Do not own the Hardy Boys.

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

One of my favorite Hardy Boys books is Dead on Target from the Hardy Boys Casefiles series.

I am sure some of you Hardy Boys fans will know the story.

I kind of added my twist to the story. Please read and review, tell me what you think?

The Hardy Boys

(Heartless)

Sequel: A Friend in Need

Chapter 17

Joe pulled up to the coffee shop across from the hospital. This was where they were supposed to meet with the Gray Man. Frank had called him just before they left the house.

Once inside, they spotted the Gray Man immediately. He was sitting at a table in a far corner.

"Well, there's the big man himself!" Joe said in a sarcastic tone.

"Joe, will you stop?" Frank responded, turning irritatedly to Joe, "Put your feelings about the Gray Man aside. If you won't do it for me, do it for Little Antonio, Tony, and Bayport."

"Okay, I'll try," Joe agreed reluctantly, "But I can't promise you anything."

"Well, on that note.. just don't say anything," Frank replied, just shaking his head, "Let me do the talking."

"Whatever you say big brother," Joe said as he followed Frank to Gray's table.

The Gray Man looked up to see Frank and Joe coming up to his table.

"Good morning Frank... Joe," Gray said. Nervously, he gulped. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better," Joe said condescendingly, "Thank you, Gray, for asking."

Frank shot Joe a warning look to shut him up. He then turned to Gray, apologizing.

"I'm sorry, Joe is a little on edge." He quickly filled him in on what had happened at the Scoreboard Arcade, with Angela being almost raped by Shepherd, and Jackson Fontain pulling his gun on Frank. "Joe shot and killed Jackson Fontain in self-defense."

Joe instinctively put his hand on Frank's arm. Frank, going into big-brother mode, started rubbing his little brother's back to let him know he was okay. He knew Joe was still upset about shooting Jackson, and in all honesty, he couldn't blame him.

"The police can't get anyone from Gang Alley to come forward with information. Heartless has them scared," Frank continued, "They have already taken over that part of town and Kurtis Shepherd is dead."

"How?"

"Apparently a trace of arsenic was found in his IV at the hospital."

"Arsenic?" Gray asked, in shock and disbelief.

Frank let out a deep sigh, nodding slowly. "Dad is at the police station now to see what he can find out, but we don't know much yet."

Gray nodded, and for a moment, there was silence. Then Frank broke it, intent on moving forward the conversation.

"We are trying to find Angela," He informed Gray, "To see if she found out anything... and to make sure she is okay, of course."

"I would like to know that myself," Gray stated.

"What!" Joe snapped, feeling his temper starting to rise. "She was working for you. You were supposed to protect her! I think its pretty low to use Angela as your new method in getting information out of people... even for you. As far as I'm concerned, you and the Heartless are all alike!"

Gray seemed shocked, and Frank a bit annoyed.

"You don't care who gets hurt!" Joe ranted on, "And I don't trust either one of you!"

"Joe stop it!" Frank scolded.

"I don't want to fight with you two," the Gray Man replied, excusing the youngest Hardy's angry tone after knowing the ordeal he went through. "We recently got word of a Heartless recruiter. His name is John Cypher. He goes by Cypher."

Gray handed Frank a photo of a tall, skinny man in his late twenties. He had a short, black haircut and was wearing jeans with a white tank top.

"Cypher is Mathers right hand man," Gray continued on, "From what I'm told, if we find him, we will find Mathers. When Angela found out about her father's death, she said she finally felt free from Santos. Angela was quite adamant about finding Cypher, so that we could clear her criminal record and she could start a new life for herself and her son. I advised her not to go Gang Alley by herself without backup."

Gray sighed grimly, looking to Frank and then to Joe. "Angela went to Gang Alley on her own. I haven't heard from her since yesterday afternoon."

"So... last night at the Scoreboard Arcade..." Frank said slowly, looking at Joe and letting the Gray Man's words sink in."Was probably the last time anyone saw Angela Santos alive."

"You think Heartless killed her?" Joe piped up, picking up on what his brother was suggesting.

"I hope not," Frank answered, "We need to find her before it's too late. We need to check out Gang Alley."

"You will need back up," Gray suggested suddenly, standing up, "I'm going to get my team together."

"We need to wait until it gets dark first," Frank said, thinking out loud, "I have a feeling that's when Heartless comes out to play."

After Frank and Joe left the coffee shop, they when back home to get rested up, knowing it was going to be a long night. Fenton was on his way home the minute his boys called him, and he too had news.

"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. Joe was relentless; that was for sure.

Once again, Joe was standing beside his bed, looking down upon him with a serious expression.

"Can't sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Did you have a bad dream?

"No. It's just... we need to talk."

He sounded very grim and serious, and Frank felt himself going back into big-brother mode almost immediately. He sat up in bed, turning on the light on his nightstand.

"What time is it?" Frank asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

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

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

Frank moved over so Joe could lay down beside him. Joe turned to Frank. "I need to see that picture of D.K. Mathers again."

"Why?"

"I can't explain it, Frank... it's... I just have to see his face."

Frank took the photograph of D.K. Mathers from his nightstand and handed it to Joe.

Frank watch as Joe stared intensely at the photograph for a whole five minutes.

"Joe," he asked curiously, "What is it?"

"I can't get his face out of my head," Joe said, looking at Frank, "He reminds me of someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know." Joe sighed in frustration, allowing his shoulders to droop. "I just have this feeling... like I have seen Mathers, before."

"But, that's impossible, Joe!" Frank said, shaking his head, "We've never met him."

"I know it sounds crazy, Frank," Joe said, rubbing his tired eyes."I just can't get his face out of my head."

"Joe, Dad will be home soon to tell us his news, so you can run it past him." Frank suggested, "Why don't you try and get some sleep before we head out to Gang Alley. Maybe it will come to you."

Joe just replied with a nod, closing his eyes. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

Frank, trying not to wake his little brother, carefully took the photograph of Mathers out of his hand.

He, too, stared at the photograph intensely.

"Joe was right. Now that I think about it, Mathers does look familiar. But that's impossible! We've never met Mathers... or have we?"

Joe woke up with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. His blue eyes started scanning the room, realizing he had fallen asleep in Frank's bed.

"Frank?"

He looked over at the clock on the nightstand, seeing that it read 6:00 p.m.

"I've been asleep for six hours!"

His heart started pounding out of his chest as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Frank? Frank!" When he didn't hear a response, Joe really started to panic.

He quickly hopped out of bed and ran into the bathroom that connected to Frank's room. No Frank. He checked his own room. No Frank. No Frank anywhere.

"Frank!"

Still no response.

"Dad!" Joe cried, running out into the hallway. He ran into his parents room and Fenton's office.

"No sign of Dad or Frank," Joe said, his heart starting to race, "Where are they?"

He sighed in worry and continued calling.

"Frank! Dad!"

Joe quickly went down the back stairs leading to the kitchen. The kitchen was empty. There were two cups of coffee, a half eaten sandwich, and Frank's cell phone laying unused on the table.

"Frank never leaves his cell phone anywhere," Joe said, knowing right away that something was wrong.

He stuck his finger into one of the coffee cups. It was cold.

"Dad! Frank!"

Joe ran out the back door, hoping they were outside. The black van was still in the driveway. Joe's eyes landed on his father's car. The driver's side door was wide open.

"Dad!"

Joe than spotted something lying on the ground by the car. It was Frank's wallet!

"Frank!"

Joe ran to the car shouting "Dad!" and "Frank!" all the way.

His heart dropped when he saw blood on the seat and steering wheel. And a small, business-type card. On it was a black heart with a blood-red outline and a spiked X through it.

Heartless!

Suddenly, the sound of the telephone brought itself to Joe's attention.

He ran back into the house and pick up the phone in the kitchen, immediately answering it.

"Hello?"

A grim voice came on the line. "Hello, Joseph."

"Heartless!"

"Get yourself to the Scoreboard Arcade. If I see one cop step anywhere near the place, your brother and father will die!"

Then the warning ended, and the line went dead.

Joe went into Fenton's office. He sank slowly into his father's chair, trying not to panic. Laying his head on the desk, with his head resting under his arms, he felt water begin to pool in his eyes.

"What do I do?"

Then Joe looked up at the computer monitor coming into view. A chill ran down his spin as the face of Al-Rousasa, the former Assassin, stared back at him. The photograph of Mathers was laying on Fenton's desk with the word BROTHERS written on it.

"What?" he gasped, "Al-Rousasa was D.K. Mathers... brother!"

Suddenly it hit Joe.

"Dad and Frank are in the hands of an assassin!"

The former Assassin Al-Rousasa could have had a brother.. right? To be continue...Review please