Fenton stood silently as he listened to Frank, Tony and Vanessa tell him about Amber and his missing younger son. He and Laura had left the Collig’s house early. Ezra was coming down with a summer cold and was feeling tired. Wanting his good friend to get some rest they had made it an early night.

When he and Laura arrived home they were surprised to find Tony, Chet, Biff and Phil waiting for Frank. It took some persuading but Fenton finally managed to get Tony to tell him that Joe was missing and somehow the new waitress Tony had hired was involved.

“Okay…because she changed her hair color you suspected that she was channeling Vanessa, is that correct?” He stared intently at Tony.

“Not at first…I mean…I know that girls change their hair color but…I did notice other things.”

“Such as…?” Fenton prodded.

“The way she always seemed to be watching Joe, especially when he and Vanessa were together. And once….” Tony glanced quickly at Frank. “Once I caught her imitating Vanessa’s voice and mannerisms in the break room.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that when you came here a few days ago?!” asked Frank incredulously.

“I’m sorry, man…it was just too…weird to repeat!”

“Vanessa – you said that she was dressed exactly like you, correct?”

“Yes, sir – and when I asked for her name…she gave mine! She said she was me – she was ‘Vanessa Bender’!”

“I don’t know if that’s enough to get a search warrant but…I might be able to convince Ezra to have a police officer question this girl.”

“Dad, you know she’s going to lie!”

“Possible, but we’ll be there to see if she does!”

Fenton picked up the phone; as much as he hated having to call, Fenton knew that Ezra Collig would do anything to help find his son.

*****

Amber had just finished cleaning up the dishes she had sneaked out when the doorbell rang. She quietly moved out of the kitchen to see who had come calling. Her eyes went wide when the maid let Frank walk in followed by Chief Collig and another gentleman whom Frank resembled. While the three men waited in the foyer, Amber left to attend to Joe.

Hurrying down the basement steps, Amber went to the back corner of the room and moved aside a rug. There was a trapdoor underneath leading to a sub-basement. It had been built long ago and had been forgotten. Amber had accidentally stumbled upon it when she was a little girl.

She found Joe on the cot sound asleep. This was good, Amber thought as she took out the syringe that was still in her pocket.

“I’m sorry my love but you’ll have to sleep here tonight,” she whispered softly as she plunged the needle in his arm.

“What is the meaning of this?!” demanded Edwina as she came down the staircase.

“I’m sorry to disturb you so late this evening Mrs. Sutherland, but I need to speak with your daughter, Amber.”

“Her name is Ambrosia,” huffed Edwina. “Why do you need to speak with her – what’s this about?!”

“It’s about her being responsible for my brother’s disappearance!” seethed Frank as he stepped forward.

Fenton pulled Frank back as Edwina gave him a haughty glance.

“Are you suggesting that my little girl kidnapped your brother?! Really Chief Collig, Ambrosia is afraid of her own shadow! I seriously doubt she had anything to do with….What did you say your name was?”

“Fenton Hardy and this is my oldest son, Frank. My son Joe was last seen driving away in his girlfriend’s car….”

“Well then, there you go! Why aren’t you at that other girl’s home questioning her?”

Chief Collig glanced at Fenton, silently conveying that he would handle this.

“Mrs. Sutherland – we’re here because someone matching your daughter’s description kidnapped Miss Bender and stole her car which we found parked in your driveway.”

“Edwina?”

Everyone looked up to see Mr. Sutherland coming down the stairs.

“What’s going on here?” he looked pointedly at Chief Collig.

“They think Ambrosia kidnapped someone,” Edwina said with disdain.

“That’s ludicrous!”

“Mr. Sutherland…” Chief Collig was getting frustrated.

“Mother – Father? Oh, hello Frank.” Amber had silently made her way back upstairs and appeared to be leaving the den.

“Ambrosia, Chief Collig would like to speak with you.” Edwina glared at her daughter.

Amber adjusted her glasses and smoothed back her hair as she stared at the floor.

“Wha – what about?”

“Miss Sutherland, where were you at four o’clock this afternoon?” Chief Collig’s face softened when he saw the shy girl.

“You’re going to think this is silly, but…I was in my castle.” Amber looked up and smiled shyly.

Edwina muttered something intelligible while Alfred grinned from ear to ear – he then turned to Chief Collig.

“It’s a little cottage I had built for Ambrosia for her tenth birthday. She calls it her castle!”

“I like to go there and read.”

Chief Collig glanced over at Fenton and knew they had the same thought: Joe could be in the cottage.

“May we check your…castle?”

“Not unless you have a warrant!” declared Edwina.

“Now Edwina,” began Alfred.

“No, Alfred! I know my rights! Letting these men search the premises, that would be humiliating! It’s bad enough they already think Ambrosia is guilty of a crime!”

Alfred patted her arm to comfort her. “I’m sorry gentlemen, my wife is right. Unless you have a warrant I’ll have to ask you to leave.” The Sutherlands stood staunchly and united together.

Frank was slowly losing his temper. He could see that Fenton was also, if his clenched jaw was any indication. Chief Collig prodded the Hardys towards the front door.

“I’ll be returning with that warrant,” he said in a cold, hard voice.

Frank started to protest but Chief Collig shook his head while he pushed Frank out the door.

“Frank, before you say anything…we found Vanessa’s vehicle on the property. No one explained why it was here….Vanessa never gave Amber or any of the other Sutherlands permission to use it. I think we can get a warrant to search the place.” At least he hoped so.

Edwina turned towards Amber, staring coldly at her. “What. Was. That. About?”

“I…I don’t know, Mother! The only thing I can think of…several days ago at the restaurant some boys were…were harassing me! Joe…Joe Hardy…he came to my rescue! He threw those boys out and he’s been very nice to me….I guess…”

“Jealousy,” commented Alfred. “This Joe Hardy took a liking to our Princess and this…Bender girl got jealous!”

Edwina wasn’t sure if she believed that, but it would have to do. She embraced Amber and gently patted her back.

“Come Alfred, time to turn in. We are leaving very early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, yes.” He gave Amber a quick peck on the cheek and followed his wife upstairs.

Amber stood watching her parents leave. She knew what she had to do…and she had to move fast!

It took a lot of huffing and puffing – and several hundred dollar bills to the maid – but Amber finally got Joe inside her castle. She stared down at his sleeping form, a happy smile on her face.

*****

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” yelled Frank angrily. “We can only search the car?!”

“I’m sorry Frank, but Judge Ramos didn’t think we had probable cause to search the house,” explained Chief Collig, trying to remain calm. “It was the best I could do!”

“But if we find anything that would help get a search warrant for the house...correct?” Fenton stared at the Chief.

“Yes, if we find anything suspicious it will help.”

“Fine!” growled Frank as he stormed out of Collig’s office.

“I’m sorry Ezra, but when it comes to Joe, Frank can…”

“I know, I know,” he replied softly.

Joe’s eyes fluttered open. He squinted as sunlight shone through the window. His head felt heavy and it felt like he had a mouthful of cotton. He slowly became aware of his surroundings, and realized that he was no longer in the dank room –he was lying on a soft mattress instead of the cot. He rose carefully and leaned back against the headboard. His left leg was shackled; he peeked over the bed and saw that the leg iron was bolted to the floor. The chain appeared to be long enough for him to walk a few paces.

Joe sat up straighter on the bed as he got a better look at the clothes he was wearing. Instead of his sneakers, he now wore soft leather lace-up boots. In place of his cargo shorts there were tight brown breeches that also laced up the front. Then he noticed the white puffy sleeves of his shirt. It reminded him of an actor he’d seen in an old black and white movie.

“The girl is mental!”

Dear Diary,

I stayed to watch my beloved sleeping. He looks so beautiful! Can a man be considered beautiful? I ran my fingers through his golden locks…caressed his face…I lay down beside him and gently touched his lips with mine. He smiled and called out my name…

”Vanessa”

We will be together

Always and forever

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.