Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

It wasn't until she pulled into her driveway that it registered. Her gate had been open and so had her garage door. She glanced at her watch and saw it was a quarter of nine at night. Had something happened? The door from the mud room swung open and she saw him silhouetted in the doorway. Oh dear....Casi got out of the car and he strode toward her. "Well, I see the car's in one piece and so are you," he said, anger vibrating in his voice.

"Of course I am," she snapped, her frustration at Darrell's no-show at Sebastian's still close to the surface.

"Well, excuse me. Since you closed forty-five minutes ago--"

"I don't normally call home when I have plans. Usually no one is here but Merlin and he doesn't care."

He studied her in the light of the garage for a heartbeat, then turned on his heel and practically stalked into the house. "Hope the chowder was good," he called.

Casi stood there for a moment, puzzled. How had he known? She took an experimental sniff of her jumper. Scents of clam chowder and cigarette smoke clung to the denim. She hadn't eaten, being too busy watching for Darrell's arrival.

Suddenly, she blushed. She'd completely forgotten about dinner. She should've called. She cleared her throat and walked into the mud room, quietly closed the door. She continued into the kitchen to see Joe standing in front of the open refrigerator, putting storage containers on wire shelves. "I'm sorry."

He finished his task and shut the refrigerator door. "I thought you'd had an accident or something," he said, his voice no longer angry but full of something Casi couldn't quite place.

Casi set her purse on the island's counter. "No. I--" A dozen thoughts sped through her mind in a moment--Darrell, the art gallery, Malcolm telling her not to get involved. She had a hunch Joe would tell her the same. "I went to the art gallery."

Joe folded his arms across his chest and glared at her. And yet he didn't scare her, not in the least. Darrell had, she thought. Did that mean something? "I'm surprised my father didn't boost your pretty rear end right out the double doors."

"He wasn't there. But he'd already told me to stay out of it."

"Obviously, you didn't." His eyes slid past her as if he could see the television set through the intervening walls, then looked back at her. "You know that security guy, don't you."

"Yes. His name...." She remembered his insistence about his name and what he'd told her. "...is Dare Danvers."

Joe arched an eyebrow. "What an interesting name. Seems perfect for his line of work."

Casi picked up on the sarcasm in his voice and forced herself to be nice. "Isn't it though." She glanced at the refrigerator. "What....um, did you fix tonight?"

"Hamburgers. You had some frozen patties---" He frowned. "You didn't eat at Sebastian's?"

"No. I waited for Dare there. For over half an hour."

Joe's frown deepened and he turned around. He opened the refrigerator door and pulled out some clear plastic containers. He set them on the island and kicked the refrigerator door closed with his foot. "So where's the book?"

Realizing suddenly how hungry she was, Casi's mind went blank. "What book?"

"Your second book."

"Huh?" She fixed her hamburger as fast as she could.

"When the Full Moons Rise. Where is it?"

She felt her face flush and knew she was blushing. "Oh that book. Um---" She went to take a bite of her hamburger but he pushed her hands down.

"Yeah, that book."

She sighed. "It's in my closet. In my...in one of my drawers."

"If you didn't want me reading it, all you had to do was say so."

Casi sighed and stared down at her hamburger. Belatedly, she realized she should have warmed the patty before making her hamburger. Oh well, she could eat it cold. "It's not.....that." She picked up her burger and took a bite. It wasn't cold. He had probably kept it warm for awhile.

"Then what is it?"

Casi chewed and swallowed. God, this was so embarrassing. "The character Jhanon....he's not based on Marcus. He's based...." She cleared her throat. "He's based on you."

He stared at her for a minute. "Me? You actually based a character on me?"

Casi nodded, and ate her hamburger, feeling not only embarrassed but downright silly.

His expression turned thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, it makes more sense, Jhanon's gift for disguise and undercover work. I'm flattered." Suddenly, he frowned. "That doesn't explain why you hid the second book."

Casi wished she hadn't eaten so fast. "In the second one, Jhanon meets his soulmate, Kuylar. She's based---"

Joe flashed back to that fateful meeting in Africa for some odd reason. "You?" His eyes narrowed as he made the connection, then he smiled. "Now I'm very flattered."

Casi looked over at him. "You don't mind?"

"That my alter ego and your alter ego get together? No, why should I?"

Casi shrugged, relaxing a little. "I don't know, I guess I was just being silly."

He cocked his head to one side. "It's not like it'll come true anyway. You have that guy from college and I---" His face hardened. "I have work." He abruptly left the kitchen and hurried up the stairs.

Casi stared down at her half-eaten hamburger and heard his door close harder than was absolutely necessary. She gripped the edges of the counter and closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly. She could guess what he'd almost said. A shudder passed through her and she felt tears leak out of the corners of her eyes. A thread of jealousy wove through her thoughts. Had he loved her, the woman who had died, had he really honest-to-God loved her?

She felt a pain in her chest, more mental than physical, and felt the tears come harder. The lyrics to a song echoed in her mind, as often they did. She'd sometimes go to bed with one song repeating itself in her mind and wake up with a song she had heard six weeks ago, running in her mind's radio. But this one almost sounded like a prediction...There's only one girl that I will ever love..and that was so many years ago.....I want you....I need you....But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you....

Casi shook her head, trying to banish the words that ran around her brain. She let go of the counter and wiped the tears away, then opened her eyes. She took a deep breath and realized she wasn't hungry anymore. She dumped the hamburger and the napkin she'd used for a plate into the trashcan, then she put up the storage containers. She took her purse and headed up the back stairs, deciding she would shut herself in her room early tonight and try to sleep. She only came out once, to put the hardback book by his closed door and then she closed her French doors and pulled the black lace curtains mounted on the inside of the doors closed.

***

Joe rested his hands on the window sill and glared out into the darkness. It felt like a million emotions were warring in his mind tonight. When Casi hadn't come home by seven-thirty, he'd started to worry. At eight, he'd almost called his father to ask if the elder MacKensey had seen her. When he'd seen her pull up, relief washed over him, seemingly way out of proportion to the situation.

Joe took a deep breath. Why had he worried anyway? He knew she could take care herself. She'd proven time and again, that she was no fragile wallflower. He'd first learned it in Africa, but then there was that disaster in Hong Kong. He pushed himself away from the window. Truth was, she'd saved his life in Hong Kong, he just never told anyone that little fact--not even his brother. And then that Christmas party she'd invited him to, that had ended rather disastrously as well.

He sat down on the bed and sighed. It wasn't right to let Casi make him forget Bryce even if she didn't know she was doing it. But it wasn't right for him to blame her. He shook his head, feeling confused and torn. Once again, he wondered if he shouldn't just leave--now, tonight. He stood up and reached for the suitcase, then stopped. He'd better make sure she was shut away in her room, he thought. He walked to the door and opened it. He took a step out to check her doors and his sneakered foot bumped something hard.

Joe looked down and saw the cover of the book. The gold embossed letters glinted in the light from his room. When the Full Moons Rise. A part of him steeled himself to ignore the book and begin packing, but instead he bent down and picked up the book. He found himself curious, even more so than before knowing now just who Jhanon was based on.

Absently, he closed the door and sat back down on the bed. In the first book, the middle son, Prince Jhanon had come across as a little cocky, something of a jock, but easy-going and laid back---until he was angry. Joe stared down at the book in his hands. Was he really like that, he wondered. He took a deep breath and frowned. Maybe he was, at that. He opened the book and turned the pages until he reached a page that read Prologue in fancy calligraphy. Joe couldn't resist the urge to find out more about Jhanon---and especially Kuylar. He started reading and forgot about packing....

*** *** ***

By the time Casi got to work the next day, she'd decided to not even bother with the gallery. No one seemed to want her assistance, so why should she put herself out to help. By noon, she was wishing fervently that the gallery was open or that Darrell would walk into Stargazers, neither of which came true.

"Okay, what is it?" Samantha leaned on the glass counter and gave her a hard look. "Don't deny that something is going on."

Casi heaved a sigh. "It's nothing."

"And I'm Anastasia Romanov in disguise. Case--"

"I'd always wondered about you. Although, you are looking remarkably well for your age."

Samantha grunted. "Cassandra Michelle MacFairlaigne---"

"That only worked when it was my mother and when I was under the age of twelve." Casi said, busying herself with fixing disarrayed displays that were scattered around the shop. It was just after one in the afternoon and the flow of tourists had slacked off considerably.

Samantha turned around and watched her move from table to table. Finally, she stepped in front of her cousin. "Spill it or I ask Aunt Lyra what's really going on."

Casi stopped and glared at her. "I just wanted to check out the gallery and Wyatt wouldn't let me."

"Well, you're not exactly a cop, why would he?"

Casi picked up a six-inch diameter lens and turned it over and over, staring through the colored glass. It fit on telescopes to filter out certain colors, to make some stars clearer. "The guy who's Wyatt's security expert--I know him from a long time ago. Do you remember me ever mentioning Darrell Stamford?"

Samantha looked thoughtful for a moment. "Junior prom date, right? Your dad wanted to give him a chance at MSI."

Casi nodded. "I offered to help find the thieves but he brushed me off."

Samantha narrowed her blue eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "I doubt he's the Hanged Man."

"Joe's here."

Samantha looked blank for a minute, then nodded. "The lawyer's brother? The one you first met at Animals Wild?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"He's at my house. Recovering from a gunshot wound and the death of his girlfriend."

Samantha still looked confused. "Well, that's magnanimous of you. What's the problem?"

Casi carefully put the lens back with the others. "I don't know. I..." Her voice trailed off and she stared down at her empty hands. Suddenly she flushed scarlet. "I'm jealous of a dead woman," she whispered softly.

Samantha stared at her for a long moment. "Casi, don't. It wouldn't be fair to either of you. It'll be a rebound for him and then there's--" She cleared her throat. "And then there's Chad."

Casi's head shot up at the mention of his name. "Don't bring him into this. He's not a concern right now."

"So he pissed you off over the house. You two will make up....eventually."

Standing there in the middle of the shop, Casi sincerely doubted it. There had been a sense of finality about that last argument over her buying her house. "I don't think so."

Samantha shrugged. "Hey, you live and learn."

Casi almost brought up her cousin's last relationship but bit her lip instead. She had never understood why Sam tended to date guys who weren't worthy of ever meeting family. "Samantha, I feel something with him--a connection. Something I don't feel with Chad. Not to mention I make Chad angry if I try to do anything even remotely connected to an actual investigation."

"Well, he worries about you. Your whole family worries about you. Look what happened last time."

"So I was supposed to stand there like an idiot and watch Donovan get shot? He annoys the hell out of me ninety-nine percent of the time but he is my brother."

"Well, why couldn't you have told him to get down instead of doing a flying tackle?"

Casi threw up her hands in a gesture of 'I-give-up', but the look on her face told a different story. "The plan was for Donovan to get the guy's confession on tape. The detectives didn't know I was there."

"So you tackle and the bullet gets you instead of Donovan."

Casi's hand hovered near her right hip. "It's all healed. I'm fine. Considering where Donovan had been standing, he would have been...dead."

Samantha sighed. "All right. I get it. You saved his life. You've saved several people's lives. But what scares everyone is you seem to care not a whit for your own. How do you think we would have felt if Donovan had survived but you had died?"

"Oh, hell, I got this from Malcolm yesterday. I don't need it again from you."

Samantha frowned. "Fine. Go to the gallery, find your friend. I'll cover for you."

"A lot of good it'll do. The gallery's closed for the rest of the week."

Samantha looked over at her and stepped behind the counter where the register sat, and perched on a high stool. "Since when has that stopped you?"

"Don't tempt me."

"Yeah, don't. That's the last thing I need," came a voice from the doorway. A man stood there, a baseball cap covering his sandy hair and mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes. He let go of the bell that normally announced someone coming in and lowered his arm. He quickly closed the door. He nodded absently at Samantha and turned to Casi. "Private talk. Now."

Casi was in no mood to be nice to him. "No. You stood me up last night."

"I never agreed to the meeting."

"Stood you up where," asked Samantha, curiousity dancing in her blue eyes.

Casi shot her a glare, grabbed his hand and pulled him past the counter, through the beaded curtain and into the store room. She pushed the door closed and leaned against it. "Fine. Private. Talk now."

Darrell Stamford took off the sunglasses, hung them from the neck of his dark blue T-shirt. "You haven't changed, have you."

Casi didn't respond, it had sounded like a rhetorical question. "The gallery."

He sighed. "It was an inside job. Very smooth, very practiced. The alarm never went off during the robbery, only six minutes after."

Casi looked at his hat, his sunglasses. "You?"

"Maybe you have changed. Years ago you might have given me the benefit of the doubt."

Casi grunted. "Live and learn. You didn't answer my question."

"No. It wasn't me. But someone did a damn good job of framing me. Wyatt's ready to blast me to kingdom come. I can't let that happen."

"Because someone will find out who you really are, correct?"

"Perceptive still."

"Do you know who it is?"

"I have a theory. But I can't do a damn thing if you stick your nose into things you have no right to get involved in." He stepped forward until he was close enough to tower over her. "So don't."

"You're asking me to ignore a crime. And a friend."

Darrell placed his hands flat against the door, on either side of her head. "We were never friends, MacFairlaigne. You thought you were being nice to say yes all those years ago. Nobody would ever be that altruistic."

"Even you? What happened to you? Why'd you change your name?"

He studied her in the dimly lit room. "No. You're not going to pry into my secrets like the detective you pretend to be. Stay out of my life and out of my way."

A sliver of fear raced through her until she reminded herself that Sam and Lyra were on the other side of that door. "I want to help."

"No." Darrell glared at her. "No. You will not help. I refuse to let you help. Do you understand?"

Casi searched his face, feeling a little sad. "I'm sorry."

He scowled at her. "For what? I'm successful to the nth degree."

"For whatever happened to you to change you into..." She looked him up and down. "Into this."

He glowered down at her, then suddenly ducked his head and kissed her. It was no featherlight brush of lips on hers but a hard, ruthless kiss, forcing her lips to part. He jerked his head up, breathing hard. "I'm not a nice man, MacFairlaigne. It's in your best interest to steer clear."

Casi started to say something but he clamped one hand over her mouth. "Don't romanticize this, mind you. I know you write for a living. I can't be reformed or any such crap. Just stay out of my way." With his free hand, he pulled her away from the door, then let go of her. He yanked open the door and strode out of the store room. Faintly, she heard him leave the shop.

Casi sat down on a packing box and sucked in a hard breath, torn between the shakes and pure unadulterated anger. If she'd been a few seconds faster she would have managed to bite his hand. Her cousin appeared in the doorway. "Casi, you okay."

Casi stood up, fighting tears. "I have to go." She made it to the door and her cousin frowned. Casi shook her head. "I'm going home before I explode."

Sam narrowed her eyes. "What the hell did he do?"

"He kissed me and told me in no uncertain terms to steer clear of the case."

"You don't look like you enjoyed it."

"I didn't." Casi stalked out of the doorway, past her cousin and started down the hallway to the back door. "I'll tell Lyra I have to go."

"Go where?" Lyra stepped out of her office and looked at Casi for only a few seconds. "Never mind. Go."

Samantha hovered there in the hallway, torn between going back to watch the shop and asking her aunt why she'd let Casi go. Lyra watched Casi leave, then turned on her heel and started for the front of the shop. "I'll replace Casi for the afternoon."

Samantha nodded and turned back to the shop, following her aunt. "Why did you let her go?"

"It would not have been safe. Your cousin has a temper."

Samantha thought about all the glass items in the shop. "Yeah, last thing we need is broken stuff. Smart, Aunt Lyra."

Lyra just gave a faint smile and nodded. That had not been the true reason she had let Casi go, but if Samantha thought that, all the better.

***

The sound of the garage door opening pulled him from his reading. Joe frowned, marked his place and glanced at the nautical themed clock on the fireplace mantel in the study. Surely that wasn't Casi, she was working. He placed the book on the glass-topped coffee table and got to his feet. Through the glass insets of the bifold doors, he saw Casi stride into the kitchen, then turn and slam the door leading to the mud room as hard as she could. She tossed her purse in the direction of the stairs and stalked over to the refrigerator. She yanked open the door, pulled out a soda, then kicked the door closed so hard, he saw the appliance rock ever so slightly. He watched her for a minute, puzzled as to what had made her so angry.

He reached for the doors and pulled them open. She looked over at him from her spot in the kitchen, then started for the stairs. Joe thought about his mood last night. Had he made her mad, he wondered. For some reason that bothered him. "Casi?"

She spun on her heel and walked over to the counter. He saw her hand was shaking as she set the soda can on the surface. Something had happened, he realized. He hurried forward. "Casi, what happened?" he asked again, coming up next to her.

She turned to face him and this close he saw she was pale. Joe placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "What happened? Are you injured? Should you have driven home?"

Casi swallowed hard. "I didn't--" She swallowed again and took a deep breath. "No accident. Not injured," she said jerkily.

He frowned. "Then what--?" He broke off as she burst into tears and mumbled something about a man being cruel. Startled he pulled her into his arms and let her cry. After a few minutes, she jerked back and cleared her throat. Reluctantly, he let her go. "Casi?"

"I was angry." She took a deep breath and stared down at her hands. "I didn't mean to get you all wet."

"Was it Wyatt? He's always been a pain in the ass. Want me to go beat him up for you?"

Casi couldn't help it, she managed a laugh. "You would, wouldn't you."

"Darn tootin'. I might even let you help."

"It wasn't Wyatt. It was Danvers."

"I'll beat him up, if you want." Joe studied her face for a moment. There was an odd expression she was wearing and for some reason something in him responded to it even though he wasn't sure what he was responding to. "God, Casi, what did he do. I'll kill him if he hurt you."

Casi's eyes widened at the seriousness of his tone. "My God, you would."

"What did he do?" Joe's tone was more a growl now, and his hands were clenched.

"He kissed me."

Joe blinked several times and slowly relaxed his hands. "That's all?"

"It wasn't a polite-nice-to-see-you-again kiss."

"Then I will kill him."

"No." Casi reached out a hand and touched his arm, felt the corded muscles beneath the skin and almost started crying again. The hotshot greenhorn American jock still wanted to rescue the fragile little girl. But this time it didn't make her mad that he thought her fragile. It made her want to fall in love with him all over again. "No. I just don't---" She shook her head. "Forget it."

Joe stared at her for a long moment, then took a deep breath. "If you want me to."

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

He took a step back from her, as if to distance himself from her. "So, are you home for the day?"

Casi realized she was. "Yes." She looked around the kitchen, then smiled over at him. "Let's go into Boston. There's an afternoon ferry at three. If we miss it coming back, we'll take the long way home."

He hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay. Any place in particular?"

"No, just sightseeing. Is that okay? We'll find some little place to eat an early supper."

"Sounds good.. I'll just put on my shoes."

Casi watched him head up the stairs, pause momentarily to pick up her purse and toss it to her, then continue up to the second floor. Like a knight in shining armor, he would have protected her. She wrapped her arms around her waist, still feeling the urge to cry. Oh dear God, she was in love with him.

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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.