Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Twenty-four year old Joe Hardy leaned against his car and ran a hand through his blonde hair, wallowing in self-pity. His blue eyes narrowed as he scowled at the numerous rejections he’d gotten in response to his offers of lunch. While his father, world-renowned private investigator Fenton Hardy, and his year-older brother, Frank had been totally immersed in a huge case involving insider trading, Joe had wrapped up the loose ends on the other cases Hardy and Sons Investigations had been working on. Detesting paperwork of any kind, Joe had gladly let Frank and his father handle the large, complicated case that had come about after the SEC had uncovered the scandal.

For the past few weeks, Frank and Fenton had painstakingly reviewed and cataloged the thousands of pieces of evidence they had turned up during the course of the investigation. Preferring the more action-oriented types of cases the firm accepted over sitting in an office day after day, Joe had teamed up with Sam Radley, the firm’s fourth partner and Fenton Hardy’s closest friend.

With Sam leaving on a two-week vacation that morning, and all of the current cases being closed, Joe found himself with nothing to do. He had called everyone he knew in an effort to find a lunch companion, but it seemed he was the only one who had no plans. Even his tall, blonde fiancée, Vanessa Bender, who never turned down an opportunity to have lunch with him, had to decline Joe’s offer today, citing a major presentation that had to be completed that afternoon.

Reviewing his meager options, Joe suddenly brightened up a little, struck with inspiration. As he turned to get into his car, a bright red two-seater convertible came to a stop at the curb. Intrigued, Joe watched as the door opened and a woman emerged from the car. Long, shining, dark brown hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves. Gazing around uncertainly, her eyes landed on Joe and she flashed him a smile that lit up her whole face.

Leaning forward slightly, Joe lowered his sunglasses and squinted, now recognizing the dimple that appeared in her cheek as the woman’s smile grew.

“Jodi Renault?” Joe asked, not sure if he was hallucinating, as the woman rushed towards him, grinning from ear to ear. “It is you!” he laughed meeting her halfway and scooping her up in his arms.

“Hi, Joe!” she replied happily, hugging him tightly.

Joe stepped back and took a good look at her, smiling approvingly. “Wow, I haven’t seen you since-”

“Junior year in high school,” she finished for him.

Joe nodded in agreement. “And you look even better than I remember,” he winked. “So what brings you back to Bayport? I hear you’re a hot shot architect now, with a corner office and a penthouse apartment in New York City,” he teased.

“You mean they’re still gossiping about me in this town?” Jodi shook her head in distaste. “Some things never change, huh?”

“Yeah, but now they’re all jealous of you,” Joe grinned. “So, what are you doing back here? Come to rub their noses in your success?” he cracked, although he secretly wouldn’t blame her if she did, recalling how he had been virtually her only friend during her brief tenure at Bayport High.

“No,” Jodi replied solemnly, an overpowering sadness creeping into her eyes. “I need your help.”

“Come into the office and you can tell me about it.” Joe instantly turned serious as he gestured towards the door.

“Joe,” Jodi grabbed his arm, stopping him, as she glanced nervously at the Hardy home. “I’d rather talk to you alone. Just the two of us.”

Sadly remembering the showdown he had with his parents when his and Jodi’s casual friendship turned serious, he could almost understand why she preferred not to take the chance of running into his family.

“Okay,” he replied, glad to see the smile instantly return to her face. “I was just going out for lunch. Wanna join me?”

“Sure. Where to?”

Joe threw her a devilish grin. “The beach.”

Jodi’s smile grew as she shook her head fondly at the memories. “How many times did we go to the beach for lunch period and ‘forget’ to go back for afternoon classes?”

“At least one time too many,” Joe laughed, recalling the day they’d been caught hanging out at the beach by Bayport High’s science teacher, who had taken his class on an impromptu field trip. “I was grounded for a week.”

“See, your parents were right. I was a bad influence on you,” she wagged a finger at him playfully, although Joe could tell, all these years later, she was still hurt by that accusation. “I’ll follow you,” she said as she turned to walk back to her car.

As Joe pulled out and headed for the beach, with Jodi right behind him, he called up the bittersweet memories of their short time together. Jodi had lived on the ‘wrong’ side of Bayport with her father, who many in town thought was just plain crazy, and her stepmother. Her father did odd jobs around town, making just enough money to support them, but spent most of his time attempting to convert the town’s residents to his newly formed religion, insisting that was his true calling.

Most people either tolerated him or just ignored him altogether, writing him off as eccentric and rather strange, but for the most part, harmless. Jodi, however, didn’t fare as well among the teenagers of Bayport High. Despite her good looks, easy-going personality and attempts to fit in with the other students, her peers seemed to target her for her father’s bizarre behavior, spreading mean-spirited and sometimes downright vicious rumors about her.

Although Joe had a few classes with Jodi, he had never spoken to her until the day he was late for study hall and had to take the only empty desk left, which happened to be right next to Jodi. It had been shortly after his girlfriend, Iola Morton, an extremely popular student at Bayport High, had been killed in a car bomb meant for Joe and his brother.

Unable to deal with the overwhelming guilt Joe felt as a result of the tragedy, he had become wild, reckless and at times out of control, seeming to have no regard for his own life. As a result, Joe sometimes found himself the object of longer-than-necessary stares and whispered conversations from his classmates. Having gotten a little taste of what Jodi suffered through on a daily basis, Joe struck up a conversation with her that day and they quickly became fast friends.

Learning Jodi’s mother had died suddenly when she was only ten years old, Joe found he was able to talk to her about the confusing tangle of emotions he felt as a result of Iola’s death, much easier than he could with his parents, brother or friends. He began spending more time with her, feeling his friends were unwilling to accept her into their group, not realizing they were also still reeling from the loss of a beloved friend. And on some level, Joe realized he could bury the pain when he was with Jodi. She hadn’t known Iola very well and when Joe was with her he could escape the pain he saw everywhere else – in the eyes of his friends, his family and on his own face every time he looked in the mirror. She was his escape and he found himself turning to her more and more frequently and shutting out his family and friends.

As Joe and Jodi quickly progressed beyond friendship, Laura and Fenton Hardy attempted to intervene, fearing Joe was mistaking his feelings of gratitude for Jodi’s unwavering support of him for something more. It was clear to all that Jodi had already fallen hard for Joe, and his parents knew there was no way he could return those feelings so soon after losing the girl he had loved so deeply.

Unfortunately Joe saw Laura and Fenton’s frequent attempts to get through to him and spare him any further emotional upheaval, as them blindly believing the widely circulated rumors about Jodi being a trouble maker and a bad influence. The tension in the Hardy home increased a little more each day, despite Frank’s efforts to referee the increasingly intense battles between Joe and their parents. Inevitably, one night Joe finally ‘cracked’, exploding like a ticking time bomb that had finally reached zero.

Storming out of the house, Joe had gone straight to Jodi, knowing he was in the beginning stages of a complete meltdown. Never having seen Joe so distraught before, Jodi had been desperate to comfort him with neither one of them thinking clearly. She had been a little too willing to help him ‘forget’ his pain that night and he had been a little too weak to refuse. The next day, Joe realized they had made a mistake. He finally understood what his parents had been trying to do and knew he could never reciprocate the feelings Jodi had for him. Not wanting to hurt her feelings or lead her on, the two had a long talk and both agreed it would be best to end their burgeoning relationship and remain ‘just friends’.

Not long after that, Jodi began dating Todd Harmon, the star quarterback at Southport High. Being virtually unknown by the students at Southport, Jodi was quickly accepted into Todd’s circle of friends, but still maintained her close friendship with Joe. Then one day she didn’t show up at school. A week went by with no sign of her. Tracking down Todd, Joe found out the Renaults had moved suddenly, relocating to somewhere in upstate New York. A few months later, Vanessa Bender transferred to Bayport High and Joe was quickly smitten with the leggy blonde. As he built a solid relationship with Vanessa, Joe would think of Jodi now and then, wondering how she was, but never saw her again...until today.

After a quick stop at his favorite fast food restaurant, Joe continued on towards the beach, curious as to what Jodi needed his help with and hoping he would finally find out the reason for her family’s abrupt departure from Bayport so many years before.

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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.