Roger Covington walked down the campus grounds, and spotted Frank sitting underneath a tree with a pretty blonde by his side. From his information, he knew the blonde was Callie Shaw. Roger smiled. Frank was being very difficult. He had a feeling that the Hardy boy didn’t trust him. With a determined stride, Roger headed straight for Frank and Callie.

Frank ran his fingers through Callie’s hair, tucking some strands behind her ear. The young girl smiled at her handsome boyfriend, and reached out to caress his face.

“This is a really good idea you had,” she said tenderly.

“I do have my moments!” Frank replied as he leaned close for a kiss.

“Ahem! Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt! Hi Frank – who’s this lovely lady?”

Frank clenched his jaw before he turned to look up at Roger. He gave him a strained smile. “Hi Roger – was there something I missed in class?”

Callie stared at Frank in surprise – she couldn’t believe that he had purposely failed to answer the guy’s question. Although she had never met him, Frank had told her about Roger Covington.

Roger’s smile faltered for a bit, then he smiled a little wider.

“You didn’t miss anything I just came by to say hello! And I was curious who the pretty blonde was.”

While Roger was speaking, Frank stood up and was helping Callie up. He put his arm around her shoulders.

“No one you need to know,” he said, walking away.

As Roger watched Frank and Callie leave he knew that he was going to have to find another way to get to Joe.

*****

Joe closed his Calculus book and hastily stuffed it into his book bag. He was glad the class was over and he could finally relax, now that weekend had arrived! Joe smiled when he saw Vanessa waiting for him outside the classroom. He took her hand as they walked to his locker.

“Is Frank picking you up?”

“No, Mom is – Dad is picking Aunt Gertrude up at the airport so I get to go food shopping with Mom!” Joe grimaced with dread, causing Vanessa to giggle.

“Oh please! You don’t fool me! I know you love going food shopping with your mom! Just don’t sneak in too many cookies like you did the last time!”

The young couple was still laughing when Chet found them standing in front of Joe’s locker.

“What’s so funny?” asked Chet as he looked curiously at his friends.

“Just reminding Joe why he’s known as ‘The Cookie Monster’!” Vanessa giggled.

Charlie Manders stood outside her classroom watching Joe and his friends. She was worried – normally the young woman would be tailing Joe, making sure that he made it home safely. Charlie found out that the principal had set up an unscheduled meeting with the faculty. She had called The Gray Man but wasn’t sure if another Network agent had been dispatched. Charlie tried calling Frank but kept getting his voice mail. She thought that the older Hardy brother might be in class and had his cell turned off.

Watching the young teens leave, Charlie let out a sigh. There was nothing she could do but hope the meeting wouldn’t last too long.

*****

Laura waved and smiled at Chet and Vanessa as Joe got into the car.

Joe leaned over and kissed Laura on the cheek. Putting the car in drive, Laura drove out of the parking lot. No one noticed the dark sedan that followed a few seconds later.

As they walked out of the store, Laura was checking the receipt, thinking that she came away fairly well – considering how Joe kept sneaking things they didn’t need into the basket! She looked up when she heard a loud whoop coming from her youngest son.

Joe had been pushing the grocery cart but decided to have a little fun. He was leaning over the cart as it sped down the parking lot.

“Joseph Hardy!”

Joe came to an immediate stop and waited patiently if somewhat sheepishly for his mother.

“Really Joe, aren’t you a little old for these antics?” Laura scolded her son, but the gleeful twinkle in her eyes belied her anger.

Mother and son calmly walked to their car. Laura opened the trunk and Joe started to put the groceries inside when a dark colored van came to a screeching stop next to them. The side door opened – Roger and another man jumped out of the van. It took Joe a second to recognize the sandy-haired man.

It wasn’t until he heard the gunfire that Joe saw Roger holding a gun in his hand. He looked down to see where he had been shot but didn’t see any blood – didn’t feel any pain. Slowly Joe turned his head and saw his mother lying on the ground, a pool of blood around her head.

“MOM – nooo!”

Joe’s cry of anguish was cut short when the other man grabbed him from behind and placed a cloth filled with chloroform around his face.

As the blackness overtook him, the last thing that Joe thought was about the blood – there was so much blood!

*****

Fenton was helping Gertrude with her luggage when his cell phone rang. He put her suitcase in his trunk as he took his phone out of his pocket.

“Fenton Hardy here.”

“Fenton, it’s Ezra – you need to come to Bayport General – Laura’s been shot.”

Gertrude had been waiting impatiently by the front passenger door; she walked over to the back of the car. She grew concerned when she saw Fenton’s pale face.

“Fenton, what’s wrong?!”

Fenton vaguely heard Ezra Collig’s voice calling to him. He looked at his sister, wondering what she was doing here. Gertrude shook him, not liking how pale Fenton appeared.

“Fenton you’re scaring me – what’s wrong?!”

“Laura – she’s been…she’s been shot,” he managed to whisper.

“Oh my Lord! What about the boys?”

Joe – Oh my God, Joe! Fenton snapped out of his shock.

“Ezra, Laura picked Joe up after school – was he hurt?”

“Joe’s missing – he was kidnapped.”

Fenton closed his eyes. They had him – the Assassins had his son!

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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.