"Sir," Chief Madison tried to get Fenton's attention. "Mr. Hardy," he tried again, placing his hand on the grief stricken man's shoulder.
Fenton looked at the chief through bloodshot brown eyes. "You, your son, and his friend, will have to leave now," the chief told Fenton in a gentle voice. "We need to get Tandem's body out of here and finish up."
Fenton nodded and led Frank from the cave with Chet following close behind. and the three returned to the rental car. Chet sat in the back with Frank who now sat silently staring out the side window while Fenton drove them back to Ashton. They had almost arrived at the hotel when Frank spoke.
"How...how did you know?" he asked. "Why were you and the police there?"
"Yeah," put in Chet. "I thought the chief said he couldn't do anything?"
"He couldn't until he found out there were two trespassers on the premises," Fenton explained. "After you two left to go on the property without permission he told me that would give him good reason to go on the property without a warrant."
"But how did you know where to find us?" asked Chet.
"We saw you boys taken captive," Fenton said. "We...we heard what happened to Joe," he added, his voice breaking.
"We have to find Joe," Frank said.
"But that guy said..." Chet began but fell silent when Frank snapped at him.
"I know!" Frank snarled. "But we have to give Joe a proper burial. We...we have to find his...his body." Frank began crying again and this time did not stop until he fell asleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Son," Fenton roused Frank as the plane touched down in Bayport the next morning.
Frank opened his blood shot eyes and stared at his father. The past eighteen hours had been a nightmare that was all too real. He could barely remember returning to Ashton only long enough to collect their things before having to return to Gaylord because of the confession of one of Tandem's men. He had been able to tell the Hardy's where Joe had fallen from the helicopter within a thirty-mile radius.
Frank had wanted to go and start the search at once but Fenton had convinced him that their mother needed to be told and Chet had insisted that their friends would want to participate in the search. So, after assuring his eldest son that the trip home would amount to no more than a few hours delay, Fenton had arranged for the trip to Bayport.
No one met them at the airport because they had not called anyone. News like this had to be dealt with in person and Laura would have to know before anyone else. "Chet, we'll drop you off on the way home," Fenton told the youth.
"Thank you, Sir," Chet replied in a quiet tone. He dreaded having to tell his sister about Joe. She had been dreaming of marrying him since they had started dating. Or at least, he thought that was what she was hoping for since she had Mrs. Joe Hardy, and Mrs. Iola Hardy written all over several of her notebooks. "Call me when you're ready to go look for..." he paused and gulped, feeling uncomfortable with what he was saying. "For his body," he finally ended.
"We will," Frank promised, his voice hoarse. He had cried so much his throat was raw from all his swallowing after the sniffing. "We'll be leaving this afternoon," he added, refusing to wait any longer.
"I'll call everyone," Chet offered. He knew Frank and Mr. Hardy would need time to tell Mrs. Hardy.
"Thank you," Fenton said as they exited the plane. Thirty minutes later he brought his car to a stop in front of the Hardy home.
Frank looked at their front door and then down at his hands. "I..I can't," Frank whispered.
"Can't what?" inquired Fenton, turning to face Frank.
"I can't go in," Frank said. "Not without Joe." 'Not without Joe,' the words echoed in the silence. No. If he went inside now, without Joe, it would mean Joe was truly gone and would never be back. It would mean he had given up on finding his brother.
"Frank, Son," Fenton said, taking Frank's chin and forcing the youth to look him in the eyes. "I know this is hard but we can't change things. We have to accept that Joe won't be coming back home."
"I know," Frank said, his eyes watering again. "But...I can't. Not until he's here. At least his body."
"You haven't failed your brother," Fenton told him, knowing what was wrong. "You did everything you could, but it was just too late."
"But he's still out there," Frank objected.
"And we will find him," Fenton promised. "I know you," he added, stroking Frank's cheek gently. "You won't quit until you do. And we will go as soon as we can."
"Today," Frank asserted stubbornly.
"We can't," Fenton told him. "I have to make arrangements for everyone. It will take everyone's help to find him. The area we have to search is pretty big."
"But..."
"No," Fenton said. "It will be tomorrow at the earliest before we can begin the search anyway. We'll call your friends together and fly down at daybreak," he said. "We'll be able to begin our search before noon." He looked at the front door. "As for now...we have to break the news to your mother."
