Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

By 7pm the next day, 24 hours after Joe’s disappearance, there was no news. The police and Frank had again searched the now closed gym and had come up with nothing. Chief Collig had come to the gym personally and made sure his officers had been thorough. He had always been fond of Fenton’s sons despite sometimes disapproving of their involvement in investigations at such a young age. He watched as Frank carefully inspected the floor of the staff area. The boy’s face was pale apart from dark circles beginning to form beneath his eyes. He would hardly have slept, thought Collig. With Fenton absent so much while investigating international cases Frank had often taken on a fatherly role where Joe was concerned. After the car bomb explosion Frank had effectively shielded his shell-shocked brother as much as possible from the unwanted media interest. During the gruelling but necessary official police questioning of Joe, Frank had stood by him and put an end to proceedings whenever he had decided that Joe had had enough.

Frank stood up and ran his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. Lost in his own thoughts, he jumped slightly when Collig asked him if he had any ideas.

‘None of this makes sense,’ said Frank evenly, keeping his composure. ‘There’s no sign of violence or struggle. There’s been no ransom note.’

‘What about his phone?’ asked Collig. "He must have dropped it as he was grabbed."

Frank shook his head. ‘Even that doesn’t make sense, Chief. It was found on the floor, but if he had dropped it, there would be some damage. It was as though it had been placed there on the floor.’

‘What about his wallet and keys?’ asked the Chief.

Frank suddenly looked intrigued.

‘Well I had the keys because I ended up driving the van home, but I don’t know about his wallet. If it’s not with him, where would he have put it?’

They looked at the small bank of lockers in the staffroom. One remained padlocked. It most likely was Joe’s.

‘I’ll get some bolt cutters,’ said Collig, but then stood and shook his head as Frank whipped out a tiny piece of metal and picked the lock open.

Inside the locker was Joe’s wallet and t-shirt. Frank quickly scanned the contents of his brother’s wallet, wincing at the photograph of Iola. Everything seemed to be where it should be. Putting the wallet into his own back pocket Frank absent-mindedly brought the t-shirt up to his face, shut his eyes and inhaled the scent of the coconut sunscreen Joe had applied that morning. ‘Where are you, little brother?’ he whispered to himself.

He was broken out of his reverie by the arrival of his father. Fenton shook hands with Collig and looked questioningly at Frank.

‘Find anything son?’ he asked, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep and hours on the telephone the previous night.

‘Just his wallet and t-shirt,’ replied Frank soberly. He passed the wallet to his father and began pacing the room. ‘Dad, none of this makes any sense! Why would anyone take Joe? Did he witness something? And where is he? Biff was here five minutes before he disappeared. He can’t have just vanished into thin air!’

Fenton put out his arm and halted his older son in his tracks. Meeting his brown eyes with his own he spoke the words he himself was having trouble believing.

‘Frank. We’ll find him.’

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Disclaimer

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.