Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Boardwalk Bust

Home sweet home. After nearly a week in the desert, it was nice to see green grass, tall trees and savor air conditioning. Dad was true to his word. No sooner did we get back home than he was gone...to Washington D.C. to talk with the head of ATAC. What I wouldn’t give to be in on that meeting.

Mom kept giving us worried looks like she might have guessed why Dad had urgent business in D.C. but she never outright asked us anything. Aunt Gertrude kept us busy with chores, as usual. But I wasn’t complaining. It felt good to be home.

Dad came home a few days later, not looking any happier than when he left. He shut himself in his study and kind of avoided talking to anyone.

“I think he’s gonna do it.”

I looked up from my computer to see Joe standing in the doorway between the bathroom and my room. “Do what?”

“Disband it.”

I slowly shook my head. “I don’t think he can.” I took a deep breath. “I think that’s why he’s hiding out in his study.”

“Well, I think I’ll beard the lion in his den,” said Joe and left.

Uh-oh. Considering the look on Dad’s face after that meeting, I really didn’t think that would be the best idea. I took off after my brother only to find him at the front door.

“Aunt Gertrude would lecture you about trying to cool the neighborhood.”

Joe nudged me hard. “We have a visitor.”

I turned to see a Girl Scout with a box of cookies. She smiled at us, looking a tad nervous. I thought she was a bit old to be a Girl Scout. “Selling cookies?”

She nodded and handed Joe the box. My brother stared at it like it was something far worse. Before I could get my wallet out, she was gone. I frowned. “Well, that didn’t go over well. Think she’ll be back?”

Joe tore open the box and at first looked extremely disappointed. A second later he flashed me a grin. “I’ll beard the lion later. We have a bonus.”

“More cookies in the box than it says?”

“Better.” He angled the box so I could get a peek inside. There was a jewel case, some cash and a couple of other things.

I glanced at the closed study door and sighed. Joe bopped my shoulder and we headed upstairs. Once in his room, I shook my head. “I guess that’s why he’s not too happy then.”

“Well, I’m not complaining.” He popped the video disk in the player and then rubbed his hands together. “Let’s see what fun we’ll have this time.”

“Greetings and welcome to Ocean Point, your very own paradise on the Jersey shore.”

The pictures were computer-animated like any video game, showing a boardwalk crowded with happy beach-goers. There were people eating ice cream cones, cotton candy and hot dogs. Little kids raced around in their swimsuits playing tag. In the background was the beach, with surfers riding the waves and swimmers bobbing up and down in the water. It looked like the perfect place for a vacation.

Suddenly the picture went to static and when it came back into focus, we were staring at a dark silhouette. “Hello, boys,” came a familiar voice. I recognized it as the normal voice that always spoke on our mission briefs. “Unfortunately, there seems to be a bit of trouble in this particular slice of paradise. Trouble in the form of a rash of burglaries.”

Now there were images of broken display cases, shattered plate glass and bits of gold and silver scattered across wine-colored carpet. “In the past month, three jewelry stores in town have been broken into, causing heavy losses to the stores’ owners. More serious, though, is the effect a crime wave could have on a beach resort like Ocean Point. The tourist season is just starting. You boys have got to stop these jewel thieves in their tracks before they scare the tourists away.”

Joe grunted. “Piece of cake,” he muttered.

I shushed him as the voice continued, “In recent years, Ocean Point has become a haven for people your age. And since the local police seem to be stymied, I thought we’d put you two on the case. You’ll find some spending money and one or two other things we thought might come in handy. Good luck. This disk will reformat to an ordinary music CD in five seconds.”

Five seconds later, the picture went to a neutral test pattern and music by the Surfaris started blaring out of the speakers. Joe snapped the player off, looking disgruntled. “Penny-ante,” he muttered.

I arched an eyebrow. “Joe, we don’t know that.”

“It’s a penny-ante case. We’ll probably have it cracked in less than twenty-four hours.”

I arched the other eyebrow. “Getting a big head, are we? He said the police are stumped.” I picked up the cookie box and shook out the rest of the items. There was a wad of cash, a cheap disposable camera and a night vision telescope that collapsed down to the size of one of those little cups that come on a bottle of cough syrup. It distracted me for a moment. “Hey, this is neat.” Then I saw the sleek black PDA.

“You know what I mean. Dad goes to DC and we get...” He gestured to the video player. “That.”

I looked over at him. “You think...they’re humoring him? Giving us mild assignments?”

“Tell me the thought didn’t cross your mind.”

I stared at the blank monitor. “Seems a little petty if they are.” I turned back to him. “And we have no way of knowing how this case will turn out. Sometimes the easy ones are the most dangerous.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “You’re doing that Jedi thing again.”

I bit back a grin. “Dad probably got notice already. Want me to go talk to him or do you still want to beard the lion?”

“Go. I’ll count the money,” he nodded, smirking, at the wad of cash on his bed. “You and I may have a bit of fun on the beach after all.”

I shook my head and left his room, dumping the empty box in the trash in the bathroom as I passed through. I headed out of my room and down the stairs. As I did so, I thought about Joe’s comment. It was possible they were giving us an easy one because Dad had gone to DC. But how could anyone judge a case easy or difficult? There were so many random factors involved.

I hurried to Dad’s study and tapped on his door. I heard him say, “Come in,” and I pushed open the door.

“Dad?”

He held up a fax, looking about as disgruntled as Joe had a few minutes ago. “Well, at least it’s not on the other side of the country.”

I nodded. “It’s pretty close. We could ride our bikes.”

He shook his head slightly. “Traffic is heavy this time of year with people taking day trips to New Jersey. It might better if you caught a flight down there.”

I thought about it for a moment and he had a point. I settled in one of the chairs facing his desk. “Joe thinks ATAC is giving us an easy one this time.”

Dad grunted. “He may be right. I did go to Washington to have a meeting with the director. I felt that ATAC needed to be restructured. He disagreed, saying it could take years for that kind of shakeup to work itself out. He said there were kinks in the current system that needed ironing out.”

“Kinks? That was a potentially deadly situation, not a kink,” I said without thinking. I flashed back to Joe trying appease the ‘dragon’ and frowned. “What’d the director say about the last one, anyway?”

“He said he thought the researchers had been thorough enough. But apparently someone missed the connection between Arthur Stench and his real name and background.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll go tell Joe we’re flying down.” I glanced at the door of his study. “And Mom...?”

“Ocean Point is a resort town. And it is summer vacation. Before long, school will start back.” He shrugged.

“Did you tell her...?”

“No. And hopefully, that won’t ever happen again.”

I watched him toss the fax into the shredder and got up. “Okay, Dad, thanks.”

He nodded, staring at the paper as it shredded into narrow strips. I could tell he was bothered about the potentially disastrous mistake on ATAC’s part. I left the room quietly and headed back upstairs. Joe was waiting in my room. I gave him a look. “What’d you do, the old glass-against-the-door trick?”

“And get caught red-handed by Aunt Gertrude?” He waited all of a second. “Well?”

I told him what Dad had said. “And he agrees with you. And he’s not happy about it either.”

Joe sighed. “What now?”

“Dad said we should fly down.”

Joe bounced to his feet. “That would be faster. Think Jack will take us? Or do we go ourselves?”

We were both certified pilots; I’ve been flying just a few months longer than Joe. “Well, if we go ourselves, we’ll have to be responsible for the plane.”

“I’ll call Jack.”

I shook my head and decided to go online. In this day and age, any place on the map that was even halfway a resort town had a web page.

Joe called from my phone. “Hey, Jack...”

I only half-listened as he explained the situation. Jack Wayne was a top-notch pilot, having flown our dad practically all over the world. He’s about ten years older than we are. I heard Joe hang up the phone. “Jack said he’ll have things ready to leave tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good.”

Joe cleared his throat. “I guess I’d better not.” He started for his room.

I looked over at him. “Better not what?”

Joe shrugged. “Razz you about your computer searches. Saved our rears last time.”

“That’s right. You should be thanking me.”

“Getting a big head, are we?” he asked, throwing my words back at me.

I cocked my head. “Now who’s sarcastic?”

Joe laughed. “Hey, bro, we made it, despite the odds. I gotta find all my swimsuits...” he added, heading off through the bathroom. I thought I heard him continuing his list of stuff to pack but his voice faded completely as he went into his room.

I stared at the computer screen as the images loaded. Joe was right. We’d made it despite the odds. I just hoped we wouldn’t have to do it again any time soon.

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Disclaimer

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.