I want to thank everyone for their reviews. Here is my new chapter hope you like it.
Iola's Treasure 5
A few seconds later the brothers stood in the entrance, letting their eyes sweep across the banquet room. It was a fairly large and elegant room with large windows and blackout curtains that were open to a view of a beautiful night sky filled with stars. There was a long table with white fancy linen draped over it with food on it in buffet style settings. Waiters bustled about, with trays of hors d'oeuvres and drinks offering them to their guests.
On one side of the room Frank spotted Chief Ezra Collig of Bayport police a well-built, middle aged man with iron-gray hair all decked out in his formal uniform. He stood talking to Mayor Dixon a tall, dark-haired man in a black suit and his wife, a slender woman in her forties wearing a long strapless green dress with a shawl draped loosely over her shoulders.
"I wonder which one of these guests is Mr. Douglas?" Joe asked.
"You found him." A man's voice said coming up beside him.
Joe whirled around to see a bear of a man in his late sixties with a rugged face and with short gray hair wearing a black suit and tie. The man extended out a beefy hand as he made the introductions, "I am Albert Douglas."
All at once Frank felt as if everyone and everything in the room stood still. He was amazed at the size of the man standing in front of Joe. Mr. Douglas was a relatively large man with short gray hair and a full beard outlining his rugged face. The man towered over Joe's six foot frame. He was at least an inch or two taller over his own six-foot one frame. "And all muscle!" Frank noticed the man had thick legs and arms, and the dark suit that he wore didn't hide his muscular frame. "The man Joe disagrees with just had to be huge!"
"I'm going to kill that brother of mine!" Frank quickly shifted his eyes to Joe. He immediately saw a friendly smile plastered on his face, but his blue eyes were alive with a light that told Frank he was up to something.
"Mr. Douglas, it's so nice to finally meet you." Joe said politely while accepting the handshake Albert Douglas offered him. "I'm Joe, Joe Hardy."
"It's totally an act!" Frank thought. Right before his brown eyes Joe went from his hot headed kid brother threatening to stop this resort from taking shape, to the now seemingly cool and calm collected kid brother before him. "Joe is pretending to be all nice and friendly, and then waiting for the right time to bring up Barmet Island."
"And this is my brother Frank."
"I am delighted to meet you."
Before Frank knew it Mr. Douglas was now standing in front of him extending his hand. Quickly shaking the thoughts out of his mind, Frank shook the man's hand, "It's a nice to meet you too." He flinched slightly as Mr. Douglas gave his hand a hard squeeze then he noted his hand felt rough and calloused. "This guy must be active outdoors and work with his hands a lot."
Just then, however, something on the man's finger caught his eye. It was a gold ring with a round emblem in the center engraved with two swords crossing each other. Exactly like the emblem on the invitation. "Now this is interesting," he thought curiously, "does this signify something or merely coincidence?"
"Frank and Joe Hardy…" Mr. Douglas began interrupting his thoughts. He appeared to be mulling their names over in his head. At last he spoke with a smile, "Ah yes, the Hardy boys. Fenton Hardy must be your father." He concluded, finally releasing Frank's hand.
"Yes, that's right." Frank replied, rubbing his hand.
"I've heard a great deal about Fenton Hardy." Mr. Douglas spoke in admiration. "What an extraordinary man, your father is and with such an amazing talent for crime solving." Frowning, his disappointment he added, "I was hoping to meet the Great Detective."
"Our father couldn't make it tonight." Joe stated. "So Frank and I are here in his place."
"Well, isn't that noble of you boys." Mr. Douglas replied. "You must make your father proud."
"I've heard a great deal about you boys as well, as the young detectives following in the Great Detective's footsteps." He walked around the boys coming up between them, putting his big arms firmly around their shoulders. "Must be exciting, being in all of those sensational cases. I'll bet you have a knack for solving mysteries."
Frank raised an eyebrow suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. But what threw him completely off guard was when he heard him ask, "What's your father working on now, by the way?"
The boys exchanged looks with each other as alarm bells started going off in their heads. "Why did he want to know that?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Douglas we're not allowed to discuss that." Frank answered.
Fenton Hardy had once been an ace detective for the New York Police Department. Then a few years later, after the boys were born, he retired to the pleasant seaside of Bayport to become a private investigator. Since then many of his cases had made it to national and international headlines. Even today their father's cases were still making headlines, but Frank and Joe had long since learned to emulate their father's tight-lipped, no comment attitude on any case they were working on. The famous Detective had instilled the importance of preventing security leaks and safeguarding their clients' privacy into his boys.
In truth, neither brother knew the details of their father's current case. Even if they did know, they sure as hell weren't going to tell anyone, especially someone whom they knew nothing about, other than being a wealthy businessman in real estate and well as one of the owners of Barmet Island.
The billionaire pulled his arms from the boys' shoulders and stepped away from them. "Oh, forgive me boys..." He apologized his face reddening slightly from embarrassment. "That was rude of me. I shouldn't have asked about your father's work."
An awkward silence filled the air between the three men. Frank studied the man's face closely, unsure if this was all an act as well. "This man is definitely becoming a mystery."
"Mr. Douglas, yes we do help our father out on a few cases from time to time." Joe spoke up diverting the conversation to the main topic. The only reason he wanted to be here in the first place was to save Barmet Island. "It's not all that exciting" he lied. "It can be pretty boring sometimes." Then he got right to the point; not wasting this opportunity. "Actually Frank and I would like to hear about this resort of yours coming to Barmet Island. It sounds much more exciting."
Their previous conversation was soon forgotten, as a big smile spread across Mr. Douglas' face grinning from ear to ear. "I'm just as excited about this resort as you are my boy. The Barmet Island Hotel Marina & Getaway resort will bring good things to this town."
"If you only knew how wrong you were." Frank mumbled under his breath catching the flash of anger ignited in Joe's blue eyes.
"This pleasant little town of Bayport will reap the benefits of this resort" a man's voice said interrupting the group.
The brothers turned to see a handsome man in his late thirties with dark, tanned skin and blonde hair and a pair of deep-set green eyes. The man was wearing an expensive gray executive suit. His shoes were black and shiny. "It will have something for everyone." He began rattling off. "Every outdoor activity you can think of, such as camping, boating and fishing and a luxurious hotel and spa. It will be a good thing."
"Boys, I'd like you to meet Richard Underwood, my business partner and co-owner of the Barmet Island Resort." Mr. Douglas introduced seeing the puzzled look on the boys' faces. He turned to the young man saying," Richard I'd like you to meet the…"
"...The Hardy Boys. It's an honor to meet you both." Richard Underwood acknowledged grinning from ear to ear as he shook each brother's hand.
"I take it you've heard a lot about us as well." Frank said, looking from Mr. Douglas to Richard Underwood.
"Yes, I have. Quite impressive I might add."
Frank didn't like this; he didn't like this one bit. "Why were these guys so eager to meet us?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Douglas." Joe spoke up again. "But, not everyone is happy about this resort."
"In fact, I think it's a big mistake."
The two men raised an eyebrow at this.
Frank felt his stomach churn at this. "Here we go." He thought. "Let the fireworks begin."
" I thought you were excited about this resort." Mr. Douglas asked. "Why will it be a mistake?"
"Because you're going to destroy Barmet Island with all the construction." Joe answered.
"Young man, we care about the environment just like you. We plan to replant what we take out."
"Yes," Joe argued. "But everything living there like the trees, plants and creatures have been there for years. That is something you can't replace."
"Yes. We understand that," Mr. Underwood stated. "But it's unfortunate; sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good."
"The greater good for whom, you…" Joe exploded, unable to control his temper, his face turning pale, then brick-red. "We had never heard of Douglas and Underwood Real Estate Company, until today! For all we know, you could be here to line your pockets with our money!"
"Joe!" Frank scolded. Suddenly all eyes were on them bringing the room to an abrupt silence.
"Frank, Joe what is going on here?!" Chief Ezra Collig demanded coming over to them.
Richard Underwood was taken aback by these accusations. His cheeks turned red as his eyes flooded with anger, he fired back pointing at Joe. "I don't appreciate this young man's accusation."
"Perhaps we should discuss this in a more private setting." Mr. Douglas suggested. For a split second Frank thought he saw a flash of anger in his eyes, and then quickly it vanished.
"No!" Joe snapped, balling his hands into fists. His blue eyes were blazing hot as he directed them at Mr. Douglas. "You can't have that island!"
"Oh, and why not."
"Barmet Island already belongs to someone else."
"Who?"
"Barmet Island belongs to Iola and... Me." Joe hissed. "The truth is my brother and I are here to put a stop to this resort."
"Is that right?" Mr. Douglas said dryly folding his arms to his chest.
Frank firmly put a hand on his brother's shoulder to keep him calm and whispered, "Joe stop this before you do something stupid." To his surprise Joe began to calm down, his blue eyes never leaving Mr. Douglas, both hands clutched furiously at his side. Frank swallowed hard, trying to stay in control. But, still he kept his hand firmly on Joe's shoulder just in case.
"I'm sorry about this." He apologized to Mr. Douglas and began to explain his brother's actions. "You see, my brother recently suffered a terrible loss. Barmet Island is special to him and his late girlfriend."
"I am sorry for your loss." Mr. Douglas said sympathetically. "There is nothing I can do. We bought the island fair and square. Besides that construction has already begun on the island."
"No!" Joe cried, breaking free from his brother's firm grip. Without a second thought, he lunged at Mr. Douglas, causing the big man to lose his balance,sending them both crashing through the long banquet table with food flying everywhere.