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Nancy saw them before they saw her. Two blond boys with perfectly feathered hair and shirts they couldn't be bothered to button all the way. She sighed and retreated into the shadows. There was no need for them to even know she was here just yet.
She made a mental note to yell at Bess the next time she saw her. "It's just a simple job," the other girl had said, "get in, get the information, get out. You'll have plenty of time for sightseeing. Maybe you could even catch a Broadway show." From the moment she'd got here, she'd known that it wouldn't be nearly that simple. And here they were. So much for an easy job.
It wasn't that she didn't like the Hardy Boys. She liked Joe just fine. Frank, on the other hand was an annoyance and a half, and somehow when they showed up even jobs that were simple turned into a comedy of errors.
Nancy turned the corner and tried to put the Hardys out of her head. Maybe they were here on a completely different case. Maybe this time around they wouldn't get in her way while she tried to do some serious investigating. Maybe Frank would remember to button up his shirt for once and tone down that distracting grin. It wasn't like he respected her or even took her seriously. A girl needed to work twice as hard to succeed in this business and she couldn't afford to have her head turned by a pretty smile.
Frank listened to Joe's chatter with only half an ear. He'd thought he'd seen - but no, it couldn't have been her. How many times had he caught a glimpse of a dark-haired girl in the distance and thought it was her?
He shook off the feeling and noticed that Joe had paused and was waiting for his opinion. "I think you're right about that." That was usually a safe phrase. Except when it wasn't. He kicked himself mentally for not paying attention to whatever wild conjecture Joe had been spouting about their current case. It hadn't been her. If Nancy was around, they would have run into her earlier in the case. Admitting to Joe that he thought he'd seen her turning a corner would just open him up to teasing about feelings that he was still uncertain about. And he couldn't allow that.
Instead he turned his mind to the case at hand, as with skill borne of years of practice, he nudged Joe until his brother repeated the details he'd missed, and then, with an easy grin, Frank set himself to poking holes in Joe's theory. Joe might be better at the analytical stuff, but there were always things he missed.
There was a phone booth on the corner by their hotel, but Joe waited until Frank was out of sight before he made his next move. "River Heights, please," he said to the operator, then waited patiently till the operator got Bess on the line.
"It's not working. She was right there and neither of them did anything. Frank's pretending that he didn't even see her," he blurted out before she had a chance to even say hello.
"Well, you'll have to nudge him in the right direction. It's not like I can drop hints for Nancy. Not from this distance. If only I hadn't broken my leg." The hollow sound of her knocking on her cast to emphasize her dismay came through the line clearly. " If only George wasn't busy." If only she hadn't left the job in Joe's hands. But she was too kind to say that aloud. "Maybe we should just try again some other case."
"I can do this," Joe protested. "We haven't solved the case yet. There's still plenty of time to make this work. If only I hadn't walked in on them in Hollywood," he added regretfully. "They're both way too stubborn, but this can't go on like this. Frank is driving me crazy. He's driving himself crazy too."
But neither of them had any ideas about how to speed up the process and when the operator broke in three minutes later asking for more money, Joe regretfully hung up the phone. He was just going to have to wait for inspiration to strike.
The case itself was unexceptional. All three detectives found clues, searched a little to far in the wrong direction, made deductions and eventually found themselves tied up backstage by the producer of a failing Broadway production. There was no show that night, and the producer made it clear that by the time someone came backstage the next night, the three of them would be dead.
Frank and Nancy were sniping at each other as usual. Joe did his best to tune them out while he worked the ropes that held him against a rough edge of a chair, but it did no good. "If you two don't shut up I'm going to break this chair right over your heads."
That stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Joe, are you feeling alright?" Frank asked, solicitously. "You didn't hit your head when you fell, did you?"
Nancy shook her head. "I was watching. He caught himself on those crates." She paused, then added, a little too sweetly, "You can't blame him. If you were my brother, I'd be threatening you with bodily harm at least once a day."
Joe braced himself for another volley of insults, but stopped when he realized what he was doing and snapped, "You may enjoy your little spats, but they got old real quickly. I'd rather listen to an elephant play the bagpipes than spend another minute listening to you quarrel."
"Then get earplugs," Frank snapped back, ignoring the fact that they were still trapped. "No one's forcing you to listen to us."
That did it. Joe felt the rope give and with a tug he was free. He stood and let the ropes fall to the ground. "Fine, I will." He stalked out of the room dramatically. Not that he planned to leave them there, but it wouldn't hurt them to sweat for a little while.
The other two stared after him, unbelievingly.
"He didn't just do that," Nancy said. "Tell me he didn't just leave us here."
"He just left us here," Frank replied grimly, or as grimly as Frank ever got. When we get out of here, I'm gonna...I'm gonna...." He couldn't think of anything he could do to his brother that could pay him back for that.
"Well, first we have to get out of here," Nancy said sensibly. "I don't think our captor has tied these knots very well. If I work on yours, maybe I can loosen them."
Frank nearly suggested that he be the one to work on her knots, but he bit it back. The important thing was getting out of here so they could bring the producer to justice and then to get back at his brother. Arguing with Nancy could wait. "Is it getting hot in here?"
Nancy started to reply then gasped and pointed to a corner of the room where pieces of the set were starting to burn. "I think I'd better hurry." She fumbled a little as she unknotted the rope by feel, and it felt like it took hours, though only a few minutes had passed. Soon Frank was freed and working on her bonds. "Do you see a fire extinguisher?" The flames were higher now, and the walls had caught. As she looked around, she noticed that the rack of clothing by the other door - the one Joe had gone through - had also caught fire. "Hurry, Frank."
"Just a sec. Got it." Nancy felt the ropes drop from her wrists and before she thought, she was out of her chair, her arms wrapped around Frank's neck, kissing him for all she was worth. And he was kissing her back, ignoring the heat of the flames and the smoke that was starting to fill the room.
Finally they separated. "We've got to get out of here before the entire building goes up," Frank said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door Joe had gone through minutes before. "Pull your coat over your head and come on."
For once Nancy did as she was told, absently noting that the flames weren't spreading in a natural fashion. Their culprit had decided to cut his losses and go for the insurance money, but there would be traces of whatever he'd used to start the fire and he wasn't going to get away with it. They burst through the door and straight for the exit.
Once they were out in the fresh air, they finally separated, relieved to hear the sirens that indicated that the fire department was already on their way and see Joe struggling with a policeman who was preventing him from going back into the building.
Frank thought he'd better show himself before his brother was arrested for assaulting an officer. He glanced at Nancy who nodded at him before gesturing at the crowd. And there was their foe, badly disguised in a hat and overcoat. Frank watched Nancy move surreptitiously to block his progress, before going over to his brother and having a quiet word with the officer.
It shouldn't have worked. The producer should have noticed them escaping the blaze, should have spotted Nancy before the police officer got there, but he didn't. Instead the three detectives watched as their captor was led away in handcuffs. Another case solved.
"Back to the hotel?" Frank asked his brother, but Joe glared at him.
"I'm off to buy earplugs. You two need to talk. And I mean talk, not yell. Maybe if you admitted you like kissing each other more than you like arguing with each other I'd have a moment's peace." He stalked off without a backwards glance.
Nancy and Frank looked at each other for a moment before Nancy broke the silence with a laugh. "Your brother's wrong. I like arguing with you just as much as I like kissing you."
Frank's eyes twinkled. "Ditto. The real question is which you'd like to do right now."
There was no question in Nancy's mind. "Let's save the arguing for later."