Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

The drive into Killarney was...tense, realized Joe. Whatever humor had lightened the atmosphere earlier was gone. Strangely, the tension was familiar. Joe fidgeted in the backseat of the old Buick, trying to place it. He studied the two women in the front seat, recalling how they'd first met. Casi still wore her hair long, nearly to her waist but Catherine now preferred hers just below her shoulders.

Joe sighed quietly and glanced out the window. Some instinct made him focus out the back window. The vehicle was closing distance fast. It wasn't the dump truck nor was it McConnaughhay's sedan. "Off the road---now."

If it had been anyone else, Joe knew he would've probably had to waste time arguing. But Casi was driving. She twisted the wheel, swerving into the opposite lane then heading for the gravelly shoulder.

Joe watched the truck---a big semi minus the trailer--come closer. "Off, Casi!"

"There's a ditch."

"Then get out of the car."

Casi spared a moment to look at him. "Like hell. And have it in the ditch with yours?"

"Actually," said Catherine. "It would be across the road from his." She bit back a grin at her sister's expression. "Just clarifying things."

Casi mumbled a few choice words under her breath and veered back onto the road just as the semi roared up to them. Joe went white. "Casi, you can't ram him!"

Casi gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Just watch me." She continued at top speed, forcing the semi's driver to turn also.

"After all," murmurred Catherine, sounding much too calm. "This is Dad's favorite car."

Joe held onto the back of the front seat. "You've been hanging around Ethan too long."

There was a screech of disc brakes, followed by the hiss of air brakes. The semi swerved, nearly overturning as it skidded around the Buick and continued on. Casi braked to a halt on the suddenly empty, quiet road, facing the wrong way.

Catherine took a deep breath, glanced at her sister, only her eyes angry. "That was a little foolhardy. What if he hadn't swerved?"

Casi frowned. "Would you have preferred the ditch?"

Catherine lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Let's get turned around."

Joe grunted, sensing the tension heighten. "Let's just take it nice and easy. I'm not sure I could survive your version of demolition driving again."

Casi glared at him in the rear-view mirror. "Oh shut up."

Cat shifted in her seat. "He's got a point. I think my brain's still sloshing."

"You shut up too."

Joe found himself grinning, despite what had just happened. "Cranky, are we? Driving does that to me too."

Casi snorted. "Yeah, I've noticed."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "We can do without the insults. Save it for the honeymoon."

Casi prayed she wasn't blushing. "As if." She caught the look her sister gave her and groaned inwardly. She hoped she wasn't that transparent to him.

Joe glanced out the back window as Casi made a hundred and eighty degree turn, once again facing toward town. "I don't see any other speeding semis."

"Yet," muttered Casi.

"Pessimistic, are we?"

"Realistic. Lilith must have sent the semi." She glanced at Joe in the rear-view mirror again. "You know that, don't you."

Joe gave a jerky nod, suddenly worried. Not for him but for the two women with him. Lilith wasn't going to give up easily. And that scared him.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and for that Casi was grateful. In a way. Unfortunately, it gave her plenty of time to think. About the now two times someone had played hit-and-run, both of which could've been fatal. Casi pulled up in front of the place Joe had rented the Bentley. Joe got out then thumped Casi's door. "I'll be right back."

Catherine got out. "We'll meet you at The Strawberry Tree."

Casi took a deep breath, remembering why'd they come into town. "Right."

Joe nodded and as he went into the rental car agency building, Casi pulled the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the car. Cat frowned. "He took out insurance, I hope. They'll charge an arm and a leg for repairs if he didn't."

Casi just nodded in agreement and started across the street to a small souviner shop. Cat hurried after her. "Case, you okay?"

Casi waited until her feet touched the concrete sidewalk. The she faced her sister. "That proves yesterday wasn't an accident."

Catherine frowned, folded her arms across her chest. "Since you didn't say word one yesterday or last night, I had no idea you thought it wasn't an accident."

"I would have thought Marc had blabbed---as usual."

"He didn't. All I do know is that Doc O'Reilly came out, a rarity in any case."

Casi stared down at the cracks in the old concrete. Finally, she raised her head. "Why did you say that about the honeymoon?"

Catherine looked away and sighed. "Casi," she said quietly, letting her arms fall to her side. "It's as plain as the nose on your face. You love him. You've loved him for years. Since Kenya."

Casi stared at her, then shook her head. "That's not how I remember our first encounter."

***

"...a yak, or maybe a wild boar, or--"

"Are yaks indigenous to Africa or India?"

"Y'know, you're right. It's India. We're not in India, are we?"

"Afraid not, sister dear."

"Let's check it out anyway."

"You never give up, do you?"

Casi's grin widened. "Never." She tugged on Cat's arm. "C'mon." They crept forward, just off the edge of the path. Suddenly, a memory made Casi stop cold. "That's where that hunter's snare usually is."

The sixteen-year-old twins shared a startled look and threw caution to the wind,starting forward again. Catherine climbed the tree quickly, as Casi grabbed a thick vine.

The sisters had been coming to Animals Wild game reserve for eleven years. For the last three, they pretty much roamed around as free as the animals. After eleven years, they knew the dangers and for the last three years, they carried lightweight packs with first-aid kits, field rations, signal flare and gun. They also carried lethal-looking hunting knives on their belts.

Casi tied the end of the vine around her waist. Poachers had been sneaking in on the edges of the reserve and the hunters' snare--despite all the times that the twins had cut thenoose and filled the pit---was always set up. She was prepared for a trapped lion or cheetah

but---

On the branch above, Cat's entire attention was focused on slicing the rope holding the noose to the branch, but Casi suffered a second of shock. It wasn't an animal, it was a person!

She swung forward, arcing her knife in a vicious hacking motion, grabbing the guy's belt with her free hand. As the rope strands parted in two places, the guy's weight dragged at her right arm and she nearly dropped him. Using the motion of the swing, she got him clear of the pit full of pointed wooden stakes, the other half of the trap.

She undid the vine and jumped, landing on the ground in a crouch, the well-worn taupe jeans moving with her like a second skin. The guy, his blond hair rumpled, managed to get up on his hands and knees, gasping for air. Casi shook her head, stood up and sheathed her knife. "Greenhorn," she muttered contemptuously....

Catherine grunted. "A lot happened after that."

"Don't I know it," snapped Casi as she went into the souvenir shop. She blinked her eyes at the dimness.

Catherine sighed. "You know what I'm talking about. Remember when you tried to stop the poachers?"

Casi glared at her sister, those very memories coming into sharp quick focus. "I don't care to."

"Casi---"

"That was the most idiotic thing I've ever done in my life."

Catherine arched an eyebrow. "Oh really."

Casi started to tell her last year didn't count, then decided to ignore her. She strode down one aisle belated realizing she didn't have a clue as what she was going to buy Kari. Catherine, unpeturbed apparently, followed her. "You know, you never really explained how you got loose. After all this time, I should at least have an idea."

Casi let out a loud sigh. "You don't give up, do you?"

Catherine flashed her a grin. "Never."

Casi fingered a crystal candleholder. "Well, I found the poachers...and they found me...."

The first thing that registerd was her right cheek felt swollen. Casi groanedas she remembered the poacher who'd caught her backhanding her. She tried to move her arms only to find them tied abouve her to a branch. Her shoulders felt numb and she wondered how long she'd been unconscious. A snide little voice in her head reminded her that her parents were probably frantic with worry, not to mention no one knew exactly where she had been headed.

Several feet away, she saw the poachers gathered around a tiny fire. She counted six men and anger swept over her, blocking everything else out. Two rangers and countless animals were dead because of them.

Casi raised her head to see if she could get her arms free when sudden shouts brought her attention back to the poachers. She thought she saw a thatch of blond hair and groaned. "Oh no," she muttered. Surely, he hadn't followed her.

A few minutes later after some scuffling, three poachers half-dragged a body to the tree she was tied to. Casi groaned as she saw who it was. Curse it, he had followedher. Didn't he know the meaning of the word 'no'? "Greenhorn," she whispered, uneasy. He already had a black eye from walking into a tree. What if he was really hurt this time?

He stirred as the poachers hauled him to his feet and tied his arms to a strong thick branch. Casi took a deep breath and waited until the men, sounding angry in their native Arabic, stalked off. "Joe?"

"Just give me a sec and I'll finish the rescue," he muttered.

Casi groaned. "It's okay."

Joe raised his head to look at her, all humor gone from his face. "Not from where I'm standing."

Casi looked up at her hands numb from the stiff ropes. "I'll think of something."

"Isn't that my line?"

She sighed. A greenhorn jock and a knight in shining armer. "Look. I know my--" Leaves fluttering silently past her face made her pause. She looked up into the branches but saw nothing in the darkness. "--my way around."

"Yeah? So?"

"Shh."

He frowned, his face nothing more than a pale blob in the moonlit darkness. "What?"

"Do you hear anything?"

"Just the poachers."

"Anything else?"

"No."

Casi nodded. "Exactly."

"Yeah, but wouldn't you haul butt from this place too? Animals are smarter than we give them credit for."

Casi felt a thrill of comraderie and told herself to squelch it. Jaime never understood and yet this New England jock did. "True, but they only flee the immediate vicinity.How far away would you say we were from the poachers?"

"Too far to kick a stone at them." Joe tried to shrug and winced. "Several yards." He looked from the camp to Casi. "You mean---" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "---someone's here?"

Casi nodded, feeling another thrill run through her. Damn it, she didn't want to like this guy that much. Maybe he wasn't such a hotshot greenhorn jock after all. She tiltedher head back. "Up there."

More leaves fluttered to the ground. Followed by a tall, muscular form almost invisible in the darkness. Joe frowned. "Didn't I see this in a movie?"

"Shh," said Casi.

"Silence," came a masculine voice. The man cut the ropes, then gestured upwards,the moonlight glinting dully off the serrated blade of a hunting knife. "Up with the both of you."

Casi's shoulders felt numb and her arms like rubber. "You must be kidding. I can't climb."

Joe massaged his arms. "I'll carry you."

Casi snorted. "In your dreams."

"Hold on," the man said. Suddenly, he hefted Casi up as he climbed up into the tree. Startled, Casi held on as best she could. She heard Joe scrambling up behind them. After awhile, the man settled Casi on a broad tree branch. "We will rest here."

Joe took a deep breath. "Who are you?"

"Whoa." Catherine held up both hands, palm out. "Case, come on. Tarzan?"

Casi snorted. "No. He wasn't Tarzan. His parents had been missionaries to the Masai. When they were killed in an accident, he stayed with the tribe."

Catherine arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Hmmmhmm."

Casi glared at her. "His name was Nicholas Quinn. He rescued us." she started down the aisle, and then glanced over her shoulder. "And he looked nothing like Tarzan."

***

Joe left the rental car building, relieved to know a tow truck would bring in the Bentley and because the damage was minimal, he could get it back. Maybe it wasn't 007's car but it was still a cool car. He leaned on the apple-red Buick and shook his head. It bothered him that Casi could be right about the truck driver. Lilith Raven could have very well been behind the attempt today. Was that why it had happened yesterday? Joe frowned. Somehow that attack had felt personal.

Joe stayed there for a few moments, watching tourists dart here and there. Killarny was a tourist spot much like his own hometown of Provincetown, Massachusetts. He sighed and pushed himself off the fender. He'd enjoyed being home last summer despite the tragedy that had put him there, even despite the trouble he'd gotten involved in, trying to keep Casi out of it.

Suddenly memories made him clench his hands into fists. Lilith Raven had killed Bryce, nearly killed him. And then last year....If it was the last thing he ever did, he would get revenge. He started for The Strawberry Tree, forcing himself to stay calm. As soon as he could, he had to leave. Without Casi. It would be safer that way. For Casi and for his sanity. Just walk away. Joe took a deep breath. Right.....so why the hell did it feel so wrong?

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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.