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The Divine Right of Kings	By : vinsmouse Category: G through L > Hardy Boys Series Views: 5915 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Chapter List
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Chapter 29
Phil Cohen watched with concern as the color drained from his friend’s face. Standing up he moved to Frank’s side, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, I’ll give you a ride home," he offered. The moment the announcement had been made he knew Frank would be going home.
Frank turned startled brown eyes his friend’s direction. "Huh?" His mind was racing with the possible ways to protect his brother from that animal. Alex Tomlinson would get near his little brother again over Frank’s dead body.
Phil sighed, not really surprised that Frank hadn’t heard him. "I said I’ll give you a ride home."
Frank stood up, "Thanks but I have my own…"
"Which you are in no shape to drive," Phil interrupted. Might as well take your car," Phil held out his hand for the keys.
Frank couldn’t argue the point. "What about you? How will you get back home?"
"I can always take a cab home." It was a relief when Frank handed the keys over without further argument. Leading the way down the stairs, he stopped off long enough to tell his mother he was giving Frank a ride home. They drove in silence to the Hardy family home, neither boy in the mood for small talk.
Frank stared out the window. He wanted to tell Phil to put the pedal to the floor, the hell with the speed limit. What did rule and law matter when his family, especially his brother, might be in danger? Would Tomlinson come after them if he was one of the escapees? It would make more sense to get as far away as he could as quickly as he could. Frank mentally scoffed.
The sensible thing to do when the SWAT team had them cornered, looked at with cold logic, would have been to use Joe as a human shield. Alex had instead used his own body to protect Joe from the onslaught of bullets. It would have been sensible to make a deal with the prosecutor or plead insanity but instead Tomlinson had opted for a trial. Running the moment he was out on bail would have been the choice of most criminals but not this one. Discrediting the witnesses during the trial would have been the next logical choice, yet Alex Tomlinson had stood up and changed his plea during Joe’s testimony. Nothing he had done made logical sense to Frank.
No, he couldn’t count on Tomlinson following the dictates of logic. The man was as likely to come after them again as he was to run. Frank had no doubt that if he did come after the Hardys again Joe would be his main target. The thing that frightened him the most was the uncertainty of what he might do should he get his hands on Joe again. He didn’t really believe that Wyndham had been the only one interested in the children in that way.
Relief washed over him as home came into view. Barely had the car stopped and he was throwing open the door. Forgetting all about Phil, he ran inside and up the stairs. He opened the door to his brother’s room without knocking. His knees nearly gave out on him at the sight of his brother lying on his bed.
Joe turned at the sound of the door opening. One look at his brother’s face and he knew the older boy had heard the news. "You heard?" he nevertheless asked.
"Yeah," Frank confirmed. Stepping into the room he sat beside Joe. "You okay?"
Joe nodded. He wasn’t, was consumed by worry for Alex but he knew he couldn’t tell his brother that.
"He isn’t going to get near you again, I promise little brother."
Joe smiled sadly. He wasn’t surprised that Frank would think he was scared of that possibility. Most people would be, but Joe knew Alex was too smart to come near him, that was if he had survived the crash. "Has there been any more news?" He had turned the radio off, afraid of what he might hear.
"I don’t know what you know," it was half statement, half question.
"I know the prison bus crashed and most of the people on it died. I know that three might have escaped and that Alex might be one of them. That’s all I know."
Frank nodded. "That’s all I’ve heard too. Do Mom and Dad know?"
"Dad does, Collig called him. I guess he would have told Mom."
"Probably," Frank agreed.
"Frank?" Phil called.
Frank slapped himself on the forehead, he’d forgotten all about Phil. "In here." A few seconds later Phil appeared in the doorway of Joe’s room. "Sorry about that," Frank sheepishly apologized.
Phil waved the apology aside. "I would have done the same thing if it was my brother, well if I had a brother." He hovered uncertainly in the doorway.
"Come on in Phil," Joe invited.
Phil sat in the desk chair, tossing Frank’s keys to him. "Thought you might want these back."
At Joe’s questioning look Frank explained. "Phil drove me home."
"Why did he do that?" Joe didn’t think he’d let anybody else drive his car once he had his license.
Frank mumbled response was impossible to understand.
Joe turned to Phil, asking him the same question.
"He was kind of upset about the news, I didn’t think he should drive," Phil matter-of-factly explained.
"Oh," Joe felt stupid; he should have realized that for himself.
"Yeah Phil’s turning into an old fuddy-duddy little brother." Frank knew what his brother was thinking as clearly as if it had been written on his forehead. He knew telling Joe that he wasn’t stupid would be wasted breath at the moment, leaving him the option of lightening the mood. He only hoped Phil would understand and forgive him for doing so at his expense.
"Somebody has to look out for you foolish kids," Phil teased.
With that one sentence Frank knew his friend understood what he was trying to do. Phil might not know Joe well enough to read him, but he knew the older Hardy boy, reading him in much the same way Frank read his brother.
Joe chuckled. "Thanks Phil," he said when the laughter ended.
"Not a problem Joe."
Phil stayed a while longer, talking with his friends. As often happens when worried many bad jokes were exchanged, distracting them momentarily from the worry and fear. Phil had promised his mother he wouldn’t stay long and finally he stood to say his goodbyes.
Feeling calmer now that he knew Joe was safe; Frank offered to drive him back home.
Joe said goodbye, waiting for the front door to close before moving to the computer. He had enjoyed the time with his brother and Phil but the anxious feeling had never fully left him. It had been a relief when both boys left, finally giving him the chance to check for any messages from Alex. He was disappointed to see that there were no new messages from the man. There were a few from his friends, Chet, Biff, Tony and a couple of others. Half-heartedly he opened each in turn, writing a short response. It seemed each had heard the news of the crash and were concerned about him. Joe appreciated their concern, he really did, but he couldn’t help wishing that there had been a message from Alex instead.
Joe spent the rest of the day and evening periodically checking his email, hoping and praying for word from Alex. The inbox remained stubbornly bereft of messages from the one person he wanted to hear from. At precisely 9:16 that night Joe’s prayers came to a screeching halt. A knock on his door admitted his father to the room with news.
"Joe I just received a call from Chief Collig," Fenton said from the doorway.
"Did they catch Alex?" Please God let that be it. Joe didn’t want the man to go to prison but at least he’d be alive.
"No son," Fenton shook his head. He ignored, for now, that Joe still called the man by his first name. "Tomlinson wasn’t one of the escapees."
Joe paled. "Are they sure?"
Fenton stepped into the room, taking a seat next to his son. "Yes son, they identified him by dental records." Laying a hand on Joe’s shoulder he waited for the boy to look at him. "I thought you would be relieved that he won’t be coming after you."
"Relieved? He saved me Dad and now he’s de…if I hadn’t testified he’d be alive." Joe curled in on himself the guilt and misery overwhelming him in that instant.
"Joe," Fenton gasped, shocked by his son’s thoughts. "This is in no way your fault son. No wait," he interrupted the protest before it could be voiced. "even if you hadn’t testified your mother, brother and Phil would have. Alex Tomlinson was going to prison no matter what."
"Maybe, but if I hadn’t testified the trial would still be happening. He wouldn’t have been on that bus," Joe pointed out.
"You pick the damndest times to get logical son," Fenton said, too surprised to edit himself. "Alright, say you’re right, that doesn’t mean he’d be alive. Maybe it was just his time."
Joe shrugged.
Clearly the teen wasn’t convinced. "Look at it this way then son. If Alex had gone to prison he wouldn’t have been treated well by the other inmates. They don’t like men who prey on children," Fenton truthfully observed. "Dying in that crash might have been a kindness to him in the end." It was a kindness the detective believed was undeserved but if thinking of it that way soothed his son’s unwarranted guilt then he would accept it.
"Can I be alone?" Joe whispered.
"Yes, but you come get me or your mother if you need us. No matter how late it is."
"I will," Joe promised though he had no intention of doing so. What would be the point when they couldn’t understand how he felt?
Reluctantly Fenton stood up, leaving his son to his thoughts.
TBC...
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The Divine Right of Kings