Disclaimer: Not mine.
"Vanessa's missing?" Nancy repeated incredulously.
Joe nodded. "We have to go find her! Who knows where-"
"Slow down, Joe." Frank interrupted. "How do you know she's gone?"
Joe took a deep breath. "Her aunt just called on the phone to ask where she was. She left at ten, but she never got there. It's almost one; she should have been there hours ago!" Joe looked expectantly at Frank. "We have to do something."
"But what?" Frank said. "We don't even know she's missing. Maybe she just had car trouble or something."
"She would have called." Joe said flatly. "Frank, something's wrong. I know it."
Nancy and Frank exchanged a glance. They both knew that Joe's instincts were usually right. "We could drive up tomorrow and look for her." Frank suggested.
"How about we drive up now?" Joe said impatiently.
"Calm down." Nancy said rationally. "Joe, even if we drove up there tonight, what would we be able to do this late?"
"Please." Joe said quietly.
Nancy heard the pleading in her friend's voice. Uneasily, she remembered Vanessa's description of her aunt's neighborhood. Not a place you'd want to walk alone at night, she'd said. Nancy shuddered, hoping to God that her friend was safe.
"I'll go with you." Frank was saying. "Don't worry, little brother, we'll find her." He turned to Nancy. "You in?"
"Of course." Nancy said. "Come on!"
Back at La Casa Verde, Nancy grabbed some clothes, her sneakers, and her toothbrush and tossed them into her backpack.
"What are you doing?" Callie asked from behind her.
Nancy jumped, startled. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I wasn't sneaking!" Callie retorted. "Where are you going?"
"The Hardys and I are going to drive up to Van's aunt's place." Nancy said, not bothering to elaborate.
"Why?"
"Vanessa should have been there by now, but she isn't, and we want to make sure she isn't sitting by the side of the road somewhere. Frank thinks she might have had car trouble." Nancy said carefully, not wanting to alarm the other girl.
Frank popped his head through the open door. "You ready, Nan? I think Joe's already in the car."
"Just the three of you are going?" Callie asked, looking upset.
"Yeah." Frank said, coming into the room and giving her a peck on the cheek. "We'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"No! Not okay!" Callie said. "Why can't I come? Vanessa's my friend, too!"
Frank tried to be patient. "Look, Callie, can we not do this now?"
"Frank Hardy, I am sick of getting left behind while you and Joe go looking for trouble!"
Nancy, embarrassed to listen to Frank and Callie fight, picked up her bag. "I'll be in the car." She said, ducking out of the room.
"She's going!" Callie spat angrily, glaring pointedly at Frank.
Frank tried to soothe her. "Look, Cal, this might be nothing. Can we try to keep this quiet? I don't want to panic the others."
"Fine." Callie growled. "Weren't you going?" she said icily, signaling the end of the conversation.
Frank sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this one. "Bye. Talk to you later."
Callie just slammed the door in response.
Nancy knocked on the door to Bess and George's room. "Bess? Something came up. Frank, Joe and I have to leave. I'll call you in the morning. Bess? George?"
George opened the door. "Gotcha, Nan. Go ahead. Is there anything we can do to help?"
"No." Nancy said. "Thanks, George. I'll fill you in later, but now I have to go." Then she remembered something. "Tell Ned I'll see him later. Bye!" With that, she turned and rushed out the door.
"This is where her aunt lives?" Nancy asked uneasily from the backseat of the Hardys' rental car.
"Yeah." Frank replied, checking the map. "She lives in one of those apartments." He gestured to the dilapidated high rise buildings lining the dark street.
Joe drove the car into the parking lot and pulled into a space. Nancy glanced at him worriedly. He had hardly said a word since they had left the beach, and Nancy knew he was worried about Vanessa. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find her, Joe."
Joe smiled tightly at her and reached for the door handle. "Let's go."
Nancy made a face. "I don't really like the idea of going out there…" she said nervously.
Frank seemed to agree. "Looks like a good place to get mugged…"
"Thanks, Frank." Nancy said dryly. "I really needed to worry about that."
"Like you weren't already!" Frank said. He sighed and opened the door, and the other two followed suit.
Nancy heard shouts in the distance, followed by a series of loud cracks. "Someone please tell me that wasn't gunfire."
"No can do, Nancy." Joe joked feebly.
Frank reached over and took Nancy's hand. Nancy squeezed his hand tightly. He always knew how she was feeling. The threesome made their way along the deserted street and up to Vanessa's aunt's apartment.
Rachel Menezquez was a petite woman in her fifties. Opening the door, she said, "You must be Vanessa's friends. Come in, please."
Nancy, Frank, and Joe stepped into the small apartment and looked around. It was clean and done in browns and tans- much nicer on the inside than the outside.
"You didn't find her." Rachel said softly. Her face was pale and haggard. "Oh, I don't know what to do!"
"You didn't see her at all tonight?" Joe questioned desperately.
"No." she answered. "My niece never got here." Rachel was watching Joe. "You must be Joe Hardy." She didn't bother saying that she had heard all about him, although she had.
"I am." Joe said.
Frank cleared his throat. "I'm his brother, Frank, and this is our friend, Nancy Drew."
"Thank you for coming." Rachel said shakily. She sank down on the couch. "I never should have asked her to come here by herself. It's too dangerous here. This place… Oh, this is all my fault!"
Joe said nothing; he privately agreed.
Nancy's heart went out to the woman. "It isn't your fault. You couldn't have known." she smiled. "Besides, Vanessa might be fine. She hasn't been gone for very long. There are plenty of reasons she could be late." She ended up looking at Joe, trying to convince him as well.
"Right." Frank said. "Don't be too worried."
"Should I call the police?" The woman asked.
"It's too early." Frank told her. "She's only been gone five hours."
"Oh."
The room was full of tension. Nancy noted that Joe and Rachel were staring at each other. Almost glaring, she amended, watching Joe. She sighed inwardly. She had been right. There was nothing they could do tonight. "It's late." she said. "Maybe we should start the search in the morning."
Rachel and Joe just looked at her, apparently not caring much for that idea, but Frank backed her up. "Yeah, we need to find a hotel to check into. We didn't really plan this little venture that well."
Rachel pursed her lips. "I'd like to have you stay here, but I really haven't the room." She gestured to the small apartment. She was right; the apartment consisted of the room they were in, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a small bedroom.
"Do you know of any hotels near here?" Nancy asked. "If we stay close, we can start looking forher first thing tomorrow."
"Oh, there's a motel just around the corner." Rachel said. "I know this isn't the best neighborhood, but it's really the only one around."
"You must be joking." Nancy said as she looked up at the three story motel that Rachel had recommended. They had left her room and walked around the corner to see a dirty, decrepit building with a flickering "Motel" sign. "There is a law that says these things have to be safe, right?"
"I thought there was." Frank said. "But I'm really not that sure anymore."
"So this is what a no-star hotel looks like." Joe cracked.
"Are we going in there?" Nancy asked Joe.
"Yes." Joe said. He was already taking long strides toward the rundown motel. Nancy and Frank followed hesitantly.
Unlike Rachel's apartment, the inside of the hotel was just as bad as the outside. The lighting was poor and the carpet was practically worn away to nothing. Joe went up to the front desk and rang the bell.
"Can I help you?" A stout woman peered through a doorway behind the desk.
"We need two rooms." Joe said.
"Oh." The woman said, coming into the front room.
Joe blinked as the woman tucked something behind the desk. He thought he saw a flash of metal. "Is that a gun?" he blurted.
The woman looked startled. "Yes." she admitted. "You can't be too careful around here." Then she put on a pleasant smile. "Did you say you needed a room?"
"Two, actually." Nancy piped up doubtfully. She was more than a little uneasy about the armed woman.
"Sorry hon," the woman said. "We only have one available room."
Nancy, Frank, and Joe exchanged glances. How was it possible that all three floors were filled?
The woman noticed their surprised looks and said, "We had to close the rooms on the third floor because of a mold infestation."
Joe grimaced, but said, "We'll take it."
Frank had to smile. It was obvious who was leading this mission.
A/N: Sorry, no cliffie this time. Thanks to all my reviewers, and please keep reviewing! I'll try toget up the next chaptersoon, but I will be updating sporadically due to trying to finish several stories at the same time. I haven't abandoned TCC either,for anyone who might be wondering. I'll getit all done eventually.Don't forget to review!