone mad?  He was baiting these guys!

Fenton saw the look on her face and when he caught her gaze he gave her a quick little wink to make her understand what he was trying to do.  He was trying to rattle them and create enough discord among the crooks that they would drop their guard, giving Fenton and Laura a chance.

Unbeknownst to his bride, Fenton had finally gotten the knots loosened on his bindings and he had a plan.

* * *

Frank watched the black mass climb the cliff until the evening’s shadows made it impossible to discern which was Hero and which was night.  Joe was asleep again, and this time the wheezing in his chest was loud enough that it had his older brother worried.  It seemed to him that the younger child was really having to work for each breath, and he once again looked heavenward and prayed that Hero was fast enough.

He wasn’t sure if they would survive the impending night.

* * *

The dog stopped when it finally reached the top of the cliff, and gave his coat a good shake to get rid of the dust and grime from its climb.  Then with the compass still dangling, he went to the edge of the road and sat down.