According to the morning news and the newspaper, the Big Air Games weren’t going to be halted. Apparently Jenna and Eddie convinced everyone the only real damage was to some half-pipes and fun boxes. The women’s event was rescheduled for this morning and it would be held at the other stadium.

After Joe ate breakfast and finally took some medicine, he seemed better. He still thought the plan was stupid, but that’s just Joe. I glanced over at him as we headed down to our bikes. We both took showers this morning and although the spikes were gone, my hair was still faintly blue. Joe’s was still Day-Glo orange.

“Stop it. I’m fine.”

“I thought that was supposed to wash out.”

He glared at me. “At least mine looks halfway cool. Blue hair on you does not work.”

We straddled our ‘cycles and headed out. I watched Joe through the visor of my helmet to make sure he was okay. Apparently, he could tell because he swatted my shoulder. “I’m fine. No dizziness, no nausea. I’m fine.”

I flipped my face shield up. “How’d you know?”

“You’re my brother. I know you very well. Unfortunately.”

I grinned and followed him as we returned to the stadium. Traffic was worse this morning, and I realized a lot of people were just gawking, trying to see what had happened yesterday. We headed to the other stadium and went inside. Jenna and Chet would be waiting for us.

I don’t know how much Joe really got from the discussion earlier this morning, but the plan was to fake an accident. Carter Bean seemed very good at planning accidents. I hoped to fake one good enough to make him jump for joy.

Jenna and Chet were waiting by the dugout, both holding skateboards. Joe swung his leg back across the saddle after he parked his bike. He yanked off the helmet. “Chet, you’re crazy. You can’t skateboard.”

“Joe, you’re not going to risk it. Not after that spill yesterday.” I had initially thought about it but decided against it. Joe seemed okay, but it was too risky.

“That’s my skateboard, I’m doing it.”

Chet wouldn’t hand the skateboard over. “Joe, you were a bit loopy last night, babbling and all; it might be better if you don’t try this.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me grab that skateboard, Chet.”

I sighed. Of course, now my brother shows his stubborn side. Jenna glanced at me and turned to Joe. “Joe, please. You don’t need to get hurt again, not after yesterday.”

“Hey, I’ve got a hard head. Plus I have my gear. And it won’t fit Chet.” Joe shot me a glare and started pulling out elbow pads, knee pads and a lightweight helmet.

“I thought you said you didn’t bring your gear.”

“Not for competition, Frank,” he said in that patronizing tone he knows I hate. “Competition gear has to be a certain rating. This is the stuff I use whenever I skateboard.”

I sighed and shrugged to Chet. “He’s insisting. I guess that means he’s feeling better.”

“Stop talking about me as if I weren’t here,” Joe muttered, strapping the knee pads on. I watched him and realized what he meant. Jenna’s elbow and knee pads had a metallic hard shell that fit right over the knee and elbow with cushioned padding nearly four inches on either side. Joe’s pads just covered the knee and elbow with no cushioning on either side. His helmet was different too. He was wearing tennis shoes, since he usually wore those skateboarding. Jenna’s shoes looked more streamlined and less bulky.

I glanced at my watch. “Okay, women’s event starts in about thirty minutes. We have to do this now before the competitors show up.”

Joe took the skateboard from Chet, tossed it on the ground and bounced up onto the deck. “Ready.”

When I came up with this plan, I’d thought it was going to go perfectly. Chet and Jenna had both agreed to take a fall if need be. But I should have known Joe would be stubborn about it. I watched Jenna head out to the nearest ramp and grabbed my brother’s shoulder. “Don’t be a hero.”

“Don’t be such a worrywart.” He pushed off with one foot and skated to the nearest ramp.

I watched him for a moment and then did a quick look around as if looking for someone. I saw two ambulances not too far away, one had the same distinctive gold and green trim as the one I’d seen Carter driving.

I turned back to the ramp and found someone blocking my view. It was Eddie. “What do you want?”

“Just a heads up. Caught Landry back at his apartment, trying to build another bomb. Dude’s taken care of.”

I stepped around Eddie to watch my brother. “I doubt Landry set up those accidents.”

“Too tame for him. He likes playing with bombs, likes big explosions.” Eddie made a booming sound and flung his arms out. “You get all kinds.”

“What about Carter Bean?”

“What about him?”

I looked over at him. “He was at every accident so far, rescuing the poor unfortunate athlete. Did you know he’d saved Ollie’s leg in that accident?”

Eddie slid a look at me. “Well, we got one sicko who likes explosions. Doesn’t surprise me the other one gets off on pain and injury.” He pointed at Joe and Jenna on the ramp. “You setting an accident up?”

“You say that like it’s a bad idea.”

“Bean will know he didn’t cause this one. Of course if he’s really desperate for attention, he won’t care. Try not to break a leg.”

“You’re all heart.”

Eddie smirked. “Whatever. Just be careful. We’ve got one kid who may never skate again because of the whack to the knees. We got another kid who could have been injured pretty badly when that bike caught on fire. Obviously Carter doesn’t care if his patients die after the fact.”

I nodded and turned to watch Joe. I wasn’t up on all the skateboarding terms since that wasn’t my particular sport. I did know that at home, Joe did more street skating than the ramps and stuff. I watched him fly up into the air, do a half spin and land hard on his skateboard.

“A little commitment, your brother might make it big one day.”

I nodded absently, watching Jenna fly up and do what Joe called a handplant. It was basically a one-handed handstand while the other hand held the board to her feet. It happened so fast it was a blur and she was back down, skating to the opposite transition.

Joe skated up the transition fast and I knew he was going to try the same stunt. He flung his hand out but missed the ramp itself. His momentum had him spin out and if he fell, he’d hit his back on the ramp. I moved forward but realized there was nothing I could do.

Joe managed to flip himself over, let go of the board and hit the ramp on his knees. He slid down the transition and fell sideways on the bottom of the half-pipe. Jenna jumped off her board, kicked it sideways and ran to Joe.

I saw two paramedics run to the scene but neither of them was Carter. It hadn’t worked. I hurried forward to see Joe getting up on his hands and knees. “Joe?”

He shot me a glare and made it to his feet. He waved off the paramedics. “I’m fine.”

Jenna shook her head. “You sure?”

He nodded and unstrapped his helmet. “I’m good.” He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to one side. “Did I mention that I hate your plans? Neither of those guys is Carter.”

“I see that. You okay?”

“My knees are gonna be bruised but I’ll live.”

“You didn’t have to do it.”

“Chet knows even less about skateboarding than you do. And Jenna can’t do it. She’d be out of the running for the event.”

I nodded. “Okay, well, let’s see if he tries to set up another accident.”

“Saw you talking to Mundy.” Joe began taking off the pads. “What’d he have to say?”

“Landry was caught. He apparently went back to his apartment to build another bomb.”

“Sick and dumb, that’s all we need.”

We found a couple of seats with a good view of the skating area. Chet disappeared only to return with three Philly cheese steaks. We munched on them as we waited for the beginning of the event. Jenna waved at us from the dugout. We waved back.

Elyssa Steamer announced the start of the women’s event and we watched several female skateboarders show their stuff. Jenna was fantastic and graceful. I think Joe forgot about his soreness and bruised knees while we watched her.

At the end of the event, we all waited to see who won. Jenna came in at second place. She joined us as we were leaving and Joe gave her a tight hug. “Way to go, Jenna.”

She hugged him back. “Yeah, well, it’s not first place.”

Joe slung an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, there’s always next year.”

“Will you come watch me?” she asked.

“Of course,” Joe said.

Jenna’s eyes lit up. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

Jenna gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Look, you guys, later tonight we’re having a celebratory party, over at JFK Plaza. You guys gotta come.”

Joe gave me a hard look, as if daring me to say no. “We’ll come, right, Frank?”

“Right.”

“Great!” Jenna looked like she was on cloud nine.

We hung around to watch more events and the rest of the games went off without a hitch, no injuries, no accidents. It was a great day to spend just watching the athletes. By the time we got back to the hotel later that afternoon, we were all tired and starving.

We said good-bye to Jenna who wanted to shower and rest up for the party and headed up to our room. I was ready to call up some room service when I saw a blinking light on the hotel phone. I wondered who was calling us. Eddie?

“We’ve got a message.” I punched the code in to get the message. I put the receiver to my ear, half expecting it to be either Eddie or maybe even Mr. Morton wondering where Chet was.

“Hello, Frank and Joe.”

The voice was scratchy and muffled, giving it an unearthly quality that kind of creeped me out.

“I know the identity of Mr. X.”

The voice stopped and I wondered if the caller would continue. In a moment, the voice continued. “Mr. X, you see, is misunderstood. You should be thanking him, really. Would you like to know more about him?”

There was a long pause; the voice got deeper. “Meet me at midnight. Tonight. In Love Park. And don’t call the police. This will be our little secret.”

I blinked and stared at the phone. Joe frowned over at me and I handed him the phone. I punched in the code again to replay the message. Joe nearly tossed the phone back at me. “Little creep.”

“What’s going on?” asked Chet.

I told him what the message had said. He stood up and started shaking his head. “Well, you’re not...” He paused and looked at each of us. “You are.”

Joe gave a sharp nod. “We are. We know it’s Carter Bean and we have to stop him.”

Chet sighed. “Okay, let me get this straight. You know he’s caused three potentially fatal accidents, and killed one guy. And you’re still going to meet him in some deserted park at midnight. You two are certifiable.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Chet.”

He took a deep breath, walked over to the door and blocked it. “I’m going with you.”

“No, it’s too risky,” I said.

“Well, either I go with you or you two don’t go.”

I shared a look with Joe who shrugged. “Hey, Frank, he could be our lookout. And if there is any trouble, he can call the cavalry.”

I sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

Joe grinned. “Good, I got a hot date tonight anyway.”

I just shook my head.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.