hardy boys fan fiction

SAVE THE WORLD
 hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by

PiperMerlyn

Chapter 2

 hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Holding his hands at shoulder level, Joe Hardy slowly turned around. The man pointing the gun at him had wavy dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. The man lowered the gun and grinned. "Had you there for a minute, didn't I, Joey."

Joe lowered his hands and grinned. "Felix. Felix Leiter, what are you doing here?" He stepped forward and gave his old friend a warm handshake.

"Business." Leiter holstered his weapon and shrugged. "Always the usual, just like you."

Joe eyed the holster for a moment and thought about his own weapon stored in a secret compartment in the Aston-Martin. Technically, it was illegal to carry firearms into Hong Kong. "How'd you smuggle that in?"

"Come on, Joey," said Felix with an expansive smile. "You think your company is the only one with tricks up their collective sleeve?"

Joe laughed. "Are you staying here?"

"Where else is there to stay? The Peninsula is the most luxurious hotel, why not stiff the government when I can?"

Joe grinned, glad to see his old friend. They'd been through so much together over the years, he thought of him as a brother. "Come on. Have a drink on me. Chen always sees that the minibar in my suite is stocked."

"You don't have to ask me twice."

Once they were settled into Joe's suite, the bellhop gone with a generous tip and the door locked, Joe poured two tall glasses of cold soda and handed one to Felix. "So, what brings you here?"

Felix settled in an upholstered chair with a quiet sigh. "I'm sure you've heard of Bernard Thorne, or you wouldn't be here at company expense."

"So he's your assignment too." Joe settled into a matching chair and kicked off his shoes. "Why is he targeting the satellites all of a sudden? Some of those were put up ten years ago."

"True. I'm not sure why he's acting as if he's on some sort of schedule. It's not like he can use the old Y2K bug."

"I hadn't even thought of some sort of virus plugged into all the satellite systems. If that were to happen, life as we know it would ground to a halt."

Felix sobered and stared at nothing in particular. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry." Joe shifted in his chair. He'd forgotten that Felix had lost a good friend in the disaster in September of 2001.

Felix blinked and then shook his head. "I'm fine, Joe." He sighed and drained his glass. "You know, Bernard Thorne has a daughter."

"Yes. I saw it in the file on him."

"Artemis Thorne. Who would saddle a poor girl with that name?"

"It's Greek."

Felix gave his friend a bemused look. "Yes, I know that. I also know that Artemis was goddess of the moon and the hunt. She was a huntress in Greek mythology."

Joe narrowed his blue eyes. "You think there's something to that? That Thorne trained his daughter to be a huntress too?"

Felix shrugged. "You never know in this business. We've both encountered quite a few crazies in our line of work."

Joe sighed. "All too true."

                                                ***

If Hong Kong was exhilarating during the day, it was exotic at night, with the neon signs flashing on and off--each with it's own particular rhythm. The streets were still crowded but with a different type of crowd. Now it was the nightclub people, walking or riding to their favorite spot.

Joining with the heavy traffic in his Aston-Martin, Joe Hardy used the slow pace to people-watch. Occasionally, an Oriental woman would pass by in traditional dress and a second later, would be a group of twenty-somethings looking like they stepped out of an American magazine.

He pulled into the curved drive of the nightclub Golden Crown and let the valet meet him at the car door. He got out, handed the key to the valet and walked into the nightclub.

The lights were dim and the conversations nearly drowned out the music. He'd agreed to meet Felix here and spotted the man over in one dim corner. He started forward when a petite raven-haired girl stepped in his way. Joe looked down to see she was Chinese, her dark brown eyes slanted  and her lips curved in a sultry smile. "Welcome," she said.

The girl was clad in a skimpy black dress and spiked heels. Her black hair was long with streaks of red mixed in. Joe smiled. "Hello," he said, starting to head in Felix's direction.

"Do you not want to dance with me?"

Joe held back a sigh. "Maybe later. I have some business to tend to."

"Business," she muttered, pouting. "Always business. Father, even strangers I meet in a nightclub." Her sultry smile was gone and there was a hard look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to brush you off, miss--?"

She tossed her head. "Artemis Thorne."

Joe blinked, startled. What were the odds? He gave his head a mental shake. No odds, something told him this was planned. "An unusual name for a very pretty girl."

"My father is obsessed with Greek mythology." Artemis gave a little pout. "Tell me you are not fond of Greek mythology."

"Hated it all through school," said Joe promptly, flashing her a smile.

"Would you like to dance with me?"

Joe glanced once around the nightclub, shot Felix a hard look and smiled down at Artemis. "I don't see the person I was supposed to meet. Apparently he hasn't arrived yet." His smile widened. "Care for this dance, Miss Thorne?"

Her pout faded and she smiled up at him. "Yes, Mister--" She gave a little frown. "I do not know your name."

"Hardy. Joe Hardy."

"Mr. Hardy, welcome to Hong Kong," said Artemis as they moved out onto the dance floor. The music was rhythmic and loud, the latest in techno pop. He could feel the heavy, fast drumbeat up through the soles of his shoes, vibrating through his body and pounding in his head.

There was a five second break between songs and Joe glanced around as casually as he could for Leiter but he didn't see the man. He veered for the bar and decided he needed something to drink.

Artemis followed him over to the bar, leaned back and rested her elbows on the bar. "I am having a party tomorrow night. You must come."

Joe told the bartender his preference and turned to Artemis. Despite her petite stature and Oriental beauty, there was something about Artemis Joe didn't like. He didn't know if it was because she seemed so blatantly false or that she was aggressive for her size. But on the other hand, this was the opening he needed. "A party? I live for parties."

She grabbed a napkin and spying the pen clipped to his shirt pocket, pulled it out and clicked it once. She scrawled an address and a telephone number and rested her hand over the plunger to click it again.

To avoid a potential disaster, Joe smoothly took the pen and the napkin from her. "Thank you."

"Oh, I forgot the time."

Joe made a show of pocketing the napkin and smiled at her. "Just tell me I'll remember."

"All right. Seven. Come at seven for the party." She smiled and patted his hand. "I will waiting for you."

Joe took a deep breath as the girl left and the bartender set his drink on the counter. He felt as if he'd run a marathon or something. "You know," came a quiet voice. "She's smaller than I pictured."

Joe shifted, resting both elbows on the bar. He didn't automatically look to his right. "Is that all you have to say?"

"She's rather pushy, too, isn't she."

Joe looked at the man next to him and grinned. "Don't say it, Felix."

Felix laughed softly and then studied Joe for a moment. "Well?"

"There's a party at her house tomorrow night and I'm invited."

Felix frowned. "Do you think that's such a good idea?"

"We're both here to find out what her father's up to, this is the perfect chance."

Felix heaved a sigh and stared down into his own drink. "Or the perfect trap."

Joe grunted. "I'll be fine, Felix."

"I'm going too." Felix held up a hand to forestall an argument. "Not with you, after you. I'll be there in case you need back up."

Joe rolled his eyes and finished his drink. "It's just a party--probably some lame tea and scones type of party."

Felix turned halfway around to look toward the entrance. "Hmm, maybe." After a long moment, he looked at Joe, his brown eyes serious. "Then again, maybe not."

                                                          ***

By the time Joe Hardy headed for the Thorne estate in Yau Tong about an hour's drive from Kowloon, Felix's worry had become his own. He glanced automatically in the rearview mirror although he knew Felix was too good to be spotted. At the moment the road behind him was empty.

Joe tightened his grip on the steering wheel and sighed. He knew full well that this could be a trap but he seriously couldn't see the man employing his daughter in whatever scheme he was hatching. Joe sighed. And what the hell was he hatching, anyway? Joe wondered.

He glanced at Artemis' directions and soon found the six-foot brick wall topped with barbed wire to his left. He followed the wall until he came to a massive wrought iron gate. A uniformed guard complete with AK-47 was waiting for him.

Joe smiled at him. "Hello."

The man didn't smile. He merely pulled a lever with his free hand and the gate split down the middle and creaked open. Joe drove the Aston-Martin through the gate, following a curved brick driveway. He stopped in front of a huge edifice that made him think of Irish castles. A tall man in a valet uniform came out and Joe handed him the key. "Take good care of her," he told the valet.

The Oriental man bowed low and got into the car. Joe had a sudden visual from a movie he'd once watched and then sighed. That only happened in the movies. He walked up to the door, feeling unsettled. He glanced over his shoulder to see the valet parking his Aston-Martin. Where was everyone else?

Before he could knock, the door swung slowly inwards and he found himself looking at Artemis. Her black hair was in a single braid and the jeans and sweater were downright sedate after what he'd seen her wear last night. "Hello," said Joe.

She smiled. "Welcome, Mr. Hardy. Please come in."

"I was just noticing that I'm the only one here. I hope I'm not too early."

"No, Mr. Hardy, you're right on time," came a new voice, followed by the sound of a gun cocking. "Turn around nice and slow."

Joe turned around to see Bernard Thorne gazing dispassionately at him. "Do you always greet your guests this way, Mr. Thorne?" Joe asked, eying the Glock aimed directly at him. "You know, I'm kind of nervous around guns. Maybe if you could point that in another direction?"

"I know who you are, Mr. Hardy."

Before Joe could reply, he felt a sharp stab in his shoulder. He turned to see Artemis removing the syringe from his shoulder.

"What the hell--?" He started to say, but a wave of dizziness swept over him. When he felt steady again, he found he was gripping her slender shoulder tightly. From the look on her face, he was hurting her but he didn't let up the pressure, couldn't afford to. "What.... did you just do?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Hardy," she said coldly, finally.

Blackness crowded his vision and he found it hard to breath. What the hell had been in that syringe, he thought dazedly. "Wha---?" he managed to say, before collapsing to the cement floor, nearly taking Artemis with him.

He could hear voices but they seemed so far away and distorted. He thought he heard Artemis ask if she could use the grounds for later and then he blacked out.

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