Hardys Inn Danger by Ann ♥♪HB♪♥ – Chapter Two – Joe

HARDYS INN DANGER by Ann

CHAPTER TWO

JOE

   I’d been awake only a short time and had just come back from the bathroom when I’d noticed my phone wasn’t on my nightstand. So I’d started looking around for it, but no phone. Where could it be?

   After a fast, but pretty thorough, search of my room I had the feeling it wasn’t in there. A glance at the clock, although normally I’d just check my phone, and I knew everyone else would be awake by now. So I broadcasted the news by yelling, “I can’t find my phone!”

   I distinctly remembered placing it on my nightstand before going to sleep. I had just talked with the girl who holds Joe Hardy’s heart. Who of course is, as anyone who knows the blond-haired Hardy brother knows, the beautiful and smart Iola Morton.

   Running a hand through my hair, I looked around again. No phone.

   “Might need a comb.” My father stood in the doorway, looking amused. Instead of his usual clothes, he wore the style of 1927, which is when the Duesenberg we were going to the show in was built.

   “Dad! My phone’s gone – I know I put it here before going to sleep.” I pointed exactly where the phone had been and looked at my dad expectantly like he could immediately fix this. He stepped in my room and gave a quick look around.

   I almost thought he had figured out the answer from the expression on his face for a moment. Then he suggested, “Let’s go eat breakfast and talk over the case.”

   That sounded good, because I was really hungry, but I didn’t really want to stop in the middle of searching for something. It wasn’t so much the phone, although I really like it, it was the not being able to find it.

   “Detectives need nourishment,” Dad said, putting his arm around my shoulders and guiding me toward the door.

   I nodded in agreement and glanced around my room again as we left. The smells of breakfast made both Dad and me pick up our pace. Once in the kitchen, both of our stomachs were competing to have the loudest growls.

   After giving Mom and Aunt Trudy each a kiss, I smacked my brother affectionately on the shoulder.

   “You and Dad are going to be too warm today in those clothes,” I said as I was handed a plate of mouth-watering waffles. I interrupted my comment to tell Mom and Aunt Trudy, “Thanks, they look awesome.” With a glance at Frank, who was grinning, then over at Dad, who was busy greeting Mom, I continued, “I think the rest of us are going like this.”

   Frank laughed before excusing himself and leaving for a couple of minutes.

   Aunt Trudy sniffed, sitting down at the table, looking at my attire. “You are not going to show up at the fancy car and air show in shorts and a T-shirt.”

   “But they’re comfortable!” I was just kidding Aunt Trudy, because, although I don’t like getting dressed up, I thought it was kinda neat to wear clothes from 1927, for a short time. By this afternoon, I’ll be really missing my regular shirt and jeans.

   Aunt Trudy raised an eyebrow. “So what was all that yelling about earlier, Joseph?”

   “Can’t find my phone. And I know exactly where it had been.” Stuffing a huge bite of waffles in my mouth, I stood up and went over to our landline phone, which we have for backup. Didn’t hurt to have it in case of an outage. I called my phone and listened for my ringtone to find out if it was anywhere nearby.

   “Someone’s awake now,” my dad said with a grin. He was sitting down now and eating after the usual extended greeting to my mom. And it hadn’t been that long since he’d seen her. Frank and I know we’re really blessed to have parents who love each other. We think it’s cool.

   “Hmmm,” I said returning to my seat after waiting for the sound of my ringtone. “Thought that would do it.”

   “Where could it be?” Mom asked. “It has to be somewhere.”

   “Yeah.” It was strange. I just know I put it on my nightstand before I went to sleep. My brother had gotten back so I asked, “Can I borrow your phone for a sec, Frank?”

   “Sure.” My brother handed me his phone and I went to the GPS app we have for our phones. In a few seconds, I was staring at the screen in puzzlement. According to this, it was….in my room.

   “What is it?” Frank asked.

   I got up from the table without answering and went up to my room. Not sure whether or not the phone would be on my nightstand, my eyes widened as soon as I stepped into the doorway. Going over by my bed, I picked up the phone and looked at it. The ringtone volume was down all the way. So that’s why I hadn’t heard it. This was a well-calculated prank.

   And I had a main suspect. Frank had disappeared for a few minutes during breakfast. That gave him opportunity to put the phone back exactly where it had been. Impressive. I’ll have to return the prank.

   Let’s see. Don’t have much time now. Might have to wait. I went back down to finish breakfast and my family looked at me expectantly.

   “Yeah, found it. No big deal,” I said nonchalantly.

   I sensed my parents exchanging a look. Aunt Trudy spoke up, “Well, after all of that, where was it?”

   Aunt Trudy was maybe a suspect as well, I decided. “Exactly where I thought it would be.”

   “We better get a move on,” Dad said after he finished eating. “I’m going to go check out the Duesenberg. Again.”

   I planned on hurrying in getting dressed so I could be ready and go look in our garage at one of the coolest cars ever built. The Duesenberg brothers, Frederick and August, first were into racing bicycles then race cars. They also made aviation and marine engines for America during World War I in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Duesenberg, sometimes called a Doozy, was the first American car to win the French Grand Prix. In 1924, they had the first American supercharger and won the Indy 500. The brothers decided to make a vehicle for regular transportation. Their headquarters were in New York City.

   Since there weren’t that many built, it’s a rare car. The Doozy in our garage is worth over 2 million dollars. That’s a great responsibility.

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