Hardy Detective Agency featuring Hardy Boys Fan Fiction

Callie was worried sick about Frank and Vanessa, but she was growing increasingly worried about Joe as they neared their campsite. Since the discovery of Vanessa’s scarf, Joe had altered. She couldn’t exactly describe how, but she had seen this altered Joe Hardy before and she knew she was going to have to get him to snap out of it. The only problem was, the two people who had the best chance of ‘snapping him out of it’ were nowhere to be found.

As they reached the campsite, Joe spoke.

‘Stay here,’ he told her, and handed her a branch. ‘Just in case,’ he added. Knowing better than to argue this point with him, Callie stood where she had been told to, branch poised in case of attack. She watched Joe creep warily into the little clearing. They had spent the best part of the day searching for Frank and Vanessa. The shadows were now starting to lengthen and dusk would soon be descending on the forest.

Joe beckoned to her to join him. He had found another note pinned to the tent flap.

‘What does it say?’ asked Callie as she joined him.

‘Wait until the morning and then go to the river. It’s time you did a bit of fishing,’ Joe read from the note. ‘Your friends are fine for now, but if you break the rules and come looking for them too early, they’ll pay the price.’
Joe felt a mixture of anger and despair combine within him. It threatened to consume him. He looked down at the blood on the scarf he still held in his hand and shut his eyes. ‘What would Frank do?’ he asked himself. He knew his brother would pick logic over rashness. Logic dictated that there was no point scurrying around the forest during the night. He and Callie were hungry, exhausted and emotionally drained. They needed to recharge their batteries. His intuition told him that Frank and Ness were safe for now, and he didn’t want to do anything that might put their safety at risk.

Frank and Vanessa both tensed. A thud on the doorstep and the creak of the door had signaled the return of their kidnapper. The man first appeared as a dark shape framed by the sunlight streaming in through the doorway, until he shut the door behind him and bolted it. Frank sized the man up from where he sat on the bed. He was Caucasian, muscular, and well over 6 foot. He had an unkempt beard and straggly hair. As the man approached them, Frank was aware of Vanessa edging a fraction closer to him. He tightly squeezed the hand that was cuffed to his own. The man picked up a chair, placed it near to the bed and sat down, grinning inanely at his captives.

‘Having fun?’ he asked them.

‘Not especially,’ replied Frank, keeping his voice as calm and as even as possible.

‘Now I find that hard to believe, Frank,’ he drawled. ‘I’d be rapt to the eyeballs if I’d spent the day handcuffed to and confined to bed with my friend’s gorgeous girlfriend! You must be mighty hard to please.’

He switched his attention to Vanessa.

‘Haven’t you been keeping him happy?’ he asked her, grinning widely.

Vanessa said nothing but kept eye contact with him, her face defiant and proud.

‘Ooh, you’ve got spunk alright!’ exclaimed the man excitedly. ‘No wonder Joe’s going off his head. He must be all churned up inside thinking of you being off alone with Frank!’

‘Who are you, and why are you keeping us here?’ Frank asked him. The questions were direct and asked without feeling. The man, unable to get either of them to react, changed his tone. The broad grin disappeared and an ugly scowl took its place.

‘Who am I? I’m your worst nightmare, Frank. I listened to you and your friends spilling your guts last night and I decided I was gonna have some fun of my own. I’ll keep you here for as long as I’m entertained and then that will be the end of your stay. As for the young lady… well I believe she’ll continue to be a source of entertainment for a long time after I’ve gotten rid of you.’

If Frank was expecting to hear a gasp from Vanessa after the man’s shocking words, he never heard it. A sideways glance at her revealed an impassive yet determined face. The only sign giving her away was the way her fingernails were digging themselves into the back of his hand.

Abruptly, the man stood up and went over to the bench. He fetched a plastic bottle of water and a rough looking lump of bread. He tossed both onto the bed.

‘There’s water from the stream and some damper. Can’t have you starving to death or dying from thirst before I kill you,’ he said, and then laughed so raucously at his own joke that Vanessa felt chills run up and down her spine. The cabin had grown very dark by this time. They watched in silence as the man noisily ate his own meal. Satisfied, he then walked back over to the bed and pointed his gun meaningfully at Frank.

‘Now. I’m getting some sleep. I need to be awake early. Try anything and you die sooner rather than later. It’s your choice.’

He smiled evilly at Vanessa, who this time shrank back a little from him.

‘Goodnight Gorgeous. Try to make tonight special for Frank here. It may well be his last night! And don’t worry. I won’t tell Joe. In fact, tomorrow Joe’s going to be a little too preoccupied to be worrying about you anyway!’

He laughed raucously again, walked over to the other bed on the far side of the cabin, and stretched out wearily upon it, the rifle by his side. Soon he was snoring loudly. Vanessa drew her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs to herself with her unshackled arm.

‘You okay?’ whispered Frank.

‘Do you think he meant what he said about killing us?’ she whispered back.

It was a question Frank didn’t have an answer to.

…………….

Back at the campsite, Joe and Callie were trying to settle down for the evening. They had eaten as much as they could stomach, given their poor appetites, and had positioned themselves in such a way that they had a decent view of the rest of the clearing. The only light was courtesy of the moon. Even though it was cold, Joe didn’t want to risk the fire. If the kidnapper returned for them, Joe didn’t want to be more like a sitting duck than he already felt.

‘I feel so awful just sitting here with a full belly when Frank and Vanessa are out there somewhere, probably scared and hungry,’ Callie told him miserably. Joe continued to strip the twigs from a rather thick branch he had found. He planned to use it as a weapon if necessary. There were many hours left until dawn. He knew that the most difficult thing about the night ahead was keeping Callie’s and his mind from terrible imaginings.

‘Why don’t you try and get some rest, Cal,’ he suggested. ‘Curl up in the blanket and try and think about something else.’

‘I’ve tried, but I keep worrying…’

‘I know, I know,’ said Joe, ‘but it’s not accomplishing anything. Worrying about them isn’t going to help them, and you’re gonna freak yourself out. Believe me, I’m talking from experience.’

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Callie curled herself up in the blanket and rested her head on a pillow. ‘She looks a bit like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon’, thought Joe. ‘Geez, what am I thinking! Now I’m freaking myself out!’
Putting the newly fashioned weapon aside, he drew the second blanket across his shoulders and scanned the forest. He wasn’t planning to get any sleep tonight, but he didn’t want Callie to be in such a state that she didn’t get any rest. Callie had been pretty gutsy so far, but he imagined she’d be really sooky without any sleep at all! He glanced down and noticed her eyes were still wide open.

‘Cal. Let me do the looking. Whoever this person is, he’ll want us to go to the stream in the morning. He’s hardly gonna be sitting around watching us all night.’

Callie said nothing. She listened to the sounds of the forest at night and shivered slightly.

‘What’s a specimen?’ Joe asked her suddenly.

‘A what?’ said Callie in surprise.

‘A specimen,’ repeated Joe.

‘Well, it’s like a sample of something, or an example to study,’ she said. ‘Why?’

‘Wrong,’ said Joe.

‘Well what is it then, smarty pants?!’ demanded Callie, turning to look at him, her eyes flashing.

‘An Italian astronaut,’ Joe told her, his handsome face breaking into a broad grin.

‘That is such an awful joke!’ said Callie in disgust.

‘What about the horse that went into the bar?’ continued Joe.

‘What about it?’ asked Callie suspiciously.

‘The bar tender asked it "Why the long face?" Get it?’

Callie grabbed hold of her pillow and swatted him with it before tucking it back underneath her head.

‘Don’t you get it?’ laughed Joe.

‘You’re gonna get it in a minute if you tell anymore awful jokes, Joe Hardy,’ she scolded him. But Joe could hear the amusement in her voice. His tactic had worked.

‘Want to play ‘This or That’ with me?’ asked Callie, hopefully.

‘Is it a stupid game?’ asked Joe, his turn to be suspicious.

‘Not half as stupid as your jokes,’ Callie retorted.

‘Alright,’ agreed Joe. ‘What do we do?’

‘I give you the choice between two things, you make a choice and then give me two things to choose between,’ explained Callie.

‘What’s the catch?’ asked Joe, scanning the surroundings as the wind rustled some leaves.

‘None. I promise,’ said Callie. ‘Pizza or hotdogs?’

‘Not hungry,’ said Joe, and heard Callie huff loudly.

‘Just say which one you prefer!’ she hissed in exasperation. She knew Joe was being deliberately infuriating to distract her, but it was sending her blood pressure through the roof!

‘Pizza,’ said Joe. ‘Fruit or vegetables?’

‘Fruit,’ said Callie. ‘Funny films or action films?’

‘Ooooh. Difficult. Funny ones. Roses or daffodils?’

‘God, you never cease to amaze me Joe! What made you ask that?’

‘I don’t believe you said it was part of this game to question the asker,’ Joe admonished her.

‘Daffodils,’ said Callie, rolling her eyes and snuggling deeper into the blanket. ‘Chocolate or lollies?’

‘Lollies. Red lollipops to be specific,’ said Joe. ‘Picnic or restaurant meal?’

‘Picnic,’ replied Callie sleepily. ‘Skiing or surfing?’

‘Surfing,’ said Joe softly. ‘You know that I prefer looking at pretty girls in bathers. Those snowsuits cover too much up.’

The expected lecture from Callie didn’t come. Looking down at her, Joe was relieved to see that she was asleep. Reaching for a third blanket, he spread it over Callie and tucked it snugly around her. Joe sighed deeply and again scanned the forest. At least now he only had to manage his own terrible imaginings about what was happening to Vanessa and his brother. Morning could not come soon enough.