Unbeknownst to both Vanessa and Joe, Frank along with Fenton and Andrew had been in a meeting with District Attorney Dennis Seevers most of the morning.  He and Fenton were old friends, and while Dennis had no intention of showing Joe any favoritism, he had cut his vacation short and rushed back to meet with them and work out the terms of Joe’s bail.  Frank had also informed him of the history between Joe and Edward Bennett.  Upon hearing the story, Dennis assured Fenton he would personally take charge of Joe’s case.

Frank and his father had then gone to the bank and each taken out a second mortgage on their homes to come up with the money needed for Joe’s bail.  As they were still a little short, Fenton had cashed in some stocks and bonds to make up the difference, which was why they had been so late arriving at the courtroom.  Dennis and Andrew had requested that Joe’s bail hearing not be conducted until after Frank and Fenton had arrived.

Andrew Worth now stood to address the judge.

“We’re prepared to make bail, Your Honor.”

Judge O’Donnell looked at him in disbelief.  “Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mr. Worth.  Bail is five hundred thousand dollars cash – not bond.”

“Again, with all due respect, Your Honor, I did not misunderstand you. We are prepared to make bail.” 

He turned to Fenton who was seated next to Frank in the first row of seats.  Fenton reached down and picked up a briefcase, handing it over to Andrew.

“Mr. Worth,” the judge began.  “I hope you are not saying…”

“Yes, sir.” Andrew smiled, wryly.  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Bailiff!” Judge O’Donnell barked and nodded at the briefcase in Andrew’s hands.  “This court will now take a fifteen minute recess.” He then stood and retreated to his chambers.

The bailiff quickly came forward and retrieved the briefcase from Andrew, following the judge into his chambers.

 “Ok, Joe.  You are free to go.  Be at my office first thing tomorrow morning, and don’t forget to bring your passport.  We need to start working on your defense right away.”

“I can go home?”  Joe asked stunned.  He was not quite sure what had just taken place.  “What about the bail?”

“What do you think was in that briefcase your father gave me?”  Andrew said quietly.  He patted Joe on the back.  “Take Vanessa and go home.  You both look like you could use some rest.”

Snapping his briefcase shut, Andrew walked over to talk to Dennis Seevers.

Joe stood rooted to the spot, still in shock.  His father leaned over the railing separating them and nudged Joe towards the gate leading back to the seating area.

“I think there’s someone back here who wants to see you.” Fenton said with a little smile.

Snapping back to reality, Joe raced through the gates almost bowling over two people in his haste to get to Vanessa.  She met him halfway and literally threw herself into his arms.  They held each other tightly, neither one saying a word.

“We’ll wait out in the hall.”  Fenton murmured walking past the couple and following Laura, Andrea, Frank and Callie out the door of the courtroom.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, Frank spotted Liz Webling walking towards them very quickly.  Although Liz had been a friend of the Hardy’s since high school, Frank was always leery of talking to her about anything other than the weather when they were working on a case.  Her father owned The Bayport Times and Liz was one of the investigative reporters working at the paper.  He knew the press was relegated to an area outside the Court House and wondered whom she bribed to get in.

“Dad.” He said quietly and nodded at her.

“Great.” Fenton muttered as he and Frank began walking towards Liz in an effort to cut her off.

“I’m here as a friend.” She said sincerely.

“Off the record?” Frank asked her warily.

“Yes.” She replied, her expression turning serious.  “Have you seen today’s paper yet?” she asked looking from Frank to his father.  She suspected they hadn’t otherwise she never would have made it this far into the building.

“No.” Fenton replied with an edge to his voice.  “We were a little preoccupied this morning.  I can assume whatever it is won’t make us very happy?” he said gesturing to the rolled up newspaper Liz held in her hands.

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Hardy.”  She extended the paper towards Fenton, and then looked at Frank.  “I had absolutely nothing to do with this, Frank.  I didn’t know anything about it.  If I did, I would have killed the story immediately.  I didn’t even know Joe had been arrested until I got to work this morning.”

As she watched Fenton unroll the newspaper, she involuntarily took a few steps backwards. The expression on his face turned from mild distrust to fury in seconds.

“I really am sorry, Mr. Hardy.  My whole family was in New York City last night to celebrate my parent’s anniversary.  Honestly, if my Dad or I had been here last night, this never would have happened.”

Expecting the worst, Frank peered over his fathers shoulder.  Seeing the headline splashed across the front page, his blood began to boil.  An enlarged file photo of Joe took up a rather large chunk of the front page.  A bold headline above the photo read:  “Hero or Vigilante”.

Neither Frank nor Fenton spoke, left momentarily speechless by what they saw. Liz, who had fully expected a verbal assault from both of them, was growing increasingly more nervous as the deafening silence continued.

“She’s a new reporter who came to us highly recommended, but we’ve had nothing but trouble with her from the start.”  She could see Frank and Fenton were quickly scanning the article to see what kind of damage control would be required.

Frank finally looked at Liz in disbelief.  “I thought your father hated sensational journalism. He always prided himself on fair and honest reporting.”

“He does!  We weren’t here and the regular night shift editor was out sick. She managed to sneak it by whoever was filling in for him.” Her voice trailed off.

“There isn’t one actual fact in here other than that Chris Taylor is dead.  Who is this confidential source she keeps citing?”  Fenton demanded.

Liz bit her lip in frustration.  “She won’t say.”

“My money is on Edward Bennett.” Frank said with disgust.

“Does this so-called reporter know the meaning of libel?  And slander?”  Fenton asked. The barely controlled rage in his voice sent a shiver down Frank’s spine.

Liz swallowed hard.  “If it’s any consolation, Mr. Hardy, this article will probably get her fired.”

“This is not a news article. This is pure fantasy.  And her being fired now is just too little, too late. The damage is done.”  Fenton looked at the article once again in disbelief, focusing on the name of the reporter. “You can tell Ms. Gregg and your father that they’ll both be hearing from our lawyer.  And I better see a retraction on the front page of tomorrow’s paper.”  He gave the newspaper back to Liz and retreated down the hall.

“Frank, please tell Joe how sorry I am about this.  It’s all so ridiculous.  Anyone in their right mind knows Joe couldn’t kill anybody.”

Frank stiffened as her words hit him with full force.  He realized everyone he had spoken with who had not been at the abandoned warehouse the previous evening had no doubts about Joe’s innocence. 

Glancing down the hall, Liz saw a guard approaching. “I better go.” She said nervously.  “Listen, if Joe is going home from here, don’t let him go out through the main entrance.  It’s a zoo out there; media everywhere.  It could get ugly.”

Frank saw the worry in her eyes and softened slightly.  “Thanks for the warning, Liz.  I’ll try and explain to Joe what happened.”

“Thank you.  If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

“Make sure there is something resembling a retraction in tomorrows paper, on the front page, or Dad will be out for blood.”  Frank warned her.

“I’ll write it myself.” She assured him.  “And try not to worry too much.  Somehow you and Joe always manage to land on your feet, no matter what.”  She turned and walked towards the main entrance.

Back in the now empty courtroom, Joe and Vanessa held each other close, neither one wanting to let go.

“See, I told you everything would work out.”  Joe said softly.

“It’s about time.  Our luck hasn’t been very good lately.”  Vanessa replied.

“That’s putting it mildly!” Joe closed his eyes and held Vanessa a little tighter.  He couldn’t help but think it was probably going to get a lot worse before it got better – if it got better.

Stepping back, he looked in Vanessa’s eyes and then kissed her softly.  “Let’s go home, Baby.”

Arms around each other, they emerged from the courtroom and saw their families waiting in the hall. Joe immediately went to his mother, enveloping her in a big hug.

“Thanks, Mom.” He whispered.  “Thanks for believing in me. Thanks for taking care of Vanessa.  Thanks for everything.”

“That’s what I’m here for, honey.” She replied kissing his cheek.  She looked him in the eyes and then gave him the once over as only a mother can.  “You look terrible.” She announced.

“You’re the second person today who has commented on my less than stellar looks!”  Joe rolled his eyes.

“You are going to go straight home and get some sleep.” She ordered, nudging him back towards Vanessa.  “Both of you.”

“Fine with me.”  Joe replied suddenly realizing how tired he really was.

Putting an arm around Vanessa, he turned towards the main entrance only to be stopped by Frank.

“What?” he said, tiredly.  Joe was too exhausted, mentally and physically, to deal with a confrontation with his brother right now.

“It would be better to go out the back way. Dad’s going to bring the car around.”

“Why?” Joe asked in exasperation.  Having been stuck in a jail cell until just a short while ago, he had no idea his arrest was the hottest news item in town.

“The media area is just outside the front door. And it’s packed.”  He nodded almost imperceptibly towards Vanessa.  “You don’t want to go out that way.  Too many people all crowded into a very small space.”

“That bad?” Joe asked.

“I’m afraid so, baby brother.”

Hearing the nickname that so often annoyed him, Joe realized how much he missed it.  As he had been listening to Frank, Joe wondered if Frank even realized he had gone into his overprotective big brother mode.  Whether Frank was doing it on purpose, or if it was just instinctive, Joe found it comforting to know that no matter how bad things got, there were some things that would never change.

“Thanks, bro.”  Joe said, quietly.

The little group turned and walked to the buildings rear entrance.

“Let me just go out and make sure Dad is here.”  Frank said, motioning for Joe, Vanessa, Laura and Andrea to wait.  He went outside, but quickly popped his head back in.  “All clear.  Let’s go.”

Exiting the building, Joe saw his father’s car parked just outside the door and Frank’s car right behind it with Callie behind the wheel. They piled into the two cars and pulled away from the courthouse, completely avoiding the media circus.

Joe leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, thankful to finally be out of the small, cramped jail cell.  Drifting off to sleep, the chilling thought that a similar cell at the state prison could soon be his new home settled itself at the back of his mind.

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.