Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Frank juggled the bags of food enough to reach out and press the buzzer to Joe and Vanessa’s apartment. He’d seen Vanessa’s Jeep when they pulled into the parking lot so he was sure she was home. He hadn’t wanted to call in advance, as she’d already turned down Callie’s offer of dinner and he didn’t want to alert her that they were coming.

“Yes?” Vanessa’s voice floated out from the speaker.

“Hey, Van, it’s us. We come bearing food.” Frank replied.

“Frank? Uh…hi…come on up.”

As the lock on the door clicked open, Frank looked at Callie. “She doesn’t sound overjoyed that we’re here.”

“Then again she didn’t tell us to leave either,” Callie said hopefully.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, they walked to the end of the hall and stopped in front of apartment 2-B. Frank rapped lightly on the door. Seconds later it opened and Vanessa smiled, but stood in the doorway and looked at them questioningly.

“Hi,” she greeted. “What are you guys doing here?”

Frank grinned and held up the bags for her to see. “Didn’t want you to starve to death, so we thought we’d bring dinner.” In the awkward silence that followed he noted that rather than open the door and invite them in, Vanessa remained in the doorway, effectively blocking their way.

“Thanks,” Vanessa smiled wanly, still not moving.

“Sooooo…can we come in?” Frank shrugged.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Vanessa exclaimed, finally opening the door and stepping aside. “Of course, come on in.”

Frank and Callie walked past her and headed straight for the kitchen, with Vanessa following, reluctantly it seemed to Frank, behind.

“You really didn’t have to do this, you know,” she said, watching the two of them bustle about her kitchen.

“I know you said you just wanted to crash tonight,” Callie began.

“But a girl’s gotta eat, right?” Frank finished for her, grinning at Vanessa.

“Right,” Vanessa replied, halfheartedly. With a forced smile, she dug out some placemats and began to set the table.

“And since Joe’s out of town, it’s my duty as the surrogate big brother to make sure you don’t starve,” Frank joked.

Vanessa’s strained smile faltered and then quickly disappeared. “Yeah, I guess so,” she mumbled.

Callie caught Frank’s eye and raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was it the mention of Joe’s name or the fact that he was out of town that caused Vanessa’s dispirited reaction?

The trio fell into an awkward silence as they worked, with Frank surreptitiously watching Vanessa and wondering how to get any information from her without letting on what Liz had seen. He stopped dead for a second as a sickening thought hit him…if Liz had seen Joe and this woman at the beach, was it possible that Vanessa had seen them, too? If so, that would explain a lot.

By the time they all sat down, Frank had decided to try and get Vanessa to talk about a ‘safe’ subject, hoping to get her to relax a little bit and maybe then she’d let something slip.

“So how was your big presentation this morning?” Frank asked, taking a sip of his drink. He was gratified to see Vanessa brighten considerably. A genuine smile lit her face.

“It went really well!” she beamed. “You know, we have a lot of local companies as clients in the graphics department, but we don’t have any national companies. We really need that to get that part of the company up to speed with all the other departments.” Vanessa put down her fork and continued speaking in the animated way Frank was so used to. “Phil has been really supportive of me and the entire department, and we’ve given presentations to other national companies but they seem to shy away when they find out I’m in charge of the whole graphics department. They seem to think I’m too young and inexperienced to do a good job without even giving me a chance.” She rolled her eyes, causing Frank to chuckle. Now this was the Vanessa he knew!

“But Phil has been so supportive of me. He says if they’re gonna be that closed-minded and won’t even give me a chance, he doesn’t want them as clients,” she laughed. “Anyway, I really worked hard on this presentation; my whole department did. It would be such a coup if we could sign them! They want to redo all their company websites – both public and private. All we need is one national company to show what we can do…”

“The first one is always the hardest,” Frank agreed. “But if you can sign them, you’ve got your foot in the door, so to speak.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’re hoping,” Vanessa agreed, picking up her fork and taking a bite of salad.

“So Phil was happy with the presentation?” Callie asked, having picked up on Frank’s idea.

“He was really pleased. He said he thinks it’s just a matter of time before they sign a contract with us.” Vanessa stopped and stared at her plate thoughtfully for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was considerably softer. “He’s such a good friend.” Looking up she glanced at Frank and Callie and shrugged. “I’m not sure what I would’ve done if he hadn’t offered me this position last year.”

“He offered it to you because you’re good at what you do and you deserved it,” Frank said. “And when this company signs with you guys, it’ll just prove he was right all along.”

Vanessa seemed to glow at the words of praise and then resumed eating.

For the next thirty minutes, Frank deliberately tried to stay on subjects he thought would be ‘safe’. Yet he still noted that once they’d moved past talking about Vanessa’s job, she grew progressively more quiet and withdrawn. Normally she was almost as bad as Joe, chatting away about anything and everything, infusing every conversation with a healthy dose of humor. Tonight however, she seemed anxious and nervous, especially whenever Joe’s name came up, even if it was just in passing. Frank found that both odd and disturbing, as Joe was normally her favorite subject.

As the three finished eating, Frank noted that Vanessa kept glancing at her watch and knew his time was running out. So far all he’d learned was that Vanessa was definitely uneasy about something and it had to do with Joe. Knowing he was taking a chance, he brought up his brother’s name.

“Did you talk to Joe at all today? I mean after he left this morning?” Frank asked, sounding only mildly interested.

Vanessa glanced at him for a moment, looking like a deer caught in headlights and then quickly looked away. “Yes. He called me this morning,” she answered quietly, absently fiddling with her fork.

“So he got there okay?” Frank asked nonchalantly

“Mm-hmm,” Vanessa nodded, taking great interest in her glass of water.

“What was the name of that town again? I talked to him while he was driving but he got out of cell range and I lost him,” Frank said, still not quite certain how true that was. He had a sneaking suspicion Joe had purposely hung up on him, but no proof to back it up.

Vanessa started and looked up at him, then abruptly got up from the table. “Uh, it’s one of those weird, small town names,” she said vaguely as she began clearing the table. “Kinda hard to remember, ya know?” she laughed nervously as she spoke, not once making eye contact with Frank.

“Here, let me do that,” Callie said, rising from the table. “I mean, you weren’t expecting us, you shouldn’t have to do the clean up. Sit here and chat with Frank. I’ll get the dishes.”

Frank shot her a grateful look, hoping Vanessa would comply but he quickly realized he’d gotten everything he was going to from her – which wasn’t much.

“No, really,” Vanessa said insistently, brushing off Callie’s offer of help. “I can get it.” She picked up several dirty dishes and turned towards the kitchen. She took a few steps, stopped and turned back to face them, her voice softer…and sadder. “Listen, I appreciate dinner, I really do, but honestly I just want to crash tonight. I’m gonna turn in early, so…” she shrugged almost apologetically at dismissing them so abruptly, and then retreated to the kitchen.

Frank stood up and walked into the kitchen, stopping next to Vanessa. “Look, Van, I know this trip of Joe’s was sudden and unexpected. Why don’t you come home with us? We can wait while you pack a bag…”

“No!” Vanessa cried out. She blushed slightly, then, and gave Frank a sad smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I honestly appreciate the offer but I really just want to be alone tonight.”

“But—” Frank began.

“Frank, please,” Vanessa reached out and squeezed his arm. “Don’t ask, okay?”

Something flickered in her eyes, a sadness so deep it seemed to come from the bottom of her soul, and for the briefest moment, Frank felt an unfamiliar anger at his younger brother, sensing he was the reason for it.

“Okay,” he exhaled in frustration. Reaching out he put an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer, giving her a reassuring hug. Turning, he walked back to the table and shrugged helplessly at Callie. “Let’s go.”

Vanessa returned from the kitchen and walked them to the door. “Thanks again for dinner. It was delicious,” she said.

“Our pleasure,” Callie smiled. “Well, my pleasure anyway. I didn’t have to cook…or pay!”

Vanessa laughed and hugged Callie.

“Call me tomorrow, okay?” Callie requested. “Just so I know you’re okay.” She glanced at Frank and then disappeared down the hall.

Frank turned towards the door, hesitated and then stopped. He couldn’t leave with this gnawing doubt in the pit of his stomach. Turning back to Vanessa, he looked at her for a long moment and decided blunt honesty was in order.

“There’s no easy way to ask this so I’m just going to say it…is everything okay between you and Joe?” he said, obviously concerned.

Vanessa’s eyes widened for a split second and then grew bright. She gave Frank a tiny smile and stepped closer to him. Putting her arms around him she hugged him tightly. “Yes,” she said very softly. “Joe and I will be fine.” Pulling away, she kissed him on the cheek. “But thank you for caring enough to ask – even if I asked you not to.”

“You’re welcome…and if you change your mind about staying with us, just call, okay? No matter what time it is. I’ll come and get you,” Frank insisted. “You can stay with us as long as you need to…no questions asked.”

“If I need to, I will,” Vanessa promised. “And thank you again,” she almost whispered as she closed the door. “Goodnight.”

Frank stood and stared at the closed door for a moment. “Goodnight,” he said softly and then slowly made his way down the hall.

“Well?” Callie asked when he’d caught up with her.

Frank shrugged, walking down the hall and holding the door of the building open for Callie. “I asked if everything was okay between her and Joe and she said ‘Joe and I will be fine.’ “ he repeated dully.

“That’s good!” Callie exclaimed as they approached the car, but quickly changed her mind at the look on her husband’s face. “Isn’t it?”

Frank stopped by the passenger side door, absently unlocking it with the remote. In the dim light of the parking lot, his eyes reflected his increased concern. “I don’t know. She didn’t say ‘We are fine.’, she said ‘We’ll be fine.’“ He stared at Callie uneasily. “If they are going to be fine, does that mean they aren’t right now?”

*****

Vanessa stood uncertainly in the doorway of the bedroom. After Frank and Callie left, she had spoken to Joe on the phone, watched some television and played on the computer for a while, all in an effort to put off the inevitable - going to sleep. Despite being very tired, she was suddenly leery of closing her eyes and giving herself over to her own subconscious. While the bravado she’d displayed all day at being ready to conquer the last of her own personal demons hadn’t been entirely a front, she was no longer so sure about spending the night completely and totally alone. It was much easier to convince herself she was ready for this final step when the sun was shining brightly and she was talking to a friend or family member – a safe haven – on the phone or in person.

The bedroom was her favorite room in the apartment; the room where she and Joe held each other in the dark, sharing their secrets and their fears, their hopes and dreams for the future. Now that she was alone in this room that was always so comforting to her, it seemed to take on a frightening quality, the familiar shadows playing tricks on her mind. Knowing the longer she put it off, the harder it would be, Vanessa took a deep breath and stepped through the door. Squaring her shoulders, she marched across the floor to the bathroom, telling herself this would be easy, a piece of cake. She was safe and sound, locked securely in the apartment she loved.

Vanessa moved with a sense of purpose, removing her makeup, washing up, and brushing her teeth. When she was done, she reached for the t-shirt hanging on a hook on the back of the door, smiling as she pulled it over her head. Joe might not be there to hold her in his arms tonight, but wearing his old t-shirt gave her a comforting sense of security.

As she turned towards the door, the small bottle on the counter caught her eye. Vanessa stared at it for a long moment, arguing with herself about the necessity of a sleeping aid. She didn’t want to be up all night, jumping out of her skin at every creak or groan that, if Joe were here, she wouldn’t even notice. At the same time, she didn’t like the idea of having to take drugs – over the counter or not – to escape facing the last of her fears. Chewing on her lower lip, Vanessa settled on a compromise.

Picking up the bottle, she opened it and shook one small pill into her hand. Reaching for the glass on the counter, she filled it with water. Turning to head back into the bedroom Vanessa reached out to turn off the bathroom light. She stopped, hesitating, her fingers hovering over the switch. Slowly she withdrew her hand, leaving the light on. She walked through the door and closed it halfway, letting just enough light into the bedroom to keep the shadows – and their demons – at bay.

Climbing into bed Vanessa put the glass of water and sleeping pill on the nightstand. She was determined to try and make it through the night unaided by drugs, but she wanted them close by, within reach…just in case. Switching off the bedside light, she slid down under the covers and glanced over at the framed photo of herself and Joe.

“Night, Babe,” she murmured at his image, barely visible in the muted light. Closing her eyes, she prayed sleep wasn’t far off….

Vanessa stared at her own image in the full-length mirror. The beautiful white satin gown hugged her figure perfectly, falling in drapes and folds to the floor. The small pearls sewn onto the fabric shimmered in the light as Vanessa turned from side to side, checking her reflection from all angles. She brushed away a stray tear as emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She and Joe had been through so much and waited so long for this day. She couldn’t believe it was finally here – her wedding day!

“Mrs. Joseph Hardy,” she murmured, smiling at her reflection.

Picking up her veil, Vanessa began lifting it to her head when something caught here eye, something else reflected in the polished glass. Her brow creased in confusion as she watched a child chasing a stray baseball. He scooped it up and threw it to someone out of view. Intrigued, Vanessa turned and took a few steps, suddenly finding herself outside, standing on a sidewalk. She was looking into the front yard of a large house. The child, a little boy, was playing catch with someone. Vanessa heard a dull thud as the ball hit its mark.

“Great throw!” a familiar voice exclaimed. Vanessa’s eyes followed the path the ball had taken and she gasped out loud, seeing the man who had shouted the encouraging words to the boy.

‘JOE!’ She stared wide-eyed, as Joe tossed the ball back to the boy. The two appeared happy – laughing, smiling and trading jokes. ‘What is he doing here? Why isn’t he at the church already?! We’re getting married today!!’

“Throw it harder, Daddy!” the little boy shouted.

‘Daddy?!’

Vanessa stared in shock, unable to look away. Lifting the hem of her dress, she rushed towards Joe, stumbling as her heels caught in the cracks of the sidewalk.

“Joe! JOE!!! LOOK AT ME!” she screamed.

Joe didn’t so much as flinch, as if he couldn’t see or hear her. Vanessa couldn’t believe he was ignoring her! It was as if she didn’t even exist! Suddenly the front door of the house opened and Vanessa saw a woman standing there, shadowed in the doorway.

“Come on in, guys. Lunch is ready.”

The boy rushed to Joe’s side, wrapping an arm around his waist. Slipping off his glove, Joe reached down and ruffled the boy’s hair, letting his arm fall across the child’s shoulders as they hurried to the porch. Climbing the steps, the boy ran into the house. The woman smiled as he rushed past and then she emerged from the shadows towards Joe, sliding her arms around him. Joe pulled her close and kissed her passionately. Slowly, reluctantly, they separated. As they turned to enter the house, the woman turned to Vanessa and smiled.

Vanessa wanted to look away but the woman’s translucent blue eyes were like a magnet, mesmerizing her. Chilled to the bone, Vanessa felt her heart being ripped in two. She knew those eyes, she’d seen them in a picture…

‘Jodi!’

Vanessa began to shake uncontrollably her, eyes burning with tears. “Joe!” She cried out, but he continued on towards the door. “JOE!!”

Joe suddenly stopped and Vanessa’s heart soared. He heard her! Turning, Joe looked out over the yard towards the street, his gaze seeming to rest on her. She smiled and waved at him, but Joe didn’t acknowledge her. He looked right through Vanessa – he couldn’t see her! Staring a moment longer, Joe shrugged his shoulders. Turning back towards the house, he walked through the door, closing it behind him.

Sinking to her knees, Vanessa clutched the billowy fabric of her wedding dress, and sobbed.

Vanessa bolted upright, wide-awake and gasping for breath. She could still see the images so clearly – the little boy, laughing and joking with Joe, calling him ‘Daddy’; Jodi emerging from the house, smiling at Vanessa, then losing herself in Joe’s arms…and his kiss…

Vanessa pulled her knees up to her chest, clutching them tightly and rocking back and forth. “Just a dream…it was just a dream…it’s not real…” Feeling her eyes start to burn, Vanessa reached for the phone, suddenly needing to talk to Joe, to hear his voice, reassuring her, telling her he loved her. She punched in his cell phone number with shaking fingers and was about to hit send when something stopped her.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back and swallowed hard. Vanessa knew if she called Joe now it would only add to his concern. He’d be distracted, worrying about her and he already had more than enough to worry about; she didn’t want to add to the list.

Reluctantly, Vanessa put the phone back in its cradle on the nightstand. She sat in the semi-darkness for several moments, staring blankly, hoping to calm herself enough to return to sleep. Sighing softly, Vanessa shook her head. Reaching to her left, she picked up the glass of lukewarm water and the small, white pill lying next to it. She downed the pill in one gulp and returned the glass to the nightstand.

Slipping beneath the sheets, Vanessa gathered Joe’s pillow in her arms hugging it to her chest, close to her heart, and waited for a dreamless sleep to claim her.

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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.