"This is the third time this guy got us!" Frank mumbled. "Or tried to, anyway," he corrected. Joe nodded. Just then, the phone began to ring. Frank answered it.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hello, Frank?" came the answer.

"Yes, who’s this?" Frank asked.

"It’s Trooper Welshman. Hey!"

"Oh, hi, Trooper Welshman! How are you doing? Got any news for us?" Frank asked.

"Yes, sure do! We found the car that seems to be the one that ran you over!"

"Really?" Frank asked in surprise.

"Yes. It seems like it’s a rental car. We dusted for prints, but unfortunately, nothing. It was either wiped clean, or the assailant was wearing gloves. Most likely, the latter," Welshman replied.

"I see…" Frank muttered, the wheels in his head already whirling. "Where’s the car now?"

"At the Bridgeport Police Impound," Welshman replied. "And even before you ask the next question, yes, you may see it," he added, laughing. Frank, also laughing, replied,

"Thanks Sir! We really appreciate it!" Frank said.

"You’re welcome. Goodbye!" Welshman said.

"Bye!" Frank said before hanging up the phone. As soon as he did, Joe pounced on him.

"Did they find the car? Was there prints? Do they know who did it?" he asked excitedly. Frank laughed at his brother’s eagerness.

"Yes, no, no, in that order," he replied. Joe sat back with a small sigh. "Well, what do we know about this other guy? That he loved us…what’s up with that? And, now he hates us…or something like that. He’s attacked three times…yet; we’ve been attacked four times. The third time was warning off the case…Frank! That means there are two different people after us!" He stared at his brother, just the slightest hint of fear in his eyes. Frank’s look mirrored his brothers. After a few a few seconds, Jason spoke up.

"Frank, Joe, what’s happening? Why are you so quiet?" Frank and Joe looked at him and smiled.

"Nothing’s wrong, Jason!" they said in unison, not wanting to worry him. "We’re going to go take a shower. Why don’t you watch cartoons?" Jason’s eyes light up.

"You mean I can watch Tom and Jerry?" he asked them.

"Yes, you can watch Tom and Jerry," Joe said with a laugh. Frank and Joe looked at Staci and Vanessa imploringly then.

"Will you watch him?" they asked. "It’s one thirty already. We shouldn’t be later then six, six thirty, maybe. We’re just going to go see the car, and then go see rental agency. Is it okay?" Staci and Vanessa smiled and nodded. The brothers ran upstairs to get ready. Within fifteen minutes, they were ready to go.

"Okay," Frank said, "Here’s the plan. We look at the car, and then go visit the rental company. Then, we come home. We’ll see what to do after that. Okay?" He looked at his brother for his agreement. Joe nodded, and they left after a quick goodbye to the girls and Jason. Within an hour, they had reached Bridgeport’s police impound, and they were examining the car. After an hour, they realized their search was fruitless.

"Well," Joe said with a frustrated sigh. "We might as well give up, and go talk to the rental agency and see what they say," he looked at his brother, who nodded. Frank took out his cell phone, and quickly called Trooper Welshman.

"Hello? Trooper Welshman, this is Frank Hardy, sorry to bother you again, and sorry, but I’m in kind of a rush…could you tell me which rental agency that car came from?" he said almost in one breath.

"Hi, Frank. Yes, I can. It came from Central Car Rental Agency. Are you going there?" he asked.

"Yes, we are. Thanks for all your help. Bye!" Trooper Welshman said a quick goodbye, and Frank hung up.

"Okay," he told Joe. "It came from Central Car Rental Agency. Let’s go over there now," he said.

"Is it the one on Garnet and Sage?" Joe asked.

"Yeah," Frank replied, already on the way to the car. "We have to drive all the way to Bayport, so, we’d better get a move on." He started the car as his brother got in on the passenger side. Both boys were very quiet on the way to the dealership, each kind of lost in their own thoughts about the case. Within an hour, they had reached the dealership, which was on the outskirts of Bayport. Once inside, they went to the clerk.

"Hi," Frank said. "We were wondering if you could tell us who rented the car with the rental plate P64-REN?" he asked.

"Hey, I recognize that plate!" The clerk cried. The police was in here earlier today asking about that plate! Apparently, they found the car abandoned, and it had been used to run someone off the road. The officer also said not to let anyone see the name, or not to give a description of the man," he stared at the brothers suspiciously. "Why do you guys want to know anything about it?" The brothers stared at each other, puzzled. Welshman hadn’t said anything about the police coming to check out the car.

"Um, could you tell me what the officer’s name who told you that is?" Joe asked.

"I’m not supposed to divulge that information either!" The clerk snapped. "Now, you better leave before I call the police on you!" Joe scowled, his familiar temper coming into place, but Frank pulled him out of there.

"That is really suspicious," Frank mused. "Since the accident happened between two towns, the State Police are taking care of it. Trooper Welshman is part of the State Police, and we just talked to him about where we were going…and he said it was okay. So, who is this officer?" he glanced over at his brother.

"I think…" Joe said slowly, "A call to Trooper Welshman is in order." He picked up the cell phone, and quickly dialed Welshman’s number, which both brothers knew by heart. In two rings, Welshman picked up.

"Hello, Trooper Welshman?" Joe asked into the phone.

"Yes, hello," Welshman replied.

"Hi, this is Joe Hardy. We were wondering…did you send an officer over to the car rental agency?"

"No…why?" Welshman asked.

"Well, we were just there, and the clerk there said that a police officer had come there earlier, and that had told the clerk not to let anyone who came in see any records, or ask any questions. The clerk literally threw us out of the store," Joe answered. Welshman was shocked.

"Wha-!" he spluttered. "I was not there, nor did any officer go there! I don’t know who that was, but we can add a count of impersonating a police officer to the list of things already brought up for him!" Joe could hear the anger in Welshman’s voice. Joe himself was very grim.

"Okay, thanks, Mr. Welshman. We’ll keep you updated. Bye!" Welshman said his goodbyes, and the two hung up. Joe turned to his brother and told him what Welshman said.

"Well, it’s obvious we won’t get anything from that clerk today. We might as well go home. It’s almost six already, and I’m starved. By the time we go home it’ll be almost seven." Frank said. The boys got home quickly. They walked up to the front door, and were about to open it with a key when it flung open, and they saw Jason standing there.

"Well, hello there Jase!" Joe said. "How did you know we were coming?"

"Okay, okay, I missed you too, Boomer!" Joe yelped. Finally, he managed to get away and stand up. He looked around at Frank who was laughing, and then and Staci and Vanessa, who had come to see what was going on, and started laughing too. Finally, trying to joke, he said,

"Van, why don’t you give me kisses like that?" he grinned charmingly. Vanessa rolled her eyes, and then gave him a hug as Staci gave Frank a kiss. Just then, Joe was jumped on again, this time from Jason, who was eager to tell his big brothers how his day had gone. He grabbed their hands, and started to drag them to the living room. Frank and Joe gave Staci and Vanessa helpless grins, and allowed themselves to be dragged into the living room, where they listened to an eagerly depicted account of what Staci, Vanessa, Jason, and of course, Boomer, did all day. Soon, Jason ran out of things to say, and sat on the sofa winded. Laughing, Frank and Joe stood up and went to the kitchen, followed by Staci and Vanessa. Once there, they found, to their surprise, all the dishes from lunch that Frank and Joe hadn’t cleaned, clean and put away.

"Wow!" Joe cried. "No work for us! You two are the best!" He gave Vanessa a peck on the cheek and Staci a quick hug.

"Yeah, thanks!" Frank echoed his brother. "How about, as a reward, we treat you two, and Jason, to a movie?" The girls responded excitedly, as did Jason when he heard the news.

"All right then," Joe proclaimed. "How ‘bout dinner and the movies?" he grinned at the excited responses that net his suggestion.

"And," Frank said, "Since Joe gave us this wonderful idea, he’ll treat!" Joe protested good-naturedly, but agreed. The quickly left the house, and stopped at Mr. Pizza. Dinner was over quickly and they were able to catch the eight fifteen show. The movie was a good comedy, and they laughed their way through it. It was almost ten thirty when they got out. Outside, Joe ran ahead of the others to open the car, since Jason was asleep in Frank’s arm. All of a sudden, gunshots rang out! Frank threw himself and Jason to the floor, pulling Staci with him. Another shot rang out as Vanessa also threw herself to the floor. Jason had woken up from the fall to the ground, and was whimpering softly into Frank’s chest. Frank, Staci, and Vanessa stared in horror as another shot rang out, and Joe jerked sideways, and then slowly fell to the floor!