Disclaimer: Nan and the Hardys don't belong to me. Neither do Charity or the Foxes. As a matter of fact, it's safer to say I don't own anything.

Nancy looked around quickly. Where had the woman disappeared to? She reached for the nearest door, a janitor's closet, and twisted the knob. It was locked, and she suspected the other doors would be too. The only other exit looked to be the stairs at the end of the hall. She dashed up the stairs, hoping she was headed to room 318, on the third floor. She slowed down as she neared the top of the steps. A strip of caution tape had been stretched across the doorway, but now it was hanging to the floor. Nancy suspected that the stranger had broken it; she was on the right track.

Reaching the landing of the third floor, she glanced around for the mystery woman. The hallway was a mess. White plastic tarps were everywhere, and several uniformed men were standing on ladders and spraying chemicals from aerosol cans. One man looked startled and stepped up to her. "Excuse me, miss. This floor is closed."

Right. Nancy thought. The mold infestation. "Sorry, but I was looking for my sister." she lied quickly. "She looks just like me. Didn't I just see her come in here?"

The man gave her a look. "Sorry, lady. No one but my guys has been up here all day. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. These chemicals can be dangerous." he said adamantly.

"Are you sure?" Nancy persisted. Could he be covering up for the stranger?

"Yes." The man said firmly. "Positive."

"Oh," Nancy said. "That's weird. She told me to meet her in room 318." She knew that it was dangerous to go after the woman without backup, but if she waited for the Hardys, the trail would go cold.

The man pointed to the door. "Look, lady. Your sister's not here. All of these rooms are closed. Please leave!"

Nancy's heart sank. She would never find the mystery woman now. "Okay. Thanks anyway." she said, heading back down the stairs. Turning the corner toward her room, she saw Frank and Joe standing in the hallway, looking worried. "Guys, over here!" she called.

Frank turned towards her, relief evident on his face. "Nancy! Thank God!"

"Geez, you scared us." Joe added. "I was afraid we had another missing person on our hands."

Finally reaching them, she gave Frank's arm a squeeze. "Sorry for worrying you, but we may have a break in the case!" Inside, she filled the Hardys in on the mysterious visitor, her invitation to a meeting, and her abrupt disappearance. "She looked a lot like me." she said. "And I got the feeling she knew you guys. Joe especially."

"Why me?" Joe asked, puzzled as to the woman's identity.

"Well," Nancy said. "She asked me if I was a friend of yours and when I said yes, she asked me if you were still as cute as ever."

Joe frowned. "This is really weird." Then he grinned. "What'd you say?"

Nancy gave him a friendly shove. "It doesn't matter what I said." she answered. Then to Frank, she said, "What are you thinking?"

"You mean you can't tell?" Joe cracked. Nancy rolled her eyes.

Frank was deep in concentration, furrowing his brow and resting his chin on his hand. "It seems like I should know this woman…" he muttered. He looked up at Nancy. "This is going to sound really weird, but I think I've heard that line before."

"What line?" Nancy and Joe chorused.

Frank closed his eyes and said, "Is your brother still as cute as ever?"

Joe laughed. "This is crazy! Who said it?"

Frank gritted his teeth. "I don't know! I feel like I should, like it's on the tip of my tongue, but I don't." He looked at Joe. "Help me out. Who's mysterious, looks like Nancy, and thinks you're cute?"

The brothers stared at each other for a minute and then both said a single word. "Charity."

Ned turned up the heat on the gas grill as he stood on the balcony overlooking the beach. He heard someone talking below him and looked down to see Bess talking animatedly to Callie, who seemed relatively unresponsive. "Girls, up here." he called.

Bess and Callie smiled up at him and came up the stairs. "Dinner ready?" Bess asked cheerfully.

"Soon." Ned replied.

"I'm not eating with you." she announced. "I've got a date."

"Where's George?" Ned asked.

"Oh, she found a guy who agreed to give her windsurfing lessons, so she won't be back for a while." Bess smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready."

Callie sat down on a nearby bench. "Have fun." she said dully. Taking no notice of her unhappy tone, Bess skipped into her room, humming to herself.

Ned frowned, turning his back on the grill to look at Callie. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.

Callie smirked. "Oh, it's nothing." Seeing the skeptical look on his face, she confessed. "Frank said he was going to call me today, but he never did."

Ned shrugged. "Maybe they got a lead and he just forgot. Maybe you missed the call."

"Maybe." Callie said, not looking too cheered up. "We fought. I think he might be mad at me." she laughed bitterly. "But you didn't really need to know that."

Ned sat down next to her. "It wasn't because of us trying to make him jealous, was it?" he sounded concerned. "Because that really isn't what was supposed to happen."

"No," Callie assured him. "That wasn't it. Quite the opposite, really."

"Oh." Ned said, momentarily lost for words. "I'm sure he's not mad at you. You know how they get when they're on a case…"

"You may be right." Callie said, unconvinced. She sniffed the air. "Is something burn-"

The pair looked up at the charred hamburgers on the grill. Ned leaped up and turned it off, cringing as he realized that the burgers were beyond salvageable. "Sorry about that." he apologized sheepishly.

"Mmm." Callie said. "It doesn't really matter."

Ned frowned. He hadn't cheered her up much. "Hey," he said. "What if we just go out tonight?"

Callie looked up at him. "Really? Just us two?"

"Why not?" Ned said. "We're the only two here."

"Yeah, I guess we are." Callie replied. "Weird, I could have sworn we came with a party of eight."

"Tell me about it." Ned said. "So, what do you think?"

Callie thought about declining his invitation, and then realized she had no reason not to. After all, it wasn't like Frank would be here to take her out. No, he and Nancy were out on a case. And she and Ned would just be eating dinner, not sharing a hotel room… "Dinner sounds great."

"Great." Ned smiled. "It's a date."

"Charity? Is that her name?" Nancy inquired, looking back and forth between Frank and Joe.

"It does sound like her." Joe admitted. He gritted his teeth. "If it is her, we'd better get her this time."

"Is she a kidnapper?" Nancy asked.

"Actually," Frank said. "She's a thief."

"A real slippery one, too." Joe added.

"We first met her on a case in San Francisco, and then in San Diego." Frank explained further. "She got away both times."

"Well," Joe said, "Third time's the charm."

"Hopefully." Frank agreed.

Nancy frowned. "This is getting stranger and stranger. What would a thief be doing with Vanessa?"

Frank shrugged. "Maybe she doesn't have Vanessa. Did she ever say she did?"

Nancy thought hard. "No," she said slowly. "She just said that she had some information about Vanessa and that Vanessa needed help."

Joe punched his fist into his open palm. "Of course she has Vanessa. Why else would she come to us? Sneaky little-"

"That's another thing." Nancy interrupted. "This "meeting" is sounding more and more like a trap."

"I was thinking the same thing." Frank admitted. "And we're just going to have to find a way to spring it."

A/N: Is the meeting a trap? What will happen on Ned and Callie's "date"? Can you stand the suspense? Please review, and all questions will be answered! I'll try to update ASAP!