Thank you to the reviews from caranath and leyapearl! This chapter is a bit of fluff, don't worry the action will come soon

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy family or their friends and associates.

Chapter 2

Mrs. Hardy gave her youngest son a stern look, then pleaded to the older, more reserved one.

Frank understood his mother, shaking his head at his brother's lack of thinking before speaking. His mother wanted quiet. Not wanting to disturb the poor girl further, Frank pulled his brother out of the living room and nudged him to grab his stuff. Quickly he zipped his lip before Joe could utter a sound. Both boys went up the stairs.

"Really, couldn't you keep a thought in once in a while?"

"Well, I guess I could," Joe slowly replied to an agitated Frank and smirked. "So who do you think that was and what is she doing here?"

Frank rolled his eyes as he began sorting through his school bag, "I don't know Joe, we'll just have to ask dad."

"Ugh," Joe sighed, dragging his items through their jack and jill bathroom.

Barely a minute later Frank and his father came into Joe's room. They were looking to talk. That meant diverting his attention from the computer screen for more than a minute at a time. Joe turned his desk chair around.

"Okay, well I expect you have some questions about our guest," both nodded, so Mr. Hardy continued, "She is staying here as a request from her father. He was an old friend of mine. She needs to be kept safe out of state for a certain period of time, until he has the problem under control."

"That's all dad?" Joe said skeptically, "It seems like there's something you're not telling us."

"Son, it doesn't matter to you. If you want to know more you can ask her. Right now let her rest until before dinner so she can wash up. She had an early and long flight."

Frank said, "Okay dad, sounds good." He gave Joe a look to drop it and their father left.

Joe started, a bit too enthusiastically, "So, let's do some research."

"How can we? We didn't even get her name," Frank realized.

"No worried bro, I have my ways." Frank took a look to what his brother was so avidly staring at the computer screen for. It was a search for a girl named Kailey McDowell.

"What? How did you get this?" Frank asked taken aback that he didn't get it, thinking that he must have missed something.

Seeing the wheels turning, Joe chuckled, "Don't sweat it bro, I grabbed the name off her luggage tag."

"Oh," was all his brother managed, surprised at his own lack of detective skills put to use.

Not daring to write a thing down, as she might think it weird if she happened to come across it, the boys put everything to memory that they found. Though it wasn't much, just a picture of her in high school on a cheerleading team and in some other clubs.

Frank nudged Joe, "Hey, let's get some homework done. I don't believe our teachers will take an excuse that we were researching our visitor. Come on, we can ask her later."

Joe begrudgingly agreed and pulled out his Pre-Calculus book in a less than eager manner as Frank went to his own room to pull out his AP- Calc book.

…..

There was a smell in the air that was delicious. It brought her back from her dreams. Her train of thought wandered to who was cooking the mouth-watering meal. At home they would usually wait for her, but wait she wasn't at home. This wasn't the blue fluffy, man-eating couch or chair. It was a light green comfy couch with cute accent pillows. There was a comfortable atmosphere, different than the busy one at home. Slowly she sat up, taking in her surroundings. It was darker outside, and a blond-haired woman was busy in the kitchen. Neatly placing her history book on the coffee table, Kailey moved her sleeping limbs around. With circulation back intact, she made her way upstairs unnoticed by the entire Hardy family.

She smiled at the homely features of the bathroom, it was neat with personality. The bathroom at home was a disaster, but that could only be expected living with boys. Kailey took her time cleaning up. Once awake she retreated to the guest room, trying to avoid the creaky floorboards with no avail. The noise caught the attention of the younger Hardy who was closer to the room. He dropped his studying pretense, realizing it wasn't a parent and snuck out of his room. He leaned against the door frame and cleared his throat. The young girl before him jumped up.

"Hi, I'm Joe," he grinned and stepped forward.

"Hi, I'm Kailey. Sorry I was startled. I was in the zone, going through my papers."

"Oh, that's completely understandable. You should see my brother Frank. Man, when gets into something, usually a book, he is in his own little world. I found the only way to get his attention is to hit him."

"Is that so? I'm sure he appreciates that."

"You betcha!" Joe laughed, "So do you mind if I sit down? Or are you busy?"

"No, you're fine," Kailey sat next to him on the bed and continued. "I was just looking for this one sheet with the list of instructions my teacher handed out in class last week. I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"Bummer, maybe you left it at home or let someone borrow it?"

"That's it!" she jumped from the bed and scooped up her phone, avidly texting away.

Not comfortable with the ongoing silence of her furiously tapping the keyboard, Joe asked, "So what brings you up here, in this particular weather nevertheless?"

"Hmm?" she looked up, "Oh, yeah. Well, my dad thought it would be safer if I stayed out of town for a little while."

"Why?"

She looked at him, then to the side, pausing before answering. "I actually don't know much. He was pretty brief with me last night when he came back from the office. Yeah, I know why was he there, blah, blah blah, it's a holiday. You have to understand, he's an important man and quite a workaholic. When someone rings him up, he leaves, no questions asked. So I accepted that he would tell me in due course."

"What did he say?"

"Not much, just-" Kailey was broken off by an out of breath huff from the door. 6'1'' brown haired boy was giving the scene a once over before he spoke.

"Hello."

"Hey Frank!" Joe answered grinning at his brother's flustered appearance at the door. "Kailey and I were just catching up. You can hop in if you want."

Warily Frank said, "Okay, only if you don't mind my intrusion."

Kailey replied, "Really it's fine. I was just telling Joe that my dad told me last night to be prepared to leave early today. Therefore I was sleeping on the couch earlier because I left at the crack of dawn. I grilled him about why the sudden need to ship me off, what about my brothers, and who was I staying with. Only thing he told was that he was going to put me with an old friend of his, Fenton Hardy. I only got that information when we got to the airport and I learned I was going to New York."

"Wow, that's next to nothing to go on," Joe added, earning a look from his brother.

Kailey smiled and said, "Yeah, I know. Now you see why I am slightly frustrated?"

"Most certainly. We can help you out if you need it."

"What do you mean help me out?"

"Well, Frank and I are detectives, so I'm sure we can find out in no time, if your day doesn't tell you soon."

"Oh really? Following in your father's footsteps?"

"Yep," Joe answered quickly, "We're pretty good solving cases on our own when not helping our dad."

"Neat, but hey, I'm sure he'll let me know soon enough," Kailey said.

"Kailey, if you need anything just let us know," Frank tried to comfort her, getting an "oh, come on" look from his younger brother.

"Thanks," she smiled. Then, Joe went into a detailed account of his "boring" day. It was only considered boring because it was routine. There were no cases and nothing happening in his romantic life.

Finally Frank added, "Oh, I happen to enjoy routine, we don't need you getting beat up or kidnapped every day of the week. Then how would you get your homework done?" That remark earned him a smack in the head by a decorative pillow. They all burst out into laughter, which was heeded by a short call from downstairs.

"Dinner is ready," flowed the sweet voice of Laura Hardy, inviting the growing teens down. In no time the three of them were sharing jokes and comments around the table.

"I'm glad to see you are all getting along so well," observed Mr. Hardy as he and his wife took their places at the table. They all smiled and dug into the spaghetti and meatballs with bruschetta.

Kailey took a breath from chowing down and told Mrs. Hardy, "This is an absolutely lovely meal!"

"Thank you. I'm glad you are enjoying it," Laura responded, then turned her attention to her boys, "how was school."

"Good" and "Gmmf" were the responses. Mr. Hardy took over, "So how's the homework load for the night?"

"Eh, not too bad dad," Joe managed between bites.

"Same here, just a little more to finish up. So how is your case load?" Frank looked at his father, trying to decipher his face because there was a slight hesitation before the response.

"Oh, it's fine son. Just finishing up some loose ends," Mr. Hardy said before gulping down his drink. This short answer grabbed attention of everyone at the table. Usually there was no problem disclosing the details of the case. The boys glanced at one another. Frank took up the conversation, knowing his brother would not treat it delicately.

"That's good dad. So does that mean you'll be staying at home, just working out of the office for the rest of the week?"

"Probably. I may be asked to go out of town to help out a friend, but more than likely I'll be with Sam."

"Who may need your help? Is there anything Joe or I can do?"

Mr. Hardy finally looked up from his meal. "No," he said realizing Kailey was there, "You boys need to focus on the last weeks of school before winter break."

Understanding that topic was no longer open for discussion Joe broke the awkward silence due to follow. "Yeah, I know. Pre-Calculus is going to be tough."

"I could help you out, if you need it," said Kailey, to everyone's surprise.

"Really?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem. I actually didn't mind that class too much. I'm actually studying AP Calc right now, so any questions, feel free to lay them on me."

It was Frank's turn to close his mouth that slowly opened at this revelation of her a year younger taking the same class as him. Noticing it got quiet again he said, "I'm also taking that class."

Then the conversation continued for a while about math and it's usefulness in real life, and then moved on to the nasty weather brewing outside. Finally everyone was done eating. Mrs. Hardy forbid Kailey to help clear the dishes, so she went upstairs, while the three men went into the study.

With the door closed, Joe could no longer hold his patience and blurted, "Dad, what was that?"

Though he gave him a stern look from his bluntness, Mr. Hardy replied, "I could not tell you in front of her. It might be her dad who needs my help."

"So, dad, it was pretty obvious when you blatantly avoided the topic," Frank observed.

"Oh," Mr. Hardy said, "I guess I wasn't thinking, nor prepared to say anything. I have been pretty busy today."

"Doing what?"

"I told you finishing a case," he paused, "and helping out her father."

"With what dad? We don't deserve this cloak and dagger routine," Frank urged.

"Now sons, I don't want you getting involved okay. That is the main reason I have kept some information from you."

"Yes" was the quick reply, "Continue, dad."

"You remember a few years ago around school starting I had to leave to help out with a serious kidnapping case?"

"Yep," Joe said.

"Wait, the one where the woman wasn't caught?"

"Yes that's it. And not too long ago she was sighted not too far from where Kailey lives."

"Why would that matter?"

"She was kidnapped by that woman."