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

Cambridge Massachusetts ' field office was not large by any stretch of the imagination but it was big enough for a secure interrogation room to hold the prisoner until questioning could begin. Deanna stood outside the room, peering in at Andrew Mathews through a one-way window as he fidgeted and rubbed at his sore shoulders. Andrew looked lost and lonely, like a little boy left in the midst of strangers to fend for himself, but Deanna felt absolutely no pity for him.

Perhaps he was the product of his father's abuse and his mother's contemptible promises but Deanna felt, strongly, that he could have gotten help, for himself if his parents didn't give it. The Hardys themselves would have given help if asked for, but as Andrew grew, he gave himself over more and more to his own wants and desires. Andrew fixated on a cousin he could never possess, used the money at his disposal to take what he couldn't have, and hurt that cousin in ways Deanna didn't want to think about. It was the lowest thing one person could do to another.

Murder did not touch the victim's soul – rape very often did. Rape caused lasting harm that didn't go away as soon as the victim was found. Deanna knew what was in store for Joe Hardy – and his family.

Up until his death the day before, Deanna still saw fear and loathing in Daniel's hazel eyes. Even though Gregori Murchison's attack happened nearly six years ago, the rape stayed with Daniel. Even now, years later, Daniel had to go off on his own, to vent the rage and self-loathing and hostility in private. Deanna tried at first to go with him, feeling it her duty to support him, but she learned that he needed the time alone.

The Hardys would have to learn to do that for Joe – to give him time. To let him vent in private if needed.

"Hey, Dea," Audrey slipped up beside her partner.

"Hey," Deanna murmured.

"What're you doing?" Audrey pulled an apple Danish from a bag she set on the shelf in front of them, and bit into it. "I have raspberry."

"Give," Deanna took the bag and dug the second pastry out of it. "I'm waiting for the show."

Audrey finished chewing and swallowing. "As long as you don't interfere. No letting the scumbag off on a technicality. Who's doing the interrogations?" Audrey took another bite.

"One of the locals, Amy Liss," Deanna said. "I'm told she's good."

"Think she has Bobby's flair for it?" Audrey licked her fingers and smiled in satisfaction as she took another bite from her pastry.

"I doubt anyone else in the world has Bobby's flair, but he can't do the interrogation either. We're all too closely connected to this case because of…of Daniel, and therefore we have to sit out for the rest of it."

Audrey smiled placidly. 'Well, this Liss had better be good. Time to get this case wrapped up."

"I'm the best, actually," a new voice was heard. Deanna and Audrey both turned to look at the newcomer. Tall, nearly six-foot with medium brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, Amy Liss looked very no-nonsense. A shorter man, balding, wearing a rumpled gray suit, stood next to her.

"Agent Liss," the tall woman shook hands with Deanna and Audrey. "This is Mr. Mathew's attorney, Tony Winslow."

"Senior Agent Merrill," Deanna said, returning the handshake. "My partner, Special Agent Simpson."

The lawyer surveyed them then marched to the door. "I want a few minutes alone with my client. Privately."

Liss shrugged as Winslow went through the door. They kept the intercom between the two rooms off so they couldn't hear the discussion between lawyer and client, but it looked like Andrew wasn't being very cooperative.

"Real tough case, huh?" Liss asked. "I read your reports. Kid doesn't act like a mastermind, does he?"

Deanna shook her head. "He's probably going for the sympathetic 'I have nothing to live for' angle. Just get whatever you can from him," Deanna paused. "Though we do have a ton of evidence against him. He was caught in the act, as it were."

"I see that," Liss said. She saw the lawyer wave at her so she opened the door and went into the interrogation room. Deanna pressed the button on the intercom and sat down on a stool so she could listen.

Amy Liss drew a tape recorder from her jacket pocket and set it on top of the table.

"This is Amy Liss, Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The date is October 28, 2000 and the time is now 9 a.m. This recording is an official record of an interview with one Andrew Derak Mathews. Present is the suspect's counselor-of-record, Anthony Winslow, Attorney-at-Law. Mr. Mathews, do you understand that this interview is being recorded?"

"Yes," Mathews spoke in a dull voice.

"Mr. Mathews, at this point I need to ask you if you are aware of your constitutional rights?"

"I am," Mathews agreed. Deanna had read the rights to him herself, making sure he understood them when she arrested him. Nobody had ever gotten off on a technicality in one of her cases and she wasn't about to let it start now.

"You also have the right to have your attorney present during any and all questions and any procedures determined as necessary by the courts. Do you understand these rights?" Liss continued in her firm way.

"I do," Mathews sighed as he sat back in his seat, bobbing nervously.

"Good," Amy leaned forward, brown eyes shifting menacingly. "Mr. Mathews, are you aware of why you are being held here today?"

Andrew took a deep breath. "Yes…I do."

"Mr. Mathews, do you deny that on October 15, 2000 at 5:00 p.m. , that you willfully took one Joseph David Hardy from his home at 132 Elm Street against his will and held him captive until October 26, 2000 , when he was rescued from your possession by Federal Agents?"

Geez, she sounds like a friggin' lawyer, Deanna thought with a frown. She hated all this mumbo jumbo. When you questioned a suspect, you questioned them! I suppose things work differently in Massachusetts . This is a Federal crime though…

Audrey made a face at her, forcing Deanna to settle as she turned her attention back to the questioning.

"No ma'am, I don't deny it. I did take him." Mathews sounded oddly proud of that.

Liss looked a little surprised at the admission.

"I took him because I love him – and I know he loves me too. We are meant to be together…"

"Andrew!" Winslow protested.

"It's true." Mathews peered sternly at his lawyer before turning back to his interrogator. "His family, his stupid family, was always getting in the way. I had to take Joe away so he could remember that he loves me. He told me that when we were ten and I had to make him remember. We belong together!"

Liss swallowed a drink from a nearby cup before continuing.

"Do you deny that in the act of kidnapping your cousin that you willfully destroyed the home at 132 Elm Street and caused harm to Frank Hardy, Amanda Hardy, Connor MacKenzie and Samantha Ellington?"

Deanna frowned again and looked at Audrey. "Is Liss a lawyer? She sounds like a lawyer."

Audrey, mid-bite on her pastry, shrugged.

"My mother set the explosives for me. I knew I had to get rid of them, to free Joe! I had to do it!"

"Do you deny that two days prior to kidnapping Joseph Hardy that you hit Vanessa Bender with your car and left the scene?"

"She was in the way too!" Mathews declared. "She was confusing him, always getting between us. I knew as long as she was in the way he wouldn't be able to remember!"

"Did you blow up you father's helicopter?" Liss demanded.

"What?" For once Mathews looked confused. "No way, I stayed away from him! I don't know how to set bombs!"

"I find that hard to believe, Mr. Mathews." Liss leaned forward again, her voice dropping coldly. "There have been far too many explosions in this case for you not to have some culpability. The house in Bayport, your father's helicopter, the bomb set in your mansion in Connecticut , a rocket fired at federal agents in Massachusetts and the destruction of a warehouse in Virginia have all been discovered in the course of this investigation, and all of them can be traced back to you in one way or another."

"What?" Andrew frowned. "Look, I knew about the house. We…I had to get rid of Joe's house, to get rid of his family; I had to get them out of the way but I didn't blow anything else up. I don't…I don't know anything about shooting rockets at federal agents or a warehouse in Virginia!"

Liss stood and slapped a fist on the table, startling Mathews into springing backward.

"Agent Liss!" Winslow protested. "Quit badgering my client!"

"Your client is lying to me, Mr. Winslow," Liss said. "And I don't like being lied to. Is it your intention to deny knowing anything about the explosion in Virginia that caused the death of a federal agent? Is it your intention to deny that you meant to kill your father, to repay him for what he did to you as a child?"

"I didn't do any of it!" Andrew shouted. "I took Joe, yes. I…I tried to kill his family, yes, but I didn't do the rest of it! I didn't! I'm not responsible. I don't know how to set bombs. My mother, she set the one at Joe's house. She may have done the rest for all I know, but I didn't do them! I didn't!"

Liss frowned and looked back at Deanna and Audrey. She shifted a couple of times where she stood and settled back into her seat.

"You do realize that if your mother set these bombs in aid to your plan that you can be tried for committing terrorist acts and that you can be held responsible for the deaths of anyone killed during those explosions, don't you?" she asked mildly.

"No!" Mathews declared. "That's not fair. I didn't have anything to do with them! I didn't even tell my mother to do them. I didn't! Just…just Joe's house, that was the only one!"

Liss looked over her shoulder at the window but Deanna was staring, open-mouthed. Liss wouldn't be able to see her anyway but Deanna felt as if someone had hit her, hard, right in the stomach.

"You…do you believe him, Dea?" Audrey asked, stunned.

"I don't want to believe him," Deanna whispered. "But what if he really didn't have anything to do with it?"

The questioning continued but Deanna didn't hear the last part of it. She was too busy trying to figure out if the little twit was lying about the warehouse – about killing Daniel.

"If it was his mother, she's already paying for it," Audrey murmured. "And if it's Andrew, we'll find out."

"And if it's neither of them?" Deanna asked.

"Has to be someone related," Audrey said. "The deed that led us there was found in one of Mathews' houses. The little guttersnipe may be trying to hide that so he doesn't get accused of so much. He's already got attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, rape and, let's see, what's the official terminology of setting a bomb to go off? A terrorist act? He'll go down big time for that."

"It doesn't bring Daniel back," Deanna whispered, unable to stop the tears. Deanna turned and left the viewing area, walking swiftly down the hallway to get herself back under control.

Whoever did it, Daniel, she vowed mentally, whoever did it, I'll find them. And I'll bring them down. I promise.

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.