"It means, you have been lying to us since your arrival at Thompson Security," Peter answered. "Oh, I do believe you have a file with the CIA. I also believe you joined up with us at your discretion, not ours," he continued. "But what I am convinced of is that your buyer is ready to pay you much more than you are willing to share."
"Twenty million is more than a fair price for you and the others when all I want are the specifications," Joe pointed out.
"Indeed," Peter agreed. "But how much have you been offered?"
"And who is your buyer?" Freddie demanded.
"Iran," Joe answered Freddie first. "That is all I can tell you," he added. "As for the offer, well, it isn't as much as I would like, but my buyer is a regular customer so I agreed to cut him a break."
"You were planning to double-cross us?" Shandra demanded, looking at Joe with a hurt expression.
"No," Joe denied. "I was going to lead you to my buyer, but with Hardy in the picture, and the CIA," he added, throwing Freddie a dirty look, "there isn't time. The plans will have to do instead of the product."
"All right," Kevin said. "Freddie, Steve, and Greg can take their money and split. They weren't involved in this side of the business anyway."
"Good," said Steve. "How do we get our money?"
Jim pulled out his wallet and removed four cards. He gave one each to Steve, Greg, and Freddie. "This one was for you," he told Joe, holding up the last one. "But I guess you have bigger fish to fry," he added, slipping the card back into his wallet.
"What is this?" Freddie asked, looking at the card in puzzlement.
"Accounts are too easy to trace," Jim stated. "So, Kevin and I took the money and converted it into bonds. Those cards are keys. They each have a number on them corresponding with a locker at the airport."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Good, you're back," Mr. Hardy said as Frank walked into the kitchen. Mr. Hardy was sitting at the kitchen table, a half-eaten sandwich lying on a plate in front of him.
"I found Carruthers' connection to the Hanovers," Frank said, opening a cabinet and pulling out a plate and glass. He told his dad about his meeting with the Hanovers as he scrounged around in the fridge for sandwich fixings. He made himself a sandwich and poured a glass of milk, then, after returning the items to the refrigerator, sat down at the table with his father.
"Shortly after six, the police got an anonymous phone call," Mr. Hardy told Frank as he took a bite of his sandwich. "Freddie's, Steve's, and Greg's addresses were given as places where stolen shipments from Thompson Security could be found."
Frank swallowed before speaking. "So Carruthers and the others are trying to pin the stolen DOD contract on them."
"Yes," Mr. Hardy agreed, a thoughtful look on his face.
"What?" Frank asked.
"When they are arrested, what is to keep them from squealing on Carruthers?" Mr. Hardy asked the question he had been puzzling over ever since receiving the call from the police earlier.
"Have they raided their places yet?" Frank inquired.
"Yes," Mr. Hardy said. "There were various cases of materials at each of the residences," he said. "But none of them have been caught yet."
Frank was about to say something but a knock at the kitchen door prevented him from doing so. He was surprised to see who it was, but opened the door and allowed Freddie to come inside.
Freddie entered and saw Mr. Hardy sitting at the table. He laid the card Jim had given him on the table in front of Mr. Hardy.
"What is this?" Mr. Hardy asked, picking it up for a look.
"It's a key to a locker at the airport," Freddie told him. "Like I told your son, I'm no traitor. And if that means giving up my share of five million dollars, so be it."
"Where are the others?" Frank asked.
"Greg and Steve went to the airport to get their shares and then they are leaving the country," Freddie answered. "The others are at Peter's. They're going to set up a meeting with Jim Daniels' buyer from Iran. Well, Jim and Peter are going to meet the buyer. The others are going to wait at Peter's until the deal goes through."
"Do you know where or when the meeting is supposed to..." Mr. Hardy began but was interrupted by the jangling of the phone.
"Hardy residence," Frank said, picking up the phone. "Oh, hi Phil," he said, recognizing the voice on the other end as belonging to a good friend of his from school. Frank was quiet for a few minutes as Phil spoke. "Yeah, thanks a lot," Frank said finally and hung up.
Frank looked over at his dad. "The meeting is to take place tomorrow morning at six under Pier Five," he informed his dad. "Fifty million is our bargaining chip."
"What?" Freddie asked, looking from one Hardy to the other in confusion.
"I lied to you," Frank told him. "Jim Daniels isn't a traitor. He's my brother."
Freddie went white with shock. "But he..." Freddie started, then went silent.
"He what?" Mr. Hardy asked.
"He convinced Peter and Kevin and the others that he had a history with the CIA. They think he's been selling top secret materials and wormed his way into the gang to get his hands on the DOD contract," Freddie said, having decided it was better not to tell them he had tried to get Daniels out of the picture earlier.
"That's what he was supposed to do," Frank informed Freddie.
"But what happens when they go to meet the buyer and there isn't one?" Freddie asked.
"By that time, they should all be under arrest, except for Carruthers of course." Mr. Hardy said, rising from his chair and going to the phone. He called the police and informed them Freddie was at his house and wished to plea bargain.
While they waited for the police to arrive, Frank and Mr. Hardy questioned Freddie. "Who attacked the guard at Hanover?" Frank asked.
"Kevin," Freddie answered. "After attacking you the previous day, he was afraid to be seen there, but he needed to see Jim," he explained.
"Why did you kidnap Joe in the first place?" Mr. Hardy inquired.
"He got too good a look at Kevin," Freddie replied. "Kevin wanted to kill him but then Greg told us who he was and we thought he would make a better hostage," he said with a derisive laugh. "We never imagined the kid could get out of the warehouse with handcuffs on."
"Who stole the shipments at Thompson?" Frank asked.
"Shandra fixed the invoices and Steve and I actually took the stuff," Freddie told them. "We delivered it to Jim's place. I don't know what he did with it."
"He left it at your apartment, as well as Greg's and Steve's," Frank informed him.
"What?" Freddie demanded. Mr Hardy told Freddie about the anonymous call and the subsequent searches. "They were setting us up for the fall?" Freddie demanded in disbelief. "Then why give us the money?"
A very good question, which went unanswered as the police arrived. Freddie was taken into custody and the Hardys accompanied Chief Collig to the airport. Steve and Greg were caught before they could get to their lockers. When informed of the physical evidence found at their addresses, both men were prepared to make a full confession.
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Frank said as Chief Collig held out one of the card keys ready to enter the corresponding locker. "If they were setting these guys up, then why give them the money? Why let them live to tell about Carruthers and the others?"
Chief Collig put his hand down and backed up from the locker. "Bomb?" he queried, looking at Mr. Hardy.
Mr. Hardy nodded. "Makes sense," he agreed, glancing with pride at his eldest son.
Chief Collig ordered a bomb squad and evacuated the terminal. Less than two hours later, the three bombs, along with a fourth in another locker, had been located and defused. "The fourth one must have been meant for Joe," Mr. Hardy stated.
Chief Collig looked at Mr. Hardy. "Your call," he said. "When do you want us to move against the others? I have just been informed that the three men in custody have made a full confession with signed affidavits."
"First, go to Thompson Security and go through everything Shandra Simmons has been associated with there. No one will find out about the search until tomorrow and by then, the meeting will have taken place and they should all be in custody," Frank said.
"If you could wait until six a.m. to arrest the others, then Carruthers won't have any idea what is going on and he will be at the meeting with Joe. We can arrest him there after he hands over the contract," Mr. Hardy added.
Later that evening, Mr. Hardy shut himself up in his office and arranged for the meeting between Joe, Carruthers and the buyer. After half an hour, Mr. Hardy came out of his office and joined Frank in his bedroom. "It's set," he told Frank. "We'll head down to the pier and be in place by four-thirty."
"Are we taking the money?" Frank asked, wondering how his dad was going to come up with that much.
"No, not really," Mr. Hardy replied. "The CIA recently obtained a new printing press and the bills it made. They are going to have the money, all counterfeit, ready and waiting for Carruthers and your brother."
Frank frowned. "I don't like working with the CIA," he said.
"They aren't my agency of choice either," Mr. Hardy admitted. "But this case is their territory. "Don't worry," he continued, knowing why Frank was upset. "Joe will be fine."
Frank nodded, knowing his dad was right, but still feeling a bit uptight. "Let's go to bed," Mr. Hardy said, rising and heading toward the door. "We have to get an early start tomorrow."
The next morning, at a few minutes before six, Joe and Carruthers arrived at the pier. Jeff had accompanied them as a driver and bodyguard. They waited patiently as a rowboat, obviously sent from a yacht farther out, neared the area. As the boat came closer, two copper skinned men leapt out and pulled the boat on up to the shore, where another copper skinned man with dark eyes and hair disembarked. He came up to the threesome waiting for him and looked at Joe.
"These are the partners you mentioned over the phone?" he asked Joe in a voice, thick with accent.
Joe nodded his head once. "Have you our money?" he asked.
The man snapped his fingers and the two men who had jumped off the boat, reached back into the boat and returned with four briefcases. "Twelve and a half million dollars in each," the man stated, snapping his fingers again. The men set the briefcases down on the sand and opened them up for inspection.
"And now, the plans?" the man asked, holding out his hand.
Peter opened his shirt and pulled out several folded papers and handed them to the man.
The man looked the papers over, folded them up, and stepped closer to Joe. "What is this?" he demanded. "Do you really think these are worth anything?"
"What do you mean?" Joe asked, confused.
"These are old. We already have these in our possession and you expect me to give you fifty million American dollars for them?" The man grabbed Joe's arm and pulled out a gun. "For this you will die," he added, pulling Joe backward toward the boat as the other two men surged forward, weapons drawn.
"Those are new plans," Peter insisted as the men advanced. "They were just taken a few weeks ago," he said. "You are mistaken. If you don't want to purchase them, return them and keep your money," he said. "I have another buyer anyway."
"Then why come to me?" the man asked, still holding a gun on Joe.
"You offered more," Peter said. "But I can still get twenty-five million for them."
"Pah, who would pay for old information?" the man said, spitting in disgust.
"Does it matter?" Peter inquired. "They are my plans. I had them taken and they are mine to do with as I choose."
"But Jim took them," the man argued. "I made the deal with him."
"I got to the plans before he did. They are mine," Peter insisted.
"That's right," Jeff asserted. "I helped him."
"Really?" asked the man, his thick accent gone as he released Joe and stepped in front of him. "That's what we were waiting to hear."
Peter's eyes narrowed as all weapons were trained on him and Jeff. "What is this?" he demanded.
"It's called a sting," Joe told him as the two men were placed in handcuffs and read their rights.
"Joe Hardy, I presume," Peter stated as more agents and Frank and Mr. Hardy arrived on the scene. Joe grinned at the man as he was led away.
"Good job," the CIA man congratulated the Hardys as he joined his men and headed toward the road where their vehicles were parked. Two agents took the boat and started back out toward the yacht. The counterfeit money was taken by another set of agents.
"Wow," Joe said, after hugging his brother and dad in greeting. "Where were they all hiding?"
"Back there," Mr. Hardy informed Joe, pointing to a place just out of sight.
"They had bugs planted in the sand around here," Frank stated, as another agent started digging up little places every few feet. "And great binoculars," he added.
"What about Shandra and the others?" Joe asked.
"Chief Collig was going to arrest them this morning, but when the CIA arrived, they took over and arrested them as soon as you, Jeff and Carruathers left his house this morning," Mr. Hardy informed Joe.
"What happened to Greg, Freddie, and Steve?" Joe asked. "Did they get caught too?"
"Oh, yes," Frank said with a grin. "When they found out not only were they not getting any money and had been framed, they were willing to confess. But when they found out the lockers where their take was supposed to be had been rigged to blow them up, they wouldn't shut up."
"They told everything," Mr. Hardy concurred. "They even offered to show how they did their part of the crime and how to fix the damages."
"Fantastic!" Joe said. "But I do feel sorry for Mr. Carruthers."
"Peter?" Frank demanded in disbelief.
Joe shook his head, "Andrew," he said. "It would be terrible to see your own brother arrested as a traitor."
"I know what you mean," Frank said, looking at Joe. He grinned and ruffled Joe's hair. "Welcome back baby brother," he stated.
"Thanks," Joe said, smiling back right before Frank punched his arm. "What was that for?" he asked.
"Turkey for dinner?" Frank asked, referring to the comment Joe had made when he had been tied up.
"Well, you certainly weren't chicken," Joe retorted with a grin, breaking into a run with Frank hot on his heels.
Mr. Hardy laughed at his sons and followed them at a more leisurely pace to the car, glad things were back to normal.
End
