The dance club where Jenna’s friends were hosting her party was awesome. We were near John F. Kennedy Plaza and enjoying the cold sodas and rocking tunes. Chet was dancing with a pretty girl but Frank was seated at our table, looking a bit ill at ease. I knew he was worried. Carter Bean obviously didn’t worry about a little thing like murder, so maybe we were crazy to meet him at midnight. But we had to stop him.

“Jenna, do you know a place called Love Park?” I shouted over the music while we danced. “Is it close to JFK Plaza?”

“It is JFK Plaza,” she answered. “Everyone calls it Love Park. The place is part of skateboard history, one of the coolest spots on the planet for doing street stunts. It’s legendary. But nowadays, the police arrest people for skateboarding there. Still, that doesn’t stop some kids. They’ll risk anything so they can tell everyone they skated at Love Park. It’s like a badge of honor.”

I arched an eyebrow and pulled her close. “Have you ever skated at Love Park?” I asked her.

Jenna smiled mysteriously. “A woman never reveals her deepest secrets.”

Frank came up behind me and tapped my shoulder. He pointed at his watch. Almost time. I told Jenna that we had to leave now. It was getting late.

“Don’t go. It’s not even midnight yet.” She frowned. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I promise.” I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and left with Frank and Chet. We headed out into the darkened streets of Philadelphia.

“I thought we should get there early to find a hiding place for Chet,” said Frank.

“Jenna told me it’s not far. It’s actually a part of JFK Plaza.”

He nodded as we walked. It was a hot, muggy night. The air was damp and the atmosphere was thick. Heavy gray storm clouds settled over the city, raising the temperature. Even the streetlamps, with their dull hazy glow, seemed to feel the heat.

“There it is,” said Frank. “Love Park.”

We walked toward the huge round fountain in the center of the plaza. I watched a tall geyser of water shoot up into the air. Then I turned and scanned the rest of the park. It was easy to see why the place would be a skateboarder’s dream. There were marble benches and steps and ledges everywhere – perfect for street skating.

Frank stopped in front of a tall modern sculpture. “I guess this is why it’s called Love Park.”

I looked up at the cube-shaped structure. It was made of four giant letters cast in steel – a large L and a tilted O stacked on top of a V and an E. It looked like a design from the sixties.

“Maybe you can hide right here, Chet, in the shadow of the sculpture,” said Frank. “Joe and I will circle the fountain until Mr. X shows up.”

Chet nodded and crouched at the base. “How’s this? Can you see me?” he asked.

“Not if you stay in the shadows,” Frank told him. “Just stay low and keep an eye out for us. Do you have your cell phone with you?”

Chet nodded. “Of course.”

“Okay. It’s almost midnight. Let’s go, Joe.”

We headed out quickly and quietly toward the fountain. The city lights bounced off the rippling water and cast tiny flickers of orange and blue across the park. We stopped at the low curving edge of the stone landmark.

I gazed across the street to see if there was anyone on the sidewalk but I couldn’t see a soul. And I couldn’t hear anything either – just the gurgling jet sprays of the fountain. “I don’t like the looks of this,” I whispered to Frank. “I think we’re being set up.”

Frank squinted into the darkness. “Just wait. It’s almost midnight.”

Slowly and steadily we circled the fountain until we reached the far side of the plaza. A low rumble of thunder rolled overhead. Suddenly, Frank stopped. “Turn around. Let’s go back.”

“You see something?”

“No but the fountain is blocking the view. Chet can’t see us from here.”

We couldn’t see Chet either. But we could hear him.

“Frank! Joe!”

I shared a look with Frank and we took off running. It sounded like he was struggling. A loud scream echoed across the plaza. We dashed toward the Love statue. I thought I heard footsteps as we rounded the statue.

“Chet! Hold on, we’re coming!” I shouted as we came closer. When he didn’t answer, I got worried. Where was Chet?

We circled the Love statue and found a dark shape lying in the shadows. A bolt of lightning flashed, revealing the still form of our friend underneath the sculpture. “Chet?”

I dropped to my knees and checked for a pulse. “He’s still breathing. Looks like he was knocked out.”

Frank crouched down beside me and leaned over. He pulled the collar of Chet’s shirt down and we both saw two little marks on his neck. I swallowed hard. “What would make that?”

Thunder and lightning filled the sky. The storm was ready to hit – and it was going to be a big one. In that brief flicker of light, I thought I saw a shadow cast on the statue. I twisted around at the same time Frank did. He jumped to his feet.

“Hello, Carter,” said Frank. “Or should I call you Mr. X?”

The paramedic smirked. “What are you talking about?”

Frank stepped between him and Chet. “I saw your picture in the old news clippings of Ollie’s accident in 1990. You got a lot of press coverage, didn’t you? How did the newspaper put it? Oh yeah, ‘A Legend Falls. A Hero is Born.’ “

“So?” said Carter, sounding cocky. “Everyone in the medical profession is a hero. I was just getting the recognition I deserved.”

Thunder roared and lightning streaked the sky. The rain came down hard and heavy, but despite the downpour, nobody moved. Frank shook his head. “Real heroes don’t do it for the recognition. And they don’t ‘plan’ accidents...like you did at the Big Air Games.”

“What proof do you have?”

I got to my feet. “Oh come on. Every time someone got hurt, you were right there, ready to jump in and save the day.” Chet moved behind me and I bent down to check on him.

Carter scoffed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “That doesn’t prove that I attacked anybody. It’s just a coincidence.”

Frank pointed to his medical ID badge. “Is that a coincidence too? Your ID number is EMT7654. But backward, it’s 4567TME. That’s the name you used to post threats on the Internet.”

I helped Chet to his feet as he blinked the water out of his eyes. The rain was falling harder and our clothes were soaked. I frowned at Carter. “You are so twisted.”

Carter sneered. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you. I must admit, I’m stunned by your cleverness. I think I should return the favor.” He pulled out a small stun gun from his pocket and lunged for Frank.

“Frank, watch out.”

Frank ducked fast. The stun gun swooped over his head with an electrical crackle and a little zap of light. Carter cursed and lunged again. I moved to prop Chet up against the statue. “Hold on.” I went to head after Carter but he’d backed Frank up against the fountain.

Frank moved to sidestep him but banged his knee against the stone fountain. The impact sent him spinning and stumbling to the ground. Carter stood over him. “Now be a good patient and take your medicine.”

Before he could follow through with stunning Frank, I tackled him. We hit the wet concrete and rolled across a puddle Carter aimed the stun gun at my face. The stun gun moved closer, a tiny bolt of electricity sizzling at the tip. I gripped the guy’s wrist, struggling to push it away.

Something flew through the air and hit Carter upside the face. I let go as he stumbled backwards. I managed to get up and saw Frank staggering in my direction. He must have hit the fountain harder than I thought.

Carter made it to his feet, aiming the stun gun at the two of us. He lunged for me and I nearly slipped as I tried to dodge the gun. Carter grinned. “Careful, kid, accidents happen every day.”

Frank reached for Carter but the man kicked my brother in the knee. I watched Frank go down and I lunged for Carter myself. He swung his right hand at my neck and aimed a punch at my face with his left. His fist grazed my jaw, knocking me backwards on my rear.

I landed hard and shook my head to clear it, only to see Carter pinning Frank to the ground. Whatever he said was drowned out by the thunder but I wasn’t about to let the guy hurt my brother. Before I could move though, someone zoomed past me and collided hard with Carter.

I made it to my feet, stunned to see Eddie Mundy plow right into the paramedic, knocking him flat on his back. Eddie moved to help Frank, not seeing that Carter still had his stun gun.

Frank saw it too. “Eddie, look out.”

Carter jabbed the weapon at Eddie’s leg. The skateboarder kicked down hard on the tail of his board. The nose flew up, slamming into Carter’s arm and knocking him back. The stun gun flew into the fountain.

I made it over to them. “Nice job, Eddie.”

Eddie helped Frank to his feet. I went over to my brother, noticing him limping. “You okay?”

“I am now.” Frank looked past Eddie and frowned. “Where’s Carter?”

“Later, boys,” a voice rang out from the other side of the fountain. “I have to go now. It’s an emergency.”

Carter laughed as he dashed around the fountain, heading across the plaza. Eddie started running after him with me right behind him and Frank staggering after us.

Then something strange happened. The rumbling sound of wheels seemed to be circling the plaza. Suddenly, out of the darkness, came a whole group of skateboarders, bounding down the steps, grinding across benches and jumping off curbs. They headed straight for Carter Bean and surrounded him, a human fence of skateboarders, zooming so fast that their prisoner couldn’t escape.

“Jenna,” I said. “And her friends! They must have followed us out of the club.

Just then a small brigade of police cars came speeding down the street. One of them blared its siren and they all pulled up to the curb and stopped. There must have been a dozen officers. Most of them charged the skateboarders, breaking up the circle and apprehending the suspect. Two of them ran toward Chet to check on him and the others came over to us. “Sorry, boys, it took us awhile to track down that missing ambulance.”

That’s when I saw it, parked off to one side. Without its lights on and in the darkness it had looked like a normal van. The officer saw me looking and nodded. “We wanted to question Carter Bean,” the officer explained. “When the hospital tried to find him, they discovered he was gone – and one of their ambulances was missing.”

Chet came over to us, looking rather bewildered. “Who called the police?”

“That would be me.”

We turned. It was Maxwell Monroe. The reporter nodded to us. “I had reasons to suspect Bean. After Ollie was killed, I dug up all the old articles about him in our database. Then I saw that Bean was the ambulance hero who saved Ollie’s leg, and I got suspicious. But I didn’t have enough to go on for a cover story. So I told the cops they should question the guy.” He smirked. “You can read all about it in tomorrow’s paper.”

Two cops handcuffed Carter and stuffed him in a squad car. I shook my head and turned to Jenna as she skated up to me. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

She gave a little shrug. “I was worried about you. I knew you two were looking for trouble. So I got my friends to come with me to help you guys out.” She tilted her head to one side. “I care about you.”

I grinned. “Well, thank you, you saved the day.”

She gave me a hug. “Do you have to go now?”

“Plenty of time for that tomorrow.” I hugged her back and winced at the soreness in my shoulders. “Okay?”

She grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

We made it back to the club and got our bikes. Chet decided he was heading back to the hotel he and his dad were staying at. And we went back to our hotel room. We’d caught the bad guy but all I wanted to do was sleep.

I looked over at Frank as he straddled his ‘cycle. “What?”

“We still don’t have all the answers. Let’s talk to Eddie tomorrow; I want to know what really happened.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ve had enough excitement for tonight.”

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home Library Authors Rogue's Gallery Vehicles Chums Message Board Rap Sheet Links Contact

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.