Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

Joe stared forlornly at the papers spread out before him on the kitchen table. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, but he did know one thing—he'd promised his brother that he was there to help, and he was bound and determined to stick to his word.

Frank. Joe raised his hands to his temples and rubbed them thoroughly. It had been less than two days since… everything… but in that time, his whole world had changed. Of course, he didn't expect Frank to be able to cope with everything right away. He knew, better than anyone, that healing would take years if it ever came at all. But Frank's reaction to Callie's death was so extraordinary that he honestly had no idea how to help his brother at all.

Taking a moment to take a sip of soda, he sat back and stared at the ceiling. He wished more than anything that his brother would at least begin the process of grief; THAT he could deal with. He thought that he could handle Frank's anger pretty well. He even thought that he could handle it if Frank broke down completely, even though Frank never had done that before, and it would be frightening to deal with. But this denial was so strong, so ingrained in his brother that Joe honestly had no idea what to do.

Was I like that? No, he didn't think so. When Iola had died, he'd become a lot of things; bitter, angry, resentful, reckless... but determined. Then again, he had to put things in perspective. He'd loved Iola very much, but the love he now felt for Vanessa as an adult was much stronger and more intense. He wondered for a moment if he told Vanessa often enough how he felt, and made a mental note to do so. Deep down, he knew Iola would be okay with being second in his life. After all, they had only been kids. Who knew if their love would have lasted? He paused to consider the irony that his love for Iola had only grown deeper through her death than it may have in life. Still, he pledged to honor her memory and to live with her as his guardian angel.

He felt a chill. What was she trying to tell him?

Then he flashed back to his brother. Frank and Callie had had it all; adolescent crushes, puppy love, young love, and, finally, a deep and abiding love that went beyond words. He had eventually been able to cope with Iola's death; but he knew he couldn't cope with Vanessa's. Period. And so how could he expect Frank to deal with Callie's death if he couldn't even accept that it had happened? What am I supposed to do?

The sound of a ringing doorbell snapped him from his reverie.

Getting up, he went to the door and was half shocked to see Vanessa there—with Nancy.

"Hey," he said softly with a small smile, and took Vanessa in his arms. He held her tightly for a few minutes; he hadn't missed her red eyes, or the slightest of trembling that only he could discern after all of these years.

Then he slowly released her and gave Nancy a quick peck on the cheek. "Nancy," he said. "It's been… quite the last few days." He couldn't say more, feeling emotions threaten to choke him up.

Nancy gave a small smile and nodded sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Joe."

"I know," he replied at last, giving her arm a small squeeze. "Thank you."

"Listen, hon," Vanessa cut in. If Callie was okay, if there was even a chance, then they needed to get started finding her right away. She understood why Nancy didn't want her to say anything; it made sense. At one point, a long time ago, Joe had even believed that Iola was alive, and that false hope, she knew, had almost destroyed him. At the same time, it was Joe—her Joe, and she knew that she needed to tell him. She continued, "I… we…" she paused to acknowledge Nancy, "need to talk to you and Frank. Nancy has some information on Daley that might give closure to the case." She met his eyes imploringly.

Joe sighed and shook his head. "Now's not exactly the best time for Frank, Nan." He looked at Nancy and then turned his attention back to Vanessa. "Come on, babe. You know that. Does it matter anyhow anymore?"

"To Frank it does," Nancy replied.

"What are you…" Joe began, but then stopped suddenly. She was right—she was absolutely right. Hadn't he just been going through files and data, really assessing them, to help his brother? And for what? To distract him from his pain; to help him find some meaning in something so meaningless. THAT he understood.

"Okay," he finally said.

"There's something else," Vanessa interjected. "Callie might be alive!"

Nancy let out a dejected sigh.

"WHAT?!" Joe cried out, shocked.

Trying to control the damage, Nancy cut in. "Joe, PLEASE… don't get your hopes up. Please! It's just a theory. Vanessa wasn't going to say anything…"

At that, Vanessa looked like she was going to spring into action, but again, Nancy's calming demeanor silenced her.

Nancy went on. "But I understand why she would want to tell you, and she's not wrong. It's just that… I don't want to see all of you crushed by false hope, that's all."

Seeing Joe's shocked appearance, Nancy went on to explain her theory on John Daley and Callie. She concluded, "And so, I need to speak to all of you, even your dad, about Daley's past. I need Frank's help with this DNA angle, because quite honestly, all of our evidence against Daley is circumstantial. In fact, it is refuted by DNA. But you know what? We all know that he did it, and it's about time that we got to the bottom of HOW. So can we please all get together… and please, I BEG you, don't even mention the Callie theory to Frank. I just—I don't know—I KNOW him. I just don't think he would, he could, handle it."

Thinking over Nancy's words, Joe nodded slowly. Finally, he said, fierce determination in his eyes, "You're right; he couldn't handle it."

Then he went on, his voice and mannerisms changing so quickly in front of Nancy and Vanessa that they both could only stare in awe. He seemed other-worldly; a different person. His face hardened, his eyes clouded over, and his body stiffened.

"Because I've been down this road before. And it's too late now to get my brother back fully, even IF Callie is okay. I couldn't save Iola; but maybe now I can prevent Frank from totally changing IF, by the grace of God, Callie is alive. But I will not…" his voice quivered, "stand by and watch my brother destroy himself like I did. Even worse than no hope is when you get hope back and then it gets yanked away from you. There are no words…" He paused, his eyes shining with tears. "And I love my brother too much to let that happen to him. I swear to God, I will give my own life before I let my brother be destroyed."

With those words, he turned on his heels and beckoned for the girls to follow him. Several moments passed before either Nancy or Vanessa even thought about following him to his father's office.

*****

Twenty minutes later, Joe checked his watch, waiting for his brother to arrive. He'd told him, simply, that they might have a lead and it was important that they all discuss the "case" together. There was no mention of an explosion: no mention of Callie. Frank had simply looked at him, nodded, and went back to the files before him. Joe had absolutely no idea if or when Frank would join the group, which now sat in tense silence, scattered around the room.

He knew that he had scared the girls with his change in demeanor. Well, not scared them, exactly; it was more like he shocked them. He gave himself a mental kick for revealing that dark side he thought he had buried long ago. It had been the combination of events that overwhelmed him at once; Iola's presence surrounded him, images of her death kept flashing before his eyes. Yet nothing, nothing, compared to the need to protect his brother from his inevitable fall. He was desperately scared to lose him and was waiting for the other shoe to drop any moment. He knew he had to be there for Frank; he wanted him to begin to heal… but seeing his infallible brother break, the one who had supported him and been his strength for so long, was a daunting prospect.

Vanessa huddled closer to Joe, and he instinctively wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He felt a need to be with her at all times now, and treasured the moments that he was able to steal with her when he wasn't trying to help Frank. She was being incredibly patient and understanding through it all, despite her need, he was sure, to have him around to help her through her own pain. The sense of love that he had for her was incredible.

Nancy looked at the people gathered in the Hardy home and hoped desperately that she hadn't made a mistake and overstepped her boundaries. Frank and Joe were her friends, yes, but she was now beginning to question whether her need to solve this case really was for Frank or for her own intrinsic need not to leave things unsettled. She honestly didn't know if she could forgive herself if she caused everyone here unnecessary anxiety in this, their time of grief. Looking at the notes before her, she mentally calculated where to begin.

Fenton was still trying to collect his thoughts. Joe had come into his office and had spilled Nancy's theory to him, and he was shocked. Although he agreed that Daley wouldn't normally be so careless, would he really fake his own death? Could Callie REALLY be alive? He doubted it, and tried to force his mind away from that image. He knew that Frank couldn't get false hope; he'd seen Joe go through a terrible spiral backwards when that had happened to him.

Losing Callie had been like losing a daughter in a very real sense. Although he had grown closer to Vanessa through the years, he genuinely loved Callie, who, in her own quiet way, had become Frank's other half years ago and who was so intensely intermixed with Frank that they almost shared an identity. Having to give the Shaws the news of her death had been quite possibly the hardest thing he'd ever done in his career—in his life—and although he knew that he needed to be the one to be there, the look in their eyes would haunt him forever. Still, Callie's loss in and of itself had been horrendous; the inevitable loss as a result of it of his eldest son would be equally unthinkable.

For the first time in his life, Fenton seriously considered the possibility of leaving a case unsolved, because the cost of solving it might just be too high. It was not a gamble he was willing to take. Just as he was about to say something, Frank walked into the room.

Everyone looked up at once. Frank didn't look awful; he didn't look like he'd broken down. There were no reddened eyes to indicate tears or color so pallid he looked sickly. Instead, he just looked… defeated. Every action he took, from his speech to his mannerisms, seemed a shadow of his real self. He was right on the edge of reality breaking through and adamant denial, but somehow he was walking that line. To Joe, it was a sight to behold, but a sight he never wanted to see again. He was determined not to let this meeting of the minds be the catalyst for Frank's fall either way. He had meant it when he'd said that he would die before he would let that happen.

"Hi," Frank said softly, pulling out a chair. He hinted at a smile, but fell far short of the effort. "I think we need to get this case solved. I KNOW we need to." It was all he could manage. Something deep inside of him would not let him go further.

Nancy gave a small smile in return, and forced herself to choose each word carefully. "Frank, everyone… much about this case is troubling. For over a month, we've hit wall after wall. We think there's been a breakthrough, but still, nothing. There's a lot circumstantially that we do know. And what I'm about to go over with all of you is based on the assumption that John Daley is guilty of the… crimes."

Joe looked steadily at his brother who seemed on edge, hanging on every word. He knew that Frank needed to concentrate on the case to distract himself from reality--- but what if the case was solved? What then?

"Go on," Fenton cut in. Unbeknownst to him, he was thinking the exact same thing as Joe was; but he DID want to know how Daley had done it, and he knew each person in the room was a valuable asset in finding that out. Maybe solving the case would help Frank. He honestly didn't know which path to choose.

"Okay," Nancy began. "Let's quickly recount why we think that Daley is guilty. Joe?" She nodded in his direction, realizing that when they had been on cases together, she had all too often worked simultaneously with Frank, ignoring, unintentionally, Joe's often vital input. She wouldn't make that mistake again. As Joe began to speak, Nancy noted how his eyes never left his brother and she felt a quick pang in her heart.

Joe sat up straighter and spoke, like others, with thoughtfulness. "Well," he began, "there're only two reasons why we think he's NOT guilty. First, his brother confessed. Second, DNA evidence links his brother, not him, to the scene. All else points to his guilt."

"Lay out the facts, son," Fenton encouraged.

Joe nodded. He knew he couldn't slip up and mention Callie in any way. As a person accustomed to speaking first and thinking later, he knew it would be a difficult but necessary task. And he wouldn't mess up.

"Daley was clearly arrogant in his interrogation. It was as if he was playing an intentional game with all of us, taunting us because we had no real evidence against him. But we do. One, he and his brother both knew Leslie Smith. According to Daley, Smith broke up with his brother, who apparently had always had girl problems. I think he said, "had to teach her a lesson."

"Right," Frank said slowly. "But he didn't say WHO had to teach her a lesson."

Fenton held his breath as Frank spoke.

"Two," Joe went on, "Daley had access to security tapes at work and at my apartment. He knew Hughes, and set him up to take the fall. He framed him because he wanted an opportunity to try to terrorize Vanessa and to kill me." Joe squeezed Vanessa's hand reassuringly. "He succeeded in one aspect."

"Three, if I may," Nancy went on, and Joe nodded. "Timms was found on Dee's property, killed by blunt force trauma to the head. Daley probably wanted to get rid of the first witness to frame his brother. Dee is physically too small to have done that. Daley is… was…" she caught herself, "tall. Charlotte confirmed that her rapist was also tall."

"Four," Fenton went on automatically, "At Joe's apartment, Vanessa confirms that Daley had a cough. Mysteriously, it disappeared. Since the girls had initially heard his voice, it would make sense to try to disguise it."

"Five," Frank went on, intent. "Phone records at the jail show that Dee received calls from a payphone in Bayport several times. Those calls must have come from Daley—who else could it have been? Daley was smart enough not to use a cell or home phone."

"Six," Joe went on, "Dee was never a violent criminal, even if he DID confess to the crimes. It's too much of a stretch to think he would make that huge leap."

"Seven," Nancy interrupted, "Along those same lines, Dee drove straight for the cops, so he KNEW he was going to get set up—but why?!"

"Not yet, Nan," Frank spoke up. "Not yet- we don't ask why."

The room was silenced with the force of his words, the ironic truth behind them.

"No," Frank went on. "We still have more to think about. Daley sent packages to Vanessa and Charlotte but set up Tom Jacobs to take the fall by charging the boxes to his credit card. Daley also stole Jacobs' phone and Dee made phony calls to that number, aiding his brother."

Fenton sat up straighter. "You know," he said thoughtfully, "Daley went beyond framing his brother. I think he even said that Dee would not verify his story; that he COULD not verify his story. I never checked out what he meant by that."

Joe was about to mention that Daley also spoke about Iola, which would explain what happened to Callie, but he stopped. That was too close to Frank.

"So…" Nancy began slowly, "What we're left with then is the question of why Dee would lie for his brother, take the fall. And I have a few things I'd like to share with all of you in that regard." She took out her notepad and tried to assess what was important.

"I did a little digging through all of these files, and found out a bit about their relationship; their past. Apparently, they were pretty close growing up," Nancy said. "But they were very different. John was wild and reckless, Jimmy was quiet and thoughtful."

Joe stiffened, not liking the image that he was beginning to see.

"When Dee was young, he got very sick; he had cancer."

Joe's mind began to swim. When Frank was young, he'd been sick, too... very sick… it was something he hadn't thought about in over two decades.

"As a result," Nancy went on, "Dee had to go through radiation and chemotherapy. He lost his hair. And then, he battled recurrences of the disease throughout his youth. As a result, he never had too much of a social life… well, at least he never dated, really. Until he met Leslie Smith… who eventually broke his heart."

Now Joe's own heart was beating quickly in his chest. Like Callie, the one love of his brother's life.

"In the meantime, the Daleys struggled financially. They grew up in a very rough area, as you guys know from Tom Jacobs. Dee had a small record in juvenile detention that wasn't totally expunged." She smiled. "I have my sources for that, as you would. Anyway, it was petty theft, probably to support his family, particularly his brother, who kept getting into trouble. In fact, from what I could get from several interviews I had, in person and on the phone, all Jimmy ever did was look out for his brother, who was constantly in trouble—and I mean BAD trouble. There was never any evidence, but it looks like there were a series of aggravated assaults and two rapes that went unsolved at that time. It's again all circumstantial evidence, but the cases were never solved. And you know—" she stared at the group—"that rapes are among the most under-reported crimes. Where there're two reported, there are probably ten that weren't. Just food for thought."

Joe tried to control his breathing again. Brother watching out for brother, taking the fall….

"Interesting," Fenton cut in, impressed. "Shall I assume that John became pretty reckless and Jimmy fell into more trouble in the courts…. rather than John?"

Nancy nodded.

"My God," Fenton said softly. "That kid protected his brother at the expense of his own life."

Joe heard his own earlier words in the back of his mind. And I love my brother too much to let that happen to him. I swear to God, I will give my own life before I let my brother be destroyed.

Now Frank sat up, startled, and the group looked at him. His mind was spinning. He held up a hand before they could say anything. There was something… piquing at the corner of his mind… what WAS it in the files that was bothering him?

Joe couldn't say silent while his brother was thinking. "So John becomes a cop, the ultimate career of power where he has access to all types of women, " he began. "But WHY on earth would he set his brother up? And why would Jimmy let himself be set up if he was really a good guy?"

"Maybe they're just close brothers," Vanessa speculated. She smiled softly at Joe and then Frank. "That does happen, you know."

"No, hon," Fenton replied. "My sons are extraordinary. Relationships like theirs don't happen often. But more than that…" He looked deliberately at Joe, knowing what he'd been thinking, "My older boy would not go to jail for his brother, because his brother is a good kid."

Joe managed a small smile.

"Unless I had a reason to!" Frank interjected suddenly, and stood up. "I've got it! I understand!"

"What?" Joe asked at once.

"How—could I not have seen it? Never mind—I didn't see it because I didn't know about the Daleys' past in the depth that Nancy did. First of all, now I remember—Daley's license stated he had blue eyes—we saw him with brown eyes. That means he must be wearing contacts!"

"Yeah, it DID say that," Fenton responded, incredulous. He couldn't believe he had missed that detail.

"And I see it! Jimmy and John Daley—they're not twins—John was telling the truth. God, it makes sense now!"

"Could you clue us in?" Joe asked, swept up in his brother's excitement.

"DNA," Frank began, flushed. "It's never wrong—unless a crime scene is compromised. This one wasn't, so it was seemingly a dead end! Now I know what was bothering me." He began to pace back and forth. "The DNA sample taken from Leslie was based on semen. The records on Jimmy were based on blood. Theoretically, it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever… except that it does. Here."

Frank sat back down and clasped his hands together tightly. Joe stared at him. He knew that Frank was brilliant, and was probably trying to think of how to explain DNA in normal terms. Finally, he spoke.

"None of this made any sense until Nancy said that Jimmy had cancer. Was it leukemia? That's fairly common in young kids." He pushed back his own, distant memories…

"It was, actually," Nancy replied.

"And did John ever give Jimmy any bone marrow? Theoretically, they would be a very good match."

"Yes," Nancy replied. "I remember reading that."

"THAT's why Jimmy would be so loyal to John!" Joe interjected, suddenly realizing what he'd missed all along.

"Yes," Frank responded, "that's true. But it also involves DNA. Let me explain."

By now, everyone in the room was captivated. Frank spoke slowly, and Joe listened carefully, again stunned at how his brother could make sense of this.

"When a person receives a bone marrow transplant, the DNA in that person's blood becomes different from the DNA in his other cells. It's extraordinarily rare, and it can happen in only one other instance, but that person becomes what is known as a chimera."

"A what?" Vanessa asked.

"A chimera," Frank answered, directly. "DNA testing, or DNA typing, can figure out almost anything, from bone marrow or organ transplant to fertility issues. It's based on the fact that every cell in a human body contains identical DNA and that everyone's DNA is different. DNA testing can be done on hair, bone, skin tissue, saliva, semen, blood—there's lots of ways. It's not—wrong. Every person on earth differs from each other in about 0.1% of their DNA. Scientists have identified 13 places in DNA that are different with every individual. Law enforcement personnel often use these areas to produce profiles that distinguish one person from another."

"So? I'm sorry—I'm not quite following," Nancy cut in apologetically. Joe silently had to agree with her, but he knew Frank—that he was building a background for understanding.

"It's okay—it's complicated," Frank went on with a small smile. "I'm a nerd- I like this stuff."

Joe snorted and let out a small laugh despite himself.

"Anyway, I'll continue," Frank replied with a small eye roll at Joe. For the first time since—when?—he felt alive. At the same time, he felt his stomach drop a bit. Deciding to ignore it, he went on. "In almost all cases, a person's DNA is the same in every cell; but that's not always the case. A person can be born with two different sets of DNA; he'd be a chimera. Sometimes, a person develops different DNA later in life; those people are called mosaics. I won't get into that, because it’s not the case here. But it is also possible to artificially end up with different DNA in some of our cells. Some ways are temporary, like with blood transfusions, but others, like with bone marrow transplants, are permanent."

"So how does that affect Jimmy?" Fenton asked intrigued.

"Because with a blood marrow transplant, a doctor has to first destroy a person's blood cells or bone marrow. You know that," he said to his dad, voicing the unspoken, then moving on. "That's usually done through chemo or radiation. Then the doctor puts in new marrow from a matched donor—in our case, John. So how does that affect DNA? Because the new bone marrow cells have the donor's DNA, and bone marrow contains blood cells, which are responsible for making our blood. Since our blood cells need to be replaced constantly, what it means in a bone marrow transplant case is that his or her blood cells come from the donor's stem cells... and so he would have the donor's DNA."

"So then…." Nancy cut in.

"So then think about it!" Frank answered. "Semen was collected at the crime scene and the semen DNA matched a blood sample from a known criminal—Jimmy—in the database. He was caught- perhaps deliberately- and put into jail. But it was JOHN who committed the crimes! We could easily prove it if we were able to test both blood and another tissue in both of them to make sure that they share the same DNA profile. Nancy, you did a great job of digging up information on the Daleys' history… medical records are confidential and there's no way you could have accessed them had people decided not to talk."

"I guess I got lucky," Nancy admitted, stunned at Frank's information.

"But if they were that close," Joe went on, "Why would John let Jimmy get life in jail? It's not a case where it's a few days in the youth detention system."

Fenton gasped. "That's what I forgot to check into! Hold on a minute. I have a quick phone call to make." He got up and disappeared from the room.

Less than ten minutes later, he returned, his face registering the shock he was feeling. "I have your answer," he said. With a deep sigh, he went on. "I didn't even think about it until Joe said LIFE in prison. I totally forgot that I was going to check into Jimmy's health records; he looked sick. Kids," he went on, "Jimmy s cancer has returned. He has only weeks to live. He might be totally against his brother's crimes—but he is indebted to his brother for saving his life. I can't imagine that anyone would want to see his true love be destroyed or that that could be forgiven."

Frank sucked in his breath. What? What had his dad just said?

Fenton, oblivious, continued. "John raped Leslie Smith as revenge for the way she treated Jimmy. If Jimmy had any morals at all, he would have spoken up and said something—but he's always been in his brother's shadow and he literally owes him his life. He's lost everything that matters to him; he doesn’t care if he lives or dies."

Frank felt dizzy. He gripped the chair tightly.

"Now we just have to see if he's alive," Vanessa cut in. "There should be some evidence either way after the explos…" Vanessa snapped her mouth shut as she realized what she'd been about to say.

Frank got up at once. He was going to be sick. Pushing his way out of the room, he started shaking uncontrollably. He felt both hot and cold, fire and ice, race through his veins. He fell to his knees on the porch outside.

Vaguely aware of Joe's presence next to him, he couldn't tell what was real and what was not. He couldn't talk. He couldn't breathe.

He did not hear the phone ringing in the distance.

All he knew was that he was falling, falling… and the only reason he was still even vaguely aware of his surroundings was because he felt Joe's arms around him from behind, and he heard the repeated "It's okay. I'm here," again and again.

When Fenton emerged from the house five minutes later, he was struck by the scene in front of him. Joe was holding onto Frank tightly, who looked almost completely unaware of what was happening. As he heard Joe's words to his brother, Fenton couldn't help but to question whether Joe's words were a promise or a prayer.

He stood in front of his boys, tears streaming down his face. "Let's go," he managed. "We need to get to Bayport General Hospital as fast as we can."

Joe looked up.

"Callie's okay. I guess she had a guardian angel after all…"

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.