I wrote this a couple of years ago and am dedicating the posting of it here to Red Hardy. You are a good friend. Please, let me know what you think.

Spider's Web

Chapter 1

October 30 –

Eighteen-year old Frank Hardy was doubled over in stitches as he watched the antics of his younger brother, Joe. About as alike as chalk and cheese, the elder brother was the more serious minded, dark haired one, while the younger was blond with blue eyes, and if he was known for anything, it was not being serious about anything!

And right now the younger boy was jumping all around the attic, hopping and howling, and while Frank was trying to help him it was a task made difficult because of his brother's perpetual motion.

"It's just a spider," Frank finally managed to get out between hoots of laughter.

Joe paused long enough to actually glare at him before he continued his mad frenzy of trying to pull off anything that might even remotely resemble a spider.

Frank finally pulled himself together and took some pity on his brother. "Here let me help…would you stop jumping around… JOE! Stop!" He grabbed his brother and forcibly managed to stop him before he passed out or something.

"There is no spider on you anywhere!" Frank announced after doing a quick appraisal of his brother's body. "It's gone."

"Are you sure?" Joe sounded so pitiful Frank actually regretted laughing at him earlier but he couldn't help it. At six feet tall, the muscular youth should not have been afraid of a small black spider, even if it did drop on him.

Smiling sympathetically, Frank nodded, "Yeah it's gone, now come on, let's go downstairs and grab some hot cider." Frank inhaled sharply. "I think Mom just finished making some."

In truth he was feeling badly about laughing at his brother as he could now see just how upset Joe was. Close by nature, they were not the kind of brothers who took each others' concerns…or in this case, fears…lightly.

However, Joe's reaction to that spider had been uncalled for.

The boys had been in the attic looking for the five-foot tall inflatable Frankenstein's monster that graced their front lawn every Halloween when the spider had dropped on Joe.

Shaking his head, Frank followed his younger brother out of the attic. "Hey did you get the van fixed yet?"

"Not yet," Joe said and then before Frank could start up the same protest he had been making since yesterday when the brothers had finished wrapping up their latest case with a disabled van, the blond boy continued, "But I'll have it fixed by tomorrow night. I promise!"

Frank snorted. "You'd better kiddo, or else your ass is grass and I'm the lawn mower!"

Joe's laughter reverberated throughout the house. "Relax old man, before you have a heart attack. Your irresistible younger brother has it all under control!"

But 24 hours later, Frank wasn't convinced…at all.

* * *

October 31 -

"I'm going to kill him," Frank chanted, "yup, nice and slow…painful and inhumane…but he is dead…as a doorknob…. Stiff as a board….Until there's not a jig in him! Dead man walking!"

Frank had never been so furious with Joe before in his entire life.

Normally logical with a slow burning fuse, right now he just wanted to choke the living daylights out of his 'irresistible' younger brother.

At 17, Joe's 'devil-may-care' attitude had Frank wondering how in the world he and Joe had ever been able to solve any mysteries at all – hell, how in the world had Joe ever learned to walk? That took effort! Frank was incensed.

Muttering angrily, he kicked the front tire on the dark modified van the boys shared. Right now the van was useless. The brakes were gone and there was no way he could drive it.

The younger boy, self-proclaimed family mechanic, was supposed to repair the brake line, which had been tampered with on their last case, but had kept putting it off. And at this exact moment the vehicle was still out of commission.

"Joe, I need the van tonight," Frank had reminded him first thing. "I promised Callie I'd hang out at her house to help give out the Halloween treats…and you know that!"

"No problemo, big bro," Joe had said as he quickly changed into a sweat shirt to go for his morning jog. "I'll get to it as soon as I get back."

"You've been saying that for two days now," Frank reminded him as he followed Joe downstairs and watched him put on his running shoes, "and I'm getting tired of always having to borrow Mom's car!"

Joe straightened up and said seriously, although Frank wondered how he could be serious with that ever-present twinkle in his eye, "Relax Frank, I just got the parts I needed last night. These guys really slashed up the valves good, and Gary 's had to order in what I needed. So don't worry…have I ever let you down?"

And then Joe was out the front door before Frank could answer him.

And now, 12 hours later, Frank was wondering just where his little brother was…so he could throttle the living daylights out of him.

Shortly after Joe left for his run, Frank had borrowed their mother's car to help his long time friend, Chet Morton, set up the barn for a Halloween party. The Mortons were dairy farmers and Chet's dad let them use one of the older barns for parties like the one they had planned for the night. Frank and Callie were going there after the trick-or-treaters had finished.

Joe normally helped out, but had already been warned by Frank that he was not to show his face until AFTER the van was fixed. Joe didn't show at all…and by the time Frank got home after supper, he was furious.

His mom had to go to work and she needed her car, which left him without a vehicle.

"Mom did Joe even look at the van at all today?" he grumped as he sat down heavily in a kitchen chair.

His mother, blond haired like her younger son, smiled in sympathy. "I don't know honey. I haven't been home all day. Georgia picked me up after breakfast and we drove into the city to do some shopping. It's her and Ross's 20th wedding anniversary on Sunday."

"Wow," Frank said, impressed. Ross and Georgia Hooper were the parents of Joe's best friend, Biff, and he hadn't realized that their anniversary was so soon.

"Yeah, wow," his mother smiled as she finished packing a lunch to take with her, "so I haven't seen Joe at all."

"I wonder where he is then?" Frank mused out loud, and his mother shrugged.

"I don't know, honey. Did you check his room? You know how he likes to put on those earphones and tune us out."

"I already looked," Frank said with a small frown, and then he sighed loudly, "more like he saw me coming back and took off to Biff's or something."

Laura Hardy laughed, "Yeah that's another possibility. Your Dad is on his way home and should be here in about a half an hour. I'm sure you can use his car to go to Callie's."

Frank nodded. His father, famous private investigator Fenton Hardy, had been out of town for a week but had promised to be back in time for Halloween. He loved answering the door and usually dressed up for the occasion.

"Probably," Frank said, feeling very disappointed in his younger brother. Joe usually came through in a pinch. "I just don't understand why he didn't do it when he got home. He promised me he would."

Laura leaned over and kissed her oldest on the forehead. "I know, sweetie. But who knows what happened this time. You know your brother, there's always a good excuse."

Frank scowled. "Oh great. So maybe he's gone and got himself kidnapped or something. Wonderful, something else to worry about!"

Laura laughed, "I don't mean that kind of excuse, Frank! Anyway, have a great time tonight and do me a favor though?"

"What?" Frank asked, half distracted with thoughts of what he was going to do to Joe when he found him.

"When you do see your brother…try and keep him in one piece, okay? I've gotten kind of used to having him around." it was as if his mother could read his thoughts, and he stared at her open-mouthed as she laughed and finished, the sound of the door closing punctuating her comment, "And no, I don't read minds!"

* * *

Frank waited another ten minutes before deciding to call Biff's and tell Joe to get his butt home. He was positive that that was where his brother was. Whenever Joe needed to escape, he went to Biff's. At 6'2", Biff was a powerhouse, and Joe figured if anyone could protect him from Frank, it would be Biff.

Not that he ever needed protecting from his big brother, but Joe liked to tease Frank about it, usually while hiding behind Biff.

Picking up the phone, he was interrupted when he heard the sound of a car horn honking outside the house. Replacing the phone on the hook, Frank looked out and saw his girlfriend, Callie Shaw's, silver Porsche in the driveway.

"Hey tall, dark and handsome," she called out to him when he opened the door, "Need a lift?"

Grinning, Frank grabbed his jacket and trotted down the driveway towards her. Giving her a quick kiss, he waited until she slid over into the passenger seat and then he got in and backed out of the driveway. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, a little bird might have whispered in my ear that one certain van of one certain boyfriend of mine was still out of order," she said coyly.

Frank grinned. "Iola?"

"Wow, you are a good detective," the blond-haired, green-eyed girl teased.

Iola Morton was Chet Morton's younger sister, and had her heart firmly planted on Joe. Who, to her more recent delight and discovery, felt the same for her.

Their friends thought it was cute the way the couple was together…it was so sweet. Who would have ever thought Joe Hardy would be shy in any way?

"So why didn't Joe fix your van?" Callie asked as they headed across town to her place.

Frank let out a frustrated sigh. "I have no idea. But after I finish torturing him tonight, I might just ask him! Do you think Chet will have any boiling oil around?"

Callie laughed, amused to see her boyfriend upset at anything, especially his brother. "Whatever, Frank. Maybe he'll let you hook Joe up to one of those automatic milking machines and you can suck the truth out of him!"

Frank burst out laughing. "Thanks Callie, I just got a visual on that!"

And 15 minutes later when they pulled up in front of her family's large home, they were still chuckling over it.

Following Callie up the stairs and into the main foyer, Frank resolved that he was not going to give it one more thought. Joe was not going to ruin his evening! He'd deal with his younger brother tomorrow.

So help me God, he decided as he took off his jacket, if I have to stand over you while you work, you are going to fix those brakes tomorrow!

* * *

The next two hours went great. Callie and Frank took turns answering the doors and giving out treats to the numerous trick-or-treaters that went by.

It was almost 9:30 before the kids started to taper off and they decided it might be a good time to head over to Chet's.

Just as Frank was getting ready to open the door, the doorbell rang again.

Opening it, he smiled at this solitary trick-or-treater standing in front of him.

"Trick or treat," a deadpan voice said, and as Frank reached around to get something out of the treat pan an eerie feeling came over him.

Turning back, he glanced into the face of this newest trick-or-treater, and hesitated briefly before putting the candy in the plastic bag that he was holding out to him.

"Do I know you?" he asked the kid. There was something about him that sent cold shivers up and down Frank's spine but he couldn't place it.

The kid stared emotionlessly at him but didn't say anything. After an awkward moment the sound of a horn honking made the kid turn around and slowly, as if each step was a difficult task, he headed towards a brown older model Pontiac .

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Callie asked, coming up behind him and seeing the strange look on Frank's face.

"I…don't…know," Frank said slowly. He couldn't place his finger on it but there was just something eerie about that kid.

"He's kind of old to be going trick or treating isn't he?" Callie commented as she saw the kid get into the car and pull away from the front of her house.

"Maybe," Frank mused. This kid looked to be about 16 or 17 but it was hard to tell because of the makeup he was wearing. Shaking off the feeling, he smiled at Callie. "I don't know if you ever get too old. Joe would still go out if he thought no one would find out about it."

"True," Callie agreed, thinking of her boyfriend's brother, "but at least Joe would have thought up a better costume. Zombies are so overdone."

Frank laughed. "Come on, grab your coat. I still have a younger brother to boil in oil…or did we change that to something else?"

"The iron maiden I think," Callie joked as she tossed her car keys to Frank and then followed him out.

* * *

Don't panic…don't panic…don't panic…. Joe repeated the mantra over and over in his mind.

His eyes were squeezed shut. He did not need to open them to figure out where he was.

He knew exactly where.

But as he felt the prickly sensation of legs crawling up his arm, he changed his mantra just a bit…

Don't panic…don't' scream…don't panic…don't scream.…

* * *

Frank was starting to get worried.

He had expected to see Joe at Chet's place when he got there, but not only did he not see his younger brother, anywhere, Biff Hooper came over to him and asked him where Joe was.

"What do you mean "where is Joe?'", he asked sharply, "I thought he was hiding out at your house!"

"No," the muscular youth denied, "I haven't spoken to Joe all day….Didn't he fix the brakes on your van yet?" Biff added as he thought about Frank's choice of words….hiding out at your house….

"No," Frank said as he chewed his lip thoughtfully, "I haven't seen or spoken to Joe since he left to go for his run this morning."

"That's strange," Biff mused, "the last thing he said to me last night was that he was going to be fixing the van today and that he'd see me tonight at the party."

Frank's worry increased. "Excuse me guys, okay? I'm going to call home and see if Dad's seen him tonight."

He was hoping so, but the growing knot in his stomach wasn't so sure. Frank had a sick feeling that something bad was going down. And his brother was somehow in the thick of it.

* * *

"I'm sorry son", Fenton Hardy said as soon as Frank asked him about Joe, "I haven't seen hide nor hair of your brother. Is something wrong?"

"Yes….No…maybe." Frank went on to explain everything that happened, and then waited with growing alarm to the silence on the other end of the phone as his father didn't say anything for a few moments.

"I don't like the sounds of this, Frank. Your brother might be impulsive and sometimes a bit lenient with his definitions of priority, but this isn't anything like him at all. Okay, let's start with the obvious. Hold on a sec and I'll see if I can at least confirm that he got back from his run."

As he heard his father put down the phone, Frank swallowed back the lump in his throat – Joe might not only be missing. But he might have been missing all day!

A few minutes later he heard his father's voice and his heart sank with each word.

"Frank I'm going to have Chief Collig put out a Missing Persons on your brother. To be honest, son, I don't think he came back from his run. Or if he did, it was only for a short time. His running shoes are not here; there are no dirty sweats in the hamper or in his room; and there is no sign of him having taken a shower when he got home."

"Okay," Frank said, "What do you want me to do?"

"I'm turning off the lights here to let the trick-or-treaters know we are out of business, and then I'll take a drive down to the beach to see if I can at least find anyone who might have seen him." Joe's usual running route took him to the beach and then back. "I'll have Collig send out patrols. If you and any of your friends are willing, you can come back in town and check out the arcade, Mr. Pizza's and anywhere else you can think of that he might have gone, or that someone might remember seeing him."

"Okay Dad," Frank said, fighting back the wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Joe was missing. All day while he was getting more and more upset at him…Joe was in some sort of trouble.

His father, as if sensing what he was thinking, added, "Don't worry Frank, we'll find him."

Hanging up the phone, Frank went back out to the barn, and within minutes, all the party-goers were fanning out in their vehicles to try and find Joe or anyone who might have seen him at all today.

* * *

Frank please find me…Frank please find me….

As a bead of perspiration rolled down his face, Joe felt the little legs on his chest…. oh dear god….Frank please find me….

* * *

Frank pulled the Porsche over to the side of the road, got out, and sat down, putting his head in his hands. He had just been overcome with the most horrible feeling of fear he had ever felt.

And the worst of it was, he knew it wasn't something he was feeling. It had to be coming from Joe.

It was weird and he could never explain it, but it had overwhelmed him with such an intensity that he had to pull over to calm down.

Where are you, kiddo? he thought, as he regained control over his feelings. Where the hell are you?

He had spent the last couple of hours looking for his brother and coming up with nothing. In fact, no one could find out anything. It was as if Joe had just vanished into thin air. And Frank was frustrated to no end.

Over and over he berated himself for the anger and nasty thoughts he had harbored all day towards his brother. He should have known Joe would not have let him down.

Yes, his younger brother was many…many…things, but the one thing that he was above everything else, was reliable. Just in his own way.

And if Joe promised to fix the van today, like he had, then he would have. Unless something had happened to physically prevent him.…Which of course it had.

He had disappeared.

"I should have known earlier," Frank muttered as he got up and opened the car door again, "and I should have been looking for Joe instead of answering the door for oversized trick-or-treaters…" and then Frank froze as an image flashed back in his mind.

That last trick-or-treater…that one that had seemed so eerie.…

Eerie yet familiar….

What was it about him that seemed so familiar? If Frank could figure it out then maybe he might be able to figure out why that kid sent cold shivers down his spine, even now, hours later just by thinking about him.

Think Hardy, think, he said to himself as he sat behind the wheel and mentally ran through everything he could remember about the kid. His clothes, his makeup, the way he spoke, his eyes….Frank froze….his eyes.

Oh my God…his eyes!

It was impossible, Frank knew it; it wasn't logical. Frank knew that too.

But when he had looked at that kid… and into that kid's face, he would swear on his mother's life that it was Joe's vibrant blue eyes that were staring back at him.

But it was impossible….Wasn't it?

That kid wasn't Joe…it was impossible.

* * *

It bit him.

Joe screamed.

TBC