"The royal family of Centrovia?" Bess's and Geogre's surprised voices rang out from one of the cellphones on the dresser.

"That's so odd!" exclaimed George. "And Katherine's from Centrovia too?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Helen. Helen, Nancy, the Tophams, and Emily were gathered in Nancy's room bright and early Monday morning and Nancy gave them the whole story. Bess and George were promptly called using Helen's cell. Nancy called the Hardys on her cell, and both were set up to speaker phone. Despite the difference in time, both were, thankfully, able to pick up. Though the sound of sleep was well wiped out of Bess's voice by now. George's voice still had a hint to it, even though she was equally as intrigued.

"Oooh, there's a prince there, and I'm not there yet!"

"Oh, hold your horses, Bess, I don't think the prince and his grandmother will leave America before we get there," remarked George.

"Besides, there's still the enemies to consider," came Frank Hardy's voice from the other phone. "And, well, you don't know which side the Kovnas are on."

"Yeah, except I have no idea how you can figure that out," said Joe. "I don't think you have enough information on their enemies to be able to make that distinction."

Nancy let out a huff. "I know."

"I hope you can convince Mrs. Alexandra to tell you everything she knows so you can be on the lookout for them," remarked Frank. "If Francis Baum turns out to be a fake, which I hope isn't the case, then the enemies to the crown of Centrovia know to look for the royal family in the River Heights area and that Mr. Faber is the contact."

"And the fact that Katherine has a pen pal in River Heights …" Joe paused, letting the implications sink in.

"But their allies could know this too!" exclaimed Bess. "Maybe their enemies are gone and the Kovnas are coming to bring the royal family back home!"

Nancy sighed. "But based on the way Mrs. Alexandra spoke, it sounds like their enemies are still around, and quite active."

"Yeah, and it's a good thing she got the niece of an FBI agent to look for her grandson, otherwise, they could get away with anything," pointed out Joe.

Nancy ran her fingers through her hair and huffed. "Yeah, which brings up another thing. I can't do anything until Uncle Denis gets here."

"You did call him and tell him about it?" asked Frank.

Nancy bobbed her head. "Of course, Dad called him right away once Francis and Sally left the house. He in fact advised that I tell all of you first thing this morning, even Bess and George since they'll be here in a couple of days."

"So then, why us?" Joe asked. "Not that I'm complaining about it."

"Well, I should think not," quipped George. "If anything, you're probably brimming with jealousy!"

"George Fayne, you know me too well," said Joe.

"Almost as well as me," said Frank with a chuckle.

Nancy cleared her throat. "Anyways, Uncle Denis thought it best to call you as well because of your dad and his connections. If something were to happen, we might have to call your dad for help."

"That makes sense," said Frank.

"And while I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind helping, I do know that he doesn't like being disturbed in the middle of a case," remarked Joe.

"If all Dad has to do is call one of his connections, then he'll be fine," said Frank. "If anything, he could get sidetracked as I'm sure he'd be interested in this mystery."

"Which could prove a problem to him. Trust me, trying to concentrate on one mystery while there's another, more interesting, mystery afoot is going to be hard."

"In other words, you had better give him minute by minute plays or he'll combust," said George.

Frank laughed. "More like he'll jump on the first plane to Chicago and try to solve it himself."

"Ok, you guys. As much fun as it would be that Joe might come for a visit, let's not forget this is serious," remarked Helen. "A country's royal family is in danger!"

"Right, and your pen pal and her family could either be in danger because they're allies, or are a danger for the royal family," Frank said calmly.

"And," said Joe, elongating the word, "you have no way to figure that out. It might be best to just keep them separated until you get more information for sure."

Nancy nodded. " That is the best course of action right now. Maybe the only course of action until we get more information." She turned to her friends. " I need you to promise to never breathe a word about Mrs. Alexandra and Francis Baum to them."

Izzy stood up and placed her hand over her heart. "I promise, cross my heart and hope to die."

Ida rolled her eyes. "You look like you're making the pledge."

"And no one uses that line anymore," quipped Joe. "Well, except maybe kids."

"And not very many at that," remarked Bess.

"Exactly."

"Ok, ok, I get it, out of date phrase … but it's a good one because I do promise not to breathe a word of the royal family to the Kovnas," replied Izzy.

"Neither will I," said Ida.

"Nor I," said Helen.

"I'll do my best to keep them from meeting each other at the Inn," said Emily. "I will need to let the Turners and Jane know so that way they can help."

"You can't let too many people know, though, secrets are harder to keep the more people know," remarked Frank. "So please be careful with saying much more than you need to. In fact, the less you say, the better."

"But having a good number of people to help you is a good idea," stated Joe. "But I do think you shouldn't tell more than the people you've already mentioned. And only tell them as little as you can. Mrs. Alexandra is right, the less some people know, the better, and safer, they will be."

"But even knowing as much as you do now can still put you in danger," warned Frank. "Not to mention even wanting to help them will put you in harm's way."

Nancy gave a quick nod. "I know, and that's exactly why I need to know everything about the enemies to the crown of Centrovia. If I'm going to be in danger either way, might as well know everything there is to know about the whole situation."

"No argument there," muttered Joe.

"You deserve to know at least that much," remarked George.

"I agree," said Frank. "Especially considering she basically hired you to find her grandson."

"The crown prince!" Bess added with a romantic sigh.

Helen let out a yelp. "Holy smokes, look at the time! I'd better get going now if I'm going to get to the airport in time!"

"Oh yeah, Chicago traffic is going to be a killer, even during the slowest times," quipped George.

"Oh yeah, and we're going to have to deal with it on Wednesday. Ugh," grumbled Bess. "Just make sure they don't leave before we get there!"

Nancy chuckled. "I highly doubt they will, but we'll make sure."

"Thank you!"

"We'll talk to you on Wednesday," said George.

"Bye!" the cousins chorused.

"Bye!" came the resounding reply before the call was disconnected. Helen picked up her phone and put it in her purse.

"We need to go too," said Frank. "We have to finish solving our own mystery."

"And, since we're going to be out, we've been tasked with keeping an eye out for a humming stoplight," said Joe, "a vital clue in our mom's mystery."

Nancy could feel the emotions gathering in her throat. "Your ... your mom is on a case?"

"A humming stoplight? Who ever heard of such a thing?" Izzy asked.

"Don't stop lights already hum?" said Emily.

"But not loud enough to be heard from inside a car," remarked Joe.

"Yeah, so, um, we'll tell you the details later. We've got to get back to the house to continue searching for this invention of John Mead."

"And for an obnoxiously loud humming stop light," quipped Joe.

Nancy chuckled. "Alright, good luck with those!"

"Thanks!"

"And good luck with yours!" said Frank.

"Bye!" As soon as the call ended, Nancy snatched up her phone and grabbed her purse.

"What are you doing?" Helen asked.

"I'm coming with you. I want to see what they're like. Maybe I could even have them figured out as allies or not by the time we get to the Inn."

"I highly doubt that, but it's worth a try," replied Helen.

"What should we do?" Emily asked, indicating herself and the twins.

"Head to the Inn and try to make sure Mrs. Alexandra and Anna are out of sight when we get there. We'll text you when we get close to the Inn. This is going to be tough, but it's our only option until I can get more information."

Ida stood and saluted. "Aye aye Captain!"

Izzy glanced at her. "Now who's the one using old phrases?"

Ida placed her hands on her hips and huffed. "It's still in far more use than 'cross my heart and hope to die'!"

"That's only because it's used so much in the military," said Helen with a chuckle.

"Well, we shall do our best. I do hope the Kovnas are allies though!" Emily said.

Nancy gave her a smile. "I do too." She turned to Helen. "Come on, that Chicago traffic isn't going to get any better."

Helen scoffed. "Tell me about it." With that, the two told their friends goodbye and dashed out the door. The drive to Chicago was mostly quiet, each nervous yet eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Kovnas.

After battling the traffic to Chicago, Helen and Nancy sat in the parking lot, watching the flight on Helen's phone. There were a few minutes left till the plane landed, and the two got to talking about the case.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, it's kinda odd that you're working for the queen of the very country the Kovnas are from."

Nancy glanced at her. "You're just now wondering about it?"

Helen waved her hand. "I know, I know, we were technically talking about it just this morning, but I couldn't think too much about it since I was too concerned about being late."

Nancy patted her shoulder. "That's fair, I was just teasing."

Helen chuckled then let out a breath. "Well, now that we're here and I can think about it, it is odd."

Nancy nodded slowly. "Yes, very odd indeed. Did they know about it, hence why they chose this time to come out here. But then that begs the question, are they allies or foes?"

Helen gripped her steering wheel. "I would really hate it if they were. I don't want to put Mrs. Alexandra and her grandson in danger."

"No one does. Helen?"

"Yes?"

"Did Katherine tell you much about her home country? Politics, news, anything like that?"

Helen shook her head. "We opted out of that, thinking it too boring."

Nancy laughed. "Of course you did."

Helen bit her lip. "If I had known though …"

Nancy rubbed her shoulder. "But you didn't, so don't worry about it. I'm sure we can find out more as soon as they get here."

Helen glanced at her phone. "Well, it should be any minute now. Looks like they've landed and are unboarding."

Nancy sat up a little straighter and let out a breath. "Alright then, did you tell her you would pick them up at the front or are we waiting here?"

Helen turned on the ignition. "Picking them up at the front." She pulled out of the parking spot and drove to the front, getting behind a line of taxis. A couple of minutes later, Helen's phone buzzed. She opened it. "Oh, Katherine sent me a text. Her mom, her sister, and she have gathered their luggage and are coming out. Her mom wants us to blink the lights, or something, to let them know where we are in the line up."

Nancy dove into her bag. "Hmm, I do have a flashlight and a laser light. Maybe I could use those?"

Helen grinned. "That sounds great! Be ready to wave at them!" She quickly typed out the message on her phone.

Nancy rolled down her window. "On it!" As she did so, two men walked past, muttering, yet loud enough that the two could hear every word.

"Are you sure the queen is in this area?"

"Yes, my wife saw her at the mall in River Heights. She was unmistakable."

"We have to assassinate her and the prince before those blasted rebels find them and return them to the throne!"

"Those blasted rebels are making enough headway to destroy everything we've worked on!"

"Yes, but with their beloved royalty assassinated, they will lose the fervor to continue fighting. Then we will control Centrovia and run it the way we want to!"

(Author's Note: Hello rosy readers! What's this? A mere coincidence that a passing conversation just so happens to be about the royal family? And by a couple of guys who seem to be enemies? How will Nancy take them down? Find out in the next chapter! When I eventually get it done, lol. ^^; Thanks for reading and have a great week! God bless!)