J.M.J.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and for following and/or favoriting! Thank you especially to max2013, EvergreenDreamweaver, Cherylann Rivers, DusktoDawn21, and sm2003495 for your reviews on the Prologue!

Chapter I

Thanksgiving

November 24 – Rome

Callie Hardy opened the oven door and took a long, deep breath of the aroma that wafted out of it. "Mmm. That smells pretty good, if I do say so myself."

Her husband, Frank, grinned at her as he paused in his task of mashing potatoes. "It smells heavenly. A little bit like home."

"I still can't believe we had to special order a turkey." Callie shook her head. "It's so weird thinking about how easy it is to get them back home."

"A little homesick?" Frank asked.

"Well, this is the first Thanksgiving I've spent without my parents," Callie said. "It's such a family holiday, it feels weird just being the two of us."

"I could get used to it just being the two of us." Frank winked, but then he added, "I have to admit, I'm feeling a little homesick here. It would help if they at least celebrated Thanksgiving here."

Callie closed the oven. "Frank, are you changing your mind?"

"About staying? No. It'll be nice to have a few weeks at home over Christmas to see everybody, but I like the idea of staying in Rome for another year. I mean, it's not everyday you get an opportunity to live abroad for this long, and if Dad is finding it handy to have a connection in Europe, I'm happy to oblige. Besides, after you finish school, we can actually have some time for each other in this city. I wouldn't want to pass up that opportunity."

Callie closed her eyes and sighed happily. "I could get used to it. I wouldn't mind if this part of our lives went on forever."

"Same here." Frank set down the utensils he was using and wiped his hands. He went to his wife and put his arms around her. "You know the best thing about being here?"

"What?"

"I don't have to share you with the Black Friday sales."

Callie burst into laughter at the ridiculous contrast between the comment and what she had been expecting. "Oh, come on. You don't really mind me getting some bargains," she teased in return.

"I do when it means I don't get to spend as much time with you." Frank grinned back at her.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that this year."

They leaned forward and kissed one another, each thinking about how perfect these first ten months of their marriage had been. Callie was finishing out her degree in art at the San Luca Insituto delle Belle Arti in Rome where she had a scholarship, and so Frank had come with her after they had been married in January. They had found a small, overpriced flat, but it was their first home together and they loved it anyway. Frank was still able to work for his dad, as Fenton Hardy often took cases that had international aspects to it. It had meant that Frank had had to travel into several other countries in Europe without Callie, who had far too heavy a class load for traveling to be feasible. Nevertheless, they had made good use of their time when Frank wasn't traveling and Callie took an evening off from studying, either exploring the romantic city or simply being together in their flat. Yes, it had been perfect, and even though they missed their family and friends back in the United States, neither of them wanted their time in Rome to end.

HBNDHBND

November 24 – Bayport

It felt like an invasion. The Hardys always went all out with invitations for holidays, but this Thanksgiving, it felt like the entire town had descended on the Hardy home. Practically every relative they had was there, it seemed. Aunt Gertrude, obviously, was right where she liked to be on a day like this: in the kitchen, preparing her famous meals. Then there was also Cousin Ruth who was visiting from her ranch, bringing with her a rather handsome cowboy she had begun dating. Laura Hardy's mother was there, along with Laura's older sister, Anna, and her husband. Then there were also a number of Fenton's other cousins with their adult kids.

As if that myriad of relatives wasn't enough, practically all the Hardys' friends were there, too. Sam and Ethel Radley had come with their ever-growing family. Chief Collig and his wife, Con Riley, and a number of other Bayport PD officers and their spouses were there. Even the insufferable Captain Olaf had gotten an invitation, which he had pretended to be reluctant to accept although the Hardys knew perfectly well that he had been delighted to be invited. The Shaws had also come, according to long-standing tradition since they didn't have any family in town. Most of Joe's friends who still lived in town, including Tony Prito and Biff Hooper, dropped in for at least part of the day. Granted, Biff's visit was short since he and his girlfriend, Aleesha Miller, had been en route from her parents' place to his.

Yes, everyone was there. Except the people Joe would have most liked to see. He knew that his parents had only gone so overboard with invitations to take their minds off the fact that this was the first time in his life that Frank hadn't spent Thanksgiving with them and one of the few times in the last ten years that Callie hadn't. They had been dreading this Thanksgiving a little, but it had helped that the original plan had been for Frank and Callie to come home just in time for Christmas. Then Frank had announced that he and Callie were planning on staying in Rome longer, maybe even another year longer. Joe was trying to take Laura's advice and be happy that they were clearly having such a great time, but it wasn't easy.

"Hey, what's happening?" Biff plopped himself down on the couch next to Joe, interrupting Joe's thoughts. He was balancing a plate full of dessert in one hand while he waited for Aleesha to sit next to him so that he could put his arm around her. "We didn't take time away from our own families just so you can sit here and ignore us."

"No." Joe eyed the plate Biff was holding suspiciously. "It looks like you had another reason for coming."

"Fringe benefits," Biff replied, taking a bite out of slice of pumpkin pie.

Joe shook his head and then leaned forward so he could see Aleesha sitting on the other side of Biff. "You'd better keep an eye on him," he warned her. "Between eating dinner at your parents' and then having dessert here and then eating dinner at his parents, he's going to look like Chet Morton before too long."

Aleesha shook her own head mournfully. "I'm afraid not. This guy can eat enough to feed an army and not gain an ounce. It's not fair."

"Seems fair to me," Biff said, but at the withering glance that Aleesha gave him, he decided to drop the subject. "So, speaking of Chet, where is he? Does he realize he's missing out on your aunt's homemade pie?"

"He hasn't shown up at all today," Joe replied, forcing himself to speak as naturally as possible. "I told him it was fine if he wanted to drop in like usual, but so far, no sign of him."

A confused frown appeared on Biff's face, but then he realized what the hang-up must be. "Oh, I get it. He didn't want to make things awkward with Iola's new boyfriend and all."

Aleesha jabbed her elbow into his side. "Speaking of making things awkward."

"Oh. Sorry about that, Joe," Biff said. "Me and my big mouth."

"It's fine." Joe shrugged to try to cover up the fact that it wasn't really fine. He wasn't sure how he felt about Iola having a new boyfriend, but he certainly felt something about it.

Biff cleared his throat. "Um, we probably should be going to my parents' place. Don't want them to think we're not coming. Catch you later, Joe."

Joe waved absently and watched them go. That was the way his life was at the moment. It seemed like he was always watching the people he cared about go, and they didn't always come back.

HBNDHBND

November 24 – River Heights

"Isn't she just the most adorable baby you've ever seen?" Bess Marvin Evans gushed as she held the four-month-old baby on her lap.

Her cousin, George Fayne, rolled her eyes old of long-standing habit whenever Bess was gushing about anything, but she also had to smile when the baby giggled at her. "She is pretty cute," she admitted.

"Pretty cute?" Bess snorted, shaking her head. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are absolutely hopeless, George Fayne."

The young women were at the home of their best friends, Nancy and Ned Nickerson for Thanksgiving. It was the first year that Nancy had hosted a major holiday at her house, and she was finding it a little overwhelming, especially with four-month-old Marian Katherine to take care of. While she was putting the finishing touches on dinner with the help of Hannah Gruen and Edith Nickerson, her mother-in-law, she was more than happy to accept Bess's offer to babysit Marian. Ordinarily, Bess would have been thrilled to be helping with the meal, but considering that she was seven months pregnant with her own first child, the other women had shooed her out of the kitchen.

Nancy had just finished up and was coming to retrieve her daughter in time to hear Bess's last comment. She grinned and shook her head. No one who heard Bess and George talking to each other would have guessed how close they were to one another. Most of their interactions sounded like the beginning of a fight, but Nancy knew that either one of them would be the first to spring to the other's defense if the situation called for it.

"Dinner's just about ready," Nancy said, holding out her arms for Marian. Marian giggled happily as she was passed back to her mother. Nancy beamed at that thought. Before she had gotten married and even for a couple of years afterward, she had had a hard time imagining herself as a mommy, but now there was nothing she wanted to be more.

Despite all of Nancy's worrying – or maybe partly because of it – dinner went off without a hitch. The food was all delicious, and everyone ate plenty. Afterwards, Ned turned on the football game and gathered family and friends were content to either watch the game or talk. While Carson Drew, who had eagerly accepted his role as grandpa, sat on the floor to play with Marian, Nancy went to sit on the most secluded loveseat in a little alcove off the living room and rest her feet. It wasn't very many minutes before Ned found her and sat down next to her.

"Don't you want to see the game?" Nancy asked him.

Ned shrugged. "I'd rather sit here with you." He put his arm around her shoulders, and she nestled back against him.

"Well, at least things went well today," Nancy said.

"They always do with you," Ned reminded her. "You always put your all into everything, and it shows."

Nancy nodded. "It shows, all right. I must be getting old. I'm so tired all the time."

"I think that's called being a new parent," Ned told her with a grin.

Nancy gave a crooked grin, although she was too tired to chuckle. "I guess so. Getting back to work isn't helping matters either."

"If it wasn't for the fact that I know perfectly well that you'd be even more restless without a case to solve, I'd insist on you taking a longer maternity leave. I mean, what's the point of owning your own business if you can't do that much, at least?" Ned shook his head. "What am I even talking about? Even the whole time you were on maternity leave, you were trying to solve all my cases from here."

The only response Nancy gave was a smile. It was true: she never felt right if she didn't have some mystery to occupy her mind.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a burst of cheering from the main part of the living room. Nancy and Ned craned their necks to see what the excitement was about, but rather than being focused on the game like they had expected, Carson, all the female guests, and several of the male ones were gathered around Marian, who was lying on her back on her blanket on the floor, cooing happily.

"She rolled over," Carson explained as Nancy came and sat next to him.

Nancy pulled Marian onto her lap. "That's the first time she's done that," she noted with a proud smile, but her smile faded a bit as she added, "And Ned and I missed it."

As several people tried to comfort Nancy about missing this milestone in her daughter's growth, George hung back a little. It was so weird seeing Nancy a mom and Bess getting ready to be a mom. It was bittersweet to realize that it would never really be just the three of them having adventures and being reckless again. Shaking her head, she wandered out onto Ned and Nancy's front porch, hoping to be alone for a minute, but her long-time boyfriend, Burt Eddleton, followed her.

"Aren't you having fun?" he asked.

George shrugged. "I don't know."

Burt cleared his throat. "Ned and Nancy sure have a nice place, don't they?"

George nodded. Here it came.

"Well." Burt took a deep breath. There was no point in beating around the bush. "I don't suppose you're ready yet for us to be 'old, boring married people.'"

George shook her head. "Not yet, Burt. I've told you I don't know how many times …"

"Fourteen." Burt turned away. "Well, sorry I brought it up again."

George watched him go back inside, shaking her head, but feeling strangely disappointed.

A few hours later, when it was getting dark, Vanessa Bender came up to Nancy to thank her for the invite and the meal. Vanessa had been working for Nancy and Ned for a bit over a year both as their IT and in doing background research for cases, and she had integrated easily into their circle of friends.

"You're not leaving already?" Nancy asked, genuinely disappointed.

"I'm afraid I have to," Vanessa told her. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Nancy replied. "But are you sure? It's still pretty early. Thanksgiving isn't a day to sit around by yourself."

"Well, I won't exactly be by myself." Vanessa grinned and blushed just the slightest bit. "At any rate, Tony and I were going to Skype each other tonight."

"Ah." Nancy smiled as she understood the situation. Although the distance made it difficult for them, Vanessa and Tony Prito had been dating for a couple of months now. "Well, in that case, don't let me keep you. I'll see you on Monday, right?"

"Bright and early," Vanessa replied. "Thanks again, Nancy."

Vanessa had no sooner headed for the door than Nancy's smartphone rang. The screen showed a number she didn't recognize.

When she answered it, a man's voice asked, "Is this Nancy Drew Nickerson?"

Nancy's heart beat a little faster in anticipation. There was only one sort of person who called her that: someone who had a mystery for her to solve.