Do not own the Hardy Boys.

A special thank you to Justanothergirlintheworld) you have been a big help to me.

The Hardy Boys

(Heartless)

Sequel: A Friend in Need

Chapter 16

"Frank?" A voice whispered in the darkness.

Frank slowly opened his eyes to what he assumed was the sound of his little brother whispering his name. He knew Joe would show up sooner or later, needing to talk after the ordeal they went through, and now seemed as good a time as any.

Sure enough, Joe was standing beside his bed, looking down at him.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Did you have a bad dream?

"No. Just... we need to talk."

He sounded very grim and serious, and Frank felt himself going back into big-brother mode almost immediately.

"Does it have to do with what happened tonight?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes."

Frank sat up in bed, turning on the light on his nightstand. "What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"It's one o'clock in the morning," Joe whispered back.

Frank moved over so Joe could lay down beside him. It was something he'd done ever since the two were little kids. Whenever his little brother couldn't sleep from a nightmare, or just had something important on his mind, Frank would allow Joe to come into his room to talk. He would never turn Joe away. It didn't matter how late or early it was, they just talked until Joe felt better. Frank would wake up the next morning to find Joe sound asleep right next to him. They suspected that their parents knew about their late night talks, they were just never letting on.

Now fully awake, Frank gave Joe his full attention. "Okay, Joe, talk to me."

Joe turned to Frank. "I can't get Jackson out of my head," he said in one breath, "I killed him, Frank."

"Joe.. it was in self-defense. You did nothing wrong." Frank looked at Joe, letting out a heavy sigh. "If you hadn't stopped Jackson when you did..."

"I know, Frank!" Joe said, cutting his brother off, "Its just... a part of my feels guilty for taking his life. But at the same time, I'm glad I killed him. I mean, I couldn't just let him kill you!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself, and suddenly his eyebrows furrowed together in guilt.

Does that... make me a bad person?" Joe asked worriedly, "For feeling this way?"

"No, of course not," Frank said, shaking his head, "You're human for feeling the way you do. Don't you dare start worrying yourself over this. You did nothing wrong. It was in self-defense, so leave it at that."

"Okay, I'll try," Joe replied, then quickly changed the subject, "What do you think happened to Angela?"

"She ran out of the arcade before we had a chance to talk to her," Frank shrugged, the answer unknowable.

Suddenly, it hit Joe, and he disregarded the statement. "Wait a second... what is Angela doing in Bayport, anyway? She was supposed to be in jail after what she and her father did to Tony and to me!"

Joe saw a look on Frank's face that told him he knew something.

"I take it you know something," he said, observing the hesitation in the brother's eyes, "Frank, what is it?"

"Well... you have to promise to stay calm before I tell you," Frank said, taking a deep breath, "I didn't want to say anything in front of Tony. I knew it would only upset him. I meant to tell you. It's just everything is being so crazy around here."

Joe was beginning to lose his patience with his brother. "Okay," he said, "I promise. I'll try to stay calm."

Frank took a deep breath, and just spit it out. "Angela's working for the Network as an informant."

"What!" Joe gasped, feeling his temper rising as he processed this statement.

"Gray made a deal with Angela," Frank continued, "She provides him with information, and in exchange, he's going to make her criminal records disappear."

"Wow, Gray has really hit an all time low," Joe grumbled, folding his arms over his chest, "Is Angela his new method in getting information out of people."

"Joe, she was almost raped!" Frank shouted as he sat up, unable to believe Joe would say such a thing, "I am sure Gray isn't using her in that way!"

"Oh, come on, Frank!" Joe shot back, "How can you be so sure? What was she doing there in the first place? In that time of the night, dressed the way she was... naturally, she was going to get herself raped."

"Joe!" Frank scolded, "You can't just make accusations like that without knowing all the facts!"

"As far as I'm concerned, Heartless and the Network are all alike!" Joe ranted on, "By using any method to get what they want! They don't care who they hurt! You can't trust either one of them! We should cut ties with the Gray Man for good!"

"We can't do that, Joe," Frank continued to explain before he was hit with a bunch of questions, "I think we are going to have to trust the Gray Man. Chief Collig and his officers have their hands full with the crime wave going on in Bayport. We need the Gray Man's help in getting D.K. Mathers, but I made it very clear to Gray that he will have to earn our trust back."

Joe still didn't seemed convinced, so Frank continued.

"Bayport is our home, Joe," Frank went on, trying to convince his brother that this was the right thing, "Our friends and family are here. We all grew up here. I'm not going to stand by and let someone take away my home. I'm going to fight to put Heartless out of business... so Tony can come home and Little Antonio can have a safe place to grow up in. So that our kids can have a safe place to grow up in. Got it?"

After a long silence, Joe finally spoke.

"Fine, for Little Antonio and Tony's sake, and of course Bayport, I'll put my feelings about the Gray Man aside. For now, at least."

Joe, feeling his stubborn streak kicking in, quickly added, "I still don't trust him. "

Frank just rolled his eyes, and replied sarcastically. "Well I guess that's as good of a response as I'm going to get. Let's just focus here... we need to find Angela to see if she found out anything. And to make sure she is okay, of course."

"Maybe we should call the Gray Man," Joe said, feeling his eyelids getting heavy, "You'll have to do the talking, though."

"Why me?"

"Because I know I'll say something stupid."

"Good point. I'll do that, but first ..." Frank said, yawning as he laid down beside Joe, "Let's get some rest."

A few minutes later, both brothers were sound asleep, right beside each other.

It was around ten in the morning at the Hardy home, and Fenton was in his office on the phone, talking to Chief Collig. Chet, Biff , Phil, Callie, and Vanessa were all sitting in the living room listening to Frank and Joe tell them about the ordeal at the Scoreboard Arcade.

"What a nightmare you guys went through," Vanessa said softly. She immediately went over to Joe, giving him a hug.

Joe released Vanessa quickly, saying, "I'm okay. Really."

"That must have been scary," Callie added, "The thought of... if Joe hadn't... that Jackson... he almost..." Her quivering voice soon trailed off.

"Shh, he didn't," Frank said, consoling his girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her. He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm fine."

"I've been so worried about you," Vanessa said, turning to Joe, "Frank told us at the hospital about your plan to join Heartless. You wanting to distance yourself from everyone in order to keep us safe. I thought you would be mad at us for not agreeing with your plan."

"I'm not mad at you. I realized now that it was a bad idea," Joe replied, "Right now, I just fight to put Heartless out of business... so Tony can come home and Little Antonio can have a safe place to grow up in."

"Not without me, you're not!" Frank said, shaking his head, "Besides, someone has to keep you from doing something stupid."

"I still can't believe all the crazy stuff going on in Bayport," Chet said with anger in his voice, shaking his head, "People are afraid with all the people committing acts of violence, vandalizing property, and robberies... it's madness. It's just not safe to go out anymore."

"No one likes going to the south end of town, with all the gang activity," Biff added, "I hear people who live there refer to it as Gang Alley."

"So, what can we do to help?" Phil asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Just keep your eyes and ears open," Frank replied, "If you see or hear anything suspicious, call the police. "

"What about this D.K. Mathers? What can you tell us about him?"

"His name is Daniel Kasey, known as D.K. Mathers." Frank continued to explain, feeling that his friends had a right to know and wanting them to stay alert, "Mathers is just as dangerous as Sei Duro. He is heavily trained in martial arts with a military background."

Fumbling through his pockets for a moment, Frank handed Phil a photograph of him. "He is a tall, muscular man in his late forties or fifties, with a short, military-style haircut. The man wears military fatigues. We believes that Mathers has a secret hideout either in Bayport or any of the surrounding areas."

"What does this mean?" Phil asked, pointing to the black heart tattoo on the man's left bicep.

"It means Heartless is in charge," Frank said, letting out a heavy sigh and running a hand through his hair, "Heartless is trying to take over Bayport as their territory. Just like Heartless did to Tony."

Suddenly, Frank turned his head to look at Joe, who was watching quietly from the sidelines.

"Heartless is already trying to recruit Joe," he said, "I found this same card with a black heart on him at school, the day of the attack."

"What!" they all exclaimed at once, looked shocked.

Frank could see everyone was starting to panic, so he tried to calm them down. "You guys all know I won't let Heartless recruit Joe. They can't have my little brother."

Vanessa looked at Joe. She took a deep breath and asked, worriedly, "Do you think that's why they attacked you?

"Yes, I do," Joe answered, looking nervously at Vanessa.

Everyone's face practically went ghost-white when Joe told them about the attack, and the horrible things they said about Tony. There was a heavy sting of silence in the air, the tension nearly palpable.

After their friends had gone, all promising to keep their eyes and ears open and call the police for anything suspicious, the brothers began heading to their room. Fenton stopped them, however, half way there.

"Frank, Joe!" he shouted, "Hold on."

Frank and Joe spun around to see their father rushing up to them. Just by the look on his face, they knew right away that something was very, very wrong.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Frank asked hurriedly.

"I just got off the phone with Chief Collig," Fenton replied, "Kurtis Shepherd is dead."

"How?"

"Apparently, a trace of arsenic was found in his iv."

"Arsenic?" Joe asked is disbelief.

"Yes, enough to bring down a full-grown elephant. Let alone a teenage boy."

"Did the Chief get any information on anyone in south end of town,?" Joe asked curiously. "Or, as Biff called it, Gang Alley?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Joe." Fenton replied, then he let out a frustrated sigh. "The police can't get anyone to come forward with information."

"Heartless has them scared," Frank said, thinking out loud. "They have already taken over that part of town."

"I know," Fenton said, letting out a deep sigh and nodding slowly. "I am heading to the station now to see what I can find out."

"We are going to try and find Angela." Frank informed his father, "To see if she found out anything... and to make sure she is okay."

"Maybe should check out Gang Alley?" Joe suggested.

"Heartless is in the area," Fenton said, putting his arms around both of his sons, "I want the two of you to be extra careful. Anyone in Gang Alley could very well be part of Heartless. D.K. Mathers is a very dangerous man. Promise me you will stick close to each other. Do not take any unnecessary risks."

In a stern voice, looking at Joe, Fenton finished, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Okay Dad, we will," Joe agreed, "But I can't promise you."

Joe turned to Frank with eagerness before headed out the door. "Come on, Frank! Let's go kick some Heartless ass!"

Fenton let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and feeling a headache coming on. He looked at Frank.

"Frank, you are not to let Joe out of your sight. I do not care if you have to hog-tie him, just keep him safe."

"Don't worry, Dad, I won't let Joe do anything stupid!" Frank said, reassuring his father as he left to catch up to his little brother.

"I can't promise you," he whispered under his breath.

We are getting close to Mathers. What do you think of my story so far? I Will up date soon. Please review thank you.