I know its been awhile since I updated so here is my new chapter hope you like it! If you review I promise Joe will be in the next chapter
Iola's Treasure 13
Fenton pulled his car into a parking spot in front of the Douglas & Underwood Real Estate building located in downtown New York. He glanced over at Frank, who was just staring out of the car window, his head filled with thoughts of Joe. Before they'd left the hospital, Dr. Bryce had stopped them to let them know Joe was showing signs of healing. Fenton had noted the smile that had spread across Frank's face upon hearing the good news, however he couldn't hide the lingering sadness in his eyes. Fenton knew without a doubt that Frank was missing Joe terribly.
Everyone who knew the brothers knew that Frank and Joe had a very strong connection. It was a bond that no one could fully understand...but they did. They completed each other. One brother's weakness was the other's strength; they relied on each other not only when it came to cases but in life.
Laura had once made a comment to her husband, that it was almost supernatural, or spiritual in the way their boys could communicate. It was almost as though, together they made up one person. The brothers were inseperable. When not together, they were completely lost.
Some people had even described them as soulmates. There might have been some truth to that, Fenton thought, as he drove. It'd taken a lot of persuasion to get Frank to leave; he'd reminded him that Joe was doing fine and that he was in the best of care. Officer Riley had once again given Frank his word, that he would keep Joe safe; only Laura, Gertrude, Chet and of course, the doctor were allowed into his room.
"Frank," Fenton said. "I know you're angry that we had to leave Joe."
"I'm fine."
"No you're not," Fenton argued."When Joe's hurt or in trouble, your judgement becomes impaired. It's important that we find the one who tried to kill your brother", he reminded Frank again, as to why they were there. "If Albert Douglas is involved with this, we have to find out; we need to know".
"I know." Frank replied back. "And I'm not upset about leaving Joe."
"Then what is it?"
"It's not fair, Dad. It's not fair." Frank ventured. "How much more does that kid have to put up with? I wish Joe hadn't found that stupid gift from Iola."
Fenton wished he had an answer to that question. He wanted to know the answer himself.
"It's like all hell broke loose the moment he opened up Pandora's Box." Frank began counting off on his fingers. "Joe was still under emotional stress grieving for Iola. When Chet showed him that article about Barmet Island becoming a resort Joe's behavior began to escalate from that point on. He became obsessed about wanting to talk to Albert Douglas out of building his resort."
He shrugged his shoulders, "All Joe wanted to do was save Barmet Island. That was his and Iola's special spot. They spent their childhood there; it's where they fell in love. When Joe finally met the awkward and creepy new owner of the island, Albert Douglas, he told him the island was already starting to undergo renovation".
"So what does Joe do? He goes ballistic and attacks the guy!"
"Joe gets arrested..goes to jail. Albert Douglas issued a restraining order against my brother", Frank pointed to himself. "To prevent Joe from going near him or Barmet Island! But yet, the billionaire wants us to work for him, knowing full well it would cause issues for Joe."
"Joe agreed to the restraining order as well as the community service. Then, as he's doing that, he gets attacked," Frank continued to rant. "Now he's lying in a hospital bed...because someone tried to..kill him. What makes this thing even crazier", He forced a sarcastic laugh. "Is that Albert Douglas is himself at the top of our list of suspects! Someone who Joe is not allowed to be around...or he could face jail time".
Silence filled the car as Frank stopped to take a breath.
"Just before I dropped Joe off at Hattie's." Frank huffed. "We had a fight."
"What did you fight about?" Fenton asked, giving Frank his full attention.
Frank quickly told his father how Joe was furious with them for investigating Mr. Douglas without him. "He thinks that's the way it's going to be now." Frank turned away to look out the window and went on, "You know it's been a dream of ours to work with you full-time, after we finished high school and college. 'Hardy and Sons' Detective Agency' that's what Joe's calling it. He talks non-stop about how excited he is to work with his hero. That's you, Dad." Frank began to tear up a little. "And you know what? I feel the same way".
"Joe is and always will be my partner, no matter what." Frank said, quickly wiping his tears away. Then, taking a deep breath, Frank turned back to face his father. "If he can't be part of that dream, then I don't want it either".
"I look forward to the day you boys come and work for me". Fenton replied, clearing his throat a little after having processed everything Frank had said. "Frank, I want you to have your dream, but please I need you to understand something. The hard part for me is figuring out how to balance between being your boss and your father. The detective part of me wants Joe to be a part of this case. As his father, I want to keep Joe as far away from Douglas as possible."
"This is a complicated case." He frowned and added. "Joe is very much involved as much as I hate the idea. Once he is awake and well enough to tell us what happened it's possible that Joe will be able to tell us who his attacker was."
Suddenly the sound of Fenton's cell phone ringing brought them to attention.
Fenton immediately picked up the phone and answered, "Detective Hardy speaking".
"Fenton, it's Officer Riley."
"Hold on, Con. I'm going to put you on speaker". Fenton pushed a button on his phone so Frank could hear Con Riley's report as well.
"Officer Riley I hope you have some good news for us."
"I do."
"Did the DNA results come back on the ski mask?"
"Yes, they did Fenton."
"What did they find?"
"A gray strain of hair was found in the ski mask. They searched through their computer records for a DNA match of the gray hair." Officer Riley said at the other end of the line.
"And," Frank prompted. Finally, this could be the break they'd been waiting for. It was another step to finding Joe's attacker. Everything in Frank's being was screaming Albert Douglas.
"The DNA sample gave us a match to a Harold Granger".
"What?!" Frank and Fenton gasped in unison.
"Harold Granger?" Frank asked in disbelief.
"Are you sure about this?" Fenton asked.
"Yes, I am. In the records it is reported Harold Granger is deceased." Officer Riley said. "He was killed in a car accident four years ago."
"So the person who tried to kill Joe could somehow be related to Harold". Frank said slowly, trying to wrap his head around this puzzle. "Like maybe a son or something..."
"That's what I was thinking." The officer replied.
"But Hattie couldn't have kids because of some illness." Frank nodded.
"Yes, on the other hand Harold could've." Fenton pointed out.
"Are you implying that Harold Granger may've been unfaithful to Hattie?" It angered Frank at the thought of that sweet woman being cheated on.
"It's a possibility."
Then a thought flashed through Frank's mind like a lightning bolt. "Is it possible that Harold Granger and Albert Douglas are somehow related?"
"There is only one way to find out. We need to get a DNA sample from Albert Douglas. All we need is fingerprint or a strain of hair or something." Fenton implied. "And if we have a match...
"We have Joe's attacker!" Frank exclaimed. "What are we waiting for?!"
"Let's go." Fenton said. "Con, see to it that a guard is stationed outside of Hattie's room. We need to keep her safe too."
"I'm on it, Fenton." Officer Riley replied before hanging up. "Good luck guys."
Soon Fenton and Frank entered the lobby of Douglas and Underwood Real Estate. Frank quickly took the place in a glance; there were black and white marble floor tiles and the décor was elegant and modern.
"Excuse me, Miss." Fenton interrupted a young blonde receptionist, sitting behind a huge mahogany desk, typing away on her computer.
"Yes, can I help you?" The young woman looked up from her computer. "Wait. You were here earlier today". She asked recognizing Fenton. "You're Detective Hardy, am I right?"
"Yes, that's correct." Fenton nodded. "Is Mr. Douglas here?"
"No he's gone for the day."
Frank and Fenton exchanged looks with each other. "What about Mr. Underwood, is he here?" Frank asked.
"Can I help you?"
Frank looked up to see Mr. Underwood coming up out of an elevator. The man grew closer to them wearing his gray executive suit. "I'm Richard Underwood." He said extending his hand out to Fenton. Then a dark red spot on his shiny black shoes caught Frank's eye.
"Is that blood?"
"Detective Fenton Hardy." Fenton answered, accepting the handshake. "I believe you already know my son Frank."
"Detective Hardy it is an honor to finally meet you." Mr. Underwood smiled politely as he replied. "I've heard a great deal about your extraordinary talents in crime solving. It's quite impressive I might add. It's unfortunate you couldn't work for us," he put in, "on the account of your other son getting arrested for attacking Albert."
"How is he by the way?" Mr. Underwood turned to extend his hand to Frank, his smile slowly fading away.
"Joe is in the hospital." Frank snapped, ignoring Mr. Underwood's hand as he answered back. "Because someone tried to kill him!"
"You're not suggesting I had anything to do with it." Clearly offended by this, Mr. Underwood threw a hand to his chest. His cheeks turned red as his eyes flooded with anger. He fired back saying, "I don't appreciate all these accusations! First your brother accuses us of embezzling money and destroying Barmet Island...Now you're going to stand there and accuse me of attempted murder!"
"You're just as crazy as your brother!"
"You son of a ..." Frank snarled, narrowing his eyes at Mr. Underwood and taking a menacing step towards the man.
"Frank!" Fenton called out, as he held his son back, trying to get his attention. He saw murder in his eldest son's eyes and he was directing them at the business man in front of them. He whispered in his ear. "Frank, calm down. I know you're upset, believe me... I am too. But you getting upset like this is not helping Joe. He needs his calm and level headed big brother."
As soon as his father mentioned Joe, Frank began to calm down. He took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Mr. Underwood. He reminded himself that, "this was no time to fall apart. Joe came first, now and always".
Fenton turned back to Mr. Underwood. "I'm sorry." He apologized, forcing himself to stay calm. "Please understand, our emotions are running high because of Joe".
"I apologize for blowing up the way I did" Mr. Underwood answered, his demeanor calm. "Sometimes my anger gets the best of me". He looked straight at Frank, "I don't like having accusations thrown at me".
"Mr. Underwood, we have a few questions we need answered" Fenton went on while keeping a firm hold on Frank's shoulder. "We're hoping you can help us".
"Perhaps we should discuss this in my office." Mr. Underwood suggested. His eyes locked on to Frank's with intensity. A sly smile slid across Frank's face as he said, "Lead the way."
This is my way of saying thank you to those who are reading and sending me your wonderful reviews. Check out the Forum section for a story idea someone had given me. It's story idea for Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys. I'm not good with Nancy Drew. So hopefully someone can do the story justice. This will be a first come first serve. If your looking for a story idea check out my profile page and let me know if your interested.