Well, here it is! My first ever finished Hardy Boys fanfic. This is my first time posting an HB story, so please bear with me. I hope you enjoy! Reviews as well as constructive criticism are welcome!

~BeeBee

Joe Hardy opened the door to his office, smiling up at the gold nameplate: Joe Hardy, Private Investigator. He was still proud of that title, even after fifteen years. Like his older brother Frank, he had joined their father's private investigating firm at twenty years old. Now each of the partners in the firm lived about an hour apart from one another, each with their own branch of the firm. Joe walked into his office, setting down his briefcase and coat. He checked the office phone's answering machine for messages. There were none, so he settled down at his desk, ready to begin looking over some files for a case he had been working on involving ivory smugglers. Just then, the phone rang.

"Joe Hardy, Private Investigator."

"Joe? It's Frank."

"Hey, Frank. Everything okay?" Joe asked in response to the broken sound of Frank's voice.

"No. Joe, I need your help. Cooper's-" Here, Frank broke off suddenly and took a deep breath, attempting to compose himself long enough to say the words.

"Come on, Frank, try to calm down. It's going to be okay. Just tell me what happened."

"Joe, Cooper's missing. We can't find him anywhere."

Cooper was Frank's and Callie's sixteen-year-old son. Frank and and Callie had gotten married just after Frank had turned twenty years old and had had Cooper right away.

"How do you know he's missing?" Joe asked urgently.

"Well, he boards at high school twice a week, and everyone at the school saw him leave last night after being away from home for two nights. But he never made it home, Joe!"

Joe could hear the tears in Frank's voice and winced. Something must have really happened for Frank to be this worked up.

"Okay, Frank. I'm coming to help you. I'll be at your place in about an hour. It'll be okay. Hang in there, bro."

Frank took a shaky breath. "Thanks, Joe. See you soon."

"No problem. See you."

Joe grabbed his briefcase and coat, running out of his office and locking the door as fast as he could. Coming into the front area of the office, he spoke rapidly to his receptionist.

"Jean, I have to go out of town. Frank needs help, and you know family always comes first. Please give my present case and anything else that comes my way to Ben."

Benjamin Porter was Joe's assistant.

Jean nodded understandingly. "Of course, Joe. How long will you be away for?"

"There's no way of knowing, but I'll be sure to check in if and when I have a return date. Thanks for all your help, Jean."

"No problem! Have a safe trip, Joe."

"Thanks. Bye!" Joe raced out the door with those words and was in the garage and pulling out his car in record time.

"Hang on guys. I'm on my way."

•••

Frank stood in his living room, holding his wife Callie in his arms. She was crying, and Frank was once again fighting tears.

"Will you be able to find Cooper?" Callie asked, her voice subdued.

"We're going to try our very best," Frank replied, his voice equally as quiet. "As soon as Joe gets here we're going to set out."

Callie tightened her arms around her husband. "Be careful. I don't want to have worry about you, too. Although I probably will, anyway."

Frank hugged his wife closer. "Don't worry. We'll be just fine."

Callie sighed. "Are we going to tell Lily what happened?" Lily was their daughter. She was twelve years old and looked exactly like her father.

Frank shook his head. "Not yet. I don't want to frighten her. I'm sure we'll find him right away," he said, trying to reassure himself as well as his wife. "There won't be any need for her to know he was gone until he's back."

"I hope you're right."

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Frank went to answer. Joe stood in front of him.

"Joe," Frank sighed in relief. "I'm so glad you're here."

Joe smiled and reached out to touch Frank's arm. "Right here, bro. How are you doing?"

Frank sighed. "I don't even know anymore."

"Don't worry. It'll all turn out alright."

"I want it to," came the grim reply. "That's what I told Callie. I just wish I could believe it."

"I'll talk to Callie for a minute, and then we can start going over what we have. It'll be okay."

Frank nodded. "Thank you."

Joe gave a small smile. "No problem. Give me a sec, and then we'll get started."

Frank sat down on the couch in the living room while Joe went to say hello his sister-in-law. He hugged her close, promising the tearful mother that he would find her son very soon.

Then he returned to Frank, finding that they had even less information to work with than he had expected.

"Well, what do we know?" he asked as he sat beside his brother.

"Just that Cooper was supposed to be home last night at about seven. When he didn't come home then, we figured he had probably missed the bus and would be home at nine. That's happened a few times. At nine-thirty, he still wasn't home. That's when we started to get nervous." Frank sucked in a breath, trying desperately to stay calm. 'Why is this happening?'

Joe put a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder. He wished his brother wasn't going through this, but since it had happened, they needed to know every detail. "Go on." His voice was quiet, tone strained.

"We called his cell phone. His roommate, Dylan, picked up. Apparently he forgot his phone at the dorm. Then I called the counselor at the school who is in charge of the tenth grade. He said he had seen Cooper get on the bus with his things. So something must have gone-" Frank choked back a sob. "Something must have gone wrong at some point during the bus ride."

"You don't think he may have just gotten off at the wrong stop and gotten a little lost?"

Frank shook his head emphatically. "He's been taking that bus route once or twice a week for the past year and a half. He could do it in his sleep. He would never get off at the wrong stop. Besides, if he did get lost, he would call us from a pay phone or somebody else's cell phone so that we wouldn't worry. He would never run away. Something must have happened to him."

Joe pondered for a moment. "I hate to say this, but do you know anyone who doesn't like you? Maybe someone who's already out of jail from a previous case you worked? We were kidnapped a few times because of Dad's work."

"I don't know! I was thinking that myself, but I don't want to believe it. How could anyone take my precious son? They should have taken me if they wanted anything!"

Joe wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders and held him close as the tears he had been holding back finally spilled out. "Don't worry," he said gently. "We're going to find him. A person can't just disappear into thin air, and we've found missing people before. It might be hard, but that doesn't mean we'll stop."

Frank lifted his head, offering his brother a sad smile. "Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate your coming here to help."

Joe returned the smile, squeezing Frank's shoulder comfortingly. "Anytime, bro. That's what I'm here for."

Callie came to the doorway of the living room and smiled affectionately at the brothers. "Hey," she said. Her eyes were full of sadness, but she stood strong. "I have lunch ready in the kitchen. I think you guys should eat before you head out."

Nodding in agreement, the two men stood and followed Callie into the kitchen. Callie put out the food, and all three began eating quickly, not wanting to waste time.

"I wish I could go with you. I want to find Cooper, too," Callie sighed.

"No!" Frank yelled, rage in his eyes for a fleeting moment. "I won't let you come with us! You've not been trained - I will not have anyone else hurt because of me."

Callie understood immediately. Frank was afraid of anyone else he loved getting hurt. She ran around the table and wrapped her arms around her husband. "I'm not coming with you," she whispered. "I just wish I was able to. I want to find my son. But don't worry, Frank. I'm not coming," she repeated.

Frank hugged his wife. "I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." She kissed his cheek gently and returned to her seat.

Joe and Callie were both relieved to see Frank's features more visibly relaxed than they had been all day as he returned to his meal. They ate for a few more minutes in silence before Joe stretched and reached out to squeeze Frank's arm.

"Hey, bro. I think we should get going."

Frank nodded. "Let's go."

The two changed into warm, comfortable, layered clothing and sneakers. They filled their pockets with whatever might be necessary- pocket flashlights, batteries, matches, lock picks, and other important provisions. Callie packed them sandwiches and bottles of juice and water to take with them in the van. They also brought along sleeping bags and an extra change of clothes. They had no way of knowing how long they would be gone, so they wanted to have enough for the worst case scenario.

Before they left, Frank and Callie held each other tightly for a long time. Finally, Callie stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Frank gently, letting him go. Frank left his wife reluctantly, even as the need to find his son dragged him to the van. He found that he could not figure out the complicated mix of emotions swirling inside of him, so he was quiet as he climbed into the van, where Joe was already at the wheel. Joe started the van, and they were off.

•••

Joe looked over at his older brother a few minutes into the drive. "You okay?" he asked gently.

Frank hadn't spoken since he had hugged Callie goodbye, and Joe was becoming concerned.

Frank shook himself out of his deep thought and smiled at Joe in thanks. "Yeah. But I'm confused. I don't think I've ever felt this way before. It's a lot to take in."

Joe nodded, understanding in his eyes. "I know," he said. "Really."

Frank nodded, gratitude showing in his face. He knew that Joe could see the thanks he was incapable of saying past the lump in his throat right now.

"But try not to worry so much." Joe spoke again, a small smile letting Frank know he had seen the look. "We're going to find him."

"I hope you're right," came the choked reply.