Fall Thievery

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.I do have some OCs though that are mine.

Rating/Setting: Rating is K+. Setting is pre-Blue Spine as the boys are in 5th and 6th grades.

Author's Notes: This story follows "Cheaters Never Prosper." While it isn't necessary to read that story to understand this one, events from that story will be referenced. And don't worry, we're not having a full-blown romance here. Hand-holding will be as "hot" as this story will get for these 10 year olds. ;-)

Chapter Two

While the kids had gone directly to line for the Halloween experience, Fenton had identified himself to a security officer and was taken to a nearby building that housed the security cameras for the event. Marcus Hampton himself was there to show Fenton the set-up. Fenton was actually impressed at the number of cameras that were installed for the event. The Hampton's had twelve people watching the security screens which made two people watching the cameras for each of the six trails.

Looking at the screens, Fenton moved closer to Marcus and said, "So, after the thefts, you reviewed the footage?"

"We tried, but there are so many cameras and of course no one could be sure if the items were taken on the current trail or one of the ones they went on previously. We watched most of the footage at a double rate of speed but saw nothing. And in fact a number of the phones and tablets were recovered on the nights they were lost."

Turning to Marcus in surprise. "Really? Was there anything unusual about those items?" Finding a couple of lost items would be normal, but a large number threw up a red flag.

Looking Fenton in the eye, he said, "All of them were password protected."

"And the ones that haven't been found?"

"No password. So any 'find my phone' app could be deleted and the phone wiped," Marcus said as he turned back to the screens.

Fenton turned this bit of information over in his mind. Obviously the thief or thieves didn't want the hassle of a locked device. In addition, checking the device and probably wiping it was something that was done pretty soon after the item was stolen. The thief was trying to make it look like the item was simply lost or dropped. Since this had been occurring since opening night, it wasn't random thefts. "I'd like to look at the footage from some of trails that had thefts."

"Certainly. We can have that ready for you to check out during the day tomorrow." Moving back towards the door they had entered, Marcus asked with a smile, "Are you ready to try out one of the haunted trails yourself?"

Laughing as he nodded, Fenton and Marcus left. If they had turned around, they might have noticed that one of the people watching the security cameras was watching them leave.

Joe looked at the dim orange glow up ahead and grew excited. Their second trail was taking them through one of the dark zones in the house. Up ahead he could make out people in their group pushing through some floor-length beaded streamers and disappear into the next room. He could hear Iola's excited breathing from next to him.

"Do you think it's a dark zone?" she asked somewhat breathlessly and stepped closer to Joe as they walked toward the streamers.

"Yep," Joe returned with an excited whisper.

Just then from a dark corner of the room they were in, a figure launched itself from the corner snarling at them. The werewolf had great make-up and its snarls were very realistic. Joe was quite happy that it gave the appearance of being chained to the wall and not quite able to get to them. Of course, he realized as he struggled to gain control of his rampant heartbeat and ragged breathing, they weren't allowed to touch. As he moved closer to the door, he cast a furtive glance behind him at the werewolf that was now snarling at Frank and Chet. Turning back to the front, he realized that Iola had latched onto him during the scare. This time, he did nothing to break away.

To enter the dark zone room, they realized that they had to walk through a series of hanging items. All put there to help block the light. As Joe and Iola entered the room, they could hear the people in front of them and then there would be an occasional flash of light as they followed the glowing stripe on the floor. The flashes of light showed there were 'creatures' in the room with them and with each flash of light they seemed to be closer.

Joe had the urge to hold on to Iola as they neared what appeared to be the exit to the room. He just prayed they'd get there before that creepy looking vampire child reached them. Exiting the room, they heard the vampire hiss at them. Joe shivered involuntarily.

Feeling Joe shiver, Iola said, "Yeah, creeped me out too. Not too sure I really like the dark zones after all."

Soon the group was once again out in the night air. Joe and Frank too stock of their group and once again everyone was there. Nothing suspicious was noted as they boarded the wagon to head back to the start and their last trail for the night.

Sitting on the hay, Joe looked away as Iola sat next to him again. There was a seat open next to Frank and he thought about moving. Then he felt Iola's hand touch his and he changed his mind.

Iola smiled as Joe turned back to her and started talking about the trail they had just finished.

The group of friends had about fifteen minutes to wait in line with their group. Taking this time to see who would be on the trail with them, Frank spotted a vivacious blonde teenage girl who was talking non-stop to two of her girlfriends about the last trail they were on. After noticing that she was extremely pretty, he noticed that her smart phone was precariously located in a hip pocket that was really too small for the new larger-sized phone she had. It was the newest smart phone and would make a great target. It was time to let Joe in on the possible victim.

While Frank was spotting a potential victim, Joe had zeroed in on a possible suspect. There was a dark-haired teen girl wearing a dark hoodie and dark jeans in the group. She didn't stand out for her clothing which was rather non-descript, but because she seemed to be going through solo. In their three trails for the night, they hadn't seen anyone else going through alone except this one girl. Joe felt a nudge in his side, "Yeah?" he asked.

"I think I might have spotted a likely target for the thief," Frank said in a quiet voice.

Joe turned a little and followed Frank's line of sight. Spotting the smart phone, Joe nodded and said, "It's almost like we put out bait. If the thief is in our group or on our trail, I don't see how they could resist that easy pinch." Joe almost laughed at the opportunity they could have in finding the thief. Angling his body so he could once again look at the dark-haired girl, he filled Frank in on his suspect.

"Definitely not the norm," Frank said as he looked at the girl that was still standing a little to the side by herself.

At that moment, Iola bounded up beside the brothers and grabbed Joe's arm. "It's time to load!"

Frank watched as Iola practically dragged Joe away. He found it fun to watch the girl that he thought of as the sister he never had look with longing at his ragtag little brother. Who would have ever thought that Iola would have a crush on Joe? Frank shook his head and followed them to the trailer as Tony fell into step beside him. Tony started speaking but Frank didn't hear much. It had just occurred to him that Joe could very well end up with a girlfriend before him and it shocked him.

"What?" he asked as Tony had asked for an answer. Tony only laughed and told him to get in the trailer.

Joe had watched Frank as he had stopped at the back of the trailer. For a moment, it looked like Frank had seen something shocking as he had stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes opened wide. Then Tony seemed to snap him out of it and Frank climbed in. With a nod at his brother, Joe glanced occasionally at his possible suspect who was seated across from him while Iola chatted about the last trail.

As they exited the trailer, Joe maneuvered himself and Iola behind his suspect while Frank and Chet moved to follow the cell phone bait. Joe found it difficult to monitor both his suspect and enjoy the haunted experience. He gave a start as Iola latched onto his arm as a ghoul jumped from behind a large shrub. Whenever he was distracted from his surveillance, he always had to take a moment to find where the suspect was. So far, he hadn't noticed anything unusual. In fact, he, Iola, and the suspect were in front of the girl with the phone. Right now there was no way she could take it. He sighed as they entered an open area on the way to the barn, maybe there'd be in a dark zone in the barn and something would happen.

Just as they were heading into the barn, the suspect stopped to tie her shoe. Joe and Iola walked past and stopped just inside of the barn. "Um, I need to wait here for Frank," Joe said to Iola.

Frowning at him, she whispered, "Are you two up to something?"

Eyes wide in pretended innocence, he replied, "Us? No way." Turning, he saw the girl with her friends walk past, the cell phone still precariously sticking out of the back pocket.

Punching him in the arm, Iola responded, "Yes way. What is up?"

Sparing a quick glance at her face, he said, "I'll tell you later. There's Frank." Looking at Frank, they exchanged nods and Joe pulled Iola to follow the girl with the cell phone.

Iola grunted and dug in her heels as Joe pulled her forward. "What are you doing?" Her tone was exasperated.

Joe looked ahead to the girl and then back to Iola. "Frank and I are keeping an eye on the girl in front of us. We think someone may try to steal her cell phone," he whispered hurriedly. With that comment, he felt Iola stop resisting and the two of them moved forward quickly.

As they closed the distance between themselves and the girl, Iola whispered again, "Is it a mystery? Are you helping your father?" All the kids knew that Joe and Frank wanted to be detectives just like their father.

Blushing slightly, Joe quietly said, "Dad just told us to keep our eyes peeled. That's what we're doing."

"Do you have a suspect?"

"Kinda. It was the girl in front of us."

Iola frowned up at Joe as they were entering a dark zone, "But she's behind us now."

"Frank's watching her now. We're watching the potential victim," Joe said as the girl and her friends began to move through the streamers indicating an up-coming dark zone. Joe and Iola were only ten yards or so behind the possible victim when the girl in black pushed past them and hurried through the streamers. Without looking back, Joe tightened his hold on Iola's hand and said, "Come on," as he sped up to follow the girl.

Pushing quickly through the streamers, they hardly saw the zombies that were shambling around in the areas near the dark zone. In moments, they were right behind the girl. With the flashes of light that showed they were in a zombie apocalypse zone, they could see the dark girl moving up quickly behind the others. Unfortunately, the room went dark for about fifteen seconds were you could only see the light strips on the floor marking your path. Joe and Iola could hear the 'zombies' shuffling around in the dark along with moans.

Joe's heart was beating quickly as he heard the squeals of the girls in front of him as he and Iola moved forward through the dark. Then there was a series of light flashes as the zombies moved toward them and the girls in front squealed and quickly left that section. Joe had barely gotten a glimpse of the dark girl but she had been directly behind the girl with the cell phone when the room went dark again. Moving forward quickly, Joe and Iola were quickly out of the barn. When they caught up with the girls in front of them, the cell phone was no longer in the girl's back pocket.

"It's gone," Joe breathed out softly.

"What? The cell phone?" Iola asked.

Looking at her and then back to the girls, he responded, "Yes. It's not in her pocket and she's not using it."

The dark girl was now several paces back from the still chatty trio of girls.

Hearing sounds behind them, Joe turned to see Frank hurrying toward them and leaving the rest of the guys. "She just sped up and was gone. I tried to hurry, but didn't want to be obvious." Looking ahead and seeing the girls, he asked, "Did you see anything?"

Joe related what had happened.

Pulling the cell phone from his pocket, Frank said, "Maybe Dad can get to the security trailer and review the footage before we complete our trail. We can't just go up and accuse her without any evidence." In moments Frank was on the phone with Fenton, relaying what happened.

As he was talking the rest of the group caught up. Joe and Iola filled them in.

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, Frank said, "Dad just finished a trail and is heading back to the security trailer."

With nothing else to do but make sure that the suspect didn't leave the trail or hide the evidence somewhere, the group did their best to enjoy the rest of the experience. However, their nerves were wound tight as ten minutes later they boarded the trailer to return to the front gate.

Joe's leg bounced nervously as he sat beside Iola on the hay bale. What if Dad doesn't get the footage? Will the girl leave or take another trail and steal from another unsuspecting kid? Joe could hardly stand the thought. As the group got off the trailer, Joe watched as two uniformed policemen quietly walked up to the girl in the dark clothes and pulled her to the side.

The small group of friends made their way to the planned rendezvous point with Mr. Prito and Fenton. Frank and Joe looked around excitedly for their father and saw him making his way toward them with Marcus Hampton. Fenton told the group that when he had asked to review their trail's security footage, the girl in charge of the cameras for that trail had tried to bolt. She was quickly apprehended and blurted out everything without being asked. She made sure sections of video was lost so that the thefts weren't seen. The girl in the dark clothes was the one who actually lifted items in the dark zones and then left them in the rooms for an accomplice to pick up. That way, she could never be caught with the goods and with the video erased, there would be no evidence pointing toward them.

Marcus Hampton was so excited about the case being solved so quickly, he invited the kids to come back as often as they wanted for free trips. After all, Frank and Joe helped solve the case so he wanted to reward them. Needless to say, Fenton and Al Prito were immediately bombarded for a return trip the next night. With a wink and a smile to Al, Fenton said he thought they might be able to arrange something.