Mystery Party
Chapter 12 - Brothers Reunited

Studio Twenty on the SBN lot was located on the far end of the lot. Large and cavernous in size, it had once been home to a children's scifi show that had long since run its course. Now it was full of props from assorted shows, and with the low lighting it made the whole place seem dark and oppressive.

Joe had paid particular attention when he and his dad were herded into the center of the building by David and the guard that had accompanied Sasha. In the center of the building was a large piece of iron scaffolding which almost spanned to the height of the studio's ceiling.

"Right, tie Mr. Hardy to the scaffolding," David ordered the guard as he pointed his gun at Joe. "I will take Joe with me."

"And what if I don't want to go?" Joe asked coolly.

As soon as Joe asked the question a series of gunshots sounded, echoing loudly throughout the studio. Turning, he saw that Sasha had walked into the studio with her rifle pointed towards the ceiling.

"You either do as my associate says," Sasha demanded, "or I will aim at your father next."

There were no openings Joe could see and as long as his dad was under guard, he had no choice in the matter. Reluctantly he stepped forward towards David. "Let's get this over with then."

Frank had parked one studio away from number twenty and slowly walked towards his target. In his hands, he clutched a DVD case.

Everything was prepared and in place, or at the least it would soon be. Now the rest of it was up to him.

The main sliding doors to studio twenty were slightly open, and in the doorway he could see Joe along with David behind him. When Frank was thirty feet away, David stopped him. "That's close enough, Frank."

Frank stopped. He held up the DVD case high so that David could see it and shouted. "I have what you are looking for, so why don't you come over here and get it?"

"I have a better idea," David countered. "I am going to send Joe over to get it from you and bring it back to me. No tricks now or your brother will get a bullet in his back."

Frank tensed as he watched David shove Joe forward. His brother stumbled but quickly recovered and walked over to him.

He asked in a low voice. "You okay? Where's dad?"

Joe nodded. "Dad's tied up in the middle of the studio. You have a plan I hope?"

"Hey, get back over here! We don't have all day!" David shouted.

Grinning, Frank pushed the DVD case into Joe's hands and spoke quickly. "The plan's simple - make sure he opens this case and then be prepared to move."

He watched as a wave of confusion passed over Joe's face until he finally looked at the DVD case again. Joe eyes widened, and then he returned the smile before heading back to David.

As Joe and David went back into studio, Frank quickly moved from his position. Phase one complete, now for phase two.

David prodded Joe back into the studio and over to the point where he was standing next to his father. Snatching the DVD case from Joe's hands, David carried his prize over to Sasha. The guard eyed stood only a few feet away, but glared at Joe wearily.

Due to the way he was tied up, Fenton was in a sitting position on the floor, his hands slightly above him tied tightly to one of the rungs on the scaffolding.

Joe moved in closer to his dad and whispered. "Frank's got a plan. There's a surprise in the DVD box."

"I'll match you one better," Fenton grinned as he matched his son's tone of voice. "I've been working on my bonds while Sasha and her guard were watching the exchange between you and Frank. I'm almost free."

Joe looked around carefully and noticed that David was still talking to Sasha and had not opened the case yet. "I'm going to go keep tabs on them. Things are going to move quick and fast."

"Be careful Joe," his father warned.

Frank checked his watch for the sixth time in as many minutes. It had nearly been ten minutes since David and Joe walked back in there, and he took the opportunity to sneak closer to the building.

All of his work and planning hinged upon the next few moments.

Suddenly he heard a single loud bang.

Gotcha.

Frank grabbed for a small walkie-talkie he had clipped to his belt and quickly spoke into it. "Phase two is a go."

"Roger," Martin Berringer's voice came in reply from the walkie-talkie. "Turning up the surrounding speakers."

Seconds later, sounds of sirens filled the air, along with various rough voices declaring themselves to be from law enforcement. Frank grinned. If he hadn't known that all of the noise was pre-recorded sound effects, he could have sworn that it all sounded like the real thing.

Turning his attention back to the building, he could now see plumes of smoke wafting out from the front of the building. Frank knew that the small smoke charge that he had packed in the DVD case wouldn't last for long, so he took off running towards the entrance.

One moment Joe had been watching David and Sasha talking, and then the next he saw David open the DVD case. He had to shield his eyes as a quick flash and smoke started to billow forth where they had been standing.

Joe smirked as he watched them get surrounded by the smoke.

That was also when he heard the guard shout and rush towards them with his rifle at the ready.

I'm getting tired of this.

Joe went low, rushing towards the guard. He wasn't as fast as he would have liked, for the guard was able to anticipate him and block his advance, shoving Joe roughly to the ground.

Dazed, Joe looked up as the guard advanced menacingly on him.

Suddenly, the noise of sirens and voices filled the air. The guard stopped and looked around wild eyed. However, before Joe could take advantage of the distraction, he saw that the guard stiffened unnaturally, then toppled forward to the ground in a heap. There behind him stood his father, and Joe couldn't help but grin. "That was perfect timing, dad."

His dad extended a hand and helped him to his feet. "We better get out of here before the others figure out those are just sound effects."

Joe listened to the sirens sounding and realized what his father had meant. "Those are canned sound effects. When Frank comes up with a plan he doesn't do anything halfway, does he?"

Frank made it to the entrance of the studio and peeked inside. The smoke had thinned out and David and Sasha were looking around wildly with their backs to him and their rifles at the ready. His plan had worked to the letter, but now he had to take advanatage of the moment without getting shot.

He advanced forward by staying flat against the door and slowly inching his way around and inside. So far everything was going well.

As he closed within mere feet of them, Sasha chose that moment to turn around.

Frank reacted quickly with a roundhouse kick that sent the rifle flying from her hands. Sasha howled in pain and rushed him but he was able to switch up and tackle her head on, forcing her to the ground. Frank then tried to pin her arms down, but instead found himself being lifted up and his arms being forced behind him painfully.

David's voice was loud and harsh against his ear. "You and your family have ruined everything!"

The sound effects that Martin had started were still blaring in the background, making it hard to think. Sasha was struggling to get to her feet, and Frank was beginning to think that he bit off more than he could chew.

Suddenly, a weight crashed into David and he released his hold on Frank. Whirling around, Frank saw that his father had been the one to take David down and had managed to knock him face down on the ground. He moved in to help when his father ordered, "I've got David. Get Sasha."

Nodding, Frank turned to find that Sasha had managed to get to her feet and started rushing to pick up her gun. He dove at her once again, managing to grab onto her legs and they both went down hard. She twisted in his grasp and tried to break free, groping for her gun that was mere inches away. Seconds later Joe joined him, grabbing for Sasha's arms and pinning them against the ground.

The siren sound effects they had heard were now joined with the sounds of real ones.

Fenton Hardy smiled wearily as he watched the FBI agents take away both of the Berringer brothers. It was amazing to think that in the course of a month they had come to Hollywood to investigate reports of cheating on a reality show and ended up busting a designer drug ring in the process.

Leaning against the side of the studio, he looked over at his sons who were standing beside him. "That was a good plan you had, Frank."

"I can't take all of the credit," Frank stated, "after I managed to calm Martin down, I asked for his help in distracting David and Sasha since I knew that the authorities wouldn't be able to get here in time for the deadline. We raided the special effects department and loaded up a DVD case with a miniature smoke grenade. It provided the initial distraction while Martin got to the sound effects board for this building to play a looped tape of sound effects of police sirens and authorities."

"Hopefully the FBI will go easy on him since he helped us, but I'm just glad that this is all over and-" Joe started to say before a familiar muffled ring tone interrupted him. He turned to his brother. "Frank, isn't that your phone?"

Frank's smile faded as the realization struck him. "I forgot to call Callie back!"

Joe laughed, "At this rate you're going to owe her a week's worth of dates."

Frank grimaced as he fished in his pocket for his cell phone. "Fine by me. If I never see another reality TV show again, it'll be too soon."

In the midst of the chaos and the flashing sirens, the cameraman on the scene for Entertainment Nightly News activated his feed and pointed at Bradley, signaling that they were on the air. Ever composed, Bradley chose to stand in front of a police car parked outside the studios and make his report.

"This is Bradley Watson for Entertainment Nightly News, coming to you once again from SBN studios. Tonight we have breaking news to report. According to sources at the scene, a major drug operation has been busted in true Hollywood style. Arrested was David Berringer, brother of Martin Berringer, who is the head of the studios. He is reportedly going to be put up on charges of drug trafficking and attempted murder along with Sasha Jensen, season one winner of SBN's hit show 'Mystery Party'. Martin Berringer is currently being held as a material witness. The FBI along with local police have refused to give any statements, but judging by the amount of FBI and police here at the scene, this is a situation that isn't going to go away anytime soon. There is also no word if 'Mystery Party' will ever resume production on their current season. Starleigh, back to you in the studio."

Ta-da! Sorry I took so long. Life happened and well- it went sorta downhill. I would like to thank my readers for seeing me through my second Hard Boys adventure, and if another idea rears its head, I will be back! Till then I will be around reading and enjoying some fic. Hope you enjoy it.