Found this story in the back of my closet and decided to post it! I have outgrown the hardy boys and my crush on joe! Enjoy!
" Boys! I need your help on my latest case ". Entering Frank's room. Fenton Hardy announces, instantly grabbing their attention. "What's wrong Dad?" asks Frank looking up from the laptop interest perking his brow.
"Yeah, any action involved," Joe asks, eyes bright with barely retained excitement. It was Saturday afternoon but more importantly the beginning of summer vacation. Both the boys were in Frank's room, just goofing off when their father walked in. "There is this man named Warren Stone," Their father answers grimly. "He has important evidence against the Black Phoenix aka Jean Claude Phoenix."
"Wasn't he on the news?" questions Joe. "The biggest crime boss of the century" He informs them, his brows knitted reflectively. "He is wanted for several accounts of murder, theft and arson but I just received a call from police that his family was found dead and Warren is missing." Joe shudders but isn't surprised.
" My guess is Phoenix," He continues. "Must have discovered that Warren was going to snitch so he issued a threat on his life!" . Moreover there are rumors that to satisfy his financial problems he will try to steal the Sudan diamond, We cannot let that happen." There echoes a seriousness in his tone that immediately brings out the professionalism in his sons.
"The Sudan diamond" Repeats Joe "Yeah, Joe!" Frank said, " One of the most beautiful diamonds ever to be found, I read in the papers there is a show about it in Paris and they have spared no expense on security and such. The estimated cost is about 60 million dollars".
A whistle is Joe's response to the information, "No wonder that guy will try to steal it". "Which is why" Fenton clears his throat, "I need you boys to find Warren, he has gone into hiding. You must find him and the evidence to put Jean behind bars, before he has a chance to steal the diamond. He is a very shrewd and dangerous man; here are their files." He hands them two manila red folders cramped with paper. Frank opens the first one. A man's face that is carved into a sinister scowl, stares up at them. He is 43 with sleek black hair and dark cold eyes set in a clean-cut face.
Joe browses at the second one. Warren stone is 30 with red hair and blue eyes. There is a friendly twinkle in his eyes though his mouth is set in a stern line. "Warren and Phoenix both live in New Jersey, so be careful" He stares at them sternly "Your job is to find Warren so don't go after Phoenix, leave him to Me!"
They nod in understanding. "Oh, and check out Warrens address." He says as he leaves the room. "The police have already checked the house but see if you boys can find anything." "Good luck and be careful Phoenix is notorious among other things!"
"Don't worry, Dad, we won't let you down" Frank promises, bringing out his bag form the cupboard,"Yeah Dad" Joe agrees "We'll find him!"
"Thanks boys!" A smile relieves part of the tension in his face, "Now you better start packing, you leave at midnight to New Jersey."
New Jersey
The office is large, spacious and neat with a desk and a bookshelf on the sidewall. A computer lay on the desk along with files, papers, a phone and a picture frame of a man and his family. Three Famous paintings lined the adjacent walls and next to one of them, there is a window overlooking a well-kept and beautiful garden. Men clad in suits with a gun at their sides roamed the garden keeping a watchful eye around them. Jean looks out the window wearing worried frown; he takes a long drag from his cigar. Fenton the former New York City police officer now turned detective was on to him.k.
He knew from Fenton's records that he is dedicated to his jobs such that he spared no expense to get his man. And if that wasn't enough he had his two sons working on this case with him. It was evident the boys were following in their father's footsteps. He sucks in another long drag from his cigar and puffs it into the air creating circles of smoke. 'I need a plan to get rid of Fenton and his brats!' He decides grimly, clenching his hand into a tight fist.
"You know, cigars are bad," a female voice stats behind him. He smiles, relaxing his features and turning around to face his wife. "Hello, Susan" He greets, a special tinge of warmth.
Susan phoenix is a slim and pretty brunette dressed in a business suit like her husband, brown eyes clouded with concern. "What's wrong Jean?" She inquires, canting her head. "Nothing," He refutes, forcing himself to turn his back on her, ", "Business as usual". Missing the affectionate smile she displayes only for him.
"Cheer up!" She says placing a hand on his shoulder, "You'll find a way out of this-you always do". "Yes," He mutters, rubbing his chin , grim thoughtfully. At that moment a young girl holding a basketball wakes in , leasing the pressure in the room with a bright smile. "Morning mom, Morning dad!" She greets them cheerfully. "What's up?"
A genuine smile chases away the drab look on his face, "Good morning honey" Susan returns with an affectionate grin.
"Good morning Crysta!" Jean said as she starts dribbling the ball. " Crysta don't dribble that ball here", Susan reprimands "You might break something." Crysta sighs, then rolls her eyes in typical annoyed teenage fashion.
"Yes Mom" She drawls. Jean nods at her. He is sometimes amazed at how closely she resembles Susan, similar brown hair and eyes. Her athletic figure is accentuated with a white sleeveless blouse with a scoped neck and slightly tight jeans, a light blue denim jacket completes the tasteful ensemble.
She tosses the ball in the air and catches it, tapping her foot in slight impatience. She looks at her father "What's wrong Dad?" Crysta akin to her mother's worry, "Are you okay, you've been pretty upset over the last few days?"
"Nothing honey, just a little problem with business, nothing you need to worry about" He adds pointedly. His eyes conveying the full meaning. His younger daughter's incessant curiosity bothered especially when he had the nagging feeling that it would get her in trouble someday.
"What kind of problem Dad?" The door opened and a tall girl walked in. She is also beautiful with jet black hair that slopes sideways, almost covering her right eye; dark eyes exuding an intimidating amount of intelligence. Her black sundress complements her fair skin giving her an almost delicate look like a doll. "Morning big sister" Crystal said smiling. The other girl glances at her and returns the smile. "Morning little sister" She replies. "Good morning Mom good morning Dad" addressing her parents. She repeats her question. Max smiles wryly at his oldest daughter "Nadia you know I can't tell you, its classified."
She simply looks at him calculatingly "But Dad maybe we can help" Crysta argues, withholding how much his despondent behavior affected them as a family.
"I am not putting my family in any danger whatsoever and I don't want to see you girls involved in any way." He tells
them resolutely. He had gone out of his way to keep his family safe and when they insist on getting themselves into trouble, it is infuriating.
Then his brows slacken into a calm unreadable expression that they have gown accustomed to.
Susan looked at her daughters, a hint of apology in her kind gaze. "You girls better go you're going to be late for school" "Aww mom" Crystal whines, panic ripping through her that she had lost their only chance to help their parents. Susan gave her a look that silences further complaints. Crystal sighs, "Fine we are going," She says reluctantly. They kissing their parents goodbye, leave. Susan glances at her husband "I am going to set up for lunch , Will you be okay?" She asks, forcing a brave smile onto her face. "I'll be fine," He assures her, already lost in his own thoughts. After she left he gazes out the window again at the plush landscape, eliciting a weary sigh, 'One wrong move and the plan is blown. What have I gotten myself into?'
JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL
The weather is nice and cool with promises of a lovely summer. Crysta shields her face from the sun with her palm, closing her eyes, she takes in a deep summer filled breath. Then she enters the school building aside her sister and start walking down the school hall. All around them other teens are talking, removing their books from their lockers or hurrying to class to finish their work. "You know Dads been tightly wound like a drum in the last few days,". Crysta comments, sounding nonchalant but Nadia picks up on the hidden agenda. "Maybe we ought to help him with his case." "I don't think that would be a good idea, Crysta." Her eyes stare straight ahead, processing the conversations with their Dad in the last few days.
" We could get into a lot of trouble, you know Dad doesn't want us involved". "But Dad could need our help" Crysta disputes, desperation faintly audible " There's no way he is going to find this Warren guy and what about the plan about the Sudan diamond, he can't do both things at the same time, you know" "Warren guy, the Sudan diamond! How do you know all of this?" Nadia asks surprised and suspicious, meeting her sisters innocent look for the first time.
"I overheard a few things" She answers casually, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm not even going to ask. Maybe you're right, but we hardly know any thing!" She whispers harshly, hoping to get out of this so as to not to get into unnecessary trouble with their father. Nadia was always obedient to her Dad's request because she had learned that quarrelling wasn't a sure fire way to achieve anything. However, her sister had failed to catch up with her on numerous instructions. Crysta grabs her sister's arm in a rough grip, drags her into the ladies bathroom and pushes her into an empty stall.
"Well I wouldn't be too sure of that, I also overhead, " She tells her, lowering her voice and shifting closer to her sister. The stalls are clean and adequately spacious so it is often proves a perfect space for gossip girls.
"That Warren has evidence against Dad but he went into hiding after his house was wrecked and his family killed." "I am not surprised" Nadia responds calmly, "After all even I would do that if that happened to me!"
"Did they search the house?" She asks, mentally checking off an idea on her list. "Yeah, but they didn't find anything!"
"Maybe we should to check the house again," Nadia contemplates, setting up a course of action. "Maybe there is something they missed, Did you also happen to overhear where the house is? ". Crysta shakes her head, a flash of disappointment. "Wait!" Crysta speaks up suddenly, her eyes widening with illumination, "Maybe we could find it in Dads computer; he stores all his files there!"
"Of course" Nadia shares her sister's excitement. Then she frowns "But how will we get into Dad's computer." "Couldn't you hack into it !" Crysta asks, a hopeful glint in her eyes. Her sister wasn't a computer genius but ahe was moderately better than her. "Maybe, I could try," Nadia answers, unsure of herself. "But…"
"Good then lets go!" She said, her patience waning so she didn't wait for Nadia to finish. Glancing at her watch "We still have a few minutes before the bell rings. Lets head on over to the computer room, I think it will be empty-nobody ever enters unless they have to!"
While Nadia readies one of the computers Crysta paces up and down. "What's taking so long?" She demands, an irritated grimace marring her pretty features. " I am nearly done" Nadia answers patiently, "Do you know Dads password?"
"No" A frustrated is released heavily form her lips, she couldn't understand why she was the only one taking Dad's predicament seriously.. Nadia looks at the screen for a few minutes and rubs her neck pensively. Again her fingers fly over the key only to have the screen flash red 'Password Denied.'
"Hmm" Nadia murmurs. She types once more and again the screen flashes red. She continues this process for sometime while her sister watches over her shoulder, emanating a bothered impatience. "Maybe it is Phoenix or dads, moms or one of our names". Her statement was close to a whine that raised the hair on the back of Nadia's neck in nuisance.
Nadia forced through gritted teeth. "No, because any experienced hacker would have thought of that." They became lost in thought. "Hey, remember what Dad told us about him!" Crysta speaks up "He is our father first, a simple man second and a mad genius third! I know he meant it as a joke but maybe, what if.."
"113263!" Nadia cries, excitement gleaming in her eyes as the answer dawns on her. She knows her father well enough to make an estimated guess on his choice of password. And if he dropped even an small hint that allows his girls to figure it out by themselves, Nadia knows it couldn't be by accident.
"How did you figure that out?" Crysta inquires, furrowing her eyebrows curiously but Nadia ignores her and concentrates on the screen, waiting on bated breath. The girls stare at the 'Loading' sequence, then the screen flashes green, 'Password Accepted'
Crysta lets out her breath with a sigh of amazement. "Way to go big Sis, I guess you are useful when you want to be! " She jibes as their palms slap together in a high five. Nadia began her search on files related to Warren Stone. "Why do you think Dad gave us the password, indirectly even?" There isn't curiosity in her sister voice but concealed worry carefully covered by casualness.
Nadia's shoulders roll complacently, "Maybe he figured one day he would need our help. Maybe in case of an emergency!" "and What is happening to Dad is an emergency. Definitely! If only people took m seriously.." Her head shakes in impish sadness and hurt, receiving an eye roll from Nadia.
The name Warren Stone appears on the screen along with his address and other information, simultaneously the bell rings, reverberating through the walls followed by the trample of footsteps as kids hurried to classes. Nadia quickly commands the 'Print' and walks across the room to collect the piece of paper. As they exist the classroom, Crysta formulates their next course of action, "Meet me outside after school, we can grab a quick lunch and then head on over to that guy's house!." "Sure!" Nadia agrees, waving at her as they separate and start on their way to their respective classes.