HDA - Innocent by Red Chapter 4

Returning to his cell, Joe Hardy lay down on the cot and threw an arm over his eyes. Thinking over the events of the last few weeks, he felt like he was trapped in a nightmare that would not end. He was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and needed sleep, but his mind would not stop. The bizarre exchange of words between his father and Taylor had made no sense at all, yet he couldn’t get it out of his head. They had obviously been talking about him.

‘If I had done what I was supposed to? If Dad hadn’t been a hero? How are all these rapes my fault? Only Vanessa…’

Tears threatened again with Joe trying to hold them back ‘I am so sorry, Van. So sorry. You didn’t deserve it. You don’t deserve to be stuck with me.’

Rolling onto his side, staring at the cinder block wall, he couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. Unable to stop them, Joe cried himself to sleep.

The blood-curdling scream caused the little boy to begin shaking uncontrollably. Who were these awful people? Why did they take him away from his Aunt and Uncle at the park? Hearing another scream, he closed his eyes and huddled in the corner. The floor was cold and hard. He wanted to be home in his own bed. Safe at home with his Mommy and Daddy and his big brother. They always protected him. Nothing bad ever happened when he was with them. Suddenly the door opened. The man who had taken him from the park grabbed his arm.

“No.” the little boy whimpered.

“Shut up.” The man said, pulling him off the floor by his arm.

“I want my Daddy.” The little boy began to cry. “Where’s my Daddy?” He cried.

Suddenly the little boys cheek exploded in pain as the man slapped him across the face.

“I said shut up! Your Daddy is dead. Do you know what that means?”

The little boy shook his head no, trying not to make a sound. He did not want to be hit again. His Mommy and Daddy never hit him.

“It means he’s gone. He is never coming back for you. You belong to us now, and you better do as you’re told.”

“My Daddy loves me. He’ll come for me.” The little boy said, tears streaming from his sad blue eyes.

The man pulled on his arm, dragging him closer until he was barely an inch away from the mans face.

“Listen to me, you little brat. Your Mommy is dead. Your Daddy is dead. They are never coming back for you. You are all alone now and you belong to us. Understand?”

The little boy stared in terror at the man. He wasn’t really sure what it meant to be dead but the man hadn’t said anything about his brother. “Then Frank will come for me.” he whispered.

Joe’s eyes flew open. Sitting up he frantically looked around, unsure of where he was. Unconsciously he put a hand on his cheek; it almost felt like someone had slapped him. But that was impossible. He was all alone, in the holding cell at the Bayport police station. Lying back down on the cot, still holding his cheek, his mind was spinning.

He had dreamt about a little boy. A little boy who had been taken from his family. He remembered screams and someone telling the little boy his parents were dead. ‘You belong to us now.’ Joe inhaled sharply. It was almost as if he could feel the terror the little boy had felt.

Afraid to close his eyes again, but completely exhausted, Joe drifted off into an uneasy sleep thinking ‘What’s wrong with me? I feel like I’m losing my mind…’

“Joe?” A voice called out, rousing Joe.

Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he saw Con Riley standing outside his cell.

“Hey, Con.” He said looking at his watch. It was only 6:30 in the morning. “Are you on the early shift today?”

“I’m officially on duty at seven, but I wanted to see how you were doing this morning.” Con asked concerned.

“Me? I’m great.” Joe joked. “The accommodations leave something to be desired, though.”

“Great, huh? You look like hell. Did you sleep ok?” Con had spoken to the night guard who told him Joe had cried out in his sleep several times during the night and seemed to be very agitated.

Joe’s smile wavered as he recalled the haunting dream he’d had. “As well as can be expected, considering.” He replied.

Con unlocked the cell door and let himself in.

“Isn’t that against regulations or something?” Joe asked.

“Nah. I’m not on duty yet. Just visiting a friend.”

“Are you sure you want to be in here with me? After all, I am an alleged murderer.” Joe laughed nervously.

"I'll take my chances." Con smiled and held out a bag to Joe, who looked at him quizzically. “Breakfast. Our food leaves something to be desired, too.”

“Thanks.” Joe said taking the bag, realizing just how hungry he was. “So have you heard anything? Do I get a bail hearing this morning?”

“I think Andrew and your Dad are working on it. Your Dad is trying to get a hold of Dennis Seevers.”

“Hmph?” Joe tried to say “who”, but was hampered by a mouthful of breakfast sandwich.

“The DA.” Con laughed. “The ADA was here last night and seems to have it in for you.”

“Yeah, that seems going around lately. Who is it?”

“Edward Bennett.”

Joe stopped chewing and swallowed hard.

“He’s going to be prosecuting me?” Joe said uneasily.

“Well, that’s why your Dad is trying to get in touch with Seevers. I take it Bennett isn’t too fond of you?”

“That’s putting it mildly!” Joe snorted. “And I never did anything to the guy! I think he suffers from that Big Brother Syndrome, just like Frank.” Joe looked away and quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. He missed his brother terribly.

He took a sip of coffee and looked back at Con. “Do you think I could make a phone call?” Joe asked quietly.

“Vanessa?” Con guessed.

“Yeah.” Joe replied looking at the floor. “I want to make sure she’s ok. She stayed at my parents last night. It’s the first time we’ve been apart since…well, you know.”

Con patted Joe on the shoulder and turned to leave. “I’ll see what I can do, Joe.”

“Thanks.” Joe said gratefully. “For the breakfast too.”

Vanessa was curled up under the covers in Joe’s old bed at his parent’s house. Held tightly to her chest was a small, worn teddy bear with only one eye. She had found it sitting on a shelf in the bedroom closet when she was looking for an extra blanket the night before. One day when she and Laura had gone shopping, Laura had told her about the teddy bear.

Frank had given it to Joe when he had his tonsils out as a child and had to stay in the hospital over night. Since Frank couldn’t stay there with his little brother, he had emptied his piggy bank and purchased the teddy bear to “protect” Joe until he came home. From that day on, Joe had dragged the teddy bear everywhere and never let it out of his sight. When Vanessa spied the well-loved bear on the shelf, she recalled seeing it in Joe’s closet at college and wondered why he hadn’t taken it with him when they moved in together.

She heard muted voices in the hall and looked at the clock by the bed – 6:30 a.m. She sat up and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Not surprisingly, she had not slept well at all. She’d had strange dreams about Joe being locked in a prison cell, unable to get out. He had been told he could go home, but no one could seem to find the key to let him out. She shuddered, hoping it wasn’t a premonition of things to come.

She thought about getting up but wasn’t sure she wanted to face Joe’s parents. She had inadvertently overheard an argument they had had the previous night. Laura was livid that her husband could think for one second Joe could have killed someone in cold blood. Fenton was insistent that he knew what he saw, but Laura remained unconvinced and was unwavering in her support of Joe. Vanessa winced as she recalled Laura telling Fenton he might be more comfortable sleeping on the couch in his office.

Vanessa completely understood how Laura felt. She knew how angry Joe was and how much he wanted to get the man who had raped her. But she didn’t care what Frank and Fenton thought they saw; in her heart she knew, no matter what, Joe was not capable of killing another human being. She hugged the bear a little closer wondering how Joe was. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Laura came in and sat on the bed, smiling. “I see you found Bear.”

“Bear?” Vanessa said with amusement. “His name is Bear?”

Laura laughed softly. “Joe was only four years old. He wanted to call it Frank, but that was vetoed pretty quickly. Frank did not want a teddy bear to be mistaken for him. Bear was the next best thing Joe could come up with.”

Looking at Laura, Vanessa held Bear close. “Will Joe be able to come home today?” she asked tentatively.

“Fenton has been working on it all night. He was finally able to get a hold of his friend, Dennis Seevers, the District Attorney. He was on vacation but he dropped everything to come back. He’s on his way home right now. He seems to think it won’t be a problem.” Laura squeezed Vanessa’s hand reassuringly.

Vanessa let out a shaky breath and smiled. “Good.” She looked around the room and let her gaze settle on Laura once again. “Thank you for letting me stay here last night. I just couldn’t go home. Not without Joe.”

“You’re always welcome here, honey. You know that.” Laura smiled at her. “Are you hungry? I was just going to make some breakfast. Will you join me?”

“I’d like that, thanks.”

“Ok. Come on down when you’re ready.” Laura said and left Vanessa to get ready for the day.

A short time later, Vanessa appeared in the kitchen. Her mother and Laura were seated at the table talking over coffee.

“Let me get you some coffee.” Laura said starting to get up.

Vanessa put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. “I don’t want you waiting on me. Besides, I know where everything is.”

Vanessa hugged her mother, who kissed her on the cheek and then walked to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee. As she was staring out the kitchen window into the backyard, the phone rang.

“Do you want me to get it?” Vanessa asked Laura, as she was standing right next to the phone.

“Sure, honey. Go ahead.”

“It’s not even seven a.m.” Andrea said looking at the clock. “Who would be calling this early in the morning?”

Laura exchanged a knowing look with Vanessa. “Andrea, when you live with a house full of detectives you get used to the phone ringing at all hours of the day and night.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement, as she reached for the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Baby!”

“Joe!” Vanessa exclaimed automatically smiling at the sound of his voice.

“I wanted to see how you were doing this morning. I’m so sorry we had to be apart last night. God, I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Vanessa said softly. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Babe. And as soon as I get to see you, I’ll be even better. Con stopped by to see me this morning. He said Dad and Andrew are trying to get me a bail hearing today.”

“So you will be coming home today?” she asked hopefully. “I hate to think of you stuck in that jail cell for something you didn’t do. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?” she said angrily.

“Thanks for the support.” Joe chuckled at her anger. “That’s what the bail hearing is for.”

“Joe…what if it’s more than we can afford?” her voice trembled. At some point during the night, it struck her that if Joe was indeed charged with first-degree murder, the bail could be so high they might not be able to pay it.

“Don’t worry about it, Babe.” Joe said with more confidence than he felt. He, too, had come to that same conclusion, but did not want to worry Vanessa any more than she already was. “Whatever it is, we’ll find a way to pay it.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Hold on a sec.” Vanessa heard voices in the background and then Joe was back. “I have to go, hon. But I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Ok.” Vanessa said fighting back tears. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Baby. Bye.”

“Bye.” She whispered and slowly hung up the phone.

Staring out the window once again, she knew she was fighting a losing battle trying to hold back the tears.

“Come here, honey.” She heard her mothers voice and turned to her, burying her head in her mothers shoulder.

Laura quietly got up and left the kitchen, tears forming in her own eyes. She bumped into her husband who was coming out of his office. She glanced back towards the kitchen and then leveled him with a steady gaze.

“Make sure he gets out on bail – today!” she said in a tone of voice that left no room for argument. Brushing past him, she went out the front door.

Watching his wife’s retreating back, Fenton Hardy recalled reading somewhere that the most dangerous place in the world to be was between a mother and her child. He now knew exactly what it meant.

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Disclaimer

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 them without expressed permission of the authors.