To make it worse, his assailant was still making grabs at the camera strap, yanking and tugging furiously from behind him. Frank, concentrating on keeping his grip on the dock, couldn’t risk many looks over his shoulder, to see who this attacker was who so evidently wanted his camcorder in the very worst way! But the tugs on the camera strap were, at least, keeping him from plummeting down onto the rocks!

Feeling his one-handed grasp slipping again, Frank swung his other arm upwards, trying to gain a hold with his free hand. He succeeded, but immediately heard a muffled curse, and felt his fingers stamped on by the man who had tried to push him off! Frank yelped in pain and fury, and snatched his fingers away; again he was clinging one-handed, and his arm was getting very tired. Don’t…let…go, Hardy…don’t let…go….

Suddenly, the desperate tugging at the camera strap ceased, and Frank felt the vibrations of running footsteps on the dock, approaching him, and heard a shouted ‘HEY!’ from someone. It sounded like Joe.

Dragging in a breath of air, Frank let out a choked cry: "Help!"

More running footsteps, this time receding, and Frank knew his attacker had fled. Gasping, he released his grip on the camcorder, grabbed the dock once more with his free hand, and hung there, exhausted.

"Frank!" Joe was there, kneeling on the dock, leaning over him. Frank saw him cast one frustrated glance over his shoulder, evidently regretting not being able to pursue the fleeing man, then felt his wrists tightly grasped. "Hang on, I’ll get you up." Joe tugged Frank upwards until the older boy managed to get his forearms over the edge of the dock, then wrapped an arm about him and pulled him all the way up.

Frank sprawled on the sun-warmed boards, panting. He shifted enough to move the precious camcorder out from beneath him, then lay flat once more, attempting to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" Joe’s voice was full of concern, and he was breathing raggedly too. He stretched out on the dock beside his brother. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"N-no….I don’t think so." Frank pulled in a deep breath, then exhaled, and sat up slowly. "Thanks for the rescue – I’m not sure how much longer I could have held on." He peered over the edge of the dock, and shuddered. A grimace of pain crossed his face, and he gingerly felt his arm. "Ouch…that’s going to be sore for a while, I think." He examined his palm. "And I need a tweezers…." He rotated his shoulder carefully, making sure everything was still in working order, then managed to grin at his younger brother. "Overall, okay."

Frank’s next area of concern was the camera. He examined it minutely, again thankful that the sturdy strap had kept it around his neck. Aside from a scratch or two on the surface, from when Joe had hauled him over the edge of the dock, it seemed to be undamaged. Frank turned it on, and panned over the lake, up into the air – and spotted a familiar figure dangling high above – Megan, parasailing!

He zoomed in as closely as he could, and he saw her come into focus, tiny in the viewfinder. Her mouth was moving; she was shouting something, pointing at the dock, and he could see the shocked expresssion on her face, even at this distance. Obviously, Megan had seen something of what had occurred!

"Uh-oh!" Frank groaned, then laughed ruefully. He got to his feet as rapidly as he could, then waved towards his girlfriend, and signaled a thumbs-up, hoping she would see him and be reassured as to his well-being.

"Now—" Joe was sitting up, arms curled about his knees. "What was that all about, anyway? I go to get something to drink and when I come back, you’re dangling off the end of the dock!" He looked around, bemused. "Where did the drinks go, anyway? Oh…hang on a minute." Spotting two large beverage containers lying on their sides at the far end of the dock, the younger Hardy got up and retrieved them. "Lucky they had lids on, huh? There’s actually still something in ‘em!" He handed one to Frank and settled down again with the other.

"Somebody came up behind me while I was filming," Frank began, slurping his lemonade gratefully. "and before I could turn around, the guy pushed me off the dock, and grabbed at the camcorder strap at the same time!"

"Whew!" Joe whistled through his teeth. "You’re lucky you weren’t killed, falling onto those rocks! So it was someone trying to steal the camera, huh?"

"Yeah, I think so. This is a tourist haven, after all, and there’s got to be lots of people out to score stuff like that." Frank replied.

"That’s pretty fishy!" Joe countered. "Most thieves have more sense than to try and grab a camera from someone who’s got it on a strap around his neck, for Pete’s sake! And this happened in broad daylight – anyone could have seen what happened." He paused, thinking. "Say – did you get a look at him?"

"Not much of one," Frank responded somewhat grumpily. "I was too busy fighting to stay connected to the dock…and he was behind me, and above me, anyway. I saw a dark sleeve, and dark pants, that’s all."

"I only saw him from a distance – dark hair, and dark clothing, and sunglasses…hey! I wonder if it was that guy from the tram!" Joe speculated. "That would explain why he was watching us so closely; he was casing the camera!"

Frank nodded. "Maybe – I can’t think of anything else that makes sense. But why push me off? I mean – if he wanted the camera, it would have gone into the lake with me, and been ruined!"

"Well, random robbery is the most logical explanation." Joe admitted reluctantly. "But I still say that the thief must have been a rank amateur, to try something like that…especially when you weren’t so easy to get at, once you went off the dock. A smart thief would have given up then." 

"You’re probably right about that." Frank said. "At any rate, I can’t think of any other reason someone would try to push me into Lake Tahoe."

Joe opened his lips to reply, then thought better of it, and merely grinned instead. Before he could think of a safe comment, the boys were distracted from their conversation by a shriek coming from high above the lake!

"Whee-oo! Look at that!" Joe laughed and pointed. "Vanessa’s up now – yowch, listen to that scream, would you? And she’s the one who wanted to go up so badly, too!"

Frank laughed, more relaxed now, and switched on the camcorder once again. He filmed Vanessa, hoping the screams would come through clearly on the sound track, and then panned down to film Joe, who was waving and shouting at his girlfriend. When Vanessa had been returned to the boat, and another of the passengers lofted into the air, Frank turned off the camera and concentrated on picking slivers from his hand, until the approaching purr of a boat’s motor announced the triumphant return of the parasailors.

When the boat landed, Megan was the first one onto the dock, closely followed by Vanessa. Both girls were flushed and wet, but exhilarated, and bursting with laughter and chatter.

"That was incredible! Simply incredible!" Megan bubbled, rushing up to Frank. He stepped back from her exuberant embrace, instinctively trying to protect his sore arm, but hastily coming up with another excuse, so as not to worry her.

"You are WET! Stay away from me, woman!" he shouted, fending her off. "Go drip dry somewhere!"

Giggling, she stalked him threateningly, and finally pounced, hugging him about the waist and snuggling against him. Frank made bleah noises, but cuddled her close, just the same. He had no real objections!

"How’d you guys get so wet, anyway?" Joe demanded of Vanessa, who also appeared to have been drenched with a garden hose. He gingerly hugged her, then backed away.

"They dipped the seat down to the lake!" she explained. "You could choose whether or not to be dipped…and we both said ‘yes.’ Maybe we were dropped just a little too low." she concluded, laughing. She shook out her long hair, fluffing it in the breeze to dry it.

"That’s for sure!" Joe grumbled, but he was grinning as he complained. "But you seemed to enjoy it – despite all the screaming!"

"It was cold!" Megan admitted, her soft laugh bubbling up into its characteristic contagious giggles. But then, she sobered, looking up into Frank’s face. "But what happened to you, Frank? I couldn’t tell what was going on, but it looked like you fell off the dock…?"

"I did." Frank admitted grimly. "Well, I was pushed off the dock, actually. But it’s okay, Baby," he hastened to reassure her. "I’m fine. And the reason someone pushed me off the dock, we figure, was to try and steal the camcorder. Just a random robbery attempt."

Megan eyed him askance, but since he was apparently all right, and obviously didn’t want to discuss it further, she let the subject drop, and went back to describing what the parasailing venture had been like. "I wish I’d had binoculars with me, although I suppose I’d have dropped them in the lake, or something, when I got so excited." she chuckled. "I took a few pictures of Vanessa, with my little disposable camera." She patted her tote bag happily, then took out a hairbrush and began brushing her coppery curls into some semblance of order.

Vanessa was now spraying herself liberally with mosquito repellent, and she handed the container to Megan. "Whatever we had on, probably got washed off when we went in the lake." she advised her friend.

Joe wrinkled his nose. "Blech. I wish we didn’t have to put that stuff on – I know it’s necessary, but I don’t like the taste of it, when I kiss you!"

"Then maybe you’d better not kiss me in those places!" his girlfriend quipped, and returned the spray bottle to her bag. "I want to go back up sometime!" Vanessa changed the subject hastily, pointing at the parasail boat. "And I want you two to do it with us, next time!" She put a clip into her hair to hold it back, and started applying lip gloss. "You’d go up again, wouldn’t you?" she added to Megan.

Megan nodded. "Yes – but I’d like the boys to come too." She turned her head, and fluttered her eyelashes outrageously at Frank. "Puh-leeeeeeeeease, Frank, darlin’? Say you’ll come?"

He choked with laughter. "Yes, you conniving little witch, I’ll come; Joe’ll come; we’ll take loads of pictures and I’ll video the whole thing! There, does that satisfy you?"

When the girls were satisfied that they were sufficiently restored to normal, as far as hair and makeup were concerned, the four of them walked back to the closest street paralleling the lake edge. They strolled along, content with inspecting the various boutiques and gift shops lining both sides of the street, as the afternoon sun began its descent towards the mountains rimming the lake. But after a few blocks of this, Joe rebelled.

"I’m hungry!" he stated with conviction. "It’s almost five – that’s close enough to dinner time, isn’t it? Let’s eat! Somewhere along the line we missed lunch; all we had was ice cream cones."

The other three exchanged rather startled glances.

"I guess we did skip lunch, didn’t we?" Vanessa admitted. "Okay, I’m with Joe on this one. What sounds good?"

They looked about. There were several fast-food restaurants, and a pizza place, close by, but somehow, these didn’t seem to quite fill the bill. They wanted something just a little more elaborate than Big Macs!

"How about there?" Frank pointed down the block, on the lake side. "There’s a sign that says DaVinci’s Italian Food. How does Italian sound to everyone?"

"I’ll bet it doesn’t come close to Marco’s!" Joe laughed, but willingly walked along with the others towards the restaurant.

"Well, no one comes close to Marco’s." Vanessa agreed. "But this is probably good too."

Since it was still early, the dinner crowds hadn’t started building, and the foursome was seated quickly. A friendly waiter brought them ice water and menus, and then left them to make their decisions. Vanessa and Frank both went with spaghetti, Joe decided on calzone, and Megan chose lasagna. As they were eating their salads, another party was escorted to the table nearest theirs, and the four teens could overhear the conversation clearly.

"…hear about the robbery? The sales clerks at that tee-shirt shop were talking about it."

"Uh-huh – somebody’s watch was snatched..."

"…digital camera, was what I heard. You mean there were two thefts, just this afternoon?"

Joe looked across the table, meeting Frank’s dark speculative gaze. "Sounds like you weren’t the only one." he murmured.

Frank nodded soberly. "A watch, a digital camera, a camcorder….somebody’s got a theft ring operating here in Stateline – or some thief is suffering from a severe bout of desperation."

"Think we should look into it?" Joe queried. "After all, we are sort of involved already…one of those robbery attempts was you!"

"I knew this couldn’t be just a vacation." Vanessa muttered. "Holmes and Watson are at it again!" But she was smiling as she said it.

Frank reddened a little at the comment, but he knew Vanessa wasn’t really upset, nor was Megan. In fact, they both looked intrigued, and were waiting for his response to Joe’s question.

"I think we just might," the elder Hardy allowed. "But we don’t have anything to go on, yet. Let’s wait until we know more, before we get involved."

Joe nodded, conceding Frank was probably right.

Just then, their entrees were brought to the table. Eating took priority for a while, and talking took a back seat. Finally Joe, the worst edge of his hunger abated, leaned back and opened another topic of conversation.

"What shall we do tonight?"

"I vote for a night in, by the pool." Vanessa spoke up immediately. "We can swim, go in the Jacuzzi…."

"Thought you’d been wet enough already." Frank murmured teasingly. "Wouldn’t you like to be dry for awhile?"

"I think I’d like to take a walk on the beach with my girl, before we settle in at the hotel." Joe said softly, his blue eyes resting on Vanessa’s pretty face. "Sunset over the water, and all that. Alone." he added firmly.

"Why, Joe!" Vanessa blushed, but looked extremely pleased, nonetheless. "Okay – that sounds lovely. I’d like it." She reached to clasp his hand beneath the table.

Frank leaned closer to Megan. "That sounds kind of cozy, doesn’t it?" he hinted. "Want to do something like that too?" His warm brown eyes held an open invitation.

His girlfriend’s dimpled smile was an answer in itself, and her turquoise eyes glowed as only Megan’s eyes could. But she kept her reply demure: "I think that would be very nice."

After dinner was done, the two couples went outside once more. "Let’s split up for awhile, do our walks, and meet back at the hotel at…" Joe looked at his wristwatch. "…at eight o’clock?"

Frank and Megan exchanged glances and both nodded. "Suits us." Frank affirmed. He took Megan’s hand and started towards the beach.

Vanessa and Joe watched them depart, then Joe pulled Vanessa in for a quick hug. "We didn’t have dessert," he reminded her. "Want a snow cone?"

"You’re a bottomless pit!" she chided, laughing, but nodded, just the same. "Yes – cherry, please."

They stopped and purchased snow cones at a vendor near the beach, then began their stroll through the sand. Vanessa once more removed her sandals, and dropped them into her bag, and they walked contentedly along, slurping at the icy confections. There were many other people walking the shoreline, but all seemed to be absorbed in their own concerns, and Joe and Vanessa felt cocooned in their tiny circle of privacy. Soon, the snow cones were gone, the little paper cups deposited in Vanessa’s bag.

"Isn’t it lovely?" Vanessa broke a peaceful silence to gesture towards the golden-red splendor of the sunset. "We don’t get sunsets like that in Bayport! Just look at those little gold clouds – and see, look at the purple streaks!" The artist in Vanessa was coming to the forefront.

"Beautiful!" Joe agreed. "And the way it reflects on the water makes it twice as nice." He stopped walking, and put his arms about her. "Not as beautiful as you, though." he whispered.

"Flatterer…" Vanessa turned her face to him, and smiled invitingly. "Watch out for the bug spray…" She closed her eyes as their lips met….

But their kiss was interrupted by the sudden sound of a woman screaming, not far away. "STOP! Somebody stop him! He’s got my camera!"

Startled, Joe and Vanessa jerked apart. "Another theft!" Joe gasped. He spun away from Vanessa and sprinted down the beach, dodging pedestrians, in hot pursuit of a man’s fleeing form.