Joe looked around the club. The place was crowded tonight, most of the people near the stage where Shattered Glass was performing. The group had postponed the impromptu concert a day for Cade to just relax and regroup. “They’re good.”

Frank nodded. “Yeah, they are.”

They were in the alcove where the noise level wasn’t quite so high. Frank took a deep breath and sipped his soda. He spotted his father making his way to them. “You know, we’re going to have to explain sooner or later.”

“I’d rather it later. How on earth do we tell Dad the unvarnished truth? Especially about Piper and her sisters? Especially, how things went down the last time?”

Frank knew his brother had a point. “He seemed okay about what happened in Barbados.”

“He’s probably just humoring us.”

Frank rolled his eyes. “Joe—”

“Boys.” Fenton joined them in the alcove. “I just got off the phone with Inspector Harris. It seems that apparently Forsythe suspected we’d try a shell game. He followed Marc’s rental van and the sisters’ SUV. And ironically, the house James had rented was just down the street.”

Joe took a deep breath. “But it’s over now...right?”

“Yes. You see last time, it was assumed that James was making Forsythe do his dirty work, that there was some reason Forsythe was doing things for James that bordered on illegal. So all focus was on James and Forsythe was never even charged with a minor infraction. Now they’re both charged with kidnapping, attempted assault with a weapon, attempted assault with a vehicle...trespassing.”

Frank nodded. “So it is over. Good.”

Piper came over to them, a bottle in her hands. “Here you go, Mr. Hardy.”

He looked mildly surprised but took the dark amber bottle. “Thank you.”

“It’s on the house. Once again, the Hardys have saved the day,” she added, with a wink at Joe.

Fenton watched her walk away. “You know, you still haven’t told me exactly what happened here, how you met them.”

Joe kicked Frank’s ankle. “See?”

Frank shot his brother a glare. “It was just one of those accidental encounters, Dad.”

“Hmm. Phoebe said you rushed in where angels fear to tread and saved the day. Something tells me that was more than just an accidental encounter.” Fenton sat down in an overstuffed easy chair.

Joe and Frank sat down on the sofa nearest the chair. “We were just trying to help. You see, Vanessa’s pen pal was...kidnapped. And she knew the sisters. We were both looking for her and...well, we teamed up and found her,” Joe said. He sipped his soda and nodded. “That’s all it was.”

Frank bit back a grin. Joe had managed to tell the truth without telling everything. He slid a look at his father who seemed to be mulling the story over. “I see,” Fenton said. “Why do I get the feeling that’s the toned-down version.”

“Because you’d be right.”

Fenton looked up to see Phoebe standing there. She was wearing a long wrap-around skirt that hugged her hips and a tank top. She sat down on the edge of the low table in front of the sofa. “Mr. Hardy, do you believe in demons?”

Fenton blinked at the question. “Demons? I know there’s some evil people in the world but—”

“She means actual demons,” came Piper’s voice. She smiled at Frank and Joe. “It’s not your secret to keep or defend, but thank you.”

Fenton was puzzled. “You mean real demons, as in Satan and his minions?”

“Something like that,” Piper said, drily. “They do exist, Mr. Hardy, behind the scenes. They’re the reason there are truly evil people in the world. We help protect the innocents from evil. We’re witches.”

Fenton studied them a moment. “Hmm, well, then Halloween stereotypes have it all wrong then.”

Phoebe nodded. “They do. But that’s to our advantage. Look, Mr. Hardy, your sons are like protectors too, keeping the world safe. And so are you. We’re on the same side, just doing things in our own way.”

Fenton took a deep breath. “I see.” He shifted to place the bottle on the table beside Phoebe. “But sometimes even the protectors need protecting.”

Piper smiled just as Leo and Paige walked up. “That’s what Leo’s for.” She got up to greet her husband. “That’s what angels are for,” she said softly.

Fenton looked over at Leo, not wanting to say he’d overheard Piper’s second comment. Leo didn’t look like any angel Fenton had imagined – no long white gown, no downy wings or a halo, but maybe that was a stereotype as well.

He got to his feet and reached out to shake Leo’s hand. He nodded to the three sisters. “Think I’ll head back to the hotel, enjoy some peace and quiet.” He eyed the crowd, finally spotting Jack dancing with a cute redhead. “Tell Jack we can leave tomorrow if he wants to. Goodnight.”

“He took that reasonably well.” Frank watched his father leave.

“Better than I expected. But, hey, he does know Merlyn, Leigh and Quinn.”

“True.” Frank turned to the sisters. “So...you didn’t help this time?”

Piper laughed. “We’re not telling all our secrets, Frank. Go have fun.”

“Hah, fun’s not in my brother’s vocabulary.”

Phoebe took Frank’s hand. “Well, let me show you fun. We’re going dancing.”

Paige smiled at Joe. “Guess you’re my partner.”

Joe grinned and got to his feet. “Sounds good to me.”

Piper watched the brothers disappear into the crowd and gave a happy little sigh. She leaned against her husband and smiled. It was a good way to end the day...

The End

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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.