When Frank reached the house, he headed right up to his room. He knew it was time to really take his final exam, putting to use everything he had learned in his four years of college as well as in life.  

He decided to start by doing a check for blue sedans registered to residents in Bayport. He knew that was where he needed to focus his attention since he didn’t have the note to examine. He knew he would have to wait until his father returned home to get that item.  

As the computer searched for matching sedans, Frank cross-referenced his files to see if anyone from their past used bricks, caused explosions or attempted to run people off the road.  

He was grateful he had created a system that was perfect for the amount of information they had. As he searched through the files, he pulled out anything that was close to what had happened so far and set it on his desk. By the time he heard footsteps in the hallway outside his room, four hours had passed.  

“What are you doing?” a voice asked.  

Frank turned away from the files and saw Joe standing in the doorway.  

“Good, you’re home. You can help me.”

”Help you with what?”  

“We need to find out who was driving the blue sedan.”  

“Did you have another run-in with the sedan?”  

“Yeah and I’m in the process of searching for all blue sedans in Bayport to find the one we need.”  

“Has Dad found anything from the note or the brick?” Joe asked, moving over to the bed and sitting down.  

“Not that I know of,” Frank said. “He wasn’t home when I got here.”  

“Were you able to get the license plate number?”  

“No. The plate was caked with mud.” Frank handed Joe several files.  

“What am I looking for?” Joe asked.  

“Any instances where cars have been purposely shoved off the road, explosions and even bricks being thrown.”  

“Do you really think it may be someone from our past?”  

“I don’t know, Joe. But I’m not going to rule anything our right now.”  

“All right.”  

Together, the two of them started going through the files Frank had pulled out, looking for any similarities to what had been happening to Frank.  

They were concentrating deeply on what they were reading and jumped when a voice said, “There you are.”  

Turning to the doorway, they saw Fenton Hardy standing there.  

“Hey, Dad,” Joe said. “When did you get home?”  

“A few minutes ago,” Fenton answered, stepping into his eldest son’s room. “What are you two working on?”  

“We’re trying to track down the sedan that ran Frank off the road again,” Joe said.  

“Again?” Fenton asked. “When did this happen?”  

“On my way home from the campus,” Frank said, without looking up from the file he was reading.  

“Frank, look at me,” Fenton said gently.  

Frank tore his gaze away from the report and caught his father’s eye. Fenton continued, “Son, I know you’re an adult and don’t want to be coddled, but I have to ask if you’re all right.”  

“I’m fine,” Frank said. “I just want to get this taken care of so I’m no longer a target.”  

“Have you found anything so far?” Fenton asked.  

“Nothing yet,” Frank admitted with a sigh. “Was there anything on the note or the brick?”  

“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Fenton replied. “Chief Collig promised to get back to me tonight with whatever information he’s gathered.”  

Frank sank back in his chair. “I guess we have nothing then.”  

“We’ll figure this out,” Joe said, optimism filling his voice. “Just like we always do. And we will come across the one item that will point us in the right direction.”  

“Your brother is right,” Fenton said. “From the looks of this room, you’ve been at this for a while. Why don’t you take a break? Maybe got out and grab a bite to eat with Vanessa and Caren?”  

“I’m not hungry,” Frank said, focusing back on the files. The last thing he wanted to do was go out to dinner.  

“I think we’re just going to order a pizza,” Joe said. “The sooner we get this taken care of, the sooner we can relax and focus on our finals.”  

“How about I order so you can keep working?” Fenton suggested.  

“That would be great,” Joe said.  

As Frank listened to his father leave the room, he knew it wouldn’t be long before his father knew what happened between him and Caren. But that didn’t matter to him. He just wanted to stop the person who was making him a target.  

* * * * *  

An hour later when the pizza arrived, Frank and Joe joined Fenton in the living room, taking a break from their search. As they ate, Fenton questioned them about their upcoming finals as well as Joe’s last baseball games.  

“Well, the second last game is tomorrow and I’m anxious to play,” Joe said. “The incident at the last one has made me more determined than ever before.”  

“How are these last two teams you are playing?”  

“Well, both teams are strong, but from the reports I’ve heard, they do make a lot of simple mistakes which we can use to our advantage. We just need to really focus.”  

“I know you all will do real well,” Fenton said.  

“Thanks, Dad,” Joe said.  

“So, Frank, how are things going for you? Are you ready for graduation?”  

“Sure,” Frank said, the lack of enthusiasm evident in his voice.  

“Well, your mother and I were figuring we’d have a party for you and Caren. It’s quite an accomplishment to graduate from college and having a double party is probably the best.”  

“Whatever you want to do is fine with me,” Frank said, keeping his gaze focused on his piece of pizza.  

“Well, check with Caren and see if her parents are all right with it. We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”  

Frank remained quiet.  

“I’m going to get some more to drink,” Joe said quickly. Joe got to his feet with his piece of pizza and left the living room.  

Silence descended on the living room and Frank could feel his father’s gaze on him. “Son, look at me.”  

Frank lifted his head and look at his father. There was concern in Fenton’s eyes and he knew what his father wanted to know.  

“You do know you can come and talk to me about anything, right?” Fenton asked.  

“I know, Dad.”  

“So, what’s the cause of the gloomy mood? I’ve noticed you really haven’t been yourself all weekend.”  

“Caren and I had a fight, I guess.”  

“A fight?”  

Frank nodded.  

“About what?”  

“I’m honestly not sure.”  

“Tell me what happened right before this took place.”  

Frank explained how after coming home following the explosion on campus and his subsequent trip to the hospital that the four of them had been sitting in the living room talking. “We were talking about how the explosion had to be purposely set and targeted for someone. Caren assumed it was me and Joe told her it was probably wasn’t me. Caren accused me of hiding things from her and I told her I wasn’t. That’s when she left.”  

“Did you go after her?”  

“I did, but she wouldn’t stop and listen.” Frank looked at his half-eaten piece of pizza and dropped it onto his plate and then dropped the plate on the coffee table.  

“Frank, did you tell her about the note that was found in your car following the brick incident?”  

“No. She doesn’t need to worry about that. We’re handling it.”  

“Why not?”  

Frank looked at his father. “These incidents have nothing to do with her. Why have her worry for nothing?”  

“Because she loves you.”  

“What?” Frank wasn’t sure he heard his father correctly.  

“Caren loves you, son. I think she loves you more than Callie did. And when you love someone, you worry about them. At times you don’t want them worrying unnecessarily, but that can’t be stopped. Caren probably thought you no longer trusted her and that was why you weren’t saying anything.”  

“But that’s not true. I trust her as much as I trust Joe. It’s just that we don’t know what is going on with this case. Look at what’s happened to me. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her. I don’t want to put her in danger.”  

“Frank, this profession has a lot of danger and you know it. Look at how many times you two or your mother have been taken hostage to get me to do something. But your mother has stuck by me because she loves me. She knows there are times I can’t talk about things, but when I can, she listens. And if there’s a possibility she could be in danger, she knows it.”  

“She does?” Frank asked. “You actually tell her?”  

Fenton shook his head. “I don’t tell her, but she knows. Your mother has learned to read my body language and can tell when something is up. And more than likely, Care has that same ability. That’s probably why she wanted some honest answers from you.”  

“And what should I have told her? ‘Caren, guess what? We think there’s some unknown person aiming at me and we have no idea where or when he’s going to strike next? Let’s go out.’ Dad, it wouldn’t work.”  

“Did you ever think to give it a try?” Fenton countered.  

Frank stared at his father and realized he did have a point. The entire situation could have been avoided if he had been honest with Caren instead of concerned about her worrying. He had messed up. Big time.  

The doorbell rang, letting Frank know that he would have to deal with the situation later.  

A moment later, Officer Con Riley stepped into the living room with Joe. And from the look on the officer’s face, Frank knew they weren’t going to like the news.  

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.