NOTE: I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your reviews. It is great encouragement to continue writing.

I hope it isn't too hard to follow. I basically assume if you are reading this you are already familiar with the main characters and their tendencies.

Chapter 2

The next morning the trio were driving to Bayport High for what promised to be a full day of interviewing Cara's friends, teachers, and any other potential witnesses.

"Oooh, look Ed's Diner. Pull over!" Joe exclaimed.

"Joe, you just ate breakfast!" Frank said rolling his eyes. He was used to his brother's insatiable appetite.

"Naaannncy! Ed makes the best pancakes in the entire world. We cannot miss this opportunity," Joe whined from the backseat of Frank's SUV.

Nancy pulled a sausage biscuit out of her purse. "Here, eat this."

Frank raised an eyebrow. "Your Mom," Nancy shrugged. "She wouldn't let me leave the house without it. Something about thanking her later."

In the backseat, Joe was finishing up his second breakfast. "My hero! I knew I always liked you better than Callie."

Frank's eyes grew wide. "Oh, look, we're here!"


Once inside the school, Nancy and Frank set things up in the gymnasium while Joe went with the principal, Mr. Bryant, to find the first person for them to interview.

Frank watched Nancy as she studied the notes in front of her, mentally preparing the questions she wanted to ask. He admired her more than she would ever know. Smart, caring, beautiful… Yes, definitely beautiful, he thought as she brushed her hair out of her face.

There was something different about Nancy. He had liked Callie a lot, loved her even, but there was always something missing. Something he only became aware of when he was around Nancy. It was more than not understanding his job, although that didn't help. When he was with Nancy, he felt excited. Like there was this heightened awareness of everything in the room. And that when she smiled he knew he would do anything in the world to make her keep smiling.

"A penny for your thoughts, Hardy," Nancy jostled him back to reality.

"Sorry," he said. "This place brings back a lot of memories." And it did. Good memories. Frank knew that their split had been inevitable, but he still cared for Callie. Shaking his head to try and clear his mind, he turned to Nancy. "What about you, Drew?" he teased. "What was high school like for the famous Nancy Drew?"

"Oh no," Nancy resisted. "High school is over and I for one and glad of it!" She smiled looking up at him. "Besides, I much prefer my life now."

"Even without Ned?" he asked gently taking her hand.

"Especially without Ned," she whispered. "He was never going to really understand me. Not truly."

"I understand. It used to be the same way with Callie."

Used to be? Past tense? Nancy's heart skipped a beat. "Frank, are you saying-" she began.

"Ahem!" Joe cleared his throat. "Would you like for us to come back?" Neither of them had noticed Joe walk in with a girl who must be one of Cara's friends.

Frank dropped Nancy's hand like it was on fire. "Uh, no, it's fine. We were just…err…"

Blushing, Nancy looked down at the list on the table. "You must be Meredith," she said. "I'm Nancy Drew and this is Frank Hardy. Please, have a seat."


Several hours later, they had just about given up. Nobody had been able to give them anything that seemed at all relevant to finding Cara and Nancy had a sneaking suspicion that several of these "friends" were just trying to get out of class.

As they started packing up, a young woman entered the gym. "Excuse me, are you the detectives looking for Cara?" she asked.

"Yes, did you know her?" Joe looked hopeful.

The girl was clearly very shy. "Yes, she replied," while staring at her feet.

"Please, sit down," Nancy said soothingly. "We are here to help. How did you know Cara?"

"My…my name is Beth. Cara and I were friends."

"Hi Beth, we didn't see your name on the list Cara's mother provided us of her friends."

Beth shook her head. "No, it wouldn't be there. Not many people knew we were friends. Cara was popular. She hung out with a different crowd."

"But you were still friends?" Nancy encouraged.

"Yes, as seniors we were eligible to take independent study courses. Cara and I had the same sponsor so we spent third period together every day- just the two of us."

"Who was your sponsor?" Joe asked.

"Oh, Mr. Wiggins," Beth seemed to light up at the mention of his name. "The work we did was for college credit from the local college, but he oversaw everything to make sure we were actually turning in our assignments on time."

Funny, I don't have Mr. Wiggins' name on this list either, Nancy thought. "Beth, what can you tell us about Cara?"

"Cara is great. She's one of the few friends I have actually," Beth shrugged. "She was always nice to me."

"Do you have any idea of Cara's whereabouts, Beth? Her family is very worried," Frank urged.

Beth shook her head. "No, I don't know where she is, but I'm sure she is fine."

The detectives looked at each other confused. Beth seemed sweet, but perhaps a little naïve. "What makes you think that?" Joe asked.

"Because she told me so."

Nancy was growing impatient. Either this girl was not very bright or she was hiding something. "What do you mean she told you so?"

"She told me if she ever was missing that I shouldn't worry. That she just had to take care of something," Beth answered quickly. "I think she knew something was going to happen and she didn't want me to be afraid."

"What do you think she thought was going to happen?" Frank asked suspiciously.

"I don't know."


"Well, that was weird," Joe said incredulously as they walked back to the car.

"Indeed," Nancy added. "We need to talk to this Mr. Wiggins." They had tried to find him after talking with Beth, but he was out sick today. That made Nancy uneasy. How convenient, she thought.

"Uh oh," Joe teased. "I sense a little of that Drew intuitiveness coming through. Gotta hunch, Nance?"

"It's all a little suspicious, I have to agree," Frank added. "But Mr. Bryant gave us his home address. Let's pay him a little visit, shall we?"


They pulled up to the address the principal had given them, but the house was deserted.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here in days," Joe said as he peered through the back window."

Another coincidence, I'm sure, Nancy thought. "What now? Every second is crucial in missing person cases. You know that. This guy has answers. I can feel it."

"We'll call Dad and have him put all his resources into finding Mr. Wiggins," Frank answered. "In the meantime, it's getting late. Let's go feed Joe."


Nancy had finally given in and gone to dinner. After, they had all gone back to the brothers' apartment to go over the case.

"We clearly need to talk to Mr. Wiggins," Joe looked perplexed. "But there must be something we are missing."

"I think Beth might know more than she has let on so far," Nancy replied. "She seemed so shy and innocent, but the way her face lit up when she mentioned Mr. Wiggins seemed very telling. It's possible she knows something without realizing she knows something."

"Agreed," Frank replied. "We'll keep an eye on her as well as continue to search for Mr. Wiggins. I think tomorrow we should go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs about why neither Beth or Mr. Wiggins were on their list of witnesses."

"Now that it has been 48 hours, the police have amped up their search efforts as well," Joe added. "Hopefully, we'll find her soon."

Nancy sighed. "I guess we have done all we can for today. Anyone want to watch a movie?"