"Wait a second. LPR is fake?" Joe said in surprise. "But there's a file that the CIA and FBI had on LPR—"
"And guess who created that file?" Young smiled. "And guess who gave the FBI a copy?"
"But why create a fake terrorist group?" Frank asked.
"Revenge, Frank! Clean out your ears and listen to me!" Young beamed with pride. "Your dad arresting Huntley messed up my money funneling operation to those rebels! Huntley was in prison and I couldn't trust those idiots who worked for him to take his place. So I ended up creating a trail of paperwork designed to release Huntley from prison. Fortunately, my plan worked, and we were able to resume the operation. But Huntley wanted revenge against you, Fenton Hardy! And I wanted revenge for you ruining my financing operation! So I created LPR on purpose. The Stafford storyline? Complete fabrication! The family didn't exist, and neither did that Vietnam story. The guy who you think is Stafford was a random photo. The undercover agent working around LPR? Completely fake! I had an agent posing as FBI. He didn't know what was going on; he was just following my orders. But I made sure I gave Culligan the file to start planting the seed of a terrorist attack."
"Your story about leaking a rumor and the burning building in Queens was also fake!" Fenton Hardy declared. "I confirmed that with a couple of phone calls before you abducted me!"
The boys stared at Fenton Hardy in amazement.
Young also stared at Fenton Hardy, and trained his gun on him. "I knew from my CIA profile on you that you were close to Captain O'Rourke. So all I had to do was cook up a fake group threatening to do a non-existent crime in O'Rourke's district, and I knew he would ask for your help. With you being in the open, we could eliminate you once and for all, and Huntley would feel vindicated while I would be able to resume my financing operation. I didn't expect your sons to get involved, so imagine my surprise when I learn that O'Rourke and Culligan agreed to have your sons help. You complicated things for me, Fenton!"
"Who bugged our house?" Fenton asked.
"I have an electronics expert with cat burglar experience for such an occasion, and I also had him bug the Morton house when you guys left for New York," Young said. "I wanted to know if the LPR file had been passed on to you, and what information you had. And of course, that's how I learned about your sons being pulled into the case."
"So you spied on us in Bayport?" Joe asked.
Young smiled. "I sure did! And while you guys were talking about LPR in your dad's den, I had my cat burglar break into your van and plant the bug."
"Who was in the van at Shoreham?" Frank asked.
Huntley laughed. "Why, that was me and Tyler, of course! Tyler drove and I hurled that dummy at you guys. Too bad it didn't kill you!"
"But why kidnap my mom and aunt?" asked Joe. "And why kidnap my ex-girlfriend?"
"You brats couldn't leave well enough alone!" Young exclaimed. "And I heard your conversations about Iola in the van, and that's when I learned that you guys broke up. I had the Morton house bugged so that I could learn when and where Iola was going on a date with the new guy so we could kidnap her. I could tell in your voice that you still have feelings for her! I have a teenaged son, so I know these things. But I knew if I also abducted her, you would be willing to give up your dad for her! It's called exploiting weaknesses, Hardy."
Joe clenched his fists in anger. "How dare you!" he yelled.
"So here's how this will work," Young said, keeping his gun trained on all four of them. "All of you are dying tonight! There will be no prisoner exchange!"
Out of the bushes came Ted Huntley, the guy Tyler, the fake foreigner who tried to shoot at Joe in Times Square, and 5 other men with guns came out of the bushes and had them surrounded.
"Tie them up!" roared Young. "I'm blowing them all up! I'm tired of you Hardys being in my way!"
"Don't forget to give the fat kid some credit, too!" Huntley said with a smirk.
Chet fumed, frustrated by having multiple guns trained on him that prevented him from punching Huntley.
Young pulled a device out of his jacket pocket and held it with his left hand. "What I have here is the detonator for the explosives that are tied to these three wonderful women! Now, for the first time ever, you Hardys will be compliant to my demands. You're going to learn the same lesson that Officer Simpson did. Don't ever get in the way of my operations! Now hands up where I can see them!"
The Hardys and Chet complied while Young strapped explosives to them. "NYPD will have quite the mess to clean up here soon," he chuckled. "While they're cleaning this up, I'll be long gone. I'm flying to Central Africa tonight, as a matter of fact, to fight alongside the rebels. Nobody will be able to find me!"
Joe looked at Iola, who had a panicked look in her eyes, but was motioning Joe to look to his right. Joe discreetly looked out of the corner of his eye and saw several shadows in the bushes. Was this the backup Dad called for from Mr. Davenport's house?
Joe noticed an NYPD logo on one of the shadows. Joe quickly looked the opposite way and saw nobody from that direction.
Joe suddenly jerked his head in that direction and yelled, "Those tigers from the zoo are going to jump the fence! Look out!"
The distraction of the fake tiger was just enough for the NYPD and FBI, led by Captain O'Rourke and Agent Cullilgan, to tackle the shooters to the ground! Young sprinted away, and Frank pursued him.
"Don't do it, Frank!" yelled Young, still holding the detonator. "I'll blow you guys up!"
Young had stopped, and turned around to face Frank. What Young didn't realize is that while he focused on Frank, Joe had managed to hide behind the bushes and crawl past Young, who was on the opposite side of the bushes to his right.
"NYPD, this is the CIA!" yelled Young. "I have jurisdiction, not you! Now let my men go, or everybody gets blown up! Do you hear—oof!"
Joe had viciously tackled Young from behind, and in a football defensive move, knocked the detonator from Young's hand as if he was knocking the football out of the hands of a running back. The detonator flew towards the fence, and was now wedged in between the fence links! Both of them winced in anticipation of the inevitable explosion, but nothing happened!
Young was able to advantage of the split second distraction to pin Joe to ground. Young started strangling Joe! Joe fought and fought, but he was unable to strike back. Suddenly, Joe saw a boot kick Young in the face, rendering Young unconscious! Joe looked up after Young fell. It was Chet!
Chet looked at the unconscious form of Young. "That's what you get for calling me fat!" he exclaimed, and then smiled at Joe.
A week later, at the dining room of Morton farm, the entire Hardy family was enjoying a celebration dinner with the Mortons, a dinner that Laura Hardy, Aunt Gertrude and Mrs. Morton cooked up. Phil Cohen and Frank's girlfriend, Callie Shaw, had also been invited to the celebration.
"What a week!" Fenton Hardy exclaimed. "Young, Huntley, Tyler and the rest of Huntley's crew are in jail awaiting trial. Young isn't cooperating with authorities, but Huntley started singing like a bird in exchange for a plea deal. Thanks to the information he provided, the CIA also arrested 6 agents who were helping Young with the phony LPR story."
Frank shook his head. "What a crazy case! I can't imagine creating a terrorist group out of thin air for the purpose of revenge!"
"Culligan was completely blindsided," Fenton added. "He knew Young casually from previous cases, and never thought Young could pull such a thing off."
"Chet," Joe exclaimed. "You saved my life! I thought Young was going choke me out!"
"Well, he shouldn't have called me fat!" he exclaimed with a smile.
"How do we put this, Chet?" Frank said. "It was actually Huntley who called you fat, not Young!"
Everybody started laughing, and Chet joined in the laughter. "I was still the hero, though!"
"Ahem," Phil cleared his throat. "I may have been a hero, too? I only sacrificed sleep to make you two devices for uncle's van and silenced the bug in your police van!"
Everybody laughed and applauded, and Chet yelled, "Here, here!"
Joe grinned. "Phil, you were the man on that one! Young may have had an electronics expert, but you were our electronics genius! And yes, Chet, just so you're not left out, you were the hero who kept me from being strangled to death!"
Iola put her arm around Joe and gave him a big hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek. "And you were my hero that night! I'm sorry I broke up with you! I was being selfish."
Joe looked at Iola with a huge smile across his reddened face. "Does this mean you and James aren't dating anymore?"
"I broke up with James right after we got home from New York!" Iola exclaimed. "James would've saved himself first, anyways! Can we go talk in private?"
Joe took her hand, Iola smiled at Joe, and together they walked into the living room to sit on the couch and talk.
Frank smiled as he watched Joe and Iola leave for the living room. "I'm glad to see them back together," he said, looking at Callie Shaw, who nodded in agreement. Holding up a can of Coke, Frank said, "How about a toast to Dad? He figured out it was Young early in the case!"
"But it was you guys who rescued me!" Fenton countered. "I can't say I was the hero. You boys did the bulk of the casework!"
Aunt Gertrude looked at Frank. "Don't you ever tell me again that detective work is safe! You went camping, my foot!" she sniffed.
Chet put his arm around Aunt Gertrude and gave her a side hug. "But we did save your life, Aunt Gertrude!" he exclaimed. "That's worth a pie, isn't it?"
Aunt Gertrude started to smile. "I did make you two strawberry-rhubarb pies for saving my nephew!" Chet's eyes lit up in appreciation.
Frank smiled. "Chet was the hero at Central Park, though! He saved Joe from Young's grip!"
Chet flexed his muscles and smiled. "An unlikely hero, at that! Now when are we going back to New York for more Brooklyn-style pizza? A hero can't live strictly off strawberry-rhubarb pie, you know!"