"All right, girls," Connor directed the two ladies.  "When I count to two, you two are going to push right with everything you have and I am going to push left."

And pray it doesn't aggravate my ribs even more than they are already, Connor thought.  At least they no longer had that sharp ache they had, instead, it was a numb ache but constantly there, even when he took ibuprofen or Aleve to alleviate it.

"One.  Two!" and they pushed.  The armoire gave a lot easier than Connor expected it to give and it slid away from the wall a good foot.

"We're stronger than we thought," Mandy said. 

Connor bent down and looked at the floor and saw the armoire was set on floor guards, those little plastic and felt disks that protected hardwood floors from furniture.  No wonder it had moved so easily.

Mandy slid into the space allowed and looked into the hole.

"Jackpot!" she called out.  "We found it."

She handed out a large file folder to Samantha who took it.  Mandy got out of the way and went to look over Samantha's shoulder as she looked through the different papers.

"I wonder why these aren't locked up?" Samantha asked.  "These… wow…"

There was the Andiron mansion certificate.  Deeds for this house and the other house they searched yesterday.

"Like I said," Mandy grinned.  "Jackpot!"

"Let me go tell Frank what we found and get him down here," Samantha handed the folder to Mandy and left.  Mandy kept perusing the file.  Occasionally she sat something onto the desk and Connor took a peek.  Two more properties here in Cambridge .

"Oh… crap…" Mandy murmured.  She handed Connor her next find and he read it, eyes widening in shock.

"It's a deed to an old mental institution?" Connor asked, confused.  "It says it's condemned."

"Can you think of a better place?" Mandy asked.  "I mean, think about it.  An old dilapidated property, condemned, nobody would look there, would they?"

"Well, I wouldn't," Connor said.  "Because it seems like something out of a bad b-movie mystery or a horror flick."

"And I wouldn't either, for the same reason," Mandy said.  "But Andrew has been relying on that kind of logic.  It's why he planted that deed for that property in Virginia because he'd want us to think that's where Joe is to pull us off the hunt.  He knows we would never believe he'd keep Joe at a closed down mental institution."

"Your thinking is awfully convoluted, love," Connor said.  "Are you sure he'd bring Joe there?"

"Positive," Mandy smiled confidently.  "Definitely.  This is it.  I just need to call my dad, get all the troops gathered up and off we go."

"MANDY! CONNOR!" Samantha yelled as she came into the room.  "I can't find Frank anywhere!"

"What?" Mandy asked.  "What do you mean?"

"I looked through the whole upstairs and even down here.  I checked the bathrooms, the closets… he's not up there anywhere, or down here.  He wouldn't have wandered outside by himself!"

Cursing under her breath, Mandy took off running.  Connor bounded upstairs to do another search of each of the rooms.  He checked closets, chests, armoires, anywhere Frank might possibly be hiding but knew he wouldn’t find his roommate.  He went back downstairs to find Mandy and Samantha standing in the front door looking alarmed. 

"I found tire tracks in the side yard," Mandy said. 

"You think someone's taken Frank now?" Connor asked, alarmed.

"Yeah," Mandy said.  "I just don't know who or why."

She slumped down, sitting on the floor, both hands in her hair.  Connor knelt beside her and put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"I'd better call my dad," Mandy held onto Connor for a moment.  "God, I don't want to do that.  How am I going to tell him that both sons are missing now?"

Connor ran a hand through her hair and kissed her forehead.  "I'm here for you, love."

She flipped open her cell phone, a desolate expression on her face.

"Dad?" her voice shook as she spoke.  Connor only got her side of the conversation but she told Fenton about how Frank was missing and the tire tracks on the side yard. 

"Don't forget the deed to the old hospital," Connor whispered in her ear.

"Oh, yeah," Mandy sighed and she told Fenton about that.  Connor almost wished he could hear what the detective had to say but he contented himself with sitting and waiting – as patiently as he could allow – until Mandy was done.

Finally Mandy hung up and looked back at Connor.

"Well, he wants us to go home," Mandy said.  "I told him there was no way we were leaving now and he tried to get stubborn.  I won though."

Mandy sounded awfully proud of that. 

Dear God, Connor thought.  I'm in love with a stubborn woman.  I love her to death.

"Anyway," Mandy continued.  "I have to call Bobby, if he's not left yet and tell him what's happened.  If he's still on the case here, we'll have to work on it."

"If he's still on the case?  Why wouldn't he be?" Connor asked, confused.

"Because," Mandy said softly.  "Deanna's husband, Daniel, was killed at that warehouse down in Virginia .  Dad says they may be recalling their whole team and putting another one on this case.  He's not sure, though."

"Oh my God," Samantha gasped.  She looked ashen, her auburn hair a stark contrast to her pale skin. 

"Just something else for dear Andrew to pay for," Mandy promised softly.  "Let's go.  We have a lot of work to do and little time to do it.  We're going to meet dad at the mental institution in the morning.  In the meantime, let's go see if we can find Frank."

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Fenton and Sam arrived in Cambridge only twenty minutes after Mandy’s phone call.  He called her back to find out where she was so they could meet up with her. 

They met back at the hotel the kids stayed in the night before and Fenton paid for another night for all of them and had arranged to have a cot sent up to Connor’s room so the three men could share. 

“Don’t look so lost, Mandy,” Fenton hugged his daughter and held her tightly as she sobbed into his chest.  “It’s all right, baby, it’s not your fault.  You know that, don’t you?”

“I was responsible,” Mandy sniffed.  “And now they’re both gone.  Both of them, Dad!”

“I know, baby,” Fenton hugged her even more tightly.  “But it’s not your fault.  You had no idea Cathy was in the area or that Frank would disappear.”

“We don’t know that Cathy took him,” Mandy wiped her tears from her cheeks but they were replaced by more.  “We don’t know who took them.”

“We can guess, though,” Fenton said.  “We’re pretty sure she’s helping Andrew.”

“I know,” Mandy whispered.

“Is there a chance that Doctor Rich or Anna got him?” Connor asked.  “Wouldn’t that make sense?”

“Maybe,” Fenton thought about it.  “It’s possible it’s one of them.  We can add them to the list.  In fact, I’ll call the police – have you done that?”

“We talked to Mr. Stewart, the agent that’s here,” Mandy said.  “He called the police.  The local team was going to meet us here in a couple of hours to take our statements.”

Fenton thought for a moment.  “All right, let’s go back to the house.  We’re going to start from where Frank disappeared and work our way out from there.  You kids ready?”

“We’re ready, dad.”

“Let’s go.”

 

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.