Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.
Thank you! To Wendylouwho10 as usual for reading for flow and content. Typos are mine and I find them all the time!
Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Started as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles but is now completely AU. Frank is 20 and Joe is 19.
Author's Notes: Sorry for not responding to reviews last chapter but I was traveling. Actually I'm still out of town but I'll try to respond to ones for this chapter. Just know that I DO read and greatly appreciate them! Thanks for taking the time to do that!
Chapter Seventeen
Two days later…
Frank looked at his dad incredulously. He had thought that this moment wasn't going to happen but it finally had. "Someone's spotted Joe? Let's go!"
Fenton put down the phone and ran a hand through his hair. "I know you're ready to go. So am I. Thank God your mother is at the hospital today." It had been difficult to get Laura out of the house but in a secure location where police could monitor her. They had finally convinced her to go when a volunteer called in sick.
"Why aren't we going?"
Fenton gave his son a long look as he released a pent-up breath. "Frank, this could be a set-up."
"Where is he?" Frank asked somewhat angrily. "What aren't you telling me?"
Fenton took a step closer to his son. "Frank, I'm not saying you can't go-"
"That's correct. You can't-"
Fenton reached out to grab his son by the shoulders and spoke in an angry tone. "Frank! If you are the target and you just rush in, what could happen?!"
Frank pulled back from his father but the question penetrated his mind and he spoke his thoughts aloud. "If I go without a plan… Joe could shoot me and then…." Frank closed his eyes as he ran both hands through his hair. "And then he'll kill himself." He opened his eyes.
Fenton was still close but he wasn't touching his son physically, but his words did. "We've been talking about this for several weeks. We've talked about what we'd do if he was spotted. You agreed that you would hang back. That you'd wear Kevlar."
Frank nodded. "I will but we both know that Jacob Yates killed his finance with a single shot to the head."
Fenton nodded. "But that's also why you need to stay back."
"Dad, I promise not to rush out of here. I'm sure that there are ORT agents on the way here?" Frank asked with a look at his father's face.
"They are. They are also heading to the location where Joe might have been spotted."
"Tell me, dad. Where is he?" Frank's tone was calm now. The heat of the earlier conversation was gone.
"A beach jogger spotted someone in camouflage around the caves along Shore Road near Barmet Beach."
Frank nodded. The caves would provide a great location to pick people off with a rifle. He internally shuddered at the thought of Joe shooting random people on the beach. But then that hadn't been the MO of either of the other Assassin victims. The real question was was Joe spotted as he readied himself for his mission or was this a ploy to draw his victim to him.
As if reading Frank's thoughts, Fenton spoke. "If Vanessa were the intended victim then this location doesn't make sense unless he's readying himself but that the location isn't logical for him to be in. It's too far from the Bender house. He'd be obvious in his camo with a rifle trying to get a cab or to walk that distance. I don't think the Assassins are that sloppy."
"Agreed," Frank stated. "They aren't. This must be where Joe intends to do something which means that you or I are the most likely targets."
Fenton had been suggested as a possible target but ORT was certain that the Assassins would want to take out two operatives if they could and that meant Frank or Vanessa.
"Let me go to the beach. There's a gazebo at the park. I'll stay there. There aren't many locations along the cliffs that afford a good view of that spot. I'll wait there and help coordinate. I promise." Frank was determined to go and nothing would stop him not even his own father.
Fenton stood silently for a few moments. "You will stay at the far side of the gazebo and you will obey EVERY instruction that the ORT agents and police give to you."
"I will."
"Get your vest and gun," Fenton's words came fast now that a decision was made.
Frank left the living room immediately. They hadn't thought of this area as a probable location. All the areas they had scouted were in the city and near the Bender and Hardy houses. As he headed to get his Kevlar vest he pulled out his phone to alert Cassidy. She would want to be in on this.
.**********.
Agent Crawford was waiting in the Barmet Beach Park parking lot. The Bayport Police Department was in the process of clearing the beach of visitors. It was early on a weekday morning so the number of visitors wasn't too high at the moment and the BPD would keep any new sun lovers from the search area.
Crawford walked briskly toward the Hardy sedan. "Morning Frank, Mr. Hardy," he said politely. "We have two agents on site and are waiting for more to arrive." He glanced around and said, "Let's get to the gazebo and out of the open." He turned and began walking in the direction of the beach without checking to see if the Hardys were following.
Frank glanced at his father and then at the back of the ORT agent. Three agents and the two of them? Not really the manpower they'd need to check the various caves along the Bay shoreline. Frank quickened his pace. "Is the BPD going to assist?" Chief Collig would definitely want to be involved.
"No, we're sticking to agents only." Crawford didn't slow.
"Why? They know the area and they are trained to-"
Crawford stopped and turned to Frank. Fenton had caught up at this point as well. "Listen," he said quietly. "We don't know if Joe will be alone or if there will be Assassins with him to make sure everything goes the way they want. It's best not to have local enforcement in that mix if we have to take them down."
Frank frowned. "If they have Assassins here, then we've probably already given away that we know they're here. What's makes you think they'll wait around."
"You." Crawford said bluntly as he took Frank by the arm and began walking briskly once again toward the gazebo.
As they entered the shade of the gazebo, Frank pulled his arm from the man's grip as Fenton spoke up.
"Are you using my son as bait?" he asked rather loudly drawing the attention of the other two ORT agents.
"No, sir. You're the one who brought him along. Are you telling me that you both thought that it was completely safe to bring a possible target to the area where Joe might be?" Crawford was blunt.
Both Hardy men were quiet. They had both disregarded the danger because they both needed to be here.
"If you hadn't come we would have set the search up differently but you did come and therefore Joe has a reason to stay here even if there is a search." Crawford glanced around and then pointed to the far point of the gazebo away from the rising cliffs. "Both of you stand over there. You'll only be visible from someone on ground level but be careful."
Frank snorted but did as he was asked. As Crawford moved away, Frank asked, "Is the jogger that spotted someone still around? I'd like to talk to him."
"Yeah, he's still here; I'll bring him over." Crawford spoke momentarily to one of the other agents and then walked away in the direction of the parking area.
Frank turned to his father. "Standing in the corner of the gazebo to be safe isn't why I came here," Frank said tersely.
Fenton took a moment to look at the two agents that were in the gazebo. They looked out of place in their dark colors with the bulky vests protecting them and the guns strapped to their thighs. You couldn't get further from a beach look. "They've got maps of the cliffs. Let's see if they'd like some help." Fenton moved over to the men who relocated the small folding table and papers to the area where Frank was standing.
Frank and Fenton were just pointing out some things to the men when Crawford returned with a young man.
"Greg Parker, this is Frank Hardy. He'd like to ask you a few questions about what you saw."
Frank glanced to his father. "I'll talk to Greg, you help the agents with the search plan." Fenton nodded and Frank stepped over to the side and Greg moved to stand near him.
Greg glanced around nervously. "Hey, is it dangerous for us to be out here? I mean the guy had a gun."
"What kind of gun?"
"Some kind of rifle but I don't know guns so I can't tell you anything more."
"What was he wearing?"
"Gray and black camo. Looked hot to me. I mean who wears long pants and long sleeves to the beach?" Greg looked at Frank and the men behind him. "Well, I mean, who goes to the beach for a run or sit and sun in those clothes."
Frank looked to the cliffs and wished he were out there searching. "Could you tell what color his hair was?"
"No. He was wearing a black cap. Definitely not beachwear. I just know it looked like a white guy from the brief look I had at his face. But I didn't stare. I mean if you see a guy dressed like that at the beach with a gun, you're not going to pull out your phone for a photo op."
"How long did you see him?"
"No long. Just long enough to see him move up the cliff and around an outcropping. I left quick after that."
Frank nodded and gestured to the table behind him. "Can you show me on the map where you saw him?"
Greg glanced at the map. "I can't read those kind of maps well. I can point to where it was. That will be a lot easier." Greg stepped toward the opposite side of the gazebo from where they were standing.
Frank took a quick look to see his father talking about the depth of some of the caves and then he looked back to Greg. He could see Crawford on his way back to the gazebo. If he wanted to see where Joe was spotted he needed to do it now while his father was distracted and Crawford wasn't back. "Yeah, show me."
Frank and Greg move over to the open space that was an entry point to the gazebo and Greg pointed up the cliff face.
The sound of a rifle shot rent the air and Greg Parker fell back hard to the gazebo floor as Frank ducked. Quickly realizing that he needed to move, he moved over to Greg and began pulling him back and was quickly joined by his father and the two agents.
A loud curse sounded from Agent Crawford as he ran into the gazebo with his gun drawn. "I told you to stay AWAY from that side, Hardy!" He glanced around. "Are you shot?"
"No. Greg is." Frank looked down at the man who was cursing and moaning while grabbing his shoulder. Something was wrong.
"There wasn't a second shot," Crawford said as he looked to the cliff and grabbed his phone. "We need medical assistance at the gazebo but the shooter is unaccounted for." Crawford kept his weapon out as he looked around. The ORT agents were putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. He looked to Frank. "I guess you're lucky he missed."
Frank looked to his father and then Agent Crawford and things clicked. "That's just it, sir. Joe doesn't miss."
"What do you mean? He shot the jogger, not you."
Fenton quickly picked up on what Frank meant and stepped away from where the injured man was and lowered his voice. "What Frank means is that Joe wouldn't miss this shot. It was way too easy. He meant to shoot Greg."
The agent looked perplexed. "But why?"
"I can't answer that. But I think we should keep an eye on him. After all, he was the one who spotted Joe and then he gets me to stand in the open. Now that he's shot, I'm wondering if he really was out here jogging," Frank said as he looked to the cliffs. The absence of a second shot gave him hope but he knew that he needed to find his brother. "Listen, I need to go look for Joe."
"Absolutely not," Crawford ordered as his phone rang. "Crawford." Pause. "What? She's heading here?" He turned and looked to the parking area. "Crazy girl."
Frank stepped up beside him. "Who?"
"Some girl said she knows you and when that shot went off, she broke away from the officers there and she's coming this way."
"Cassidy," Frank said as he looked to his father. They had forgotten she was on the way over. He could see her now running across the sand. In moments she was in the gazebo breathing heavily.
"Are you hurt?" she asked Frank. "I heard the shot but only one-" She broke off as she saw the body on the decking. She stepped around Frank and gasped, "Gary? What the hell are you doing here?!"
"You know this man?" Crawford said as he brought his gun around and the agents on the ground shifted their hold from aiding to restraining.
"His name is Gary Older and he was with Joe, Jacob, and I at sniper school." Her eyes were wide as she turned to Frank. "Why is he here?"
"He said his name was Greg Parker and he's the one who supposedly spotted Joe." Frank stared at the man on the ground for a moment before pouncing on him. He slammed Gary's head into the decking as the agents tried to restrain him. "Where's my brother!?" Frank yelled at him.
Gary only laughed.
"I'm not waiting." Frank said as he stood. "I'm going to find my brother." When Cassidy and Fenton both made to follow him he stopped. "No. It just needs to be me. Both of you stay here and make sure he doesn't have any cyanide."
Cassidy glanced at the man still laughing on the decking. "I think he's too much of a coward to do that, but I'll stay."
"I'm going and that's it." Fenton said as he strode past Frank calling back. "Are you coming or not?"