"Who are you?" demanded Joe as he was shoved against the wall of the house.
"Agent Danson, FBI," identified the man, holding up a badge inside of a wallet for Joe to see.
"And why are you hanging around my house?" asked Joe as the agent began to frisk him.
"Your...?" said the agent, stopping his check. He put a hand on Joe's shoulder and spun him around. "Identify yourself."
"Joe Hardy," Joe answered, pulling out his wallet slowly and handing it to the agent. "What's going on?" he asked after Danson returned his wallet.
"You had better go inside," was Joe's reply. Danson watched as Joe inserted his key into the lock then accompanied Joe inside to the living room before returning to his post outside the kitchen door.
"What's going on?" asked Joe, his sharp blue eyes taking in Tom's nervousness and Agent Boone's serious expression as he talked with Tom.
Although the thirty something agent was wearing blue jeans and a red tee shirt, Joe recognized the brown headed man at once as Jeffery Boone, a friend of his dad's from the local branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Fenton and Frank looked over at Joe as he spoke and instantly their expressions became relaxed. They were worried about me! thought Joe in surprise. Why?
"What's going on?" asked Joe again as Frank came over to him. Frank took Joe's arm and led him into the kitchen where he filled Joe in on Tom's history and the story behind the afternoon's attack.
"Tom?" asked Joe thunderstruck, his blue eyes growing large. "He seemed like such a decent guy," he commented as he handed Frank the printout with photos that Con had given him at police headquarters.
"This first guy is Eddie Moran," Joe said, pointing at the picture of a man in his mid-twenties with curly brown hair. "And this one is Jake Grayhaven," he stated as Frank placed the first picture under the others to see the second one. Grayhaven was a man of diminished stature with straight black hair and intense brown eyes. "The last guy," Joe began then paused until Frank switched photographs, "is Miller Picard." Picard was a man with graying black hair that hung at shoulder length.
"We had better show these to Dad, Tom, and Agent Boone," said Frank with a frown on his face. He led the way back into the living room and came to a standstill beside his father.
"Joe, I'm sorry you had to get involved," said Tom going to stand in front of him.
"I don't get it," Joe said. "How did you go from being a thug for Morrison to being a teacher?"
"I had to have something to keep anyone from suspecting me and survival is one of my specialties," confessed Tom.
"Well, Agent Boone will be able to keep you out of the line of fire," Joe said with a slight dip at the corners of his mouth. He couldn't help feeling like Tom had used him and the other students on some level.
"I know," Tom said. "But what about you? As long as they think you are related to me, you are in trouble."
"No big," Joe assured him with an impish grin. "I'll just let Liz interview me for the Bayport Times and ask for front page. Everyone will know who I am after that."
"You know, I like that better than my idea," Agent Boone commented with a wide smile.
"Which was?" Joe asked, open for suggestions because he really hated giving interviews.
"Protective custody until after the trial," was the answer. Joe scowled. He would never go for that!
Frank laughed at Joe's sour expression but Fenton looked up from the three photos with a frown on his face. "Be very careful," he cautioned Joe.
"I will," acknowledged Joe aware his father was giving serious consideration to the protective custody.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Fenton of Agent Boone.
"Just get that article in the morning's paper," was the agent's reply. "Once the trial is over Morrison, nor those guys, will be a problem." he added, pointing to the print out and photos in Fenton's possession.
"I'm sorry, boys," said Tom again before he left with the agents.
"I'll call the Times and work out the arrangements for the interview with Mr. Webling," Fenton said as soon as their guests had departed.
"We can have Liz take care of it tonight," said Joe. "We're picking up the girls and going to meet the gang at Mr. Pizza's."
"Liz is dating Biff," Frank informed his dad.
"I thought he was going out with Karen," Fenton said.
"They broke up two weeks ago," Joe said.
Fenton bit his bottom lip as he looked at his youngest son. He really didn't want Joe going anywhere until after the article had been out for a few hours but figured since he would be with his brother and friends there shouldn't be any immediate danger.
"All right," said Fenton with a sigh. "But," he stressed. "But I don't want you to go anywhere by yourself," he insisted, staring Joe in the eyes. "Not even just you and Vanessa. I don't want you out of your brother's sight for a second."
"Don't worry Dad," Frank told him. "I'll keep him by my side all night."
Relaxing a bit, Fenton left the boys to go upstairs to his office and work on a case that he had recently been assigned by the government. Less than thirty minutes later, Frank and Joe were on their way to pick up Vanessa Bender, Joe's seventeen-year-old girlfriend. Frank pulled the van to a stop in front of the main house at the Bender's farm and got out. Andrea Bender, Vanessa's widowed mother, had purchased the farm and converted the barn into a studio where she produced cartoons, but they lived in the large farmhouse alone.
Frank opened Joe's door and waited for Joe to alight. "This really isn't necessary," grumbled Joe.
"Necessary or not, we will do this my way," Frank replied sternly. "There's no point in taking any chances."
Joe rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Everyone thought Joe was the stubborn one but that was only because Joe was proven wrong on occasion. It was harder for anyone to recognize Frank as stubborn because he was almost always right!
"Hi," Vanessa greeted them at the door, her gray eyes flitting from Joe to Frank curiously. Usually, when she was just being picked up, only Joe would come to get her and Frank would wait in the van. "Is something wrong?" she asked, her forehead creasing a bit as she frowned.
"No," Joe hurried to assure her, reaching out and moving a long strand of blond hair from her cheek. "Not really. Frank's just being...himself," he explained with a shrug.
"What?" demanded Vanessa, her expression showing her bewilderment.
"Wait until we get to Mr. Pizza," Frank said. "We'll explain it to everyone then."
The three got into the van and drove to the home of Frank's seventeen-year-old girlfriend, Callie Shaw. There, Frank made Joe and Vanessa lock the doors while he went inside to get her.
"All right," said Callie sitting down at a table in the corner of the restaurant. "We're all here," she added, her brown eyes boring into the brown ones of her boyfriend. "What's going on?"
"Something's going on?" asked sandy-haired Phil Cohen looking at Frank with interest.
"A new mystery?" blond and beefy Biff inquired.
"Does this have anything to do with Tom?" asked Chet.
"Ohhh yeah," answered Joe just before Frank began to fill everyone in about Tom Leland.
Chet shook his head when Frank finished speaking. "Tom?" he demanded in amazement. Like Joe, he never would have suspected Tom had such a dark side.
"But why were you being so protective of Joe?" demanded Vanessa, more concerned with her boyfriend than their survival instructor.
"I know!" exclaimed Chet. "It's because Joe looks like Tom, right?"
"Right," agreed Frank. "Which is why we need your help," he said, turning to Liz.
"Ask away," directed Liz Webling, her dark blue eyes alive with interest.
"If the men who were after Tom think Joe's his son then they will try and get Joe so Tom won't testify," explained Frank. "We need to make sure they know Joe isn't related to Tom."
Liz looked confused. "How can I help with that?" she inquired.
"We need you to do a human-interest story on Joe and put it on the front page," Frank said, mentally crossing his fingers and hoping she would agree. "Dad can call your dad and make the arrangements if..."
"Are you kidding?" Liz interrupted Frank with delight as she shoved a lock of black hair out of her eyes. "You guys never give interviews! Do you have any idea how popular this story is going to be?" she demanded. "Dad may even give me a raise!"
Joe blushed. "It doesn't have to be big or anything," he mumbled.
"Relax, Joe," Liz told him, taking his hand and standing up. "I promise it will be painless and I already have a picture of you I can use. Let's go to a booth so we can have a little quite."
Frank looked alarmed as Joe stood up. "Easy, bro," Joe calmed him. "I'll still be in your line of vision," he pointed out as he held up a hand and waved to a booth directly opposite the table they were currently at.
Vanessa shook her head as she watched Joe and Liz walk away. "I can't believe Joe's going off with another girl and I'm letting him," she said grinning.
***
"There he is," Picard said softly as he looked around the restaurant after he and his two cohorts had been seated.
"He's never alone," snarled Grayhaven, glaring at Joe as he moved across the restaurant with a dark haired girl.
"Then we will follow him until he is," Picard stated calmly.
"And if he is never alone tonight?" Moran demanded. "The boss said to bring him in tonight."
"Then we will just have to make sure he gets separated from the Hardy kid after they have left their friends," Picard said.
"Easier said than done," Moran complained.
"We could eliminate the Hardy brat. We only need Leland's son alive," suggested Grayhaven.
"As a last resort," agreed Picard. "One way or another, we will have him before daybreak."
"Agent Danson, FBI," identified the man, holding up a badge inside of a wallet for Joe to see.
"And why are you hanging around my house?" asked Joe as the agent began to frisk him.
"Your...?" said the agent, stopping his check. He put a hand on Joe's shoulder and spun him around. "Identify yourself."
"Joe Hardy," Joe answered, pulling out his wallet slowly and handing it to the agent. "What's going on?" he asked after Danson returned his wallet.
"You had better go inside," was Joe's reply. Danson watched as Joe inserted his key into the lock then accompanied Joe inside to the living room before returning to his post outside the kitchen door.
"What's going on?" asked Joe, his sharp blue eyes taking in Tom's nervousness and Agent Boone's serious expression as he talked with Tom.
Although the thirty something agent was wearing blue jeans and a red tee shirt, Joe recognized the brown headed man at once as Jeffery Boone, a friend of his dad's from the local branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Fenton and Frank looked over at Joe as he spoke and instantly their expressions became relaxed. They were worried about me! thought Joe in surprise. Why?
"What's going on?" asked Joe again as Frank came over to him. Frank took Joe's arm and led him into the kitchen where he filled Joe in on Tom's history and the story behind the afternoon's attack.
"Tom?" asked Joe thunderstruck, his blue eyes growing large. "He seemed like such a decent guy," he commented as he handed Frank the printout with photos that Con had given him at police headquarters.
"This first guy is Eddie Moran," Joe said, pointing at the picture of a man in his mid-twenties with curly brown hair. "And this one is Jake Grayhaven," he stated as Frank placed the first picture under the others to see the second one. Grayhaven was a man of diminished stature with straight black hair and intense brown eyes. "The last guy," Joe began then paused until Frank switched photographs, "is Miller Picard." Picard was a man with graying black hair that hung at shoulder length.
"We had better show these to Dad, Tom, and Agent Boone," said Frank with a frown on his face. He led the way back into the living room and came to a standstill beside his father.
"Joe, I'm sorry you had to get involved," said Tom going to stand in front of him.
"I don't get it," Joe said. "How did you go from being a thug for Morrison to being a teacher?"
"I had to have something to keep anyone from suspecting me and survival is one of my specialties," confessed Tom.
"Well, Agent Boone will be able to keep you out of the line of fire," Joe said with a slight dip at the corners of his mouth. He couldn't help feeling like Tom had used him and the other students on some level.
"I know," Tom said. "But what about you? As long as they think you are related to me, you are in trouble."
"No big," Joe assured him with an impish grin. "I'll just let Liz interview me for the Bayport Times and ask for front page. Everyone will know who I am after that."
"You know, I like that better than my idea," Agent Boone commented with a wide smile.
"Which was?" Joe asked, open for suggestions because he really hated giving interviews.
"Protective custody until after the trial," was the answer. Joe scowled. He would never go for that!
Frank laughed at Joe's sour expression but Fenton looked up from the three photos with a frown on his face. "Be very careful," he cautioned Joe.
"I will," acknowledged Joe aware his father was giving serious consideration to the protective custody.
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Fenton of Agent Boone.
"Just get that article in the morning's paper," was the agent's reply. "Once the trial is over Morrison, nor those guys, will be a problem." he added, pointing to the print out and photos in Fenton's possession.
"I'm sorry, boys," said Tom again before he left with the agents.
"I'll call the Times and work out the arrangements for the interview with Mr. Webling," Fenton said as soon as their guests had departed.
"We can have Liz take care of it tonight," said Joe. "We're picking up the girls and going to meet the gang at Mr. Pizza's."
"Liz is dating Biff," Frank informed his dad.
"I thought he was going out with Karen," Fenton said.
"They broke up two weeks ago," Joe said.
Fenton bit his bottom lip as he looked at his youngest son. He really didn't want Joe going anywhere until after the article had been out for a few hours but figured since he would be with his brother and friends there shouldn't be any immediate danger.
"All right," said Fenton with a sigh. "But," he stressed. "But I don't want you to go anywhere by yourself," he insisted, staring Joe in the eyes. "Not even just you and Vanessa. I don't want you out of your brother's sight for a second."
"Don't worry Dad," Frank told him. "I'll keep him by my side all night."
Relaxing a bit, Fenton left the boys to go upstairs to his office and work on a case that he had recently been assigned by the government. Less than thirty minutes later, Frank and Joe were on their way to pick up Vanessa Bender, Joe's seventeen-year-old girlfriend. Frank pulled the van to a stop in front of the main house at the Bender's farm and got out. Andrea Bender, Vanessa's widowed mother, had purchased the farm and converted the barn into a studio where she produced cartoons, but they lived in the large farmhouse alone.
Frank opened Joe's door and waited for Joe to alight. "This really isn't necessary," grumbled Joe.
"Necessary or not, we will do this my way," Frank replied sternly. "There's no point in taking any chances."
Joe rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Everyone thought Joe was the stubborn one but that was only because Joe was proven wrong on occasion. It was harder for anyone to recognize Frank as stubborn because he was almost always right!
"Hi," Vanessa greeted them at the door, her gray eyes flitting from Joe to Frank curiously. Usually, when she was just being picked up, only Joe would come to get her and Frank would wait in the van. "Is something wrong?" she asked, her forehead creasing a bit as she frowned.
"No," Joe hurried to assure her, reaching out and moving a long strand of blond hair from her cheek. "Not really. Frank's just being...himself," he explained with a shrug.
"What?" demanded Vanessa, her expression showing her bewilderment.
"Wait until we get to Mr. Pizza," Frank said. "We'll explain it to everyone then."
The three got into the van and drove to the home of Frank's seventeen-year-old girlfriend, Callie Shaw. There, Frank made Joe and Vanessa lock the doors while he went inside to get her.
"All right," said Callie sitting down at a table in the corner of the restaurant. "We're all here," she added, her brown eyes boring into the brown ones of her boyfriend. "What's going on?"
"Something's going on?" asked sandy-haired Phil Cohen looking at Frank with interest.
"A new mystery?" blond and beefy Biff inquired.
"Does this have anything to do with Tom?" asked Chet.
"Ohhh yeah," answered Joe just before Frank began to fill everyone in about Tom Leland.
Chet shook his head when Frank finished speaking. "Tom?" he demanded in amazement. Like Joe, he never would have suspected Tom had such a dark side.
"But why were you being so protective of Joe?" demanded Vanessa, more concerned with her boyfriend than their survival instructor.
"I know!" exclaimed Chet. "It's because Joe looks like Tom, right?"
"Right," agreed Frank. "Which is why we need your help," he said, turning to Liz.
"Ask away," directed Liz Webling, her dark blue eyes alive with interest.
"If the men who were after Tom think Joe's his son then they will try and get Joe so Tom won't testify," explained Frank. "We need to make sure they know Joe isn't related to Tom."
Liz looked confused. "How can I help with that?" she inquired.
"We need you to do a human-interest story on Joe and put it on the front page," Frank said, mentally crossing his fingers and hoping she would agree. "Dad can call your dad and make the arrangements if..."
"Are you kidding?" Liz interrupted Frank with delight as she shoved a lock of black hair out of her eyes. "You guys never give interviews! Do you have any idea how popular this story is going to be?" she demanded. "Dad may even give me a raise!"
Joe blushed. "It doesn't have to be big or anything," he mumbled.
"Relax, Joe," Liz told him, taking his hand and standing up. "I promise it will be painless and I already have a picture of you I can use. Let's go to a booth so we can have a little quite."
Frank looked alarmed as Joe stood up. "Easy, bro," Joe calmed him. "I'll still be in your line of vision," he pointed out as he held up a hand and waved to a booth directly opposite the table they were currently at.
Vanessa shook her head as she watched Joe and Liz walk away. "I can't believe Joe's going off with another girl and I'm letting him," she said grinning.
***
"There he is," Picard said softly as he looked around the restaurant after he and his two cohorts had been seated.
"He's never alone," snarled Grayhaven, glaring at Joe as he moved across the restaurant with a dark haired girl.
"Then we will follow him until he is," Picard stated calmly.
"And if he is never alone tonight?" Moran demanded. "The boss said to bring him in tonight."
"Then we will just have to make sure he gets separated from the Hardy kid after they have left their friends," Picard said.
"Easier said than done," Moran complained.
"We could eliminate the Hardy brat. We only need Leland's son alive," suggested Grayhaven.
"As a last resort," agreed Picard. "One way or another, we will have him before daybreak."