Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Joe felt as if the very breath had been sucked out of him. He tried to breathe in again and again, unable to do so, as if something prevented the air he desperately needed from filling his lungs. Somehow, in the wake of the bombshell Jodi had dropped on him, Joe had forgotten the very basic need to exhale. Only when he was on the verge of hyperventilating did the air escape, in slow halting gasps. The brief hesitation after Jodi had mentioned Todd’s name allowed Joe to relax; in stark contrast to the softly uttered revelation that now left him feeling as if he’d been sucker punched.

“Me?” he said, barely recognizing his own voice.

“I – I’m sorry, Joe,” Jodi stammered, her eyes filling with tears again. “I know that’s the last thing you expected to hear. But we were together that one time…and we didn’t use protection…” her voice trailed off helplessly. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. Dabbing at her eyes with the now soggy and torn tissue, she laughed bitterly. “Boy, all those people at Bayport High would have a field day with this. They’d feel so righteous about all those rumors they spread saying I was sleeping around. If they only knew the truth – you and Todd are the only ones I’ve ever been with!”

Joe gaped openly, his eyes huge. “What?!” he exclaimed. “You mean we…I…that was your first time?” he sputtered, wondering what other revelations she could possibly hit him with in one afternoon.

Jodi gasped; her hand flew to her mouth as if she could have kept the words from escaping if she’d done that a moment sooner.

“You never told me!” he cried out, almost accusingly.

“I know,” she barely whispered, looking away, unable to hold Joe’s gaze.

Joe stared at her, suddenly feeling as if he were no longer inside his own body, but rather outside, watching this surreal conversation instead of actually participating in it. Still, he could feel his heart racing and when he looked down he saw that his hands were shaking. As had happened more than once in the past eighteen months, Joe was overwhelmed with the knowledge of how life could change so drastically in a matter of moments.

“I’m sorry,” she said yet again. “I – I guess I should’ve told you.”

The utter devastation on her face – guilt, betrayal, pain – tore at Joe’s heart. He was intimately familiar with those emotions, at times feeling their blistering pain deep in his soul. He sighed, feeling guilty at his outburst. No matter how shocked he was at her confession, the last thing he wanted to do was add to the misery she was so obviously feeling. Still, a part of him wondered why she hadn’t told him. ‘Then again, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind that night.’

For the briefest instant he felt the same overpowering helplessness that had practically suffocated him that night. The same burning need to escape – permanently. He shuddered at the chill that raced down his spine, recalling how close he had come, knowing Jodi was the reason he hadn’t acted on the most overpowering and intense feeling he’d ever had in his life. One that would have ended in tragedy.

Joe knew his parents felt as though Vanessa had saved him from himself – and she had – but to this day they had no idea Jodi had done the same thing. And he now deeply regretted never telling them.

Joe closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then another one, trying to calm himself and at the same time refocus on the most important issue – finding Jodi’s son. ‘Finding our son?!’

That one thought – that he might have a child out there that he was only now finding out about – clouded his judgment. Had it really been completely and totally impossible for Jodi to get word to him – or Todd – about the baby? He felt a bitterness rise in his throat.

“What? What is it? What are you thinking?” Jodi asked, apparently sensing the change in attitude. When Joe didn’t respond, her eyes narrowed and she frowned, as if she knew what was coming. She waited silently while Joe hesitated, looking as if he were trying to pick his way through a mine field. “You don’t believe it was impossible for me to contact you or Todd,” she finally said, her voice hard.

Joe reacted defensively to the tone in her voice, even though a part of him knew she had every right to feel that way. “You couldn’t sneak away even once? You couldn’t send a note? Call? Something? Didn’t the baby’s father have a right to know?” he asked. He didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she already did, but at the same time he felt cheated…and angry.

“No. I couldn’t. And even if I could, you made it clear you didn’t want me,” Jodi replied, the coldness in her voice unable to completely mask the pain.

“That is not fair,” Joe responded, trying to stay in control. The memory of that day, and the guilt associated with it, knowing Jodi had deep feelings for him, was mixing with the anger Joe felt at possibly being cheated out of the first six years of his son’s life. “Whoever the baby’s father was, had a right to know! I never would’ve turned my back on my own son – or his mother. And you did know me well enough to know that.”

Hit with the truth of his words, Jodi’s tough exterior vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “You’re right, I did know you’d do right by the baby if it was yours. So would Todd. And I had planned to contact both of you after the baby was born, so we could all go for testing and find out for sure…” Jodi said, her voice shaking.

Joe bit his tongue, literally, to keep from giving voice to the thought that raced through his mind. ‘But if you could have contacted one of us, the tests could have been done before the baby was born! And things would have turned out a whole lot differently.’ Had a paternity test shown Joe was indeed the baby’s father, he knew his own parents would have taken every legal measure they could to make sure he was a part of his son’s life, no matter what Jodi’s father had wanted. Just as the dam holding back his anger at being denied that opportunity was about to burst, Jodi’s voice, soft and shaking, jolted him back to the present.

“God, Joe, I wanted that baby so badly. All I could think of was that I’d finally have someone to love – who would love me in return.” She stopped and took in a breath. “Yes, in hindsight I made mistakes – a lot of them. But I made what I thought were the best decisions I could at the time! I’m sorry they weren’t the right ones, but I can’t change the past.

“I was all alone, my father controlled everything when we moved. I couldn’t leave the house without his permission and when I did, either he or my stepmother was always with me. They never let me out of their sight. It really was impossible for me to get away. There was no one I could talk to, no one I could turn to for help. The townspeople didn’t even know I existed.”

Once again Joe’s emotions swung back to sympathy – and pity. He was so used to the loving home he’d grown up in sometimes it was easy to forget everyone didn’t have the almost picture-perfect childhood he did. “I’m sorry,” Joe finally said. “I know you did the best you could.”

“When my dad told me the baby had died, I was just devastated. It was the worst kind of pain…I wished I had died too. I couldn’t see any good reason to tell you or Todd that one of you had a son, but he was dead. It seemed senseless, and I didn’t want either one of you going through that kind of pain for no reason.”

Joe nodded, pretending he understood but still wishing Jodi had handled things much differently. He glanced down at his own scribbled handwriting in the uneasy silence that hung between them. There were more question marks on the paper than anything else. He frowned, knowing he could use both his father’s and Frank’s expertise but wondering if they’d have any free time at all in the coming days.

“What’s wrong?” Jodi asked worriedly, having noted the dark look on his face.

“It’s just that there are more questions than answers. Dad and Frank are totally wrapped up in a big case for the government right now. I hope they’ll at least have enough time to let me bounce some ideas off them.”

“NO!” Jodi practically screamed, clawing at Joe’s arm. “Oh, God, Joe you can’t tell anybody about this! You have to do this on your own! Please!”

“Jodi, calm down,” Joe tugged his arm away. “You’re not just hiring me – you’re hiring our firm. I have to tell them.”

“Why? Haven’t you ever had a client request absolute secrecy before? That their identity, and the case itself, stay confidential?” she questioned him, her eyes wide and panic in her voice.

“Well, yeah, but there’s usually a good reason for it,” Joe replied, bewildered.

“But isn’t that the client’s decision to make?” she pressed. “No matter what the reason.”

“Yes, but—“

“Then that’s what I’m requesting. I’m the client and I want absolute secrecy,” Jodi demanded.

Joe felt his anger return in a rush. ‘First she tells me I could be the child’s father and now she’s treating me like some staffer she can order around?’ Joe crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “I’m not just some random investigator you hired to find your missing child. I could be his father. And that right there gives me just as much say in deciding who knows what,” he said bluntly.

Jodi stared at him, beaten down and defeated. “Joe…your family already hates me. They thought I was the town slut back then just like everyone else did. I don’t want to give them any reason to believe it was true….I – I liked your parents, and Frank. God, if you only knew how many nights I fantasized that one day they’d wake up and suddenly think of me as the daughter they never had…” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes in an impossible attempt to stop the tears. “Please, Joe,” she begged. “I don’t want them to think any worse of me than they already do. Please, can’t we keep this just between us until we know for sure.”

“Jodi, that’s not fair. My parents could have a grandchild. Frank could be an uncle. And Vanessa…” Joe snapped his mouth shut. ‘Oh, God, how do I tell Vanessa?!’

“But what’s the point of telling them until we know for sure?” Jodi asked, pleading with him to keep the secret. “What if Todd is the father? Why put them through all that emotional turmoil and then find out there was no reason to? There’s no need to tell any of them.” She clutched at his arm again, utter desperation in her voice.

Joe hesitated, his gut instinct saying it was wrong to keep this from everyone he loved. They could all be affected by the revelation that he might very well be a father.

Suddenly Jodi released his arm and when she spoke her voice was colder. He recognized it as the sound of a last ditch effort to try and forcibly control something that was best left to take its natural course. Still, her words shocked him. “If you don’t agree to keep this completely confidential, I’ll go back to New York City and hire another investigator to find my son.”

“Don’t you mean our son?” Joe corrected, eyebrows raised in question.

Jodi flinched, but didn’t back down. “I didn’t have to come to you. I could’ve just hired someone else, you know, and only told you if it turns out you really are the father. And that’s exactly what I’ll do if you don’t abide by my wishes.” Jodi looked Joe in the eye but he could see abject fear instead of the strong will she was trying so hard to project.

“You certainly have that choice,” Joe agreed. “But now that I do know, it won’t matter. Even if you leave here right now and hire someone else, you know that won’t stop me. If I have a son out there, I am going to be the one who finds him. And you don’t get to decide that.”

Jodi’s façade quickly crumbled under the harsh glare of the truth. When she spoke, her voice was shaking. “Joe I am begging you. Please, if you ever cared about me at all, please do not tell anyone about this until we know for sure.”

In that instant Joe once again heard the whispers, the rumors, the cruel accusations and outright lies their classmates had spread about Jodi – and a few times about him. However, Jodi never had the luxury he did of having friends, and more importantly, a brother who had no qualms about challenging anyone who dared disparage Joe in any way. He saw the toll those same memories were taking on Jodi as she relived them all over again, and despite knowing Frank and his parents really hadn’t believed everything they heard, he couldn’t ask her to get back on that emotional roller coaster so he could have his own way. However, there was one person he couldn’t keep this secret from and still look himself in the eye…

“Fine,” he sighed. “You’ll go into the records as a client who wants to remain confidential. I won’t tell Frank or my parents about it.” He stopped for a moment, feeling sympathy for Jodi but knowing he was right. “But I am telling Vanessa. Tonight.” Jodi opened her mouth to protest again, but Joe was having none of it. “That is not negotiable, Jodi. I asked her to marry me, for God’s sake. She’s agreed to be my wife. If there’s even the slightest chance I have a child with another woman she has the right to know; she needs to know – now.” Joe kept the rest of his troubling thoughts to himself… ‘Just in case she wants to call off the wedding…’

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

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.