"I left them in the glove compartment," Frank said. "They're gone."

"Maybe you put them somewhere else," Joe suggested, looking around.

"They are not here," Frank insisted.

"Do you have the receipt from when you bought them?" Joe asked.

"It was with the tickets," Frank replied, feeling stupid.

"Let's go to the airport and see if anyone has turned them in," Joe said. "Even if someone got the money for them we still need to catch the plane, even if it means buying more tickets."

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "Let's go," he said, climbing out of the van and locking it. "Wait a minute," he said. "I locked this when I got out last night."

"The back wasn't locked when I got the duffels," Joe said.

"Which means whoever took the tickets had to have a key," Frank said.

"But only you, me, and..." Joe was cut off.

"And Fenton have a key," Frank said angrily.

"Why would he not want us to go to California?" Joe asked.

"Who knows what he wants?" Frank snorted. "I don't care. We're going anyway."

"He's probably fixed it so we won't be able to get a plane," Joe said glumly, not understanding why Fenton would take the tickets when he didn't care about him anyway.

"Then we'll go to New York and catch a plane," Frank said. "We'll go via somewhere else and use aliases."

"Vanessa!" Joe called out. "We're going into New York to catch a plane," he told her when she came to the door. "We'll call you from California," he added, tossing his duffel back into the van.

"Wait!" she said and rushed down the steps. "You don't want to leave your van there. I'll drive you to New York," she offered.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Joe asked, smiling at her.

"Lots, I'm sure," she replied and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Let me lock up and we'll be off."

"Hadn't you better leave a note for your mom?" Frank asked.

"She's on a business trip," Vanessa informed him. "She won't be back for three more days."

"Want to go with us?" Joe asked.

"I wish I could," she said softly, looking into his eyes. "But mom's expecting some stuff delivered and I promised I would have it uncrated and set up before she got back."

"Are you sure you have time to drive us all the way to the city?" Frank asked.

"Sure," she said. "It's early yet."

"Let's go then," Joe said.

After they arrived at the airport, Frank and Joe caught a plane for Detroit where they caught another to Los Angeles. They checked into the Days Inn and went for lunch. "Where to now?" Joe asked Frank.

"Your birth certificate says Fenton Hardy is your dad so we can skip looking for that. I guess we need to find your adoption records," Frank said. "Town hall?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow in question.

"Sounds like a plan," Joe agreed. "But how do we get at the records?"

"First we need to find out where they're kept. Then we'll work something out."

"I wish we could just hack into their system," Joe complained.

"Wouldn't do any good," Frank told him. "They didn't start putting that stuff into computers until a little over a decade ago. You're all paperwork," he ended with a smile.

"Tell you what," Joe said as they neared the town hall. "You charm the clerk and I'll sneak back and find the records."

"Okay," Frank agreed. They walked inside and found where the adoption records were kept. Entering the office, Frank stopped and asked Joe, "Plan B?"

Joe looked at the clerk and saw a six foot three, two hundered and eighty pound man standing behind the counter.

"Can I help you?" the man's voice boomed.

"Uh, we were looking for the bathroom," Joe said.

"Down the hall, make a right, fourth door," the man said then turned back to the papers he had been looking at.

"Thanks," Frank said and they left the room.

"Now what?" Joe asked.

"Be ready," Frank ordered. He walked down the hallway. Pushing over a wastecan, it crashed into a glass display. He quickly got on the floor and screamed as loud as he could.

All along the hallway, doors opened and people came rushing out to see what the commotion was about. Joe slipped unnoticed into the adoption agency and closed the door behind him.

"What happened here?" demanded the large clerk from the agency.

"He shoved me and took off down the hall," Frank told him, holding his arm and wincing.

"Why would he do that?" asked the clerk, recognizing Frank as one of the two boys who had just entered his office.

"I don't know," Frank said. "I just said his mom looked like a clown but she wore more lipstick."

"And you don't know why he pushed you?" the clerk asked sarcastically. "Come on," he ordered Frank. "Get up."

"I think my arm's broke," Frank whined, staying on the floor.

"I'll help you," the clerk said and leaned down to pull Frank up. Frank was about to fake a twisted ankle when he saw Joe sneak back out of the agency door.

"Thanks," Frank said to the clerk and walked down the hallway to Joe. They started out of the building but saw an officer and, not wanting to take a chance in case the clerk had seen them leaving together, turned around and headed for another exit.

"Hold it right there," the officer said in a loud voice.

"Us?" Joe asked innocently, turning to look at the officer.

"Frank and Joe Hardy?" the officer asked.

"That's right," Joe admitted.

"You'll have to come with me," the officer said.

"Are we under arrest?" Frank asked.

"Only if you refuse to come willingly," was the reply.

"Okay," Frank said, his forehead wrinkled in thought. He and Joe accompanied the officer outside.

"Our rental's over there," Joe said. "Can one of us just follow you?" he asked hopefully.

"No," was the expected reply. "Your rental will be taken care of."

Frank and Joe got in the back of the police cruiser and rode to the station in silence. Inside they were taken to the office of Chief Todd Andrews. "I knew it," Frank said in disgust, walking into the office and seeing none other than Fenton Hardy standing there.

Chief Andrews excused himself and left the Hardys alone. "You stole our plane tickets," Frank accused his father.

"I'd hoped you wouldn't come if I took them," he admitted. "I really didn't expect it to stop you though," he added.

"Why does it matter to you if Joe finds out who his natural parents are?" Frank demanded. "You've already told him he was adopted."