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Hardy Boys

Heartless

Chapter 27

Fenton watched in horror as his youngest son and his four friends ran inside the entrance of the building as it collapsed around them.

Before anyone could make a move to stop them, the rest of the warehouse started falling, and within minutes there was nothing left of the warehouse but a pile of crumbling blocks and building materials.

As the night started to roll in, it seemed like everything was happening in slow motion. Firefighters and medical personal all ran toward the fallen structure. He could hear people screaming all around him.

"Oh God! Had he just lost both of his sons?" Fenton's mind started reeling, going into panic mode."No, God, please no!"

He thought about it some more, and then his stomach sank.

"How do I tell the Mortons, Cohens, and Hoopers that they just lost their sons, too?"

Unable to stop himself, his dark thoughts continued.

"Oh God! Aldo just lost his wife last summer. The man has gone through so much: dealing with the lost of his wife, dealing with Tony and his situation, and having to face the possibility of raising his own grandson..."

"No! God, not my babies! My babies! My babies!" Laura screamed, crying hysterically and snapping Fenton out of his panic state. He immediately got a hold of himself, wrapping his arms around her.

"Fenton, just go!" Laura cried, pulling away from her husband's embrace. "You and Sam go find my babies!"

Fenton released his wife, wiping her tears, and gently kissed her forehead.

"We'll find them," he assured her, pushing back the emotions that threatened to come spilling out. He had to stay in control for his family's sake. He needed to be their strength.

"Mr. Hardy, we'll take care of your wife," Vanessa said as Callie held onto Laura to support her. Their own eyes were red and puffy from crying, but both were doing their best to be brave for the boys, praying silently for them to be alright.

"Thank you, girls," Fenton replied as he focused on the structure that had imprisoned his sons. His whole world was in there, and now filled with drive and determination, he yelled "I'm coming, boys!"

"Wait, Fenton, I'm coming too!" Dr. Stevens volunteered, joining Fenton and Sam. Officer Con Riley and Chief Collig too followed suit, joining the firefighters in removing the debris from the fallen structure.

Laura, Vanessa, and Callie held onto each other as they watched and prayed silently. "Oh dear God, we need a miracle. Please bring the boys back to us. Let them be alright."

The minute the rest of the warehouse started falling, Frank knew they had no choice but to retreat back into the room they just came out of. The brothers, along with the Gray Man, Biff, Chet, Phil, Tony and Angel, were all forced to take cover.

Everyone in the group found someway to embrace one another as the thunderous sound of crumbling blocks and building materials fell against the door, trapping them all inside. It only lasted about ten, maybe twenty, minutes, but it seemed like an eternity before everything went quiet.

The Gray Man slowly started moving, coughing, and wincing in pain as he touched the gash on his head. He began looking around at the teens in the room, taking charge of the situation as his voice boomed out, "Is everyone alright?"

Frank immediately looked at Joe in his arms. "Joe, are you alright?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think so," Joe answered, his voice a little shaky." You?"

"Yeah... me too," Frank nodded, wincing as a pain shot through his chest.

"Frank, what's wrong?!"

"I'll be alright, Joe, once we get out of here," Frank replied, ignoring his brother's worried look as again he felt a pain in his cheat. He blocked it out by focusing entirely on everyone else.

"Tony! Biff! Chet! Phil!" he listed, "Are you guys alright?!"

Slowly, Biff, Chet, and Phil sat up and started dusting themselves off, looking for injuries. "We're okay!"

"Angela!"

"I'm okay," Angela answered, and she too began dusting herself off while looking for injuries.

"Tony!" Frank called out again. When he didn't hear a response, he started to panic and immediately started scanning the room. His heart dropped when he eyes landed on Tony sitting in the far corner of the room with his back to the wall, his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs.

Tony kept intermittently whimpering something in Italian, over and over and over again. "Stiamo andando moriamo!...Stiamo andando moriamo!

"What's he saying?" Biff asked anxiously.

Phil, lowering his voice, answered, "I believe it means we're gonna die, in Italian."

Joe looked up at Frank. "Go... help him!"

"Go ahead, Frank," Chet nodded, making his way toward the brothers. "I'll take care of Joe."

Frank nodded his thanks as Chet took his place and wrapped an arm around Joe.

"Tony," Frank said softly, kneeling next to his distraught friend. He put a hand on Tony's trembling shoulder. "Tony, it's okay. We're going to get out of here."

There was no response from Tony. He continued whimpering intermittently in Italian, still rocking back and forth. "Stiamo andando moriamo! Stiamo andando moriamo! Stiamo andando moriamo!

"What's wrong with him?!" Angela asked again. "Why is he acting like this?"

"Are you kidding me!" Joe spat, glaring at the girl and trying to get to his feet. Chet held him back, but that didn't stop Joe from releasing his anger.

"Tony has severe anxiety because of you!"

Angela's eyes widened. "What!"

"In other words, he has post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD... however you want to call it," Joe went on. "It's the result of what you and your father Santos did to him last summer. Seeing you just sent him into a full-blown panic attack!"

Angela just looked at him, blinking.

"You and Santos practically tortured the hell out him. By taking his son...your son, Antonio... away from him!" Joe ranted on. "And you did it just to keep Tony from talking about the murder he sawyour father commit, and forcing him to join Heartless. On top of that, dealing with the death of his mother. You almost cost Tony his life and mine!"

"Oh Tony!" Angela cried, practically pushing Frank out-of-the-way and wrapping her arms firmly around Tony. "I am so sorry."

There was a heavy of silence in the air. Everyone was taken back by Angela's actions. Frank didn't care what her intentions were. Whether she was working as an informant for the Gray Man or not, he still did not trust her. The fact was that Tony and Joe almost died because of her. That was something he simply could not forgive or forget.

Frank could see Tony tense up." Uh... Angela... that's not..."

"Get...off... me!" Tony snapped suddenly, trying to pull her off of him. Once again, he started breathing heavy. "Get... her... away... from me!"

"Tony I..I'm sorry!" Angela sobbed as she held tightly onto him. "My father forced me to do all those horrible things! I'm trying to make things right for us. So we can start a new life together with our son. So we can be a family."

Tony shot Frank a look of desperation. "Get... her... away... from me!"

"Angela, you're not helping things!" Frank exclaimed, pulling her off of Tony. "Get off of him!"

" Tony, I... I love you!" she pleaded, trying another attempt to grab Tony, but Frank held her back. "Please... I just want to help you!"

"I want nothing to do with you!" Tony fired back, puffing up his chest. "Your father murdered that man and forced me to join Heartless. He wanted me to kill Joe... if I wanted my son!"

Angela seemed unable to reply to this, so he went on.

It was you... who gave me... the gun!" he shuttered at the memory, looking at Joe. "It was either kill Joe or myself..."

His voice trailed off, quickly changing the subject, "You and I... will never... ever... be a family! I don't... want you near... my son! I will make... sure of that!"

"You can't keep me from my baby!" Angela said, suddenly getting all defensive. "I want him back!"

"You... stay... away... from him!" Tony screamed as he glared at Angela. He then he grabbed his chest, gasping for air. "I... can't... breathe!"

Joe exploded. "Leave him alone!"

"Angela back off!" Frank roared, struggling to control his temper even though he would've liked nothing more than to wring Angela's neck. He took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to stay calm himself. He had to defuse this situation quickly. "This isn't the time or place for do this. Tony needs to calm down, so just back away from him now."

"Angela, Frank is right." Gray said coming to Tony's defense. "You need to back away from Tony. We're in an emergency situation here. We all need to calm down so we can all get out of here safely."

Before she could protest, Phil moved in front of Angela as a barrier between her and Tony. Then Frank kneeled in font of Tony, blocking his view of the girl.

In a calming voice, Frank instructed, "Tony, look at me, and only me."

Tony looked at Frank with fear in his eyes, begging practically in tears, "Please... don't let her take... my son!"

"Joe and I are Little Antonio's guardians," Frank simply stated. "I promise you, Tony, that nothing will happen to your son. Now, take slow and steady breaths. We don't want you passing out on us."

Tony saw the seriousness in Frank's eyes. He did as Frank instructed, listening to his calming voice. "It's okay, Tony, just try to stay calm. Just picture Little Antonio in your arms. You'll be holding him real soon."

To Frank's relief, Tony finally began to calm down. After a few minutes, his breathing was back to normal. "I promise you, Tony. We're all getting out of here. Alive." He was silently praying that his word was true.

A smothering silence filled the room as feelings of fear mixed with sadness and anger coursed through all their bodies. Wondering if this was the end, hope of getting out was wearing thin. Frank silently cursed D.K Mathers for the destruction he had left. Heartless certainly lived up to its name... using any tactic to get what they wanted, not caring who got hurt because of it.

Frank knew that if this was truly the end, Bayport would never be the same again. Lives would be changed forever. Then his brown eyes connected with Joe's blue eyes, and with tears running down his face, he mouthed the words, "I love you."

"I love you, too." Joe mouthed back, tears running down his face. As the realization hit him, "This is it! This is how I'm going to die!"

Suddenly, they heard a loud Crash! from outside the door, getting everyone's attention.

Then a voice called out, "Frank! Joe!"

Frank and Joe looked at each other, their hearts pounding out of their chest. They knew that voice. Could it be?

Then the voice got louder, "Frank! Joe!"

Sure enough, it was the sound of their father's voice.

"Dad! We're in here!" Frank and Joe called out.

Then, finally, the door opened with a loud click!

Joe started laughing hysterically, and tears of joy stared rolling down his face. Frank, too, couldn't hold back the tears.

There he was, the great Fenton Hardy, standing in the doorway.

"Dad!"

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