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The Divine Right of Kings
By : vinsmouse
Category: G through L > Hardy Boys Series
Views: 5915 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys, not making any money, just cheap thrills. -
Chapter List
- 1-The Divine Right of Kings
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-five
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty-One
- 22-Twenty-Two
- 23-Twenty-Three
- 24-Twenty-Four
- 25-Twenty-Five
- 26-Twenty-Six
- 27-Twenty-Seven
- 28-Twenty-Eight
- 29-Twenty-Nine
- 30-Thirty
- 31-Thirty-One
- 32-Thirty-Two
- 33-Thirty-Three
- 34-Thirty-Four
- 35-Thirty-Five
- 36-Thirty-Six
- 37-Thirty-Seven
- 38-Thirty-Eight
- 39-Thirty-Nine
- 40-Forty
- 41-Forty-One
- 42-Forty-Two
- 43-Forty-Three
- 44-Forty-Four
- 45-Forty-five
- 46-Forty-six
- 47-Forty-Seven
- 48-Forty-eight
- 49-Forty-nine
- 50-Fifty
- 51-Fifty-one
- 52-Fifty-two
Chapter 21
Frank slipped into the house. Lately he dreaded going home, the tension in the atmosphere was a nearly physical thing. He vaguely registered the sound of the tv coming from the family room as he headed for the stairs.
“Frank is that you?”
“Yeah Mom,” he called over his shoulder. He shouldn’t have been surprised when his mother appeared in the doorway.
“Would you like something to eat? I could heat up some leftovers,” Laura offered.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Are you sure dear?”
“Yeah, I had something at Phil’s.” Without another word he hurried up the stairs to his room. He flopped onto his bed he threw an arm up over his eyes. He didn’t move when he heard the clicking of his door. “I’m not hungry Mom.”
“That’s good cause I’m not Mom and I don’t have any food,” Joe smirked.
Frank jerked upright so quickly he was surprised he didn’t’ give himself whiplash. “Joe!”
“Hey,” Joe shyly greeted the older boy.
Frank jumped to his feet, rushing to his brother’s side. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
Joe took a step back. “Nothing happened Frank, well nothing bad,” he added. “You were right.”
“About Mom?” Frank hesitantly asked. He was almost afraid to mention his mother but he couldn’t think of anything else Joe could mean.
Joe nodded. “I went downstairs last night for a drink and found the aspirin. I wondered if that was what was put into Alex’s drink. I wasn’t sure it would have worked though so I started searching the kitchen.” He went on to explain what he had found and the short conversation with their mother.
“So that convinced you?” Frank asked. Surely it couldn’t be that easy.
“Not exactly but almost. This morning I did some searching about aspirin. What I found convinced me that it couldn’t have been aspirin. I already knew it couldn’t have been the ipecac and there wasn’t anything else. I guess it must have been Red that did it,” Joe admitted. “I should have seen it before. I mean even Phil noticed that only Alex got sick.” He looked down, digging his toe into the carpet. “Some detective huh?”
“Aw Joe,” Frank whispered pulling the younger boy in for a hug. “You’re a good detective little brother, nobody could think straight if they’d been through what you experienced.”
“You realized the truth,” Joe argued.
Frank pulled back so he was looking Joe in the eye. “I didn’t go through the hell you did,” he seriously stated.
“I’m sorry Frank. I’ve treated you pretty badly.”
Frank shrugged. “You had your reasons.”
Joe shook his head. “That doesn’t excuse it. You’ve always taken care of me Frank. You’re the best brother a guy could have, I shouldn’t have forgotten that.”
Frank knew Joe wouldn’t let it go easily. His little brother had always been able to forgive others, even when he sometimes shouldn’t, but forgiving himself was much more difficult. “You’re forgiven,” he said, knowing it was the only way Joe would stop beating himself up.
“I don’t deserve it,” Joe smiled shakily, “but thanks.” He glanced across the room where his brother’s laptop sat. “You been working with Phil on that programming thing?” he asked in an effort to cover the awkwardness.
“Yeah,” Frank replied taking a seat at his desk.
“How’s it going?” Joe asked, taking his usual seat on the bed.
“Not too well,” Frank admitted. For several minutes neither boy spoke. There had never been a time that Frank could remember feeling so awkward with his little brother.
“Did Dad tell you about that FBI agent coming by?” Joe asked. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about the trial but Frank should know what was going on.
Frank raised an eyebrow.
“He came by yesterday. He said that none of the other kids will testify against Alex.”
“What?” Frank nearly yelled. “Why would they do that?”
Joe flinched away; the anger rolling from his brother in waves making him uncomfortable. “Because he saved them,” he replied in a small, uncertain voice.
“Saved them?” Frank was incredulous. “He did as much damage as Red.”
“Not as much,” Joe mumbled.
Frank’s eyes widened. “Joe,” he stumbled to the bed, falling beside his brother, “did Red…I mean, is there something else? Something you didn’t tell us?” The paleness of Joe’s face did nothing to reassure him. “Joe?” Red couldn’t have ra…raped his brother. The doctor had said it hadn’t happened; Frank clung to that knowledge.
“He cut me,” Joe whispered.
“I know about that,” Frank said. “We saw the cuts when you came back from the kitchen.”
“That wasn’t all,” the younger boy admitted.
Frank felt sick. “Tell me.”
“I can’t.” He felt ashamed, dirty. Joe knew he wouldn’t be able to handle having Frank look at him differently and he would if he knew what had happened in the kitchen. There must have been something about him that made Red want to do those things to him. Alex had said it was only his innocence that attracted his partner but Joe wasn’t convinced. It had to be something wrong with him and he didn’t want Frank to realize that his brother was some kind of freak.
“Joe you can tell me anything.” Frank didn’t really want to hear but he thought it would do Joe good to talk about it…maybe.
Joe turned away. He couldn’t do it.
“Joe tell me.”
Joe shuddered. He couldn’t refuse that tone. In short, broken sentences punctuated by tears the younger told the elder of the horror he’d experienced. By the end of his narration both boys were in tears. “If it hadn’t been for Alex…” Joe stopped, his voice choked off by tears. Grateful beyond words for his brother’s presence, he burrowed into the older boy’s embrace, gaining much needed comfort.
Frank tightened his hold. “Shhh, you’re safe now baby brother, shhhh,” he soothed. With growing horror he finally saw how Alex had become his brother’s savior, at least in the younger boy’s eyes. If the other children had similar experiences he wasn’t surprised they would refuse to testify. A horrible thought struck him. “Joe, you’re not thinking about not testifying are you?”
“I was but not anymore,” Joe quietly admitted.
“Good.” Glancing skyward he sent up silent thanks. He didn’t know what they would have done if Joe had refused to testify.
TBC...
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