The group of friends decided to eat outside on the patio. They found a picnic table and gathered together to enjoy their meal. Joe noticed the sandy-haired man walk in. He had noticed him on the pier earlier in the day taking pictures. Joe turned his attention back to his friends, but then heard a shout.

“Hey – stop him, he stole my camera!”

“Looks like Tad is up to his old tricks,” said Biff as he pointed out a red-headed teen running down to the beach.

“Come on Biff, let’s head him off!” Joe, his eyes sparkling with excitement, jumped over the railing and onto the beach.

“Joe wait!” But Frank’s cry was ignored. He let out a low growl of frustration before following suit.

Biff and Tony went after their two friends; Chet thought it would be best to stay with the girls.

“Just another day in Hardyland,” sighed Vanessa and then she gave Callie a wink.

“And we wouldn’t have it any other way!” Callie said, returning the wink with a smile.

As Joe ran towards an ATV rental, he spotted the owner and approached him.

“Mr. Randal – I need to borrow—”

“After another purse snatcher, eh?” Mr. Randal tossed a set of keys to the younger Hardy. “Just try not to crash this one like you did the last time!”

“That was not my fault!” Joe yelled out as he drove away.

Biff was right behind Joe; he hopped on behind his friend. Frank and Tony were a few steps behind.

“Here you go, Frank.” Mr. Randal chuckled as he tossed another pair of keys.

“Thanks, Mr. Randal!” Frank and Tony jumped on the ATV and went after Joe and Biff.

Joe had been keeping a close watch on Tad, driving as fast as he could without running over anyone.

“He’s heading towards the stairs leading to the parking lot!” Biff shouted in Joe’s ear.

“I see him and I’m not letting him get away!”

The ATV was traveling thirty miles an hour; Joe was closing in on Tad. He sped past him, skidded to a near-stop, and cranked the steering wheel. The ATV did a half turn, causing sand to fly up into Tad’s face.

First Biff and then Joe jumped off the ATV; Tad was trying to wipe the sand out of his eyes when the younger Hardy took hold of his arm. Not wanting to get caught, Tad swung his arm back to hit Joe.

“I don’t think so, Tad!” Biff stopped him just as Frank and Tony pulled up.

Tony had stuffed his cell phone in the pocket of his cargo pants. He called the police while Frank, Joe and Biff detained Tad.

A few minutes later, Joe spotted the owner of the camera coming their way. He then saw a police officer running towards them. As the officer got closer, Joe recognized him: Officer Ben Taylor was new to the Bayport police force, and the young officer had become good friends with the Hardys. Officer Taylor and the young man arrived at the same time.

“I knew you two would be in the thick of this mess!” the officer smiled at the Hardys.

“It’s good to see you too, Ben!” Joe returned the smile and then jerked his thumb at Tad. “We saw him running away with this guy’s camera.”

“Tsk, tsk – Tad, when are you ever going to learn?”

“Excuse me, Officer – my name is Roger Covington. If you don’t mind I’d just like to get my camera back.”

“Are you saying that you don’t want to press any charges, Mr. Covington?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. The camera doesn’t look like it suffered any damage – I’m satisfied to get it back.”

Tad smirked at the Hardys and Biff and Tony as Officer Taylor uncuffed him.

“You got lucky this time, Tad – I don’t want to see you here again!” Officer Taylor warned him.

Frank stepped in front of Joe as Tad took his time walking past them. Knowing his brother’s temper, Frank didn’t want Joe to get into any trouble.

“I want to thank you boys for getting my camera back,” Roger smiled and held out his hand.

“You’re welcome – my brother Joe doesn’t like seeing people lose their valuables.”

“Who are you kidding, Frank? You feel the same way!” Tony said with laughter.

Frank gave a little shrug as he turned his attention back to Roger. “Mr. Covington, you really should have pressed charges. Tad – Tad Reynolds, this isn’t his first time that he stole someone’s camera.”

“I suppose you’re right – I was being selfish. I didn’t want to waste the rest of the day filling out police reports. Thank you again.”

He gave the group a small salute and then turned to leave. Officer Taylor gave the boys a shrug, thanked them and left.

“Come on; let’s get these ATVs back to Mr. Randal.” Frank nudged his brother toward his vehicle.

As they drove the ATVs back, Frank was curious as to why Roger Covington refused to press charges and why did he have the feeling – despite the fact that the man never took his glasses off – that Mr. Covington never took his eyes off Joe.

*****

The last week of summer vacation flew by – Frank soon found himself taking his first college course. His mind half on the professor’s lecture and the other half thinking about his younger brother, Frank wondered how Joe was handling being a senior in high school. A small smile flitted across his face, as Frank could imagine what his younger brother was doing at that moment.

Lost in his musings, Frank hadn’t realized that class had ended until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he found a pretty brunette smiling at him.

“You seemed so far away – I thought you should know that class is over. Unless you really like Psych 101 so much that you want to stay and listen to that lecture again!”

Frank smiled as he closed his notebook and stuffed it into his book bag. The brunette flicked back her hair, giving Frank her best smile.

“Thanks, I had a lot of things on my mind!”

“I hope I was one of them!” said a familiar voice.

The pretty brunette let out a sigh as Frank walked over to Callie and gave her kiss. She waved goodbye to the young couple, wondering why the good looking guys were always taken.

*****

Joe was missing his brother; it felt strange being at the high school without him. It seemed weird not seeing Tony or Phil either. At least he still had Biff and Chet – and Vanessa. Joe smiled – sweet Vanessa.

“Wipe that goofy grin off your face – it’s embarrassing!” Biff teased his friend.

“Did you hear that we’ve got a new teacher for English?” asked Joe, ignoring Biff’s teasing.

“Yeah, I heard that old Pratt finally retired!”

“I should hope so – I mean she was what – ninety?!”

Biff laughed as he and Joe walked into their class room. The room was a bit noisy since the teacher was not in the room. The door slamming shut got everyone’s attention.

“Hello, I’m Miss Manders – as most of you probably have heard, Ms. Pratt has retired and will no longer be teaching this class.”

“Oh, please tell me you are!” whispered Biff to Joe.

“Yes, I am – um, Mr. Hooper is it?”

Joe snickered as Biff scrunched down into his chair his face a bright shade of red.

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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.