"What is the objective of the LPR?" Joe asked. "I mean, what are their goals with terrorist acts?"
"This would be their first act of terrorism, so we're not completely sure of their goals or their ideology other than they are a militia that is anti-government. Outside of the bios we do have on these four, not much else is known about them," Culligan said.
"Are these the only members of LPR?" asked Frank.
Culligan nodded. "This group is in its infancy, so yes, they're very small. As far as our UC was able to determine, there are no other members."
"No offense, Agent Culligan, but it seems to me that your UC would be the prime suspect as far being the mole who leaked the info that Harry Young talked about," Frank pointed out.
"It's possible that our UC is a double-agent," Culligan admitted. "We're conducting some extra background checks on him. Your suspicion matches ours, Frank. But I suspect the CIA has an agent or three who have been keeping close tabs on the LPR."
"But I thought the CIA was hands-off until the international connection became known," Chet pointed out.
Culligan chuckled. "If I've learned anything about CIA employees, it's that they're lying when their lips are moving."
This caused the Hardys to start laughing, and Chet joined in on the laughter as well.
Joe then got serious and asked, "So if the LPR has never committed a terrorist act, then how did you guys catch wind of them?"
Culligan looked at Joe, and then at Fenton Hardy. "Fenton, you've trained your sons well. They ask some excellent questions. We were actually investigating another militia group and stumbled into these guys by accident. I can't say much about the other group since we have a few UCs embedded with them. We've kept LPR under surveillance ever since. And, of course, that's how we've learned how elusive they are when you close in on them."
"You mentioned bringing our van and then doing surveillance. How will we be communicating with each other?" asked Frank.
Culligan handed Frank a device and a business card. "The device is a scrambler. Put it on your van phone when you call me. That way, if your phone is bugged, the one listening to our conversation will just hear a bunch of gibberish. The business card has my phone number on there. And by the way, if you call this number without attaching the scrambler, all you'll hear is gibberish when I answer it."
Frank examined the scrambler. He had seen these devices before and he and Joe both knew how to use them. The business card was a generic card with just the phone number on it. Frank put the card in his wallet and pocketed the scrambler.
"So, when you bring your van down here, find a spot in Central Park and park there for the time being. Call me when you're settled in, and we'll take it from there," Culligan said. "Captain O'Rourke, can you give these guys a ride back to your precinct, and I'll make arrangements for Fenton to fly to Bayport and pack a bag."
"Fenton needs to come with me," O'Rourke pointed out. "My secretary saw him come into my office, and she'll need to see him leave as well. As far as she knows, we're still in my office."
"OK, Fenton, get back here as quickly as possible," Culligan said. "Then we'll fly you to Bayport."
Minutes later, they were dropped off back at Captain O'Rourke's secret elevator and then they were back in Captain O'Rourke's office.
"Alright, so as I open the door, I'll say something, and you guys laugh at it so that Sarah doesn't suspect a thing," O'Rourke chuckled.
Joe chuckled and shook his head, but he understood why O'Rourke was doing that. They begin to walk out the door.
"And I looked at him and said 'No, I asked for the soup'," O'Rourke said and the Hardys and Chet took their cue to laugh at his "joke". Then O'Rourke shook their hands.
"Thanks for seeing us, old friend," Fenton said as they began to leave. Smiling at Sarah, Frank and Joe followed suit and left with their father.
"Do you remember how to get back to the FBI office?" Fenton asked Frank.
Frank nodded. "I got it, Dad," he said as he started the ignition.
Minutes later, Frank and Joe dropped off their dad and then left New York City to head back to Bayport.
"This is sure a weird case," Joe commented as Frank sped down the freeway towards Bayport.
"That Harry Young guy sure was weird," Chet said. "Gassing us to keep his office space location a secret? I'd have rather been blindfolded! Something about him rubs me the wrong way."
Frank chuckled. "I can't argue that point, Chet. We've dealt with the CIA before, and they're a very different bunch of characters. But yes, this is going to be a weird case. We're supposed to set up surveillance on a group that is hard to find because they keep stealing cars to keep themselves a secret. I can't say we've had that type of case before."
Joe looked out the window. "I know Culligan couldn't give us much background on LPR, but to me, it's pretty obvious that the group is driven by Stafford's hatred towards the government for how they treated his father. Maybe this New Year's stunt is his way of generating publicity for himself and his cause."
"But why have only four members?" Chet asked. "Wouldn't they want a larger group for such an act?"
Frank said, "The less people who know what's going on, the better, I guess. I mean, there were only four of them and word already got out about their plans for New Year's."
"Except nobody knows what exactly their plan is, other than they're going to do something in Times Square," Joe pointed out. "And they probably don't know that part of their plan is known."
"Which proves my point about keeping the group as small as possible," Frank countered.
Two hours later, they reached the Morton farm. As Frank pulled the Hardys' car into the farm, Iola saw the car and went back into the house.
"Don't worry, Iola," Joe muttered. "I won't speak to you, I promise."
Frank looked at Chet in the rearview mirror. "I'll pick you up when you're done packing your stuff. Why don't you sit that trip out, Joe?"
"Works for me," Joe grumbled, annoyed at Iola's behavior.
Chet slapped Joe on the shoulder. "Hey, it'll be ok, buddy. We'll be chasing terrorists while Iola has to endure James Grant bragging about himself. Her loss!"
Joe chuckled. "Since you put it that way, Chet, we'll have a great time! But yeah, I'll sit out picking you up and let Frank do it."
"Excellent!" Chet rubbed his hands together. "That means I get to sit in the front seat this time!"
Chet got out of the car and ran into his house. Frank and Joe drove into Bayport and were soon at their Elm Street house.
"There you are!" Aunt Gertrude called out as the boys entered the house. "I knew it! You're on a case with your father!"
"You saw him earlier?' Joe asked.
"He was in and out of this house in ten minutes, and mentioned that he was using your help. When I asked where you were, he just said you two would show up soon, then he left! What's going on here?" she demanded.
"Dad's needed right away, so he's being flown to New York. We're packing our bags and then taking the van to New York to meet him," Frank explained as they ran upstairs.
Aunt Gertrude followed them upstairs. "What's the case about?" she asked.
Joe grinned. "Top secret, Aunty. We'd tell you, but we'd have to kill you!"
She looked shocked at Joe's remark, then Frank laughed. "In all seriousness, we can't talk about the case right now. But we'll give you the exclusive when we're done!"
While Aunt Gertrude was proud of her nephews' accomplishments, she also eternally worried about them. But she was eager to hear all about this case when they were finished with it.
Five minutes later, the phone rang and Frank answered it.
"Hey Joe, I'll be back. Chet is all packed, so I'll pick him up," Frank said.
Joe nodded and finished packing while Frank was gone. About a half hour later, Frank and Chet arrived at the Hardy home.
"Aunt Gertrude!" Chet greeted her with a hug. "You wouldn't happen to have a pie to go for our trip, would you?"
"Frank and Joe ate the last of the strawberry-rhubarb pie," Aunt Gertrude said, causing Chet to give Frank and Joe a fake hurt look on his face. "But I have a Bavarian Cherry-Chocolate cake if you want to take some with you."
"Please, Aunt Gertrude?" Chet asked as she packed a couple of cake slices into a Tupperware bowl. She then handed the Tupperware bowl and a plastic fork to Chet.
"Make sure I get the bowl back!" Aunt Gertrude ordered. "Now you boys be safe on your case!"
After hugging Aunt Gertrude goodbye, Frank and Joe said, "Give mom our love!"
A few minutes later, Frank, Joe and Chet loaded up the van and headed towards New York. Joe drove this time, while Frank sat in the passenger seat and Chet was stretched out in the back.
"After being gassed twice today, and traveling back and forth today, I'm going to take a nap!" Chet declared.
Frank and Joe chuckled, and within minutes, they could hear the snoring of Chet Morton in the back of the van.
"Chet's right," Frank said as Joe sped down the freeway. "It has been a long day."
"You can take a nap if you want," Joe offered. "I'm driving, so feel free."
"Thanks, bro," Frank said. "I'll take you up on that offer."
Frank dozed off a few minutes later, and Joe kept driving towards New York. He kept thinking about how things between Iola and him had ended, and it was making him both angry and sad at the same time. He had wondered what she was up to at that very moment. Was she with James Grant on a romantic date, or was she getting bored with him bragging about himself? Joe decided to turn up the radio in the van. He was tired of torturing himself with the thoughts of what Iola was doing, so he resumed his focus on driving and the rock music on the radio.
Soon, the skyline of New York City was visible, and Frank had stirred awake from his nap. Frank looked at his watch.
"Well, you certainly made great time!" Frank observed. "A little heavy on the gas petal, are we?"
"Just keeping with the flow of traffic," Joe grinned.
"Uh-huh. Sure," Frank said with a smile. "Do you want me take over driving?"
"I can get us to Central Park," said Joe. "I know how to drive in New York City. We've only done it a few times on our cases."
A while later, they were in Manhattan, and Joe weaved in and out of traffic to get them to Central Park in relatively quick fashion. Once they were parked, Frank pulled out the scrambler from his pocket and attached it to the phone. Frank then dialed Culligan's phone number.
"I see you boys made it!" Culligan said. "And your dad's here with me."
"Anything new since we left for Bayport earlier today?" asked Frank.
"So far, no," Culligan responded. "I have people watching every entrance into Manhattan and so far, no sign of these guys."
"So what do you want us to do in the meantime?" Frank asked.
"Head down to Times Square, park your van somewhere, and maybe do some surveillance in the area. While our folks haven't been able to account for Stafford or his cronies, who's to say they haven't sneaked into Manhattan already?" Culligan said. "Besides, I would imagine they would be performing surveillance of the Times Square area and figure out where to carry out their terrorist act."
"Sounds good, plus it gives us an excuse to use our new gear!" Frank chuckled.
After hanging up the phone, Frank took over driving duties, and soon they were on their way to Times Square. About an hour later, after dealing with the last of the rush hour traffic, Frank parked the van on 42nd Street. Surprisingly, Chet was still asleep in the back.
"Chet Van Winkle, wake up!" Joe yelled at Chet while shaking him.
"Wha-wha-what?" Chet sleepily protested. "What's going on, guys?"
"We're doing some surveillance," Frank said. "Joe and I will don our trackers and earpieces. You get to man the radar and headset."
"I can't do surveillance on an empty stomach!" Chet protested.
"You forgot about the cake Aunt Gertrude gave you?" Joe teased. "Eat up, and get the sugar rush! We have surveillance to do!"
While Chet prepped the radar screen and headset, the Hardy boys attached their trackers and earpieces. Frank would patrol the area north of the van, while Joe would patrol the area south of the van.
After completing comms checks, Frank and Joe left the van and took their respective directions. Chet was successfully tracking both of them on the radar.
Out of the corner of Joe's eye, he spotted a suspicious man casing the area. He was short, about 5 feet tall, with dark hair, a baseball cap and sunglasses with a flannel shirt and blue jeans He's not of the the four LPR guys, he thought to himself, remembering the features of those four. But he kept an eye on the man as he crossed the street in that guy's direction. The man, noticing that Joe was watching him, took off in a full sprint. Joe began chasing him.
"Chemo, Far, this is Jar and I'm chasing a suspicious guy," Joe said. "I don't think he's part of LPR, but he sure got paranoid real quick! Short, with a ballcap and flannel shirt. Also wearing sunglasses!"
"Loud and clear, Jar," Frank and Chet both said. "Far is on his way!"
"Go south four blocks and make a left," Chet told Frank.
Joe continued chasing the suspicious man, and suddenly the man stopped and turned around. He pointed a gun at Joe, and fired!