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

"Where would you like to start?" Samantha asked Frank as he tried to concentrate on holding onto her arm and not tripping over his own two feet as they walked the opposite way from Mandy and Connor. His knee twinged with each step but, stoically, he ignored the twinges in favor of concentrating on formulating a plan. "There's a lot of different things we could be doing, so which of them would you like to tackle first?"

Frank shrugged as he thought about it.

"Well," he said. "There're several ideas I have. Let me think about this some. Why don't we sit down somewhere and make a list so we don't forget something. I want to write some questions down, too, while I'm thinking of them."

Frank wished, again, for just a moment of sight, to be able to put this rambling building into perspective in his head. This was the first time – besides the trip to Connecticut – that he felt really out of his element. At Bayport U, he was able to remember enough about the campus that he no longer felt insecure when getting around. This building made no sense to him. He felt turns and hallways and what he was sure were doors as they went by, and it confused him so much that he knew he would never be able to get back to their starting point on his own.

He kept an even tighter hold on Samantha's arm as they walked. Frank kept his cane in one hand as well so he could tap along and feel for obstacles and was grateful that Samantha kept him out of the way of any walls, doors or other people, and he occasionally heard an intake of breath that indicated someone noticed he was blind – sight-impaired – and often he noticed, by Samantha’s grumbling if nothing else, that they gave him a wide berth.

“Here, Frank, have a seat.” Samantha assisted Frank to a seat and he slid into it, gratefully, and set his cane on the seat beside him. Samantha took his hand and sat next to Frank on the bench.

“All right,” she said in a low voice. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I want to take a moment,” he admitted. “My head is hurting and I’m feeling totally disoriented here. I can’t figure out what direction we’re going or anything. It’s really strange.”

“Sorry about that, hon,” Samantha squeezed his hand. “I should have been telling you more about what I was seeing. I just thought it was more important to get going. I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” Frank squeezed the hand he held in return. “I just hadn’t realized how big it was here. I was thinking M.I.T. was the same size as BU for some reason – and finding out it’s so much bigger is throwing me off. I’ll be fine. And we do have a bunch we need to be doing.”

“Okay, let’s work out what that is.” Samantha sat back. Frank heard her digging into her purse, and assumed she took out a notebook and a pen.

Frank settled back and stretched, getting comfortable in the booth as he thought. He spoke in a very low voice when he did speak, so his words didn’t carry.

“Mandy and Connor are handling finding out the different clubs Andrew belongs to,” Frank thought out loud. “We need to cover his friends and his teachers. That means getting a class schedule for him and talking to the teachers, seeing what we can find out. Maybe that guy we met can help us. The, er, new teacher?”

“Do you want to try to find him and ask?”

Frank thought for a moment. “If I could see, I’d get it myself, off of a computer. In lieu of that….”

“I can be your eyes for you,” Samantha said, softly. “You know I don’t mind, love.”

Frank smiled brightly at her and gently stroked her cheek. “I know, Sam. It’s just…hacking into something is easier when I can see, especially if it’s a system I’ve never been in before. Let’s just see if Mr. Stewart can lend us a hand.”

“If you think so,” Samantha agreed. She took Frank’s arm a moment later and led him, once more, down the hallway. “Do you think we can find him in that classroom we were in before?”

“It’s a good place to start. Do you remember how to get there?”

“Yeah,” Samantha nodded.

They walked quietly, with Frank concentrating on what he tapped with his cane. He closed his eyes as they walked and tried to get a feel for space around him, finding the corridors to be quite wide and, when they went through the door to the outside, thought they were triple doors rather than double. The space and air flow past him felt immense. The normal rush of people he always felt back at BU was gone here, like the people walked way past him or just weren’t in the hall at all. It felt…strange. It felt unfriendly, in a way. And the fact that a couple of people bumped into him, jarring his injured leg, didn't help matters any.

You, Frank Hardy, are losing it, Frank warned himself sternly. You are losing it.

They finally stepped back outside, and Frank breathed a huge sigh of relief. Samantha stopped for a moment and touched his face.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “Do you want to stop?”

“No,” Frank smiled in her direction. “No. Let’s go find…Bobby.”

“All right,” Samantha agreed. They continued to walk and Frank relaxed even more, grateful to have Samantha’s help. He inhaled, once, and smelled the light scent she always wore, the one he thought he could find anywhere at any time.

“Think we’ll find anything?” Samantha asked she negotiated them down the stairs again.

“We have to,” Frank said. “We don’t have a choice.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re…” whatever Samantha was saying was cut off when she let out a sudden gasp. “Frank!”

“What? What is it? Do you see him?”

“No!” Samantha said. “Not him. ANNA PHILLIPS! Come on!"

Samantha took hold of her boyfriend's hand as they took off running through the large, somewhat spacious, student union building. Her grip firm and tight on Frank's hand, she led the way past the mingling students and a few faculty or staff members as they raced out the front door of the building, in hot pursuit of the fleeing figure of Anna Phillips. Frank grunted in pain but stoically ignored the discomfort in an attempt to keep up with Samantha and keep her hand firmly in his own.

"I can't believe she's here!" Samantha exclaimed as they continued to run. She was brought up short by a set of stairs that she had to stop and get Frank down safely before they could take off running again. Her blind boyfriend managed to keep up with her, though, despite his disability, and Samantha was grateful that he trusted her so much that his step didn't falter even once – except, of course, for the fact he had an injured knee.

"She's here for a reason, we know that," Frank said. Samantha would have smiled at his calm attitude but he wouldn't have seen it, and she didn't have the attention to spare. She saw Anna running out ahead of them and she concentrated on that and on keeping Frank from tripping over curbs, running into cars, benches, trees, other people or anything else in the way.

"I didn't expect to find her here," Sam gasped as she saw Anna round the corner by another building. They were gaining on her, but she wondered if they'd catch her. If Anna went into one of the nearby buildings, Sam knew that she would lose the other girl in no time flat. M.I.T. had too many buildings and too many students; it would be easy for Anna to blend in with the crowd.

Sam pulled Frank around the corner and stopped short when she saw Anna standing near the front of one of the buildings, talking to a security guard, gesturing wildly, pointing toward Samantha and Frank. Sam pulled Frank back around the other building and debated, wishing she knew the campus better, or had a map handy.

Finally, Samantha walked cautiously back around the building they hid behind and, leading Frank, headed around again, until they were at another corner, opposite where they had once been. Sam saw Anna standing in front of the building and she waited, wondering where the security guard stood and hoping that the man wasn't out looking for them.

"What's she doing?" Frank asked in a low voice as he stood near Samantha.

"Just standing on the steps but that security guard is nearby, I know it," Samantha said. "Do you think he'll be able to do anything? What do you think she told him?"

"Doesn't matter," Frank said. "We haven't hurt anyone and Anna is the one who has an arrest warrant hanging over her head. You know if the police get involved, they'll arrest her, not us."

"True," Samantha agreed. She peeked again and saw the security officer walk back up the steps and talk, again, to Anna. Anna looked angry as she gesticulated wildly again, and then slumped down the stairs of the building.

"Good," Samantha whispered to Frank. "She's walking this way."

Samantha let go of Frank's hand and waited. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest with anxiety as she considered her options. The only way to get to Anna would be to pull the other girl around the corner and hold onto her, tightly, so that they could question her. If Samantha got a good enough hold, Frank could take over. Sam whispered her plan to Frank, who agreed.

As Anna came around the corner, Sam grabbed her and pulled her back. Before Anna was able to scream, however, Frank put his hand over her mouth and pulled her back so that they stood between the two tall buildings.

"Now," Frank whispered to Anna. "We have a few things to talk about, Anna. The main thing is, where is Andrew and where is he holding my brother? I'm going to take my hand off your mouth but understand this, Anna. I mean business. If you scream, I promise you won't ever do it again. Do you understand?"

Anna nodded wildly and Samantha stared at her boyfriend in shock. She hadn't expected Frank to issue such a threat to Anna. Sam wondered, not for the first time, just how far Frank would go to get his brother back from Andrew.

Frank removed his hand from Anna's mouth but not very far; he was ready to clamp it down over her mouth again if she started to scream. Anna stood silently, though.

"Answer my question," Frank hissed in her ear. "Where are Joe and Andrew?"

"I have no idea," Anna retorted, hotly. "I haven't seen Andrew in over a year!"

"You're lying," Frank shook Anna just a little. "We have pictures taken just this last summer of you and Andrew. Where is he, Anna? I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get Joe back, just remember that."

Anna swallowed nervously as Frank winked at Samantha. Sam relaxed slightly and fought back the urge to smile. What an actor!

"He didn't tell me," Anna pouted. "He said I could help him with his caper but he only let me do a little bit and then he disappeared from me, too! And I helped him get Joe, I did! I knew if I helped him get Joe, he would help me get you, only he didn't. He said he couldn't be bothered, he's too busy with his precious Joe to do what he promised. If I knew where he was, I'd tell, cause I'm mad at him!"

Sam glared at her and stepped forward, trying to look intimidating.

"You'd better not be lying, little girl," Sam declared in a soft, menacing, voice. "or it'll be the last lie you ever tell."

"I'm not lying!" Anna declared! I swear!"

"Why should we believe you?" Frank asked, practically hissing the question.

Anna wilted slightly and looked over at Sam while she struggled in Frank's grip. Frank tightened his hold, not daring to let the girl go before they were through with her. Even then, he knew, he should call the authorities and turn her over to them.

"I have proof," Anna declared. "But it's in my car."

"Not good enough," Frank said. "I'm not about to let you go and get to your car. You'll have to come up with something else that's on you, or I call the cops right now and have you brought in. There's a few crimes for you to pay for, if you remember."

Sam smiled again, relaxing as she watched Anna struggle. The loony girl was not going to get her hands on Frank; Frank was too smart for her, for one thing. If Anna wasn't quite so insane, she might see that this was the end, that her little schemes were finished.

"I don't…" Anna said. "Wait. My purse."

Samantha reached out and took Anna's purse from her. She held it up and looked, questioningly, at Anna.

"A letter," Anna said. "It's in my organizer, in the 'M' section."

"Andrew wrote you a letter?" Frank sounded doubtful. "Why would he do something stupid like that?"

"Just read it!" Anna insisted. "Come on, Frank, please, read it!"

Samantha pulled the organizer out and opened it, turning to the "M" section in the address book portion. She found a letter there, with a monogrammed "M" in the corner and the address of the mansion in Connecticut on the back.

Samantha read the letter out loud,

Anna,

I can't cater to you any longer, nor give you anything else. I'm very busy right now and have too much to do with my new prize to spend time on you or with you.

Don't bother to write or call me again.

--Andrew

Samantha looked up at Frank. Frank nodded. "That will do. Now, it's time to call the police and have you taken in!"

"No!" Anna insisted. "I did what you asked, let me go!"

"I don't think so," Frank said. "You've got several charges to answer for. It's time for you to give it up."

Anna started struggling even harder and, as she opened her mouth to scream, Frank clamped his hand down over her mouth.

"Sam, call the police," Frank said. "Tell them that we've got a suspect from a case in New York and we'd like someone to come and pick her up. Then…"

"Let the girl go," another voice said from nearby and Sam turned to see a tall man standing there, dark eyes cold with anger as he held a gun on them. His face was covered in bandages that obscured his face from view. "Now!"

"F-frank," Samantha stammered. "Let her go. He's got a gun."

Frank backed up a space, still holding onto Anna and motioned Samantha to stand behind him.

"I said," the man said. "Let the girl go. Anna, are you all right?"

Frank looked up in shock, then, and Samantha saw her boyfriend go suddenly pale.

"Frank, what is it?" Sam asked in a low voice.

"Can't you see it, Sam?" Frank asked his girlfriend, not knowing about the bandages on the other man's face. "That's Doctor Rich!"

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.