Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: And the winners are… Tesub Calle and Katie Janeway for figuring out who the kidnappers are! Your prize… would be this chapter. I was saving it until someone guessed it. Don't worry; I would have posted it eventually. (Honorable mentions go to nanfran and Marie for getting the Foxes.) Also, Slshadowfox made an amusing comment about a "roach motel", so I couldn't resist using it… Thanks to everyone who reviewed.Anyway, please read and review!
"It's morning." Joe announced.
Nancy stirred. There was no clock in the room. "What time is it?"
"Six o'clock."
"There was a time when you considered six am the middle of the night, Joe." Frank groaned.
Nancy sat up and suddenly sat very still. She knew she'd heard a noise on the floor. She cringed. Cockroaches. "Frank? Joe? Would one of you be a dear and turn on the light?" she asked sweetly.
"Yeah, Frank, be a dear." Joe yawned.
"You two are so funny." Frank grumbled. He fumbled around for the light switch in the dark, and seconds later the teens heard scurrying as the insects scrambled out of sight.
Nancy got out of bed, stepping gingerly. "Okay, guys, what's our attack plan?"
"We don't have one." Frank admitted, glancing around the room. "How about we get out of here and figure something out over breakfast?"
"Sounds good." Nancy said. "Just give me a minute to get ready." She grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom.
Frank looked after her and ran a hand through his hair. "I told Callie I'd call her."
Joe gave him a look. "Yeah, she'll really love it when you call her at the crack of dawn."
"We had a fight last night." It looked like it was really bugging him.
Joe raised his eyebrows. "About what?"
"The usual."
"Right..." Joe said. He paused, then said, "She'll forgive you. She always does."
Frank sighed. "I know, but I'm sick of having the same argument over and over!" He stopped and looked at Joe, feeling horrible. How could he think about his girlfriend when Joe's was missing? "Forget I said anything."
Joe knew what his brother was thinking. "It's okay, Frank." He stared out the window for a moment. "Come on; let's get out of this dump!"
"Gladly." Nancy said, emerging from the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, the teens were dressed and sitting in a local bagel shop. It wasn't exactly five-star, but at least it seemed sanitary.
Joe took a sip of his coffee and stared at it with newfound respect. "That is the strongest coffee I have ever tasted."
Nancy laughed. "I know. It's good, isn't it?"
"We'll need it to operate on four hours of sleep!" Frank reminded them, sitting down next to Nancy with a newspaper he'd just bought from the machine. He opened the paper and skimmed through it. It was a habit, really. He liked to know what was going on.
"What should we do first?" Nancy asked Joe.
"I was thinking we could check in with the police station to see if any…accidents were reported."
"Good idea." Nancy said.
Frank nodded. He could see how hard this was for his brother.
"Then we should probably check in with Rachel. Maybe she's heard something."
"Sounds like a plan." Frank said, folding up the newspaper.
"As much of a plan as we're gonna get with nothing to go on." Joe muttered gloomily.
Nancy frowned. She had just been thinking that herself.
Frank shook his head as he came out of the police station. The station was all the way on the other side of town- the good side of town. It was ironic how you had to come here to find a cop, right where you'd least need them.
"No reports of any accidents involving a navy Taurus." he told Joe and Nancy, who had waited in the car.
"I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing." Joe said.
"Me neither." Frank agreed.
"Did they tell you anything else?" Nancy asked. "Like what we should do?"
"When I explained our situation, the officer-on-duty suggested we go back and make sure Rachel hasn't heard from her. He said to come back if she's still missing tomorrow." What Frank didn't tell them was that the officer hadn't seemed too hopeful about finding a girl who'd been kidnapped in the middle of the night on the wrong side of town.
"Let's go." Nancy said suddenly, and Frank realized that they'd all been thinking along the same lines as he had.
Rachel had not heard anything from Vanessa either. The group was in poor spirits by the time they left her apartment with the promise to let her know the second they learned anything.
Walking back to the car, Nancy looked around; taking note of the shady characters that patrolled the neighborhood during the day. A tall man brushed past her on the sidewalk, mumbling to himself. One woman ambled along the street wheeling a shopping cart filled with what was most likely all of her worldly possessions. Yet another man lurked on the other side of the street, his hat covering his eyes. He lifted his head, and Nancy shivered at the glance he gave her. She hurried to catch up with the Hardys.
All of the sudden, Frank stopped short. "Joe," he said, "Isn't that...?"
Joe followed Frank's gaze. "That's Van's car!" he cried.
The two boys ran toward the blue car parked in the corner of the lot. Nancy glanced around nervously before following. Catching up with them, she asked, "Are you sure it's her car?"
"Positive." Joe said.
"And she's not in it." Nancy said worriedly. "Is it unlocked?"
"It is." Frank said, observing the raised pop-locks. "I'm surprised it didn't get stolen."
"Was it here last night and we just didn't notice it?" Joe asked.
"I don't know." Frank said, looking frustrated. "I don't remember."
"No trace of her?" Nancy said slowly. "No-"
"Blood?" Joe said angrily. "No, not that I can see!"
"Chill out, Joe." Frank said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Nan just wants to make sure we don't miss anything."
"What now?" Nancy breathed.
Joe gave her an upset look. "We have to call the police!" he cried.
Nancy bit her lip as the people on the street simultaneously turned to give them dirty looks. "Maybe you shouldn't have said that so loud." Frank murmured nervously.
Joe, Frank, Nancy, and Rachel grouped in Rachel's apartment to listen to the police report.
"We found no traces of blood, and there were no fingerprints on the wheel or handle except those of the victim."
Joe cringed at hearing Vanessa referred to as "the victim."
"We found nothing to indicate a struggle of any sort except a wooden walking stick lying under the car, but it was not bloodied and there were no fingerprints on it, so there's no proof it was even linked to the young lady's disappearance."
"Great." Joe said. "So what you're saying is that we have no clues as to Vanessa's disappearance."
"Sorry, son." said the burly police officer. "We're doing our best."
"Thank you." Frank said, shaking the officer's hand.
The officer smiled sadly at him. "We'll let you know if we find anything else, and we'll expect you to do the same."
"Of course." Nancy said, opening the door for him. "Thank you."
Joe turned away from the window in the hotel room. "This place is depressing." He took a double take at the wall above the bed. "Is that a bullet hole?"
"Mmm." Nancy said noncommittally. She was perched on her bed, trying to keep her feet off the floor. "Anything interesting?" she asked Frank, who was once again perusing the newspaper.
"Not really." Frank said. "A convenience store robbery, some scientific study on brain cancer... Oh, and a Velazquez exhibit is coming to the local museum."
"Fun." Nancy said dully. "Velazquez… He was that Hispanic painter, right?"
"One of them." Frank replied.
Joe couldn't take it anymore. "How can we have hit a dead end?" he burst out.
"I don't know." Nancy said softly. Joe was right; they had run out of clues.
Joe banged his fist against the wall. "Of course. When the case is really important, it turns out to be the one case we can't solve!"
"It's not over yet, Joe." Frank reminded him. More to Nancy, he said, "Maybe we'll think of something once we eat. Joe and I can run down to that pizza place on the corner and pick up lunch." Anything to get Joe's mind off of Vanessa.
"Sounds good." Nancy said, brightly, for Joe's benefit. "I have to call Ned anyway."
Frank nodded. "Let's go, Joe."
Nancy glanced out the window and then back to the Hardys. "Guys…be careful."
"We're always careful." Joe said.
"You mean, I'm always careful." Frank teased.
"Yeah, Frank's always careful." Joe amended, closing the door.
Nancy laughed and turned to the phone. She was dreading the call where she had to explain to Ned why she and the Hardys took off in the middle of the might last night. He would so not be happy to know that they were in mid-mystery. Well, she decided, he would just have to live with it, for Vanessa's sake.
She dialed the number of Ned's room back at Casa Verde.
"Hello?"
"Ned, it's Nancy." she bit her lip in preparation for the outburst she knew was coming.
"Nancy! Where are you? What happened?"
"Ned, Vanessa went missing last night and the Hardys and I came up to her Aunt Rachel's to look for her."
"Any luck?"
Nancy was relieved. Ned knew how important this was, and he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. "Not really. We found her car, but no sign of her. Joe's frantic."
"Do you need me to come up there?"
Nancy smiled. Hewantedto come up and help her! She heard the sound of a door opening on Ned's end of the line.
"Okay, the rest of the gang's here. Let me rephrase that: Do you need us?" She heard Ned tell the others, "It's Nancy."
There was chatter in the background. Nancy distinctly heard Callie say, "Where are they?"
"Actually," Nancy said, "We aren't staying with Vanessa's aunt; we're rooming in this really gross hotel down the street." She heard Ned relay the message to Callie.
"Should we pack?" Ned asked her.
Nancy frowned, knowing that neither Ned nor Callie was going to like what she said next. "You're going to think this is nuts, but there are no open hotel rooms here. We got the last one." She cringed, realizing that she could have phrased that better.
"You're sharing a room?" Ned repeated.
"Yes." Nancy said gingerly. "There really aren't any other hotels around here-"
Callie's voice broke into her explanation. "You guys are all sleeping in the same room?" Callie had taken the phone from Ned sometime during her statement.
Nancy was growing impatient. "Grow up!" she snapped. "It's not like we're sharing a bed! We didn't have much of a choice!"
"But-"
"Vanessa is missing and all you guys can think about is our sleeping arrangements?" Nancy fumed. "Honestly, what is wrong with the two of you!"
Ned had taken the phone back. "Nan, it's nothing. You're right. Sorry." he tried to placate her.
Callie jumped back into the conversation. "It's not like we don't have a reason to be upset!"
"Callie-" Ned started.
"Right?" Callie persisted, asking Ned.
"Well…" Ned said, not wanting to anger either girl.
Nancy cut him off there. "I refuse to listen to this! I'll call you later." She groaned, slamming the phone back into its cradle. "That went well."
Seconds later, she jumped as a knock sounded at the door. Could Frank and Joe be back already? "Who's there?" she called out.
A woman's voice answered her softly. "I'm a friend."
Nancy froze. She wished there was a peephole to look out or at least a chain on the door, but there was nothing. "What's your name?"
"I'm afraid I can't say. You're going to have to trust me."
Nancy was torn. She was alone in a forbidding neighborhood and a stranger who claimed to be a friend was at the door. On the other hand, this person might be connected to Vanessa's disappearance, in which case she would need the stranger's information.
"It's about Vanessa." the woman said.
Nancy slowly opened the door to see a woman who bore a striking resemblance to herself. She was about Nancy's height and build and had the same shade of red-blonde hair that was only a bit longer than her own. Nancy had never seen her before in her life. "What about Vanessa?" she pressed, once the initial surprise had worn off.
"She's in trouble." the stranger said.
"Yes?" Nancy said, wanting more details. "Where is she? Is she hurt?"
The woman pressed her lips together. "You're a friend of Joe's." she said instead.
"Yes." Nancy said. Where was this going?
"Is he still as cute as ever?"
Nancy was stunned. "…I guess…. I don't know!" she said. "What about Vanessa?"
"Tell Frank and Joe that the three of you need to come to room 318 at eight o'clock tonight."
"Why?" Nancy asked suspiciously.
"My…associates and I need to talk to you." The woman said. She smiled sweetly at Nancy. "Goodbye."
"Wait!" Nancy said, reaching for the woman, who twisted out of her grasp easily. "Who should I tell them you are?"
The woman smiled secretively. "Just tell Joe that Vanessa needs his help." All of this time she had been inching backward, and she suddenly broke into a sprint, disappearing around the corner.
Nancy ran after her, but when she turned the corner, the stranger was gone.
A/N: I love Charity! By the way, she's from the Hardy Boys Casefiles, numbers six and twenty-nine, in case you were curious. Please review and I'll update as soon as I can!