Reaching the dock, he shoved Joe up on dry land then climbed ut. He laid Joe on his back and checked for a pulse as the wail of sirens filled the air. Finding a pulse, but not detecting any breathing, Frank began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. An ambulance came to a stop a few feet away as Joe made a strangling sound. Frank turned him over on his side and water dribbled from his mouth as he coughed.
"What happened here?" came an authoritative voice from behind Frank.
Frank turned to see tall, graying Ezra Collig, Bayport's Chief of Police, striding towards him. "The boat blew up," Frank told him grimly, as two paramedics came over to Joe.
"I can see that," responded the chief with a scowl. "Why did it blow up?"
"Bomb," Joe wheezed between coughs.
"Is he going to be all right?" Chief Collig demanded of the paramedics after they had checked his pulse and lungs.
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "He should go home and get some rest though."
"He will," Frank said, accepting a towel to dry off with as another paramedic helped towel down Joe.
"Would you care to explain why you two were on a boat with a bomb?" Chief Collig asked.
"We came to meet someone," Frank said and then explained what had happened.
As Frank finished, another officer appeared. "Sir," he said when Frank had finished talking. "The alarm system at the Hardy house has gone off. A car is on the way there now." He glanced at Frank and Joe. "You'd better get home," he advised.
"Let's go," Frank said, giving Joe a hand to help him to his feet.
"I'll lead the way," Chief Collig told them. "Lieutenant Rogers take over here," he ordered the officer as he headed toward the cruiser.
"Whoever it was got away, Sir," the officer at the Hardy household said when Chief Collig arrived. Frank and Joe ran into the house to check on their mother.
Angelic was in tears when they came into the room but calmed down when she saw them. Their mother, however, became excited when she saw the dampness of their clothes. "What happened to you two?" she asked, anxiously.
Joe gave them an edited version of what had happened at the pier then sat down beside Angelic and took her hand in his. Looking into her eyes he said reassuringly, "Your dad wasn't on the boat."
"That's a relief," she said with a sad smile.
"Listen, Angelic, I owe you an apology," Joe continued softly. Frank and Mrs. Hardy went outside to talk with the police and left them alone.
"For what?" Angelic asked huskily, gazing into his troubled bue eyes.
"I'm going to sound like the biggest egomaniac and a world class heel when I tell you," he promised, his mouth set in a derisive grin.
"So tell me anyway," she urged softly. "I can't hold it against you if you're apologizing for it," she assured him with a gentle squeeze on his hand.
Joe took a deep breath and, looking at her hand in his, confessed his suspicions of her. "I realized tonight I've been wrong and completely unfair to you," he ended.
"Why tonight?" she asked quietly.
"I nearly died tonight," he told her and her face went white with shock. "If you had been guilty with the motive I'd given you then you never would have tried to kill me."
"What do you mean you nearly died?" she asked, ignoring everything else he had said. "You never mentioned it."
"There wasn't any sense in worrying you or mom," he excused himself. "Am I forgiven?" he asked, once again looking into her eyes.
"Of course," she told him, rising as Joe stood and pulled her to her feet.
"What say we go and see if they found out anything about our intruder?" Joe asked, his blue eyes dark as the evening shadows danced around the room lit only by a single lamp.
"Find anything?" Joe asked as he and Angelic approached Frank and Mrs. Hardy outside.
"Nothing," Frank said in disgust. "The ground is too hard for any footprints," he added. "You two patched things up?" he asked, looking at Angelic.
Angelic nodded. "Joe's not so bad," she said. "He just needs a little help sorting the facts every now and then," she added teasingly.
"You pegged him in a hurry," Frank complimented her with a sly grin at Joe.
"How about cocoa all around?" Mrs. Hardy asked the teens. The police have finished," she added.
"Sounds good," Joe replied and the others agreed.
"You boys go and change while Angelic and I make the cocoa," Mrs. Hardy instructed her sons. "But hurry," she added. "It won't take long."
Over coca, they discussed the case. "Angelic, do you know of any reason someone might want to hurt you?" Frank asked. She shook her head. "What about your dad?" Frank persisted. "Does he have any enemies you know of?"
"I can only think of two people who really hated my dad," she answered. "Carl Cavanaugh and Dusty Bryson."
"What do they have against him?" Joe asked.
"Cavanaugh blamed my dad for his having to declare bankruptcy a couple of years ago," she told him. "Dad had bought Cavanaugh's company and was going to expand slowly but Cavanaugh rushed into things and used dad's money to double the size of the company within one year. The profits weren't keeping up with the expenses so dad got out by selling to a corprorate raider. The company was dissolved and Cavanaugh was dismissed. He had to declare personal bankryptcy within six months."
"Sounds like a good motive to me," Joe said with a scowl.
"What about Dusty Bryson," Frank asked.
"Dusty's wife was terminally ill when he worked for dad. Dad made allowances for him, but there was an emergency one night and dad told him he was needed at the plant. His wife died before he returned home."
"Sounds like an even better motive," Frank said with a look at Joe.
"Did he just go home and find her?" Joe asked with morbid curiosity.
"No," Angelic replied. "The lady who was taking care of her called and told Dusty his wife was getting worse and he had better hurry home." Looking sad, she continued, "Dad sent him straight home but it was too late. Dusty quit the next morning."
"It's a start," Frank said when she had finished. "We'll check them out first thing in the morning," he said, stifling a yawn.
"Could you try and call your dad?" Joe asked Angelic. "We need to know if he was at the peier or if something happened to prevent his meeting us." Angelic nodded and went to the phone.
"Let's give her some privacy," Mrs. Hardy ordered, standing up and picking up her's and Angelic's cups. "Bring your cups boys," she added, then preceded her sons into the kitchen.
Angelic came into the kitchen a few minutes later. "The meeting had to be cut short because one of the men became seasick," she told them. "Dad went back to the hotel and fell asleep. He forgot to leave a wake-up call. He asked if you would meet him sometime later this week. His schedule is full," she explained.
Joe felt a rush of sympathy for her. Someone had been trying to kill her and her own father couldn't even take the time to try and help. He knew his dad would drop everything if he needed him. "Sure," he told her. "We'll talk to him later. We need to check out Cavanaugh and Bryson tomorrow anyway," he added, trying to be cheerful for her sake. He walked over and took her by the arm. "Right now, we all need to get some sleep."
"Are you walking me to your door?" she asked him as they climbed the stairs, amusement making her emerald eyes sparkle.
"Yeah," he answered, laughing. "I guess I am."
Frank and Mrs. Hardy heard them laughing as they went upstairs. "Joe seems to have worked out his problems with Angelic," Mrs. Hardy commented.
"Maybe now we can get to the bottom of this mystery," Frank said, agreeing with her. "Now that Joe's finally convinced she's innocent he won't be wasting time trying to prove she's guilty."
The next morning found Frank at his computer terminal. "What are you doing?" Joe asked, coming over to stand behind his brother so he could look over his shoulder.
"Back up," growled Frank. "You're dripping water on me."
Joe obediently backed up and removed the towel from around his neck and began drying his hair. "I'm using the Internet to find out where Cavanaugh and Bryson live," Frank told him.
"Can you find out anything else about them in Cyberspace?" Joe asked.
"Not without their social security numbers or breaking a few laws," Frank answered. "Here's Bryson," he said a couple of minutes later. "He lives in New York City. We could catch a train and be there in a couple of hours."
"What about Cavanaugh?" Joe asked, getting dressed.
"I'm working on it," Frank told him. "Here it is," he said a minute later. "Southport," he said, naming a nearby town.
"Tell you what," Joe said. "To save time, let's split up. I'll find Cavanaugh and you go after Bryson."
"What do we do with Angelic?" Frank asked him, considering Joe's proposition. "I don't like the idea of her leaving here, especially after last night's attempted break-in."
"She can go with me," Joe decided. "Maybe we should talk mom into visiting a friend until we get back," he added thoughtfully.
"Actually, I was planning on doing just that," broke in their mother from the doorway. She walked into Frank's room and set some clothes on the bed. "Be careful," she warned them before going out.
"I'm going to call Iola before we leave," Joe said, following his mother out the door. Using the hall phone, he called the Morton household.
"Joe, are you all right?" Iola asked when she picked up.
"Fine," he answered her, perplexed. "Why?"
"Callie told me about last night," she explained. "Frank called her earlier this morning."
"Oh," Joe said quietly. "I'm fine. How are you feeling? No after-effects?" he asked.
"None," was the reply. "I'm glad you and Angelic are getting along now," she added. "I hope you can find whoever is trying to kill her."
"We're following up some leads today," Joe told her.
"Are you busy tonight?" Iola asked.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked, his face breaking out in a huge grin.
"You owe me a movie," Iola reminded him.
"Pick you up at six?" he asked.
"Don't be late," she cautioned.
"No way," Joe said a little forcefully. "Frank can keep an eye on Angelic and it will just be you and me," he promised and then said good-bye. Hanging up the phone he turned around to find Angelic standing there.
"Hi," he greeted her. "I didn't know you were there. Wow!" he added, taking in her attire. Her mid-calf paisley skirt and peasant blouse combined with her ebony hair and emerals eyes made her look like a very appealing gypsy.
"Thank you," Angelic said and gave him a mock cutsey.
"Do you have any plans for the day?" Joe asked her. She shook her head and looked at him expectantly.
"Good," he said. "Frank's going to New York to check on Bryson and you and I are driving to Southport to check out Cavanaugh," he informed her. "We'll drop Frank off at the railway station on our way," he added.
"We'll see you off," Angelic said brightly to Frank as Joe pulled the van into the station an hour later. The three walked to the platform where the train was waiting.
"A lot of people still ride trains," Joe observed as he began to be crowded by people trying to get on the train. He took Angelic's hand and pulled her back. "We'll see you later," he said to Frank.
"Joe, look," Angelic said, pointing to something beside their feet.
"It's Frank's wallet," Joe said with a frown, and looked up. He saw Frank sitting a few seats back from the entryway. Frank!" he shouted, and held up the wallet. Frank looked at what Joe was holding and reached a hand to his back pocket. Finding it empty, he jumped up and went to the exit.
"Toss it!" Frank ordered Joe, as the train began to move. Joe pulled his arm back for the pitch. As the wallet began its journey from Joe's hand, Angelic tripped and fell into Joe, knocking his aim off. Frank made a wild grab for it and caught it between his thumb and forefinger. The victory catch had cost him. His dive had caused him to lose his balance and he fell out of the train car.
