Happy New year everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I'll try to update sooner. Here is my new chapter hope you like?

Iola Treasure 8

"One hundred hours of community service." Joe Hardy groaned as he and Frank stepped out into the corridor of the Bayport courthouse.

"Would you rather go to jail?" Frank asked bluntly.

Frank thought back to this morning's events. Joe had had a court appearance at eight o'clock, just two days after being arrested.

It turned out the billionaire didn't have a concussion from the bump on his head. The only thing the man had complained about was having a nasty headache, his doctor had given him something to relieve the pain and with time it should go away. After ensuring no further complications the doctor had released Mr. Douglas.

Frank prayed that it was a good sign. The fact Mr. Douglas wasn't badly hurt and since Joe had no criminal background and this incident was his first offense meant he wouldn't be facing any jail time.

Unfortunately, the judge sided in Mr. Douglas's favor. There were guests at the party that had testified witnessing with their own eyes of Joe attacking the big man.

That also included Mr. Underwood. He testified on the behalf of the billionaire and business partner about Joe making false accusations against them. He also testified that Joe went crazy and viciously attacked Mr. Douglas.

Frank thought Joe's lawyer, Mr. Sim had brought up a good argument. He'd argued that his client had recently suffered a horrific loss. As a result, Joe was acting out of character as he struggled to deal with his girlfriend's death. He moved on to explain about Joe's erratic behavior and his grounds for wanting to stop the resort from occurring.

"Death is very hard to understand. Adults sometimes have a hard time dealing with it. So how can we expect a seventeen year old boy to understand death? Everyone struggles to find ways to cope with the passing of a loved one. It's not always used in a positive way."

"Yes, my client acted in an inappropriate manner. But, he didn't go to that party to intentionally hurt Mr. Douglas." Mr. Sims went on to debate. "My client only wanted a chance to speak to Mr. Douglas, to let him know his feelings on the building of this resort."

You see, my client Joe Hardy couldn't face the pain of losing his first love Iola Morton all over again. The two of them created some fond memories together. Barmet Island was one of those fond memories for them. It was a symbol of their special place from their childhood."

"My client, Joe Hardy grew incredibly upset when he learned that Mr. Albert Douglas bought Barmet Island in order to build a resort, he feared the island would be ruined with all the construction. He felt equally, as if a part of his girlfriend was still on Barmet Island. Then Mr. Douglas told him that the construction on the island had already begun; my client acted out of grief at the thought that his girlfriend was gone forever."

Mr. Sims added that Joe was currently undergoing grief counseling to help him deal with his loss. He suggested that community service would be a more beneficial use of Joe's time.

After giving the suggestion some consideration, the judge agreed to the community service. Once that was done, Mr Douglas' lawyer had petitioned the court in order to get a restraining order, to prevent Joe from being in contact with him. His lawyer stated that Mr Douglas wanted to ensure his safety as well as his crew members, staff and anyone involved in constructing the Barmet resort.

So much to Joe's dislike, the judge granted the petition preventing him from going within 100 yards of Mr. Douglas and Barmet Island.

On top of that, Joe also had to complete one hundred hours of community service. Frank looked at his brother as the thought of the judge's strict warning. "Mr. Hardy if you violate my orders in any way, you will face some jail time."

"Joe will not go to jail." Frank vowed to himself. "I'll make damn sure of it."

"That's five hours and twenty days." Joe interrupted his thoughts scrunching up his nose in disgust at the idea. "What are they going to make me do, pick up garbage along the highway?"

"Community service is precisely what you're going to do." Fenton said coming up beside his boys with Laura at his side.

"Yes, you will Joe." Laura stated giving her son a serious look. "I will not visit my baby in jail."

"Don't worry Mom," Frank said, looking at his brother. "He will. I'll make certain of it."

"Do you know what my community service will be?" Joe asked Fenton. "I'm not picking up garbage, am I?"

"Would it be so bad if you did?" Frank piped in. "Besides, it doesn't matter what it is, because you're still doing it." Then he added matter of fact tone. "Cause you're not going to jail."

"I know... I know, big brother. Don't worry," Joe said to his brother. "I'm going to do my community service, whatever it is?" Then he turns back to his father and asked, "Do you know?"

"Yes Joe, I do know." Fenton nodded. "You will not be picking up garbage along the highway. Mr. Sims, your mother and I were just discussing it before leaving the courtroom."

Now curiosity really began to build inside of Joe. "What is it?"

"Why don't we talk about it at home?" Laura suggested.

"Good idea." Frank replied.

"Okay, fine by me, let's go." Joe said anxiously. He was more than ready to leave this place.

Once outside, the four Hardys made their way down the steps of the courthouse and over to their car. Before Fenton had a chance to open the door to get into the car, a familiar voice boomed over startling them.

"Detective Hardy, I need to talk to you!"

Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice.

Frank's mouth dropped in astonishment. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was Mr. Douglas. The big man was practically charging his way down the stone steps towards them.

"What is he doing?" He hissed under his breath. "Is he deliberately trying to get Joe to violate the restraining order?"

"Huh, it's Mr. Douglas." Joe gasped. All at once his stomach twisted in knots at the sight the big man making his way towards them. "Is he crazy?"

"What is that man doing?" Laura expressed worriedly. "Fenton do something, my baby can't go to jail."

"I intend to." Fenton said feeling anger began to flare up inside of him as the billionaire started making his way towards the family.

He remembered the conversation he'd had with Frank in Chief Collig's office. Frank had told him about their first encounter with Albert Douglas. The words his son had used to describe the man. "Awkward" and "Crepy" Fenton recalled.

Frank had also mentioned how eager Mr. Douglas seemed to be in wanting to meet the Great Detective. "He seemed just as eager to meet Joe and I, maybe a little too eager." Frank had informed him. "Both Mr. Douglas and Mr. Underwood seemed to know more about us than we know about them. They even went so far as to ask about what you're currently working on."

Fenton didn't care what this man wanted from him, even though his detective instincts were kicking into high gear, wanting to know. However, his fatherly instincts began to take over, thinking only of his boys. Protecting them was all that mattered to him.

He couldn't fathom the idea of why this man would knowingly cause Joe to violate his restraining order. Joe had agreed to follow the judge's orders and understood his actions towards Mr. Douglas were wrong. He was prepared to take full responsibility for those actions.

Fenton didn't understand Mr. Douglas' reason for this encounter. The fact that Joe could end up in jail because of this, didn't sit well with Fenton, it didn't sit well at all.

Right now getting Joe out of here was his top priority. "Joe, Laura I need you to get in the car."

Joe and Laura climbed into the backseat. Fenton quickly handed his keys to Frank while instructing, "Frank, take your brother and mother and go straight home." Frank nodded and without a word, slid behind the wheel.

"Detective Hardy, I need to speak to you!" Mr. Douglas called out again as soon as Frank pulled away.

Fenton now found himself standing face to face with the relatively large man. He extended a large hand as he said, "Detective Hardy it is an honor to finally meet you. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

Fenton shook the man's hand, "Yes, Me too." He noted the gold ring on the man's finger with a round emblem in the center engraved with two swords crossing each other. "Interesting." he thought.

"Mr. Douglas, I'm curious to know what it is you want." Fenton began, getting right to the point.

Mr. Douglas smiled before releasing the Detective's hand and said, "I've heard so much about you and your sons' extraordinary talents in uncovering mysteries and crime solving." Frowning his disappointment he added, "It's unfortunate that the incident regarding your younger son and myself had to happen. Please understand it's nothing personal; it was business. I had to protect the interests of my staff, myself and of course, my resort."

"I was hoping to meet you at my party, Detective."

"Oh, why is that?"

"I want to hire you."

"You want to hire me?" Fenton repeated in disbelief.

"Yes, as well as your boys. There is a little matter I need help with. I was hoping the three of you could help me." Albert Douglas pressed on. "Detective perhaps we could grab a cup of coffee and talk..."

"With all due respect, Mr. Douglas, I have to decline." Fenton cut in his face very stern but not angry. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a deep breath, keeping his voice calm and steady. "Please understand it's because of the incident regarding you and my son. With this restraining order you have against Joe, I won't take the risk of the two of you crossing paths."

"Detective I understand sometimes your boys work with you. Maybe we could work something out..."

"Mr. Douglas, my answer is still no." Fenton cut in again, "It's the principle of the matter. I have to protect my interests too, my sons." Then he added with more of a warning, "It would be in everyone's best interest, if we kept our distance from each other."

There was an intense silence as Fenton waited for Mr. Douglas to speak.

"In case you change your mind, here's my card", the man finally spoke, breaking the silence, while taking a small card from the breast pocket of his jacket and handing it to Fenton. And with that, Mr. Douglas quickly walked across the street, disappearing into the backseat of a black car before it drove off, down the street.

Fenton looked down at the business card. He noticed the round, gold emblem with two swords crossing each other, at the top center of the paper. "Maybe it's time to find out what this billionaire is all about."

About an hour later, Fenton sat in the kitchen of his home, drinking a cup of coffee, his family gathered around him. He'd just gotten through explaining his encounter with Mr. Douglas.

"Mr. Douglas wanted to hire us?" Frank asked in disbelief.

"Yes." The detective said after taking a sip of his coffee.

"Did he give you any details, on the matter he needed our help with?"

"No," Fenton shook his head. "I didn't ask him."

"I am sorry Dad."Joe spoke softly, sitting across from his father, feeling guilty. "That's the second time now you've had to turn down a case. It could've been something important. I was so obsessed with trying to save Barmet Island. Frank and Mom both tried to warn me not to do something stupid." He shamefully berated himself, "As usual I didn't listen and... because of my action towards Mr. Douglas..."

"I'm not sorry at all. It isn't the first time I've had to turn down a case or two; there will be others. It wouldn't be right for me to take it with the restraining order against you. I told Mr. Douglas it'd be better if we kept our distance from each other." Fenton gave Joe's hand a light squeeze and said, "You're more important to me, than any case. No, son of mine is going to jail."

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Joe?"

"Yes, Dad, I understand." Joe looked at Fenton the guilt he felt slowly began to fade away.

"Good."

"We're all glad to have you home." Laura gently commented hooking her arm around Fenton's.

"Well, I agree." Gertrude Hardy replied placing a plate of pancakes on the table. "Fenton, it's high time you took a break from detective work."

"Now you can tend to your fatherly duties, here at home." She told her brother.

"Yes, Gertrude. I suppose you're right".

"So, Dad... What about my community service?" Joe asked changing the subject.

"Okay Joe, your community service involves Mrs. Granger." Fenton began. "So starting tomorrow, 7 a.m. sharp, you will be spending your time with her".

"Mrs. Granger?"

Laura nodded yes. "You know your aunt and I have been looking after her since she fractured her ankle. I noticed there are a lot of things that need to be done around the house, both inside and out."

"I don't understand why that sweet woman would want to live in such a big house?" Aunt Gertrude frowned at the thought of her friend. "Certainly an eighty-two year old woman has no business traipsing around that place?"

"I believe she grew up in that house, Gertrude." Fenton informed her.

"I like Mrs Granger. She's such a nice lady." Joe smiled. "She always has great stories to tell".

"Everyone likes her," Frank said. "She's always willing a help a person in need. She's been a big part of the community for years."

"I want you to be very respectful of her, Joe." Laura said sternly. "Mind your manners".

"I will Mom."

"Remember, Joe you're there to work." Gertrude Hardy added sharply. "Not to hear stories."

"I'd suggest you get a goodnight sleep."

"Don't be late."

"You don't have to worry about that Aunty."

"Why is that?"

"My human alarm clock won't let me." Joe said pointing his thumb at Frank sitting beside him.