Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.
Beta: Thanks again for WendyLouWho10 for once again reading to catch the big errors and for flow!
Rating/Setting: Part of my "Taken" story arc. Rating is T. Setting is AU but I was thinking about a cross between Casefiles and Blue Spines when I started writing the series. Boys are F19/J18.
Author's Notes: Well, hopefully, I posted the correct chapter this time! Thanks for all those who have left reviews! If you have time, be sure to leave one!
Chapter Four
Laura put down her e-reader when Fenton came into their bedroom over an hour later. "So, did they work whatever it is out?"
Fenton let out a whoosh of air as he began unbuttoning his shirt. "Not completely. Frank knows what he did was wrong and now it's just a matter of time for Joe to cool off and forgive him."
Laura smiled. "Well that's good because he can never stay mad at Frank for too long."
After laughing, Fenton said, "That's what I told Frank."
"So, can you tell me what it was about?"
Fenton didn't even hesitate; Laura would be finding out soon enough. "Joe will be getting some training in areas of his interest starting in the next week or so at the NYC office." Seeing Laura's concerned look, he said, "Jules is gone, and the agency has promised to pick him up and drop him off."
"That can't be what Frank's concern was."
"No," he said as he tossed his shirt into the hamper and grabbed a t-shirt to sleep in and quickly stripped out of his pants, leaving him in his boxers. He sat on top of the comforter and leaned against the headboard and reminisced a little. "You know the boys have gotten along so well the last couple years. The rivalry from middle school and early high school was over and it seemed like things would be smooth sailing." He turned and gave Laura a wry smile. "Joe will probably have a summer assignment and Frank isn't included in that assignment."
Laura sat up in concern. "Frank won't be with him? Who will be there?"
Fenton chuckled. "I wouldn't have that reaction in front of Joe because it didn't work so well for Frank."
Laura's mouth formed a perfect small "o" as she leaned back. "Protective older brother came on a little too strong?"
"Indeed. I heard the proposed assignment. I know the agent he'll be going with. I don't have any more concerns than usual. Frank wanted to call the agency and request either a reassignment or additional agents for the op."
Laura shook her head. "That would explain the raised voices I heard."
"I can only imagine how loud it was in the van when they had the first discussion."
Laura sighed. "Frank is still feeling guilty about what happened to Joe. Letting someone else watch out for his little brother goes against all his instincts right now. After all, who would protect Joe better than Frank?" She smiled at Fenton. "You think Joe will let it go?"
Fenton snorted. "You know he will if Frank just doesn't make things worse." He looked to his wife. "Frank's nineteen. Joe's eighteen. We have to let them work some things out and I think this is something they can get through on their own."
"Let's hope we can get through it," Laura said as she patted his leg.
.**********.
The next afternoon (Thursday)…
Joe was walking to where he parked the van in the BHS student lot when he stopped and stared at the van. Recovering from his surprise, he continued forward to stop about a yard from the driver's side. "What are you doing here?" Joe asked. His tone wasn't angry or upset… yet.
"I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night and I didn't want to do it over the phone," Frank said with equal calm.
"Aren't you missing practice for tomorrow night's game?"
Frank gave a one shoulder shrug. "You know I'm not scheduled to pitch and I got permission from the coach. I got a cab here, so I'm hoping you'll drive me back to campus."
Joe gave a curt nod. He had been thinking about the blow-up himself. He knew from his sessions with Dr. Childers and Frank that his brother had some real issues with being unable to do more for him during his last abduction. That guilt was still very near the surface and instead of being understanding he had jumped all over his big brother. When they were both in the van, Joe adjusted the thermostat to cool off the slightly over-heated interior.
"I know I went too far," Frank began. "I'm sorry for making it sound like you were incapable of handling a mission without my help."
Joe shook his head in affirmation. "Yeah, you did go too far." He could see his brother's profile from his peripheral vision and saw the concern in Frank's face. "But you did it for the right reasons." Joe shook his head in a negative fashion and then leaned back in the seat and pressed his head to the headrest. He turned to face his brother and said, "You know we're heading into a dysfunctional relationship."
Frank actually laughed. "What?"
Joe smiled. "There are many that would say that our need to watch out for each other isn't healthy." Frank laughed and he continued. "It's true. I read it on the internet so it must be true," he said with a smile as Frank laughed out loud. "But you know. I think for what we've been through, it's actually normal and thankfully there just aren't enough brothers who've been through what we have to get a sample study."
Frank was really laughing now. "What in the world, Joe? I just wanted to apologize not be given a psychoanalysis from some internet study."
Joe continued to smile. "Well, Dr. Childers did direct me to one of the studies." He saw Frank's smile fade. "But don't worry, that study didn't say we were dysfunctional."
"What did it say?"
"Dr. Childers asked me to share it with you but I forgot until now. Basically the stuff we've already learned with him. Don't let guilt guide your actions. Don't overcompensate…."
"I am really sorry, Joe."
"I know. Let's let it drop, okay?"
"You know I'm still worried though," Frank said carefully.
"As long as you don't try to stop me or get in the way of my op," Joe said with a serious look at his brother. When Frank nodded, he started the van and began the drive to BC. The conversation moved to the safe topic of the upcoming game.
.**********.
The next week Joe was walking into the ORT garage housed well-below street-level. Walking up to the head mechanic, Jimmy Nasser, Joe held out his hand. Jimmy took it and pumped it strongly.
"Man, I am just so sorry about what happened to you. If I had only known what Tipton was up to when he hinted you'd like to attend the seminar-"
Joe's hand fell from Jimmy's as he interrupted. "What do you mean Jules told you?"
Jimmy looked perplexed for a moment. "I guess you haven't been given the update then."
"I haven't," Joe said seriously and was thinking he would need to have a talk with Agents Williams and Johnson.
"When Jules found out about the special training, he stopped by to ask me to invite you to the seminar. He said not to mention him."
Joe couldn't hide the blindside this information was to him as he worked to control his breathing which was coming a little quicker.
"Hey, are you okay? I didn't mean to throw that at you out of the blue," Jimmy said with true concern.
After drawing a deep breath, Joe said, "No, it's okay. Just caught me off-guard." He swallowed his anxiety and pasted on a smile that he had perfected over the last two years. "So tell me about this certification that I'll be getting."
Glad to have a chance to move the conversation in a different direction, Jimmy began to give Joe the rundown of his crash course in mechanics and the ASE certification he would get. It was going to be intensive and he would need to put in several Saturdays to get the needed time in, but it was doable with the experience he already had.
.**********.
When the training was completed for afternoon, Joe asked at the front desk to speak to either Agent Williams or Agent Johnson. But he was told that both agents were out of the office, so he left a message with both to call him when they were available.
It was as he was getting off the train in Bayport that he received a call from Agent Williams. "I had a message to call you. Is something wrong, Joe?"
Joe walked away from the noise of the commuters exiting the train and stood to the side in a well-lit area. "I was at ORT this afternoon for my training with Jimmy and he told me-" Joe stopped and caught his breath. "He told me that Jules was the one who suggested that I attend that mechanic seminar back in March." He stopped and waited for a response, when there was none, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me? What else don't I know?"
"To be honest, we thought we were sparing you, Joe." Before he could interrupt, she preempted him. "It was a debated topic and we erred on the side of caution after what you had been through. Lisa and Amber don't know everything either. However, Jules' sentencing will be coming up and it's time you were told. All of you."
Joe wasn't sure what to say.
"I'll contact your father to set up a meeting for you and your brother. We'll give you everything we have gathered."
"Thank you," Joe said quietly. "I'll wait to hear from dad about the meeting.
"We'll do it soon, Joe."
"Thanks," he said once again and hung up the phone. She had said they'd tell him everything they had gathered. How much more was there? A plastic grocery bag blew past him and onto the tracks. He flinched as he turned to watch its path. Maybe they were right in keeping it from me, he thought as he moved toward the parking area and the van.
.**********.
The following week…
Joe stood looking out the window of the conference room window. Agent Williams had spoken with Fenton and arranged to have the meeting at his office rather than at the ORT headquarters. Joe knew it was an attempt to make things easier for him. He was comfortable at his father's office, with his father and brother in attendance and if he did have… issues with the information that he was given, he would be home in a short amount of time. This was fine; this small bit of concern for him wasn't a problem. Joe jumped slightly when the door opened and his father and Williams walked in. He drew a deep breath; he hadn't even heard them approaching down the hallway. A glance to his brother who was seated at the table showed that he too had been slightly startled. Frank was probably just as tense as he was to hear the information.
Agent Williams had a seat at the table and looked to Joe who remained standing. "I think I'll stand," Joe said in response to her unasked question. She nodded as Fenton sat across the table from Frank.
Williams then proceeded to lay out the plan that Jules Tipton had devised. Jules had learned of the mechanic's seminar and had dropped a hint to the head mechanic that Joe might be interested but not to mention him as he wanted Joe to be invited on his own merits not his recommendation. Joe had snorted at this but Williams continued. Jules had already been in contact with the pickpocket, Kincaid, and had him at the ready for when the abduction would occur. Kincaid had had the fake wallet for about a month before things fell into place. The lure of having his record wiped clean had been a strong pull for the thief. Getting RJ Couch on board had taken more time. In fact, ORT wasn't sure how long Jules had been feeding small bits of info to the Sacco family member. But they did know that three months previously, Jules had given RJ information on a seized drug shipment. This was what had probably made RJ so willing to take what his informant had been giving him as truth.
As soon as the discussion had turned to RJ, Joe had turned away from the table to look out the window. His arms were crossed in front of him and his eyes were closed. Memories of RJ taunting him with being Alex Fortune played back in his mind until he heard his father.
"Do you need a break, Joe?"
Keeping his back to the table still, Joe shook his head no. He didn't trust his voice to be steady.
Silence enveloped the room for a moment and then Williams continued to lay out the remaining pieces of the plan. Then Joe's eyes snapped open as Williams told him something that was completely unexpected.
"We've reopened the murder case regarding Jules' younger brother, Charles Tipton."
"What?" Frank asked in confusion. "Why?"
"It couldn't be proven at the time, but it was thought that Charles had been killed accidentally by a mob family in Boston. Like I said, it was just a small theory based on an informant's information to the Boston PD." Williams looked at Joe's back. "After what happened with Joe and in light of the fact that we now know Jules' feelings toward his own brother, we thought it prudent to check back into this."
Joe turned carefully to face the three seated at the table. "You think he set up his own brother?" His voice indicated how difficult this was to believe.
"I believe it," Frank said with certainty. "With all the things he said about his brother and how cold-blooded he was in Joe's abduction-" Frank stopped and shook his head. "When I was in the office with Jules trying to get him to incriminate himself, he didn't seem at all upset and he KNEW that Joe was most likely being tortured and killed at that very moment." Frank stared at his hands on the table. "I believe it."
Williams nodded.
"So what's going to happen to Jules?" Fenton asked the question they all wanted an answer to.
"He knows too much about ORT to be put into the general prison population. He has been presented with the case against him and he will be sent to a private maximum security facility that houses criminals that know too much about agencies that need to be secret." Williams looked at each of them. "It's not a spa. He'll be doing time, but he won't be able to blow any agent's cover or slip secrets out. You won't see or hear from him again."
The three Hardy men nodded.
"I can live with that," Joe said. And as the agent said her good-byes, he knew that he could.
.**********.
Instead of taking Frank directly back to BC, he drove to the overlook on Shore Road. He could sense Frank's unease once again at his choice of spots to 'think.' He wondered if going to the old tree house in the backyard would have been better. "I know I'm okay with Jules' sentence. How about you?"
Frank looked out over the bay. "No. I'm not okay with it. He almost killed you, Joe, and to think that he had his own brother killed…." Frank's words died out. "I'm not okay with it, but I can live with it." He turned to face his brother.
Joe gave him a nod and then started up the van.
