Joe looked at his brother as they ate breakfast on Monday morning. He had seen a dramatic change in Frank’s behavior, one that really bothered him. Frank had spent the majority of the weekend in his room, studying. Even after repeated attempts to get out, Frank declined and stayed in his room.  

On Friday after Caren had abruptly left and Vanessa had headed for home, Joe had gone up to Frank’s room to find out what had happened. Entering his brother’s room, Joe was surprised to see Frank standing by the bedroom window, staring out into the darkness. Joe had tried to get Frank to talk, but he didn’t say a word.  

“Frank, do you want to meet for lunch?” Joe asked.  

“No thanks, Joe. I have a little more research to do for a paper. I’m going to do it then.”  

“All right.”  

Frank put his dishes in the sink. “I’ll see you later.”  

“Okay.”  

Joe listened as Frank started his car, which had been picked up from the garage the previous day, and pulled out of the driveway.  

He knew he had to get his brother out of his funk and knew the person he needed to accomplish this task.  

* * * * *  

During his break, Joe headed to the student union. He entered the area and immediately spotted Vanessa sitting at one of the tables. But she wasn’t alone. Caren was with her and Caren didn’t look happy.  

Joe quickly purchased a drink and made his way toward the table. As he got closer, he saw Caren reach up and wipe her eyes. He realized she was crying. He didn’t want to see her cry. He knew he needed to do something for the both of them.  

“Hey, Caren, Vanessa,” Joe said, sliding into a seat beside Vanessa.  

“Hey, Joe,” Vanessa said.  

“Hi,” Caren said quietly.  

“How are you doing?” Joe asked.  

“Not bad,” Vanessa answered. “I can’t wait until this semester is over with. This has been the hardest one since I started college.”  

“I know the feeling,” Joe said. He looked at Caren. “How about you? How are things going?”  

“Fine,” Caren said.  

“So, is Frank joining us today?” Vanessa asked.  

“No,” Joe said, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at Caren. “He’s actually in the library working on a project.” He saw Caren let out a sigh of relief.  

“Guys, I hate to eat and run, but I agreed to meet with a classmate about our computer class,” Vanessa said.  

“It’s no problem,” Joe said. “All of out schedules are a little whacked now that we are nearing the end of the semester.”  

Vanessa gave Joe a peck on the cheek and then left the student union.  

“Caren, can we talk?” Joe asked once they were alone.  

“Joe, I know what you want to talk about, but to be honest, this is none of your concern. This is between Frank and me. And I would appreciate it if you would just let it drop.”  

“I will drop it after I say this. You and Frank have something very unique and whatever the problem you have, it needs to be discussed before your relationship is destroyed. You know you and Frank belong together and if you don’t see that, then maybe you don’t belong with him.”  

Joe noticed Caren sitting there with a shocked look on her face. He knew he had surprised her with what he had said, but he wasn’t about to play games when it dealt with his brother.  

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Caren said. She got to her feet. “I’ll see you later.”  

“Bye,” Joe said and Caren left the student union.  

As he leaned back in his seat, he hoped that the two of them would talk and resolve their issues.  

* * * * *  

Frank left his last class of the day feeling exhausted. All of his professors had been putting on an extra push to get things done before finals. Frank felt as if his hand was going to fall off from all the writing he had done.  

Now, he was ready to head home and take a break. Glancing at his watch, he realized that once he got home, he would have almost two hours of silence until Joe arrived following baseball practice. He was looking forward to that time because it meant Joe wouldn’t be pestering him about Caren.  

And it’s not like I have anything to say to her, he thought. She’s the one who got angry and left. She’s been around Joe and I long enough to know that there are instances when we can’t discuss the case we’re working on. And there was no reason to make her worry about something that we aren’t really sure about anyway. It’s like making a mountain out of molehill. There is no reason to get worked up when we don’t know what is going on. And these incidents are probably not related anyway. These were unfortunate accidents that happened while I was around. That’s all.

As Frank headed for the parking lot, he saw Caren standing by her car, talking to another guy. She was laughing at something he said and he felt as if a knife was being twisted in his gut. He turned and hurried toward his car, unable to see her with someone else.  

Getting into his car and finally heading for home, he hoped the semester would end a whole lot sooner so he could get on with his life.  

Heading for home, Frank tried to keep his mind off Caren. He reviewed what the professors had said during his classes earlier in the day in an attempt to distract himself.  

He was halfway home when he noticed a car pulling close to him in his rearview mirror. From the hood, he could see it was a blue sedan, similar to the one that had thrown the brick at him.  

Staring intently in his rearview mirror, Frank tried to get the license plate number, but he couldn’t. There was mud caked on the license plate. The blue sedan pulled to his left and moved right up beside him.  

Without any warning, the blue sedan swung to the right, slamming into Frank’s car. He tightened his hold on the steering wheel to keep from going off the road. The blue sedan slammed him again. He was struggling with all his might to keep the car on the road. He was struggling with all his might to stay on the pavement. The sedan hit the car again and Frank did the only thing he could think of. He slammed on the brakes.  

The blue sedan continued on. Frank watched it disappear in the distance. He was angry he had almost been run off the road again. But was now more determined than ever to find out what was going on and who was behind it.

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 original characters without express permission of the authors.