Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the canon book characters, and am making no monies from this story. Any Original Characters belong to the author(s).
This story was originally written in the early 2000s. There are many technological differences from today's world. Co-written with RokiaHDA, who wrote back then under the name of Aspen.
September Reprise
By EvergreenDreamweaver and RokiaHDA
Chapter 25
Brown, nondescript, in good shape, fairly new – it was the kind of car that fit into middle-class suburbia anywhere in the U.S. The man who sat within it leaned back in comfort as he watched the house down the block and across the street. He was parked in front of 'his' house – the house his boss had rented for a period of six months, during which time the man was going to be keeping an eye on the comings and goings of a certain woman who had been seen in that certain house across the street.
The man acted as though he were fixing something on the car. That took incredible amounts of time, he knew. He could watch – and nobody would suspect a thing.
If it all works out, though, I won't need any six months, the man gloated to himself. He was smart, he knew – smart and crafty. And if he wanted to go far in the organization, he was going to have to take some chances. Even if the big boss didn't approve of them…there was more to this, after all, than family business….There was revenge. He would have his revenge. And to add the cherry to the sundae, he would move higher in the organization while he did it! There's nothing better than killing two birds with one stone, he mused, and chuckled grimly. Yes, he could prove his worth, all right! No question about that!
He smiled again, as he got out of the car and popped the hood, to resume tinkering with the motor again….
#####
"Oh my gosh, this is just great!" Dani Tanner leaned to the side in her copilot's chair, and peered through the window, down at the ground a few thousand feet below her. "It's just unbelievable, Jack!" A huge smile suffused her lovely face.
"You're not nervous?" he inquired, holding the craft steady as the breeze buffeted them slightly. "You said you'd never been up in a little plane before…."
"I have absolutely no reason to be nervous," she declared. "After all, aren't I with the best pilot in Bayport? Or so you assured me—"
"Definitely with the best pilot in Bayport," he agreed, laughing. Still, he'd keep an eye on her. He was determined that nothing was going to spoil this outing, and that included both fright and airsickness!
Dani girl, you have got to be the luckiest woman in the world right now – and about time, too! After all these years, your luck's finally turning. You're sitting next to an incredibly handsome guy – the most interesting man you've met in a long time – and he's not a co-worker, he's not married, and he's interested in YOU! Dani settled back into her seat with a sigh of contentment. Yup – you have totally lucked out, Tanner. And to top it all off, he owns his own business and flies planes….AND he doesn't seem to mind your wacko work hours! And…he seems to like you. Really.
Those wacko work hours would begin again the next day, when she'd be on duty for 48 hours. But it was nice, because then she would be off for another 48. Sometimes it worked out like that – nice. On the other hand, sometimes she ended up working 24, then being off 24, and then working another 24, so that all she wanted to do was SLEEP! She was used to it by now, firefighter that she was, but….I just hope Jack doesn't mind it too much….
At the moment, Jack Wayne didn't mind anything at all. He was currently flying about as high as his plane, thrilled with the fact that for once, he'd lucked out in finding the right girl! He'd watched his younger sister – gangly, shy April, of all people! – going out on dates with that lanky Todd guy who seemed so enamored with her. The Hardy brothers always had their dates, and beauties they were, too. Jason Montgomery, the other cargo loader, was practically a social butterfly, in comparison with Jack. Everyone he knew – but himself – dated! He'd begun to think he had caught some strange kind of anti-dating disease, that made it impossible for him to be able to get close to anyone. Then, out of the blue – Fenton calls with a golf invitation. One trip to the golf course, one attack by flying golf balls, and whammo! Cupid strikes!
Jack chuckled to himself, thinking about Cupid attacking with golf balls instead of a little bow and arrow, then grinned, realizing he probably looked like an idiot – and also realizing he didn't care if Dani saw him grinning like an idiot. After all, he was as happy as he'd been in a very long time. There was something to look forward to now. Something other than flight schedules, bills, repairs, supplies, more flights. Even if she had strange working hours – and he had to admit that his schedule wasn't all that stable, either – he was positive they could work past it. He actually anticipated working past it. Oh, yes. Definitely.
"You're very quiet – cat got your tongue?" Dani asked him, tossing him a quick, teasing glance as she looked over the cockpit.
Jack was glad they kept the planes clean, and silently blessed Frank, or Joe, or Jason – whoever had dusted! It certainly wouldn't do for Dani to see a messy cockpit in a Wayne's World plane, after all! "Nope," he smiled, "Just thinking how much fun this is. And what a good time I'm having. And how I hope you – uh…" He broke off, blushing and unable to help it.
Dani smiled back at him. "I kind of feel the same way," she admitted. "What a good time I'm having, and how much fun this is. You know, I was just telling one of the boys, the other day – Frankenstein, I think it was – that I just wasn't meant to have a social life. That my profession and my weird work hours kept anyone from being interested in bothering with me." Suddenly, those dark eyes looked slightly apprehensive. "You sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"
"Absolutely," Jack said firmly. "Indubitably. Totally. And I couldn't be any happier to be doing it."
Dani's smile was a reward in itself. She looked out the window again. "You promised me the two-bit aerial tour of Bayport," she reminded her pilot.
Jack obliged, dropping a little altitude and banking the plane around so that they could circle over the city again. He oriented himself, and began to point out landmarks as he saw them; Dani leaned close to the windows and peered out, fascinated by what she was seeing.
"There's city hall…there's the Methodist church, see the steeple?….There's the new movie theater complex….There's Shore Road…. There, see that?" He pointed to one of the farms below them. "That's where Vanessa Bender lives, she and her mother. Her mom's a graphic artist – you know, she does that cartoon, the one about the dog. Rex Rover?"
"Really? I've seen that a couple of times. Some of the guys at the station really like it! I didn't know that Vanessa's mom did it. She's incredibly good, then." Dani was quiet a moment, then added, "I remember a fire there, a year or two ago."
"Yes, that was right after they moved to Bayport. Right after Joe met Vanessa, in fact," Jack said. He flew a little further, then pointed again. "That's the Mortons' farm. You know Chet? Friend of the Hardys."
"Fairly well, actually," Dani nodded. "He was in the same CPR refresher class that Frank and Joe took. I've always liked Chet. He's a good friend to Golden Boy and Frankenstein." Again she paused. "I felt so badly about his sister. I wish there had been something I could have done, to save her from that car bomb. I wasn't even on duty that day, though."
Jack nodded, sharing her remorse. "Nobody could help that day, Dani. There wasn't anything anyone could do. Joe nearly killed himself, trying."
###
Eventually, Jack had to stop gliding around over Bayport, and headed toward the New York end of Long Island. He would have loved to swoop over New York City and show it off for Dani, but that wouldn't have been allowed, and he didn't have to go that far anyway. He continued to point out interesting points of view on the way.
"It's always interesting to fly anywhere from Bayport," he noted, "you almost always end up over water after a bit – unless you fly straight inland, of course – especially if you fly south. But we're not going all that far today – just a little town near New York."
"It's always seemed strange to me that there are rural areas like Bayport, with farms and such, so close to a huge urban area like New York City," Dani commented wonderingly.
Jack smiled. "Bayport's always had its own special charm," he murmured. "And now it's even more charming!"
Dani blushed and hastily changed the subject. "Shouldn't we have done the flyover of the college campus before we left Bayport?" she asked. "Won't it be too dark when we get back?"
"No, this won't take all that long." Jack shook his head. "The guy who I'm chartered for would have just driven for it himself, but it's a major rush for some important job or other. Something about a server being down, and needing to be replaced."
###
They continued the trip in relative quiet. Dani was watching the landscape flowing beneath them, enraptured by the sight, and only occasionally made a soft comment about what she saw. Jack, although he was forced to pay attention to his instruments and the tasks at hand, managed to spend a considerable amount of time gazing at the beautiful girl in his co-pilot's seat, and again marveling at his good fortune.
Jack brought the plane down for a smooth landing at a small airstrip near Long Grove, and taxied to the hangars. Once stopped, he leaped from the plane and helped Dani to alight. They waited beside the plane, as the representative of the company Jack was flying for came out to get the precious cargo himself.
After exchanging greetings with the rep, Jack helped offload the boxes, and put them into the back of a large cargo van, while Dani watched with interest. He produced paperwork to be signed, accepted the cashier's check in payment, and shook hands with his satisfied customer.
"Ready to head back?" Jack asked, when the rep had driven off, well pleased.
"Yes!" Dani's eyes sparkled; she'd decided that this was one of the most fun things she'd done in a very long while. "We still have to do that flyover of the campus, after all."
The flight back to Bayport was just as swift and smooth as the first half of the journey, but this time, Jack initiated some conversation. Just watching Dani wasn't enough, now. He wanted to listen to her talk, too!
"What's it like, being a firefighter and being a woman?" he asked, at one point.
"What do you mean?" she twinkled. "It's hot and scary, and a lot of hard work at times, just like for a man."
"Well, I guess what I meant was, how do you get along on a squad that's mostly men? Do you get picked on for being female?" Jack wasn't quite sure just what he actually meant, and was afraid he'd blundered with these questions.
"I only get picked on occasionally, now – like when someone new comes on board. I've learned how to deal with them, and after they've learned their lessons, we get along juuuust fine," she drawled, with another twinkling look. "I don't put up with macho stuff from them, and they don't put up with the opposite from me."
"Oh…um…in that case, I guess I'll try to curb any tendencies toward machismo," Jack murmured, and they both laughed. Secretly, though, he was a tiny bit disappointed. He already felt protective towards this dark beauty – and was disillusioned to realize that she neither wanted nor needed any protectiveness on his part! She was entirely able to take care of herself. Heck, she probably could take care of herself and him, if it came right down to brass tacks!
Dani leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window. I might not mind a little machismo…occasionally…from you….It might be nice to be taken care of….
"There's the campus," Jack pointed out, at last. "I'll drop down lower."
Dani pulled a camera from her bag. "I borrowed this from one of the guys at the station," she said. "It's got an extra-powerful zoom lens." She focused and shot, focused and shot, again and again, as Jack made several passes over the campus. "Wait a minute." She dropped the camera into her lap. "Do you have binoculars in here, Jack?"
"In that compartment there," Jack indicated the storage box, and Dani pulled them out, a long-range, high-powered set. "Want another pass?"
"Yes, please…. There's something moving on top of one of the buildings. That longish one…" She set the binoculars to her eyes and zeroed in on the figure on top of the building. She couldn't zoom in close enough to see the person really well, but she scanned the top of the building as best she could, before switching back to the camera. She shot several more pictures, then settled back. "Okay, got it." She reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to call the station and have them relay a request to get someone up there to check," she muttered, and started dialing.
"Wait, wait!" Jack held up a hand to stop her. "Not in here; it messes with the instrument readings!" he cautioned. "But I can contact the airport tower and they can get you in touch with the fire department, if that will help."
"YES!" Dani was jittering with excitement, craning her neck to keep the occupied roof in view.
Jack obligingly called the tower, and in a few minutes, Dani was speaking with someone who promised to have the roof checked out immediately.
Jack banked the plane again, circling over the campus once more. "Do you think it was the arsonist?" he demanded, once Dani was free again.
Dani shrugged. "I have no idea. It could have been, or it could be a maintenance worker, or a janitor. Or something entirely unrelated. Why do people walk around on roofs, anyway? I hope someone can recognize the building from the top. I think it's the gymnasium, but I'm not positive. I'm not all that familiar with the campus. It's long enough, though…."
"About identifying the guy – I suppose Frank and Joe will sort it out, once they get the pictures from you."
"Yeah." Dani nodded. "Could you do one more circuit, Jack?" She leaned forward again, watching sharply as he granted the request. It was easy to spot the buildings which had been burnt so far – the stadium and athletic building…the administration building, located near the main entrance to the campus…the art building, to the right and up the street from the Admin building. The gymnasium – or what she thought was the gym – was equidistant between the art building and the stadium.
"I wonder," she said aloud, "if the arsonist is doing this along some sort of path, rather than just randomly picking buildings?"
"I have no clue," Jack admitted. He chuckled ruefully. "I've never been very good at the detective game. The last time I tried it, I nearly got myself killed!"
"What do you mean by that?" she demanded.
He glanced over at her. "You really want to know? Or are you just being polite?" He frowned, seeing a pallor on her face he didn't care for. "Are you feeling okay?"
She gave him a light smack on the arm. "I really want to know; stop stalling!"
He shuddered eloquently. "Don't say things like 'stalling' to a pilot, Dani! It scares the daylights out of us!"
"All right, all right. Yes, I really want to know. But I'll admit, all this circling is starting to make me a little dizzy…or something….Why don't you head back to the airport; we've seen all we can see. And tell me about how you nearly got killed, being a detective!"
Jack obediently banked the plane again, and headed for the airfield. "Well," he began, "it all started when a pilot friend of mine got himself involved with some guys who wanted him to transport bricks of cocaine for them. He ended up being murdered – and I decided to do something to bring down the guys who killed him. So I went to Fenton for help…."
By the time they reached the runway nearest the air cargo hangars, Jack was finishing his abbreviated tale. "…so there I was, trying to recover from being hijacked to Toronto and Maced by the police after I landed there, and April and Joe were facing down a potential killer right here in the hangar!" He concentrated briefly on setting the plane down smoothly. Once they were on the ground, he taxied towards Wayne's World, still talking. "Joe fought with him, but he was pretty sick at the time, and was overpowered. It took April whacking the guy over the head with a wrench to bring him down."
Dani was staring at him open-mouthed. "You should be more careful…SHE should be more careful!" she exclaimed. "The Hardys seem to be rubbing off on you – and not in a good way!"
Jack laughed ruefully. "I think you're right. April was sure proud of herself, though."
They got out of the plane and Jack locked it, then walked to the hangar, meeting a subdued Joe as he emerged.
"Hi Jack – Dani," he greeted them tiredly. "I just finished loading the other plane for your flight tomorrow morning, Jack. Have a nice trip?"
"Yes – but now I want to know about the guy on the roof!" Dani said, distractedly.
Joe stared at her in bewilderment, and then turned to Jack, who was laughing heartily. "What the heck is she talking about?" Joe demanded grumpily. He ached all over, especially his chest, and at the moment, nothing struck him as very funny.
"We did some flyovers of the campus," Jack stopped laughing to tell him. "Dani saw somebody up on the roof of one of the buildings. She thought it was the gym. She called it in, to have it checked out, just in case it was our friendly neighborhood arsonist!"
"Oh!" Joe was suddenly not quite so grouchy and sore. This was exciting news! "Maybe I should tell Frank – we could go and check it out—"
"Whoa, whoa," Jack put a calming hand on his arm as Joe pulled out his cell phone. "The guy's long gone now. And if it was the arsonist, and you went there and the fire started…." He stared at Joe meaningfully. "It wouldn't be a very good place to be, now would it?"
Joe sighed and returned the phone to his pocket. "Guess you're right."
"Joe, I took a bunch of pictures of the campus, and that includes the guy on the roof," Dani told him, holding up the camera. "I'll go get them developed right away; the guy who owns this camera does his own developing, and I'll get them to you as soon as he gets them done—"
"Dani – Dani, wait, wait!" Joe chuckled at her enthusiasm. "If you let me have the camera for a little while, I can develop the film. We have a darkroom at home."
"Oh." She blinked, then laughed. "I'm a dunce, aren't I? Here, Golden Boy, take it." She handed him the camera. "But let me know as soon as you develop them won't you?"
"Sure," Joe nodded. "We're going to get this creep yet." He started to head for the parking lot, but Dani stopped him and turned him toward the light, to examine his discolored cheek.
"Put some ice on that, Joe – okay?" she suggested gently. "And get some rest tonight."
"I will – thanks, Dani." With a quick smile for each of them, Joe took his leave.
Jack cleared his throat meaningfully. "Since you don't have to rush off to get the film developed," he murmured to Dani, "what would you say to going somewhere for dinner?"
She regarded him smilingly. "Why…I'd probably say…lead the way!"