Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.
Thank you! To Wendylouwho10 as usual for reading for flow and content. Typos are mine and I find them all the time!
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Started as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles but is now completely AU. Frank is 20 and Joe is 19.
Author's Notes: At least a couple of HB stories had chapters that posted yesterday so I decided to wait until today. :-) Next chapter is still Saturday though. :-)
Chapter Four
Three days later…
"Mr. Hardy?"
"Um, no, this is his son Joe. I can get him for you—"
Laughter came across the line. "No, I was looking for Mr. Joe Hardy. It's Mr. Harsham from H and H Jewelers."
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Harsham," Joe said as he ran a hand through his hair and glanced around. He could hear his mother in the kitchen. "Hold on just a moment." Joe quietly stepped out on the porch and closed the door behind him. "Sorry about that. I'm used to Joe, not Mr. Hardy."
Another chuckle. "That's no problem. I just wanted to let you know that the rings have been cleaned and appraised. Do you have the ring size for us?"
Joe put his free hand over his eyes and then dropped it to his side with a silent groan. "Um, not yet. I hope to give you the size soon. Can you hold on to the rings until I get it?"
"Certainly, Mr. Hardy. We'll wait to hear from you." Mr. Harsham disconnected.
Joe tapped the phone against his thigh as he stared out into the yard. "How am I going to get her ring size?" His mind went back to the tool the jeweler had used. He didn't need to know her ring size he just needed a ring she wore on that finger. He hurriedly brought his phone up and began searching his photos. He needed to know which ring to get.
.**********.
Later that week at the Bender house…
"I'll be right back," Joe said as he stood from the couch.
"Do you want us to pause the movie?"Vanessa asked.
"No, I won't be long," Joe replied as he moved toward the hall leading to the half bath. "I just had way too much tea."
Vanessa's laugh followed him as he moved quickly down the hall. He closed the door to the bath as he passed it. The stairwell was right here too and silently he made his way upstairs.
He was at Vanessa's jewelry box in just a few moments. Scanning the contents, his eyes landed on her high school ring. He knew that was the perfect size and he quickly plucked it from the red velvet interior. He was just closing the lid when he heard a sound and spun around to find Andrea Bender leaning against the door with a laundry basket resting against her hip.
"While I thought I might catch you in Vanessa's room one day, I always figured it would be in the bed," she said with a laugh. "What are you doing?" she asked more in curiosity than in anger.
Joe's eyes flickered behind her and his voice was low, "I needed to borrow a ring because I need to know what size she wears."
"You couldn't just ask her?" Andrea asked as her eyes twinkled.
"No. It's a surprise. You won't tell her will you?" Joe asked as he moved toward the door. He needed to get back downstairs soon.
"Not a word and if you return the ring you're borrowing to me, I'll sneak it back in her box for you."
"Thanks, Mrs. Bender," Joe said as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried down the stairs. He opened and closed the bathroom door and then headed to the living room. He scanned the room and asked, "Where'd your mom go?"
"Oh, she took a basket of laundry upstairs. She'll be right back down." Vanessa snuggled into Joe's shoulder.
Joe wrapped his arm around her pulling her tight. The feel of her class ring was pressed against his leg and he was very excited to know that things would soon be falling into place.
.**********.
The next day Joe walked into H & H Jewelers and pulled Vanessa's class ring from his pocket. "Good morning, Mr. Harsham."
Good morning, Mr. Hardy." His eyes were on the glass counter and the ring. "I see you found a ring."
"I did. She wears it on her left ring finger and it's a perfect fit," Joe said excitedly.
Mr. Harsham pulled out the sizing tool and slid the ring down. He made a notation on his notepad. "The engagement ring is smaller than this so we'll need to enlarge it to fit."
"Perfect," Joe said with a smile. "Do it."
"We'll call when it's ready."
"Thanks!" Joe turned to leave. "Go ahead and size the wedding band too. I can always bring it back if there is a problem."
Harsham nodded. "As you wish, Mr. Hardy."
Laughing, Joe said, "Joe. Just call me Joe."
"I'll try," the older man said with a smile.
.**********.
When Joe arrived home, his father and brother were waiting for him and his happy mood dissipated.
"What's wrong?" he asked looking from one of them to the other. "Where's mom?" he asked in concern.
"She's working at the hospital today," Fenton said. "We need to go to ORT, there's been a development."
"Jacob?" Joe asked as he fell into step with his father and brother.
As the three men piled into the car for the ride to the station, Joe peppered them with questions. None of which Fenton had answers for but assured both boys that he was certain that many of the questions would be answered at ORT. Joe knew his dad was right, but he could see the tension in his father and he knew that whatever they learned, it wouldn't be good news.
.**********.
Williams handed each of them a tablet and turned on the projector in the conference room. Instantly a picture of a young African-American woman was thrown onto the screen. "This is Nina VanStall. She was CIA in the Los Angeles office. She's dead and we think it's related to the Jacob Yates' case."
Fenton and Frank were looking at the data on the tablets given them but Joe was focused on the screen. "Why do you think that?"
"Nina disappeared at the beginning of May. No prints. No footage on any traffic cameras. It was as if she vanished into thin air. She reappeared yesterday after six week weeks missing. She killed her husband in their house and then committed suicide with the pistol she shot him with." Williams sat down as Johnson entered the room.
"How do they connect?" Fenton asked.
"Back in November, VanStall was the lead agent in tracking down a cell of Assassins. They were getting ready to pull off several hits in the area for Chinese radicals. VanStall's work kept them from completing their mission and the potential hits were notified and are on alert now for possible follow-ups. The Assassins lost six operatives in that raid," Johnson said as he laid his own tablet on the table.
"Did VanStall leave a message or anything?" Frank asked as he looked once again at his tablet.
"No. She had obviously been abused physically and most likely emotionally but there was no note. There was no sexual abuse found but there were injection sites on both her arms. We're waiting on the tox screenings to come back," Williams said as changed the screen to a list.
"Assassins," Joe whispered as he stared at the screen and then looked to Johnson. "You think they have Jacob because he interfered with an Assassin mission like VanStall."
"We think it's a possibility," Johnson said as he glanced to Fenton. "We need you to look at the information on the screen." Johnson didn't turn to look but kept his eyes fastened on Fenton which Joe found to be odd until he looked more closely at the screen.
"These are a list of the known failed Assassin US missions in the last twelve months. We know of four. There could be more as the Assassins are usually good at covering their tracks in most cases. If there's no dead Assassin or we can't pressure the group asking for the hit who they hired then we don't know if it was them or not. Some jobs are very small," Williams' voice tapered off.
"We're on that list," Frank said as he looked at the list.
Joe stared at the names of Jeffrey and Brianna Zane and the word 'FAILED' written in red beside it.
"That's why we're contacting you and why the Miami branch of the Network will be putting their agent for the other failed attempt on notice," Johnson informed them.
"Just what the hell are you saying, Agent Johnson? That my sons are now targets of the Assassins?" Fenton practically yelled across the table as he slammed his hands on it.
Johnson raised his voice but remained calm. "I'm saying that they need to be alert and careful until we determine if the Assassins ARE going after officers and agents."
Joe watched as Fenton leaned back and rubbed both hands over his face. "Heaven help us."
"What about Vanessa?" Joe asked as he leaned forward. "She was on that mission with us."
"Vanessa is an unknown to the Assassins at least in terms of lethality." He nodded to both boys. "It would only take a little digging to determine that you are both skilled in weaponry and hand to hand. Vanessa would be counted only as back-up. Even with our covering up much of what happened, if the Assassins had someone doing surveillance, then there could be pictures of you at the camp."
"I don't like taking chances with Vanessa's safety," Joe said emphatically.
"We could put the boys and Vanessa in a safe house until—"
"No way," Joe broke in. "I'm not staying at some safe house for an indeterminate amount of time."
"Joe, it might be the safest—" Fenton began but was cut off.
"Safe like the Zanes?" Frank broke in this time to the surprise of his father. Frank shook his head. "If we're on their list then they may already be watching us and if they want to get to us they will."
"But at the safe house you'll have agents to protect you," Fenton entreated.
Joe looked to his brother. "We'll think about it and I'll talk to Vanessa. In the meantime we'll be extra careful."
Frank nodded.
The Assassins don't stop when they're attacking. They'd rather die. Not looking too good right now, Joe thought as he leaned back in the chair and stared at the screen and the missions list.
.**********.
The next week…
Joe stood by the window in his room; the dappled light shone in around the leaves of the oak. He moved his hand forward slightly so that the ring, held carefully between his thumb and finger, was now in the brilliant summer sunlight. The diamond flashed and the sapphires shone brightly. He had picked the rings up three days previous with the appraisal. He had met with the insurance agent to get a policy on the rings that day. With the increased value of gold and the quality of the stones, he had been pleasantly surprised to learn of their worth. He looked at the ring again and then dropped his hand as a knock sounded at his door. Looking over he said, "Oh, hey Frank."
"Hey." Frank's head bobbed as he said, "Looking at the ring again?"
Joe smiled as he moved to put the ring back in the small velvet box. "Yeah. It gives me something to look forward to."
"But you're no—"
"No," Joe said with some exasperation. "I won't propose until all this with the Assassins is figured out. I wouldn't put Vanessa in the position to bury me right after I pro—" Frank cursed and Joe looked over at him. "It's what you were thinking though."
"Hell, Joe. We talked about this. Even if Vanessa isn't a primary target, she and Callie could be targets to get to us. Right now they're girlfriends—"
"I know. I know. Making Vanessa my fiancée might just make her a more prominent target. But Frank, we don't even know that the Assassins will come after us," Joe said as he put the box away and sat on his bed. "Now that the immediate surprise is over I just have to ask, how long will we put our lives on hold for this?"
"You know what Johnson and Williams said. Once the Assassins fail a mission, they cancel the contract and return the monies. They think if they can somehow recover Yates then maybe that will end…" he paused, "whatever it is they have going."
"Revenge," Joe said softly.
"Revenge sounds personal and from what we've read and what you already said, the Assassins don't do personal," Frank said in a confident tone as he crossed his arms.
Joe looked at his brother and nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's not personal. But all those Assassins who died are someone's brother or sister or child. I know it would be personal for me." Joe stood up before Frank could respond. "Let's go downstairs and see if mom needs help with supper." He brushed past Frank as he continued to stand in the door. He knew he'd given his elder brother something to think about.
.**********.
"I don't understand why we can't just grab the boy now," the woman with the lilting Hindi accent said.
"We've taken care of Agent VanStall and we have Officer Yates now. The Hardys' time will come," the older man said calmly. "Hassan says that Yates is almost ready to return to his girlfriend."
"You said that Joe Hardy was having rings cleaned. I still think the girlfriend is the way to go," the woman returned as she stood looking out the second story window of the building they were using as a blind. "She was there."
"But it was most likely Joe Hardy that caused your sister's death, Maya. Him or his brother, Frank. Joe is a trained sniper and Frank is a black belt. Vanessa has probably only had basic training." He looked at her and his eyes narrowed. "But, let's see if we can confirm who was the cause."
"Al-Rousasa, you know we haven't been able to break into the database of the Network or whatever group the Hardys are working for," she said as she turned from the window. Her profile was striking with elegant, classic features.
"Joe Hardy sees a psychiatrist. I'm sure that we can learn all sorts of interesting things about young Mr. Hardy's past abductions and missions," Al-Rousasa said thoughtfully.
An evil smile formed on Maya's face. "Things that would be most useful when we have one of them."
"Indeed. I'll get the information we need and then you can refine the specifics of your plan."
Maya bowed and left the room, the smile still on her face.