Joe practically ran to his own office, slamming the door shut and locking it behind him.  Leaning against the door, Joe stood there for a moment, shaking and gasping for air, scared of the intensity of his reaction.  Walking across the room, he tossed the files on his desk and sat down, focusing on the framed picture of Vanessa he kept there. Joe took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself with little success.  He felt like he was about to break down and he didn’t even know why!  All he knew was it had something to do with Frank.  When he saw Frank, the suffocating feelings came back stronger than before; the longer he was in Frank’s presence, the worse they got.

‘What the hell is going on?’ 

Joe tried to push the frightening thoughts and emotions to the back of his mind and focus on work.  He turned on his computer, and stared blankly at the screen waiting for the programs to load.  Picking up a file he saw his hands shaking badly.  Why?  Why did Frank’s presence trigger such a strong – and negative! - reaction? 

For the next thirty minutes Joe tried to work on the reports Mrs. Gresham needed.  At one point he heard Frank’s voice out in the hall and prayed his brother wouldn’t try to find out what was wrong.  He felt a brief moment of relief when he heard the door to Frank’s office close and, a moment later, the sound of Sam’s car starting up and pulling away. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened another folder, pulled the papers out and spread them on his desk.  Staring at the notations, the words all seemed to run together in a blur.

“Damn,” Joe muttered hopelessly.  No matter how hard he tried, he could not concentrate on the job in front of him.   

Sitting back in the chair, Joe didn’t know what to do.  Normally he’d turn to Frank for help, but for reasons unknown to him, Frank seemed to be the cause of whatever was upsetting him. Inexplicably, his eyes were drawn to the phone.  While he no longer had regularly scheduled appointments with his therapist, Linda, he still saw her when he felt it would benefit him. 

Slowly he reached out and picked up the phone surprised at how that one small act seemed to calm him slightly.  Feeling a little more sure of himself, Joe dialed Linda’s office number. ‘Okay, I’ll talk to Linda about this. She’ll figure out what’s wrong and fix it.  No problem.  Everything’ll be fine…’

After four rings a female voice answered.  Joe’s heart sank when he realized it was the answering service. 

“Hi, is Linda in today?” Joe asked hopefully, surprised to hear his voice shaking. ‘Please, please, please… she has to be there!’

“I’m sorry, she’s out of town for the day.  She left the number of a colleague who is covering for her in case of emergency.  Would you like that number?”  the woman responded.

Joe didn’t realize how long he’d sat, dazed by the reply he did not want to hear, until she spoke again.

“Sir?  I have that number right here if you need it,” the woman sounded more concerned now.

“No, no thank you,” Joe replied, quietly. “It’s not an emergency.”  It had taken a long time for Joe to trust Linda enough to open up to her.  He wasn’t sure he’d be able to explain this to her, let alone a complete stranger.  He couldn’t even explain it to himself!

Hanging up the phone, Joe shifted his attention back to the paperwork in front of him, unable to shake the disturbing feelings that would not let go. 

*****

Sam sat behind the wheel of his sedan, eyes flicking between the house across the street and Frank, who was seated next to him, obviously brooding about Joe.  He was preoccupied, distracted; his mind was not on the job they were there to do. Every few minutes he’d shift position, the abrupt movement sometimes accompanied by a frown or a soft sigh.  His eyes continually wandered away from the house.

Trying to ignore Frank’s increasing restlessness, Sam focused on the door of the house. While it wasn’t outwardly apparent, he and Frank had a close relationship.  It had begun innocently when Frank was small.  He would often stay overnight with Sam and his wife when Fenton was called out of town.  Sam had spent all his free time with Frank during those visits, and they had gradually formed a special friendship.  As he grew, Frank confided in Sam more and more.

Sam knew Frank’s frustration would eventually reach the boiling point and he would need a release.  And he was confident that Frank would share those frustrations with him.  Sam, himself, was wondering about Joe and what might be bothering him, when Frank’s voice startled him.

“He was fine last night!” Frank suddenly blurted out, causing Sam to jump slightly. “Teasing me about running home to the little woman...” his voice trailed off for a moment.  “I don’t get it, Sam.  What happened between last night and this morning?”  Frank asked, obviously perplexed.

“It was pretty odd,” Sam agreed, having no explanation for Joe’s strange behavior.

“He acted like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough,” Frank said, dejected.

“Was anything bothering him last night?” Sam wondered. 

“If it was he didn’t mention it.  He was a little worried about Mom but we talked about it.  He was acting like himself when he left.  And I didn’t talk to him again until this morning, not that you could call it an actual conversation,” he snorted derisively.

Sam was about to respond, when the door of the house opened.  Instantly Frank’s full attention was focused on the house.  A man in his mid-thirties walked slowly out the door, down the steps and shuffled towards the driveway.  His walk appeared stiff and almost painful.  It took almost two minutes for him to reach the old car.

“If he’s not hurt, he’s a great actor,” Frank observed, wincing as the man moved in a very deliberate manner while getting into the car.

“Mm-hmm,” Sam agreed, starting the car.  “Which would explain why he hasn’t been caught yet.”  He waited until their suspect had pulled out and was turning right at the end of the block before he pulled away from the curb.

For the next several hours, Frank and Sam tailed the man as he completed a number of mundane errands – a stop at the bank, the drug store, the doctor’s office. The man’s stiff, shuffling gait never once changed, leading Frank to wonder aloud if they were on a wild goose chase.  By early afternoon, they had followed the man back home where he parked in front of the house and walked slowly inside.

“Well?” Frank turned to Sam. “Think he’s done for the day?”

“Actually I was thinking, why did he park on the street in front of the house instead of in the driveway,” Sam replied curiously.  He had driven past the house and circled the block, coming to a stop across the street and down the block from the man’s house. “The driveway is closer to the front door.  You’d think he’d be pretty uncomfortable with all those errands he just did.  Why walk any further than absolutely necessary?”

Frank nodded in agreement and settled in to wait once again.  Approximately forty-five minutes later, the garage door suddenly opened.

“Heads up,” Frank murmured, sitting up a little straighter. A black SUV, with tinted windows backed out of the garage, down the driveway and into the street.  “Is it him?” Frank asked, unable to get a look at the driver.

“Don’t know but my gut says yes,” Sam replied.  As he did that morning, Sam waited until the vehicle had turned out of sight before beginning his pursuit.  “He deliberately parked in the street when he came back,” he picked up the thread of conversation again.  “His wife works downtown and doesn’t get off until six.  Didn’t look like there was anyone else home.  If he wanted to get out and do things he knows he shouldn’t be doing, without arousing suspicion, he just made the perfect escape.”

“Almost perfect,” Frank corrected him, with a smile.

 

Three hours later, Sam and Frank had more than enough evidence to prove the man’s injury claim was a sham.  They had followed him to a secluded lake about an hour out of town where many local families had weekend cabins.  After finding a discreet parking spot, the two had hiked through the surrounding woods to the lake where their suspect apparently owned a cabin.  Hidden among the trees, Frank and Sam’s patience was finally rewarded, when the man, apparently thinking his disappearing act had worked, let his guard down. 

He spent the afternoon doing odd jobs around the cabin in preparation for re-opening it in the spring – all of which should have been physically impossible if his injury claim were true.  Armed with ample video footage of the man’s afternoon tasks, Sam and Frank headed back to Bayport.

Once out of the heavily wooded area, Frank pulled out his cell phone and called the office.  After letting Mrs. Gresham know the results of their surveillance so she could contact the client, he asked to speak with Joe.

Sam frowned, listening to Frank’s half of the conversation.

“He did? When?”  There was a few seconds of silence as Frank listened to her reply. 

“Oh?  Did he say where he was going?”  More silence. 

“How did he seem to you, Mrs. G?”  Frank listened again, then sighed.  “Maybe.”  Frank replied to whatever she’d said, although he didn’t sound convinced. “Thanks.  We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Frank ended the call and stared out the window for a moment. “Joe finished the reports and left.  Said he was going home,” Frank continued as he dialed another number. 

Sam watched out of the corner of his eye as Frank listened and frowned.  Rolling his eyes, Frank disconnected that call and dialed yet again.  This time he sighed heavily before speaking.  “It’s me, Joe. Mrs. G said you went home a while ago but I just tried there and no one answered.  We got the evidence we needed to wrap up the workers comp case.” Frank fell silent for a few seconds.  “Call me, huh?” he said softly.  Folding up the phone, he put it back in his pocket and stared out the window glumly.

“Why is he avoiding me, Sam?”

 

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.