Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - With This Ring

He’d read the article, already committing the pertinent information to memory out of habit. “They didn’t mention Vanessa’s ring being stolen,” he said.

Frank shifted in the chair across from him. “Yeah. Joe won’t be happy about that. It’s gonna make it that much harder for him… us… to find it.”

“The authorities haven’t asked for our help,” Fenton pointed out, more to play Devil’s Advocate than anything else.

Frank raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And you think that’ll stop Joe?” he asked dryly. “Callie said Vanessa was almost hysterical last night. I talked to Joe this morning. He’s obsessed with getting the ring back – and gunning for revenge.”

As Fenton was about to respond, the door to his office blew open and then slammed shut so hard it vibrated through the walls. Joe had arrived.

If Fenton had any question about just how furious Joe was, it was all but obliterated as his younger son stalked across the room and stood in front of his desk defiantly, pointing at the newspaper. “I want in,” he announced.

Fenton knew it was futile but knew he had to try simply so he could tell Bayport Police Chief Ezra Collig that he did. “It’s a robbery – a matter for the police. And we haven’t been invited to help.”

Joe leaned forward, his anger practically radiating heat. “I don’t give a crap what the police want. They stole Vanessa’s ring – it’s personal now.”

Fenton sighed inwardly, wondering why he thought for one second Joe might let the police handle it.

“Well, are you gonna call him or am I?” Joe snapped when Fenton didn’t move as quickly as Joe wanted him to.

“You sit down, I’ll make the call,” Fenton pointed to an empty chair. Reaching for the phone, he glanced at Frank who shrugged and smiled as if to say, “I told you so.”

Fenton dialed Ezra Collig’s private office number, silently praying he wouldn’t be in. He wanted to speak to Collig in person about allowing the Hardys to assist in the investigation and knew it would be almost impossible to schedule a time to meet if Joe and Collig began arguing with each other through him - which is exactly what would happen should the Chief answer.

Luck was on his side. The phone rang several times and then he heard a click as it was forwarded to Collig’s secretary. Having developed a friendship with the woman over the years, she was happy to work him into the Chief’s schedule later that morning.

“What time are we meeting with him?” Joe demanded before Fenton had even hung up the phone.

“I am meeting him at 11:30,” Fenton replied, bracing himself for the imminent explosion.

“Don’t you dare try and shut me out of this!” Joe exploded, rising a few inches out of the chair before Frank put a restraining hand on his arm.

“Let him explain before you go ballistic,” Frank said quietly.

Fenton folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward slightly. “I think it’s best if I meet with Collig alone, at least to pitch the idea of us helping out with this investigation.” Immediately Joe opened his mouth to protest but Fenton held up a hand to stop him. “You’re angry and upset and justifiably so, I understand that but—”

“No, Dad I don’t think you do,” Joe interrupted him and something in his voice, in his eyes, stopped Fenton cold.

The anger was still there, simmering, but it had been abruptly pushed aside by worry… and fear.

“Vanessa—” Joe began and stopped just as quickly, looking scared. Fenton threw a quick, questioning glance at Frank who simply shrugged.

Joe took a deep breath and exhaled, trying again. “She woke up screaming last night. She hasn’t done that in months. And this morning, she was really… clingy. I’m afraid that he didn’t just steal her ring.” Desperate blue eyes flicked between Fenton and Frank. “I’m scared he stole her recovery, too.”

Fenton swore he felt his heart constrict in his chest rapidly followed by anger. Immediately following the rape, Vanessa had shunned everyone except Joe and her mother. For a while, Fenton feared the change in her might be permanent but then very slowly the old Vanessa began to emerge. Once that happened she seemed to tackle ‘recovering’ with a vengeance and soon the Vanessa everyone knew and loved was back. Fenton didn’t even want to think about the possibility of a return to those bleak days.

“Dad, I gotta get her ring back,” Joe said, urgency in his voice. “Not a replacement… the one I gave her when I proposed.”

Fenton tamped down his anger at the thieves for the moment and stared at Joe intently. “Well, if I didn’t fully understand before, I do now. All the more reason for us to be in on this, but Collig doesn’t respond well to demands and ultimatums – you know that.”

Joe sat back, broodingly silent, but let Fenton finish. “Just let me try a little diplomacy and gentle persuasion.”

“What if he still says no?” Joe asked, wary.

“I won’t take no for an answer,” Fenton reassured Joe and then sat back, smiling. “And if he does, there’s no reason Vanessa – or even her fiancé, for that matter – can’t hire us to find the ring.”

Slowly Joe smiled, just for a moment, then sat forward and began talking animatedly. “But we’re not gonna wait ‘til you get back to get started, right? I mean they could have already pawned her ring by then! And did you see the article?!” He stabbed a finger towards the newspaper savagely. “They didn’t even mention Vanessa’s ring! That’s gonna make it that much harder to find! So I thought we could make up a flier or something, you know with a picture of the ring?” His head swiveled from Fenton to Frank and back again without missing a beat. “And distribute them to jewelers and pawn shops in town. I have a great picture, you know for insurance? And I e-mailed it to myself here. I thought maybe you could make something up real quick?” Joe finished looking at his older brother imploringly. “Because if we don’t get the information out to them today, the ring could be gone before we even get a chance to look for it!”

Frank was staring at his brother wide-eyed and Fenton tried to smother a grin, long ago having stopped trying to figure out how Joe could ramble like that without even stopping to breathe!

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Frank stammered, caught off guard by Joe’s abrupt halt. “I can put something together. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Fenton agreed. “Make up a flier and have Mrs. G make however many copies you need,” he said referring to his long time administrative assistant – and dear friend – Estelle Gresham. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment and then looked at Joe. “You know since they’ve also hit businesses in Southport and Kirkland it would be a good idea to distribute the fliers there too. They’re probably from one of the three towns they’ve been committing these robberies in but at this point we have no idea which one. Better cover all the bases.”

Joe slumped back in the chair and seemed to deflate. “Bayport, Southport and Kirkland? In one afternoon?!”

Fenton smiled at his son sympathetically. “Sam will be here shortly,” he said, referring to Sam Radley, the fourth partner in the firm and his best friend. “If you take Bayport, Frank and Sam can take the other two towns and you should be able to get them all done by the time I finish meeting with Collig. Okay?”

“Okay,” Joe agreed. Standing abruptly, he turned to his brother and tugged on his arm, dangerously jostling the half-empty cup of coffee Frank held in his hand. “Come on, hurry up!” Joe gestured towards the door impatiently. “The sooner you work your magic the sooner we can get started!” With that he hurried out of the office and down the hall.

“You better hurry up,” Fenton grinned. “You know he hates to be kept waiting.

Frank opened his mouth to reply when a resounding “FRANK! Come on already!!!” echoed from somewhere down the hall.

Frank stood and rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t have stopped at one kid?” he asked sarcastically, hurrying out the door yelling, “I’m coming!” before Joe could summon him again.

Fenton gazed at the empty doorway for a moment, a highlight reel of his sons’ childhood quickly flashing before him. He smiled and softly murmured, “No… we couldn’t…”

*****

Ezra Collig listened as Detective Con Riley brought him up to date on the latest robbery – Prito’s Italian Restaurant. For the first time, someone had been injured during the robbery and while that was disturbing, Riley seemed more anxious than the situation called for; and nervous, leading Collig to believe he hadn’t heard everything yet. Patience not being his strong suit, he quickly tired of Riley’s hemming and hawing. “Riley!” he barked. “Just spit it out!”

Con shifted his weight, fidgeting. “One of the customers was robbed, too.”

“They’ve never done that before,” Collig said surprised, though he still thought his detective seemed more jumpy than he should be. “What was stolen?”

Riley hesitated. “Uh… an engagement ring.”

“Just one ring? Everyone wasn’t robbed of their jewelry?” Collig asked for clarification. When Riley nodded silently he wrinkled his brow. “How… odd.”

“Yeah… uh… there’s one more thing…” Con said. He took a few steps backwards, towards the door as if he might need to make a quick escape and licked his lips.

Collig finally threw up his hands, irritated. “What?!”

“The victim… the ring that was stolen… it belonged to Vanessa Bender.”

‘Vanessa Bender?’ Collig stared for a moment as the meaning sank in. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Great… Just great… Fifty thousand people in this town and these bozos have to steal from Joe Hardy’s fiancée.”

At exactly eleven-twenty-five, the intercom on Collig’s phone buzzed. Elbow deep in paperwork he hadn’t noticed the time and absently picked up the handset. “Yes?” he said distractedly.

“Fenton Hardy is here for his eleven-thirty appointment, Sir,” Sadie Newcomb, his efficient secretary announced.

Collig glanced at his watch, surprised at how quickly time had passed. He started to tell her to send the detective in but hesitated a few seconds and then asked warily, “Is he alone?”

“Uh…yes…” Sadie responded, sounding puzzled.

Collig let out a small sigh of relief. He had not wanted to deal with an enraged Joe Hardy today! “Send him in.”

Less than a moment later the door to his office opened. Fenton Hardy walked in, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, followed by Sadie, who placed a fresh cup of coffee on Ezra’s desk and discreetly left.

The two old friends made quick work of the pleasantries and Ezra listened as Fenton pled his case to let the Hardys assist in this investigation into the robberies. While he’d never admit it, Ezra Collig was quite fond of Joe Hardy. The young man reminded Ezra of himself when he was that age. But he’d come to know Joe well over the years and despite knowing Joe was an excellent investigator in his own right, he also knew the youngest Hardy didn’t always think rationally when someone he loved was a victim.

So he did listen, as promised, but couldn’t help the reservations he felt when Fenton was done. “Fenton… you know how I feel about civilians ‘assisting’ us. And look what happened the last time Hardy and Sons Investigations helped us on a case… Joe ended up being arrested and charged with murder.” He really hated bringing that mess up, but it was the only thing he thought might have the slightest chance of getting through.

A shadow of guilt passed over Fenton’s face but he stared at Collig without blinking. “And that was our fault – mine, yours… everyone who was there – not Joe’s.”

‘Touché,’ Collig thought wryly. “True enough, but do you really want to take the chance of something like that happening again? And maybe it won’t be a mistake this time.” Collig spread his hands, hoping to somehow convince Fenton to just let the police handle it. “Look, Fenton, we both know Joe is a damn good investigator; you taught him well. But Vanessa is the victim – again – and I get the feeling Joe won’t find it necessary to play by the rules. He’ll want to get that ring back and he won’t care how he does it.”

Collig had to give the man credit; his view of Joe hadn’t exactly been complimentary but Fenton hadn’t batted an eye.

Now Fenton leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and looked at Collig intently. “I know you don’t need our help on this, Ezra, but you’re right about how Joe feels with Vanessa being the victim. Come on, they stole her engagement ring. Joe had it made especially for her. It’s the only one of its kind in the whole world. And Vanessa is heartbroken. Short of locking him up, there’s no way you’ll be able to keep Joe away from this. And you’re right again - he’s already out for blood.”

Collig sighed in exasperation and ran a hand over his face.

“Look,” Fenton continued diplomatically, “at least if you agree to let us help ‘unofficially’ I can… supervise him. Otherwise…” He sat back and spread his hands helplessly, letting the silence speak for itself.

Collig stared daggers at his friend. He was being ‘blackmailed’ and didn’t like it one bit. After a few minutes of fuming, mostly just for show, he accepted that he really had no choice. Even if he didn’t agree to let them help, he knew Joe wouldn’t let it go. Getting Vanessa’s ring back would be his top priority and until it happened, he could make everyone’s life a living hell. Ezra finally sighed in resignation and had to bite back a smile when Fenton stood and said, “Thank you, Ezra,” knowing he’d won.

“Tell Sadie to give you copies of all the reports,” Collig said, waiting until the detective was almost to the door before stopping him. “And Fenton,” he said gruffly, waiting until the man turned to face him. “Just make sure you keep him on a very short leash.”

Fenton grinned and Collig was stunned at how much he looked like Joe at that moment. He held up two fingers, winked and said, “Scout’s honor.”

Fenton walked out the door gently closing it behind him and Ezra couldn’t help but wonder what he’d just gotten himself into…

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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.