Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Joe held Jodi close as she sobbed into his chest. He’d never gotten to know her father and in fact, had only met the man once. Still Joe was stunned at what Jodi had told him – Karl Renault had given away his own grandson? And then lied to his daughter, letting her believe her baby had died. How could he simply sit by and watch her grieve for her lost child, knowing the boy was alive and well?

‘For money,’ Joe thought angrily. Even after all the cases, all the years of investigative work, both as an amateur and a professional, Joe still couldn’t understand the things people did for money. He’d long ago realized he’d never be able to wrap his mind around the fact that some people placed money above all else. ‘Even family,’ he thought sadly, rubbing Jodi’s back in what he knew was an inadequate gesture of comfort. How could anything comfort her now? ‘Finding her son could…’

Joe sat, holding her tightly. He didn’t move – wouldn’t move – until she did and the longer she cried, the more it strengthened his resolve. He would move heaven and earth and would not stop until he’d reunited Jodi with her son.

Slowly, the shuddering sobs that had wracked Jodi’s body began to subside. “I’m sorry,” she sniffled, pulling away from him. Rummaging through her purse, she came up with a tissue and wiped her swollen, red-rimmed eyes. “I just found out a few days ago… I-I still can’t believe I have a son out there somewhere. And he doesn’t even know I exist!” She choked on a sob, not wanting to break down again. “It’s just so hard to understand…. Why?” She looked at Joe almost as if she expected him to have a logical answer. “How could he give away his own grandson?”

“I don’t know, Jodi. I’ll never understand why people do the things they do in the name of money. But I’ll promise you this… I will find your son,” Joe vowed.

“You-you’ll take the case?” she stuttered.

“Yes. Absolutely.” Joe stood up, gesturing for her to stay put. “I need to get a pen and paper from the car. Be right back.”

Walking to his car, Joe took out his cell phone and called the office, speaking with Fenton Hardy’s long time secretary/administrative assistant/confidante, Irene Gresham. He asked about his father and Frank and upon learning they wouldn’t be returning to the office that day, Joe told her he was meeting with a new client and wasn’t sure when he’d be returning either. Ending the call, Joe opened the passenger side door and reached into the glove compartment for the pad and pen he always kept there. Grabbing the necessary items, he relocked the car and returned to the blanket, sitting down next to a very subdued Jodi.

“I need to ask you some questions, okay?” Joe explained, gently touching Jodi’s arm. “Even if you think something is totally unimportant or irrelevant, tell me anyway. You never know when some little piece of seemingly insignificant information is really the key to everything.”

“I’ll try,” Jodi nodded, although she looked doubtful.

Joe started with the easier questions first, getting the basic facts, dates, places and people involved in the baby’s birth, although since Jodi had been so sick at the time, there wasn’t a whole lot she could tell him. Once he’d exhausted the most basic questions he took a deep breath, knowing it would be painful for Jodi to relive the circumstances surrounding her son’s birth. He knew from personal experience, that no matter how many years passed, the pain of a long ago tragedy felt brand new whenever that tragedy was relived.

“I know this next part is going to be hard, and I’m sorry, but we have to do it. I need you to tell me everything you can remember about the days surrounding the baby’s birth. Everything, Jodi. Even if you’re not sure if it really happened or if it was a side effect of how sick you were – something you think you imagined – I need to know,” Joe explained as gently as he could. He saw Jodi swallow hard, the raw pain on her face, as she nodded.

“I’m afraid I don’t remember too much about it after I went into labor – except that it was long and painful.”

“And there was no doctor there? Just your stepmother?” Joe verified what she’d mentioned earlier.

“Yes, that’s right. I was in labor all day. I remember it was getting dark out when I really started to feel out of it. Everything is kind of blurry after that. I remember waking up the next morning and being really hot. It was the fever from some kind of infection. I know I asked about my baby – what it was, where it was. But my step mother just told me I needed to rest.” Tears left a trail down Jodi’s face as she relived what had to be the hardest time of her life.

“I was so out of it for the next two days. I’d wake up for a few minutes but then go right back to sleep again – or unconscious… I’m still not sure which. When I finally woke up after the fever broke, three days had passed. I asked for my baby right away,” she stopped, choking on a sob and then continued in a broken voice. “They told me he was dead. He’d been born dead…”

She looked at Joe now and he could see the guilt that comes with hindsight, eating away at her. “But I could feel him kicking and moving around, right up to the time I went into labor. I kept telling them that – how could he have been stillborn? I felt him moving around!” Jodi looked at Joe expectantly, as if waiting for an answer, then sniffled again and moved on. “My dad said the cord was wrapped around his neck; he wasn’t breathing when he was born and they couldn’t revive him. He said he didn’t know when I’d wake up, so he had the baby cremated and spread his ashes over the mountain.” A few more tears trickled down her face and she wiped them away with a shaky hand. “At the time I remember thinking that couldn’t be true, because I was sure I heard a baby crying. My dad brushed it off, said I was hallucinating because of the fever.

“After that I was so devastated I just basically curled up and died. I hated that cabin, that mountain, my father, my stepmother… I just wanted to get out and away from the memories. I had no reason to stay there, no ties. My father didn’t want me, and he kept me so isolated I never met another soul.” She looked at Joe, disconsolate. “He told me he was ashamed of me, having an illegitimate child. I’d disgraced and embarrassed him and could never tell anyone what had happened. And at that point I didn’t care. I didn’t want to think about it or talk about it… I just wanted to forget…” She sniffled again, her breath hitching in her chest.

Joe reached out and squeezed her hand, giving her a few moments to collect herself. When she smiled sadly, and nodded, indicating she was okay, he continued. “I need to know exactly what you overheard the other day. Whatever happened after your baby was born, it sounds like your dad covered his tracks pretty well. Keeping you so isolated… did anyone else even know you where there?”

“No,” Jodi shook her head. “He’d go to town a lot, alone or with my step mother, but I was never allowed to leave. Apparently it was too shameful for him to acknowledge I even existed.”

Joe’s heart broke for her. He’d grown up in such an openly loving home and even at the worst of times, he never doubted how much his parents loved him. He couldn’t even conceive of his mother or father saying they were ashamed of him or he’d disgraced them. Refocusing his attention on Jodi, he asked “Exactly what did your father and stepmother say when you overheard them? Do you remember?”

Jodi nodded and sat up straighter, taking a deep breath. “I kind of caught the middle of the conversation but Dad was saying it was all God’s will,” she flushed deeply. “He thinks God talks to him, that he’s some kind of vessel for God to deliver his message. And apparently he’s convinced a lot of other people. His cult – church, whatever it is – has a huge congregation…” She stopped a moment, trying to collect her thoughts and get back on track. “Okay… Dad said what happened the night I had my baby was divine intervention. It was all meant to be. He got the money to start his church, I got the inheritance that allowed me to start a new life and the baby… my baby would get a new life too. He said just hearing about an abandoned baby always brought out the best in people and he was sure my baby had found a really good home, better than what he would have had with me.” She stopped and stared at Joe, her eyes filled with grief. “From what I could gather from the rest of the conversation, he took my baby to town and told the sheriff he’d found it, abandoned, on the mountain.”

“And the sheriff didn’t investigate?!” Joe blurted out, shocked. Having been the one to show up out of nowhere with an abandoned baby, Karl Renault should have been at the top of the suspect list!

“That’s just it, I don’t know! No one even knew I existed! My dad and stepmother were a little old to be starting a family… I guess they either took him at his word, or did just enough of an investigation to satisfy anyone who might ask.”

“I guess,” Joe nodded, thinking of another possibility – the sheriff knew about it and was paid off to cover it up. “Did you confront your father once you heard all this?”

Jodi shook her head. “No. I was so shocked… and then, scared. I mean he gave away my baby without a second thought! I know he’s not stable. I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t do something to me to keep the whole thing quiet.”

‘My God, having to be scared that your own father might hurt you! Or worse!’ Joe couldn’t even wrap his mind around the thought! “You did the right thing,” he said aloud, trying to reassure Jodi. “Who knows what he would’ve done.”

“But once I got home and the shock wore off…” Jodi stopped speaking and began rifling through her purse. “I called my lawyer and asked him to get me a copy of my grandfathers will. I mean I was so out of it six years ago, I didn’t really check it all that closely; you know, just signed where they told me to and… here it is!” She pulled out a thick packet of papers and thrust them at Joe. “Check the dates… my baby was born on July twenty-fifth.”

Joe took the papers and opened them up, trying not to show his amazement at the amount of money Jodi had inherited. She never needed to work a day in her life if she didn’t want to! Skimming the document, he came to the part regarding her grandfather’s death. “He died in February,” Joe murmured. Reading further he found the strange stipulation saying Jodi could inherit the money only if she had no children prior to completing her education. Frowning, he looked up at Jodi. “This will should have been null and void.”

“Exactly,” Jodi stared at him. “And my father knew that.”

“That’s why he kept you so isolated. He didn’t want anyone to see you. He didn’t want any witnesses that could come forward and say they’d seen you pregnant, otherwise he’d lose his million dollars,” Joe agreed.

“He knew if he could just convince me the baby had died, I’d never tell another soul. I mean getting pregnant at seventeen and being an unwed mother isn’t really something you willingly share with the world,” she said bitterly and Joe could hear the self-loathing in her voice.

“That definitely made it a lot easier for him,” Joe concurred. He continued looking over the will and wondered if Jodi had considered the fact that once he found her son, she’d have to give back the money she’d inherited. “Jodi…” he began tentatively. “You do realize that when it becomes obvious the stipulations in the will were broken, you won’t be able to keep the money.” He was fairly certain the money didn’t matter to Jodi, but just in case, he had to make sure she understood.

“I’ll give back every penny to get my son,” she said vehemently. “I barely touched it anyway; and I made sure I repaid what I used. I always felt like my baby had to die for me to get it. I used some when I first got out of college, until I got a job and had a steady income. But then I repaid it with interest from investments. I live off my salary. I’ve haven’t touched that inheritance in years. It just feels… wrong.”

For a moment Joe wondered how Jodi and her father could be so drastically different. He sacrificed his daughter and grandchild to make sure he got the million dollars Jodi’s grandfather had left him. Yet, Jodi wouldn’t take one penny of the fortune she’d inherited, feeling as if it were dirty money, something she got in exchange for the ‘death’ of her son.

“Can I keep this?” Joe asked, folding up the will. “I may need it later.”

“Sure, of course. That’s why I brought it, hoping you’d be able to use it.”

Returning his attention to the notes he made so far, Joe began to think out loud. “Okay, so your dad took the baby to the sheriff and told him it had been abandoned. The sheriff may or may not have done an investigation, but ended up coming to the conclusion that the baby had been abandoned…” Joe looked at Jodi, his mouth turning up in a smile.

“What?” Jodi asked, hope lighting her face for the first time all day.

“Once the sheriff did his perfunctory investigation and nothing turned up, the baby would have been turned over to Child Protective Services. Since we know he really wasn’t abandoned, we also know CPS wouldn’t have had any luck in tracking down the baby’s biological parents,” his smile grew. “So they would have filed papers to have him declared a ward of the state and put him up for adoption as soon as possible.”

“That’s a good thing?” Jodi asked, a little confused at his growing excitement.

“It’s a GREAT thing!” he grinned. “Because that means there should be a paper trail – making my job a whole lot easier!”

Before Joe knew what was happening Jodi threw herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly, uttering a string of ‘Thank you!'s, muffled slightly by what he assumed were happy tears.

“You’re welcome but I haven’t really done anything yet,” Joe replied. He tried to ease away from her, beginning to grow uncomfortable with the closeness and length of the hug, but Jodi showed no inclination to let go. Reaching up, he gently unwrapped her arms from around his neck and pulled back away from her.

Slowly, and with seeming reluctance, Jodi finally released him. Her fingers brushed against his cheek and she smiled at him, her lips only inches from his. Instinctively, Joe tried to lean back away from her.

“But I know you will,” she said softly, finally scooting back on the blanket and putting a little distance between them.

“I’ll do my best,” Joe smiled nervously.

Looking over the notes he’d made as Jodi was speaking, Joe tried to decide where to begin the search, at the same time seeing what information was still missing. Feeling Jodi’s eyes on him, Joe purposefully stared at the paper in front of him. More than once over the past few hours, including just now when she seemed so reluctant to let him go, Joe thought he had seen something flicker in her eyes. Something he did not want to see – unrequited love.

“How old is he now?” Joe asked without looking up, realizing he didn’t know the boy’s exact age.

Jodi seemed to hesitate a moment before answering and Joe thought he sensed a sudden anxiousness about her. “He’s almost six.”

“Almost six years old,” Joe repeated to himself, writing down the new information. ‘Six years old?’ he thought uneasily. ‘And he was born at the end of July,’ Joe quickly did the calculations in his head – twice – and felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. ‘No. Oh, no, no, no… It’s not possible. We were only together that one time!’ he thought, panicking. His mouth suddenly went dry. ‘When was that? September? October?’ His mind whirred again, and he cursed the fact that he couldn’t recall exactly when he and Jodi had agreed to be ‘just friends’. ‘September… that would be ten months… okay. That’s okay,’ he relaxed only slightly. ‘But what if it was October… nine months… Oh, God… I can’t be…’

With his voice completely calm, giving no hint as to the turmoil that had just exploded inside him, Joe asked, “And who’s the father?”

His eyes were glued to the paper in front of him, the pen poised and ready to record Jodi’s answer, but he heard only silence. Painful, agonizing silence. When Joe couldn’t take it anymore, he slowly lifted his head and met Jodi’s anxious gaze. “Jodi, who’s the father?” he repeated quietly.

Jodi opened her mouth to reply, stopped as if unsure of what to say and then finally, mercifully, she spoke.

“Todd Harmon,” she said, softly, referring to the Southport High student she had dated, quite seriously, after her very brief relationship with Joe.

In the split second before Joe was flooded with relief she spoke again, her voice so low it was almost impossible to hear. “Or you.”

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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.