It had been a tiring four and half hours, but for some reason Frank Hardy felt driven. He didn’t know if it was an adrenaline rush or just plain vengeance that drove him, but he wanted to get to the meeting place. So he pushed the van a little harder, hoping to shorten the distance. The eldest Hardy had to smile as he felt the van respond to the accelerator. While Joe was not an experienced mechanic, he had kept the van in tip top shape. Even though a couple of months have passed, the van was still in great form thankfully. It had taken Frank a while to even get behind the driver seat after Joe had died. While it was the same van, it was empty now. The only remaining trance of Joe was the second graduation tassel that still hung from the rearview mirror. Frank swore that it would always remain there. Then his thoughts went back to the present.

His father had filled him on a few details here and there. As it turned out, it was simply a coincidence that the FBI stumbled onto the new information concerning Joe’s case. A few months before Joe was killed, the FBI had noticed a possible leak in their investigative staff. After trying numerous angles, the main agents were not able to figure out who was the culprit. Then transmissions of satellite messages from cell phone conversations started to be picked up and noticed concerning a small cell of people who sounded a lot like the Assassins. Many attempts had been made on how to find the cell, but somehow the group always managed to escape just as they were getting ready to close in on them. While the group had not done anything major, it was during one transmission that Sergeant Davies witnessed that caught his eye that there was a traitor among them. Not wanting to tip off the crooked FBI agent, he decided to investigate it himself along with his old coworker, Fenton Hardy. Just recently they heard a transmission that discussed how they had made the famous Fenton Hardy pay for his deeds. Sergeant Davies then ordered a complete search of the Pathfinder. It was just plain and simple luck that the transmitter they found was still sending out a weak signal. While Fenton wanted to bring those people responsible for Joe’s death to justice, Sergeant Davies wanted to not only expose the traitor, but to reel in the bigger fish as he called them.

Then the break came yesterday. Sergeant Davies was able to intercept a cell phone message from the FBI offices to a man called Rawlins that Fenton Hardy was back on the case. The Assassin group threatened more retaliation against Mr. Hardy if he failed to heed their warnings. Their message was simple. "Drop the case and no one gets hurt. We have already taken care of one Hardy; we can take care of the rest too." But they had already hurt everyone Fenton Hardy loved. They killed his baby, his second born son and they were going to pay. Sergeant Davies was worried they would lose their link on the group if they failed to move fast, yet secretly. Setting up a raid, Davies hoped to bring not only a group of murderers to justice, but to take out an evil link in his own ranks.

All of this played through Frank’s head as he drove the van down the nearly empty highway to the heart of the mountains. There were still a lot of unanswered details though. Why wait two years to kill Joe if it was for revenge? Were they involved with other things and if so, what? Something had to bring them to a remote area in rural New England and Frank was sure that it was not for the excellent mountain views and fishing. Then the question that weighed on his mind the most. Did Joe suffer? Frank had to know that. He wanted every detail of his brother’s death, but he was not sure if he would ever know or if his father would tell him the truth. The dark haired young man looked over at his father. Fenton was nervously staring out the window into the darkness.

"Dad? I need to know something," Frank finally cut the silence. His father snapped out his daze and returned his full attention to the conversation. "Do you know if Joe suffered?"

Fenton made a serious face as he searched for an answer. It was very difficult for him to talk about Joe, especially the accident. The older man bit his lip and then answered. "I don’t really know for sure Frank, but the reports seem to point to the answer of no."

"Was it a sudden thing like a bomb?"

"That is the impression I was given. The small device went off after it was activated remotely by the group. Seconds later it ignited, causing Joe to lose control of the vehicle. Davies guessed that Joe was killed instantly from the blast, especially since he was burned beyond recognition. We were lucky that they were able to identify him with his dental records," Fenton said sadly. His bottom lip started to quiver. No matter how much the older detective fought it, his emotions had taken over.

"I can’t believe that my once full of life son was diminished to just mere ashes within seconds! No trace of anything except a few teeth," Fenton sobbed. "Nothing, but just ashes. He was so full of life. He did not deserve that. He was just starting his life and I was looking forward to so much with him. I wanted grandchildren, seeing the both of you grow older together… all of that is gone now just with the push of a button."

Frank felt the lump in his throat grow bigger. He reached his hand over and placed it on his father’s hand and grabbed it with all his might. The tears started to come down his own cheeks as he fought his emotions. He had a job to do and he was going to do it standing tall and strong. However, it was a rare occasion for either one of the boys to see their father in tears. Just seeing and feeling his father’s grief was enough to tear the oldest brother up.

"We’re going to get justice for him Dad," Frank finally said strongly and with confidence. "You just wait and see Dad. You are going to have your chance here soon."

*****

It wasn’t long until Fenton directed Frank to pull onto a small two lane road that branched off of the interstate. Besides only seeing one small house, the area was very desolate and dark. It was so dark that Frank almost did not see a small group of cars parked along the side of the road about ten miles from the interstate.

"Pull over here Frank," Fenton motioned as Frank pulled the black van over behind a group of dark colored Suburbans. It was then that Frank noticed the license plate on the car in front of him… government plates.

Both of the Hardys got out of the van and walked up to a small group of shadows that were above on the right. Then one shadow moved towards the Hardy men.

"Ah, Mr. Hardy, I am glad to see you much sooner than expected…who is this?" a middle aged man who stood about as tall as Frank muttered. "I never knew anything about anyone accompanying you?"

"It is okay. It is just my son Frank," Fenton proclaimed. "It was either allowing him to come with me or he would have followed me. I assure you, he will be an asset to your plans and he deserves to see justice served."

The man stepped forward and stood right in front of Frank. Not wanting to shed any signs of nervousness, the twenty year old stood his ground like a true professional and extended his hand.

"My name is Frank Hardy sir and I will follow any instructions that you ask of me," Frank said in a business like tone. "Joe was not only my brother, but my partner as well."

The man twitched at the mention of the word "partner". Frank had known from listening to his father tell stories about working on the New York Police Department many years ago that a "partner" was word that was not tossed around. It had a special meaning, almost like a working marriage between two people who depended on each other. Sometimes this relationship could mean the difference between life and death. While not too many people could relate to the closeness that Frank and Joe shared as brothers, a policeman or agent could always relate to the closeness of a partner.

"Very well Frank. I understand," the man said, extending his hand. "Sergeant Davies."

Frank shook his hand strongly and nodded his head in respect. While it was dark and he had never met the man, it seemed that he did strike a common ground with him with his words.

"What is the status of the operation?" Fenton quizzed the agent.

"We are waiting for the signal that the area around the small cabin is secure. I have men on all sides. We need to move as swiftly as possible. I am arranging a phone call to be placed from the mountain top to their inside informant. Once that is done, we will have to move fast. I don’t know how long it will take for our traitor to make his move and warn the group of our presence. I am hoping they will run and when they do we will be waiting on all sides. Then, I am sure we will have all the leverage we need to shut this case closed," Sergeant Davies said in a military like manner. Frank could have sworn that he was dealing with an Army sergeant instead of an agent.

"If they are true Assassins, you will never take them alive," Frank said softly.

"Very true Frank, but I don’t think that they are as true to their cause as the first set that you and your brother dealt with a couple of years ago. This group seems to be more into fleeing and they do not seem to have the same violent tendencies. In my opinion, they are a bunch of cowardly rats scouring from one hole to another. Rats wanting to cause as much pain as they can as well as trying to make connections with known terrorists. While I despise rats, I despise traitors even more. Especially traitors who are sworn to protect this nation and its citizens. I admit, this group would not be on the top of my list if it was not for the connection with someone under my command," the man scoffed with disgust.

This comment made Frank feel a little uncomfortable. Actually, the comment made him feel warm inside from the deep anger that had silently stirred in him since the eleventh day in August.

"My brother died at the hands of these people. I think that murder should take first priority over treason as you call it," Frank replied in an angry tone.

Sergeant Davies walked back over to him and stood in front of him. Frank could feel his icy cold stare go right through him, even though it was a cold autumn night.

"You will get your day in court and I will get my man and his sick bunch of terrorists’ wannabes," the man scowled. "While I sympathize with your loss, that is the best justice I can offer."

"Is this the only road leading out of where they are at?" Fenton asked, wanting to ease the tension that was forming within the small group. He had noticed that the idle chit chat had stopped when Frank engaged Davies. Not wanting to disrupt the plan, he wanted to get things back on track.

One of the other men stepped forward and answered his question. "We have studied this area and the cabin is settled in quite a remote area about ten more miles back down this old mining road. The road is uninhabited except for the small cabin that is down in a valley not too far from Tuckers Branch. We have expert gunmen and tracking agents stationed all around the cabin at this point. We have also rigged the one wooden bridge that leads back to the cabin to dismantle if they try to escape by motor vehicle. They are trapped and secure."

Frank did not seem to be as certain of their plan as they were. He knew from working with Assassins that they were very tricky and seemed to be one step ahead of the rest. Hopefully, his thoughts would be wrong. Maybe this group was not as keen on things like that as the other group was two years ago. Time would tell the tale.

It was then that he looked around at his surroundings. He looked up and could follow the two ridges of high mountains that formed the valley he was standing in. Most of the trees had their leaves from the looks of the shadows, but he could smell fall in the air. He knew the trees were shedding their canopy because he could feel the crunching under his feet as he moved his feet nervously to keep warm. The chill of the autumn night was going through him, but his longing for justice kept him standing like a soldier waiting for the signal to attack.

Noticing the slight shiver in the air, Sergeant Davies commented to his men. "Remember, we need to get this operation under control as soon as possible. We have bad weather moving in and I don’t feel like fighting ice and snow tonight."

Six men as Frank had counted earlier agreed full heartedly.

"The weather in the mountains is far different from the coast. It is supposed to start off as rain, but there are warnings for a possible ice storm later tonight. I don’t want to be out on this old abandoned road when that happens," the leader of the group said to Fenton. "We are just waiting for our signal."

Frank could not help but look into the dark night towards the direction of the cabin. While he could not see it, the older boy felt drawn to it like something was there that he needed.

Something that he yearned for… but he didn’t know what it was.

Then words that were trapped in his head just seemed to want to come out of his mouth, and break the silence of the crisp autumn night.

Then the words escaped.

"What if Joe is in that cabin?"

"As I wander down this unknown darkened road, I wonder what is there that I have not yet seen."

From a poem written by Jason

 

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.