Chapter 25:
Fenton Hardy stood and stared emptily at nothing, he let out a deep sigh and looked up at paramedics carry the stretcher, covered with a white sheet, carefully into the ambulance. But a child would know, that if you're shot in the head, you won't live. And the ambulance drove off.
'Frank, are you all right?!' Collig asked worried.
Fenton shook his head from the trance and looked at his son who sat beside him on the hood of a police car.
'Yeah, I'm fine, just shocked' Frank answered and checked his own heartbeat with the palm of his hand, it was still beating very fast.
'Damn, I was so sure she had shot you' Chet breathed.
'Yeah, me too' Biff said. 'Shit!'
Callie studied Frank.
'There's blood on your shoulder and the back of your head' she said in a low voice.
Frank turned his head to look at his shoulder. 'How nice' he muttered.
'Is it yours or hers?' Chet asked.
'Hers. I'm going to clean this off' Frank said and stood up.
Collig gave Fenton a light tap on the shoulder.
'Cheer up, it could have been Frank, it wasn't. Shame she did this, though. We probably wouldn't have gotten anything from her, anyway.'
'My son was 2 inches from death' Fenton said. 'Again.'
They both grinned.
Frank came running to them.
'Collig, I want to go where J.where the helicopters went. Is it possible to get me there?' he asked eagerly.
'Woow, cool down, buddy. Don't act like you were nearly shot in the head few minutes ago' Collig said ironically. 'Well, I'll call and see if they could track them down, but to get you there.well, we'll see' Collig said and took the transceiver from his belt.
'Hey, guys, it's Collig, can you find the helicopters?'
A fuzzy voice answered. 'They just flew over Wahsington.'
'Boston' Frank thought. 'They're going to Boston.'
'What did you say?' his father asked.
Frank looked determined at him.
'Dad, is Jack busy?' he asked.
-'Well, no I don't think so but.'
-'Can I borrow your cell phone?'
Fenton nodded and gave it to him.
Frank dialled to Jack Wayne, Fenton Hardy's private pilot.
'Yeah, hi, Jack. It's Frank, I was wondering, are you busy right now?
-Yes, right this minute. -Besides talking to me. -Really? Think you could be ready for a flight in 20 minutes or so? -Boston. -Aha, yes, that'd be great, see you then.'
'Boston?' Chet asked.
'The old Walker & Jennings factories are there so I'm guessing they need something there or have to do something there, and we're going to find out what' Frank quickly explained.
'All right, I'm in, let's go' Chet said cheerfully.
'Hey! Are you guys going to leave me here, I don't think so!' Biff yelled.
'And what about me?' Callie asked.
Frank turned to her. 'You'll stay here' he said.
'Why?' she asked.
'Because it's for the best' Frank said patiently.
Callie frowned.
Frank turned around while running, and yelled. 'I don't know when you should expect us, maybe you should go and let mom know about this, dad.'
The three ran to Frank's car and drove fast back to Bayport.
Fenton shook his head, again.
'They're way far ahead of me' he said.
'Let's face it, my friend, we're getting too old for this business' Ezra Collig sighed.
'Well, we can just as well try to come to use here' Fenton said.
'Right, let's get back to town. We'll be in touch with Frank and Jack' Collig.
The police officers had finished their investigations, but Collig had plans about sending a diver down to the silo or mine or whatever it was.
They went into their cars and drove back to Bayport.
Fenton opened the backdoor of the car for Callie.
'Signorina?' he said civilly.
'You speak Italian?' she asked as she sat into the car.
'No, not much, Tony taught me a few words' Fenton answered and closed the door and sat in the passengers seat and Collig stepped on the accelerator. -----------------------------------------------------
Frank, Biff and Chet met Jack Wayne at the Bayport airport on a private landing field.
'What's up, guys?'
'Not much, but we need to go to Boston as soon as possible' Frank said.
'You got it' Jack said.
They went into the plane and after some shouts and signals it dropped the ground.
Frank ran out as soon as Jack stopped the plane on the airport in Boston. Chet and Biff were right behind him.
They didn't even say goodbye to Jack. He watched them surprised.
'Ok, bye, see ya guys later. I'll just.wait here, take your time, no problem.' he said to himself.
Frank waved for a taxi when they were out of the airport. The driver was an old kind-looking man.
'Excuse me, do you know where the Walker & Jennings factories are?' Frank asked him.
'Oh, yes, I pass them everyday on my way to work' the driver answered.
-'Great, can you take us there?'
'Of course I can, that's what I'm paid for' the old man said merrily. 'Hop in.'
The old taxi driver started conversations on the way. 'Now, I know it's really none of my business but what could you want in the factories, the place is old and ugly, uglier than me, and that's says a lot!'
Frank smiled. 'We're suppose to meet someone there' he said casually.
'Do you know anything about this company?' Biff asked.
'Yes, yes I've lived close to the main buildings for over 30 years now' the man answered.
'Then you might know if there's some fast-food around there?' Chet said.
The driver laughed. 'Yes, there is one, uh.what was the name of it.something like.McRonald?'
'McDonald's?' Frank helped.
'Correct! That was it, well, the company, what can I tell you about the company? The story behind it is sad.'
'Can you tell us about it?' Frank asked interested.
'That shouldn't be too hard. Well, when Richard Walker and Adam Jennings started the company, they produced weapons and all kinds of equipment for the police all over USA. At first they made a killing of it, but then other companies started producing the same products only better so Walker and Jennings, of course, stopped making money and the little they had they fought about until Walker mysteriously died from poison in his house. There wasn't enough evidence to judge Jennings for the murder but I'm quite sure the bastard did it. He had been threatening Walker before. He took all the moneys, he didn't even appear in the funeral. And that was the end of the company. But that's not the end of the story, some say that those two smuggled some weapons and some dangerous bombs to enemy countries of the USA and made some extra money that they hid in the buildings I'm taking you to. It has been searched for this, hmm. 'hidden treasure' hundred times and it has never been found probably because there is nothing, nothing but dust and mice. But the mice are going to have to find another place to live, those building will be torn down next year, or so I've heard.'
'Really?' Biff asked and tried not to yawn.
Frank, however, was really-really interested.
The driver laughed to himself. 'It's funny' he mumbled.
'What's funny?' Frank asked.
-'I thought I saw a light there a two weeks ago.'
-'Really?' Frank looked at him. 'Did you hear something?'
'No' the man answered, 'I wasn't sure if there really was a light or if it was just my imagination.'
-'I see.'
The rest of the trip was silent.
Until Frank saw a small tower in the distance.
'Is that it?' he asked.
The driver nodded. 'Yes, this is the place' he said. 'Wait a minute! Something's going on there!'
As they got closer they saw many police cars outside the steal wire fences.
'This isn't exactly the best place to meet somebody at the moment. I'll let you out by McRonald' the old driver said.
He stopped the car outside McDonald's. 'Well, that was a pleasant drive! Good luck, boys!' he said.
Frank paid and they went out of the car.
The driver waved before he drove away.
'Hey, guys should we go get something to eat before we go, I mean we don't know how long we'll be there' Chet said 'And I'm starving.'
Frank grinned. 'Yeah, that is a good idea. You go buy something, but not much. Take it with you.'
'Sure, how about those sandwiches, you know with the roastbee.' Chet started.
'Yeah, whatever, you decide, we can eat everything' Frank cut in.
'Good, cause I heard about those deep-fried roaches.' his friend mumbled and went inside McDonald's.
Frank and Biff waited outside and watched the police forces surround the area inside the fences. No SWAT, not yet.
As soon as Chet came out of McDonald's they walked over the street and headed towards the buildings.
'Hey, what's going on?' Frank asked one of the police officers.
'You are?' the officer asked back.
'Oh, I'm Frank Hardy' Frank said, 'And they're my friends, Biff and Chet.' He looked at Biff and Chet.
'From Bayport?' the police officer asked.
'That's right' Frank answered.
-'Do you have any identity?'
-'What? Um, yeah...here' Frank gave him his identity card.
The officer read it and then gave it back to Frank.
'Follow me' he said.
They walked inside the fences where many police officer were ripping and breaking boards away from windows to get into the building because the main doors had been jammed from inside.
'Sir' the officer said loud.
One man turned around.
'Yes?' he asked.
'This is Mr. Hardy' the officer said.
'Yes, yes, right' the man smiled 'I'm commissioner Joshua Mitchell' said.
'Hi' Frank said.
'Collig called and told us you were coming' Mitchell explained.
-'Oh.I see. Good. So, what now?'
'Well, as you see, we are trying to get in and then we'll just have to see what's waiting for us' the commissioner answered.
'So you don't have any info?' Frank asked.
'I was told that these were dangerous people, murderers, the kingpin is a woman, in fact, Mr Walkers daughter who once owned this factory, or factory leftovers... There are two, maybe three hostages but we didn't get an exact number of the whole group so.'
-'Ok, I'll tell you a few things I know, I believe that the kingpins are two, a man and a woman, the hostages are two, one is the brother of a girl they killed, Randy Cline, the other is my girlfriend who is a detective names Nancy Drew. But don't know how many people are in there either.'
Joshua wrote down some notes.
'My, my, Hardy, Walker, Cline, Drew, all known names' he thought aloud.
Frank stretched his lips.
'Sir, it's open!' somebody called.
Mitchell looked up. 'Well then, let's catch the bad guys!' He went away and came back with three pistols.
'I can be assured that you know how to use these?' he said and shared them with the three friend.
There were around thirty police officers in the force and they all gathered by the window that had been cleared.
'Who's the smallest here?' commissioner Mitchell asked and surveyed the window with his eyes, it wasn't very large.
He sent a young thin officer inside, who could get through the window and it took him a few minutes to open the main door from inside and let everyone in.
They walked through the main hall till it departed to many ways.
'Let's split up' Mitchell commanded quietly.
Frank, Chet and Biff followed him.
'We're going upstairs' they heard from the CB.
Mitchell answered. 'Heading to the backyard.I think.'
It appeared he was right. They approached a big hall that led to the backyard, where glass doors that had been jammed with boards just like all other doors and windows.
'Think we can rip it away?' Biff asked.
'Well, I'm here, of course we can!' Chet said and grinned.
Biff gazed at him.
'Let's just try it' Frank said.
The four exploited their powers to pull the boards away.
'Moving into the backyard' Mitchell said to the CB.
'There's nothing on the 2nd floor, we go to the third' someone said.
-'All right.' Joshua Mitchell turned to his fellows. 'Shall we enter?'
'Unless we're gonna stay here' Chet said.
Frank turned the knob and walked through the door. He scanned the area. There was nothing. Only uncut grass and trash and the steel fence were in sight. Then Frank's eyes observed two people in the shadow of a stack of large tree boxes.
'Nancy!'
Fenton Hardy stood and stared emptily at nothing, he let out a deep sigh and looked up at paramedics carry the stretcher, covered with a white sheet, carefully into the ambulance. But a child would know, that if you're shot in the head, you won't live. And the ambulance drove off.
'Frank, are you all right?!' Collig asked worried.
Fenton shook his head from the trance and looked at his son who sat beside him on the hood of a police car.
'Yeah, I'm fine, just shocked' Frank answered and checked his own heartbeat with the palm of his hand, it was still beating very fast.
'Damn, I was so sure she had shot you' Chet breathed.
'Yeah, me too' Biff said. 'Shit!'
Callie studied Frank.
'There's blood on your shoulder and the back of your head' she said in a low voice.
Frank turned his head to look at his shoulder. 'How nice' he muttered.
'Is it yours or hers?' Chet asked.
'Hers. I'm going to clean this off' Frank said and stood up.
Collig gave Fenton a light tap on the shoulder.
'Cheer up, it could have been Frank, it wasn't. Shame she did this, though. We probably wouldn't have gotten anything from her, anyway.'
'My son was 2 inches from death' Fenton said. 'Again.'
They both grinned.
Frank came running to them.
'Collig, I want to go where J.where the helicopters went. Is it possible to get me there?' he asked eagerly.
'Woow, cool down, buddy. Don't act like you were nearly shot in the head few minutes ago' Collig said ironically. 'Well, I'll call and see if they could track them down, but to get you there.well, we'll see' Collig said and took the transceiver from his belt.
'Hey, guys, it's Collig, can you find the helicopters?'
A fuzzy voice answered. 'They just flew over Wahsington.'
'Boston' Frank thought. 'They're going to Boston.'
'What did you say?' his father asked.
Frank looked determined at him.
'Dad, is Jack busy?' he asked.
-'Well, no I don't think so but.'
-'Can I borrow your cell phone?'
Fenton nodded and gave it to him.
Frank dialled to Jack Wayne, Fenton Hardy's private pilot.
'Yeah, hi, Jack. It's Frank, I was wondering, are you busy right now?
-Yes, right this minute. -Besides talking to me. -Really? Think you could be ready for a flight in 20 minutes or so? -Boston. -Aha, yes, that'd be great, see you then.'
'Boston?' Chet asked.
'The old Walker & Jennings factories are there so I'm guessing they need something there or have to do something there, and we're going to find out what' Frank quickly explained.
'All right, I'm in, let's go' Chet said cheerfully.
'Hey! Are you guys going to leave me here, I don't think so!' Biff yelled.
'And what about me?' Callie asked.
Frank turned to her. 'You'll stay here' he said.
'Why?' she asked.
'Because it's for the best' Frank said patiently.
Callie frowned.
Frank turned around while running, and yelled. 'I don't know when you should expect us, maybe you should go and let mom know about this, dad.'
The three ran to Frank's car and drove fast back to Bayport.
Fenton shook his head, again.
'They're way far ahead of me' he said.
'Let's face it, my friend, we're getting too old for this business' Ezra Collig sighed.
'Well, we can just as well try to come to use here' Fenton said.
'Right, let's get back to town. We'll be in touch with Frank and Jack' Collig.
The police officers had finished their investigations, but Collig had plans about sending a diver down to the silo or mine or whatever it was.
They went into their cars and drove back to Bayport.
Fenton opened the backdoor of the car for Callie.
'Signorina?' he said civilly.
'You speak Italian?' she asked as she sat into the car.
'No, not much, Tony taught me a few words' Fenton answered and closed the door and sat in the passengers seat and Collig stepped on the accelerator. -----------------------------------------------------
Frank, Biff and Chet met Jack Wayne at the Bayport airport on a private landing field.
'What's up, guys?'
'Not much, but we need to go to Boston as soon as possible' Frank said.
'You got it' Jack said.
They went into the plane and after some shouts and signals it dropped the ground.
Frank ran out as soon as Jack stopped the plane on the airport in Boston. Chet and Biff were right behind him.
They didn't even say goodbye to Jack. He watched them surprised.
'Ok, bye, see ya guys later. I'll just.wait here, take your time, no problem.' he said to himself.
Frank waved for a taxi when they were out of the airport. The driver was an old kind-looking man.
'Excuse me, do you know where the Walker & Jennings factories are?' Frank asked him.
'Oh, yes, I pass them everyday on my way to work' the driver answered.
-'Great, can you take us there?'
'Of course I can, that's what I'm paid for' the old man said merrily. 'Hop in.'
The old taxi driver started conversations on the way. 'Now, I know it's really none of my business but what could you want in the factories, the place is old and ugly, uglier than me, and that's says a lot!'
Frank smiled. 'We're suppose to meet someone there' he said casually.
'Do you know anything about this company?' Biff asked.
'Yes, yes I've lived close to the main buildings for over 30 years now' the man answered.
'Then you might know if there's some fast-food around there?' Chet said.
The driver laughed. 'Yes, there is one, uh.what was the name of it.something like.McRonald?'
'McDonald's?' Frank helped.
'Correct! That was it, well, the company, what can I tell you about the company? The story behind it is sad.'
'Can you tell us about it?' Frank asked interested.
'That shouldn't be too hard. Well, when Richard Walker and Adam Jennings started the company, they produced weapons and all kinds of equipment for the police all over USA. At first they made a killing of it, but then other companies started producing the same products only better so Walker and Jennings, of course, stopped making money and the little they had they fought about until Walker mysteriously died from poison in his house. There wasn't enough evidence to judge Jennings for the murder but I'm quite sure the bastard did it. He had been threatening Walker before. He took all the moneys, he didn't even appear in the funeral. And that was the end of the company. But that's not the end of the story, some say that those two smuggled some weapons and some dangerous bombs to enemy countries of the USA and made some extra money that they hid in the buildings I'm taking you to. It has been searched for this, hmm. 'hidden treasure' hundred times and it has never been found probably because there is nothing, nothing but dust and mice. But the mice are going to have to find another place to live, those building will be torn down next year, or so I've heard.'
'Really?' Biff asked and tried not to yawn.
Frank, however, was really-really interested.
The driver laughed to himself. 'It's funny' he mumbled.
'What's funny?' Frank asked.
-'I thought I saw a light there a two weeks ago.'
-'Really?' Frank looked at him. 'Did you hear something?'
'No' the man answered, 'I wasn't sure if there really was a light or if it was just my imagination.'
-'I see.'
The rest of the trip was silent.
Until Frank saw a small tower in the distance.
'Is that it?' he asked.
The driver nodded. 'Yes, this is the place' he said. 'Wait a minute! Something's going on there!'
As they got closer they saw many police cars outside the steal wire fences.
'This isn't exactly the best place to meet somebody at the moment. I'll let you out by McRonald' the old driver said.
He stopped the car outside McDonald's. 'Well, that was a pleasant drive! Good luck, boys!' he said.
Frank paid and they went out of the car.
The driver waved before he drove away.
'Hey, guys should we go get something to eat before we go, I mean we don't know how long we'll be there' Chet said 'And I'm starving.'
Frank grinned. 'Yeah, that is a good idea. You go buy something, but not much. Take it with you.'
'Sure, how about those sandwiches, you know with the roastbee.' Chet started.
'Yeah, whatever, you decide, we can eat everything' Frank cut in.
'Good, cause I heard about those deep-fried roaches.' his friend mumbled and went inside McDonald's.
Frank and Biff waited outside and watched the police forces surround the area inside the fences. No SWAT, not yet.
As soon as Chet came out of McDonald's they walked over the street and headed towards the buildings.
'Hey, what's going on?' Frank asked one of the police officers.
'You are?' the officer asked back.
'Oh, I'm Frank Hardy' Frank said, 'And they're my friends, Biff and Chet.' He looked at Biff and Chet.
'From Bayport?' the police officer asked.
'That's right' Frank answered.
-'Do you have any identity?'
-'What? Um, yeah...here' Frank gave him his identity card.
The officer read it and then gave it back to Frank.
'Follow me' he said.
They walked inside the fences where many police officer were ripping and breaking boards away from windows to get into the building because the main doors had been jammed from inside.
'Sir' the officer said loud.
One man turned around.
'Yes?' he asked.
'This is Mr. Hardy' the officer said.
'Yes, yes, right' the man smiled 'I'm commissioner Joshua Mitchell' said.
'Hi' Frank said.
'Collig called and told us you were coming' Mitchell explained.
-'Oh.I see. Good. So, what now?'
'Well, as you see, we are trying to get in and then we'll just have to see what's waiting for us' the commissioner answered.
'So you don't have any info?' Frank asked.
'I was told that these were dangerous people, murderers, the kingpin is a woman, in fact, Mr Walkers daughter who once owned this factory, or factory leftovers... There are two, maybe three hostages but we didn't get an exact number of the whole group so.'
-'Ok, I'll tell you a few things I know, I believe that the kingpins are two, a man and a woman, the hostages are two, one is the brother of a girl they killed, Randy Cline, the other is my girlfriend who is a detective names Nancy Drew. But don't know how many people are in there either.'
Joshua wrote down some notes.
'My, my, Hardy, Walker, Cline, Drew, all known names' he thought aloud.
Frank stretched his lips.
'Sir, it's open!' somebody called.
Mitchell looked up. 'Well then, let's catch the bad guys!' He went away and came back with three pistols.
'I can be assured that you know how to use these?' he said and shared them with the three friend.
There were around thirty police officers in the force and they all gathered by the window that had been cleared.
'Who's the smallest here?' commissioner Mitchell asked and surveyed the window with his eyes, it wasn't very large.
He sent a young thin officer inside, who could get through the window and it took him a few minutes to open the main door from inside and let everyone in.
They walked through the main hall till it departed to many ways.
'Let's split up' Mitchell commanded quietly.
Frank, Chet and Biff followed him.
'We're going upstairs' they heard from the CB.
Mitchell answered. 'Heading to the backyard.I think.'
It appeared he was right. They approached a big hall that led to the backyard, where glass doors that had been jammed with boards just like all other doors and windows.
'Think we can rip it away?' Biff asked.
'Well, I'm here, of course we can!' Chet said and grinned.
Biff gazed at him.
'Let's just try it' Frank said.
The four exploited their powers to pull the boards away.
'Moving into the backyard' Mitchell said to the CB.
'There's nothing on the 2nd floor, we go to the third' someone said.
-'All right.' Joshua Mitchell turned to his fellows. 'Shall we enter?'
'Unless we're gonna stay here' Chet said.
Frank turned the knob and walked through the door. He scanned the area. There was nothing. Only uncut grass and trash and the steel fence were in sight. Then Frank's eyes observed two people in the shadow of a stack of large tree boxes.
'Nancy!'