Upon returning home, Joe settled in to catch the rest of the Yankees game while waiting for Vanessa to return from her evening out.  Although Joe was looking at the TV, he was seeing the evening he had spent with his brother.  They had continued to spend time together, even when it hadn’t been the best of times.  But there had been something different about tonight.  Joe felt as if something that had been missing for so long had suddenly returned, somehow brought back to life. 

Although it had been obvious to those close to him, Joe had never figured out exactly what it was.  He never understood that the little boy inside him had disappeared a long time ago, chased away by betrayal.  The little boy who had always felt safe with his older brother.  The little boy whose trust had been shattered, causing him to release the hand of his adored older brother and drift away from the one person who always made him feel safe. 

Afraid of being hurt again, the little boy had run and hidden himself away in a dark corner.  Occasionally, the little boy would poke his head out, hoping it was safe, hoping the older brother he missed had come looking for him.  But a voice had always told him “Not yet, it’s too soon.” and he would scurry back into hiding.

Until tonight.  Tonight he had heard his older brother calling him and when he poked his head out, the voice told him he could come out and play.  It was time to begin healing.  And the little boy had returned with a vengeance, reclaiming his place as the apple of his brother’s eye.

Joe may not have understood, but it was that little boy who had made all the difference tonight.  It was the little boy who had made him feel whole again.  The little boy had quietly taken hold of his older brother’s hand once more, instinctively knowing his brother would never do anything that would force him to let go again.

*****

As Callie pulled up in front of the apartment building, Vanessa noticed Joe’s car in the parking lot.  “Oh, good.  Joe’s home.  Why don’t you come up and say hi?”  She suggested turning to Callie.

“You’re sure it’s okay?”  Callie asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I’m sure.”  Vanessa responded.  “You and Joe have made a lot of progress.  And his ego will love the fact that you came up just to see him.”  She laughed.

“Alright.” Callie agreed, parking the car and following Vanessa up to the apartment.

As Vanessa opened the door, Joe looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, pleasantly surprised to see Callie.  Getting up Joe walked over to them greeting Vanessa with a hug and a kiss, before turning to his sister-in-law.

“Hey, Cal .  What brings you up here?” He asked with a smile.

“Just came up to see my favorite brother-in-law.”  Callie joked.

“And that competition is so stiff.”  Vanessa cracked.  “Do you want something to drink, Cal ?”  She asked moving to the kitchen.

“No, thanks.  Just wanted to say hi to Joe.”  Callie replied, turning her attention back to Joe.  “I’m surprised you guys got home before we did.  When Frank called he said you were going to that new virtual reality arcade downtown.  I figured you two would close the place.”

“I wanted to but Frank said he was tired and wanted to call it a night. Looks like my big brother is getting to be an old man. After all, he will be twenty-five next week.  He just couldn’t keep up with me.”  Joe shook his head in mock sadness.

After a few more minutes of conversation, Callie bid Joe and Vanessa goodnight to make her way home.

Returning from the kitchen, Vanessa put her glass of soda on the end table and curled up on the couch next to Joe.

“So you two had a good time tonight?”  She asked, noting the sparkle in Joe’s eyes that had been absent for far too long.

“We had a great time.”  Joe corrected her, his voice dropping almost in awe.  “Van, it was just like it used to be.  Something changed tonight. We really clicked.  It was almost like the past six months never even happened.”

Laying her head on Joe’s shoulder, Vanessa listened as Joe excitedly recalled the night for her and she knew he was right.  Something had changed in the brothers’ relationship and this time it was only for the better.  There was a thrill in Joe’s voice again, and the admiration that used to be so evident when he talked about Frank, the admiration that had been missing for so long, was back.

Smiling to herself, Vanessa hoped this was a sign that their streak of bad luck was finally coming to an end.

*****

Arriving home a short time later, Callie got out of the car and laughed to herself, noting the house was completely cloaked in darkness.  ‘I guess Joe really did wear him out!  He’s already asleep.’

Nearing the porch, Callie noticed a white envelope lying on the ground next to the bottom step.  Picking it up, she saw it was a bill.  ‘Hmm.  Frank must have dropped it when he got the mail.’

Taking a few more steps, Callie saw another envelope. Glancing up, she saw several more envelopes and two magazines strewn about the porch.  Her heart started to beat a little faster as it suddenly occurred to her that Frank hadn’t left the porch light on for her – something he never failed to do.  Taking the porch steps in two strides, she came to an abrupt halt as fear gripped her.  Frank’s keys were dangling from the lock in the door.  Quickly retreating back down the steps, Callie ran to the garage.  Peering through a window, she easily made out the shape of Frank’s car in the muted darkness.

Frank had obviously arrived home after his night out with Joe, but never made it into the house - he had clearly run into trouble.  Not knowing exactly what happened, Callie retreated to the safety of her car, locking the doors.  Fumbling in her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and punched in a single digit with shaking hands.

“Hurry up!  Answer the…JOE!  Frank’s gone!” Callie cried out the second Joe answered, her eyes now filled with tears.  “Yes, gone!”  “I don’t know.”  Callie responded to Joe’s frantic questions, her voice trembling.  “His car is in the garage, his keys are in the door, and the mail is all over the ground.  But there’s no sign of him.” She waited, listening to Joe.  “The house is completely dark.  He never made it inside.” There was another pause as Joe reassured her he was on his way. “Okay, but hurry!”

Hanging up, Callie stared at the house that now looked so dark and foreboding.  ‘Please hurry, Joe…’

*****

“What is it? What’s wrong?”  Vanessa cried out, the second Joe hung up.

“Frank’s gone!”  Joe replied, grabbing for his keys and racing to the door with Vanessa right behind him. 

Reaching the door, Joe suddenly stopped and leaned his forehead against it, trying to get control of his emotions.  ‘I was right!’  He thought, horrified.  His self-doubt had caused him to remain silent when he had, in fact, come to the right conclusion – had been the only one who came to the right conclusion.  His biggest fear, the one Frank had assured him would never come true, was now a reality as Frank was paying the price for his lack of confidence.

‘Why didn’t you listen to me?!’ The little voice in his head screamed.  ‘I told you it was Gloria Sansom and you ignored me!’

‘We’ve never lied to you!’  The butterflies in his stomach chorused.  ‘We’re always right!  You should have listened!’

His gut instinct had been right again, but he had talked himself out of it in the face of overwhelming self-doubt. And although it was very different from the scenario he had originally imagined, his brother was still going to pay the price for his mistake.

“Joe?  What’s wrong?”  Vanessa asked, alarmed, as Joe stood rooted to the spot.

“I knew it.  I knew it wasn’t George Sansom.”  Joe whispered.  Turning to Vanessa, his eyes were haunted, filled with regret.  “I knew we arrested the wrong man, but I didn’t have the courage to speak up.”

Sensing Joe was on the edge and could either fall apart or take control, Vanessa tried to prod him in the right direction.  Reaching past him, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.  “Then you’re already one step ahead of the game.  You don’t have to waste time trying to figure out what happened to him.”  Gently, she nudged him out the door, closing and locking it behind her.  “Let’s go.  We’ll call your father on the way and he can meet us there.”

Taking Joe’s arm, she hurried him down the hall towards the stairs and out into the parking lot.  As he drove, Vanessa called Fenton, relaying what Joe told her Callie had said.  Moments later, Joe pulled into his brother’s driveway and jumped out of the car, having made the short trip in record time.  Callie emerged from her car and ran to Joe, throwing herself into his arms, crying.  Now much calmer thanks to Vanessa’s constant stream of reassuring words as he drove, Joe surveyed the scene with a critical eye while holding Callie tightly.

“Did you touch anything?” He asked, the detective in him emerging and pushing the scared little brother out of the way.

“N-no.” She stammered into his shoulder.

Reaching up, Joe gently pried Callie’s arms from around his neck while looking at Vanessa, who immediately took his place, putting a comforting arm around Callie’s shoulders.

“I need to look around, Cal .  Stay here with Vanessa.”  Joe told her, then retrieved a high-powered flashlight from the car.  He’d made it as far as the porch and had just begun looking around when a squeal of tires and a pair of headlights announced the arrival of Fenton Hardy.

Scrambling out of his car, Fenton stopped next to Callie just long enough to give her a hug before appearing at Joe’s side.  “What have you got so far?”  He asked Joe, looking at the scene intently.

“Not much yet.”  Joe murmured, taking a few steps towards the bushes next to the porch.  Shining the light around the bushes, he noted footprints in the soft dirt and a few bent and broken branches.  “She hid here and waited for him.”  Joe announced, holding the light in place while his father looked over his shoulder.  “I’ll bet Frank was overly cautious about making sure there was no one sitting in a car across the street.  That’s where she was the first time she went after him.  It never occurred to him that she’d be so close.”  He turned to look at his father.  “It was Gloria…we agree on that, right?”

“Absolutely.”  Fenton replied, slowly walking towards the garage, playing his own flashlight along the ground.  He carefully scrutinized every inch of the yard between the porch and the garage, pointing out the marks in the grass left behind by a body that had obviously been dragged quite a distance. He came to a sudden stop with Joe right behind him. 

“There.” He said simply, shining the light on the ground next to the garage.  Tire tracks in the grass, which had been hidden by the darkness, were now clearly visible in the strong beam of light.  As he moved the light, they could clearly see that Gloria had walked between the tire tracks as she dragged an unconscious Frank to the car.

Walking on either side of the imprints, Joe and Fenton made their way to the rear of the garage, finding the spot where Gloria Sansom had parked her car.  “It would have been almost invisible in the dark.  No wonder Frank never saw her.”  Joe said quietly.

“Okay, where would she have taken him?”  Fenton asked turning to Joe. 

Joe frowned, trying to recall every piece of information they had about her.  “The house!  The one she’s renovating!”

“Did Frank say where it was?”  Fenton asked, hoping they wouldn’t have to waste precious time trying to locate it.

“No.”  Joe replied.  “But it’s either in her name or her son’s name. Can’t you and Vanessa use Frank’s computer to find it?  Isn’t there some kind of public record?”  He finished excitedly.  Joe had no idea exactly what Gloria Sansom had in store for Frank, but if she were to follow her pattern she was planning to relieve him of his ‘gift’.  “Dad, what do you think she intends to do to him?”  Joe asked, the scared little brother suddenly reappearing.

“I don’t know, Joe, but we’ll find him before she has a chance to carry it out.”  Fenton said, not quite sure he believed it himself.  She had a head start on them and they still didn’t know where she had taken Frank.  “Let’s get inside.  We can’t waste anymore time.”  He urged.

Moments later, the foursome was gathered in Frank’s office, as Vanessa booted up his computer, the haunting stillness broken only by an occasional whimper from Callie.  Realizing his father and Vanessa could probably work faster without him hovering over their shoulders, Joe took Callie by the arm and led her downstairs to the living room.

As soon as they were seated on the couch, Callie broke down.  Everything she and Frank had talked about the night before came tumbling out, punctuated by heart breaking sobs. She told Joe how they had talked about starting a family, how many children they wanted, and their dreams for the future. 

As Joe held her, he felt as if a knife had been plunged into his heart.  He thought about the blood test Vanessa had taken a few days earlier.  They wouldn’t know the results for another week yet, and even though a negative result would be a good sign, he understood that was still no guarantee they would be able to have children of their own.  Knowing he might never be a father, Joe had clung to the knowledge that at least he would be an uncle to Frank and Callie’s children.  Holding Callie a little tighter, he prayed that dream would still come true.

Hearing his father’s voice drifting down the stairs, Joe looked up to see Vanessa entering the living room with Fenton right behind her talking on his cell phone.

“Yes.”   “Joe and I should be there in half an hour.”  “Yes.” “Thanks, Sam.”  Returning the phone to his pocket, he addressed Joe and Callie.

“Vanessa found a record of a house owned by Blake Sansom.  It’s about thirty minutes from here.  I have a hunch that’s where Gloria took all her victims, to…”  Seeing the look in Callie’s eyes, he didn’t finish the sentence.  “Sam is on the way with back up.  He’s also having EMT’s and an ambulance sent there.”  He said focusing on Joe once again.

As Joe stood to join his father, Callie jumped up, again putting her arms around him, holding onto him tightly.  Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as Joe held her for a moment, before Vanessa gently tried to guide her back to the couch.  Suddenly her grip on Joe tightened, as the sobs returned.  Clutching Joe’s shirt, she refused to let go, as if breaking the physical connection with him would somehow sever her union with Frank. 

“Please, Cal , I have to go.”  Joe said softly, Callie’s cries almost breaking his heart.  Again he looked to Vanessa, his eyes begging for help.

“Come on, Callie.  Sit here with me.  The sooner they can leave, the sooner Frank will be home.”  Vanessa coaxed, attempting to pull Callie away from Joe.

Finally releasing him, Callie looked at her brother-in-law, tears staining her pretty face.  “Please bring him home, Joe.”

Unable to speak over the lump in his throat, Joe nodded and then walked away, following his father out into the night.

As Callie collapsed in tears on the couch, Vanessa sat next to her friend, holding her while she cried.  Flooded with memories from two months earlier, Vanessa clearly saw herself sitting on the edge of the bed in Joe’s old room, sobbing just as Callie was now.  Terrified that she would never see Joe alive again, she had lost all control and Callie had been there to offer comfort and let her know she wasn’t alone.  As Vanessa now shed a few tears of her own, she vowed not to leave Callie’s side until they knew Frank would be home, safe and sound – just as Callie had done for her when Joe was missing.

 

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.