“Con, it’s good to see you. Come on in and have a seat,” Fenton said.  

“Thanks.” Con moved into the room and sat down in the armchair beside Fenton.  

Joe moved into the room and settled on the couch beside Frank. The three of them looked expectantly at the officer.  

“What did the chief come up with so far?” Fenton asked.  

“Well, we were able to come up with several prints on the note,” Con said.  

“Mine and Dad’s,” Frank stated.  

“Exactly, but there was another print.”  

“Whose?” Frank asked.  

“It was Anthony Perrelli.”  

Frank and Joe looked at one another. Neither of them had heard that name before.  

“Are you sure?” Fenton asked.  

Joe and Frank looked at their father and realized he did recognize the name.  

“Dad?” Joe prompted.  

“I’m positive,” Con said. “We checked the prints twice.”  

“Dad, who is Anthony Perrelli?”  

Fenton took a breath. “Anthony Perrelli is an alleged crime boss in the city. He’s been known to shoot first and ignore questions later. But there’s never been any real proof of that.”  

“But why would he be coming after me?” Frank asked. “We don’t know him.”  

“There’s more to this story than his alleged crimes,” Fenton said.  

“What do you mean, Dad?” Joe asked.  

“Well, when you two were about six and seven, I was called to the city to search for a drug trafficker. This was before the government began to really cracked own on this illegal business. I had been called in because the son of a well-known businessman has been found dead with cocaine in his possession.” Fenton took a breath. “The father didn’t believe that his son was into drugs and wanted me to find the person who had given him the cocaine.”  

“Did the son die of an overdose?” Joe asked.  

“No. He died of a gunshot wound.” Fenton looked at his sons. “Following the funeral, I began talking to some of his friends to find out who he was hanging out with, if his behavior had changed, anything that would point me in the right direction. I was able to gather some information which led me to Mario Perrelli.”  

“Anthony’s son?” Frank asked.  

“That’s right. He was about your age now at the time. I had found him after going undercover and witnessed his son distributing drugs for other people to sell and reaping the rewards. Many of the people he was using were runaways. Some surveillance and listening to some of the runaways, I learned that a big deal was about to go down.  

“I made my way to the location where the deal was to go down that night. I found a spot where I was close by, but also out of sight. Shortly thereafter, Mario arrived with three other people. Two of those people headed into the shadows. A few minutes later, another person entered the area. It was one of the runaways I had talked to. I was certain my cover was blow and whatever was going to take place wasn’t going to happen.”  

“What did happen?” Joe asked, leaning forward on the edge of his seat.  

“The runaway and Mario began talking. Within minutes, the runaways’s voice was raised. They began arguing. Suddenly, Mario pulled a gun and fired. I had a video camera with me and got the whole thing on tape.”  

“So, Mario went to jail,” Frank concluded.  

“That was the original plan,” Fenton said.  

“What do you mean? What happened?”  

“Well, the trial was quick and Mario was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The video of Mario gunning down the runaway was the nail in the coffin for the jury. Following the sentencing, Anthony vowed that his son would not be in jail for long.”  

“That’s a strange thing to say,” Frank commented.  

“And it turned out to be true.”  

“What?” Frank and Joe asked simultaneously. Joe continued. “He was released?”  

“Not exactly,” Fenton said. “Mario did make it to prison. But within a month’s time, he was dead.”  

“How did he die?” Frank asked.  

“There was a riot in the prison and Mario Perrelli was one of the casualties.”  

“But that doesn’t explain why Anthony Perrelli’s prints were on the note,” Frank said.  

“He has had 15 years to hold a grudge,” Fenton said. “And from these past few incidents, I believe he is trying to get even.”  

“So, Anthony is aiming at Frank because he is the same age as his son when he died,” Joe concluded.  

“Precisely.”  

Joe looked at his brother. “You’ve just gotten a full-time bodyguard.”  

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” Frank protested. “Besides, you can’t be near me 24/7.”  

“Wanna bet?”  

Frank looked at his father. “Are you absolutely sure Anthony Perrelli is coming after me?”  

“With the incidents that have occurred, finding the note in your car and the identification of the prints on the note, I really do think it’s a possibility.”  

Frank looked at his father’s face and knew the situation was serious. He didn’t like the thought that was going to be in danger, but there was no way to stop the unknown from happening.  

“What do you suggest I do?” Frank finally asked.  

“Well, the best bet is to stay with a group of people instead of going off by yourself. By doing that, you are limiting the chances of being open for an attack.”  

Frank sighed. He didn’t like the thought of being ‘babysat’ by people to be kept from getting hurt. But he knew if he didn’t do this, the situation could be something worse. He got to his feet.  

“I’ll take the precautions,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some studying to do.”  

Frank made his way upstairs and into his room. Looking at the files piled everywhere, he knew he had to put everything back in place before he even thought about studying.  

He was about halfway done when he had a feeling someone was watching him. Turning around, Frank saw Joe standing in the doorway.  

“You could help,” Frank said.  

“If I did, I would ruin your filing system.”  

“You’re probably right,” Frank said and continued putting the files away.  

There was silence for a couple minutes and then Joe asked, “Are you mad at Dad?”  

Frank looked at his brother. “Where did you get an idea like that?”  

“You left the living room quickly and I thought you were mad at him.”  

“I’m not. Honestly.”  

“Is it the situation?” Joe asked.  

Frank let out a breath and looked at his brother. “Yeah, it is. I guess I’m just not in the mood to deal with this right now. I mean, in about three weeks I’ll be taking my finals. I should be focusing on them. But instead, I have to constantly be looking over my shoulder to see when I am going to be attacked again.”  

“But if we take precautions, that won’t happen,” Joe said.  

“Joe, we can’t predict every moment of the next 24 hours of even the next week. If Anthony Perrelli wants to get me, he’s going to keep trying until he succeeds.”  

“He won’t succeed,” Joe stated. “I can guarantee that.”  

Frank looked at his brother and knew Joe would do everything in his power to make sure he remained safe. He was touched and knew Joe would put up a fight for him. But deep down, even though he hated to admit it, he wasn’t sure he would get of his unharmed. Anthony Perrelli sounded like he always got what he wanted and that was not good for him.  

Frank gave Joe a small smile. “I appreciate it.”  

Joe moved into the room and sank down on the med. “So, how did your talk with Dad go?”  

“It was all right.”  

“Are you going to talk to Caren?”  

“Probably not. Even after everything Dad said, it just doesn’t seem worth it.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“Well, as much as I love Caren, she made this choice. She knows what our work entails, she’s seen us in action. And she knows there are some things we just can’t talk about. But her blowing up just tells me that she has to know everything about what we’re working on and that’s just not possible.”  

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to her?”  

“I’m sure. It’s time to move on.”  

“All right,” Joe said.  

 

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.