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The Divine Right of Kings	By : vinsmouse Category: G through L > Hardy Boys Series Views: 5917 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Chapter List
- 6
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- 8
Chapter 7

The next several hours were filled with tension for those inside the house as well as the waiting officers. After studying the layout of the neighborhood and consulting with Sam Radley the commander of the swat team had a solid plan in place. Just in case the initial plan failed they would also set up roadblocks at either end of a four block section of Elm Street, as well as on any side streets. If the men escaped from the house with or without the boy they wouldn’t escape the neighborhood. When Radley had reported what he’d heard every man on the swat team swore they wouldn’t let them escape with their hostage. All they could do now was wait; the one thing that was always the hardest part of any operation.

“Radley,” Lieutenant Jameson, commander of the SWAT unit called over the radio.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on in there?” The more time passed the more concerned he became for the hostages. He was particularly concerned for the youngest, given what had already been said. If they were even remotely connected with human trafficking there was no telling what sort of deprivations the child could have inflicted on him.

“Nothing as far as I can tell.” Sam replied.

“They haven’t said anything or nothing important?” Jameson asked for clarification.

“Nothing important, just small talk. The only thing that worries me is the attention one of them is giving Joe.”

“What kind of attention?”

“He’s not really saying or doing anything too alarming he just seems a little too solicitous of the boy’s feelings. Keeps reassuring him that he won’t be hurt again. I haven’t heard the other one say much nor any of the other hostages.”

“You have heard the other hostages though?” For all they knew the men could have killed everybody with the exception of the youngest.

“Yeah I’ve heard them, whispering support to each other…wait a minute.” Turning his attention back to the house, Sam listened carefully. His face drained of color with the man’s first words.

“You watch them Red, I’m going to take Joey upstairs.”

Red smirked. “Sure man, have fun.”

Alex felt the boy shuddered under his hand. “Get your mind out of the gutter. He needs some real clothes for the trip.” Leaning closer to Joe, he whispered in his ear. “I told you pet, you won’t be hurt again.”

“I know sir,” Joe quietly responded.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Red mumbled.

On the other side of the room, Laura and the boys sighed in relief. They too had thought the man was taking Joe upstairs for a completely different reason. There was no relief, however, at the thought of these men taking Joe with them.

Outside Sam closed his eyes, sending up a silent prayer of thanks as the conversation played out. Picking up the radio he keyed the mic. “They’re getting ready to make their move.”

“Roger,” Jameson acknowledged. Turning to his men he ordered them into place. Two would wait beside the garage while two would hide in the shrubbery next to the porch. When the men with their hostage reached the drive his men would confront them. He thanked God that the Hardy’s didn’t have an entrance from the garage to the house. That would have made his job a hell of a lot harder. Radley would alert them when the men headed for the door.

Sam listened as the man told Joe to put on some clothes. He was surprised the man wasn’t trying anything with the boy. Bastard was probably just waiting until they were away from the house, though why he was bothering Sam didn’t know. He was just grateful that he was as they had no intention of allowing these men to escape, especially with Joe. When he heard Joe and his captor head downstairs he radioed his intention to get into position.

“Please don’t take my son,” Laura pleaded with the two men as Red searched her purse for her car keys.

“Shut up woman,” Alex snapped. “You’ll get him back safe and in one piece as long as you do as you’re told. We have contacts so we’ll know if you call the police or feds. It’s up to you what happens to Joey,” he reminded her.

Laura nodded. She was afraid that if she spoke again Joe would suffer but she couldn’t let him leave without saying anything. “I love you baby, you’ll be back home soon.”

Joe wanted to believe her but at this point he didn’t know what to believe. He was very afraid that when he walked out the door with Alex and Red he would never return. Taking one last look at Frank he hoped he would see his brother again. Not sure if he was allowed to talk he simply nodded, acknowledging her words as his eyes spoke to his brother of both love and fear.

On the back porch Sam listened, using the parabolic mic, waiting for the closing of the front door. The moment he heard it click he discarded the mic and inserted his spare key into the lock on the back door.

Frank shuddered. The fear he’d seen in Joe’s eyes chilled him to the bone. He was terrified it would be the last look he ever had of his brother. A noise from the kitchen drew his attention a moment after the men left the house with Joe. Turning towards the dining room he saw Sam Radley moving into the room, gun in hand.

Holding a finger to his lips, Sam signaled for them to remain quiet. Moving stealthily he made his way to them.

“Joe?” Laura whispered.

“SWAT is outside, they’ll keep him safe,” Sam replied. Pulling a knife from his pocket he quickly cut the ropes holding them in place.

Outside the SWAT team was on the move. The two men had just stepped onto the driveway, the brunette holding Joe Hardy by the arm when four men stepped from hiding, guns brought to bear.

“Shit,” Red swore. “What do we do now?” he asked Alex, this had never happened before.

Alex wasn’t listening though, his focus was on the boy he now held in front of him. “I won’t let them hurt you pet,” he promised in a low voice. “I want you to drop to the ground when I say now, understand?”

Joe nodded. “What about you?”

Alex smiled, nearly laughing when he saw how nervous it made the cops surrounding them. “Don’t worry about me pet. I don’t plan to die today.” Watching his partner from the corner of his eye he could see Red gearing up for a shoot out. Fool, he thought contemptuously. “Now,” he ordered Joe. As the boy fell to the drive he followed him down, covering his body with his own as he tossed his gun into the grass.

The silence of the night shattered with a volley of gunshots as Red’s nerves snapped. Alex felt Joe flinching beneath him, in the distance he thought he heard a woman screaming. In less than a minute the gunshots stopped, leaving Red lying on the pavement his lifeblood staining the concrete beneath him. Alex felt a hand on his arm, pulling him to his feet.

He was vaguely aware of somebody reading him his rights as they led him to a patrol unit. He watched as a paramedic began to check the boy, assessing his injuries and preparing him for a trip to the hospital. From the corner of his eye he saw movement. Turning his head, Alex saw Joe’s family run from the house, a man he hadn’t seen before accompanied them.

“Let me go Sam,” Laura cried, struggling against the man holding her back from her son.

“You need to let them work Laura.”

“Joe,” Frank whispered. There was so much blood on the drive way, surely nobody could survive losing so much. He nearly collapsed with relief when he heard Con Riley’s voice saying it wasn’t Joe’s blood. Only his friend’s hand on his arm kept him on his feet. But if it wasn’t Joe’s blood then why wasn’t his brother moving? He heard somebody saying something about shock and then they were placing Joe on a stretcher, taking him towards an ambulance now parked in front of the house.

“Come on Frank,” Laura said, taking his hand.

“Mom?”

“Sam’s going to give us a ride to the hospital,” she explained.

Frank nodded, “Okay.”

“You come along too Phil,” Laura said.

Phil looked uncertain. “I should call my mom.”

“She’ll meet us at the hospital. You should all be checked out,” Sam interjected. He knew that Collig would let Mrs. Cohen know where Phil was and that he didn’t seem to be hurt.

“They didn’t touch us,” Frank bitterly informed his dad’s partner. It had been torture, forced to watch as his little brother was hurt. The worst, by far, had been when Red had taken him into the kitchen. They could hear Joe crying out in fear and pain, begging the man to stop. Frank had actually been relieved to see the other man come back downstairs. Unable to do anything for his brother his only hope had been with Blue Eyes, crazy as that sounded. As they headed to Sam’s car Frank noticed the red hair of the man on the pavement, he stopped. So the bastard was dead, good, he savagely thought as he glared at the body in their drive.

Laura stopped, turning towards her eldest as he stopped, staring towards the drive. She shuddered as she remembered what this man had done. She only hoped the cuts they’d seen had been the extent of the harm he had visited upon her youngest. Reaching for Frank’s hand she flinched when he jerked away from her. The glare he turned her way wasn’t as severe as that which he’d pointed at the man in the drive, but it wasn’t by much. “Frank?”

“We need to get to the hospital,” Frank responded with a frostiness he’d never directed at his mother.

Phil had heard that tone before. It was a tone Frank reserved for those who had hurt Joe. That it was aimed at his mother spoke volumes about the damage this day had done to the Hardy family. As they climbed into Sam’s car, he and Frank in the back, he wondered just how far reaching that damage would prove to be.

TBC...

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The Divine Right of Kings