J.M.J.

Author's note: Thank you for reading! Thank you especially to Candylou, MargaretA66, ErinJordan, max2013, and caseykam for your reviews! Here it is: the big reveal! Plus, one final cliffhanger. Sorry, guys, I just can never resist. I hope you enjoy! God bless!

Chapter XXXII

Five days later

"I can't believe they're making me stay here another week," Frank complained, trying to sit up a little more in his bed. It was only two days until Christmas, and the doctor had said that Frank would need to remain in the hospital until January 1, despite the progress he was already making. "It wasn't exactly the way I thought Callie and I would get to celebrate our first Christmas and New Year together."

"Yeah, well, none of us are too excited about hanging around this hospital over the holidays," Joe pointed out. "But considering for awhile there, we were thinking you weren't going to be celebrating any holidays at all, it's not the worst possible scenario."

"It's close," Frank grumbled, but he was half-teasing.

The brothers were the only ones in Frank's room. Joe had been released from the hospital several days earlier, but he had wanted to stay with Frank, since they hadn't had any time alone since they ha been rescued. Everyone else had gone back to Bayport earlier that day to get anything they would need for Christmas Day and would be back in time for some Christmas Eve celebration, at least as much as hospital rules would allow. They had much to be grateful for, with Frank making a good recovery and the threats of Black Rose and Evangeline Moretti virtually gone.

Frank watched and saw that Joe had very little reaction to his attempt at a joke. "Sorry. That was rough on you, too."

"I understand now why Dad freaked out so much the time I got shot right in front of him," Joe replied. "So far, I don't think too much damage is done. I've been sleeping like a baby ever since then."

Frank chuckled. "Do you have any idea how a baby sleeps?"

"You're the one who's going to find out in a few months."

"Yeah." Frank grinned at the thought. He had been worried about Callie with all the stress, but she had seen her doctor a couple of days before and had been told everything was all right.

"So when are you going to tell everyone else?" Joe asked. "I've already almost let it slip twice, so if you don't want everyone to hear from me, you might want to tell them sooner than later."

"We were thinking we'd tell them on Christmas, for a surprise," Frank replied. "We didn't want to say anything while everything with Black Rose was still going on, but now…I'm just glad my kid's going to grow up in a world without Black Rose."

"Except for O Great and Mighty One with No Face," Joe pointed out. "He's still out there. I sure wish we could have caught him."

"Or even just figured him out. He didn't make any sense. One minute, he'd be saying he didn't care what happened to us and none of this was about us. Then the next, he'd be acknowledging that we wrecked his operation in Ziyou, but then he'd change his tune again to claim that it wasn't a big deal he lost his operation there and that he got more out of it than he lost. Except, apparently, that was when Black Rose started breaking apart."

"He's probably a senile, old guy who doesn't know up from down anymore," Joe replied with a shrug. Then he narrowed his eyes. "Unless he did know what he was saying."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked.

"It's just an idea I had just now. The whole face of Black Rose changed after Ziyou. They got a lot smaller, more focused, and less theatrical. Even the Faceless One turned into the Great One. What if it was more than just his name that changed?"

"You mean, what if the old leader was replaced by someone new?" Frank mulled over that idea for a few seconds. "It does make some sense. There's everything you just said, and then what about that picture of the original Faceless One? That would easily explain why they suddenly stopped caring about something that they had previously been killing people over."

"Exactly," Joe agreed. "And then, too, if there was some ambitious young Black Rosebud who wanted to seize the reins for him- or herself, what better time to do it than in the confusion after Black Rose lost its main stronghold in Ziyou? The problem with that is that we're back to square one in that case. We only know that there's a very good chance that the man in the photo isn't really the Faceless One anymore, so it could be practically anyone else, but at the same time, we can't be certain that he's not the Faceless One, so we're still at about eight billion suspects."

"I think we could rule out the vast majority of those, considering they haven't been anywhere around Bayport lately," Frank said.

Joe thought for a few minutes. "If I was to put my money on anybody, it'd be Shun."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "Shun? But we saw him there with the Faceless One."

"Yeah, but all we saw of the Faceless One was a mask and a costume. He didn't move and he didn't speak, at least not so anyone but Shun could hear. It might not have been a real person in there. Maybe it's all part of Shun's plan to keep anybody from knowing that he's really the leader. It's not such a bad plan, when you think about it. He establishes himself as the only one who actually knows who the leader is. Then, if anyone gets too ambitious, not only will they not want to kill Shun, they'll try to pump him for information. Then he can get rid of anyone who's starting to get too nosy. It would also explain why he was so intense about everyone following the right protocols and calling the 'Great One' the right thing and all that. Plus, the police say that those pills he had on him were cyanide pills. Black Rose did seem to encourage their people to not allow themselves to be taken alive, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it does show that Shun was about the only one left who really cared about following the rules."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Frank agreed. "I'm not completely convinced, but it's definitely a strong possibility."

"Sure, and it's also possible that there really is a real leader besides Shun," Joe acknowledged. "We can't rule out anything until we know for sure it's not true. I mean, honestly, the Faceless One could even be someone we've met before."

Frank sat up slightly, earning a warning glance from Joe. It wasn't really necessary for Joe to warn him against moving so much, as Frank's injury gave all the warning necessary to be still. However, that didn't stop the excited train of thought that ran through his mind.

"Joe, what if you've just hit it? What if we really have seen him before, and that's why he was so careful to hide his identity? Even his voice…"

"If we'd never seen him before, there would be no reason for him to be that careful about hiding his voice," Joe agreed. "He could have disguised it and we never would have known the difference. We wouldn't be able to identify him from that. Unless we already knew his voice and he slipped up."

"Right." Frank frowned as he thought about it.

"One thing I still don't understand is why Black Rose keeps coming back to Bayport," Joe commented.

"Why not?" Frank countered. "Mom and Dad came to Bayport for the first time because they were on the trail of Black Rose. It was already a headquarters for them. We know that in the past, they succeeded in buying off and/or bribing two different high-ranking police officers. They only really started having trouble when Dad moved here and Collig became chief and kept a tighter watch on everything. Maybe Black Rose doesn't like to give up territory. If they cleared out, they felt that that would be conceding the fight to Dad and Collig."

"They gave up Ziyou easily enough," Joe pointed out. Then his brow furrowed. "Or did they? Maybe they still have just as much influence there as ever, with the added benefit that nobody realizes it."

Frank nodded eagerly as he saw everything coming together in his mind, but before long, his face clouded again. "It's a good theory, anyway, but it doesn't get us very far. We still don't know who the Faceless One is."

Joe folded his arms thoughtfully as he considered this. If the new Faceless One had risen to power following Black Rose's losses in Ziyou, it still had to be someone who was fairly high up in the power structure already. The only one they knew who fit that description was Shun, who still seemed like the best suspect to Joe.

His thoughts were interrupted as he accidently touched the slight bulge under his jacket and was reminded once again of the grim reality that he was still forced to live in, despite how freeing the capture of Evangeline and the destruction of Black Rose had been. The bulge barely showed. No one who didn't already know it was there would have ever noticed, but Joe couldn't stop noticing the unfamiliar feel. He had had a concealed weapon permit ever since he had officially gotten his detective license—both of which were still valid, even though Joe felt like it had been ages ago that he had left the agency—but he had never carried a gun with him on ordinary outings, such as visiting his brother in the hospital. He hated that he felt like he had to now, but with Black Rose completely dismantled other than their leader, there was a very strong possibility that the Faceless One himself would come out after those who had toppled his empire. After everything that had happened, Joe was finally willing to admit that he needed to be sure that he could defend himself if the need arose.

"Joe," Frank broke into his brother's musings.

Relieved for the distraction, Joe glanced up. He saw that Frank wasn't actually looking at him. He was looking down at his hands on top of the white covers.

"Yeah?" Joe asked.

"Speaking of Ziyou reminded me of something."

"What?" Joe tried to keep from showing any particular reaction.

"The thing you saw…"

"I know," Joe cut him off. "It was there, too. In that mansion."

"You felt it, too, then?"

Joe nodded. "I don't think it's something to focus on too much, though, or to be afraid of. I don't think it's as powerful as it would like us to believe. I mean, it left pretty quick once Tony…I mean…"

"It's okay," Frank said. "I know what you're talking about. Something similar happened to me. There's a lot to think about."

"Mm-hmm." Joe searched about him for something that would give them a more cheerful subject to talk about. His gaze happened to fall on a folded newspaper lying on a table. It was that morning's edition of the Bayport Times. He had already seen it, so he knew what the front page story was even before he picked it up. "Have you looked at this yet?" he asked Frank.

Frank shook his head. "I've been trying to avoid reading the paper as much as possible the last few months."

"You'll want to see this one." Joe held it up so that his brother could clearly see the headline:

Hardy Boys Capture Leaders of Illegal International Cult

"It's a great article," Joe told him. "They got some of their facts wrong, such as claiming we caught the leader of Black Rose, but I'll go ahead and spoil the ending for you. You and me—they apparently don't realize anyone else had anything to do with it—are heroes who have never done anything wrong in our lives, just like the Times has always said."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Except for a few articles in every edition for the last few months."

Joe feigned surprise. "What? I mean, I do remember them saying something about us being basically murders and how we were always destined to have our career end in disaster, but that doesn't mean they ever doubted us."

In response, Frank laughed. "They must think no one bothers to read their paper."

"After the way they've handled all this, why should anyone?" Joe looked down at the story. "They should go into writing satire instead. I mean, listen to this: 'The cult, which used both black and white roses as its emblem, was allegedly targeting the Hardy family for several years, including attempting to discredit them by sowing distrust in their abilities as detectives.' I mean, come on. The Times was 'sowing distrust in our abilities' as much as anyone else. How did any of their staffers write that with a straight face?"

Frank started to shake his head slowly, but then he stopped. "Joe, read that again."

"Why? Rereading it isn't going to make it any less ridiculous."

"They're accusing Black Rose of spreading the rumors about us. We don't have any proof, necessarily, that that's the case, but it would make sense."

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "It also makes sense that the journalists were just doing it to sell stories."
"Okay, but who's the first one who was spreading the story?" Frank asked.

Joe paused, realizing what Frank was getting at. He looked down at the paper and reread the sentence as if it would help him make more sense out of the theory. "You're right. And listen to this again: '…which used both black and white roses as its emblem…' Of course, they're mistaken about that, too. The white roses weren't until recently."

"Which fits," Frank added.

Joe shook his head. "Maybe they were right about saying we were incompetent. He was practically telling us who he was, and we didn't see it."

"The spelling is different," Frank pointed out.

"So?" Joe replied. "We still should have seen it. Well, now that we do, what do we do about it? I'm convinced, but it's not exactly evidence."

"Let's call Dad," Frank suggested. "He might be able to help get some real evidence."

Joe reached for his cell phone and called his dad's number. There was no answer.

"I'm going to at least go and talk to the police officers who are guarding this place," Joe said, reaching for the door. "That way, if they see him, they can…"

He stopped speaking as he opened the door and saw Edmund Wight standing just outside, as if he had been waiting. He was wearing his characteristic white suit and had a briefcase in one hand and his other hand in his pocket.

"Hello, Mr. Hardy," Wight greeted him. "I was just coming to debrief you and your brother. Why don't you step back inside and close the door?"

Joe's gaze fixed on the pocket concealing Wight's hand. Then he took a step back, allowing the other man inside. "Have you been standing there long?"

"Long enough," Wight replied, closing the door. He removed his hand from his pocket, revealing a small pistol.

"Looks like we were right," Joe said to Frank.

A bemused smile crossed Wight's face. "It really was a coincidence that I happened to overhear you. It makes no difference to what I came to do. That paper is right about one thing: you two have much of the responsibility for ending Black Rose. I can rebuild it, but I have come to realize that doing so will be much easier without any Hardys to deal with. I am glad to hear that you haven't had the chance to tell anyone else that I'm the Great One."

"We won't be the only ones who figure it out. You left a lot of clues," Frank spoke up. "You knew more about Black Rose than anyone else outside the organization, and more than most people inside it from investigating it. You were working with Alyssa when she supposedly infiltrated Black Rose. You could have used her to shoulder yourself in during the confusion after what happened in Ziyou. Later, you arranged to get her out of jail. The official story, of course, was that she escaped."

"You also had access to the picture of the old Faceless One from your intelligence connections," Joe pointed out. "You used that to identify him and then you personally killed him and took his place. You let Shun in on the secret, but anyone else who might have suspected the change had to be purged out. It left you with a smaller empire, but one in which you could be certain no one would dare to oppose you."

"It was what you did recently that really made it obvious, though," Frank said, not giving any indication that what Joe had just said was new information to him. "After Angelo killed Tony, you knew we would spare no effort to track him down, and realize that he was still involved with Black Rose then. You hadn't been particularly concerned about us before that, but now that we had a personal reason to come after you, you did everything in your power to stop us, short of killing us. You tried to get us into some kind of protection program that would have prevented us from investigating at all. When we wouldn't agree to that, you did everything you could to destroy our reputation so no one would work with us. I'll give you credit: you did a lot of damage in a short time. You have a lot of influence. Your mistake was coming to our house and threatening us with it. You work better in the shadows. You probably also should have kept your predecessor's title. The less obvious you made it that you were a different person, the less chance you would have of anyone ever realizing that it was actually you in charge of Black Rose. After all, the original Faceless One would have had to be a lot older than you are, so you could have escaped suspicion by default."

"There's one thing we have to be grateful to him for, Frank," Joe said. "The first Faceless One kept Black Rose afloat for decades. Wight ran it into the ground in a couple of years. The whole thing might never have come to an end if Wight hadn't killed the first one."

"Who was the first one, anyway?" Frank asked.

"His name is unimportant," Wight said. "So unimportant that he made sure no one knew it. No one will ever know anything more about him. But that won't worry you two much longer. You were correct that I wasn't concerned about the Hardys at first, but you two have destroyed everything, and I will have my revenge for that."

Joe felt his heart rate speed and he instinctively put his hand closer to the opening in his jacket. "If you shoot, people will come running immediately. There are still police all over this hospital."

"No doubt, but you two will be dead before anyone can get in the room," Wight said. "I've already laid the groundwork to make sure that I can convince the police that I walked in on the killer, rather than being the killer myself. However, I do want everyone to know why you two died."

He reached into a pocket and took out two withered white roses. Gesturing for Joe to remain where he was, he went to Frank's bedside and one to him, who looked at it skeptically.

"White roses?" Frank questioned. "Again? Maybe you should just change the name of the organization."

"Hardly," Wight replied. "You read Rudger's report. You know the significance of white roses."

"You make black roses by dyeing white ones," Joe replied. "Is this some kind of admission that you lost?"

"But they're withered," Frank pointed out. "We might have won, but we couldn't do it without dying ourselves."

"You also can't help giving just a little hint to show that it really was you," Joe added. "Edmund Wight…White roses. You don't mind making it fairly obvious, do you?"

"Why should he?" Frank replied. "It's all a game to him, seeing whether anyone else can outsmart him. But of course he has to kill anyone who actually does."

"I hope your father is as perceptive," Wight replied. "Now, you, catch this." He tossed the other rose at Joe.

Joe moved as if to catch the rose, but instead, at the last moment, he used the action to reach under his jacket and pull out his gun.

"Okay, Wight, it's over now," he said.

Wight chuckled. "I don't even know why you bother. We've seen this often enough already. You won't fire. Not to save your life or your brother's. I'd prefer if you were holding that rose, but so be it."

As he finished speaking, he turned his gun so that it was pointing at Joe instead of Frank. Frank sat up and grabbed at his arm as he pulled the trigger. At the same instant, Joe fired his own weapon.