Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, or the characters associated with them.

Author's notes: Thank you for all the supportive reviews. As a warning, I'm not that confident that Carson is written well, but I had a really hard time writing him, so I hope it's sufficient.

Matters of the Heart Are Always More Important Than Matters of Impending Death

"So let me get this straight." Bess Marvin flipped her blond hair over her shoulder, looking to Frank in the airport terminal. "You and Joe brought me down here for a week of sun, fun, and cheering up Nancy, you forget to call and tell me not to come, so now you're gonna bring me up New York for an undefined amount of time of quite, hiding in the safe house because somebody is offering $100,000 to see her killed?"

Frank sighed, leaning his head back. "That's about it."

"And on top of keeping her from getting killed we still have to cheer her up?"

"Uh-huh."

"And we need to find a way to get you two together."

"I didn't say that!" Frank's head shot up. "We didn't even talk about me and Nancy. Where'd you get that from?"

"Frank." Bess gave him a pointed look. "You did talk about the two of you. A lot. You giving Nancy a massage, and then saving her life. You and Nancy talking a moonlit walk on the beach, very romantic I might add." Her eyes twinkled as she gushed.

"Bess…" Frank's cheeks reddened a little. "The massage was because she was hurt. There weren't any candles or oils that you would use if you were making some pool boy give you one."

"You forget the rose petals. Having rose petals in the room is an essential part of the…never mind." Bess stopped herself at the look on Frank's face. "Fine. The massage doesn't count. But you still have the moonlit walk on the beach."

"We weren't exactly alone Bess. There was a police officer there guarding Nancy."

Bess blinked dubiously. "So if you had tried to kiss her he would have mistaken it for an attempt on her life and shot you?"

"Well no…but…"

"But nothing." Bess stood as an announcement for their flight was made. "You just don't know an opportunity--."

"Joe interrupted." Frank blurted in his own interruption, as he stood. He wanted this conversation over, and he wanted it over quickly. The easiest way to do that, was to get the focus off of him, and make sure that Bess knew he wasn't completely doing everything as wrong as she thought he was. "Twice. Joe interrupted when I was about to kiss her twice. Once at our house, and then on the beach. It's all Joe's fault."

"Well that puts a new spin on things. You were trying to kiss her?"

They got in line to board the plane and Frank sighed. Apparently the fact that someone wanted Nancy dead wasn't nearly as important as the fact that someone was trying to kiss her.

"I can't believe that the fight got postponed." Joe spoke as he entered the hotel room he and Nancy would be staying in overnight.

"Joe, it's not a big deal." Nancy placed her bag in the entryway. "It's just some mechanical problems. We're on the first flight out in the morning."

"You mean afternoon. The next flight is at noon." Joe pointed out. "And in the meantime your life is in my hands."

"Relax. You're a perfectly capable bodyguard. And it's not like I'm gonna be completely helpless should something happen."

"I know. But there's something about this situation that I don't like." Joe sighed, glancing around. "It seems a bit convenient that there was only room for the two of us on the flight here in the first place. And then our next flight has enough mechanical problems to postpone it until tomorrow, and then there's only one hotel room left in the entire town. Don't you think it's possible that whoever put this contract out on you is getting you alone in a specific place so it's easier to kill you?"

"First of all, I'm not alone. You're here. Second, do you actually think that this person is willing to put up $100,000 for my death and then put up thousands more to buy all but two seats on a flight, break down a plane, and then rent out nearly every hotel room in the city? In the hopes that someone will take up his offer and hunt me down?" Nancy stepped further into the room. "You know as well as I do that bad guys are way too greedy to put up that much money for one amateur detective."

Joe had to hand it to Nancy. She was handling the situation better than he would have thought considering what had been going on in her life. "Well, I still don't like the situation."

"Well nobody likes the situation when a friend has people wanting to kill them. Especially the friend." Nancy looked over. "I'm gonna call my dad on my cell to let him know that I'm not on the island anymore. And then I'm going to get some sleep. You should probably call your dad and do the same. Do you want the couch or the bed?" She gestured between the one queen size bed and the couch.

"You take the bed." Joe waved his hand in dismissal, pulling out his cell phone.

Nancy did the same, quickly dialing, and then sitting on the bed.

"Drew Residence." A tired voice answered.

"Dad, hi. Sorry to call so late." Nancy apologized and flopped back so her head was on the pillow.

"Nancy?" Carson sounded a little surprised. "What's going on?"

"Nothing big. I just thought you should know that I'm on my way to a new vacation spot with Frank and Joe."

"Where?"

"Actually I can't tell you that. For safety reasons."

"Safety reasons? What sort of safety reasons?"

"There's just this thing." Nancy trailed off.

Carson gained a warning tone. "Nancy…"

"There's a hit out on me."

"A hit on you."

"But it's not a big deal."

"Oh, it's not a big deal."

"They only want to give out $100,000 if I die."

"Nancy one of these days you are going to give me a heart attack. Calling me in the middle of the night, getting someone mad enough at you that they want you dead…"

"It's not my fault that these people go around breaking the law dad." Nancy put a hand to her face in exhaustion. "I have to get some rest."

"Yes, because you want to be well rested and at your sharpest when protecting yourself from killers."

"Glad you understand dad. If you have any questions, call Fenton Hardy."

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Be careful."

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you too. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can." She hung up the phone and sighed. "That was fun."

Joe lifted his head from the couch pillow, his light sleep disrupted by the noise of a loud rustling. "Nancy?" He called out, glancing around the room as his eyes adjusted to the dark. "Nancy?" His gaze landed on the bed, where the sheets were twisted around a thrashing figure. "Nancy?" He stood rubbing his face as he started to walk over. "Nancy?" He reached down and placed a hand on her arm.

"No!" Nancy gasped, her eyes shooting open, glancing frantically around and breathing heavily. She sat up and used one hand to move a strand of hair that was clinging to her face. "Joe? What's going on? Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine. You were just having a nightmare." Joe informed her, removing his hand from her arm. "Are you OK?"

"Oh, yeah." Nancy nodded as her breathing started to regulate. "Sorry I woke you up."

"It's fine." Joe waved her off. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah…It was just a bad dream." Nancy assured. "Go back to sleep."

Joe nodded. "OK. Night."

"Night." Nancy untwisted the sheets some, and then laid back down, turning onto her side.

Joe had a feeling that it was more than just a bad dream. He had the feeling that it had to do with April but there was nothing to confirm these feelings. However, since he had them, he decided that leaving Nancy alone wasn't a good idea. Instead he went and sat in front of the wall at the foot of the bed, leaning his head back against it, intent on staying there to keep an eye on Nancy.

"Joe?"

By the way that she spoke softly, Joe knew that he had been found out. "Yeah Nance?"

"If you're going to insist on watching me all night to make sure I'm all right, you should at least come up on the bed where it's semi-comfortable." Nancy offered in a tired voice.

"Wow, a detective and a lady." Joe teased as he stood.

"Just get in the bed before I change my mind Joe."

"Right."

There was a silence as Joe climbed into the other side of the bed. The two detectives settled in to sleep for the rest of the night, and then Joe started to laugh.

"Joe what is so funny?" Nancy turned her head so it was facing him.

Joe tried to stop his laughter. "Nothing." But it didn't work very well and he started to laugh again. "It's just that…you're my brother's almost girlfriend."

Nancy sighed, turning her head back over. "Goodnight Joe."

"Now what do we do?" Bess asked as they stopped off the plane in Florida.

"Now we wait for the flight up to New York." Frank answered her quickly. "The terminal is down at the other end."

"Actually, you'll be coming with us." Three men stepped in front of Frank and Bess, each of them holding a gun that was just pointing out from beneath their coats. "I'm sure you won't have any arguments will you?"