A/N: Sorry for the holdup. You all know me... Anyway, thanks for all the great reviews; keep it up, of course!
A/N: MzPink, Fiona Fox is a real character from the Nancy Drew/ Hardy Boys Supermysteries. She appeared in both The Paris Connection and my personal favorite, A Crime For Christmas. Incidentally, the plastic explosive is also something I found in that book... I know katie janeway knows what I'm talking about! ; )
"Fiona!" Nancy hissed. "Shouldn't I be in on the plan?"
Fiona glanced back at the nervous strawberry-blonde behind her. "I already told you and Joe: We get into the museum, Mirage's goons load the truck, I get in the truck, you and Joe take the car back to the rental place, get your old car, head back to the hotel, and meet up with Frank and Vanessa, if all goes well."
Nancy sighed in exasperation; it was clear that Fiona didn't intend to share the details of just how they'd be breaking into said museum.
Fiona indicated a truck half a block from the museum. Its electric company logo made it fairly inconspicuous. "That's the one." she whispered, mostly to herself.
Nancy squinted and was able to make out two black-clad figures in the cab. She bit her lip, thinking of Joe and his plan. Would he be able to handle the Mirage's musclemen? She was jerked out of her thoughts when Fiona stopped abruptly in front of her. "Follow my footsteps exactly." she warned softly. "There are motion activated floodlights covering the lawn. One misstep could be most unfortunate."
Nancy nodded tautly and quickly trailed Fiona across the lawn. When the reached the building, the pair pressed against the brick wall. "Why didn't the lights pick us up?" Nancy asked.
Fiona smiled, teeth flashing white in the dark. "One of them is broken." she replied. "Courtesy of the Mirage." She handed Nancy the bag she'd been carrying over her shoulder. "Hold this." After rifling through the bag, Fiona triumphantly held up a pair of ordinary scissors. Seeing Nancy's confused look, she explained, "This museum hasn't had anything worth stealing in a long time. They had to step up security before the Velazquez exhibit could be displayed here, of course, but there was no need to improve the whole building's security..." Grinning again, she reached up to the window and snipped a protruding wire. No more alarm. "We won't reach anything more high-tech until we get to the hall where the Velazquezs are kept."
Nancy was stunned at how easily she and Fiona got into the museum and stealthily made their way to the exhibit. She was waiting for an alarm to sound any second, but none came. Was it really possible that their security was this bad? How had the museum not been robbed before this?
Finally, the two girls came to a locked door. "This is it." Fiona breathed.
"Are we going to pick the lock?" Nancy asked doubtfully.
Fiona nodded. She took a deep breath and decided to tell Nancy something she would not want to hear. "Listen, Nancy. When an exhibit is as valuable as this one is, the insurance companies don't want to keep you from getting in. They want to keep you from getting back out."
Frank held his breath as he followed Charity through the dusty ventilation system. His mind was spinning: something wasn't adding up. Before he could analyze it, Charity slowed to a stop. "Right down there." she whispered.
Frank peered through the grate and caught sight of Vanessa lying on a bed, duct tape covering her mouth and binding her wrists and ankles together. "Vanessa! Thank god." Something occured to him. "I don't see Dr. Fox in there anywhere..."
Charity shrugged. "We can look for him when we get in there." She shifted around, unintentionally making loud noises in the cramped shaft. Reaching for her bag, she pulled a length of rope out of it. "Okay, here's the plan." she hissed. "Since Vanessa's probably drugged, she'll need some help getting up here. I'm going to lower you down using this rope, and when you get down there I want you to make sure she's alert enough to come with us."
"What about the Mirage?" Frank asked. "If he's around, we won't have time to-"
Charity cut him off. "Well then we'd better not waste it." She kicked out the grate, sending it to the floor with a clang. Vanessa jumped, eyes wide, and stared at the grate.
Frank gave Charity a look. "Great; wake the whole hotel. It's not like we're trying to rescue hostages or anything." Taking hold of the rope Charity had anchored to a gas pipe, he quickly lowered himself to the floor, noting curiously that the ceiling was at least ten feet higher than a normal ceiling.
Seeing Frank, Vanessa tried to talk. Frank ran to her and gently removed the tape over her mouth. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking his pocketknife to free her arms and legs.
Vanessa shook her head and looked around worriedly. "Dr. Fox-" she started, but Frank stopped her.
"We'll worry about him in a minute, but now-"
"It's a trick!" Vanessa burst out. "They're going to double-cross you!"
Frank whirled around, looking to the vent he had just come from. Charity was gone. "A trick?" he repeated dumbly. He suddenly knew, with sickening clarity, that she was right. Clenching his fists, he berated himself. "How could I be so stupid!"
Vanessa stood up and rubbed her red wrists. "We have to get out of here."
"I know." Frank headed for the door, but before he could reach it, it was flung open. Two muscled thugs were standing on the other side: one on either side of a smiling Dr. Fox.
"Well, well, well, Frank Hardy. We meet again." Dr. Fox commented softly. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you leave just yet."
"Could you please stop with the bad cliches and overused movie quotes?" Frank sniped coolly.
Frowning, Dr. Fox gave a stiff nod to his goons, who advanced menacingly on Frank and Vanessa.
A/N: Another short one. Ah, well, at least it's something, right? And it's also very late at night, so, without further ado, the usual spiel: comments, questions, and criticisms welcomed... Thanks for reading... I love you all... PLEASE REVIEW!