Author's note: Whoops.

By the way, Baltimore Raven had better update soon too... Just sayin. ;P (I know where you live, Baltimore!) Sorry for the looooong delay. This should be the chapter right before I start wrapping everything up. I am soooo done and bored with this storyline now x'D so this chapter might suck, but I'm trying! The next time I write a fanfiction on here, I'll plan more... lesson learned.

Disclaimer: I have now disclaimed all characters belonging to Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Dusk Herr and Tori Maxwell are mine.

Frank's heart raced wildly. Dusk was gone. She must have been in with the bad guys, he thought immediately. If she was on my side, she would've freed me if she'd just escaped.

He tried the door. It opened a crack, and he peered out. There was no telling how much time had passed while he'd been drugged, no telling what had been done to his friends and brother while he wasn't there to protect them. I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do, Frank's stomach twisted in anguish as he cautiously stepped out of the closet.

Wait. What all had he told Dusk when they'd been walking together? His mind flashed back to when they'd met earlier.

The girl nodded, a charming smile lighting up her features. "Yeah, thanks. Sorry I bumped into you."

"It was my fault. Where are you headed to?"

Her lips tightened in annoyance. "Well, I was trying to find room 320, but I got lost."

Frank chuckled. "Me too. I'm going to room 319, so we can walk together if you want."

He sucked in his breath sharply and stumbled, catching himself against the wall with his hands. Frank groaned inwardly. I gave her Nancy's room number.

"Do you mind if I ask what you're doing here?" Dusk ventured shyly. "You don't look like you have a disease or something."

"My brother was injured pretty badly in his leg a few days back. That's why I'm here. They're considering amputating about half of it, and I really hope there's another way," Frank swallowed, blinking rapidly for a second.

"Frank, you idiot!" He cursed himself, running quickly but silently up the stairs. "If she didn't know who I was before, she definitely got the information she was looking for." Frank heaved himself up the last flight, panting. A wave of dizziness washed over him, reminding him that he'd recently been drugged. Too soon for strenuous exercise? Tough luck. You should've thought of that before you put everyone in danger.

Opening the door at the top of the stairs, Frank peeked out, then slipped into the hallway.

This is all my fault.

Bess finished kicking off the grate and took a deep breath. Lowering herself down through the hole as far as she could, the blonde dropped to the floor, landing in a crouch.

"Are you there?" Nancy's voice came through Bess' bluetooth that she'd put in her ear before climbing into the air vent. This is so like some old spy movie, she thought, shaking her head.

"Yeah," Bess whispered back. "What do I do now?"

There was an uneasy silence from the other end. "What's in the room?" Nancy finally asked.

Bess glanced around. "Two computers, and a metal panel on the wall. Nan, what do I do?" she asked again nervously.

Another silence. "I'm not sure," Nancy admitted, "do you think you can figure out what controls the lights?"

Suddenly a squeal came from the other end of the phone, then voices. "Nancy! What's going on?" Bess demanded.

"George is here!" Nancy answered excitedly.

"Oh my word! Really?" Bess gasped, relieved.

"Yes! Here, I'll let her guide you through," Nancy said. There was a slight rustling noise.

"Hey there," George's mildly amused voice came over the phone. "Playing spies?"

"You have no idea," Bess snorted. "I had to climb through the vent. There was so much dust, my white jeans are ruined."

"No kidding? I've always wanted to do that!"

"So where were you?!" Bess shivered.

"I was in Joe's room. Why?"

"Nancy was told that the bad guys had taken out everyone in the hospital," she explained.

"Well, assuming that this was an inside job, why bother with Joe's room if the hospital staff that are in on it already know that he can't do anything to stop them?"

Bess blinked. "Good point. I guess they forgot that there were visitors."

"Yep. Okay, I've got a map of the room you're in on my phone."

"How'd you do that so fast?"

"I have my ways," George laughed. "Now, go over to the panel and open the back of it."

Frank crept down the still hallway toward Joe's room. He had to save his little brother. He should've been more careful after he'd noticed that ripped window screen.

Suddenly, the lights flickered out. Pitch darkness enveloped him. Oh, great.

Something touched his arm. Frank whirled, scrambling backwards, his heart pounding. Not again!

"Come with me," A girl's voice hissed in the quietness. Frank narrowed his eyes in suspicion. It hadn't been Dusk's voice, but who was she?

"How do I know I can trust you?" Frank asked softly, suspicious.

"You can't know. Are you coming or not?" The voice whispered urgently.

He hesitated. "Okay."

Following the slight rustling sounds the person in front of him made, Frank followed. He shook his head in amazement at his stupidity. This was crazy. How could he just follow someone he couldn't trust?

A door creaked open to his left, and Frank crawled into the room after the person, whose figure he could now just barely make out.

She stood and silently closed the door behind them. Crossing over to the other side of the room, she drew back a curtain, filling the room with light from the window.

Frank blinked, his eyes adjusting again. He stood.

They were in an unoccupied hospital room. There were personal bags in the chair, and the bedsheets were lying in disarray.

The girl cleared her throat softly. Frank turned to look at her, then gasped in shock.

She looked as if she should've been a patient. A patch of dark red stained her jeans just above her left knee, and her arm was in a sling. Long brown curls matted with blood, she suffered a few small cuts on her face and a horrible black eye.

"Who are you," Frank whispered, astonished, "and what happened to you?"

"There's no time," the girl answered in a low voice. "I'm Tori Maxwell, an undercover agent. Can I trust you?"

Frank blinked. He couldn't have heard that right. "Uh... Come again?"

The girl, Tori, rolled her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, there's a crime scene out there. I'm an undercover agent. Can I trust you?"

This was turning out to be the craziest day of his life.

New chapter coming by... Next week? :O We shall see...