Frank got up and went upstairs, leaving his mom crying in the living room. He knew there was more, but he wasn't sure even she knew everything Joe had been through. Frank entered Joe's room and sat down on the bed beside Joe's duffel.
"You could run away until dad gets enough on him," Frank said after Joe remained silent.
"No," Joe denied with a small shake of his head. "If I don't go back, then they will have mom,dad, even you, arrested for kidnapping."
"That charge wouldn't stick," Frank argued.
"Maybe not," Joe agreed. "But what about Paul? They would take it out on him."
"There has to be another way," Frank insisted.
"I've tried to think of one," Joe said, his face crumbling as he sank down on the bed beside Frank. Frank wrapped his arms around Joe. "I don't have a choice," Joe whispered. "I can't let them do that to another human being."
"What?" Frank asked. "What did they do to you?"
Joe moved away from Frank and shook his head. "I can't talk about it," he said, standing back up and finishing his packing.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Frank insisted.
"Frank, I...it hurts too much. I had nightmares for a year after mom adopted me. Sometimes, I still wake up in a cold sweat." Joe shook his head, trying to clear away the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. "Someday, I promise," Joe said. "But I can't now. I have to leave."
"I'll take you," Frank offered, standing up and grabbing Joe's duffel.
"No," Joe said. "I already called a cab," he added, taking the duffel away from him. "It's better," he began, but Frank's angry expression made him alter what he had been going to say. "It's better for me if they don't see you," he ended, his eyes pleading with Frank to understand. "Help dad. Make this nightmare end soon?"
"I will," promised Frank, his voice breaking as he watched Joe walk out of the room. He stood until he heard Joe reach the stairs then ran after him. He couldn't let Joe go. "It isn't right," Frank insisted. "Why do you have to go back?"
"'Cause money talks," Joe replied bitterly. He looked at Frank, his blue eyes haunted. "Give it laringytis, huh?" he begged. Frank nodded and stood, crying, as Joe ran down the steps and to the front door where his parents were waiting.
Mr. Hardy grabbed Joe in a bear hug. "I'll be watching," he promised. "If it gets too bad, you and your brother are out of there, no matter what the cost," he vowed, willing to go to prison if need be to protect Joe.
Joe nodded as he was released and his mother threw herself at him. "Please don't go back," she begged him.
"I have too," he said softly, hugging her tightly. "It will be different now," he told her. "I know you and Dad and Frank care about me. That's something I never had before," he added, releasing her. "Bye," he said, tossing the duffel over his shoulder and leaving.
"Fenton?" Mrs. Hardy begged her husband. He took her in his arms and gave her a quick hug.
"Shh," he said. "Joe is going to be home soon, and we will probably get a new son too," he added. "I already have an interview with Austin Moody this afternoon for the position of personal assistant."
"What about me?" Frank asked, coming down the stairs.
"I am fixing you a resume to take to the employment office in Fairview. It has been tailor made to accomodate the needs of the Moodys. You will be their new assistant groundskeeper," Mr. Hardy informed him. "But we both need good disguises. We can't take a chance on the Moodys finding out who we are. They would probably take it out on Joe."
Frank nodded his agreement and followed his father upstairs and into his parent's bedroom. There, his father had a dresser filled with various make-up, dyes, and other sorts of disguises. Before the morning was through, Frank and Mr. Hardy would be transformed into people even Mrs. Hardy would not have recognized had she not offered to help.
Joe arrived in Fairview over two hours later, having taken the train from Bayport. He hailed a cab and was let out at the front door to the Moody mansion. Joe swallowed the lump in his throat and prayed he could get through the next hour without throwing up. He climbed the flight of stairs to the front door and rang the bell.
"Yes?" greeted the six foot two butler that doubled as Austin and Ami's body guard. He stared at Joe with sharp green eyes and Joe could see his muscles rippling even beneath the suit he wore.
"I would like to see Mr. and Mrs. Moody, please?" Joe asked in a subdued voice.
"And whom shall I say you are?" the butler asked, his expression remaining neutral although he had recognized the Moody's offspring at once.
"Joesph Moody," he replied, his stomach knotting at the name.
"Wait here," Joe was told as the butler closed the door and went to inform the Moodys of their guest.
Joe waited nervously, wondering how bad his reception was going to be. He didn't have long to wait. The butler returned within two minutes and asked Joe to follow him. He led Joe into the spacious living room where his parents were sitting on the sofa. The butler then left and Joe set his duffel down on the floor.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" asked Ami, laying the magaizine she held down beside her.
Joe took a deep breath. "I came to take care of my brother," he said.
"What makes you think we would let you near him?" demamded brown-headed, blue-eyed Austin, rising to go and stand towering over Joe. Joe had forgotten how big his father was. A full six foot five inches, he weighed two hundred and fifty pounds and was the picture of perfect health. The man prided himself on his physique, working out three times a week at the gym in the Fairview Country Club.
Joe swallowed. "You...you're being investigated," Joe said, his stomach bubbling.
Instead of being angry, Austin smiled. "Wonderful," he said. "You see, little boy, I've been expecting this for quite some time. I've covered my tracks well and greased enough palms. No one will ever find anything on me."
"So I can take Paul and leave?" Joe asked, hopefully.
Ami broke out laughing. "Silly boy. You deserted us, and after all we had done for you. Do you honestly expect us to let you take our only darling child away?"
"I'm not leaving without him," Joe asserted, ignoring the desire to tell her the only thing they had ever done for him was hurt him.
"Oh, no," Austin said with a smile, looking at his blond-headed, blue-eyed, wife. "We can't allow Joesph to leave either."
"You're quite right," Ami agreed. "Joe can take care of his brother."
"Where is he?" Joe asked.
"In the basement," said Ami.
"Why?" demanded Joe. "He's just a baby."
"An annoying baby," Ami said. "I feed him three times a day and change him three times a day; that is enough. I can't stand to hear the crying, so I put him in the basement between feedings. It gives me a headache."
"You take care of him and keep him quite," Austin ordered Joe. "You may take him to the nursery. When he sleeps, go to your room. It has been kept ready for your return." He smiled thinly. "I've even added some new toys in anticpation of your return."
Joe swallowed at the thinly veiled threat. "May I go and get Paul now?" he asked.
"You may," Austin told him. "But remember," he said. "If you let Paul cry, you will get the punishment."
Joe nodded and picked up his duffel and headed toward the basement, an area he knew all to well. As Joe walked down the basement stairs, the memory of his last time there assaulted him. David, Joe's only friend, had been killed in a hit and run. His dad had found Joe trying to sneak out and attend the funeral and beat Joe. Pounding him into unconsciousness, he had then thrown Joe down the steps into the basement and locked him in.
Three days had passed before Joe had been released. Joe had climbed the stairs and waited until he had been left alone before sneaking out. He had gone to the graveyard to say goodbye, but his dad had followed him.
"Stupid bastard," Austin had snarled. "He wasn't your friend. He only hung around you because he thought you could get your hands on my money," he added, but Joe had known he was lying. David had been the one person not afraid of his father that couldn't be bought.
Joe had screamed at his father, calling him a liar and going so far as to accuse him of being the one to kill David. "Me? Would I do a thing like that?" Austin had asked smiling.. "Who knows? If you ever get another friend, maybe he will die too," he had added.
Joe heard the words, condeming him to a friendless existence and making him believe he was responsible for David's death. A feeling which he still carried with him. He had taken off running and not stopped until he had come to a bridge. There, he had looked into the running water and thought his only escape was to die himself. He had jumped, falling into the water and just letting it take him where it would. His promise to David about not killing himself having become void when David had died.
Joe's thoughts came crashing back to the present when he saw his little brother lying on the floor in the basement. Paul was lying on the hard cement, his diaper, overflowing with excrement. Tears sprang to Joe's eyes as he walked over and picked up the quite baby. Paul stirred and began crying. He was a defenseless baby, how could they have left him like this?
Joe shook his head. He knew how. Austin and Ami weren't human beings. They were beings who existed for the sole purpose of showing others how little they had. Joe let the tears fall from his eyes as he carried Paul up the stairs, avoiding the living room and heading up to the nursery.
He knew why Paul had been born. And it was his fault. The Moodys had to have an heir. It didn't matter what condition that heir was in, they just had to have one to keep up appearances. His leaving had taken that away from them. He even knew why it had taken so long for them to have another child. He had overheard them talking about a two year world tour before he had left. He was going to be left in the butler's care, he guessed, if they even thought of him then at all. Two years on the tour and then another year to get pregnant and have the baby.
Joe briefly closed his eyes before he entered the nursery. Had it only been three years ago that he had prayed for escape. Three years of living in safety with his new mom, Laura. And Frank and Dad. A little over a year after being adopted, his mom had met and married Fenton Hardy in a whirlwind courtship. He and Frank had hit it off immediately.
'Frank,' Joe thought, swallowing again. He had to tell Frank everything. He hadn't been able to talk to anyone so openly since David. Paul started crying louder and interrupted Joe's thoughts. Joe looked down at the baby. "I'm sorry little brother," Joe said. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." Joe only hoped keeping the promise didn't include dying. Almost fourteen years of praying to die just to get away, and now, he prayed he and Paul would survive.
"You could run away until dad gets enough on him," Frank said after Joe remained silent.
"No," Joe denied with a small shake of his head. "If I don't go back, then they will have mom,dad, even you, arrested for kidnapping."
"That charge wouldn't stick," Frank argued.
"Maybe not," Joe agreed. "But what about Paul? They would take it out on him."
"There has to be another way," Frank insisted.
"I've tried to think of one," Joe said, his face crumbling as he sank down on the bed beside Frank. Frank wrapped his arms around Joe. "I don't have a choice," Joe whispered. "I can't let them do that to another human being."
"What?" Frank asked. "What did they do to you?"
Joe moved away from Frank and shook his head. "I can't talk about it," he said, standing back up and finishing his packing.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Frank insisted.
"Frank, I...it hurts too much. I had nightmares for a year after mom adopted me. Sometimes, I still wake up in a cold sweat." Joe shook his head, trying to clear away the memories that threatened to overwhelm him. "Someday, I promise," Joe said. "But I can't now. I have to leave."
"I'll take you," Frank offered, standing up and grabbing Joe's duffel.
"No," Joe said. "I already called a cab," he added, taking the duffel away from him. "It's better," he began, but Frank's angry expression made him alter what he had been going to say. "It's better for me if they don't see you," he ended, his eyes pleading with Frank to understand. "Help dad. Make this nightmare end soon?"
"I will," promised Frank, his voice breaking as he watched Joe walk out of the room. He stood until he heard Joe reach the stairs then ran after him. He couldn't let Joe go. "It isn't right," Frank insisted. "Why do you have to go back?"
"'Cause money talks," Joe replied bitterly. He looked at Frank, his blue eyes haunted. "Give it laringytis, huh?" he begged. Frank nodded and stood, crying, as Joe ran down the steps and to the front door where his parents were waiting.
Mr. Hardy grabbed Joe in a bear hug. "I'll be watching," he promised. "If it gets too bad, you and your brother are out of there, no matter what the cost," he vowed, willing to go to prison if need be to protect Joe.
Joe nodded as he was released and his mother threw herself at him. "Please don't go back," she begged him.
"I have too," he said softly, hugging her tightly. "It will be different now," he told her. "I know you and Dad and Frank care about me. That's something I never had before," he added, releasing her. "Bye," he said, tossing the duffel over his shoulder and leaving.
"Fenton?" Mrs. Hardy begged her husband. He took her in his arms and gave her a quick hug.
"Shh," he said. "Joe is going to be home soon, and we will probably get a new son too," he added. "I already have an interview with Austin Moody this afternoon for the position of personal assistant."
"What about me?" Frank asked, coming down the stairs.
"I am fixing you a resume to take to the employment office in Fairview. It has been tailor made to accomodate the needs of the Moodys. You will be their new assistant groundskeeper," Mr. Hardy informed him. "But we both need good disguises. We can't take a chance on the Moodys finding out who we are. They would probably take it out on Joe."
Frank nodded his agreement and followed his father upstairs and into his parent's bedroom. There, his father had a dresser filled with various make-up, dyes, and other sorts of disguises. Before the morning was through, Frank and Mr. Hardy would be transformed into people even Mrs. Hardy would not have recognized had she not offered to help.
Joe arrived in Fairview over two hours later, having taken the train from Bayport. He hailed a cab and was let out at the front door to the Moody mansion. Joe swallowed the lump in his throat and prayed he could get through the next hour without throwing up. He climbed the flight of stairs to the front door and rang the bell.
"Yes?" greeted the six foot two butler that doubled as Austin and Ami's body guard. He stared at Joe with sharp green eyes and Joe could see his muscles rippling even beneath the suit he wore.
"I would like to see Mr. and Mrs. Moody, please?" Joe asked in a subdued voice.
"And whom shall I say you are?" the butler asked, his expression remaining neutral although he had recognized the Moody's offspring at once.
"Joesph Moody," he replied, his stomach knotting at the name.
"Wait here," Joe was told as the butler closed the door and went to inform the Moodys of their guest.
Joe waited nervously, wondering how bad his reception was going to be. He didn't have long to wait. The butler returned within two minutes and asked Joe to follow him. He led Joe into the spacious living room where his parents were sitting on the sofa. The butler then left and Joe set his duffel down on the floor.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" asked Ami, laying the magaizine she held down beside her.
Joe took a deep breath. "I came to take care of my brother," he said.
"What makes you think we would let you near him?" demamded brown-headed, blue-eyed Austin, rising to go and stand towering over Joe. Joe had forgotten how big his father was. A full six foot five inches, he weighed two hundred and fifty pounds and was the picture of perfect health. The man prided himself on his physique, working out three times a week at the gym in the Fairview Country Club.
Joe swallowed. "You...you're being investigated," Joe said, his stomach bubbling.
Instead of being angry, Austin smiled. "Wonderful," he said. "You see, little boy, I've been expecting this for quite some time. I've covered my tracks well and greased enough palms. No one will ever find anything on me."
"So I can take Paul and leave?" Joe asked, hopefully.
Ami broke out laughing. "Silly boy. You deserted us, and after all we had done for you. Do you honestly expect us to let you take our only darling child away?"
"I'm not leaving without him," Joe asserted, ignoring the desire to tell her the only thing they had ever done for him was hurt him.
"Oh, no," Austin said with a smile, looking at his blond-headed, blue-eyed, wife. "We can't allow Joesph to leave either."
"You're quite right," Ami agreed. "Joe can take care of his brother."
"Where is he?" Joe asked.
"In the basement," said Ami.
"Why?" demanded Joe. "He's just a baby."
"An annoying baby," Ami said. "I feed him three times a day and change him three times a day; that is enough. I can't stand to hear the crying, so I put him in the basement between feedings. It gives me a headache."
"You take care of him and keep him quite," Austin ordered Joe. "You may take him to the nursery. When he sleeps, go to your room. It has been kept ready for your return." He smiled thinly. "I've even added some new toys in anticpation of your return."
Joe swallowed at the thinly veiled threat. "May I go and get Paul now?" he asked.
"You may," Austin told him. "But remember," he said. "If you let Paul cry, you will get the punishment."
Joe nodded and picked up his duffel and headed toward the basement, an area he knew all to well. As Joe walked down the basement stairs, the memory of his last time there assaulted him. David, Joe's only friend, had been killed in a hit and run. His dad had found Joe trying to sneak out and attend the funeral and beat Joe. Pounding him into unconsciousness, he had then thrown Joe down the steps into the basement and locked him in.
Three days had passed before Joe had been released. Joe had climbed the stairs and waited until he had been left alone before sneaking out. He had gone to the graveyard to say goodbye, but his dad had followed him.
"Stupid bastard," Austin had snarled. "He wasn't your friend. He only hung around you because he thought you could get your hands on my money," he added, but Joe had known he was lying. David had been the one person not afraid of his father that couldn't be bought.
Joe had screamed at his father, calling him a liar and going so far as to accuse him of being the one to kill David. "Me? Would I do a thing like that?" Austin had asked smiling.. "Who knows? If you ever get another friend, maybe he will die too," he had added.
Joe heard the words, condeming him to a friendless existence and making him believe he was responsible for David's death. A feeling which he still carried with him. He had taken off running and not stopped until he had come to a bridge. There, he had looked into the running water and thought his only escape was to die himself. He had jumped, falling into the water and just letting it take him where it would. His promise to David about not killing himself having become void when David had died.
Joe's thoughts came crashing back to the present when he saw his little brother lying on the floor in the basement. Paul was lying on the hard cement, his diaper, overflowing with excrement. Tears sprang to Joe's eyes as he walked over and picked up the quite baby. Paul stirred and began crying. He was a defenseless baby, how could they have left him like this?
Joe shook his head. He knew how. Austin and Ami weren't human beings. They were beings who existed for the sole purpose of showing others how little they had. Joe let the tears fall from his eyes as he carried Paul up the stairs, avoiding the living room and heading up to the nursery.
He knew why Paul had been born. And it was his fault. The Moodys had to have an heir. It didn't matter what condition that heir was in, they just had to have one to keep up appearances. His leaving had taken that away from them. He even knew why it had taken so long for them to have another child. He had overheard them talking about a two year world tour before he had left. He was going to be left in the butler's care, he guessed, if they even thought of him then at all. Two years on the tour and then another year to get pregnant and have the baby.
Joe briefly closed his eyes before he entered the nursery. Had it only been three years ago that he had prayed for escape. Three years of living in safety with his new mom, Laura. And Frank and Dad. A little over a year after being adopted, his mom had met and married Fenton Hardy in a whirlwind courtship. He and Frank had hit it off immediately.
'Frank,' Joe thought, swallowing again. He had to tell Frank everything. He hadn't been able to talk to anyone so openly since David. Paul started crying louder and interrupted Joe's thoughts. Joe looked down at the baby. "I'm sorry little brother," Joe said. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." Joe only hoped keeping the promise didn't include dying. Almost fourteen years of praying to die just to get away, and now, he prayed he and Paul would survive.