Chapter 19:

Joe looked disbelievingly at his father. "You mean, the former President John Patrick Ryan? Some ten years back?"

The older Hardy nodded. "The one and the same. Katie is his daughter. She's the third child of President Ryan."

"No way!" Joe cried. "Katie? Former First Daughter of the United States? But…".He shook his head again. "It just can't be." Fenton Hardy looked at his son, a little amused.

"How long have you known her?" he asked. "Surely you don't expect this to be told to you within two weeks."

"Uh huh," Vanessa nodded, remembering "Even back in Baltimore, Katie doesn't really talk or brag about it. She just smiled when we asked her. She doesn't try to impress herself on us."

Joe's eyes widened at his girlfriend's remarks. "What? You actually knew? And you never told me?"

"I suppose I've forgotten about it too. Until that day when you asked me about Katie," the girl admitted. "But even then, I couldn't tell you." She flashed an apologetic look at Joe. "Sorry, but I promised Katie I wouldn't tell. She – she doesn't want anyone to know.

"But I did tell you that she's not the one who would have kidnapped Frank. And her dad wouldn't either."

"Why doesn't she want anyone to know?"

Vanessa shrugged. "It's just her, I guess –." She paused, then continued. "I was only about ten or eleven when I first knew her back in Baltimore. Uncle Jack has already retired from office then. And like I said, she doesn't expect us to treat her differently. If anything, it makes her uneasy, actually."

Mr. Hardy nodded. "You kids were only toddlers when President Ryan took the office, taking over from President Roger Durling when he passed on. And he only held the office for slightly over a term, before he chose to retire and passed the office to President Robert Jackson. But you girls only knew each other much later in grade school, after he retired. Katie isn't much affected by her dad's brief presidency stint. She was much too young then – I doubt she even remembers much of it. And despite the circumstances, the Ryans always made it a point that their kids were raised and given a childhood as normal as they can get. Plus, they have been trained from young not to talk or brag about it, for their own safety, obviously.

"But get this right," Fenton Hardy proceeded to relegate to them all he knew about the former President. "In the days before his President career, Ryan Sr. had a career stint in the CIA. He started as a consultant but his highest post was Deputy Director of Central Intelligence."

"And she told everyone her dad's a history teacher," Joe muttered.

Fenton Hardy chuckled. "She didn't lie. President Ryan is a history teacher now. On the surface, at least. But it's true. He went back to teaching history after he retired from office, first at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, and now in the Faculty of Criminology and Criminal Justice in Bayport University. But even that, it is only a cover to what he actually does; his real work in Bayport is overseeing the Barmet Marine Corps base, as well as the submarine base in Bayport. We all know that Ryan Sr. never retired completely."

"I thought it's strange that such a prominent family would move from Baltimore to a little town like Bayport. So, what's she doing in our school? I thought they would have chosen a private school or something."

His father shook his head. "It's not strange at all. Not if you consider President Ryan's work with the Marine Corps. And the fact he has been shuttling between Baltimore and Bayport in the past few years. And as for school – well, you could blame it on the fact that there's no private schools in Bayport – other than St. Thomas, where her brother is currently at. But as you know, that's an all-boys' school. And Bayport High is a good school – one of the best in the district. Hey, I should know, or you and Frank won't be there."

"Why would anyone want to kidnap the daughter of a former President?" Vanessa asked.

"No one might want to kidnap the daughter of a former President, especially one from ten years ago. But President Ryan might have made some enemies back while he was in the CIA. For the same reasons why people might want to kidnap you and Frank – revenge. In fact, that was one of the reasons why he moved his family to Bayport. His family suffered an attack back in Baltimore last year. He thought Bayport would be a safer place.

"That's why Chief Collig wanted to see me right away. With Frank and Katie both missing, he knew the urgency of it. This case is probably on the top of his list now."

Joe felt as if he was about to faint, his head swimming all these new information. "Does Frank know all about this?" he whispered.

"I think he does. I see he has been reading CIA web pages on my computer two nights ago. And most of the pages are related to Dr. John Patrick Ryan's career."

"So you mean he's in danger now?" he asked.

"That depends on who took them," was his father's calm reply.

"So do you know who took them yet?"

To his disappointment, his father shook his head wearily. "We don't. To be honest, their being kidnapped together has complicated matters. We don't even know if it's any enemy of mine, or of Ryan's, or of yours and Frank's." He paused. "Actually, we don't even know if it might be just someone who had a grudge on you boys in school. Looking at the number of possibilities, it could be anyone. But Jack Sr. and his son, Jack Junior, are looking into this too from their end. Hopefully, one of us manages to come out with something.

"And now, Joe, you have work to do."