Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - With This Ring

Dylan sat at the small rickety table in his tiny apartment, blocking out the sounds of the night as he hunched over the newspaper. The robbery at the pizzeria had made the first page of the Local section and as Dylan finished reading it for the second time, he frowned. There had been no mention of the guy in the alley. Putting the paper down, Dylan winced at the raised voices from the apartment across the hall. He knew what would come next, it always did. Flesh hitting flesh and a woman’s muffled cry. Dylan shook his head, wondering why she stayed with him. When he’d heard it the first night he moved in here, he’d made an anonymous call to the police. They had arrived and taken the man into custody; the next morning she had bailed him out. Ever since then Dylan had tried his best to ignore the violent couple.

Glancing at the paper, Dylan wondered about the young man in the alley. Who was he? What was he doing there? And why was there no mention of him at all? Getting up, he crossed to the small window and looked out at the dirty street below. He was getting a bad feeling, like this suddenly non-existent witness was a bad omen. It was almost as if he’d been lying in wait for them. Leaning against the window frame, Dylan wondered how? How could this guy have known they were going to hit the pizzeria last night? He shook his head, unable to make all the pieces fit and unable to shake the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was time to get out…

*****

The following morning Frank and Joe continued to check out Danny Pacheco’s alibi. They had managed to get hold of his two friends who both confirmed that the three of them had spent the night partying and gambling in Atlantic City. However, not knowing if the two men were simply covering for their friend or if maybe all three of them were involved in the robberies, Frank and Joe continued checking.

Sitting behind his desk Frank had spent the past few hours looking for a paper trail to confirm Danny’s story – charges on his credit cards, ATM withdrawals from a machine in Atlantic City. Joe, meanwhile, was sitting on the couch, working the phones. Using his innate charm, Joe was talking his way through the various levels of management in each casino until he found the person who could give him what he wanted – confirmation of Pacheco’s presence on the night in question.

He’d just finished what sounded like another successful conversation when Frank glanced over at him. Joe tossed his cell phone on the coffee table and scrubbed a hand over his face, then stared at the floor dejectedly.

“Uncooperative?” Frank asked, puzzled.

“Huh?” Joe looked up as if he were a thousand miles away. He stared at Frank for a second then shook his head. “No, they were very cooperative. They’re gonna forward stills from the security video to your email. Pictures of Pacheco and his buddies time and date stamped. His alibi checks out.”

“Okay,” Frank murmured, frowning. Joe returned his gaze to the floor and fell quiet again. “Joe…you knew there was a good chance this could happen,” he said, assuming that was the reason for Joe’s dour mood.

Slowly Joe looked up, bewildered. “Yeah,” he shrugged, sounding confused and Frank felt like they were having two different conversations.

Getting up Frank walked over and sat down next to his brother. “What’s wrong?” he asked bluntly.

Joe stared at him for a moment, ghosted a smile and then sighed heavily, leaning back against the cushions. “Last night Vanessa said maybe we should just put in an insurance claim and get the ring replaced.”

Frank raised his eyebrows, surprised, but stayed silent.

“She said she didn’t want me to get hurt again – or worse – trying to get it back. Said it was a price she wasn’t willing to pay, the cost was too high,” Joe finished dismally.

“And you don’t agree?” Frank prodded, sensing there was more to it.

Joe shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Despite what you and Dad seem to think, I really do understand my life is worth more than a ring,” he grinned for a moment. “And even though I know she really meant it, I could still see the disappointment in her eyes, you know? At the thought of never getting her ring back…”

Joe stopped again for a moment and his voice softened. “I’m just afraid if we do that, she’ll never really get over it. I mean, you know Vanessa. She loves to laugh. She’s happy and bubbly and funny and now she’s just…not.” Joe stared at his reflection in the polished surface of the wood table. “I’m afraid if we get a replacement that a part of her will be missing forever; it’ll be with the original ring…wherever that is.” He turned and looked at Frank, an aching sadness in his eyes. “I want my Vanessa back…all of her.”

‘It’s not just Vanessa,’ Frank thought, silently musing about Joe and Vanessa and how unlike themselves both of them had been the past several days – sad, quiet, moody…

“Then we just have to make sure we find it, right?” Frank said.

Joe looked up at him and slowly a genuine smile spread across his face. “Right,” he agreed quietly.

Frank slapped him on the knee and stood up, an idea taking shape in his mind. “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you check my email and see if any of those pictures have arrived yet.”

“Okay,” Joe replied, standing and stretching.

Frank walked out the door and down the hall to the reception area, pulling out his cell phone as he did. Mrs. Gresham glanced up at him, raised an eyebrow and then returned her attention to her computer. Frank chuckled softly; after working for Fenton Hardy for so many years, nothing fazed her anymore.

Sitting in one of the chairs in the reception area, Frank punched in a number and then waited. When Callie answered he smiled automatically just at the sound of her voice.

“Hey Babe, it’s me,” he greeted her and could practically hear the smile in her voice.

“Hi! What’s going on? Have you guys made any progress today?”

Frank quickly brought Callie up to date on the investigation then got to the real reason he’d called.

“What would you say to taking Joe and Vanessa out to dinner tonight?”

“I’d say that’s a great idea,” Callie responded without hesitation. “I talked to Van this morning,” she continued with a small sigh. “She’s just so…”

“Not herself?”

“Exactly.”

“Yeah, Joe too,” Frank said. “I think they could probably use a distraction for a few hours.”

“You know a while back Vanessa mentioned wanting to try that seafood restaurant down on the waterfront,” Callie suggested.

“Great,” Frank smiled. “I’ll talk to Joe about it.”

Frank chatted with Callie for a few more minutes then ended the call and returned to his office. Joe was seated in one of the chairs in front of Frank’s desk, his feet propped up on the top of it, looking at a couple of photographs he’d obviously just printed.

“Get your feet off my desk,” Frank said, sitting down next to his brother and giving Joe’s legs a shove. “What have you got?”

Joe’s feet hit the floor with a thud and he sat up a little straighter. “Pacheco and his buddies,” he answered, passing the pictures to Frank, “two from different casinos and one at a bar. They were definitely there all night.”

Frank nodded as he stared at the pictures. “Guess we should go show these to Dad and Sam and compare notes.” Joe stood up wordlessly and turned towards the door. “Joe, wait a second.”

Joe stopped and looked at Frank expectantly.

“How about you, Vanessa, Callie and I go out to dinner tonight? Our treat,” he offered.

Joe smiled appreciatively but shook his head. “Thanks but maybe another night.

Frank stood, walked over to Joe and put his hand against Joe’s forehead.

“What are you doing?” Joe asked as he smacked Frank’s hand away.

“You just turned down free food. I’m checking to see if you have a fever.”

Joe’s cheeks took on a light pinkish hue and he shrugged sheepishly. “I appreciate the offer but we probably wouldn’t be good company.”

“Exactly why you need to come – both of you.”

“Thank you, really,” Joe smiled, “but – ”

“But nothing,” Frank cut him off and headed for the door. “You’re coming. End of discussion.”

Frank heard soft chuckling behind him and then a quiet, “Thank you.” Joe was silent for a few seconds and then added, “Ya know you’re pretty bossy today.”

“I’m the older brother – it’s my job,” Frank smirked.

“And you do it so well,” Joe said without missing a beat.

Frank stopped abruptly and turned to look at Joe, his eyes narrowed.

“What?” Joe asked innocently, though his eyes were sparkling.

“I’m trying to figure out if you just insulted me,” Frank mused.

“Just making an observation, Bro,” Joe grinned and winked as he brushed past Frank and headed for Fenton’s office.

*****

It took less than five minutes for Frank and Joe to bring their father and Sam up to speed on what they’d found out – Danny’s alibi checked out, both his friends confirmed they were in Atlantic City and the casinos verified the trio’s presence through credit card receipts and still photos from the security videos.

“I hope you guys had better luck,” Joe said dejectedly.

“As a matter of fact we did,” Sam smiled. He shuffled a few papers around and then slid a picture across the table towards Joe. “Jake Epsilon. One of Pacheco’s roommates who happens to have a long juvenile record. He’s been picked up for a couple of nuisance crimes as an adult but nothing more.”

“How is that good?” Joe asked, puzzled, as the passed the photo to Frank.

“We checked the other roommate who was totally clean and happened to be working two nights ago,” Fenton picked up the story, “so we decided to dig a little deeper into Jake’s background and checked out his work history. He’s changed jobs several times and has a reputation as a ‘problem’ employee with a major attitude. According to his former employers, he always blamed everyone else; nothing was ever his fault. It’s not a huge jump from a juvenile record, nuisance crimes and attitude problems to robbery and assault.”

“So you think he’s a good suspect?” Frank asked, finally looking up from the picture to meet his father’s gaze.

“I think it wouldn’t hurt to put him under surveillance – starting tonight. If he’s the one who borrowed Danny Pacheco’s car and is part of this band of thieves, eventually he’ll lead us right to them. And their next target.”

“I want the first watch,” Joe blurted out. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he turned and looked at Frank apologetically.

“Uh…okay,” Fenton said, bewildered at the strange look that passed between his sons. “Is that a problem?” He directed his question to Frank who was staring at his younger brother.

Frank didn’t answer immediately, seemingly lost in thought and then turned to Fenton. “Callie and I wanted to take him and Van out to dinner tonight,” he responded, jerking his head towards Joe.

“Ah,” Fenton nodded in understanding. He sat back and looked at Sam questioningly. Sam shrugged and nodded silently. “How about if Sam and I tail Epsilon while the four of you are at dinner? If he hasn’t settled in at home by the time you’re done, you can take over,” he looked at Joe.

“And while he’s keeping an eye on Jake, we can stake out three of the remaining businesses that are potential targets,” Frank added.

Joe mulled it over for a moment as he looked around the table and realized how lucky he was. These weren’t just the people he worked with. They were family and right now they were rallying around him, trying to give both him and Vanessa back the happiness that had been stolen from them. He smiled, nodding slowly. “Sounds like a plan.”

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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.