Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Joe MacKensey sat down in an upholstered chair in front of the desk. His blue eyes roamed the room, the walls full of shelves which were crammed with books. It was a larger version of Casi's downstairs study, he thought errantly. He liked her color scheme better.

Donovan put his pen down. "What is it?"

"Casi and that Whitfield guy---are they pretty close?"

Donovan narrowed his green eyes. "You mean, Chad. I guess. I really don't know. I do know she didn't invite him this Christmas. I think that has to do with their argument about her house."

Joe vaguely remembered her mentioning it last year. He nodded absently, still looking at the books, noting they were in alphabetical order. "So there's still a chance. Good, that's good."

Donovan sat back in the leather chair. "You're leaving, aren't you."

Joe tore his gaze from the gilded spines and looked squarely at Donovan. "It's for the best."

It was times like these Donovan truly hated being right. "Best for whom?"

Joe looked away, out the window. "Everyone."

"Everyone? Or you?"

Joe moved to get up, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair. "Think the worst. I don't care." The words sounded hollow in his ears. He did care, truth be known. He liked this family. Joe clenched his hands on the arms of the chair, wincing as pain lanced through his injured palm, and pushed himself out of the chair. "Anyway, wouldn't you rather have me out of Casi's life?"

"Don't put this on me." Donovan stood up. "That's Casi's choice. I have no say there."

"But it's true. Isn't it." He hated having to do this. But it would be the best way to insure Casi wouldn't follow him to Morocco.

Donovan sighed. "No."

Joe stared at Donovan, startled, realizing with that one word all his plans went out the open window. After last year, he'd gotten the impression Donovan didn't want him too mired in Casi's life. "Excuse me?"

Donovan moved away from the desk. "Samantha told me about last year." He walked to the window and stared out at the gently bobbing balloons, tied here and there.

Joe frowned. "I had to leave."

"Like now."

"Yes."

Donovan turned to face Joe, feeling odd. A conversation he'd had---what, yesterday?---echoed in his head....."I don't want Casi hurt"...."Casi's a big girl now, Donovan, she can take care of herself."...."Anyway, every relationship has the potential for hurt"....."She loves you."

"I love her." Joe noted there was a touch of defiance in his voice, as if daring Donovan to challenge him.

"So why are you leaving?"

"To keep her safe."

Donovan nodded slowly. "I suppose that is for the best." He glanced at Joe. "She'll follow."

Joe felt a moment of sheer panic but thrust it away. "Stop her."

Donovan blinked, started. "Excuse me?"

"Stop her."

Donovan looked him up and down. "Up to now, you were making a twisted kind of sense..." His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "Stopping Casi is like trying to stop a freight train with your bare hands. I know, I've tried. Last year is a good example. Hell, nine years ago is a good one too."

Joe slumped back down into the chair. "This is dangerous business, Donovan. Beyond Casi's usual 'adventures'. I don't want her hurt."

"Hell, last year wasn't her usual kind either." A touch of anger colored Donovan's voice. "Did Treadway happen to tell you all the details of what happened?"

Joe stared down at the floor. "I know what happened. That's one reason I left. Damn it, Donovan. I was out of the loop, recovering. How the hell would I know that kind of fallout would happen there, in my hometown?"

Donovan grunted. "I didn't say I blamed you. Casi has long ago proved she's stubborn, determined. I---" He cleared his throat. "She faced a bullet for me,so there's no laying blame at your door if I don't lay blame at my own. I...I just don't want her hurt either."

Joe raised his head to look at him. "So what do you suggest?"

Donovan shrugged. "Take her with you?"

"You must be joking."

"You sound surprised. I do crack jokes, occassionally, no matter what either of my sisters have told you."

Joe tried for the same light tone and failed. "So what's the occassion?"

Donovan skirted the desk and sat down on one corner. He opened his mouth to say something, sighed and looked down at his hands. "Look, you and Casi are pretty volatile together."

"Volatile," muttered Joe. "Now there's a word."

Donovan shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder which of you will get burned first."

"Well, your sister does have a temper. Did she ever tell you she had me arrested?"

Donovan blinked, remembering Catherine mentioning it, and shook his head. He'd never gotten the full details, maybe now was his chance. "Arrested?"

Joe nodded ruefully. "Yeah. Four years ago in Egypt..."

"This is the place?"

He squinted in the twilight at the flickering neon sign. "Yeah."

"You sure you wrote it down right?"

He glared at his older brother. "Yes."

Jonathon MacKensey stood there, arms folded across his chest, shaking his head. "Looks like a grunge

club."

"Like that's a bad thing. We sorta fit the part."

"In your dreams, Mack."

Joe grunted. "Oh shut up, you never liked grunge rock anyway."

"Let's not start that shit again. Come on." Jonathon started for the dingey-looking club nestled between warehouses in the seedier part of the city. Suddenly he stopped, spun on his heel. "Both of us going in, isn't a good idea."

"So? You sayin' I'll miss out on all the fun?"

Jonathon sighed. "You keep on like that and you'll be dead by the end of the year. Keep your youthful act for sports. Anyway, we'll flip a coin."

"Like that's mature."

"It's a little hard to arm wrestle in thin air."

"Fine. Do I have to supply the coin?"

Jonathon glared at him, dug a coin out of his pocket. "Call it."

"Heads," said Joe as Jonathon flipped it. "And no sleight of hand."

"Oh shut up." Jonathon sighed. "Heads."

"Does that mean you have to stay out here?"

"Be careful, little brother."

"I have survived without your assistance, Jonathon."

"That was a fluke."

Joe aimed a mock punch at him, then started for the club. It was as dark inside as much as it was outside. Dim lamps in psychedelic colors made tiny circles of wan light. Up on stage was a five-member band with shaggy hair and grunge clothes. Joe tuned out the discordant noise and went to the bar.

No sooner did he sit down at the bar and order a drink, a young woman clad in a long sleek dress sasheyed up to him. She was pretty with long shiny black hair but he knew she wouldn't be much of a help in the information department. Unless she was on the Hadad payroll.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Joe swiveled on his stool and felt his jaw drop.

The speaker glared at him. "What? Sphinx got your tongue?"

"I---" Joe blinked and cleared his throat, making sure he wasn't seeing things. "What are you doing here?"

"None of your business."

"Well..." Joe swallowed his surprise. "Mine's none of yours."

"Oh really."

"What, I have to list my itinerary?"

"Maybe I should have stamped the date on your forehead."

Joe groaned. "Oh man, I'm sorry. Look, we were in India---"

Cassandra MacFairlaigne glared at him, her auburn hair in a high ponytail, clad in low rider designer jeans and a snug-fitting cropped sweater that looked gray in the dim light. "A likely story. Who's we? You and her? The least you could have done is called."

"I couldn't. We were in India. Casi, I really can't talk here."

"Let's go some place where you can."

"Not now."

"What? Are you busy?" she asked, flicking a glance at the girl.

Damn. He couldn't very well explain it all now. He had business to take care of. And he couldn't risk Casi getting involved. He wished he could've gone to her college graduation, like he'd promised. "Yes. I am." He slungan arm around the girl's shoulders and pulled her close. He saw Casi's tawny eyes widen, then narrow until they were mere slits. "Oh really," she said, her tone laden with sarcasm.

He slid off the stool. "Yeah, well, gotta go." He turned to leave, his arm still around the girl when something small and hard hit him between the shoulderblades. Startled, Joe spun around to ask what she'd thrown at him, only to find her right behind him. Her other fist slammed into his jaw before he even saw it coming, knocking his head sideways. Joe blinked. "What the hell was that for?"

"For lying. For missing my graduation. For acting like a heel. For...." Her angry rush of words slowed and she sucked in a breath. "For being you."

"You hit me."

"Yeah, well, sue me."

Joe rubbed his jaw. "You hit me."

Casi looked at the girl. "Go away before I hit you."

The girl frowned. "I have done nothing."

Joe motioned for her to go on. "Assault and battery never solved anything."

"It does if I'm assaulting and battering you."

"Look..." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm on assignment. I was on assignment in India. I couldn't justdrop everything---"

"Right. Like I said, a likely story."

Joe watched her turn and start heading for a table in a corner of the club. "Casi..."

She ignored him and kept walking. He followed her to a small circular table and did a double take. "Cat?"

Cassandra's twin sister grinned. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"He can't tell you," snapped Casi. She looked at h im "Don't you have business to tend to?"

"Casi---"

"What? Now you want to explain?"

"I can't."

"Then stop bothering me."

"Casi, I'm sorry I missed it."

"Stop or I'll call the police."

"For what?" asked Joe, stunned.

"Harassment."

Joe blinked. "You hit me!"

"Self-defense."

Catherine frowned, looked from Joe to Casi. "What's going on?"

Joe shook his head. "Won't wash."

"Want to make a bet?"

Catherine tapped him on the wrist. "Don't."

"Me? She's threatening to call the cops."

"I will. God knows I'm in the mood to see you rot in jail."

"Yeah, right." Joe folded his arms across his chest. There was no way she could pull it off, not here. "I dare you."

Catherine groaned. "I said don't."

Casi grinned wickedly, then waved at the bartender. "Just to warn you, I have friends in high places."

Donovan shifted on the corner of the desk. "I take it you never knew she'd been to Egypt before."

"I kind of figured that out in jail."

Donovan bit back a smile. "I do agree Casi has a temper." He shook his head. "I made the mistake of telling her that cosmology as a major in college would be useless as a career unless she planned on being an astronaut." He made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a laugh. "For two days, she totally ignored me. Then she talked to Caithlin, my girlfriend, and Cait started ignoring me. By the fourth day, the only people who'd talk to me were the professors. One even passed the message that if I apologized, she'd remember she had an older brother."

Joe chuckled. "Sorry. That is too funny and so typically Casi."

"Tell me about it."

For a brief moment, a comfortable silence of comraderie filled the study. Joe got to his feet. "After the wedding, I really need to leave. Can you keep her here? Distract her somehow?"

Donovan sighed and got to his feet as well. "I'll try, Joe. It's about all I can do."

Joe nodded. "I know Casi too. Thanks."

Donovan followed him to the door. "She loves you. Don't break her heart."

Joe paused, hand on the doorknob. "What if that's the only way to keep her from following me?"

"With Casi, that's a dangerous route to take."

Joe lifted his head to look at Donovan. "But what if it's the only way?"

***

"Well, she can't just disappear into thin air. This is real life, not a sitcom."

"Actually, I kind of liked that show."

"Not now."

James McConnaughhay shrugged. "Look, if you're wanting a real search, you'll get Interpol involved. And what have you got to prove she did a thing? In most countries, seduction is not illegal."

Roy Connelly frowned. "You like bringing that up, don't you."

"All I said---"

"I know," snapped Connelly, glaring out the window. "I have to meet with MacKensey."

"Kenmare's not safe anymore."

"I doubt Killarney would be either. Is there anyplace Raven won't go?"

"The ruins." Jaime blinked, surprised. Why hadn't he thought of them before? "It's the old MacFairlaigne homestead."

"And you think William MacFairlaigne will allow that?"

"He won't even know if it's at midnight."

Roy glared over at him and sat down. "Why do all clandestine meetins occurr at midnight? Next thing you'll be telling me is that it's also the family cemetary."

"Good God, I hope not."

"Oh you're just a dandy help, aren't you."

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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.