"Hey, you guys." Cruise said the next morning at breakfast "You were wanting a chance to talk to Bonnie without her having to run off somewhere, right?"
Frank nodded "You got an idea?"
"I've got you better than an idea." Cruise smiled, popping a piece of orange in his mouth "I've got you a date."
The milk that Frank had just been drinking suddenly stuck in his throat and he began to cough uncontrollably "What!?" he finally managed to gasp.
Cruise doubled over in laughter for the first time in days "Chill, dude. It's not a literal date."
Joe snickered "That was a good one, Bud. Too bad I didn't have my camera." he elbowed his brother "Nancy would have loved to see that face."
Frank shot Joe a glare.
"Don't forget about Jake." Cruise chuckled "They've agreed to treat you for dinner. Actually, Bonnie offered."
"Sounds good." Frank nodded "Let me call the girls and arrange it." He quickly typed in their room number and waited.
"Hello?" Bess's voice chimed.
"Hey Bess, it's Frank. How do you girls feel about having dinner with Bonnie and Jake?"
"Hold on." Bess moved the phone away from her ear "Hey Nan! Frank wants to know how we feel about dinner with Bonnie and Jake?"
"Seriously?" Nancy's voice said "When?"
"When?" Bess asked.
Frank chuckled "Tonight."
"Tonight!"
"Let's do it!" Nancy took the phone from Bess "What time."
"Uh..." Frank looked over at Cruise for an answer.
"Seven." Cruise mouthed.
Frank nodded "Seven."
"Okay. We'll be ready." she was silent for a moment "Until then..."
"I was thinking about a trip to Cruise's trailer." Frank smiled "You wouldn't want to join us... would you?"
"Are you kidding?" Nancy laughed "We'll see you in the lobby in ten." then she hung up.
"Hey Nancy." Joe mimicked "You wouldn't want to go on a date to a wrecked movie trailer would ya?"
"Joe!" Frank grabbed a phone book that was sitting beside the phone and hurled it at his brother.
Joe yelped and scrambled over the back of his seat "Hey! What gives! You said it!"
"I invited her to investigate with us." Frank retorted "You're the one that put it out of context."
"I'm the one that can read between the lines."
"Yeah? And if I were anywhere near as annoying as you I would be saying that you'd better choose between Bess or George because you're in for a slamming if you break George's heart."
Joe's mouth fell open "Harsh."
"Now, let's go." Frank walked over to the door and opened it "The girls will be downstairs in a few minutes."
Joe sent Cruise a wink "We'll have them together before too long."
Cruise chuckled "Good luck with that."
"Okay," Frank said "Nancy and Joe, come with me. George and Bess, see what you can pick up from the cast and crew that were around."
"Eh!" Joe shook his head "I'm going with the girls." he walked over to George and Bess and put his arms around their shoulders "Just to keep them safe." then he led them off.
Frank groaned and shook his head "Obnoxious little brother."
Nancy laughed "Come on. We'd better go check out that trailer."
"Okay Joe." George groaned "They're out of eye shot. You can take your arm off of me now."
"Sorry." Joe chuckled, doing as demanded but leaving his arm around Bess "Do you think it'll work?"
"You're not at all subtle." George commented "Ever try to be discrete?"
"Yep." Joe nodded "And the bro was completely oblivious." he rolled his eyes "Like usual."
"I agree." Bess nodded "Even Nancy's oblivious... or used to be. She never realized why she got so jealous when other girls were flirting with Frank."
"If it's meant to work out it will." George said "No poking required." then she walked away.
"Poking?" Joe said with fake exasperation "Who said anything about poking? I prefer prodding."
"I'm with you." Bess nodded "They need that little push. Especially after Ned..." she shook her head and sighed.
Joe looked down at her "I heard that Ned stopped by yesterday."
"What!?" Bess looked up at him wide eyes "He was here? In New York?"
"Yeah." Joe nodded "Frank said that he came to apologize for whatever it was he had said to Nancy."
"Well it's about time!" Bess huffed "He tore her to bits!"
"Oh?"
"Mm-hm." she crossed her arms "He told her that it was all her fault that their relationship didn't last because she cared more about her sleuthing than she did him!"
Joe shook his head "I find that hard to believe."
"I know. But, yeah." Bess shrugged "I'm glad he finally apologized. Because he had Nancy running scared." she pushed her blond hair over her shoulder "Ever since that fight she'd been shying away from relationships."
Joe grinned "And guess what. Ned is now dating Callie."
"What!?" Bess stared at him for a full minute before she burst into laughter "So there's nothing holding them back!" she began to jump happily "They might..." then she stopped "Okay... we shall see."
Joe stuck his hands in his pockets "So... what about us?"
Bess looked up at him through his long lashes "What about us, Joe?"
"Maybe... I don't..." He rubbed the back of his neck "Would you permit me to take you out on an official date?"
"What do you mean by official?"
"As in a pending couple." Joe flashed her one of his award winning smiles.
"Response loading." Bess said teasingly "Um..." she waited several long seconds before clapping her hands together "Yes!" then she threw herself into Joe's arms "A thousand times yes!"
Joe grinned as he wrapped his arms around her "Good."
"Ready to go?" Bonnie asked that evening "We've got to swing my Jake's house to get him, okay?"
"No problem." Nancy smiled then added in a tease "I'd love to see a movie star's house."
"Well, let's go!" Bonnie pointed to a dark, shiny purple corvette convertible "You girls want to ride with me?"
Nancy glanced at Frank who seemed unsure but shrugged "Well..."
"We'll be right behind you." He said, giving himself a happy tone.
"Okay." Nancy turned back to Bonnie "It's a deal."
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of a large three story house. It was painted a light beige with brown shutters and window frames.
"Charming." Nancy commented.
"Jake's dad is a war fanatic." Bonnie said "It's like a museum in there. Come on." she led them into the house.
Bonnie hadn't been kidding about the war fanatic. There were old weapons, armor and pictures everywhere
"Look around while I find Jake." Bonnie said, disappearing around a corner.
"Is this place crazy or what?" Joe said, running his hand over a cannon "This thing has to be a hundred years old!"
George was walking around a large suit of armor "Can you imagine charging at one of these?"
Nancy chuckled as she walked over to a case full of old swords.
"Hey, Nan." Frank said a few seconds later "Come here. You too, Joe."
"What's up?" Joe asked as he joined his brother at another case.
"Look."
Inside the case was a variety of bombs. Some old as dirt, some from the WW2 and later.
But there was one empty spot in the case.
"A timed bomb used to sit there." Frank said, pointing at a sign with the name and information to the object that used to be there.
"A timed bomb?" Joe said seriously "Wasn't that what the person probably used to blow up Cruise's trailer?"
"Yeah." Nancy nodded "And Jake has access to all this stuff."
she walked over to a lock that was on the side of the case "The lock is just a simple bobby-pin-picker."
"You guys ready?" Bonnie's voice suddenly spoke, causing them all to jump and spin around.
Bonnie was leaning on Jake's arm grinning "Who's hungry?"
Jake's face was kind of dark, but otherwise smiling "I know I am."
"Well let's go!" Bess chimed, from where she had been looking at some ancient jewelry "I've been starving!"
"I have to admit," George added "I am a bit hungry."
"To the best burger shop in town!" Bonnie announced.
"Burger shop?" Joe said confused as they slid into a seat "You eat burgers?"
"Oh yeah." Bonnie laughed "I know we're supposed to stay away from fatty foods while we're working on a movie but..." she shrugged "Burgers and fries just call my name!" she crossed her arms on the table "What do you want? Jake and I will order."
After everyone had spoken, Jake went up to the counter to order and Bonnie went to get the drinks.
"So..." Bonnie said, sitting everyone's drinks down. "Nancy. You work on cases?"
Nancy took a slow sip of her tea "Yes." she slightly glanced at Frank who was sitting across the table from her.
"And do your friends join you?"
"Like always!" Bess piped up "We're her faithful sidekicks."
"But Nancy does all the real solving." George said "We just tag along."
Nancy shook her head "You know that's not true."
"How often do the boys join you?" Bonnie poured a packet of lemon juice into her tea and stirred it.
"Well," Joe leaned back in his seat "Working for the Celeb's magazines gets pretty hectic. But I always find time for my girl." he grabbed Bess's hand "Can't stay away for too long."
Bess giggled and scooted closer to him.
Frank sent Nancy a curious look. She shrugged, just as confused.
"So," Bonnie said "Which case sticks out the most in your mind?"
"I think my favorite was California, for the Olympics." George said.
"Yeah." Bess batted her eyelashes "She met a boy." then she grinned "Mine would have to have been the last time we were here. I met a prince!"
Joe snorted "You have no idea how hard I tried to keep your attention on that trip!"
"I've got a faint clue."
Bonnie laughed "What about you Joe?"
"Well..." he thought a second "Let's see... there was that one involving a guy named Buff..."
Nancy and Frank both looked over at him in disbelief.
"I was kidding!" Joe held up his hands in surrender "I think my favorite would have to have been the last time we were here too. I met a beautiful cat burglar."
Frank sighed and shook his head "Here he goes again."
Bess frowned then looked down at her drink. Joe... he just grinned.
"And you two?" Bonnie asked, looking at Frank and Nancy.
"Colorado." they answered in unison "And Egypt." they looked at each other and smiled then turned back away.
"Here's the food." Jake announced, carrying a large tray. A waiter behind him was also carrying a tray.
As soon as the food had been dispersed, the subject changed to making movies. It wasn't long til they were all talking and laughing.
At one point, Frank reached across the table and snatched one of her fries, sending her a wink as he did. Which also resulted in causing her to blush.
"My mom thought I was nuts!" Bonnie laughed "When I was little, I'd jump on my bed while singing and performing my favorite parts of the movies."
"I always thought I could see myself on the cover of a magazine." Bess said, flipping her hair over her shoulder "But you have to be super skinny for that." she patted her stomach "But, I can't seem to pull off the look."
Nancy shook her head and looked up at Frank. Instantly her smile disappeared.
Frank's face had gone deathly pale. She watched as he placed a shaky hand on the table.
"Frank?" She whispered "What's wrong?" He just looked up at her and took a deep breath.
"Nancy-" his voice was so quiet she almost didn't hear him, then his hand slipped off the table.
"FRANK!" the scream erupted from her throat as he toppled out of his chair and onto the floor.