Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thanks once again to Wendylouwho10 for reading over this for me!

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is kinda blue spine and AU. Joe and Iola are 16, Frank and Callie are 17.

Author's Notes: Well, another story concludes. Write a review if you'd like to know how the next story is going and get the scoop on the title. :-) Thanks to all who have read and an extra thank you to all who have reviewed!


Chapter Fourteen

The man's hand flew up to grasp Joe around the neck causing him to gag at the effort to breathe. "WHAT did you call me?"

"Adam. Your father is Claude Eriksen," Joe choked the words out.

The man dropped his hand and then walked purposefully over to Iola which caused both her and Joe to scream. But instead of harming her, he put a nearby empty feedbag over her head.

Joe breathed a sigh of relief for Iola but he knew he was still in mortal danger.

Eriksen spun and pulled off his mask. "How did you know?" he hissed.

Joe kept his mouth closed and lifted his chin. Eriksen closed the distance and hit Joe across the mouth again. Joe could taste the blood in his mouth but he didn't say anything.

"Want to play games do you?" Eriksen asked angrily as he moved within inches of Joe's face. "Well, I know you lost quite a bit of blood a few weeks back. I know that while your blood volume might be back up to normal, your red blood cells haven't had time to build back up."

"The Red Cross must be very proud of you," Joe snarled as he looked Eriksen in the eye.

Joe closed his eyes as he felt the blade back at his neck. He could hear Iola screaming in the background asking what was going on.

"I could just cut you a little more and just let you bleed out."

The blade moved from Joe's neck without cutting him and he opened his eyes to find the tip of the blade now touching the center of the heart Eriksen had drawn on his chest. Joe tried to even out his breathing, but he couldn't. He knew his racing pulse wasn't helping his blood loss any either. This was how it was going to end. But if he died now, he wanted his killer to know who found him out. His breathing evened slightly and he looked Eriksen in the eye. "For the record, I'm the one that gave the police the lead to find you."

The tip of the blade pierced the skin slightly.

Joe kept going. "You made a bad choice to choose this weapon to use in crimes. I told the police it was a Premium brand KA-BAR with a special two-toned handle. I picked it out from their inventory. There were only twenty-five of them made. It was only a matter of time until they figured out it was you."

"Please!" Iola cried out. "What's going on?!"

Joe watched as anger took over Eriksen's visage as he pulled the knife back to make its final plunge.

The door to the barn burst open as the knife was plunging downwards. Two shots rang out and Iola screamed again.

"I'm alright! I'm alright!" Joe called out as he looked to the door to see his father striding in his weapon still at the ready and Detective Collins coming right behind him with his weapon drawn as well.

Fenton kicked the knife away from Eriksen, who was still alive, while Collins collected the gun and then pulled a pair of cuffs from his pocket. Joe only looked at the scene of Collins calling in for an ambulance for a moment before feeling light-headed. His arms were released and he slowly began lowering himself to the floor as his father wrapped his arms around him. He vaguely heard Fenton asking for assistance and providing pressure to his neck. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and saw that Iola had been freed and she was leaning over him and crying. Then he passed out.

.**********.

"So dad drove to the farm like a bat out of hell and burst into the barn just in time to stop Eriksen from killing you while BPD went into the house to free the Mortons," Frank finished with a serious face. "I didn't arrive with Sam until they were loading you into the ambulance. You don't know how scared I was."

"Hey, I'm okay. It was just a little blood loss," he said with a smile.

Frank looked at the bag of blood hanging from the IV line.

"Look at me," Joe said again. "I know it was serious. But I'm really going to be okay. After all, they're not even keeping me overnight."

Frank nodded. "Listen, I know it's just supposed to be family back here, but I know that there is a certain person who wants to see you. In fact she's driving her brother crazy."

Joe smiled. "Chet's here?"

"Yeah, he arrived not long after you got here." Frank looked at his brother carefully. "Now back to what I was talking about. Will you be okay for three minutes while I get her?"

"Yes, Frank," Joe said with a laugh.

Standing, Frank said, "Well, with dad talking to the police and mom filling out medical papers, I'm a little nervous about leaving you alone."

"I promise not to leave the bed."

"Better not," Frank said with a smile as he exited the ER stall.

Joe's heart-rate increased and he glared at the monitor trying to will it to even out. He didn't need the ER staff coming in right now.

"How- how are you?" Iola said from the entry.

Joe patted the edge of the mattress and she moved slowly across the room taking in the bruises and bandage on his neck as well as the IV. He had on his own shirt which had been tossed into the ambulance with him but he didn't have his coat and he noticed it in her hands. "Seems like you've been giving that back to me a lot lately."

Iola teared up and Joe reached out to grab her hand. "Hey! I didn't mean to make you cry."

Iola wiped at the tear that had escaped and rubbed it on her pants as she laid the jacket across the end of the bed. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. You've been through a lot tonight. Are you okay?"

Iola pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she laughed. "You're the one in the ER with a bag of blood and you're asking if I'm okay."

"Yeah, I am," Joe said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So are my mom and dad."

"I'm glad to hear it," Joe said softly.

"I've tired you out," Iola said hurriedly. "I should go."

As she stood, Joe reached out to take her hand. "Don't go. Wait here with me until Frank or mom comes back." His voice sounded as tired as he felt. "Here," he said and moved over slightly on the bed. "Frank said I couldn't get out of bed and you look as tired as I feel, so I think you should share it with me." He blushed slightly at his wording. But she must have thought it was fine as she lay on her side and snuggled up against his arm that didn't have an IV. In moments they were both asleep, exhausted by the stress of the evening.

Five minutes later, Frank and Callie stepped into the entry and he smiled at the couple lying on the bed as Callie pressed to his side.

"I think I was right," she said. "It was inevitable."

As Frank and Callie headed back to the waiting area, he thought about how things had changed so much since the start of the month. It seemed that Cupid had indeed struck both the Hardy boys and he wasn't sure who he should call Cupid: Callie or Joe.