Chapter 10:

Frank Hardy sat silently in front of his computer, deep in thought. Something had just roused his curious detective instincts.

They had just driven Katie home. Set in one of the newly established developments on the edge of Bayport, her house was a huge three-storey on a wide piece of land. A very exclusive neighborhood, Frank noted with interest; with a splendid view of the shore front. Any house in this area would probably cost a fortune.

And there were at least two cars – luxury ones – parked in the driveway, probably belonging to Mr. Ryan. They must be awfully wealthy. But hadn't Vanessa said Mr. Ryan was a history teacher? Even Katie herself said so too. Okay, so the guy taught at Bayport University and he had a doctorate. But even a university professor would not be able buy himself such luxuries, would he? After all, who could afford the Barmet Bayview Homes except for the richest millionaires in Bayport? He remembered Katie's car – the red one that got blown up – that was a pretty fine one too.

Where did a university professor get such money from? Was it legal? If it wasn't, he might have something against Dad. That would explain their sudden 'accidents'. Or perhaps someone else might have something against him. After all, the 'accidents' had involved Katie too. Perhaps she had been the real target instead of them? Frowning in suspicion, he performed a search on his computer and sifted through the results. He hadn't a clue what Mr. Ryan's first name was, so he tried Katie's instead, hoping that he would find her father's name linked to her.

"Frank!" Joe called, as he came into the room, waving a piece of paper in his hand. "I've got the results!" Joe had been using the computer in their father's office, looking into the green car that had almost crashed into them.

Frank took the paper at once. The green car belonged to Rent-a-Car Corporation, a car rental agency located about two blocks away from Bayport Mall.

"Rent-a-Car belongs to Shane and his cousin," he said instantly. "Maybe we can ask Shane, he's manning it now, since his cousin has passed on." Shane Miller was a schoolmate of Frank's from last year, now in his first year at college. They had played football in school on several occasions, and Frank knew him. Picking up his cell phone, he dialed Shane's number, and told his friend what he wanted.

There was a still silence on the other side as he listened. "Are you sure that's the car?" exclaimed Shane suddenly from the other end of the line. "That car has not been rented out for the past two weeks! And what more, it's missing from the garage this afternoon! We have just reported to loss to the police!"

"What?" Frank listened in a mixture of surprise and dismay. Shutting off his cell phone, he turned to Joe, and quickly explained what Shane had told him.

But Joe did not appear to be listening. He was staring curiously at Frank's computer, scrutinizing the open web browser windows. And now he had shifted his attention to Frank, with an inane grin on his face.

"Wha…t?" Frank began, as the younger boy exploded into a helpless mirth of laughter. "Whoa! Frank Hardy! What's this?" Frank groaned when he saw what Joe was looking at. A pink colored blog was splashed all over the screen. "Katie's blog and Google search? Whatever are you doing?" asked Joe with a smirk. "And I thought you're doing homework!"

"Joe, it's not like what you think. I…"

"Uh yeah, I thought I did notice something in the pizza place just now," his brother continued, ignoring him. Flushing a little, Frank grabbed the mouse and snapped all the damned windows shut.

"Joe! I'm sleuthing, Joe," he interjected a little louder, desperately trying to save himself, and tried to voiced his suspicions about Mr. Ryan's wealth. "I need his name in order to run a check against Dad's records…" he started to explain, but sighed and broke off as soon as he realized Joe wasn't listening. God, was he ever going to get this kid to listen? "Joe! Get serious, will you?"

Joe had collapsed on the bed, laughing. Frank's flushed, helpless look was priceless! Exasperated, Frank picked up a pillow and threw it at his brother. Finally after a long while, Joe sobered up. "I am serious," he said. He clapped a hand on Frank's shoulder, then looked at his brother in the eye. "Seriously, brother. How do you feel about her?"

Frank gave a tremendous sigh and rolled his eyes. There it goes again. "Joe," he said slowly, making a great effort to sink each word into Joe's mind. "I was trying to tell you about the car. The green car."

Joe waved his hand impatiently. "I heard you. The car's stolen. Now don't try to change the subject." Draping an arm around his brother's shoulders, he continued. "Look, Frank. I wasn't kidding when I said I thought I noticed something in Mr. Pizza. I haven't seen you this concerned over someone, apart from Callie And me, of course," he said, stressing a little too smugly over the word 'me'. "You're not like that to anyone else, not Belinda, not even Holly. So come on, spill."

Frank tried hard to keep himself from smiling as he thought of the pretty blonde. He hated to admit to Joe that he liked her tremendously. At her petite stature, Katie was too dainty to be a supermodel, but she was gorgeous in her own way, and Frank had found her sunny enthusiasm rather refreshing; her radiant smile warming his heart almost right from the start. A little shy at times, perhaps, but certainly very down-to-earth, without the airs and graces like some of the spoilt, rich kids he had met. But as much as he liked her, the detective in him was also a little… wary…

"You want an honest answer?" he asked finally. "Really, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"It's just that: I don't know. I mean, I do like her, if that's what you're asking. She's…" He trailed off and looked away from his brother, keeping a straight face as he wondered how he would describe the girl without sounding too eager. "She's a sweet girl and all that… The kinda girl that you wouldn't want to hurt for anything. Not the kind you'd flirt with, if you know what I mean."

Joe almost snorted. Since when do you flirt, Frank? But he thought he detected a trace of a smile on his brother's face and held his tongue instead – and waited for Frank to continue.

"But I don't know. To sum it up – this is the first time we take her out for pizza, and I've already broken her ankle. And we're probably the reason why her car exploded..."

"You didn't break her ankle. You heard her – she did admit that her left ankle has always been a little weak – an old sports injury. And besides, better a sprained ankle than under that car…"

"I'm just saying that I don't want her to keep getting hurt," Frank continued quietly. "And not just physically. I'm not exactly sure how I still feel about Callie – I think you know that, and I don't want to start a relationship just for the sake of having one... "

Plus, I'm still checking on her dad, he didn't add. He pondered on that for a moment, wondering if he should let Joe on to that. Well, it was not that he hadn't tried. He had, only that Joe wasn't listening. Perhaps it was just as well, he decided. After all, it was just a wild guess. They could talk on that later once he did a little bit more search.

Joe stood up and sighed. You're just being too cautious, big brother. Just go with the flow, and take it easy,… naturally…

Frank lingered for a moment after Joe left the room, before he turned back to his computer. Typing her name once again in the search engine, he waited for the page to load. He didn't get much from the Google search earlier. All he managed to find was her blog, her Facebook account and a few posts on a Harry Potter forum. Katie was a careful blogger, and was very cautious in what she did and did not reveal. Most of her entries were just random babble, mostly about her school, her hobbies and her friends – things that didn't matter. No clue about her parents or family whatsoever, except for, perhaps, her dog, a lovely yellow border collie named Lucky – though Frank thought he could hardly be considered family.

It wasn't until late that he decided to check the school records. Okay, this may be illegal, but it's not like I'm doing any harm, he thought. Tapping into the school database, he searched for the girl's details. What showed up on the screen made him stare. Of course he recognized her father's name…