Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Seated in the study, Donovan MacFairlaigne shook his head and found himself grinning. His brother and his band could be royal pains but they were regulars around the castle and seemed like an extended family. The combination of chords roaring through the open window made him raise his head. Odd, that sounded almost familiar. Didn't he hear it recently?

His father looked up, from his seat by the fireplace. "What is that?"

Donovan looked over at his father and frowned. "Sounds like..." Suddenly he knew. "Oh my God, that's the Wedding March."

"On guitar?"

"Interesting, isn't it," said Donovan with a grimace.

"That isn't the word I would use, " mutterred Liam MacFairlaigne.

Donovan grinned at his father as a new voice drifted into the room. "Whoa! I thought you said you had to practice."

"I did."

"It's gonna sound different, Ethan. Y'know, a guitar is a whole lot different from a piano."

"No.Really." Ethan's voice was full of sarcasm. "I never would have noticed."

"Okay, okay. Time out. Ethan, what exactly is the problem?"

"Problem? Problem? The Flight of the Bumblebee notwithstanding, the Wedding March was not made for guitar."

"What the hell's Flight of the Bumblebee?"

"Don't you know your classics?"

"That's a classic?"

"We're getting off the subject here."

"What subject?"

"I hated English in school."

"Hunh?"

"Somebody tape his mouth shut."

"I'll volunteer."

"But if we do that, he won't be able to sing."

"He's not the one singing, Marc is."

"What were we talking about?"

Standing on the patio, by the podium, Ethan groaned. "Erick, play the piano."

Ian frowned. "What are you, a magician? Erick can't play the piano. It'd have to be magic for him to play. Right, Erick?"

"You never told them."

"They needed lead guitar. That's what I play."

Savannah leaned forward. "You play piano?"

"Yeah."

Marc arched an eyebrow. "But can you play the Wedding March on piano?"

"At his worst, it'll sound better on piano."

"Hey, I liked it. Kinda a cross between G'N'R and Whitesnake," said Adrian.

Kari shook her fair head. "That I don't follow."

Adrian rolled his brown eyes. "G'N'R's November Rain. and Whitesnake's Still of the Night."

"Man, I like that song."

"Which one?"

"November Rain. I'd like to be in his shoes."

"I like the new version of Dream On myself," stated Marc. "Of course, I liked the old version."

"Yeah, well, I like Aerosmith too, but in Still of the Night, that unique sound they do is playing guitar with a violin bow."

Ethan grunted. "That I like. But Erick's version of the Wedding March sounds nothing like that. Piano, Erick."

"It's in the parlour."

"It's a baby grand, you know. How the hell are we going to get it from in there to out here?"

Ethan sighed and gestured to Kari's electronic keyboard. "That has a piano function, right?"

Kari nodded. "It does."

"Okay, problem solved."

Adrian looked up from tightening the bolts on his high-hat cymbals. "What problem?"

Ethan just groaned....

***

"There. That should do it. Casi stepped back from the bed and brushed off her hands. "He'll freak."

Catherine laughed. "How long do you think it'll take him to figure it out?"

"Ten minutes if he's halfway awake?"

Catherine looked around her brother's room. "Hey, wait a sec. Don't we have to wait till he's asleep to turn it on?"

"That's where the extension cord comes in."

"But he'll see it."

"It's green. We always use it outside for Christmas. He'll never notice." Casi flashed her sister a grin. "Come on, let's get out before rehearsal's over."

The twin sisters hurried out of the room and down the stairs. Casi glanced at the grandfather clock just as it bonged three times. "Let's go see how things---"

A cacophony of sound came from the study, or rather beyond the study's open windows. Catherine frowned. It sounded like the Wedding March accompanied by rap music. "What is that?"

Donovan came out of the study, followed by their father. They were both shaking their heads as if their ears were ringing. "What's that noise?" asked Casi.

"Erick's modern version of the March."

Cat's frown deepened. "I thought he was going to try it on guitar."

Liam grunted. "That was worse."

Catherine groaned and headed down the hall that led to the kitchen and the back door, with her siblings and her father following. Ethan was standing just outside the back door, hands clamped over his ears, a grimace on his face.

Cat tapped him on the arm and shouted, "Tell him to stop."

"What?"

"Tell him to----" Suddenly, dead silence reigned, nearly as deafening as the noise. "--to stop."

Erick grinned over at her. "You want to hear more?"

"No!" shouted Casi.

Erick stepped back from the electronic keyboard, hands upraised in surrender. "Okay, okay, no need to shout."

Donovan shook his head and sighed. In the peace and quiet, they all heard the doorbell ring. A few minutes later, Brittani poked her head out the back door. "There you all are. Casi, there's someone here to see you. He said it was urgent."

"Who is it," asked Casi, coming back inside and following Brittani to the front doors.

"He wouldn't say. He wouldn't come in either."

Casi frowned as Brittani headed back up the stairs and swung open the left-hand door and froze. "Jaime! What are you doing here?"

The tall lanky man ran a nervous hand through his short-cropped red hair, his hazel eyes flicked over Casi. "Ah, Casi, can I talk to you in private?"

"Uh....sure." She stepped outside on the verendah and pulled the door shut. "What's up?"

Jaime looked around nervously. "I really shouldn't be doing this---but is he here?"

Casi frowned, picking up on his nervousness and finding herself scanning the countryside. "Who?"

"Don't be daft, Cassandra. He was supposed to meet my friend two hours ago."

Despite the warmth of the afternoon, Casi went ice-cold. She grabbed Jaime by his blazer and hauled him a few steps away from the door. "Joe?" she whispered harshly. "What the hell's going on, Jaime?"

"Is he here?"

"No." Casi shook her head. "He left hours ago, heading for Kenmare."

"Oh damn."

She was still holding his lapel and she shook him none too gently, the gesture borne from long acquaintence. "Spill the beans, James Patrick McConnaughhay or I'll be strongly inclined to throttle you."

"Not here."

Casi glowered at him. "The Strawberry Tree?"

"Not safe." Jaime glanced around the countryside again.

Casi let go of his lapel to slap his shoulder. "Stop that."

"The ruins. Meet me at the ruins. Fifteen minutes." Jaime turned and left.

Casi felt very close to tears in an instant and she hugged herself, still cold to her soul. "What was going on?" she whispered. She felt a single tear slip down her cheek. And where was Joe?

***

Jaime remembered the ruins of the original homestead from when he and Casi used to stargaze. At times like these, he really missed the uncomplicatedness of a teenager's life when unfinished assignments were a crisis and a pimple, a disaster. The old homestead was a simple two-room cottage with a loft, it's thatched roof long since rotted away. He and Casi used to lay on their backs on the loft's floor and talk about dreams, talk about the future.

Jaime sighed and ducked through the doorway. Strange how fate came full circle. He and Casi had split up over her increasingly irritating tendency for playing detective and now he needed her help. He saw now it had been a mistake for Roy to meet with MacKensey a day early. Someone had been watching. Raven, perhaps?

"Jaime?"

He jumped, immediately recognizing her voice. She'd beaten him to the ruins like always. "Casi, it's good to see you."

"Why was Joe meeting with your friend?"

Jaime studied the pattern of light and shadow on the stone floor, wondering how much he could safely tell her. "Ever heard of Roy Connelly?"

Casi frowned. "Robert's son? He owns that pharmaceuticals supply warehouse."

"Yes. Someone's been stealing from him but not the usual."

"What then?"

"Syringes, supplies, even security codes and tracking routes. They're trying to take over his company from within."

"Do you know who it is," asked Casi, growing more and more puzzled as to how Joe could be involved in the situation.

"We have suspicions."

"And?"

"That's where MacKensey comes in."

Casi's frown deepened. "Industrial espionage?"

Jaime finally looked up at her. "It's more than that."

Casi took a deep breath, wondering why she felt as they were running out of time. "Explain."

Jaime studied her for a moment, noting the stiff set of her shoulders. "You okay?"

"Just tell me, Jaime, please."

"Lilith Raven's past association with the Hadad organization---"

"Who?"

"Hadad---"

"No." Casi felt her hatred and anger boil up inside. "You said Lilith Raven."

Jaime looked at her, surprised. "How could you possibly know her?"

Casi turned away, still hugging herself. "I was in Hong Kong with Dad nine years ago, Thanksgiving break."

Jaime took a moment to remember. "Catherine stayed behind, didn't she?"

"Yes. I wanted to visit with my cousin, Nerissa, so I tagged along. I'd already met Joe that summer...." Her voice trailed off for a moment, then she sighed. "Rissa was a nurse's aide, candy striper, whatever, so to spend time with her I became one too. You only needed a basic knowledge of first aid anyway. And Rissa usually just brought magazines and books to the patients, ran errands for the nurses and medical personnel."

"So you helped."

"And I was bored within four hours." Casi shook her head. "I wasn't being kind or noble. I just wanted to spend time with Rissa."

"So how does this---?"

"Let me finish. As we made our way down the halls, I noticed these signs, No Admittance, except Medical Personnel. Or they read, restricted access, medical personnel only. Some of these doors were to hospital rooms, so naturally I imagined all sorts of medical mysteries or horror stories. But one door was open."

Jaime got an uneasy look on his face. "You didn't."

"I peeked in. And guess who it was?" Before Jaime could respond, she continued, "It was Joe. He'd had a car wreck, and he thought his brother had died. He even thought an entire year had passed and that he'd been in a coma for that period of time."

Jaime's expression turned angry. "Don't tell me someone did this to him."

Casi nodded. "We found out much later that his doctor, a Dr. Ravenscraft, was really Lilith Raven. Once her little scheme exploded, she tried to kill Joe....and me." Casi shuddered. "Joe makes fast friends, he cares about his friends. And as for his brothers, they may not act like it but they are close. Lilith played with his mind and it very nearly worked."

"But you were the monkey wrench."

"Most definitely."

Jaime took a deep breath. "MacKensey went to Kenmare---"

"Looking for strippers, I know. It's for Ethan's bachelor party."

"Roy disguised himself and met with MacKensey to find out why he was there a day early."

"And you think she saw them."

"It's possible."

Casi started for the exit. "I'm going to Kenmare."

"That's not a good idea."

"Don't, Jaime. You came to me. You'd think I would just sit on my butt?"

Jaime looked away. "I didn't know what else to do, Casi."

"Come with me. It'll be---" She bit her lip and didn't look at him. "Safer for both of us."

Jaime felt sadness wash over him, not only because of what she hadn't said but for the emotion coloring her voice. She felt something for MacKensey, obviously. "Let's go."

They left the ruins together, Jaime leading them toward his car. Casi

shook her head. "I'll take Marc's bike."

"Marc wouldn't let you."

"I didn't say I'd ask, now did I? He'll understand." Casi took off at a run for the garage.

Jaime watched her a moment, then got into his car. Either this was going to work or he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life....

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 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.