HDA - Living in Darkness Trilogy - Pt 2 - The Search

Thursday dawned gray and cloudy. All through breakfast, there was talk of more snow coming for the weekend. Frank was glad when the meal was finally over and they could leave for school. He'd felt as if all the adults had been acting like they hadn't seen how quiet Joe had been all last night at supper and this morning.

Once they were in the van, headed for school, Frank glanced over at Joe who was driving. "I have an idea. Your phone charged up?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I want you to text me when you see her."

"We can't use our cell phones in class, Frank." Joe's tone was almost patronizing.

"Put it on vibrate, the teacher will never know."

"Be my luck it will rattle my change and she'll most definitely know." Joe shrugged. "I'll give it a try but if the phone ends up in the principal's office I'll expect you to get it out for me."

Frank flashed his brother a smile. "Deal."

Joe pulled into the school parking lot. He headed for his usual spot to park and a few minutes later, they were heading toward their homerooms. Joe sketched a wave to his brother and saw Chet walking by himself. "Yo, Chet, big guy, got a second?"

Chet turned around with a cautious smile on his face. "Hey, Joe."

Joe slung a companionable arm around his friend's shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about what happened Monday. It was a crazy day. And-" Joe found he had to clear his throat. "You can talk about Iola, Chet, God, she was your sister. I cared for her a lot. I-"

"It's okay, Joe." Chet's smile widened. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

Joe hurried after his friend and they ducked into the classroom just before the tardy bell rang. Joe almost didn't look out the window but forced himself to. No one was out there. He sighed and focused on the teacher checking the role.

A knock on the door made the teacher, Mr. Simons, frown and get up to answer the door. He stood there talking for a moment, and then stepped back. "Class, we have a new student today."

Joe barely heard him as he saw the girl walk into the room. Her dark hair was French-braided this morning and she was wearing black jeans and a sweatshirt the color of Concord grapes which made her eyes even more violet. Before Joe could even think to grab his phone, he heard a strangled gasp and looked over at Chet who was looking extremely pale.

Ione Martin walked further into the room, a faint smile on her face, until she turned to look directly at Chet. Her eyes widened and suddenly she slumped to the floor in a faint.

Mr. Simons made it to her side first and nodded to Joe. "Go get the nurse."

Joe nodded and bolted for the door. The moment he was out of the classroom, he pulled the cell phone from his pocket and text-messaged Frank that she was there. He took off for the nurse's office and told the tall, slender nurse what had happened.

The nurse, Susan Vickers, left her office and headed for the classroom. Joe lagged behind and a few minutes later saw Frank heading his way. "How'd you get out?"

"Hall pass. Knew I saved it for a reason. What happened?" asked Frank as he and Joe headed back toward the latter's homeroom.

"She took one look at Chet and fainted."

"She could be a very good actress, Joe," said Frank.

"Or she could be Iola."

Frank gave his brother a look and stopped outside the door of Joe's homeroom. He glanced in the window but the nurse and the teacher blocked his view. "I can't just follow you in there."

"Why not? They're too busy to notice and I doubt anyone will say anything."

Frank sighed and followed Joe into the classroom. He sidled along the wall as Joe walked over to his desk. Frank could see Chet was white as a sheet and edged further into the room to see if he could see her. Finally, he could see the dark hair, the heart-shaped face. At first glance she did look quite a bit like Iola but he wasn't so sure it was really her.

Frank decided not to push his luck any further and darted out of the classroom and back to his own. He wasn't sure that the girl wasn't just an actress posing as Iola. Although there was never any trace of Iola in the remnants of the bombed car, forensics had said the explosion had destroyed all evidence and Frank felt the forensics team should know what they were talking about.

But it did leave a rather obvious question: Could Iola Morton really be alive?

***

The nurse finally revived Ione Martin and helped her sit up. Joe was too far away to hear the whispered conversation but after a long moment, the nurse left and Mr. Simons helped Ione to her feet. She spared a quick uneasy look at Chet and then saw Joe. She took a deep breath and went to an empty desk several feet away.

Ione tried not to look at Chet, no matter how much he watched her. Joe finally threw a wadded up piece of paper at Chet to get him to stop staring. At last the bell rang and the students headed out the door for their first class.

Chet picked up his books, looked like he wanted to say something but shook his head and started for the door. Joe stood up. "Chet."

Chet skidded to a halt and slowly turned around. "Y-yeah?"

"Wait up." Joe glanced at Ione, a million thoughts running through his head and then picked up his backpack and headed for the door. It was hard to turn his back on her but he followed Chet out the door.

Chet whirled around. "Joe!"

Joe nodded. "I know."

Chet glanced back at the classroom's open door. "Looks just like her..."

Joe winced at the sadness in Chet's voice. "Chet."

"I'm okay, Joe. It was just a shock. I'm okay."

Joe decided not to tell Chet he wasn't very convincing. "Come on, big guy, let's get to History. You have to take notes so I can get my nap in."

Chet spared another glance for the classroom and then nodded, nervously. "Okay."

Joe had to steer Chet in the right direction because the boy kept looking back every few seconds like if he didn't keep looking she would disappear like a ghost. Joe shuddered and wished he hadn't used that last word. It had freaked him out so badly to see her but Chet was even worse.

They made it to their history class without Chet running over anyone. Joe pushed his friend into the room and toward desks in back. No sooner were they seated than Ione Martin entered the room. She stopped and stared at Joe and Chet for a long moment. Chet was quivering either from shock or nervousness but before he could do anything the girl sat down at the head of the class.

Joe touched his friend's arm. "Calm down, Chet."

Chet nodded, his brown eyes wide. Joe bit back a sigh and hoped Chet would be able to get through the day without completely losing it. Joe watched her sort through her shiny notebooks and then pull out a perfectly sharpened pencil in that precise way he remembered Iola had and felt a shiver himself. Hopefully, he could make it through the day without losing it as well.

***

Frank shared his first class of the day - biology - with Biff, Callie and Leigh Wolf. When he saw her dart looks at him all through class, he came up with an idea. After class, he tapped her shoulder. "Hey, Leigh."

She smiled. "Frank, hello."

"I need your help."

"Yes, you do, but not for biology."

Her answer didn't surprise him. After all they'd been through, he was starting to get used to Leigh and her odd family. "That's right." He took a few minutes to explain things as best he could, noticing Callie kept gesturing for him to come on. He waved to her and looked at Leigh. "Can you?"

"I can try." Her smile faltered just slightly. "I'm not a lie detector."

Frank cleared his throat. "I know that, Leigh, but short of dragging her down to police headquarters, you're my only hope."

"And leave Star Wars out of it," said Leigh, smiling nonetheless.

Frank chuckled. "Sorry."

"All right. I'll work on it. But it won't be very concise."

"Anything you get or find will help."

Leigh took a deep breath, seemed to steel herself. "All right, Frank." She nodded to Callie and walked down the hallway.

Callie hurried over to him. "What's up?"

"I'll tell all at lunch. Hopefully, I'll know something to tell."

Callie grunted. "Frank Hardy-"

"Patience is a virtue." Frank bit back a grin, realizing he was quoting from another movie - one of Joe's favorites.

Callie narrowed her eyes. "Frank-" She glanced at her watch. "Oooh, I'll get you later," she added, giving him a quick kiss. "Lunch," she said as she hurried off to her next class.

Frank stood there for a moment and then sighed. Hopefully, his new plan would work. For the next three hours, time seemed to slow down. In his English Lit class, he could have sworn the clock started going backwards before the bell finally rang.

He hurried to the cafeteria where he'd told Leigh to meet him. He found her leaning against the wall, her backpack at her feet. He paused a moment, trying to remember if her backpack was red or pink. Her twin sister Quinn had a tendency to dress the same as her sister. "Leigh?"

"Waiting on her." Quinn opened her eyes and cocked an eyebrow. "How's life?"

"Okay."

"Heard the new girl passed out in homeroom."

"Something like that."

"Hello, Frank."

Frank turned to see Merlyn Slade and Leigh Wolf walk up together. "Hey."

Leigh sighed. "I couldn't get anything really - just nervousness, confusion, embarrassment."

Merlyn gave Frank a curious look. "She doesn't seem to be angry or conniving."

Quinn looked from Merlyn to Frank and then to her sister. "Who?"

Leigh shushed her and looked at Frank. "What's wrong?"

Frank sighed. "This happened a long time ago. Joe's girlfriend was killed in a car bomb meant for us," he said in a low voice. "The new girl is a dead ringer for Joe's late girlfriend."

"And you think it's a trap," said Quinn in a flat voice.

"It's happened before. About a month or two after Joe lost her. We found a girl who looked just like Iola in the Maine woods. It didn't end good."

"And her name is Ione," mused Merlyn. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. I don't know how she could've survived." Frank shook his head and looked around, half expecting Callie to show up, demanding to know what was going on. Instead, his eyes went wide as he saw Ione Martin.

She walked over to him and smiled. "Hi. You're Joe's brother, Frank, aren't you."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"He described you quite well. I'm Ione."

Frank tried not to stare at her. "Hello." He cleared his throat and gestured to the girls with him. "This is Merlyn, Leigh and Quinn."

Ione smiled at them but she looked unsettled as she looked at Leigh. "We've met before, haven't we?"

Leigh shook her head. "We shared that economics class last period."

"Must be where I saw you then," said Ione.

Frank felt a shiver race down his spine. Somehow the way Ione had said it reminded him of that fateful day when Iola was killed. Joe had been talking to a blond about the same height and build as the twins. Could it be Iola after all? he wondered, growing uneasy.

***

It wasn't until the last bell rang that Chet seemed to gather the courage to actually talk to Ione. Since he'd already met her, Joe reluctantly agreed to introduce them before everyone left for the day. He found Ione getting some stuff from her locker. "Hey, Ione," he said, feeling that shudder run through him again as she turned and gave him a smile.

"Hello, Joe." Her smile faltered as she saw Chet. "Hello."

"Ione, this is Chet Morton."

Ione studied Chet for a long moment, staring at his outstretched hand like it was a snake or worse. Slowly, she reached out and took it. "Chet. That's a nice name. I like it." She pulled her hand free and turned to her locker. "Nice to meet you."

"I - I had a sister. S-she looked just like you," said Chet, a thread of hope in his voice.

Ione spun around, her violet eyes wide. "What was her name?"

Joe felt a chill sweep through him. "Iola Morton," he said softly.

Ione looked at him, growing paler by the second. Her eyelids fluttered and for a moment Joe thought she was going to faint again. "Iola Morton?" she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "It matches the letters too."

She studied Chet for a long moment, looked at Joe and then dropped her books. She flung herself at Chet. "You're my brother."

Chet gave Joe a shocked, panicked look and then looked down at the dark head resting against his shoulder. He lifted a shaking hand and smoothed it down her hair. "Iola?"

She pulled back and looked at him. "Oh, Chet, I remember. I remember." Her eyes widened and she looked at Joe. "Joe..." Suddenly, she stepped away from Chet and frowned at Joe. "Joe," she said again and slapped his face. "That's for talking to that little hussy that day and playing catch with the keys."

Joe stared at her, stunned. It had all happened so fast. He didn't know whether to be glad or furious or anything else. He slammed his hand against the nearest locker and stalked away.

Bewildered, Chet shook his head. "Joe-"

"He deserved it." She smiled up at him. "Let's go home, Chet. I want to see Mom and Dad."

Chet took a deep breath. "They think you're dead."

She went white and looked in the direction that Joe had gone. "You'll tell them, then, won't you, big brother? Tell them I survived, that I'm back and I want to be with my family."

Chet shivered and nodded. "O-okay. I'll go right now."

She smiled. "Good." She watched Chet hurry down the hallway. "Very good."

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.