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I do not own The Hardy Boys

(Heartless)

Sequel: A Friend in Need

Chapter 24

It was late afternoon when Sam pulled into the parking lot of the burned-out warehouse. Some of the piles of crumbling blocks and building materials had already been removed, but there was still a lot more debris yet to be taken care of. "It wouldn't take much for the rest of the warehouse to collapse," Sam thought to himself.

As they got out of the car, Fenton immediately noticed at least ten body-bags lined up in a row on one side of the parking lot. Again, he felt his stomach churn at the thought that one of those bodies might be his son. Fenton shook the thought out of his head. "No, no, Frank is alive. He has to be."

Officer Riley and his fellow officers were standing behind barricades, trying to keep a crowd of spectators at bay while the television news-reporters working vigorously to try and get interviews from anyone. The minute they spotted Fenton, they started swirling around him like vultures.

"Detective! Detective!" the television news-reporters all shouted at once. Fenton recognized the young female reporter from the television in Joe's hospital room. She stuck a microphone in his face and the other reporters followed suit, all of them starting to fire off questions one-by-one.

"How are you feeling about your missing son, Frank Hardy? Do you believe he's alive? How is your family coping in lite of what's happened? Does it make you angry...?"

"Back away from the Detective!" Chief Collig bellowed, rushing up to Fenton.

"Everyone back off!" Sam shouted, standing protectively beside Fenton. He was completely shocked and amazed at how any reporter could ask such insensitive questions. He saw a flash of anger in Fenton's eyes, and Sam knew his friend was about to explode. "Fenton, you don't have to answer any of that."

Fenton took a deep breath, then counted to ten to cool his temper.

"It's okay, Sam." He cleared his throat before addressing the television news-reporters. "I'll answer their questions."

"Listen closely," Fenton said, looking at the reporters, "Because I'm only going to say this once."

He took another deep breath and then went on to say, "Any parent knows that feeling when their child is lost or hurt. It is a feeling you can't describe, unless you have gone through it yourself. Am I angry? Yes, yes I am, along with other mixed emotions. As of now, I am not a detective. Right now, I am just a father worrying about the well-being of my missing son.

"And as for my family," Fenton said, issuing his last statement, "We are coping with this the best we can. We are hopeful the Frank is alive, and when we do have our Frank back, he will need time to heal."

Fenton paused to take a breath.

"A statement will be given at a later time," he continued, "All I ask is that my family is given the respect and privacy that we need to spend with him. Thank you."

"We apologize, Mr. Hardy, to you and your family. We do hope your son is okay," The reporter said, then she asked, "Would you like to send a message to Frank?"

"Thank you," Fenton replied, then he said into the microphone, "Hold on Frank, I'm coming."

There was a smothering silence, waiting for someone to speak.

"Uh... Fenton," Sam spoke up, breaking into Fenton's thoughts, "I hate to add to your problems..." He put a hand on Fenton's shoulder. "But, um... Joe and Laura are here."

"What?!" Fenton exclaimed as he turned to see several cars pull up into the parking lot. Dr. Stevens was at the wheel in one of the cars with Laura, Joe, and Tony in the backseat. The other car had Chet at the wheel with Biff, Phil, Vanessa, and Callie in the backseat.

"Dad!" Joe shouted with his arm in a sling. He flew out of the car before Dr. Stevens could come to a stop.

Joe accidentally stumbled making his way over to his father.

"Joe!" Fenton caught his son in time. He placed his hands on Joe's shoulders to support him.

Fenton quickly took in Joe's shocking appearance. He looked so pale, and his lips were almost a purplish color. There were dark circles around his blue eyes, his skin felt cold and clammy, and he looked so sick... as if the life was still slowly draining out of him. He'd just left him not more than an hour ago. This wasn't possible! It was almost as if his son was dying!

"Why is Joe here?" Fenton demanded, looking at Laura and than to Dr. Stevens, wanting answers. He couldn't believe they would let Joe leave the hospital in this condition. "What's wrong with him? Look at him! He is in no shape to be here!"

"Dad, please. I have to be here... when Frank comes out of... the warehouse," Joe pleaded, catching his breath, "He... will be looking... for me here. He promised!"

"Son, you can barely stand on your feet," Fenton said, trying to stay calm. "You need to get back to the hospital. Clearly you're sick."

"No, no, no!" Joe shook his head. "I'm... not going anywhere... until I see Frank."

"That goes for me, too. I am so tired of waiting," Laura firmly stated, her voice choked up as she said, "I want to see my son." She immediately noticed the body bags lined up in a row on one side of the parking lot and felt her stomach churn at the thought that one of those bodies might be her Frank. Laura shook the thought out of her head. "No, no, Frank is alive. He has to be."

Then Laura turned back to her husband and quickly explained Joe's erratic behavior over Frank at the hospital. "Fenton, I do believe Joe! He feels that Frank is alive. I believe it, too."

"Look, we all know that Frank and Joe have a very strong connection with each other," Dr. Stevens piped in, "We have all seen it. It is a bond that we may not fully understand... but they do. They complete each other. Where there is one brother's weakness, there is the other brother's strength. They rely on each others' strength not only when solving a case, but in life, too. I don't fully understand it myself."

The doctor paused, but then continued. "It's almost supernatural, or may be spiritual, in the way that they can communicate with just a feeling or the words they use. It's like, together, they are a whole person."

"Kind of like soul mates," Phil spoke up, understanding what the doctor was saying.

"So you're saying Joe's illness and Frank's disappearance are somehow connected?" Fenton said, letting what the doctor said sink in.

"Yes, exactly," Dr. Stevens said, nodding, "Like I said, I don't fully understand it, but if Joe is sensing that Frank is alive, then it must be true. There is no doubt about it. I think once Frank and Joe are together, you will to see a dramatic change in Joe's condition."

There was a smothering silence, everyone trying to process the doctor's words.

Fenton looked up at all the young faces, eyes filled with tears. This time they were tears of hope, and they were accompanied by smiles.

Fenton turned back to Joe, then he saw it: a spark in Joe's blue eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Joe is right." His eyes started to mist. "Frank is alive."

Immediately, a smile touched Joe's face. Fenton just wrapped his strong arms around his son, pulling him into a hug.

"Yes, Joe, I do believe you! I believe Frank is alive."

Suddenly, a rumbling sound brought everyone to attention. Then, someone shouted, "Everyone evacuate the building immediately!"

Joe looked in horror as firefighters started rushing out of a gaping hole in the burnt-out warehouse.

One of the firefighter ran up to talk to Chief Collig.

Everyone saw the grim look on the Chief's face as he started making his way to them. Fenton held on to Joe as he took his wife's hand in his. Everyone in the group found someway to embrace one another. They knew it wasn't going to be good news.

"What wrong, Chief?" Fenton asked anxiously upon seeing the serious look on his face. "Just spit it out."

"They are stopping the search for survivors. The rest of the structure is about to collapses." Chief Collig explained, hearing the gasps around him. "They are not letting anyone inside. It's not safe."

"What?!"

"Frank is still in there!" Joe snapped. He could hear people around him crying and shouting words in anger. Then their voices started to sound farther and farther away. Joe felt his father's strong arm around him as his other arm embraced his crying mother. All Joe could do was stare at the burnt-out warehouse. Frank was somewhere in there. Just waiting for them to come and get him. "Frank," he whispered.

"I can't go through this again." Joe started, feeling pressure build up inside of him. His eyes were glued to the big gaping hole "Frank," he whispered, tears running down his face, "I can't live without my big brother."

"No! Frank!" Joe cried, very loud this time. He couldn't take it anymore. With a near-maniacal strength, Joe broke free from his father's grip. "Frank, I'm coming!"

"Joe!" Fenton and Laura cried in horror as they watched him barreling across the parking lot, as if he was on a football field dodging people left and right. He ran straight into the big, gaping hole of the burned-out warehouse.

"Joe! Joe!"

"We can't leave Joe alone, remember?" Biff said, turning to Chet, Phil, and Tony.

"Well, it is our job to look out for Joe," Tony added.

"Yeah, Frank would kill us if we let anything happen to him," Chet said, picking up on what Biff was suggesting.

"Then, we better go get Joe," Phil spoke up.

"Joe!"

"Joe!

Biff, Chet, Phil, and Tony all took off after their friend as they ignored the shouts of, "Stop those kids!" from behind them.

"Joe!" All four boys called in unison. Joe spun around to see his friends running into the entrance right behind him.

"What are you...?" he started to say when he heard a loud rumbling sound and felt the earth start to shake. "Take cover!"

Suddenly debris of crumbling blocks and building materials started falling, and each boy was forced to take cover.

After a few minutes, everything stopped. Joe slowly started moving, coughing, and wincing in pain. He looked up to see the entrance was completely blocked with debris.

"Is everyone okay?" Joe called out. When he didn't hear a response, he started to panic.

"Biff!"

"Chet!"

"Phil!"

"Everyone, please answer me!"

"Tony!"

To Joe's relief, he heard the sound of his friends moaning next to him. "I'm okay."

Slowly, all five boys got to their feet, dusting themselves off while looking for injuries.

"What are you guys doing ?" Joe asked, "Now we are all trapped in here."

"We are here to find Frank," Chet answered as he dusted of his jeans. "You need our help."

'Yeah, we are in this together," Phil added, rubbing his sore arm he landed on.

"Tony, are you sure you're okay?" Joe asked as he looked over at Tony. "You really shouldn't be in here."

"I'm fine, Joe, really," Tony replied, trying not to panic. "I want to do this. Let's just hurry up and find Frank so we can find our way out of here."

"Okay, Tony."

Joe then turned to Chet, Biff, and Phil. "If anything happens, you guys get Tony and yourselves out of here."

"What about you?" Biff asked.

"I'm not coming with you." Joe shook his head. "I will be right where I've always been. By Frank's side."

All four boys exchanged looks, knowing what Joe meant by that.

"Like Tony said, lets find Frank and find a way out of here," Biff said, changing the subject.

"We're gonna to have to now," Phil said as he looked at the debris blocking the entrance. "'Cause we are not getting out that way."

"Well, we can worry about that later," Joe said, "Let's find Frank first."

"Okay... so where do we start?" Phil asked curiously.

Joe's eyes started scanning the place. Then his blue eyes landed on a huge beam blocking a big, metal door. He couldn't explain it, but something was telling him to check it out.

Joe's heart started pounding out of his chest. "That door, guys!"

The boys carefully climbed through the rubble until they heard the sound of more rumbling over their heads. Each boy feared that the rest of the warehouse would start falling on them. They pushed the thought out of their minds, however, instead focusing on finding Frank.

Once the boys made their way to the door, Joe staggered over to it. His body felt weak and tired, but he didn't care. He immediately started calling out his brother's name.

"Frank!

No response.

Frank!"

Louder this time, but still nothing.

"FRANK!" Joe's voice cried out for a third time, desperation evident in his face and actions. He leaned his head against the door. "Please, God, let him be in there."

Then, suddenly, Joe heard a noise from behind the door. He heard a muffled voice call out "Joe?"

Soon the voice got louder, "Joe!"

Joe started laughing hysterically. Tears of joy stared rolling down his face. It was the most beautiful sound ever. The sound of his brother's voice.

"Frank!"

What do you think? Please review thank you!"