Disclaimer: Yes, I realize that I do not own any of the characters associated with Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, but oh how I wish I did….

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Chapter 2

Nancy, Ned, and the Hardys were sitting at a table in a Chinese restaurant, waiting for their orders. All were deep in thought. All of them, except one, were thinking about the mysterious man who had left the note under the Hardys' door. They had decided there was really no reason to notify the police, since it wasn't exactly a threat, though it did have the potential to be. Ned was only thinking about how this always seemed to happen. Nancy always got involved in a mystery when they least expected it. Here they were trying to spend quality time together, away from all distractions, and it happened again. It wouldn't be so bad if Frank and Joe hadn't shown up, as they always tend to do. And that wasn't completely what was bothering Ned. What was bothering him the most (or, at least, what he was willing to admit to himself) was that, even when Nancy was honestly trying to stay out of this case, it had, nearly literally, fallen on her doorstep. Even when she wasn't involved, she became involved, as if these mysteries themselves were mysteriously drawn to her, rather than the other way around.

Nancy had told the Hardys all she could about this mysterious man. "So, you said he's tall, well-built but pale, and he had a nose ring?" Frank asked again. Nancy just nodded.

"Yeah, he seemed to have a pretty big build to me, very athletic," Joe said.

"Well, I'm just glad he didn't have a weapon. Nancy could've been hurt," Ned interrupted, irritably.

Frank looked up, "Yeah, I'm sorry that happened –"

"But it couldn't be helped," Nancy completed. "Things like that happen all the time."

"Yeah, to you," Ned said.

"No. To people," Nancy stated, calmly. "Sometimes people get in the way of others who are up to no good. You know that, as well as I do, Ned. Whether I'm involved in a case or not, and I'm not saying I'm involved in this one. Things like that can happen at any time."

Ned sighed. "I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it."

While Frank had grown a little irritated with Ned throughout this discussion, Joe looked back and forth between the couple, uncomfortably. To ease the tension, he decided to change the subject, "So, what do you two have planned for your stay here?" He hoped this was safe ground.

Nancy smile gratefully. "Well, you know, just average vacation stuff. Maybe the art museum, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, you know, among other places."

"We're trying to make it as mystery-free as possible," Ned added, wrapping his arm around Nancy. "We were wanting to spend some time alone." Nancy felt this last statement was a little unnecessary, but Ned was obviously just making a point.

"Oh, I totally forgot! I told Dad I'd call him. He wanted to make sure both of us made it here alright. I'll be right back." Nancy slid out of the booth and made her way to the front of the restaurant.

After she left, Joe played with his napkin, while Frank just sat with his hands folded in front of him and Ned leaned back in his seat. Every once in a while, Ned would take a deep breath as if to say something, but no words escaped his mouth. When the waitress came by their table, Joe became distracted and started flirting with her.

Ned seized this as his chance. He leaned in toward Frank and, in a very low voice, said, "I don't want Nancy involved in this, Hardy."

Frank looked up, eyebrows raised, "Don't you think that's up to Nancy?"

"When it comes to a mystery, it's never up to Nancy. It's inevitable. But I don't want her involved in this one, this time. Got it? We came here for a vacation and we're going to go through with our plans. I don't want anything ruining this," though Ned's words became harsher, Frank could sense a great deal of emotion behind them.

"You have my word that I won't get her involved. But I can only do so much, only up to a certain point. Beyond that, it's all up to her," Frank replied, solemnly.

Ned just stared at him for a second, then gave a slight nod and sat back into his seat. Joe turned around and looked at the two of them. "Did I miss something?" he asked, just as Nancy returned from making her phone call.

"What's going on?" she smiled, but it faltered a bit as she sat down, looking at the three guys.

Frank answered, "Nothing much, just wondering what's taking so long with the food."

Nancy glanced at them each, in turn, "Hm. Yeah, it has taken quite some time, hasn't it?" Then she smiled, "Hey, Joe. Did I see you flirting with our waitress?"

"Huh? Of course not," he replied, grinning. "I was simply buttering her up, so we'd get our food faster."

"Uh-huh. Right."

A few moments later, their food did arrive, and they all ate hungrily. After dinner, they decided to walk back to the hotel. The night was warm and dry.

"So, what kind of exciting adventures have you two been on recently?" Nancy couldn't help but ask, and Ned could just make out the gleam in her eyes.

"Well, we'd actually been taking a little bit of a break, and, by break and little bit, I mean maybe a week. But before that, we just finished up a case in Las Vegas. It was actually a murder at a casino. That guy sure gave us a run for our money," Joe said.

"Oh, well, don't you sound proud of yourself," Nancy comment, teasingly. "What's your dad up to these days?"

Frank smiled, "You know dad… He's on his own case, confidentially, that is, in Spain. We really don't even know the details of it. But, anyway, he's keeping himself busy, while mom and Aunt Gertrude worry about him, day and night. He does call when he gets the chance, just to let them know he's okay, but he can't tell any of us much, especially not over the phone. He's planning on being home in about two weeks or so, though." Frank walked with his hands in his pockets. "What about you two? And how's your dad doing?"

"Well, Ned just finished up some summer classes and an internship in Chicago, and I actually just flew in from Cincinnati. Big case and all, though not as big as your Las Vegas one. Money laundering," she said, moderately.

"What are you talking about! That case was just as dangerous as any you've ever been on!" Ned started. "You told me yourself about that parking garage incident."

Frank looked concerned. "Parking garage incident?"

"I'm fine. I'm here, aren't I?" Nancy countered, giving Ned a look of disbelief. She then looked back toward the brothers, "It was nothing, really. I mean, nothing out of the ordinary, from when we're on a case. You know, you get too close and they try to warn you off. It's usually pretty exciting afterward, because you know you're almost there. Why else would they try to stop you?" Nancy's eyes lit up, as she knew how to get out of her little dilemma. "So, you guys know that you must've been right, coming to Seattle and all. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten that note telling you to leave."

Frank wasn't ready to change the subject, but figured he would ask her about it another time, since she so obviously wanted to speak of another topic. "That's true," he said. "Now we just need to figure out where to go from there."

Of course, Ned looked much more than peeved about her throwing off such an occurrence, but he didn't feel like pressing the issue. Mostly because he was afraid of what he might say.

"Oh, by the way, Dad's doing his usual, since you asked. He seems pretty happy with himself, recently, though he's in the office a lot. But, yeah, I'd say he's doing pretty great. Actually, he's on a date tonight, believe it or not. I kind of interrupted it, when I called him, but he was waiting for me to, so…" Nancy shrugged.

"Really! Carson Drew's on a date! Awesome!" Joe said, with a grin.

Frank wondered if Nancy was really as okay with it as she seemed to be. He watched her for a moment, until he realized that someone was looking at him. Ned, and he didn't look too pleased. Frank kicked himself mentally. He had to be careful but still wanted to be there for Nancy, like a good friend should be. Of course, he did understand the reason for Ned's jealousy, but it wasn't like he was checking her out or anything.

They passed the remainder of the walk in silence and went straight to the elevator, when they reached the hotel. Nancy led the way down the sixth floor hall, wondering how things could be alright, in their current situation, when she noticed the Hardys' door was ajar. She stopped and held her hands out to stop the guys behind her. Looking back at Frank and Joe, she motioned to their door. They made their way past Ned and Nancy and stood on either side of the frame. Frank reached inside and found the light switch, as he pushed the door open. The room appeared to be empty, but the bathroom door was closed, so they did the same routine there. No one. Looking around, they saw that nothing seemed out of place.

"Is anything missing?" Nancy asked from the doorway.

"It doesn't look like it," Frank replied. Then he asked Joe, "Where did you put the note?"

"Um, I laid it at the foot of your bed, before we left." They looked. It wasn't there, and it hadn't fallen under the bed, either.

"Why would they take the note?" Ned asked, frowning.

Frank brought his hand to his mouth, thinking. He shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe they were afraid they'd left finger prints or something, or just that it itself was too much evidence. It's not like we had the chance to have it dusted." He continued looking around, as if for inspiration.

Ned touched Nancy's arm, "We should probably just call it a night."

Hesitating, Nancy said, "Uh, yeah. I suppose so. Well, I guess we'll see you guys." She glanced back at Frank and Joe and slowly began to turn around. As she did so, she noticed that Ned was giving Frank a rather intense stare. Or maybe it was more of a glare, she couldn't really tell.

Then, Frank said, "Yeah. You two enjoy your vacation. Maybe we'll meet up for lunch or something, sometime before we leave town." Nancy frowned. What was going on here?

"Sounds good," Ned said, as he led Nancy out of the room and closed the door.

As he began to unlock their door, Nancy asked, "What was all that about?"

"All what?" He didn't look up.

She just stared at him a moment, then said, "Nevermind."

They both got ready for bed, and when Nancy came out of the bathroom in her t-shirt and pajama bottoms, she found Ned already asleep. She climbed into the other bed. Nancy didn't quite feel right about sleeping in the same bed as Ned, particularly since their relationship was 'on the rocks.'

So there she was, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. All she could think about was why the person felt the need to take the note back. Why would they do that? She asked herself, over and over again. She was restless and had the urge to get out of bed and do some detective work, though she didn't know exactly what she could do. After another couple hours of not sleeping, Nancy thought she heard something out in the hall. She lay there for a moment, listening and debating whether or not she should actually, in this case, mind her own business. But she couldn't stand it anymore and threw the blankets back and climbed out of bed. Once she had made it to the door, she looked out the peephole. No one was there, so she opened the door and, glancing up and down the hallway, thought she caught a glimpse of someone rounding the corner. Frowning, she looked down. There, was another manila envelope, or maybe the same one. Closing her door behind her, so she wouldn't wake Ned, she crossed the hall, sidestepping the envelope.

Frank groggily answered the door on the fifth knock. When he noticed who was knocking, he woke up immediately. "Nancy! What's wrong?" She stepped aside and looked down at the floor. Frank rubbed his eye and frowned. "When did that get there?"

"Just a moment ago, I'm assuming. I couldn't sleep and heard some noise out here. By the time I got to the door, the guy was gone, but I'm pretty sure it was the same one. Barely caught a glimpse of him, as he rounded the far corner," she pointed down the hall. "I would have chased after him but knew there would be no way I could catch him. He had way too much of a lead."

Frank had picked up the envelope. Glancing at Nancy, and quickly looking toward her room, he said, "Come on in." She smiled.