Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

"Oh all right, I'm coming." Casi quickly marked her place, closed the old heavy tome and hid it back in the trunk, then hurried down the curving stairs as the doorbell rang again. She yanked open the tower door. "You'd think the place was abandoned. Or else I'm Sleeping Beauty. Of course she got awakened by a kiss. Me, it's the doorbell. Hold your horses." She opened the door and froze. "Cass?"

"Aye, Casi, long time no see."

"Too long, if you ask me." Casi pulled the younger girl inside and gave her a hug. "My God, you've grown."

Cassidy McConnaughhay laughed. "Six years?"

"Eight, I think. Last time I saw you, you were, what, six, seven?"

"Seven. I'm fifteen now."

Casi shook her head. "Whoa. Now I feel old."

"Oh hush."

Casi led the girl up to the tower room. "So what brings you here?"

"Jaime asked me to give you this." Cassidy handed her a plain white envelope. "And he said to tell you, barring unforeseen calamities, we'll both be there bright and early, with bells on."

Casi shook her head. "Please, that early, no bells." She opened the envelope and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it to find a note scrawled in Jaime's nearly illegible script:

Have MacKensey meet us at the homestead midnight.

Since this will not self destruct in five seconds, destroy

it. J

"What's this?"

Casi folded the paper and slid it back into the envelope, then stuffed both in the back pocket of her jeans. "What?"

Cassidy touched the wooden box. "The carving is beautiful."

"It belongs to my grandmother from Scotland, Melinda."

"Jewelry box?"

"Yeah."

Casi joined Cassidy on the divan, so that the box was between them. Gingerly, she raised the latch, then lifted the lid. Nestled in black velvet with the silver chain circling around it, was the pearl. It was milky white, about the size of a marble. Cassidy sucked in a soft breath. "It's beautiful."

Casi nodded. "It is, isn't it."

Cassidy reached out to touch it and frowned. She glanced at Casi. "May I hold it?"

Casi stared at the pearl for a second. No one else, not even Catherine, had blanked out while holding it. "Yes."

Carefully, Cassidy picked up the chain until the pearl dangled from it. She held up her other hand, palm up, and slowly lowered the necklace until the pearl and it's chain were cupped in her left hand. As her fingers closed over the pearl, Cassidy took a quick deep breath.

"Oh my..."

Casi shivered, suddenly cold despite the warmth of the day. "Cassidy?"

"So clear, it's beautiful."

The cold settled on her like an icy cloak. No..."What?"

"The water, so warm.."

Casi moved to take the pearl back but instead cupped both of her hands around Cassidy's hand and closed her eyes. For a moment, all was black,then liquid warmth washed over her skin, banishing the chill in an instant. "Yes..." She vaguely heard Cassidy say something but it was distorted, as if coming through water. She looked and thought she could see shadows, people-shaped shadows swimming, effortlessly mining pearls. They wore no oxygen tanks, she noticed as her vision sharpened. It was as if they were breathing water. One pearl miner swam past her, gliding through the water like a shark, flicking it's tail just enought to gain motion. Casi did a double take. Tail? She let go of Cassidy's hands at the same moment Cassidy dropped the necklace.

"Oh I'm sorry." Cassidy said, grabbing for the necklace.

Casi just watched it fall, hit the floor and roll. Slowly, she looked at Cassidy. "Did you see it?"

The younger girl stared at her. "You saw it?"

"Yes. It was the same as the first time I held it."

Cassidy slowly shook her head, her dark red hair swinging around her shoulders. "I didn't know you had the Sight."

"I don't. Not like you."

"Maybe it runs in the family."

Casi shook her head. "But how? Why? It's never happened before."

Cassidy cocked her head to one side. "Hasn't it?"

Casi turned to look at her, realizations slowly dawning. "You mean---? All those times I thought it was just a hunch?"

"Possibly." Cassidy retrieved the necklace, holding it only by the chain. "You saw that scene before?"

"Not really saw, more like felt. I felt the water, the pearls." Casi sighed. "It was mainly sensations."

Cassidy stared at the pearl, swinging gently from her hand. "How odd. Almost as if the pearl retained its first memories."

"Pearls don't have memories."

"True. But people do."

Casi shook her head. "So it's memories of the people harvesting the pearls?"

"Yes."

"Which makes them---" Casi frowned. "Mermaids? No way. Impossible."

"All those ancient sailors saw something."

"Sea lions."

Cassidy carefully put the pearl back and closed the lid. "With long hair?"

"Do you know rainbows are caused by sunlight refracted by millions of droplets of water? If mist can do that, it can affect long-range vision."

Cassidy studied her for a moment. "I never thought you were such a skeptic."

"I'm not. Lord knows, I'd love it if all the fairytales were true." Casi paused for a breath, resisted the temptation to look toward the trunk. "Unicorns and faires, mermaids and fairy godmothers---"

"And witches and warlocks, goblins and dragons."

Casi got to her feet and walked to the open window. "The human race is so destructive. Someone finds something rare, unique and we all have to have it, dissect it, skin it, mount it on the wall. It's why so many animals are endangered. It's why even if the fairytales were true, we'd destroy them." We've already done it once, she added silently. She felt her throat tighten, and told herself she wasn't going to cry.

Cassidy joined her at the window. "Never thought you were a pessimist either," she said softly.

"Nine years ago, I saw half a dozen men get filthy rich, killing animals and selling their hides and tusks to the highest bidder." She held out her hands, palms up, as if holding something. "A lion cub isn't much bigger than a grown cat. And God, do they love to play. But without their mother to hunt for them, they die."

"Casi..."

"And it never ends. Poachers still in the jungles, terrorists still slinging bombs. What a horrible place this is."

Cassidy touched her shoulder. "Makes a body wish you could just start over, start from scratch with a new undamaged planet."

"Yes." Casi felt a shudder pass over her.

"What's really wrong?"

"I love him. And he's going to leave," Casi blurted out before she could stop herself.

"And you're letting him?" Cassidy didn't have to ask who, she'd known the truth years ago.

"What other choice do I have?"

"Go with him."

"I want to. But he's not on a lark. It's business and his business is dangerous." Casi didn't add that after her first encounter with Lilith, she was honestly scared to face the woman again. And she hated that fear.

"Danger never scared you before."

Casi gave a start, remembering this girl did have the Sight after all. "Because I was in control," she answered, honestly. "What if I distract him and the whole mess blows up in both our faces?"

Cassidy sighed. "I know what I'm about to say is pretty lame, but follow your heart."

She felt an echoing agreement deep in her soul. She managed a tearful smile. "That's not so lame."

"In this day and age? Where people met in cyberspace chat rooms, never leaving their homes?"

Casi slung an arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "Sometimes the old-fashioned way is the only way."

Cassidy grinned. "Okay, what's your plan?"

Casi thought about the note in her back pocket. "Cass, remember when you were seven, you told me you wanted to be a detective?"

Cassidy snorted. "You mean after all this time, you're finally gonna let me in on a case?"

"Yeah. How about a stakeout?"

"With donuts and coffee?"

Casi bit back a smile. "Deal."

***

In the afternoon sunlight, the strip club looked dingey. The name, Rosie's, was fading and peeling on the rough brick wall. Joe got out of the Buick Donovan had said he could borrow and leaned against the driver's side door, studying it for a moment. There were no other cars in the parking lot and the place looked closed. He pushed off the side of the car and walked to the double doors. Instead of knocking, he yanked on the handle. The door swung open and a blast of cold air scented with cleaner and soap hit him, followed by music heavy on guitar riffs.

It was dark inside save for a half-power spotlight on the stage. A girl clad in Daisy Dukes shorts and cropped tank top was curling herself around a vertical bar. Her long dark red hair was in twin plaits tied with dainty gingham bows. Joe walked in further, watching her. She looked young and nervous. Her moves were fluid and practiced, though. Joe kept to the shadows by the door and watched.

Like most men, strip clubs were nothing new to him. His first one probably shouldn't have been at thirteen but hey, that had all been Jon's fault. As he got older, he found that he liked watching not only the body, but the face as well. The strippers who had been dancing for years tended to get a blank look in their eyes with a wide, totally fake smile. The newer, fresher dancers tended to forget to smile, instead concentrating on the dance and the music.

Suddenly, the girl looked up, straight at him and stumbled to a halt. The people--two women and a man--got up and turned around. "Who are you?" demanded the older of the two women.

Joe stepped into the dim light. "I was looking for the owner."

"That'd be me," said the woman. "Rosie O'Bryan. What do you want?"

"I'm getting together a bachelor party for my partner. He's getting married Wednesday."

The man frowned. "Rosie, no more bachelor parties."

"Quiet, Seamus." The woman looked at Joe. "Our last bachelor party turned rather raucous."

Joe arched an eyebrow. "Do you hire out your strippers?"

"Indeed not. You can have your party here." Rose frowned. "Can you vouch for your guests?"

Joe knew Casi had said not to mention her brothers' names but the owner seemed pretty reasonable. "Actually, it'll be the same guys from last time."

"Saints preserve us," Seamus muttered and crossed himself.

"Quiet, Seamus. Donovan MacFairlaigne was true to his word. He paid for the damages." Rosie strode to the bar, wrote something down in a ledger. She nodded to Joe. If you'll be wanting the place to yourselves, come after ten tomorrow night." She held out an imperious hand. "But considering last month, I'll need an upfront deposit."

Joe grinned and pulled out his wallet. "You've just saved me a major headache."

"Let's hope I haven't taken one on myself."

Joe's grin widened. "Hey, I can always hogtie Donovan."

Rosie laughed. "Now that'd be a sight to see."

***

"How long are we going to stay here?"

"Yeah. The waitress has been by five times."

"Huh. If we don't order something soon, they'll probably kick us out."

"Shh. We'll give it another hour."

"Why? If Casi was gonna hunt us down, she would've done it already."

"Yeah. On your Harley, she'd get here in less than fifteen minutes."

"Hey, don't you have a key? Did Casi steal the key or did she hotwire the motorcycle?"

"How do you hotwire a motorcycle?"

"Same as a car. Only you need two wires instead of four."

"How would you know?"

"He is the trivia king, you know."

"Really? Could've fooled me."

"That's because you're easy to fool."

"Oh shut up."

Marc shifted in his seat. "You know it's beginning to bother me though. Why hasn't she tracked us down?"

Savannah shrugged. "Maybe she figured out the loophole program Brittani told me to set up."

"Maybe she went after Brittani."

"Then she'd have to deal with Donovan."

Erick shrugged. "They've been butting heads for years."

"Those two are always butting heads over something," muttered Marc.

"I think we've noticed that over the years," remarked Ian.

"Oh shut up."

"You."

"Okay. Time out. The waitress is looking our way again. Are we going to eat lunch or not?" asked Erick.

Penny shook her head. "I'm still full from breakfast."

Erick grunted. "You're a lot of help."

"I'm not hungry either," said Kari.

Marc sighed. "Then let's go."

"Should we leave a tip?"

"For what? We didn't eat anything."

"Yeah, but she was real friendly."

"He's got a point. We did waste her time."

"Fine. Adrian, leave the tip."

"I don't have any money."

Marc groaned. "Ian?"

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't suggest it."

"Me either," said Erick. "Come on, Vanna."

"Fine." Marc reached for his wallet but his back pocket was empty. "Oh shit. My wallet's in my room."

Kari shook her head. "Then I guess it's a good thing we didn't order something to eat."

"We could've always left him here to do the dishes," suggested Ian.

"Oh shut up and let's go."

"Touchy, touchy," said Ian. "We're not ill-mannered because the prank didn't work, are we?"

"Oh go fly a kite off a cliff, Ian."

"That's not how C.D. says it."

"Oh shut up, Adrian."

***

"Where's Catherine?"

Brittani shook her head, her dark hair swinging. "Haven't seen her since breakfast, Ally."

Alannah sighed. "Just as well. Can't plan her bachelorette party with her here. Have you seen Casi?"

Brittani nodded. "Actually, yes, but for some reason she wouldn't talk to me."

Donovan poked his head into the kitchen. "Rumor has it she's pissed at Marc."

Brittani frowned. "Why?"

Donovan came into the room and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Something about her computer."

Brittani nearly dropped the egg in the cake batter, shell and all. "Computer? Oh shit."

Donovan looked at his wife. "Okay, give."

"Savannah asked about a loophole program. Or continuous loop, really. It's similar to screensavers."

"I know, dear." Donovan stepped up to the butcherblock island. "If I'm not mistaken Savannah knows a little about computer subroutines." He looked at his mother. "Didn't she say she took computer programming courses in college?"

Alannah nodded. "I believe she did. What are you getting at?"

Donovan smiled. "Okay. Out of that bunch, she's the most computer literate. And we all know what Casi and Cat did to Marc last night."

Brittani finally cracked the egg and dumped the yolk and the white into the cake batter. "And they used me."

"You do seem to be a secondary target," commented Alannah not quite hiding her smile. "The girls used your speaker pillow."

Brittani grunted, stirring the batter, then snuck a glance at Donovan. "Correct me if I'm wrong, husband, but before we got married weren't your siblings on their best behavior?"

"Um....you could say that."

Alannah chuckled. "Actually, it's their way of welcoming you now that you're officially part of the family."

Brittani's frown slipped into a shy smile. "What? You're saying I should be flattered?"

Donovan skirted the table, stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Consider yourself honored," he said and kissed her neck.

Brittani laughed. "Some honor. Next they'll string my underwear up the flagpole."

Alannah shook her head. "Lucky you. We don't have a flagpole."

"Your underwear is for my eyes only," whispered Donovan.

"Or the equivelant thereof," Brittani answered just as softly.

"Over my dead body."

"Probably string yours up too."

Donovan snuck a glance at his mother. "God, I hope not."

Brittani glanced at him, grinning. "Don't want the family to know about the Frederick's of Hollywood fiasco?" she asked, her voice still a whisper.

"You hush."

Alannah started for the door. "Well, I'll go get Casi. She can't spend the rest of her life in a huff. We have a bachelorette party to plan."

"And a birthday party."

"Yes, yes. Life is never dull around here."

Brittani glanced again at Donovan. "Don't I know it."

He spun her around, pulled her close. "You be quiet, wife."

"Make me."

Donovan gave her a mock glare and kissed her.

***

"Well?"

Cassidy let out a squeal. "What's gotten into you, Jaime, hiding in dark doorways? Or should I be saying lurking in dark doorways?"

"I'm not lurking. Did you give her the note?"

Cassidy turned around, opened the front door and motioned for him to leave. "Yes. Now shoo."

"If it didn't work with you, what makes you think it'll work with me? Anyway I live here too."

"Wishful thinking?"

"Ha. Now run along with you."

"That was what I was doing, brother, since I have to decide what I'm wearing tomorrow."

"The wedding's Wednesday."

"The bachelorette party is tomorrow night."

Jaime grunted. "You can't go to that."

"Why not? I'm fifteen. It's not like they'll have male strippers."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, the Chippendales are booked solid for the next two years."

Jaime watched her head upstairs and just groaned...

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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.