He hurried up to his room and quickly called Nancy. He heard the phone pick up on the second ring.

“Hello?” It was Nancy who answered the phone.

“Hey, Nancy. It’s Frank. What’s up?”

“I got a phone call from Joe. He was acting weird. He was calling me sweetie and honey.”

“Sweetie? Honey?” Frank asked.

“Yeah. Frank, I’m worried about him. I’ve never heard him talk like that before.”

“You don’t need to worry. Joe is working undercover trying to get his way into the group. He probably called you to establish contact.”

“So, your plan was to become part of the group?”

“We figured it would be easier to find Vicki is one of us got into the group. Joe was the one who got the job.”

“I hope Joe will be careful. That group can be dangerous.”

“Joe doesn’t know what careful means. I just hope he keeps his temper. I think he’ll be able to find her and get close to her.”

“So do I.”

“Did Joe leave a message with you?” Frank asked.

“Yeah,” Nancy said. “Joe said that he was with friends and would call later.”

“He must be onto something.”

“So, what’s your next step?”

“I don’t know. I want to go to the library, but I know it’s closed on Sundays. I want to know if they’ve been involved in anything newsworthy.”

“I’ll help any way I can.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I thought you would be spending time with Ned.”

“I haven’t been able to reach him,” Nancy said quietly. “He won’t take any of my calls.” She let out a long breath. “I think it’s over, Frank.”

“You can’t assume it’s over. You have to give Ned some time. He’ll come around.”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t we hang out?” Frank suggested. “It’ll get your mind off Ned.”

“Okay. Let’s meet at the park.”

“All right.”

* * * * *

An hour later, Frank and Nancy were walking through the park. Frank had changed into a pair of tan shorts and a black T-shirt. They had gotten some ice cream from a vendor and continued walking through the park. They walked toward the pond and sat down on a bench.

There were geese and ducks playing in the pond. Frank and Nancy had avoided talking about Ned. Frank looked at Nancy to say something, when he noticed a group approaching them. There were a dozen people in the group. They were all wearing black.

“Nancy, look.”

Nancy looked in the direction Frank was. A moment later, she looked back at Frank. “Is that group coming toward us?”

“Joe is with them,” Frank said. Joe was in the front of the group.

“Really?” Nancy looked back at the group. “We should probably get out of here.”

“Not yet,” Frank said, watching as the group got closer.

The group stopped in front of Frank. They both saw Joe glaring at them. Frank asked, “May I help you?”

Joe reached over and took Frank’s ice cream out of his hand. Frank tried to reach for it, but Joe pushed him back onto the bench. Joe said, “Stay put.”

“Why don’t you get lost,” Nancy said.

“Be quiet.”

A girl put her hand on Joe’s shoulder, making him turn to face her. Frank and Nancy realized the girl was Vicki as Joe handed Vicki the ice cream. Joe turned back to face them.

“What are you looking at?” Joe snapped.

“Nothing,” Frank said.

Joe grabbed Frank by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Frank and Joe stood nose-to-nose. “Don’t ever look at her.”

“I wasn’t,” Frank said.

Joe pulled his arm back to throw a punch at Frank. Joe made a fist. Nancy dropped her ice cream as she jumped to her feet. She put her hand on Joe’s arm. She said, “Don’t hit him.”

“Stay out of this,” Joe said, as Nancy was pulled away from him.

Joe looked back at Frank. “No one ever looks at her. I’m going to make sure you never look at her again.”