Disclaimer: Still don't own Nancy or the Hardys. Still not making any money off this fic and still stuck in lockdown. Thanks to Candylou and Jaide Salvatore for the reviews. And as always comments including constructive criticism continue to be welcomed.

"Are you sure?" Frank asked.

"Positive," Joe replied, not taking his eyes off Renee and the car. She was still talking to the driver. He watched as she finished her conversation and stepped away from it. Joe waited until she was back in the elevator and the doors had closed before he turned to Frank and asked, "Do you think she's behind everything?"

Frank's expression was serious, "If she is, it explains a whole lot."

"But what about the time she, Nancy and George nearly got cooked in the steam room?"

"She could have arranged that whole thing just to make herself look innocent. And you know what? She's probably been trying to drive a wedge between Nancy and me this whole time. I can't believe I let myself fall for it."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Joe said, "we've all been fooled by a smooth operator before. You're wise to her now and that's what matters. Come on, we'd better update the girls on what we just saw."

###

In the hotel's gym, Nancy kept an eye on Sergei Ovchinnikov as he exercised on a cross-trainer. She watched as he increased the resistance. Nancy then turned her attention back to the program on her own piece of equipment, a stationary cycle. Nearby, George cycled intently, clearly focused on her own program.

After Nancy had finished, she dismounted the cycle and headed over to the drinking fountain for some water. Once she had quenched her thirst, Nancy wandered back to the rows of cardio equipment. When she passed by Sergei Ovchinnikov, Nancy slowed down and waited for him to finish on the cross-trainer.

"Hello," she said, once he had stepped off the equipment.

"Hello," he replied.

"Auction day tomorrow," she said.

He gave a nod, "That it is."

"Are you confident of success?"

He shrugged, "We will see."

"You're quite passionate about the egg."

"As I said before, it is part of Russia's heritage."

"How far would you go to get it?"

"I would pay any sum of money."

"How much further would you go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there was what happened at the dinner that first night."

He gave her a hard stare, "I am not sure that I like where this conversation is going."

"It's part of my job to find out if either you or Mr Manning are going to cause any trouble at the auction tomorrow."

"You will have nothing to fear from me. Now, I must get back to exercising."

Nancy watched as he crossed the room to the weight equipment. She followed, keeping a discreet distance so that he wouldn't suspect that he was being tailed. She watched as he walked to a piece of equipment.

He adjusted the weight on the device and lay down on the bench. A creaking sound came from it as he put his full weight on it. As he pulled the bar down, the creaking intensified to a grinding noise.

A sudden feeling of alarm rose in Nancy. She opened her mouth to shout a warning but before any sound could come out, the equipment collapsed on the floor with a crash.

Nancy hurried over. "Are you alright?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"I am fine. Obviously, this hotel does not maintain its fitness equipment properly. I will complain."

When he had disappeared, George came up to Nancy. "Do you think it's just shoddy maintenance?"

"I'm afraid not, George. Whoever our killer is, they just made another attempt to eliminate the competition."

###

"Come on Frank," Joe called as the brothers made their way toward Renee Watkins' suite, "we need to get in there before she gets rid of any evidence she might have stashed away."

"Remember that we could be dealing with a killer here," Frank responded.

"I know," Joe said. "We'll be in and out. She probably won't even know we've been in there."

They had now reached the suite. After glancing up and down the hallway, Frank slipped the special card into the slot on the door. As soon as the door slid open, Joe darted inside.

Frank followed, after making one last check to make sure the coast was clear. The brothers made their way through the living room of the suite.

"We'd better search this entire place from top to bottom and fast," Joe said, "you take one bedroom and I'll take the other."

"Right," Frank replied.

They separated. Frank made his way into the bedroom on the left. It was clearly the one that Renee had been using. A floral patterned summer dress was still draped over an armchair and cosmetics were scattered across the dressing table.

Frank moved across the room to the dressing table. His eyes passed over the lipsticks, blushers and mascaras lined up on the table. He was just about to turn away and search another part of the room when a small bag wedged between the table and the wall caught his eye.

Frank bent down and pulled the bag out from behind the table. It looked like an oversized purse. He unzipped it and pulled out an arrow. It looked like the arrow that had been stolen from him and Joe. Suddenly, he felt a cold metal disc against his back.

"Don't turn round," Renee's voice came from behind him, "just put the arrow back in the bag, zip it back up and then put the bag on the table."

Frank did as he was asked. "I'm curious, why keep the arrow?" he asked.

"Call it an insurance policy," she replied, "I'm not so naive as to believe that my hired help will keep their mouths shut out of sheer loyalty. Now put your hands on your head and walk over to the closet."

Frank put his hands on his head and crossed the room to the closet. "I have to hand it to you," he commented, "you certainly had us fooled. Pretending to discover the body with Nancy and George was a pretty sharp move."

"It was," Renee admitted, "now open the door and walk to the back of the closet."

Frank did as he was told. With a gun pointed at him, it was too risky to try and fight her. When they reached the back of the closet, Renee ordered him up against the wall. "Make sure you spread those arms and legs," she said, and don't move until I tell you to."

Frank got into the position that she had ordered him to. He heard her take something off a shelf behind him. "Put your hands behind your back," she said.

Once his hands were behind his back, Frank heard the sound of tape being torn from a roll and then felt his wrists being forced together.

"Now turn around and sit down," Renee said.

Once he was sat with his back against the wall, Renee taped his ankles together and then stuck a long strip of tape over his mouth.

"I'll go and get your brother now," she said brightly, "once the two of you are taken care of, I've got a couple of loose ends to tie up before I make sure that you can't get in my way again."

As soon as the door was shut behind her, Frank began working on the tape holding his arms behind his back. All too soon, Joe was pushed into the closet. However, his hands were already behind his back and a strip of silver tape covered his mouth.

Renee gestured with her pistol for Joe to sit next to Frank then swiftly secured his ankles together. "I'll see you boys soon," she said, her tone casual. Then she shut the door, plunging the brothers into blackness.