Frank’s birthday on August fourteenth came and went. Joe had bought his present anyway and it now sat in the closet, waiting for Frank to come home.  

At this moment, Joe was standing in line to finish registration for fall classes at Bayport University . It felt very strange to be in this line without Frank beside him. We should BOTH be juniors this year! Damn you, Stefan.  

Biff was right behind him, Chet and Callie to the right and Vanessa to the left. Vanessa finished first and waited off to the side for Joe and the others. Her heart squeezed inside and she sighed softly as she looked at her boyfriend of three and a half years. He missed his brother so much. She knew he was just going through the motions of life; he’d told her so. It had been over a month since they’d last heard from Newhouse, and Joe was starting to lose hope.  

She watched as he signed the last piece of paper and then came over to join her at the sitting area by the elevators, stuffing papers into his messenger bag as he walked. Vanessa slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.  

Joe was grateful that she didn’t say anything. He was tired of being told not to give up, not to lose hope because Frank would be found. I have to face the fact that he might not come home, Joe told himself.  

Chet, Callie and Biff joined them just a few minutes later. Since it was now lunchtime, the very subdued group decided to head for Mr. Pizza. Joe had decided to pick Vanessa up that morning so he wouldn’t have to go through the day alone. He unlocked the car doors and they slid inside, then Joe pulled out of the parking lot and turned left, towards the mall. Vanessa hadn’t questioned him about why he was driving Frank’s car, she just seemed to understand.  

Tony saw them come in and waved. He delivered the order himself- four large pizzas, each with a different topping combination, and then took his own lunch break to join them. Joe was very quiet, still talkative, but not like he normally was.  “Heard anything?” Tony asked quietly.  

Joe shook his head as he reached for his fourth piece of pizza, mushroom and pepperoni this time. “It’s almost as if the ground opened up and swallowed him. I know they have to move slow and be careful so they don’t tip Gregov off, but this is ridiculous!”  

“What exactly are they doing?” Chet asked.  

“A fake arms deal last I heard. He must not be falling for it.”  

“You never know,” Biff commented. “It could just be taking longer than they thought to get everything in place, or to even contact him.”  

“I guess. That’s what I’m trying to hope for anyway.”  

***  

After dropping Vanessa off, Joe returned to his own home on the corner of High and Elm Streets. Fenton and Laura had bought the large late Victorian home not long after Frank arrived. The corner lot gave them a large yard with plenty of room for two growing boys to play, and for Laura to garden to her heart’s content. It also happened to be the house Fenton had grown up in.  

The lot next to them on High Street was an empty lot, and Fenton had bought it the year before to build an office for the soon to be established Hardy and Sons Investigations. The current addition to the west side of the house worked just fine for Fenton and Sam, but there simply wasn’t enough room for Frank and Joe. Laura had put her foot down about expanding the space and losing her vegetable garden, and it had been Sam’s idea to build on the empty lot next door.  

Construction had started four months ago at the beginning of April.  

Joe parked the car in its usual spot, then walked over to the new building. The architect had drafted the outside to blend in with the rest of the neighborhood and it had a bit of a Gothic look to it that Frank loved. The inside however, was arranged exactly to Fenton’s specifications to form his ideal office. The offices, four of them, were downstairs along with a reception area and conference room. Upstairs would house old files, a darkroom and a nice-sized crime lab. Frank had designed the lab, Joe the darkroom.  

Wandering through the framed but not completed walls, Joe let himself imagine what it would be like to work professionally with his father. Frank had shared his dream of being a detective not long after they moved to Bayport, and Joe had voiced his agreement that it was a great plan.  

“What are you thinking about?”  

Joe turned to see his father leaning against a framed doorway, and shrugged. “Just daydreaming.”  

Fenton smiled. “Did you know I was outside the door the afternoon Frank told you he wanted to be a detective?”  

Joe shook his head and stared at his father. “No. I always wondered why you started making up mysteries for us to solve and having us help you find things.”  

“That was why. I had just as much fun laying them out as you and Frank had solving them.” Fenton walked over to his younger son and hugged him. “I am so proud of both of you.”  

“I wish this one was a game, Dad. Or Frank in one of his really good hiding places.”  

“I know. We will find him, Joe. That, I promise you.”  

***  

August turned to September, then September to October. Fall was in the air, both of Bayport’s football teams were on a winning streak and Biff was attracting national attention. Joe was very glad for the extra work on the field and in the locker room. It had kept him from brooding about the failed arms deal. Newhouse had considered it a success, but as of yet nothing had led them to Stefan himself. That made it a failure in Joe’s eyes.  

His 20^th birthday had passed quietly on September 8^th since Joe didn’t feel much like celebrating without Frank.  

The first Wednesday in October, Joe pulled into the driveway after football practice, planning to soak in a hot bath and then make it an early night. Practice had been brutal today!  

A familiar car was parked in the driveway. Ignoring his aching body, Joe ran inside. Newhouse drove that car!  

The federal agent was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee and a slice of Aunt Gertrude’s pound cake. Laura and Fenton were on the couch, Gertrude in her rocking chair. Joe sat down next to his mother as Newhouse set his coffee cup down.  

“We found him.”  

Joe covered his mouth as Laura hugged him; he was determined not to cry. Fenton sat perfectly still, not quite sure he’d heard correctly. Once Joe had control of himself, Laura let go, but kept her hand on his back.  

“Where is he?” Fenton asked.  

“The far side of Siberia, about two hundred miles from the Bering Strait.”  

Joe felt his mouth drop open. “He really did fall off the face of the earth.”  

“Just about. The Russian government is very eager to shut Gregov down, so you’ll have him back by Halloween at the latest.” Newhouse removed a folder from his briefcase and handed it across the coffee table to Fenton. “He’s in a mine, our man thinks it’s a silver mine. He has actually seen Frank a couple of times and says he doesn’t look good. Losing weight and may be getting sick.”  

Fenton opened the folder and his eyes locked on a picture of Frank. He gasped softly. The picture was very grainy and clearly a blow-up, but it provided a look at Frank’s worn face and Fenton guessed he’d lost around 25 pounds. His posture and the tired look in his eyes told of utter exhaustion. “What’s the plan?”  

“Using our intel, the FSB and Interpol are planning to raid the area. Gregov’s main living quarters are just a few miles from the mine. We have no idea how many nationalities are in the mine, so they’ll all be flown to Anchorage, including Frank. I will call you the moment we get the go ahead and you can wait for him in Anchorage.”  

Fenton nodded and then shot a look at Joe that said not to argue.  

“The FSB is the Russian national police, correct?” Laura asked. Her hand was still resting on Joe’s back.  

“Correct. It was formed from the leftovers of the KGB when the Soviet Union folded,” Newhouse answered. He looked at Joe and spoke again. “I know you want to be there, Joe, but it just isn’t doable. I will personally make sure that he knows you’re waiting for him.”  

Joe nodded. “Please do this soon. I want my brother back.”  

Newhouse nodded as he stood. “We will.” He smiled at Gertrude. “The cake was delicious.”  

Laura walked him to the door. As soon as the two were out of the room, Joe scooted over next to his father and took the file. The photo of Frank confirmed one of his nightmares- thankfully not the worst- and brought tears to his eyes. Hang on, Frank!  

The next morning when the alarm went off, Joe jumped out of bed almost instantly, a smile on his face. He ate breakfast, pancakes and eggs, as fast as he could. Normally Gertrude would have scolded him for eating so quickly, but this morning she was too thrilled about Frank to even really notice.  

Joe took his own car today, an ’87 Camaro. The car had been his graduation present, as had Frank’s Grand Am. With Chet’s help, he had spent the entire summer that year rebuilding the engine and completely restoring the car. He’d then painted it silver.  

Vanessa’s Jeep pulled into the campus right in front of Joe. He smiled and followed her through the lot, parking right next to her. “Van, Frank’s found!”  

She dropped her book sack as Joe picked her up and swung her around. When he set her down, his smile lit up his entire face and she kissed him soundly. “When will he be home?”  

Joe grabbed his bag out of the passenger seat of his car, then bent over to retrieve Vanessa’s from the asphalt. “Halloween at the latest. He hasn’t been rescued yet, we just know where he is.”  

The couple walked across the parking lot towards the fine arts building where Vanessa had her first class. “Do you get to go?” she asked.  

“No.” Joe then briefly explained about the planned raid. “We’ll meet him in Anchorage and then bring him home.”  

“This calls for a party!”  

Joe nodded his agreement. “I’ll call you when I’ve seen him and give you a timetable.” He kissed her again, then ran off to his first class.  

By noon, the entire campus knew that Frank Hardy would soon be home. Joe held Callie while she cried, and once again started joking around with his teammates in the locker room.  

**  

The call from Newhouse came on October seventeenth, early in the morning. Fenton immediately called Jack Wayne, and late that evening Fenton, Laura, Joe and Gertrude were in Anchorage to wait for Frank.

 

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.