Nancy glanced at her watch. She realized Frank had been gone a long time. It had been thirty minutes since she’d seen him. She watched as Joe and Lisa made their way toward her. When they reached her, Joe asked, “Where’s Frank?”  

Nancy looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to say anything in front of Lisa.  

“Lisa, could you get me a drink?” Joe asked.  

“Sure.” Lisa walked away.  

Nancy looked at Joe as he sat down beside her. Joe asked, “What’s going on?”  

“I’m worried about Frank. He went out for some fresh air and that was thirty minutes ago.” She stared at Joe. “He should’ve been back by now.”  

“Where did he go?”  

“Outside. It’s not like Frank to stay out so long.”  

At that moment Lisa came over and handed Joe a drink. Joe said, “Thank you.” He looked at Nancy. “Let’s go look for Frank.”  

“Is Frank missing?” Lisa asked.  

“It’s possible, but not likely. He probably just lost track of time.”  

“I’ll help,” Lisa said.  

The three of them left the barn. Once outside, Nancy went one way while Joe and Lisa went the other. They walked around and met at the back of the barn. No one had seen him.  

Nancy wondered what happened to him. She knew Frank wouldn’t just take off without letting one of them know. She knew he would leave a clue if he was onto something.  

The three of them made their way back around to the front of the barn. They could see the dance was breaking up. Cars were pulling away from the barn.  

Nancy saw something shiny on the ground. She moved between the cars to the object. She reached the object and saw it was a watch. The watch had an elastic band. She turned the watch over and saw the face was broken.  

She turned the watch over again and noticed an inscription on the back.  

“What did you find?” Joe asked.  

Nancy stared at the inscription. “To our son, Frank. Love Mom and Dad.”  

Nancy looked at Joe. She handed him the watch. She watched him look at the watch.  

Joe finally looked at her after turning the watch over several times in his hand. He said, “This is Frank’s watch. He got it for his birthday.”  

“I don’t think it was set there,” Nancy said.  

Joe flipped the watch over. “The watch must have been dropped. Frank dropped it on purpose.” He stared at Nancy. “He’s in trouble.”  

“What kind of trouble?” Lisa asked.  

“I’m not sure,” Joe said. “We need to find the others.”  

“I’ll find them,” Lisa said and made her way toward the barn.  

Nancy looked at Joe. She had a feeling Joe was right. Frank was in trouble. Joe asked, “What was Frank doing?”  

“He came out here for some air. He may have stumbled onto something.”  

“Like what?”  

Nancy filled Joe in on the conversation she and Frank had with Stan and Jennifer. She told Joe how they believed Stan and Jennifer were innocent.  

She finished by saying, “Someone else is involved.”  

At that moment, she saw Lisa coming back with Kevin, Jennifer and Stan in tow. Jennifer asked, “What’s going on?”  

“Frank’s missing,” Joe said.  

“Why do you think that?” Jennifer asked.  

“We found Frank’s watch. He never takes his watch off.”  

“It’s possible Frank is still around,” Nancy said. “We need to look for him.”  

“I’ll get us some flashlights,” Stan said.  

Stan and Kevin made their way toward the barn as Joe moved over to talk to some people.  

Nancy looked about, trying to spot a clue in the moonlight. But she didn’t see anything.  

“Nancy,” Jennifer said, getting her attention. She turned and looked at Jennifer as she stepped closer. “What is really going on? I don’t believe you and Frank just met.”  

Nancy knew she needed to be honest with Jennifer. She knew they made need their help in finding Frank. She knew she had to trust Jennifer.  

“We didn’t just meet,” Nancy finally said. “I’ve known Frank and Joe for a long time. We’re old friends.” She looked at Jennifer. “I promise I will explain everything later, but right now, we need to find Frank.”  

Jennifer asked, “What can we do to help?”  

At that moment, Stan and Kevin returned with several lanterns.  

“You need to look for anything, like a piece of clothing, wallet, a key. Anything.”  

“What should we do if we find something?” Jennifer asked.  

“Call me or Joe. We’ll be able to tell how important it is.”  

They paired off. Jennifer went with Stan in one direction while Kevin and Lisa went the other way. Nancy glanced at Joe. He was talking intently with several people. She knew Joe would catch up with her when he finished.  

She picked up the lantern Kevin had left for her and moved into the woods. She was worried about Frank. She had this feeling he was in danger. She looked at the ground.  

She noticed scuff marks on the ground. She saw three sets of footprints. She noticed a flat spot on the ground. She saw the footprints moved back toward the barn. She followed the tracks to where she started. She had this feeling Frank was nowhere around.  

“Nancy.”  

She looked up and saw Joe making his way toward her. “What’s up, Joe?”  

“Frank was taken away,” Joe said sliding to a stop.  

Nancy wasn’t sure she heard him right. “What?”  

“Frank is gone. He was tied up and tossed in the back of a truck. The truck took off.”  

“Any idea where the truck went?”  

“Some people over heard some guy say something about an old access road.”  

“The road behind the properties,” Nancy said. “Whoever took Frank must be taking the cattle.”  

“I was thinking the same thing,’ Joe said.  

At that moment the others came over. They all admitted they hadn’t seen anything.  

Nancy said, “That’s okay. We got a lead. We’ll meet you back at the ranch.”

“You’re not going alone,” Stan said.  

“I’m not. I’m going with Joe.”  

“You’re going to need more than the two of you.” Stan looked at Joe. “No offense.”  

“None taken,” Joe said. “Another person wouldn’t hurt.”  

“Okay,” Nancy said. “But we need to get going.”  

“Fine,” Stan said. “I’ll drive, just tell me where to go.”  

“Be careful, you guys,” Lisa said.  

“We will,” Joe said. “We’ll meet you back at the house as soon as we find Frank.”  

“We’ll meet you there,” Kevin said.  

Stan drove to the access road as fast as he could. When they reached the road, Stan pulled off to the side and turned the engine off.  

“We should go the rest of the way on foot,” Stan said.  

“Good idea,” Joe agreed.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors 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.