Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Joe hurried back towards the stairwell as the beginnings of a plan formed in his mind. Visualizing the layout of the building, he moved past the door leading to the stairs and continued on to the next one. Pushing it open, he proceeded down a set of steps and emerged into the basement. Flipping on the lights, he walked around the perimeter of the room until he found what he was looking for – the main circuit breaker for the entire building. Nodding to himself, Joe continued searching the large room until he came upon the emergency generators and quickly disabled them.

Standing, he scanned the ceiling until he found the heating/air-conditioning duct. Grabbing a nearby stool, he walked over and placed it directly under the grate. Climbing up on the stool, Joe reached up and pushed the grate aside. Hopping off, he returned the stool to its original spot. Walking back to the main circuit breaker, he grabbed the handle.

‘I hope you’re ready, Frank.’

Joe pushed the handle to one side and the entire compound was immediately plunged into darkness. Pulling out a penlight, he hurried back to the opening in the ceiling, knowing the basement would soon be crawling with people. Holding the light between his teeth, Joe jumped up, grabbed the edges of the opening and pulled himself up. As he started to put the grate back into place over the gaping hole in the ceiling, it suddenly slipped from his hands and fell to the floor with a loud crash!

‘Why don’t you just leave a trail of breadcrumbs for them to follow?!’ Joe chided himself, cursing his clumsiness.

Fuming, Joe realized he had no time to jump down and retrieve the grate. Turning in the cramped space, he started crawling as fast as possible, trying to remember the twists and turns on the schematic. Again and again, he banged his head or elbow on the top and sides of the duct, resulting in a dull thud each time. As he came to a stop at an intersection in the ductwork, a solitary bead of sweat rolled slowly down his back. Glancing first left and then right, Joe hesitated, listening to the sound of his own rapid breathing as the tiny beam from the penlight he still held in his teeth was bounced around against the darkness

‘Right…no left…I think….’ Joe frantically glanced both ways again, realizing he’d lost count of the turns he’d made and was no longer exactly sure where he was! ‘Come on, Hardy, focus!’

Concentrating, Joe tried to recall all the turns he’d made in his hasty journey. ‘Right…yeah, right…I hope….’ With a final glance to his left, Joe turned in the other direction. Less than a minute later, he came to a dead end – right above a grate. ‘Finally!’ he thought, still not one hundred percent sure he was in the right place. Carefully lifting the grate, Joe hoped he’d counted correctly otherwise Frank would soon have to mount a rescue operation for him!

Squinting, Joe peered down into the darkness and listened intently. Hearing nothing, he noiselessly dropped to the floor. Shading the beam with his hand, Joe shined the penlight around, smiling when he saw a door several yards down the hall. Running towards it, he was just about to congratulate himself on a job well done when the hall was suddenly flooded with light! Joe stumbled, blinking rapidly to try and adjust his eyes to the brightness.

“Hey, you!” a voice echoed loudly down the hall. “STOP!”

Joe didn’t hesitate. He scrambled for the door and pushed it open, diving through as gunshots rang out. A burning sensation ripped across his left shoulder. One of the bullets had found its mark.

*****

Frank ran across the wide expanse of grass towards the cement wall, at times dragging the two boys behind him. Jamie stumbled once but quickly recovered. Heeding Frank’s warnings, Ford and Jamie had yet to utter a word. From the sounds of their panting, Frank wasn’t sure they could speak even if they wanted to.

Reaching the wall he and Joe had parachuted over only moments earlier, Frank reached down and grabbed Jamie, boosting him up to the top of the wall. “Sit tight for a second,” he whispered as he then hoisted Ford up next to his brother. Shrugging off his backpack, he took one step back and then heaved it over the wall. Jumping up, he pulled himself up and dropped down on the other side. Immediately he extended his arms up towards Ford.

“Jump, I’ll catch you,” he ordered.

To Frank’s surprise, Ford refused. “No,” he shook his head adamantly. Before Frank could respond, Ford tugged on Jamie’s sleeve. “He goes first. Once he’s down, then I’ll jump.”

Frank bit back a smile and didn’t even consider arguing with his small counterpart. Instead, he took two steps to his left and reached up towards Jamie thinking, ‘I know exactly how you feel!’

Standing with his arms outstretched, he saw Jamie hesitate and look back over his shoulder at the darkened house. Slowly he swung his gaze back towards Frank, who could see his face illuminated by the moonlight. “What about Joe?” he asked worriedly.

Frank stared at the towheaded boy, momentarily stunned. During their mad dash for freedom, he’d been thinking the exact same thing! He was about to respond when he suddenly saw a backwash of light on the other side of the wall. ‘The electricity is back on!’

“Jump, Jamie – NOW!” he ordered.

Jamie was still hesitating when Ford reached out and pushed him off the wall and into Frank’s arms. Ford waited just long enough for Frank to dump Jamie ungracefully on the ground and move to his right before launching himself off the top of the wall. Frank caught the older boy and dropped him to the ground. Without waiting to be told, Ford grabbed his younger brother’s hand and looked to Frank for direction.

“This way,” Frank nodded straight ahead as he slung the backpack over his shoulders. Grabbing Jamie’s free hand, he led the two brothers to the edge of the woods when gunshots rang out in the distance. Frank stopped dead in his tracks and turned back towards the compound.

‘Joe!’

Every cell in his body was screaming at him to go back. Someone was taking potshots at Joe and Frank had no way of knowing if they had succeeded. He took one tentative step before miserably acknowledging his first priority – get Ford and Jamie to safety. “Come on, let’s go,” he said, his own voice sounding hollow.

Taking one last glance over his shoulder before disappearing into the woods, one thought ran through Frank’s mind… ‘Where are you, Joe…?’

*****

Half diving, half falling through the doorway, Joe hit the ground hard and immediately rolled on impact. Painfully getting to his feet, Joe clutched his arm and felt the blood beginning to seep through his fingers. He squinted into the darkness, trying to get his bearings, when a high-powered beam of light suddenly appeared just a few feet away.

‘Searchlights!’

Joe began to run – a clumsy, zigzag pattern across the seemingly endless lawn, barely eluding the spotlights. He heard shouting behind him and the sound of motors starting up, but Joe kept his gaze fixed on the cement wall. He tried to run faster, as the wall didn’t seem to be getting any closer, when he stumbled and fell.

‘OW! Damn, that hurt!’ he cursed his own clumsiness, while awkwardly getting to his feet.

The shouts were getting louder now, as were the sounds of the vehicles his pursuers were using. ‘Motorcycles? ATV’s?’ he thought, lumbering unsteadily towards the wall as they gained ground on him. ‘Almost there, almost there, almost there…’ Joe repeated the two words endlessly, keeping a steady rhythm with his feet until finally he reached the imposing block of cement standing between him and freedom.

Not having the luxury of taking the time to remove his pack and throw it over the wall, Joe gritted his teeth, bent his knees and jumped. His fingers brushed the top of the wall and for one heart stopping second, Joe thought he was going to fall back down to the ground, when he finally got a finger hold. Hissing in pain, Joe adjusted his grip and pulled himself up and over the wall, falling in a heap on the other side. For several seconds, he lay there catching his breath and looking up at the dark night sky. Glancing to his left, he saw a dark smear on the wall and groaned. He was leaving a trail of blood behind that would lead a search party right to him.

Joe pushed himself up, and, cradling his injured arm, took off for the woods. Knowing which direction Frank would have taken, he headed the other way. Looking back every few seconds, Joe made sure he was leaving a clear trail of small droplets of blood as he hiked deep into the woods. Several minutes later, he came to a small creek and stopped. Walking along the water’s edge, he made sure to leave enough footprints and crushed vegetation so that his route would be easy to follow.

After another minute or so he stopped and let his pack fall to the ground. Gingerly taking off his jacket, he ripped off a patch of the bloody shirt sleeve. Taking out the penlight, Joe cautiously shined the light on the area where he’d been creased by the bullet. ‘Not too bad, all things considered.’

Satisfied that it was nothing more than a ‘flesh wound,’ Joe looked around for a good-sized rock. Finding one he thought would do the job, he wound the bloody piece of shirt loosely around the rock and heaved it into the trees as far as he could. Picking up his pack, Joe turned and stepped into the shallow creek, wading across to the other side. Making sure he stayed just inside the water line, Joe began to backtrack towards the spot where he had jumped over the wall.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, Joe strained to hear any sound that would indicate he was being followed, when he noticed small circles of light bobbing along on the opposite side of the water. Rushing forward, he crouched behind a large boulder, cautiously peering over the top. He watched as several men with guns apparently followed the trail of blood he had so carefully left behind. When they were directly opposite him, Joe hunkered down behind the big rock, scarcely daring to breathe, afraid they might hear it. He waited…and waited…and waited. Just when he thought his ruse wouldn’t work, Joe heard a triumphant shout! He grinned, knowing someone had just found the scrap of shirt he tossed into the trees.

As the men pursuing him took the bait, they quickly hurried off, heading away from him. Their voices slowly faded away and Joe let out a sigh of relief. Pushing himself to his feet, Joe quietly resumed his trek to the cave where and he Frank would set up camp for the night.

Let the author know what you think of this story

Home Library Authors Rogue's Gallery Vehicles Chums Message Board Rap Sheet Links Contact

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.