Joe didn’t know how he survived the rest of the school week. Worrying about Frank – keeping his temper in control – and not beating Zane Williams to a pulp. That was due to Vanessa’s calming influence. Joe smiled when he thought of the pretty ash-blonde girl. He looked over at her locker; Vanessa had left earlier due to a dentist appointment. Closing his locker, Joe hurried to meet up with Frank.

Frank was just closing his locker when he saw Joe approaching.

“I don’t see your ‘watchdog’ – did Vanessa finally wise up?”

“Oh ha-ha, Frank – sooo not funny!”

“So where is the fair Vanessa?” asked Frank as they walked to their van.

“She had a dentist appointment and left early.”

“Tell you what – it’s Friday and from the looks of your book bag you don’t have much homework – how ‘bout I treat you to a slice at the mall?”

Joe stopped walking, peering at his brother. “Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

Frank rolled his eyes as Joe grinned at him.

“Hey, speaking of fair ladies – where’s Callie?”

“The next edition for Bayport High Gazette is coming out next week so she had to stay after school for a meeting.”

“On to the mall then, and I have to warn you big brother – I’m starving!”

Just as their order was arriving, Tony Prito walked into the Pizzeria. He worked there part-time after school and most weekends.

“Yo, Hardys!” Tony slid into the booth, sitting next to Joe. He snagged a slice.

“Hey,” Joe protested. “I thought you got enough of this stuff working here!”

“Are you kidding?! I know for a fact that my mom is cooking today!”

Joe’s eyes lit up as he eagerly took a bite of his pizza. He closed his eyes as he savored every bite.

“Oh man, your mom is the best!” he sighed.

“I’ll say,” said Frank. “If I had known she was in the kitchen I would have ordered a calzone!”

“No, the garlic bread – no, the cheesy sticks!” Joe exclaimed.

Tony laughed as Joe began to recite the rest of the menu.

“I have to go clock in – I’ll be sure to let mom know how much you appreciate her cooking!”

Tony slid out of the booth, taking one last slice of pizza as he left. Twenty minutes later, Frank was paying the bill and the brothers headed for the parking lot.

As they walked towards their van, laughing and teasing each other Joe came to a sudden stop.

“Frank – the van!”

Frank stared at the vehicle, as stunned as Joe. All four tires had been slashed. They heard the sound of squealing tires as a car came to a stop behind them.

“Boy, someone sure doesn’t like you!”

Joe and Frank turned to find Zane Williams laughing at them. Joe took a step towards the car but Zane hit the gas pedal and sped away.

“Never mind him – we need to call a tow truck and report this to the police,” Frank said as he pulled Joe back.

Joe leaned against the van, his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. The tow truck arrived and a tall, stout man got out of the truck. He pulled back his baseball cap and smiled at the two boys. “Whose tail-feathers did you ruffle now?”

Frank returned the smile. “That’s what we want to know, Randy!”

A squad car pulled up a few minutes after the tow truck. Two police officers got out of the car; one of them shook his head as he walked over to Joe.

Con Riley had been with the Bayport police for over ten years and knew the Hardy brothers very well. He had helped them on a few of their cases.

“Someone doesn’t like you very much, Joe.” Con smiled at the younger Hardy.

“Um, Con,” said Frank as he hurried over and quickly pulled the older man away. “I wouldn’t talk to Joe right now.”

*****

Frank was glad it was Saturday when he woke up late the next morning. After he and Joe gave their statements and then rode with Randy to the garage. Joe grumbled at having to use part of his savings to pay for new tires. Frank reminded him that he had to pay for half.

“Besides, we got off easy, the insurance paid the majority of it!”

They arrived home late for dinner, and Aunt Gertrude had not been very happy with them. The only good thing was that Fenton had offered to reimburse them a third of the amount of the cost they paid for the tires.

“Now you understand why I stress paying the insurance premium when it’s due!” Fenton said.

***

Frank glanced at his alarm clock and saw that it was just after nine a.m. – he got out of bed and checked on Joe. Finding his brother still asleep, Frank took the opportunity to get in the shower first.

A half hour later, Joe stumbled down to the kitchen for some breakfast. The ends of his hair were still damp from his shower. Although most of his family enjoyed coffee in the morning, Joe preferred a nice ice cold can of Coke.

Wanting to cheer his brother up, Frank had an idea that he knew Joe would like. “You have any plans for today?” he asked Joe.

“No,” Joe shook his head sadly. “I talked with Van last night; she had to have a molar pulled out yesterday. So she’s going to be kind of out of it from the painkillers the dentist prescribed for her.”

“Too bad – I know Callie is going to be busy. Want to take the bikes out?”

A smile slowly appeared on Joe’s face.

“I’m going to take that as a yes,” said Frank with a smile of his own.

Frank and Joe rode their motorbikes down to the Morton farm. They were hoping Chet would be able to join them. Unfortunately the stout teen had left with his father for the Farmer’s Market.

The brothers rode their bikes in the wooded area for a bit, enjoying the cool breeze and the wind in their hair. A light drizzle fell on them as they continued to enjoy the afternoon.

Frank signaled to Joe to stop. “I don’t know about you but I’m ready for lunch. You ready to head back and see what Aunt Gertrude prepared?”

“I could go for some food!” Joe smiled. “Frank – thanks; this was a really good idea.”

“I figured after our week, we deserved a little downtime!”

Joe readily agreed as he slowly moved away from his brother to head home.

Now on the paved road, the brothers rode at a low speed, going only thirty miles an hour as the road they were on had a lot of curves. The road was a little slick from the slight rain that had fallen. Frank had pulled ahead of Joe and was about to go into a curve when he saw it: there had been an oil spill on the road. It wasn’t until he was on top of it that Frank realized it was there. The oil slick caused his tires to slide; Frank had to make himself fall before he crashed off the road.

Seeing his brother fall and skid across the road almost caused Joe to lose control of his bike.

“FRANK!” the young teen screamed as he watched Frank sliding down the road. His eyes grew wide with fear as a car came around the curve heading straight for Frank.

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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.