CHAPTER 8

Joe sat in an empty interrogation room reading a file on Donald Lassiter. He had asked Con if he could see the files that he had, then Joe called in a few favors from his friends at the Justice Department. He wanted to have as much information he could get on Lassiter.

Joe found that Donald Lassiter had been a prominent businessman almost as rich and famous as Donald Trump. Unfortunately the only thing Lassiter shared with Trump was his name. Lassiter had married Gail Rockefeller, a very distant cousin of John D. Rockefeller IV, only Gail's family had the name not the money. Her father was considered the 'black sheep' of the family. He had possessed a small trust fund that was almost gone when Gail and Donald were married. The Rockefeller family name had helped to open doors for Lassiter, and also helped Lassiter obtain large loans that he used to play the stock exchange and horses and to pay for extravagant gifts to his mistresses.

Joe read that Lassiter had increased his wife's life insurance. Lassiter's business was losing money at that time due to bad investments and a few buildings that Lassiter had built were not up to code. There had been several accidents at the building sites. Lassiter needed money and he needed it fast. He realized that if his wife died in an accident her insurance policy would not only pay off his debts but let Lassiter live in the style he had become accustomed to. It was sheer luck that Fenton and Collig got involved.

Joe looked up when he heard the door open. Fenton stood in the doorway with two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Thought you could use this."

"Thanks, Dad…I can't believe someone running a red light got you involved with Donald Lassiter. What dumb luck!"

"Sometimes it happens that way," replied Fenton.

"I know it's in the report but would you mind telling me what happened?" Joe leaned forward, anxiously waiting to hear what Fenton had to say.

Fenton leaned back, taking a sip of his coffee. He closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts before speaking.

"Ezra and I were just out having breakfast. We weren't on a case, just two friends enjoying each other's company. We were going back to the station when this red SUV ran a red light and almost sideswiped a school bus. Of course that really irked Ezra and we chased after him. When we caught him we found out that he already had two prior convictions and this would be his third – and under the 'three strikes' law he was going away for a long time. Seems this…Jason Ryan had been contacted by Donald Lassiter to kill his wife. Hoping to reduce his sentence, Jason told us about the hit…and since Lassiter hadn't met Mr. Ryan, I went undercover. Ezra made sure I was wired and we got enough evidence to convict Lassiter for attempted murder."

"I didn't think attempted murder carried that long of sentence?" Joe looked questioningly at Fenton.

"Normally it doesn't; unfortunately for Lassiter the District Attorney was up for re-election."

"Dad…do you think Lassiter would go after the District Attorney?"

"You mean former…and he might. I better find Con."

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"Don't try anything foolish, Mr. Hardy. I won't hesitate to kill you."

.. ..

Just by the look on the man's face, Frank knew this was not an empty threat. He stared at the two men for a few moments before acknowledging them.

"You obviously have me confused with my brother Joe," he said with a grin. "Oookay…that little joke didn't go over very well…you don't have to worry about me; I'm not going to do anything…foolish, but I may need a little help getting out of here. My legs feel asleep."

Blaine signaled to John, who went over to not-so-gently help Frank out of the trunk. Wincing in pain, Frank stretched his back to get the kinks out of it, taking in his surroundings as he stretched. He noticed the older gentleman standing on the porch and thought the man was about Fenton's age. Twisting his upper body slightly, he noted that the house was surrounded by a lot of trees. It reminded him of the Morton farm although he didn't think they had traveled that far out of Bayport.

"Enough with the calisthenics, Mr. Hardy. Bring him inside, Blaine."

Blaine gave John a slight nod. John took hold of Frank by his upper arm and dragged him up the stairs and into the house. Aware of the gun still aimed at him Frank offered no resistance as he let himself be led down into the basement. No one bothered to turn on the light, instead Blaine used what little light came from the hallway. Frank grunted softly as his arms were pulled back and he felt plastic restraints secured tightly around his wrists. John then shoved Frank down to the ground, and he was left alone in the dark.

.. ..

Frank bit his lower lip, not wanting to cry out when he landed on his knees and fell to his side. His breath came in rapid pants as he waited for the pain to subside to a numbing ache. He was lying quietly on his side wondering who his captors were when he heard a soft moan.

"Joe…Joe is that you?" Frank struggled to sit up.

"S..s…someone there?"

Frank didn't recognize the voice. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad that it wasn't Joe.

"Hello…is someone here?" asked the voice again.

"Yes…my name is Frank – Frank Hardy."

There was a shuffling noise, then Frank felt a body sitting next to him. He couldn't make out the other person's features too well but from the sound of the voice Frank thought it was another male.

"Frank Hardy, you say? I think I know you…you have a younger brother…Joe…his name is Joe."

"Yes, that's his name," replied Frank warily.

"You boys testified in court on a case I thought for sure I was going to lose." The man chuckled softly. "When Chief Collig…I mean former Chief Collig, told me that the Hardy brothers had gone undercover and infiltrated a gang…and not just any gang but the toughest gang in Bayport!"

As Frank listened he began to get an inkling of who his 'roommate' was but he didn't say anything just yet. He wanted to be sure that he was right. "Do you mean the Bayside Raiders?" he asked, recalling that particular case. Several of the members attended Bayport High and had tried to recruit a few students into the gang. The gang members also sold drugs to the students. When Chet had prevented one gang member from harassing a freshman student the Bayside Raiders retaliated by slipping some ecstasy pills into Chet's Gatorade. Luckily Chet had only taken a few sips. If he had downed the whole bottle he would have overdosed and possibly died.

Frank, Joe and Biff had been able to get Chet to the hospital in time. Then Frank and Joe went undercover to find out who was supplying the gang the drugs, reporting all to Fenton and then Chief Collig.

"I was very amazed two teenagers did what our law enforcement couldn't."

"They did their best, plus they couldn't help it that none of the officers looked young enough to pass as teenagers. Plus, we got lucky that one of the members had a younger brother who they didn't want joining the gang," Frank replied, defending his friends in the police force.

"You got me there, Frank."

No longer able to hold back his curiosity, Frank had to find out who he was speaking to. "Well…you know my name but you never told me who you are."

"I'm sorry…I'm Dean…Dean Anderson…"

"District Attorney Anderson?" asked a shocked Frank.

"Former District Attorney. I retired a few years ago."

"Mr. Anderson, maybe you can answer a question for me…Do you know why and who kidnapped us?"

"I guess you didn't recognize him…it has been almost twenty years. Our 'host' is Donald Lassiter. I don't know who his two goons are, though."

'Donald Lassiter', why did the name sound familiar?

"You're right, I don't remember, but the name does sound familiar…would you mind telling me what you know?"

"It's a long story…but I don't think we'll be going anywhere anytime soon." Anderson got as comfortable as he could before telling Frank all he knew about Donald Lassiter.

*endofchapter*

Authors Note: Please read the author's profile for this story. The author, copagirl, passed away in 2013. I am posting these stories up with the permission of her family, who want her to be remembered as well. Lola was a long-time member of the Hardy Detective Agency and we miss her soooooo much! Love you Lola!

Thanks to those of you leaving feedback! I know copagirl would love all of it.