A/N: Thank you so much Caranath, Guest, max2013, ILoveMom, zenfrodo, Lady Emily, Jackie, Vinsmouse, Guest and catlover1033 for the comments! You rock! Back to the ballroom, where of course...things are going to get worse. ) Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 14

Frank sipped his champagne while he gazed nonchalantly around the ballroom. He noticed the federal agent, whom Joe had observed skiing, standing near the buffet. Two others, whose information and photos had been in Louis's file, were seated at the table next to them, and one more was loitering by the main entrance.

Frank glanced down at Kathy, who was resting her head on the table, apparently despondent over Joe's departure. She obviously wasn't feeling the same remorse about the thousands of tax dollars spent on her protection from a non-existent stalker. Yep, Kathy Martin was truly a piece of work.

As Frank set his champagne flute down on the shimmering silver tablecloth, Kathy's head snapped up and she grabbed his arm.

"There's Joe!"

Frank looked in the direction she was pointing. His brother was in the doorway, looking agitated. Something was definitely wrong. There was no way in the world Joe would have been anywhere near the ballroom if he'd met up with Emily.

"You stay right here," Frank said. He caught the eye of one of the federal agents seated at the next table, then tilted his head slightly in Kathy's direction. The agent nodded.

"What?" Kathy was incredulous. "This is ridiculous. Now you're not even going to protect me?"

"Kathy, Joe and I aren't the only ones watching you. Your dad has you surrounded by agents here. You'll be fine."

"But I don't want those guys, I want Joe."

Frank ignored her as he stood and walked over to Joe.

"What is it?"

They stepped outside the ballroom, and Frank noticed the panic in his brother's eyes. "Joe, what's wrong? Where's Emily?"

Joe held out her evening bag. "Someone took her Frank. She's gone."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy looked around the ballroom. She noticed that Frank and Joe had left several minutes ago and had not yet returned. What was going on? Her curious nature got the best of her.

She leaned into Bess. "I need to check something out."

Bess rolled her eyes. "You're kidding, Nance."

"I'm not." She gestured toward Matteo and Marco who were engaged in conversation with the two models, who'd decided to take up residence at the table and grinned. "Besides, I think I'm about to be replaced."

"So that's why you're leaving?"

"No. I'm sorry, Bess, but I'm a little concerned about Emily. I kind of thought she'd be back by now. I'm just going to make sure she's all right."

"Do you need me to come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine."

She stood from the table, scanning the room for Frank or Joe, and when she still didn't see them, she exited through the nearest doorway.

OOOoooOOO

"What?" Frank wasn't sure he'd heard Joe right. Why on earth would Emily be missing?

"Their room's been ransacked. Everything's a mess." Joe yanked off his bowtie. "This has to have something to do with whatever's going on at the monastery."

"Maybe," Frank said.

But from what Nancy had told him, Frank didn't think her case was dangerous. Of course, any time you dealt with criminals, there was the possibility of violence, but Emily was just supposed to be doing research, not actively investigating anything.

"What do you know about their case?" Joe asked.

"Virtually nothing. Only that they're searching for a missing artifact. Nancy and I didn't exactly do much talking when I met her in the linen closet." Frank placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Listen, I'm going back to the ballroom to talk to Kathy, and let the feds in on what's happening. They'll take care of the babysitting detail for tonight. Then we're going to get Nan and figure this whole mess out."

"Damn it, what is she investigating anyway?" Joe slammed his hand against the wall in frustration.

"Hold it together, bro," Frank said. "You need to stay calm if you're going to help her."

OOOoooOOO

As Nancy left the ballroom, Frank returned through the opposite door. He took his seat and was met with a stare from Kathy.

"Where's Joe?" she demanded.

"Um, Kathy, he and I have to take care of something that came up unexpectedly. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"What?" Kathy's voice rose, and everyone at the table stared at her.

Frank rested his hand on her arm and plastered a smile on his face. He knew Kathy didn't like being told 'no,' and that was exactly what he was going to do. Although he thought he'd better do it in private, because he was pretty sure she was going to cause a scene.

"Come with me for a minute."

He led her to a quiet corner of the room.

"What do you mean 'something came up?'" Kathy asked, her hands on her hips. "He's supposed to be protecting me."

"Don't worry." Frank tried to keep his voice calm and soothing. "Your father has men watching everywhere. I promise you will be safe."

"That's not the point," Kathy said, her eyes flashing. "I want Joe."

"Kathy, in this line of work, sometimes we are required to do other things besides stand right next to the client all the time." Frank ran his hand through his hair. "Joe is trying to catch whoever is doing this. You want him caught, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Kathy faltered. "But–"

"But nothing, then. Joe will be back as soon as he possibly can." He sighed. "For now, you're stuck with the feds."

Frank watched as Kathy turned away resignedly and scanned the room. Her eyes settled on the table where Nancy and Emily had been sitting, and she frowned. His eyes narrowed. Could she possibly know what was really going on?

OOOoooOOO

Nancy gazed around the hotel lobby, looking for Frank, Joe or Emily.

Maybe they went back to our room, she thought, pressing the button for the elevator.

She entered and hit the button for her floor, then smiled as a man jumped inside quickly before the doors closed.

He smiled back, then grabbed her tightly, pressing a damp cloth over her nose.

Chloroform, Nancy thought, before she passed out.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy was freezing. She shivered as she struggled to wake up. Her stomach was churning. Where was she? What was going on? Oh, yeah, that guy in the elevator. She struggled to remember what he looked like, but her brain felt so fuzzy. As she rolled over, she realized that her hands were tied behind her back. She felt cold, hard, stone underneath her body.

Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked, desperately trying to focus in the dim light. Someone else was lying not far from her. Who was it?

Nancy tried to lift herself up, but stopped as her stomach lurched violently.

She glimpsed a swath of shimmery white fabric out of the corner of her eye.

"Emily?"

OOOoooOOO

Bess sat at the table with her date and watched as first Emily, then Joe, then Frank, then Nancy, then Frank again left the ballroom. The main entrance was turning into a revolving door. She turned to Lars and smiled sweetly. "I'm really sorry about this, but I have to see what's happening with my friends."

He started to protest, but she held up her hand. "I'll be right back," she insisted as she left the table.

Bess grimaced as she overheard Lars talking to his companions.

"What the hell is going on around here?"

Nancy, if you just cost me a chance to be the girlfriend of a hot, Olympic skier, I swear I will never let you forget it.

OOOoooOOO

"Nancy?" Emily asked in a hoarse whisper. "Is that you?"

Nancy shifted slightly as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where are we?"

"I-I don't know."

Nancy pushed herself up as best she could with her hands tied behind her, and tried to look around. The light was very faint, but she could make out what appeared to be stone walls. She shook her head slightly and tried to clear her thoughts.

"It looks like a basement of some sort."

"Do you think we're still in the hotel?" Emily asked, shoving herself to a sitting position.

"I can't tell."

The light was coming from above them. Nancy stared hard, trying to figure out the source.

"It's moonlight, Em. It's coming from that little window."

That little broken window with all the cold air pouring through it.

"Nancy, I think we're in–"

"The cathedral," Nancy finished. She felt the wall behind her, cold and damp.

"Why? Who would do this?"

Nancy thought for a moment, but nothing came to her. She still felt foggy from the chloroform.

"I don't know. But I think it means we must be making someone nervous with our investigation."

Emily shivered, and Nancy knew the filmy fabric of their dresses was going to offer no protection against the frigid underground temperatures.

Emily's voice wavered as she spoke. "How on earth is anybody going to find us down here?"

OOOoooOOO

Bess dashed over to Frank and Joe as they stood near the reservation desk. She noticed Joe holding Emily's evening bag.

"Would someone mind filling me in? You all were going in and out of that ballroom so fast it was making my head spin."

"Emily's gone," Joe told her in a flat voice. "And your room's been ransacked."

Bess's eyes went wide. Why did this happen on every single trip she ever took with Nancy? It was getting ridiculous.

"Is Nancy up there now?"

Frank looked at her warily. "What do you mean?"

"Sh-she left the ballroom. To go find you, I guess."

"When?"

"I don't know. Thirty minutes ago, maybe. You haven't seen her?" Bess glanced around worriedly. A ransacked room was one thing. A missing friend was another.

Frank's mouth tightened into a thin line and Bess could see his jaw clenching. "No, I haven't. Let's go upstairs to your room. Maybe she's there."

OOOoooOOO

"Back up against me, Emily," Nancy ordered. "Maybe we can undo whatever it is they've tied us up with."

Emily scooted along the stone floor until her back touched Nancy's.

"Oh, crap," Nancy muttered.

"They're plastic zip ties, aren't they?"

"Yes." Nancy sagged against Emily. "We'll never get these undone."

"Do you think there's something sharp down here we could use to cut them?"

"There might be." Nancy was not ready to admit defeat. They had to get out of here. This case had obviously taken a nasty turn and she knew she needed to solve it before it turned into an even bigger mess.

She called to Emily over her shoulder. "Press your weight against me and let's try to stand up."

After three attempts, the girls managed to struggle to their feet.

Nancy shivered as the cold, damp air in the underground room touched her bare skin. "We have to get out of here fast. We're not exactly dressed appropriately for dungeon imprisonment."

Emily tried to smile. "I'll bet Bess has the correct ensemble somewhere in that steamer trunk she brought with her."

Nancy laughed out loud. "I am sure she does."

"Why I ever thought wearing this flimsy thing would be okay for a winter ball, I'll never know," Emily lamented, her teeth beginning to chatter.

"Maybe there's a blanket down here somewhere," Nancy said, trying to stay hopeful. "Come on, let's go check."

OOOoooOOO

Bess brought her hands up to her mouth and gasped as she surveyed her hotel room.

"Now, Bess, you have to stay calm," Frank said firmly, knowing how emotional Nancy's best friend tended to be. "Don't touch anything."

He pulled her inside, and Joe followed, closing the door behind them.

"Look around," Frank continued. "Do you see anything you think might be a clue? Something that doesn't belong to any of you?"

Bess shook her head. "No, it's all ours."

She moved into the center of the room and stared. "Wait."

Bess pointed to Nancy's briefcase, turned upside down on the bed.

"Nancy had some papers in there, Frank. They're gone."

"Some papers? What kind of papers? Where did she get them?"

"I don't know. Papers from the monastery, I think. They've been trying to find out about that thingy that was stolen." Bess wrung her hands. "Oh, I can't remember what it's called. I just know that they've been doing a lot of research on it in the library and at the cathedral."

"Did Nancy mention what these papers were about or what they said?" Frank prodded.

He wanted to keep her mind focused. He couldn't afford to overlook anything that might be a clue, and unfortunately, Bess was the only one who could help him right now.

"Something about what they were looking for and how it got here. It belongs somewhere else. Or it did." She waved her hand. "I don't know. Some guy apparently stole it in the Middle Ages or something like that and brought it here."

"Who knew about this? Who knew what they were doing?" Joe demanded.

Frank was seething. His brother was not about to approach this gently with Bess…and he knew it would backfire.

"Joe, calm down." Frank's tone was measured, but it was taking all of his restraint not to tell his brother to shut the hell up. And he would have, if he hadn't already known that it would only upset Bess further.

Bess's bottom lip began to quiver and Frank knew it was all over.

"I don't know," she said, as the tears began to fall. "Honestly, I haven't paid that much attention. I've been...busy."

Joe rolled his eyes then looked at Frank. "I guess we'd better start at the monastery then."

Frank nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to get any more useful information from Bess at the moment. The important thing now was to find Nancy. After he had her back, safe and sound, he was going to let Joe have it.

"I'm coming with you," Bess insisted, grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweater off the floor. She rushed into the bathroom to change.

"Do we leave now?" Joe asked.

Frank bent his head, deep in thought. Right now, Bess was the only link they had to what was going on at the monastery. Even though he spoke French, he still thought they would get further with the monastery officials if Bess was with them. If all she did was introduce them to the people Nancy and Emily had worked with there, it was more than they had now.

"No, we may actually need her. In fact, I think she's the only one right now who can help us."

OOOoooOOO

Emily inched her way around the cellar room, but found nothing that might be of help, either in loosening their ties or providing a means of escape. She was becoming discouraged.

"This really is a dungeon. There's nothing else down here."

She jumped as she heard a scurrying sound from across the room.

"Oh no, not rats! Please not rats."

She hated rats. Especially rats locked in a dark room with her. They waited until you fell asleep and then they ate your face. She shuddered.

Nancy was still walking around, feeling the walls behind her as best she could with her hands tied. "Maybe this stone is sharp enough to cut through the plastic."

"Maybe," Emily said, feeling hopeful for the first time she'd woken up. She moved over to Nancy and joined her friend in sliding the plastic ties against the rough stone.

After a few minutes, she stopped, feeling something wet against her skin. Blood. "Nan, this isn't working. All I'm doing is giving myself road rash."

Nancy sighed and moved away from the wall. "Yeah, me too. We're not looking carefully enough. There has to be something down here that could cut these open. We've just missed it."

"There isn't anything to miss. This is a prison cell. They generally don't have sharp objects lying around." Emily began shaking. "Is it just me or is it actually getting colder down here."

"Try not to think about it," Nancy called from across the room.

Emily watched as Nancy slid her back along the wall, feeling for an opening or some movement from the stones.

Nancy paused as she came to the giant wooden planks in the middle of the wall on the far side of the room. She slammed her body against it, but even from across the small room, Emily could tell that it hadn't budged.

"I wish this door wasn't so solid." Nancy's voice was full of frustration.

"Nance, don't. You'll only hurt yourself," Emily said, sinking down to the floor. Shivering overtook her body and she was starting to feel desperate.

Nancy came over to her and slid down the wall until they were huddled together.

"Frank and Joe will find us," Nancy said.

Emily knew Nancy was trying to be reassuring, but she knew their situation was bleak. "How will they even know where to look?"

Then she sat up straight as another thought came to her. "What if whoever did this comes back?"

Nancy shook her head. "I don't think that's going to happen. I think we were dumped here because we're getting too close to figuring this whole thing out."

Emily shivered. "I wish I knew what it was we were supposedly figuring out."

"Then let's try and work it through. Did you see who took you?"

"No. He got me from behind while I was going into the hotel room. He had the rag over my face before I could even struggle."

"I don't know if it was the same guy, but someone grabbed me in the elevator," Nancy said. "All I can remember is that he was about six feet tall and had dark hair. The chloroform is making my brain foggy right now. Hopefully, I'll remember more about him later."

"Was he someone you've seen around the monastery or the hotel before?" Emily couldn't think of anyone they'd run into that would have kidnapped them and thrown them in a dungeon. Who the heck had they ticked off?

"No, I've never seen him before." Nancy shifted closer to Emily, who welcomed the warmth. "But maybe if we knew what we'd discovered, that could lead us to the kidnapper."

"Okay, what did we discover?"

Nancy sighed. "I'm not sure. Only that the monstrance and statue were removed from their original home, brought here, and never returned."

"So you think that's why we were kidnapped? That information wasn't necessarily public knowledge, but it certainly wasn't difficult to find."

"Well, maybe that's the trail we need to be following more closely. Maybe the fact that we were kidnapped after learning that is the biggest clue of all."

"It does give us a lead we didn't have before," Emily agreed.

Yes, and it is something I intend to get to the bottom of as soon as we get out of here."

The two girls sat silently for a moment. Emily shifted her weight, trying to eliminate the shaking. "If they don't find us soon, it's not going to matter."

Because we'll be dead.