Pawns & Enemies: A Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Mystery

12. Frank

 Ned drops me at the house at about ten thirty. Together we get all the luggage out of the car and inside. Hannah, Nancy's housekeeper, was asleep so Ned suggested I leave a note so she didn't freak out about strange men sleeping in her house. Ned also showed me to the guest rooms. The Drew's had at least two and Nancy, Hannah and Mr. Drew have separate rooms to themselves. Mr. Drew has an office downstairs that I passed in the foyer. I asked Ned why they had so much space for just the three of them. His answer was because they had lived here since Nancy's mother was still alive. Her mother had been planning a big family. Now their family was really small.

"What happened to Nancy's mother?" I ask.

But Ned just cryptically answered that I'd have to ask Nancy myself.

I said goodbye to Ned and changed out of my clothes before plopping on the bed. My last conscious thought was wondering where Nancy and Joe were.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, wake up Frank!" Joe's voice echoes through my head.

"I'm up, I'm up," I yawn and stretch with a groan.

Joe is already fully dressed, hair combed and wearing shoes.

"What time is it?" I struggle.

"Eight-thirty. Come on, Nancy's waiting to eat with us."

I roll out of bed and grab a shirt and jeans and shove them on. I slip on my shoes and follow a happily bouncing Joe of the door and downstairs.

"What did you find out yesterday?" I ask him.

"Well," he settles back onto the heels of his feet. "Nancy and I caught some agents trying to break into the house and they said Mr. H is behind this."

"Mr. H?"

"I know something you don't know! Wow, let me soak this in." When Joe stops I give him a playful nudge. "Mr. H is the guy who trains all the new agents. Apparently, he has been sending them out on a secret mission to commit crimes."

That doesn't sound like A.T.A.C. They would fire the man before he ever had the chance to do this. Why does Dad not know about this?

"Come on, Frank. Enough about the case. Nancy's waiting."

"Wait! Did you just say what I think you said? Repeat those last two sentences."

"Enough about the case. Nancy's waiting."

That does sound like Joe. When we are on a case it is all work, no sleep, no waiting. No one is acting like themselves.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" I quiz.

Joe sighs, which is also abnormal. He looks down the stairs that we are standing on and back up again before meeting my eyes with this giddy, childish glow in his blue eyes. "I think I have a crush on Nancy Drew."

"Wow, wait a minute, you go from attacking her yesterday to liking her today?"

I'm confused. This is coming too fast. But that is to be expected with Joe.

"Yeah, you see, the problem is the girl likes you, not me."

Great, another girl likes me. I can't handle this. Joe likes her. She likes me. What a great detective love triangle! Yeah, Nancy's great, awesome even, but when it comes to girls I don't even get there before I run the other way. The only exception is my awesome girlfriend back home, who does know about Nancy and Nancy does not know about her. Ugh, this cannot be happening. You cannot be falling under Nancy Drew's spell, you idiot!