Disclaimer: I do not own and am not affiliated with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or any of the characters associated with them. I also do not own or am affiliated with any pop culture references that I may choose to include.
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad you all enjoyed the fact that I had a spontaneous moment for Frank and Nancy.
Unbelievable
"So just so I'm clear, are we bringing up Frank and Nancy's dubious activities last night, or are we letting them bring it up?" Joe asked Bess with an impish grin. The two were entering the hotel lobby, on their way to the Five and Diner. They had woken up together, having fallen asleep watching the movie that Bess had suggested, and were somewhat, but not entirely, surprised that Frank was not in the room; Bess had had the strong feeling that something was finally going to happen between Frank and Nancy. They had been a bit more surprised, however, that when Bess had returned to her room in order to change her clothes, Frank and Nancy weren't there. A slight moment of panic had followed until Joe, in a momentary stroke of brilliance had suggested calling them. That had solved that issue and had left them with the question of just how well Frank and Nancy had gotten along for the rest of the night.
"Oh, I think we're going to nail them." Bess was not looking at Joe when she spoke. Her focus was on the elevator bank across the lobby, where Frank and Nancy were exiting, Frank with his arm around Nancy's shoulder. "They were in the hotel. I can't believe she didn't say anything. And if she thinks that wearing a different shirt is going to keep me from noticing that they're wearing Double Delight outfits, then she has another thing coming."
"Double Delight outfits?" Joe raised an eyebrow.
Bess shrugged. "You know. Clothes that you wear two days in a row because you spent the night...being delighted." She shook her head. "Did they really think they were going to hide it?"
"You don't think that maybe Nancy just didn't want to be walking around in a ripped shirt?"
"Oh, there you go, being all logical again. That's twice today. If you're not careful you'll steal Frank's title of the rational Hardy."
"I guess I've been a bit liberal with the common sense this morning." Joe paused and his hands went into his pockets. "So seriously. Are we talking about it or not?"
"Of course we're talking about it." Bess started to walk towards them, not bothering to wait and see if Joe was following her. "How else am I going to embarrass them?"
"Bess, they aren't the easiest people to embarrass." Joe warned.
Bess scoffed. "Please. Everyone is easy to embarrass. You just have to know what buttons to push." A moment later and she met up with Frank and Nancy at the doors, and stepped in front of them with Joe at her heels. "I'm going to assume by the rather satisfied smiles and the way his arm is draped comfortably around you that Frank is at the very least a mildly talents lover."
"Bess!" Joe admonished, choking back his laughter while Frank and Nancy blushed and sputtered.
Bess, however, had a long practiced look of innocence. "What? I made a simple statement."
"Don't you think it was a little personal?" He asked.
"No. Personal would be asking Nancy if the length of Frank's pe--,"
"OK." Nancy hurried forward, cutting off her friend, her own voice an octave or two higher than usual. "Bess, we can have a nice, long discussion about this later. When we're alone." She emphasized, grabbing on to Bess' arm and leading her out the door. "Now come on. We have to grab a quick breakfast."
Bess turned her head to grin at Joe. "I told you I could embarrass them."
"Yes, you did it masterfully." Joe nodded. Then he turned his attention to slightly more important matters. "Why does breakfast have to be quick?"
Frank hastened his steps for a few seconds to catch up with Nancy. He grabbed onto her hand and they started to walk in stride. "We're going to le Chateau d'Amour."
"We as in all of us, or we as in you and Nancy?" Joe asked.
"Yeah. Is this some sort of a kink thing?" Bess smirked.
"Yes." Nancy deadpanned. "Frank and I had so much sex last night that we've already lost interest in one another and we want to go and have a threesome with a prostitute to spice things up." She rolled her eyes. "We're all going. Unless either of you are opposed to working a murder case to help out Josie."
Bess' eyes bugged out. "She's dead?"
"No, she's fine." Frank assured. "She's hiring us. One of the girls at the house has been killed."
"Oh good. Nothing like a murder case after an attempt on our lives." Joe quipped. "You guys do realize that the guy who was shot when he was trying to kill you owned the establishment that we want to investigate at and there are probably some rather angry and vengeful henchmen that will be there."
"Given the fact that this is a murder, so will the police." Nancy reasoned. "And in all likelihood, they won't want us on the case, and unless they're completely blowing it we're not going to force the issue, but this will give us an opportunity to actually talk to Josie. Hopefully I'll be able to convince her to call her parents, or at the very least come up with an explanation that's true that won't break their hearts."
Bess smiled, crossing in front of Nancy to Frank's other side. She hooked her arm through his. "In that case, Frank and I will enjoy a nice long breakfast and Joe can go with you."
"Oh really?" The three detectives spoke in unison.
"Well, if we're not really going to investigate this murder then we hardly need four of us to go there." Bess explained. "I for one hold no desire to see any dead bodies, or remnants of dead bodies, or, quite frankly, going somewhere that sleazy in general. And I'm not going to have breakfast alone."
Joe clapped a hand onto Nancy's shoulder. "Well, you heard the girl."
"I guess I'll see you in a little bit." Nancy stopped walking and turned to face Frank.
"All right. Stay out of trouble." Frank sighed. "And Joe," He looked at his brother, a warning expression already on his face. "Don't get distracted." His focus went back to Nancy. "Keep him away from the girls." He instructed.
Nancy smiled. "I'll do my best."
NDHB
Joe glanced over at Nancy from his position in the passenger seat. She had volunteered to drive, and given that he had spent the previous day having his fair share of adventures in the rental, he has more than happy to oblige. It was with some concern that he regarded the death grip she had on the steering wheel. Joe figured that it might have something to do with where they were going; he had seen enough of the video yesterday to know basically what she had been through. Instead of talking about it, he had a feeling that the better course of action would be to distract her.
"So...you and Frank." He waggled his eyebrows, hoping she might catch it out of the corner of her eye. Telling him to be more mature generally relaxed Frank and Joe wondered if the same practice would work with her.
"What about me and Frank?" Nancy asked with a tone that mixed innocence and blankness.
Joe sighed. "Are you two together now, or what?"
"Of course we are. I thought that was pretty obvious by the goodbye kiss."
"You would think that, but the two of you have always been so touchy-feely that it was kind of hard to be sure." At Nancy's somewhat amused face he paused. "Seriously though? Good for you. I'm happy for you guys. You're good for each other."
After a short silence Nancy spoke with a raised eyebrow. "That's it? No lecture?"
Joe laughed. "What would I lecture you on?"
"I don't know. You're his brother. Aren't you supposed to go off on a spiel about how if I hurt him you'll hurt me and all that stuff?"
"First of all, you're a girl, and as such I have been biologically programmed to never even raise a finger to wag at you." Joe started. "And second of all, I don't think that it would be possible for you to hurt Frank."
Nancy briefly glanced over to him. "Joe..."
Joe held up hand to cut her off. "Now I'm not saying that you couldn't physically hurt him, because I'm sure that when properly motivated you could kick anyone's ass. What I'm saying is, I don't think that you could ever do anything that would make him want me to hurt you. Not to scare you off or anything, and don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that he loves you, and even if you were to do something that did hurt him, which I doubt that you would, Frank's not the type of guy to get angry with someone that he loves."
Nancy smiled, her eyes twinkling. "That's very sweet Joe. I'll keep that in mind. But just so you know, I don't plan on hurting Frank." She turned the car into the parking lot of le Chateau d'Amour.
Joe was a little surprised at the lack of police vehicles or any other vehicle that was there, but he surmised quickly that they had probably already done their work. "So what exactly is our plan?"
"I'm going to go in and talk to--," A rap on the window cut Nancy off. She turned to see who it was and found herself face to face with the same brunette who had come to her rescue the day before. "Josie." She flicked the switch to lower the window. "Josie," she greeted somewhat awkwardly, "umm...how are you?"
"OK under the circumstances." Josie didn't spend much time in front of the window, instead opting to go around to the back of the car and getting in. "I mean first Rich gets shot and now this whole mess with Katie...what about you? I mean Rich had picked you up by then. Were you with him when it happened?"
Nancy winced at the girl's lack of knowledge on the subject. "You could say that. He was trying to--,"
"That must have been terrible." Josie cut her off again. "I hope you don't mind me coming out here, but things are wicked hectic with everything inside with all that's happened and it would be pretty frowned upon for me to bring you guys into one of the rooms without charging you so...who's your friend Nancy? Is this that Frank I talked to on the phone? He's even cuter than I imagined."
Joe held out his hand. "I'm Frank's brother, Joe. And thank you."
"Well, it's nice to meet you." Josie practically purred. She then turned back to Nancy. "Now, I called you here because I wanted you to help me out with this Katie situation."
Nancy frowned. "To be honest with you Josie...that's not why we came."
"But that's what I called you about. Why else would you come out here?"
"I'm here in Vegas because your parents hired me to find you." Nancy explained. "I came out here this morning to talk to you and make sure that you really know what you're doing."
"Of course I know what I'm doing." Josie rolled her eyes. "I'm wearing skimpy outfits and having sex to be paid a ridiculous amount of money. But I can't believe you. I thought you were here yesterday because you were going to be Rich's new girl and you're investigating me?"
"To be fair, at the time she was going to be Rich's new girl." Joe cut in. "And she's only investigating you because your parents are worried about you. They think that something bad might have happened to you."
"Well, you can assure them that I'm fine." Josie smiled sweetly. "The only bad thing that could have happened to me was with Katie, and for the most part that's all taken care of. The rest of it will be taken care of if you help me."
Nancy shook her head. "I don't think so Josie."
"Look, if this is a conflict of interest thing, I'll call my parents so your work for them will be over. And I'll pay you double your normal rate. Trust me. I have the money."
"It's not a conflict of interest thing. I just don't think that we'll be able to give you the help that you want."
"All right." Josie reached down her shirt and pulled out a business card. She handed it up to Joe. "If you or your brother change your minds, come and find me." She started out of the car. "Bye guys."
NDHB
"I'm guessing by the fact that either you or Nancy denied anything that I said this morning that you're together now." Bess said as they exited the diner to go back to the hotel and await Nancy and Joe. They had spent the entire breakfast on mostly meaningless small talk that avoided any real discussions on anything. Bess had always picked the topics; she enjoyed lulling people into a false sense of security.
Frank nodded. "You're guessing right."
"Well it's about time. I swear, the way that you two have been dancing around each other for years, it was like you were filming your own remake of Moonlighting." She teased. "You two will be very happy together."
"I certainly hope so."
"Although, I feel that as Nancy's best friend and only somewhat familial representative here in Las Vegas at the current moment I'm obligated to tell you that if you in any way cause Nancy any emotional harm or are the reason for her getting into a situation where she is physically harmed in any way, shape, or form, I will have to end you extremely slowly and painfully. And if you want any proof of that I have several ex-boyfriends who will attest to my skills." Bess smiled sweetly. "Now, what are your plans for the rest of your trip, now that you're all done with your case?"
NDHB
"So, how were things out at le Chateau?" Frank asked Nancy. The two of them were finishing up their room service lunch in the room they had taken out the night before.
Nancy wrapped the fuzzy hotel bathrobe a little bit tighter around herself; eating lunch had not been their first activity. "Oh, they were enlightening." She answered dully. "It turns out Josie really did want to be a call girl, and she thinks that Eckhart is just a little bit misunderstood."
"Joe thinks that it might be worth looking into that murder for her."
"He's more than welcome to. I'm not touching that case with a ten foot pole."
"That seems a little harsh for an old friend."
"Frank, that woman is not my old friend. And I just don't think that this case is the sort of thing that I want to be involved in."
"Joe said that it sounded like she could really use our help."
"Well, no offense to your brother, but he spent the entire time flirting with her." Nancy stood, annoyed at the way the discussion seemed to be heading. "I don't want to be get involved with any business with her. I don't trust her, and I don't think that she wants us to do what Joe thinks she wants us to do."
Frank also stood. "Nancy, don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure that you aren't just avoiding the case because you're upset that you misjudged this girl."
"Of course not!" She shook her head. "I'm not that petty. My instincts are telling me that this case is going to lead to something really bad, and I don't want to get involved in that."
"But Nancy, your instincts have been wrong before. They've been wrong pretty recently."
Nancy felt her temper flare at the insinuation and bit back her reply. She began to walk around the room, gathering her clothing. "I'm not going to work on this case. If you guys want to go right ahead. Now, I think that we should spend the night in our old rooms."
"Wait, what? Why? Are you mad at me?"
"Not at the moment. But if this keeps up, I will be. We've both gotten about five hours of sleep in the past three or four days. We're exhausted, and our tempers are short. I don't want to fight. We need sleep if we're going to have a rational discussion, and if we spend the night together all we're going to do is have sex." She started to pull on her underwear and jeans beneath her robe.
Frank shook his head. "That's not true. We don't have to--,"
"Trust me." Nancy slipped out of the robe and reached for her bra. "If I'm in the same bed as you right now, I am not going to want to sleep. It's one night. And we'll both be happier for it." She pulled her shirt over head, and walked over to kiss Frank. "I have to go. I promised Bess we'd go shopping at some point and today seems like as good a day as any."
NDHB
"So anyway, I guess it's a good thing that things with Steve didn't work out because if they had I doubt I would have realized that I--," Bess cut herself off. She had been explaining her point-of-view of the last few days to Nancy, namely the emotional side of things, as they reentered the hotel after a long afternoon of shopping. "Hi Frank." She smiled at him as he approached, getting up from his position on a small bench. He had been waiting.
"Hi Bess." Frank greeted. "Do you mind if I borrow Nancy for a second?"
"Of course not." Bess took Nancy's bags out of her hands, knowing quite well when a private moment without baggage was imminent. "I'll just head these up to our room. "I'll see you in a bit Nancy. Or at least in the morning when you stop by for fresh clothes."
"I'll be up in a little while." Nancy assured her friend before turning to Frank. "Hi there." She kissed his cheek. "What's up?"
Frank started to lead her outside, next to the fountain that stood in front of the hotel. "I wanted to talk to you." He reached into his pocket.
Nancy immediately caught site of the velvet box in his hand. "Frank, we didn't have a fight. You have nothing to apologize for. And jewelry is most certainly not the way to apologize."
"It's not apology jewelry." Frank shook his head. "It occurred to me, that despite the fact that we have been married for nearly..." He glanced at his watch, "fourteen hours now, that you still don't have any rings."
Nancy's hand flew up to her mouth, surprised at the way tears seemed to jump to her eyes. "Frank, you didn't have to--,"
"I wanted to." He thumbed at a tear. "It also occurred to me," he got down onto one knee, "that I never properly proposed to you. Nancy, even though we're technically already married," he popped the box open, "will you do me the honor of continuing to be my wife?"
"Of course, you big goof."
Frank slipped the rings, a plain, white gold wedding band, and then a flashier engagement ring with blue diamond offset by two white diamonds, also on a band of white gold, onto her left ring finger. He then stood and they embraced, sharing a long and passionate kiss. When they pulled apart he spoke. "I know, since we aren't telling anyone right away that you can't wear them, at least on that particular finger, but I wanted you to have them."
"Thank you so much."
"It's nothing. I love you."
"I love you too." They kissed again. "I'm still spending the night with Bess." Frank groaned. "I don't like it either, but we need to sleep. Besides, that doesn't mean that we can't go back to our room for a little while and have some fun until it's time to go to bed."
NDHB
Bess rather unhappily got out of bed. She had woken up only moments before, due to a loud noise that sounded rather computer related, and she almost immediately noticed the yellow of the hotels fluorescent light coming out of the bathroom. A glance at Nancy's bed, which was mysteriously missing its comforter and pillow quickly told her that Nancy was in there. "Nancy, hon, are you sick?" She called out as she made her way to the bathroom.
"No I'm fine." Nancy answered quickly. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I naturally wake up at one in the morning when I'm in the middle of a REM cycle." Bess quipped. When she made it to the bathroom doorway her eyes locked upon Nancy, who had arranged her pillow and comforter in the bathtub to make a sort of makeshift couch that she was sitting on/in while working on her laptop. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I couldn't sleep." Nancy shrugged.
Bess sniffed the air, and then eyed the coffee mug on the edge of the tub. "That's because you're drinking coffee."
"It's decaf." Nancy justified. "Anyway, I wanted to do some work to pass the time, and I didn't want to wake you so I came in here. I didn't realize that the volume was on. I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep now."
"Yeah, no." Bess hoisted herself up so she was sitting on the edge of the counter. "Why can't you sleep? Does this have something to do with your fight with Frank?"
"What fight with Frank?" Nancy frowned.
"Well, you're spending the night here, and you guys only just got together, so I assumed that you had a fight...if you didn't bring it up by tomorrow morning I was going to talk to you about it."
"Frank and I didn't have a fight. We just don't want our entire relationship to be based on sex."
Before Bess could come up with a retort, there was a buzzing noise, and Nancy pulled her cell phone out of the folds of the comforter.
"Hey Joe, what's up?...No, it's all right, you didn't wake me...What did he want?...I'm sorry, could you repeat that I could have sworn that you just said that...OK, you did say that...What happened?...You don't know?...Shit...You call your parents, I'll tell Bess and call my dad. He'll be able to help...As soon as I'm done we'll throw some clothes on and come down to your room, OK?...Don't panic, Joe, we'll figure this out." Nancy hung up the phone.
"What's going on?" Bess asked immediately.
Nancy already had the phone to her ear again, and didn't answer. "Hey dad, it's me. I'm sorry to call so late and wake you up...No, I'm fine...A little bruised, but I promise you that I'm not calling you from a hospital bed...Then why did I call?...It's a funny story really. You see, Bess and I ran into the Hardys while we were working the case...Well...I don't suppose that you're licensed to practice in Nevada?...Let's just say that you need to get the first flight out to Vegas...It's very important...No, I'm not calling you from jail...It's a very long story, that in honesty I don't know all the details to, but we could really use your helps...Thanks so much Dad...I love you too...Call me when you know when you're getting in and I'll pick you up at the airport, OK?...OK, bye."
When Nancy hung up the phone this time, Bess pounced. "Why is your dad coming out here? What the hell is going on?"
"I think Frank and I are going to have that fight." Nancy closed her laptop and stood.
"And you need a lawyer? Why are you going to fight?"
"Because Frank just got arrested for murder."
NDHB
Thoughts?
Teaser for the next chapter: "This could be bad."