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It had taken Joe a record ten minutes to complete a twenty minute drive. As he flew into the Fayne driveway, his tires sprayed gravel in every direction. Frank leapt out and climbed into the backseat with George so Bess could give Joe directions. As she clamored into the passenger seat, she explained quickly where River Park was before telling the Hardys what happened. "See, Nancy and her dad got a call from this guy-" "His name was David Lob," George interrupted. "Yeah. So, anyway, the guy is this really dangerous crimminal. He tells them to drop the Polk case or he'll hurt them. If they do drop the case, as an incentive, he'll tell them the truth about Nancy's mother's car wreck -wether it was an accident or not."
George said,"But, see, the case the guy wants them to drop is pretty tame - insurance scams. Why would a crime lord be so desperate to stop them? Mr. Drew told Nance to drop the case, but but she tracks down this kid who saved papers from the burning Polk home. Then Nancy gets a call from David Lob. He tells her to come alone to the park at nine, and he'll tell her about her mother's car wreck. So, last night she asked us to tell her Dad she was spending the night with us at my house." "And we covered for her. " Bess began to sob. Frank and Joe looked at one another. The girls weren't making much sense, but they had pieced together what was happening.
George's voice wobbled. "Guys, that's not all. I called Mr. Drew to tell him Nancy was missing, and...he said the papers contained evidence David Lob was responsible for the car wreck. Marvin Polk was always helping Lob escape the country Lob when the police were on his tail, and he was terrified the police would find out. So Lob called the Drews and threatened them, trying to get them to stop investigating Polk and his wife. Mr. Drew didn't tell Nancy about this because he was afraid she'd try to find Lob on her own."
They had reached River Park. Almost simultaneously, they jumped out of the car. Now Frank took over. "Okay, everyone. We're trying to see if Nancy is being held prisoner somewhere in the park, or if she's somewhere else searching for clues. Let's all keep quiet and listen for any noises." As he spoke, he was strapping his ATAC-issued gun onto his belt. He was a good shot, having plenty of target practice time, but he could count on his fingers the number of times he'd actually shot at somebody. However, one of the ATAC mottos-nd one of his personal mantras-was to be prepared for any situation. Now, as they walked down the trail towards the lake, he realized just how vast the state park was.
"Maybe we'd better split up -" he began. Bess clutched Joe's hand. "I'm staying with you," she declared, sounding frightened. Joe put his arm around her protectively. "Okay, Bess," he said a little awkwardly. They both headed down the trail. Frank and George, meanwhile, where hiking towards one of the campground sites. Luckily, it was still very early, and the few campers that were at the park were still asleep. Frank eyed a faded trail that was barely noticeable in the grey dawn. "Hmm." He approached it and noted the signs he had been trained to recognize - a struggle. Footprints that appeared like someone had struggled wildly where pointing every which way, and twigs and bushes were snapped irregularly. "Someone was grabbed from behind, and they started fighting. Whoever grabbed the person started dragging them away, and the person clutched at bushes and tree limbs, trying to keep from being taken away," he explained to George.
"Do you think that the person who was grabbed was Nancy?" She sounded concerned. Frank stroked his jaw. "I don't know. Let's follow this trail and see where it leads, but we need to be careful. We can't help Nancy if we're kidnapped, too." Cautiously, they started dlowing the trail. It soon merged into a deer path through a thicket, but they followed it nevertheless. A thick layer of vines appeared, and they pushed through them. Suddenly Frank stopped in amazement. A tiny shack and a little pond were right smack in front of him!
George slipped suddenly, and her ankle twisted underneath her. She let out a little cry. Instantly, she clapped her hand over her mouth and looked apologetically at Frank, who waited with bated breath. Was David Lob going to come out of that shack?