Nancy wondered what was going on. She heard a voice yell, “Everyone! Sit down!”

Nancy slowly lifted her head and peered over the table. She saw a man in a black leather jacket, black pants and a ski mask. She noticed he was holding a rifle. She watched as he made his way up and down the center of the room.

She slowly slipped into her seat as the others also sat down. She saw Joe and Vanessa sit down at the table across from them, being closest to the man with the gun. She felt Ned take her hand and give it a squeeze.

Nancy wondered what this guy was up to. Once everyone was seated, the man began to pace. She looked at Frank and saw his eyes were wide open. A moment later, Frank turned and looked at her.

The man yelled, “QUIET! EVERYONE!”

Nancy’s eyes went wide with shock. The voice belonged to the same man who attacked her. It was Marcus Allen. Nancy glanced at Frank and knew he had also recognized the voice.

“Everyone will remain quiet,” Marcus stated as he slowed down and started to look at the people at each table. “You are all probably wondering what’s going on, well, everyone will start out this New Year with some excitement.”

Nancy noticed Frank was looking at all of them. She could see Joe had a confused look on his face. At that moment, Carson slid into the seat beside Ned, as discretely as he could. Nancy looked back at the guy. She had no idea why he was holding everyone in the ballroom.

Marcus stopped pacing. He said, “It’s time the people of River Heights pay. Everyone in this town has treated me like dirt. Now it’s time to pay for their actions.”

A voice asked from the other side of the room, “What do you plan to do?”

“This New Year is going to start out with a bang.”

Nancy leaned forward on her chair as he started pacing again. She glanced around. She could see he was staying out of everyone’s reach. If anyone tried to charge him, he could be able to get a shot off first. She knew she needed to find a way to overpower him. She glanced at Frank and knew he was thinking the same thing.

She looked and realized he was staring at her. He pointed the rifle right at her. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t River Heights very own private investigator, Nancy Drew. I’m surprised to see you here, Miss Drew.”

Nancy felt Ned squeeze her hand again. Nancy asked calmly, “What do you want?”

“Why should I tell you what I want? You won’t get it for me even if I ask.” He glanced around the room. “I think everyone should know who is really at fault for this town being so mean and nasty.” He looked back at her. “She’s the reason. She can’t keep her nose out of other people’s business. She noses her way in and keeps going until she ruins someone’s life.”

He laughed. “I think Nancy Drew deserved to ring in the New Year with a bang,”

“What are you planning to do?” Nancy asked, hoping to buy some time in getting help.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“Then talk to those people you have a problem with and let the others go. You don’t want to hurt those who aren’t involved.”

“No one is going anywhere.” He lifted his wrist and looked at his watch. He put his left hand back on the rifle. “You know, Nancy, I wish I had the time to treat you the way people in River Heights have treated me.”

“Why isn’t there time?”

All of a sudden, the clock struck midnight. All of the lights in the ballroom went out and there was a loud explosion knocking everyone out of their seats.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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.