HDA - Living in Darkness Trilogy - Pt 2 - The Search

"I just can't get comfortable. I think there's a pebble under there." Callie Shaw wiggled on her oversized beach towel a moment and then sat up with a sigh.

Vanessa Bender giggled. "The Princess and the Pebble?" She was lying on her own beach towel, wraparound sunglasses protecting her eyes. The modest two piece swimsuit was an eye-searing neon green and the frames of the wraparound sunglasses matched the suit.

Callie flipped back her towel, removed the offending pebble and grunted. "Sounds like something out of The Flintstones."

Vanessa propped herself up on one elbow and pulled the sunglasses down her nose. "Speaking of, I think Frank's getting serious about architecture," she said, nodding in Frank's direction.

Callie rolled her eyes and grabbed her aviator sunglasses. "Humph, I'm not sure I wanting him designing my castle." She lay down and then when Vanessa snorted, she started giggling.

"I heard that." Frank Hardy arched an eyebrow in his girlfriend's direction. "What's wrong with my castle?" He looked at the sand castle with a critical eye. "Not enough towers? Not enough bathrooms?"

Callie laughed. "Don't tell me you did the interior, complete with furniture. You used to do that with Legos."

"Don't start on that, I won't start on the fact that you still have Barbie dolls."

Vanessa grunted. "Barbie dolls are collectibles, Frank."

"Woohoo, I'm riding the range...!"

The three of them looked to see Joe standing on the seat of the Jetski. He let go of one handle and the other. "Woohoo."

Vanessa let out a little gasp. "Joe! Be careful!"

"I'm always careful, Van, don't fret." Joe grabbed the handles and lowered himself carefully down until he was seated once more.

"Joe, stop showing off," said Frank, swallowing hard. "You could get hurt."

Joe rolled his eyes and took a wide turn away from the beach. Frank shook his head and scanned the castle in progress. He needed another piece of driftwood and that would balance out the landscape. Suddenly a chill swept over him and he looked over at his brother, feeling as if something dreadful was about to happen.

Joe continued the wide circle he was making and was on his way back toward them. Something glinted, temporarily blinding Frank and he blinked to clear the spots from his vision. He saw Joe glance over his shoulder and then let go of both handles. "Joe! Don't!" shouted Frank.

As if in slow motion, he saw his brother slide right off the seat of the Jetski and then a second later the Jetski exploded. The concussive blast staggered Frank but he was already running for the water.

Vanessa scrambled to her feet and yanked off her sunglasses. "Joe!"

Before Frank was halfway in the water, Joe crawled up onto the sand and shook his wet head like a dog. Frank let out a sigh of relief. "Joe."

Joe coughed and sagged onto the sand. "Whew."

Vanessa ran over to him. "Joe, oh God, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, babe, just fine." He flopped onto the sand and rolled over onto his back. "Whew, just need to catch my breath."

Frank shook his head. "Don't scare me like that again, little bro. I don't ever want to be the one to have to tell Mom and Dad." An odd little frisson of deja vu swept over him and for a moment, he thought he could see himself doing just that. Inwardly, he winced, almost as if he remembered hearing his mother crying.

Joe grunted and stared up at the clear blue sky for a long moment. "Did you see it?"

"I did." Callie's quiet voice made Joe twist around to look at her. "Sunlight glinting off a rifle scope, right?"

Joe rolled his shoulders. "I saw it and realized that I'd be better off playing it safe."

"And scare us to death," muttered Vanessa. She brushed Joe's hair off his forehead and shivered. "For a moment there..." She blinked and shuddered. "That was weird."

Frank slowly turned to look at her. "A case of deja vu?"

Vanessa swallowed hard. "Um, yeah."

"Bet it was pirates," Joe muttered. When three pairs of eyes gave him incredulous looks, he shrugged. "High-tech pirates. Just because sailing ships are now for tourists and the rich, there are still pirates around."

Vanessa gave him a faint grin. "I can see you as a pirate. Sword flashing, long blond hair flying...an earring in one ear."

Joe sat up so fast, he and Vanessa nearly bonked heads. His hand shot to his left ear and he let out a sigh. Then he looked around and took a deep breath. "I am so hungry."

Frank rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Suddenly, he let out a gasp. "Joe!"

Joe jumped and looked up and down his body. "What? I'm bleeding somewhere?"

Callie swatted Joe's shoulder. "Don't even joke about that."

Frank stared past Joe and groaned. "My castle. Joe, you destroyed my castle."

Joe looked around and saw he had indeed smashed Frank's sandcastle. "Um, Frank, it would have washed away eventually." Joe cocked his head to look up at Frank. "Are you going to start playing with Legos again?"

"Oh be quiet. I thought you were hungry."

Joe got to his feet and brushed sand off his wet clothes as best he could. "Starving. I feel like I haven't had a good meal in months."

Callie shared a look with Vanessa as the two girls gathered their beach totes and towels. Vanessa grinned. "Joe, you went back for thirds for breakfast this morning."

"I'm a growing boy, I need to eat as many square meals a day as I can handle." Joe turned and walked backwards, grinning widely at Vanessa.

Vanessa laughed and hurried to catch up with him. She let out a squeal as he hugged her, sand-caked wet clothes and all, and they chased each other up to the hotel.

Callie turned to look at Frank who was staring out across the water. "Frank?"

He shivered and then turned to Callie. He hurried up to her and took her outstretched hand. "I'm fine, Cal. I'm just fine."

***

Easter Sunday dawned bright and clear, and at Runner's Harbor, things were quiet this early in the morning. There was a reverent hush about the dew-soaked grounds. One of the local churches had started having a sunrise service on the grounds of Runner's Harbor once Janet and Gary had opened the hotel and now the minister was standing at a podium at one end of the verandah.

Even the birds had hushed as he spoke of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ and the resurrection. He finished praying and nodded to the crowd on the verandah. Early arrivals had claimed all the rocking chairs and the benches while latecomers had had to stand during the brief service.

Joe leaned against the railing of the verandah and heaved a sigh. He was more sleepy than bored and he was seriously thinking of a real breakfast. Donuts and coffee made for a quick fix but he was getting hungry again. He used one hand to smother a yawn and rolled his shoulders.

"There's no falling asleep during the service," whispered Frank.

"Not sleeping," Joe said, sounding somewhat insulted. "Just thinking about breakfast."

"You had breakfast."

"A real breakfast. Bacon, eggs, biscuits...hmmm."

The crowd started to break apart since the sunrise service was over. Frank nodded toward the rising sun. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Joe felt a somberness sweep over him. "Yeah, it is."

Frank looked over at Joe. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Joe shifted and turned to look at Frank. "You know, we take too much for granted. We just assume we'll see thousands of sunrises, just assume tomorrow's there for us to greet..."

Frank, for some reason, wasn't entirely surprised at Joe's serious attitude. Joe had been oddly quiet since the incident on Good Friday, as if he were really acknowledging there had been danger there, when the Jetski exploded.

Frank saw his parents drifting away with the Shaws and Andrea Bender and he nudged his brother. "Yeah. Life is precious."

Joe nodded and suddenly hugged Frank hard. "Happy Easter, big bro."

Frank hugged him back. "Happy Easter."

"You know, I demand to know what happened. We hit sixteen and suddenly no more baskets, no more chocolate bunnies. Who decided we were too old for baskets?"

Frank shrugged. "You did."

Joe gasped. "Me? Me? I said we were too old?"

"Yeah, I was perfectly content to be seventeen and still get a giant chocolate rabbit. Solid chocolate too, Mom and Dad didn't skimp. But no...you had to go ruin it by saying it was silly, us getting Easter baskets. You said we were too old, that none of our classmates got them." Frank pointed a finger at Joe. "I'll have you know, Chet still gets Easter baskets."

Joe snorted. "Only because he makes them for himself."

Both brothers exploded into laughter. They were still chuckling as they met up with their girlfriends and their parents. They all headed into town for a special breakfast and just to spend time together.

After a leisurely breakfast, a drive out into sugarcane country and a bit of shopping--Easter Sunday was a holiday and not much was open--the group returned to Runner's Harbor. Callie and Vanessa headed down to the beach but Frank and Joe waited on the verandah.

Fenton walked out onto the verandah and sat down in one of the rockers.

He nodded to his sons. There had been an odd sort of tension floating around the hotel the last two days or so. A tension, he wasn't quite sure he could explain. "I talked with Detective Sheridan.."

Joe groaned. "Man, I just cannot get away from that guy."

"The would-be shooter's vanished as if he never existed. Sheridan said they found a rifle not far from where Callie said she'd seen the glint and there were no fingerprints to be found. Sheridan did say that Saturday, there were seven departing flights and sixteen arrivals. He thinks the shooter's gone."

Frank swallowed hard. "How do we know for sure?"

Fenton leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together loosely. "We can't. So I'd advise you to keep an eye out." He lifted his head to look at his sons. "I couldn't bear to lose either of you. Neither can your mother. And can you imagine what your Aunt Gertrude would say?" added Fenton, trying to lighten things up.

Joe rolled his eyes. "We'll be careful, Dad. And I'll stay away from Jetskis. They seem to be pretty hazardous to my health." Joe started down the steps and headed for the beach.

Frank followed him and muttered under his breath. "You have no idea..."

***

There was a sudden lurch and he half fell out of the bed to land squarely on his boot heels. He automatically glanced at his right hand, relieved to see unstained skin on his palm. He'd had the absolutely most Godawful dream.

He blinked in the dim light spilling from the porthole and made his way to the door. He strode up the wooden steps and grinned. His ship--his ship, her sails taut from the blowing wind. Anamaria stood at the ship's wheel, steering confidantly.

Memories filtered back and made his grin widen. He'd snuck back to Port Royal to see Will and Elizabeth wed and now he was on his way to friendlier climes.

Jack Sparrow strode over to the wheel, clapped his battered tri-cornered hat onto his head and took the wheel with a nod to Anamaria. He flipped open his special compass and studied it for a moment. "Yo ho, me hearties," he said softly, changing direction ever so slightly. "A pirate's life for me."

Jack watched the crew scurry across the deck of his ship and felt for just a moment, as if he'd been gone from the Black Pearl too long. "Now...bring me that horizon..."

*Argh...shiver me timbers*

The End

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 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.