A/N: Anonymous reviewing is now enabled. (Thanks for the heads up, Lauriena.) Sorry, I'm new at this; I thought anonymous reviewing was automatic unless the writer disabled it. :Hangs head in shame for assuming:

Many thanks to my buddy Phx for the shameless plug. :D

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Chapter 2

Frank Hardy walked into the house and shut the door behind him. He stood in the front hall a moment, inhaling the mixture of scents that were uniquely Christmas. The fresh pine from the seven-foot tree in the living room, the spicy scent of ginger and the scented candles his mother loved so much, mixed with the tantalizing aroma of a pot roast that wafted out from the kitchen.

As he took off his jacket, gloves and scarf and hung them in the closet, the strains of a familiar Christmas song could be heard from the kitchen. Frank chuckled to himself, thinking he could live the rest of his life quite happily if he never heard that song again.

Wandering down the hall to the kitchen, Frank pushed open the swinging door and walked in. "Don't you ever get sick of this song," he teased his mother, as I'll Be Home for Christmas played in the background. He knew it was Laura's favorite Christmas song; Joe's, too. 'Good thing they can both carry a tune,' Frank grinned to himself, thinking of the many times Laura and Joe had accompanied the song in an impromptu duet.

Laura hummed along, ignoring Frank's teasing. "Go get your father and the two of you can set the table while I finish up in here," she requested, as Frank kissed her on the cheek. "Just the three of us. Joe is having dinner with Vanessa and Andrea tonight."

"Okay," Frank agreed, stealing a soft, hot roll from the basket on his way out. Entering the living room Frank saw his father, Fenton Hardy, stretched out on the couch watching television. "We've got our orders, set the table or we don't eat," Frank said dramatically, leaning over the back of the couch, accidentally dropping a few crumbs on his father's shirt. "Oops, sorry Dad," he grinned.

Moments later the table was set and Fenton moved to turn off the television, finding his wife's favorite Christmas music an infinitely more appealing back drop to their family dinner. As he reached for the remote, a 'Breaking News' announcement flashed across the screen. He stopped to listen as Laura and Frank joined him. A reporter was standing in front of a local supermarket, red lights flashing around her. Yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the stiff winter breeze behind her.

"Moments ago," she began, her voice somber, "a daring armed robbery took place right here, outside the Bayport Fresh Foods store in the Miller Farms Shopping Center."

"Hey, that's right down the street from the Benders," Frank murmured.

"Two armed, masked men ambushed the armored car guards who were completing their last pick up for Christmas Eve. One guard is in stable condition with a head injury and is expected to make a full recovery. The second guard was shot in the chest and, at this moment, is fighting for his life at the Bayport Trauma Center. We are told he will be undergoing emergency surgery within minutes.

"Witnesses report two men in ski masks ambushed the guards as they prepared to put two cash bags in the truck. Most people ran to their cars or back into the store, preventing further carnage. Store management immediately locked the doors to keep their customers safe and prevent the armed men from entering the store.

"Unfortunately, a Good Samaritan who tried to help the gravely wounded guard was also shot, and he and his companion were taken hostage, thrown into the back of the truck by the armed men. The armored truck was last seen speeding out of the parking lot with a single police car in pursuit. This was the last pickup of the day for the armored car company. With it being Christmas Eve, it is estimated there was close to five million dollars in cash on the truck.

"Tonight, our thoughts and prayers are with the two hostages, the guards and their families. We will bring you more information as it becomes available. Jim, back to you in the studio…"

Silence fell over the Hardys as they stared at the screen, each momentarily lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Fenton turned off the television and, putting an arm around his wife and son, slowly escorted them to the dinner table, their hearts heavy.

"I feel so badly for the families of those guards," Laura sighed, passing around a plate of vegetables. "And those poor people taken hostage…on Christmas Eve of all nights." She shook her head sadly. "I just can't even imagine what they're going through, let alone their families." She knew from personal experience how horrible it was to be in that position and couldn't even fathom how devastating it must be to get that kind of news on the holiest night of the year. She gave a silent prayer of thanks that Joe was safely ensconced on the Bender's farm, sharing Christmas Eve dinner with his girlfriend and her mother, and deftly steered the conversation to happier topics.

oooOOOooo

Andrea glanced at clock and gasped. Over an hour had passed since Joe and Vanessa had left for the supermarket! She'd been so caught up in the last-minute details, knowing Vanessa wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for Joe's first official Christmas Eve dinner with them she hadn't noticed how quickly time had passed.

'Where could they be?' she thought with a frown. Even given the crowds of last-minute shoppers in the grocery store, they should have been back close to forty minutes ago!

Reaching for the phone she tried first Vanessa's cell phone and then Joe's, a small knot forming in her stomach when she got a message saying they were out of range. Trying not to panic, Andrea told herself the store was probably a lot more crowded than they'd anticipated or maybe they hit heavy traffic on the way home.

'Although it is just down the street…'

Sighing, she decided to give them a few more minutes. Turning on the television she sat down on the couch and started flipping channels. It took only a moment for her to realize every major network had anchors reporting on something – the same something. Turning up the volume, she heard the anchor cut to a reporter who was apparently at the scene of whatever the breaking news story was.

Andrea's blood turned to ice as she recognized the grocery store in the background, its entrance and front sidewalk now ringed with yellow crime scene tape. As the reporter pointed out a very large, dark stain on the ground in front of the store, she sucked in a breath and dropped the remote on the floor as her heart hammered in her chest. She was staring at the store where Joe and Vanessa had gone!

Flying off the couch she grabbed the phone. Her hands shook and her fingers fumbled over the buttons, but finally she managed to dial the Hardys' number.

oooOOOooo

"I'll get it," Fenton said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, as the ringing of the phone interrupted their dinner. "Hope it's not a new case," he murmured, wanting to do nothing more than spend a nice, quiet holiday with his wife and sons. Picking up the cordless phone just inside the kitchen, Fenton stood in the doorway as he answered. "Hardy residence."

Immediately he was overwhelmed by an uncharacteristically hysterical and babbling Andrea Bender.

"Andrea….What? What's wrong?" he tried to interrupt, shrugging helplessly at the looks he was getting from his wife and son. "I can't…I can't understand you, Andrea. Andrea! You need to take a deep breath and calm down."

Andrea calmed only slightly but it was enough for him to make out three words that sent his heart plummeting – "Joe… Vanessa… supermarket!"