Author's Note: I'm back! Yay! (I'll wait until the applause dies down...Just kidding!) Well, here's a chapter as soon as I got back, as I promised. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter and I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for a new one. But the important thing is that I had fun and I am now ready to go! (We really know that the important thing is that I have a new chapter up before I have a mob scene at my door!)

And while I have everyone's attention, we need your help! ("We" being TesubCalle, me and a few others.) We are trying to petition to change the category name to Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew or to give Nancy Drew a category of its own. We will take it any way that we can get it. If we have enough people email them, maybe we can have this name change. We each have our own reasons for wanting this, but my main things is that when Nancy Drew fans see a "Hardy Boys" category and no mention of Nancy Drew on the books main page, maybe it discourages them from seeing the work of authors that post there who do write Nancy Drew stories. If you are interested in helping, please email me. You can find my email address on my profile–just click on my screen name. The more people we have involved, the better!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Phil could feel the blood pumping through his veins as he walked back into his office. He finally had a name; now all he had to do was to find her. He walked into his office and closed the door. His phone on his desk started to ring as soon as he sat down.

"Minor," he answered.

"Do you have something for me?" Stuart asked.

Phil rolled his eyes in disgust–he was really getting tired of these phone calls. But he tried to hide that disgust as he spoke. "I found out the girl's name. She came in yesterday after lunch and was checking about vacancies."

"Do you believe her story?" Stuart asked.

"Not really. It seems to be too staged considering I found her in that room last night." Phil said.

"Find out everything you can about her. I want to know her better than she knows herself." Stuart said. He hung up the phone before Phil could answer him.

"I'll get right on that." Phil muttered as he hung up his own phone. He leaned back in his chair and sighed.

Now it was time to find that proverbial needle in the haystack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nancy woke up the next morning, smiling. Last night with Frank had been amazing. Sure, it kind of bothered her knowing that Joe was in the next room, but right now she didn't care. She was married to the man of her dreams and if she didn't take advantage of the few alone times they had together, what was she to do?

She turned around to see Frank, propped on one elbow, smiling down at her.

"Good morning," he said, his lips meeting hers softly.

"Good morning to you, too." Nancy said.

He let his thumb trace her cheekbone. "Last night was..."

"Wonderful." Nancy answered.

"I was going to say amazing, but wonderful will work, too." He teased.

Nancy laughed softly and kissed him again.

"Considering that I was preoccupied last night, I never did ask what Vanessa wanted." Frank said.

Nancy lay back on her pillow and sighed. "She was freaked out about Joe. She wanted to know what was going on with him."

"Did you tell her?" Frank asked.

"I did. I thought she had the right to know." Nancy said. "Someone needed to and it wasn't like Joe was about to tell her."

"You're right." Frank said, nodding. "She did need to know."

"She told me something interesting, too. Actually, a couple of interesting things." Nancy said.

"Like what?" Frank asked.

Nancy sat up in bed and turned to look at Frank. "She told me why she thought Joe may have come here."

"Really?" Frank asked, surprised.

Nancy nodded. "Yep. Apparently he freaked because she started to talk about marriage."

"I didn't even know they were considering it." Frank said. "Looks like she found the one thing in the world that can petrify Joe."

"She sounded really upset about it." Nancy said."She's really worried about him, Frank. And it didn't help matters any when he called her last night."

"He called her?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. She said for a while he wouldn't say anything but when he finally did speak all he said to her was that he was sorry." Nancy explained.

Frank remained silent, just looking up at the ceiling.

"I told her everything about, Joe." Nancy said.

"She needed to know." Frank said again. "She would have hated to hear about it on the news."

"Come on," Nancy said, patting him on the chest. "We need to get going. We have a lot to do today."

"Can't we just stay in bed?" Frank protested.

Nancy grinned at him. "Sure we could, but I really don't see how that will help Joe in any way."

Frank groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. He called down to room service and ordered breakfast for them and they quickly got dressed. When they emerged from their bedroom, Joe was answering the door. He took the cart from the waiter and tipped him a few dollars.

"About time you two came out of that bedroom," he said. "I would have checked on you, but I was afraid of what I might be barging into."

"And he's back to normal." Nancy said, rolling her eyes.

Joe smiled at her and uncovered the dishes on the cart. They each took a plate topped with pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast and sat down at the small table.

"So, did you two lovebirds find anything last night?" Joe asked, taking a bite of the eggs.

"Actually, we think we may have." Nancy said.

Joe looked at her, eyes wide. "Well, tell me. I mean, it is my life that is on the line and all."

Nancy dug into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small plastic Ziploc bag that held the eagle cufflink. She handed it to Joe and he put down his fork to study the cufflink.

"Where did you find this?" Joe asked. "How did you find this?"

"Uh, well..." Nancy began.

"We kind of got caught." Frank answered.

"What? How?" Joe asked, putting the little baggie down.

"Well, Frank hid in the bathroom and let me take the fall for it." Nancy said.

"I wasn't the one in the maid's uniform." Frank teased.

"Oh, believe me, it was certainly debatable." Nancy said.

"I highly doubt that I would have looked as good as you did in that skirt." Frank said.

Joe could only look at them and laugh.

Nancy shot both brothers a look and got them back on track. "Anyway, one of the security guards caught me in the room. I talked my way out of it but I think he suspects something. So we need to be careful and be on the lookout."

"So, where did you find this?" Joe asked, holding up the cufflink again.

"Beside the bed." Frank said. "And we can be absolutely sure that it isn't yours. And we are fairly certain it hasn't been there for a long time so that means that someone had to be in that room the night of the murder."

"Great," Joe said, a little frustrated. "Now all we have to do is look for someone who's missing a cufflink. Shouldn't be too hard to look for that in Las Vegas."

"Don't you get all fussy with us." Nancy warned. "We're out there trying to get you out of this mess. I'm sorry that there isn't a sign in that room that leads us directly to the killer. You're just going to have to take what you can get and learn to deal with it."

"I'm sorry." Joe said, sighing. "I didn't mean to sound like that. It's just frustrating that I can't be out there helping you. And if something did happen to you, I would totally blame myself because it would have been my fault."

"That's better." Nancy said. She took a sip of her orange juice.

"So, what about you, Bro?" Frank asked. "Did you find out anything while we were gone?"

Joe shot them a rueful grin. "I found out that the news reports are totally against me. They're just waiting for any drop of evidence against me to come in so they can have a big story."

"Don't let it get to you, Joe." Nancy cautioned. "This isn't the first time reporters have been against us."

"I'm not," Joe assured her. "But they did tell me the name of the woman that I supposedly murdered–Abby Collins."

"Did you find out anything about her?" Frank asked.

"Not yet. I planned on making some calls today to see what I could find out about her." Joe said.

"We need to know something soon." Frank said. "If she's connected with the Saraphina in any way, then that could point the finger their way and we'll find out why someone wanted her dead."

"It would help if I could remember anything from that night." Joe said.

"You're right, it would." Frank said. "But you can't force it or you'll just push it further away in your mind."

"What about you two?" Joe asked. "What are you going to do?"

"We're going to check out some jewelry stores. See if maybe we can find the owner of the cufflink." Nancy said.

"So, you're not going to give it to the police." Joe said.

"As far as I'm concerned, I am working with the police." Nancy said, shooting a glance at Frank. Then she turned to look back at Joe. "And besides, if the police are as gung ho as you say they are about pinning this murder on you, then they're the last people I want to deal with."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why didn't you say anything about Vanessa?" Frank asked Nancy as they walked out of their hotel.

"Because I was hoping that maybe he would say something instead." Nancy said. She pulled her light jacket on and grabbed Frank's hand. He squeezed it lovingly as they started down the block.

"You know that he won't." Frank said, bringing her hand to his lips.

Nancy smiled as he kissed it. "Well, I guess I'm hoping that little brother of yours will mature a little bit as he ages."

"Good luck." Frank said, chuckling.

They had made out a list of local jewelry stores and were walking to the one that was closest to their hotel, Gibson's Jewelers. When Frank opened the door, a little bell jangled announcing their arrival. Almost instantly, a short middle-aged man with thinning silver hair was standing in front of them, smiling.

"Oh, a happy couple!" he exclaimed. "We have an excellent selection of engagement and wedding rings."

Nancy held up her hand. "It's a little too late for that."

The man smiled at them. "Well, we have an excellent selection of jewelry for that birthday or anniversary."

"Actually, we're not here to buy jewelry." Frank said.

The man's smile fell from his face. "Oh," he said, disappointed.

"My name is Frank Hardy, and this is my wife, Nancy." Frank said, holding out his hand. "And you are?"

"Alex Gibson," the man said. "If you're not here to purchase any jewelry, then what, may I ask, are you here for?"

"We were actually interested in knowing if you sell any cufflinks." Nancy said.

"Sure," Alex said, smiling again. "We have one of the best selections on the Strip."

"Have you sold any recently that look like this?" Nancy asked, holding the bag with the eagle cufflink.

Alex took it from her and studied it. "I really don't think we've ever had any like this. Do you mind if I take it out of the bag?"

"Sure, go ahead." Frank said. He and Nancy had discussed it earlier and determined that there was no way to get a print off of it.

Alex took it out of the bag and frowned as he looked it over. After a few moments, he put it back in the bag and handed it back to Nancy. "I know we've never sold any like that. All I can tell you is that whoever it belongs to, they have money. That's twenty-four karat gold that you have there."

"Really?" Frank asked, intrigued.

Alex nodded. "Mm-hmm. How did you two come across this?"

"Oh, well we–" Nancy began.

"It belonged to my grandfather." Frank said. "He was just wondering about an appraisal."

Alex studied them as if he didn't believe their story. Finally he just shrugged and sighed. "Well, I couldn't give you a definite quote, but I will say that you definitely have a treasure there, especially if you have another one to go with it."

"Thank you so much," Nancy said. "You've been really helpful."

"No problem," Alex said. "And if you ever think of selling it, I really hope you consider bringing them back to us."

Nancy and Frank smiled their thanks. The bright sun greeted them as they walked out of the shop.

"So, where did we get after that?" Frank asked.

"We learned that it belongs to someone with money." Nancy said, trying to be optimistic.

"That could very well be anyone who just hit the jackpot in one of the many casinos here." Frank grumbled.

"Optimism, Frank." Nancy said. "Besides, I think it's a pretty good starting place."

"All right," Frank said. "Let's go see if Joe has found out anything."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Phil Minor put down his binoculars and smiled to himself. He and his team had been searching the casinos all day long for a Molly Adams, and so far the search had turned up nothing. But as luck would have it, he just spotted her walking out of Gibson's Jewelers with a man. But come to think of it now, the man reminded him of someone, but he couldn't place it right then.

Oh, well, he thought. It would come to him sooner or later and he didn't have time to figure it out now. He watched as they walked into the Exodus Hotel and nearly choked. She was staying at the hotel across the street from the Saraphina!

He was frustrated with himself, but at the same time, happy. She had just made his search a whole loteasier. Now all he had to do was call the Exodus and find out her room number.

That should make Stuart happy, he thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Post Author's Note: I will try to have another update in a couple of days, but I live on the Mississippi Coast and Hurricane Dennis is headed this way. Just pray that it misses us and wish us luck!