Mandy stared at the picture in front of her in disbelief and picked it up to hold it in her hands. Anna Phillips. Just the thought of her name was enough to make Mandy’s blood curdle. Mandy remembered only too well having to rescue both of her brothers from Anna’s madness and now, here she was, holding a picture of her. Andrew looked very cozy; he had his arm around Anna’s shoulders and was gazing at her with an expression of candid admiration. Mandy’s stomach flip-flopped within her, and she barely resisted the urge to go and find the nearest bathroom to throw up.

That was just what this case needed: any hint that Andrew was in cahoots with Anna Phillips. It was bad enough that her cousin had Joe – and if she even thought about what Andrew might be doing to Joe then that bathroom became more of a necessity – but Anna had designs on her other brother. Frank was not well enough to have to deal with fending Anna off. Mandy hoped that she had gone far, far away – far enough away that she wouldn’t be able to do anything to Frank ever again. Or Joe. Or anyone else in their family for that matter.

Mandy handed the picture back to Samantha, the urge to rip it up into little tiny pieces so strong her fingers shook. She felt Connor’s arm slip around her shoulders and she leaned her head over onto his chest for a moment and inhaled sharply; the house smelled musty and musky, Connor smelled like a man who had worked hard that day – earthy, honest smells. The drip, drip, drip of a nearby water pipe leak sounded as loud as a bass drum in the temporary silence of the downstairs room.

“Well, isn’t that a kicker?” Mandy laughed. “Andrew knows Anna Phillips. Just great.”

She had no idea what it really meant – she wasn’t sure she wanted to KNOW what it really meant. Mandy forced herself to look at more of the pictures – Andrew with Anna on the beach. Andrew with Anna at a party of some kind. A picture of them laughing together and carrying on.

“Do you think she might be the female accomplice?” Samantha’s voice was light as she flipped through the stack of pictures again and again. “Maybe she’s the one that’s been helping Andrew all this time?”

Mandy shrugged. “Anna is certifiably crazy.” She rubbed her arms briskly with both hands while she tried to relax. “And I have a feeling that if she’s been helping Andrew, she’s going to want something in return for her help. I don’t even want to think about that, Sam. You don’t either. Trust me.”

Mandy watched Samantha’s eyes go large in realization. Mandy nodded in agreement. She knew just how Anna felt about Frank.

“I just wish I knew how they met,” Mandy commented as she leaned back against a wall and closed her eyes as she fought back waves of nausea. She was too upset to think about this properly but, as usual, she had to try. “I mean, think about it. Andrew goes to school at MIT. That’s in Massachusetts . Anna went to school here, at Bayport U. I can’t even think of a single situation where they could have gotten together.”

“They could have met anywhere, any time,” Samantha spoke softly as she ran her finger along the edges of one of the photographs – a picture of Anna and Andrew at a beach somewhere. “At the beach. In a social situation. We just don’t know.”

“Maybe Andrew sought Anna out recently,” Connor said but he shook his head. “No, that’s wrong, that is, if he sought out Anna after our problems with her. Unless she's holed up on a beach somewhere after she left here, of course. But this one…”

Mandy opened her eyes to look at the picture that Connor held up. It had been taken during the winter, at a ski resort. Anna’s nose was pink but she was obviously laughing at something that Andrew had to say. He was making a goofy face at her in the picture he held.

Mandy held the picture to her nose and sniffed at it and made a face. She looked back up at her boyfriend and shrugged. “I don’t know how old they are but they don’t have that new picture smell. You know, developer fluid. Maybe we can find an expert to tell us how old they are. It might help us to figure out how long Anna has known Andrew – and figure out if she’s helping him.”

“Didn’t Anna leave the country?” Samantha still puzzled over her beach picture.

“Supposedly,” Mandy admitted while she looked through the other five pictures. She didn’t know where the others were taken, they were just two friends having fun together, mugging for a camera. “You know…”

She paused and held the beach picture up again.

“This could all be backdrop you know. They could have had them taken at a studio somewhere and just changed costumes. Maybe that’s all this is…” Maybe that’s all I want it to be, Mandy sighed. Let me find him, please. “Anyway, she could be here or she could be gone. We have to figure it out one way or another. That’s part of investigative work – ruling out suspects until you have the one that has to be it. I made the mistake of assuming the obvious candidate the last time – I let my emotions rule me rather than my head. I’m not doing it again.”

A single tear leaked out of one of her eyes and made a runnel track down her cheek. Connor took her into his arms again and held her, soothing, making ssh-ing noises in her ear. Mandy wrapped her arms around his shoulders for just a moment, until she felt steady enough to speak again.

“I really hope it isn’t her.” Samantha stood a little further away, out in the hallway of the little room, a lost expression in her violet eyes as she stared down the corridor. “She’s maybe worse than Andrew, though I don’t know. I just…I don’t know Andrew.”

Mandy laughed ruefully and shook her head, her own blue eyes suddenly sardonically amused. “It seems I don’t either, Sam-Ann. I really thought I did know him, but I don’t. I don’t know what he wants Joe for.”

She knew it to be a lie as soon as she spoke it. She did, in fact, know what Andrew wanted Joe for. She might not like the idea but there it was. Something had happened ten years ago, when they’d been young and enduring the same thing. Maybe Derak suggested something to Joe. Or maybe Andrew just never got the solid grounding and help that Joe received after the incident.

“I really hope he’s not working with Anna,” Mandy said again. “She’s the last person that I want involved. Well – one of the last. She’s certifiable, and if she finds Frank…”

Mandy shivered again and Connor tightened his hold on her just a little. She felt better for his presence and smiled up at him. She relaxed a little, grateful to have him near her, as always. No girl was ever so lucky – except maybe Vanessa and Samantha. She really did love her brothers.

"There's a few others it could be, too," Samantha commented softly as she held up some other pictures of Andrew with various girls. There was another young lady who figured in several of the pictures and on the back in neat script was "Andrew and Melody, Homecoming Prom." "Andrew and Melody, Thanksgiving at her house." "Andrew and Melody, at the beach." "Andrew and Melody, at the haunted house." "Andrew and Melody sitting in a gazebo in Puerto Vallarta." "Andrew and Melody at the Spring Fling dance."

Samantha pointed to the dates at the bottom – all taken last year. There were others of Andrew with different girls who looked quite a bit like Melody – blonde hair and grayish eyes – but this Melody girl figured in a lot of pictures.

“We should call the hospital and see how Vanessa is doing,” Mandy said, as thoughts of her best friend came to her. “We can’t tell her about Joe, though, right? We should keep that to ourselves.”

The other two nodded in agreement – there was no way they were going to do anything to set-back Vanessa’s recovery – Mandy saw the determination on their faces. Samantha, in fact, pulled out her cell phone from her pocket right that moment and dialed the hospital. Mandy noticed, to her dismay, that Samantha had the hospital as one of her speed-dial numbers.

Too many blasted times there this year, Mandy thought with a frown. Too many.

Mandy pulled out her own cell phone to try to call her dad and Frank – but once again she met with failure. She did wonder why Frank, especially, wasn’t answering his phone – unless he forgot to take it with him to Connecticut. Her dad should have answered his – but she knew he might have turned it off, in case of being overheard if it rang. She sighed in dejection and determined to try again later as Connor rubbed her arms.

“You know,” she smiled up at him and he rewarded her with a kiss that sent shivers down her back – as usual. “I remember why I never got very involved with Frank and Joe’s cases before. I liked adventure as much as the next girl but, you know, sometimes, their cases got too intense for me. I’d much rather be back at school, with nothing more to worry about than my grades and what to wear in the morning. I got involved when they needed me but…I guess it was easier to be in the background.”

Connor smiled down at her from his lofty height of six foot three inches – exactly a foot above Mandy’s own modest five foot three. She loved his smiles – he had this little dimple that appeared just to the right of his mouth when he smiled as he did now. Sometimes, when it was broader and he laughed, he had dimples in both cheeks – just as she did. It was that little, single, right-sided dimple that was Mandy’s though – he only smiled that smile for her. She’d read stories once about how older couples would tell how they knew they were meant for each other – they would have a special smile that no one else ever saw but them.

Mandy saw Connor’s special smile all the time and it made her heart thump. He leaned down and kissed her again lightly, comfortingly, and held her for another moment.

“You’re as brave as a lion, Mandy Hardy,” he said, softly. “And you know it. Maybe you don’t like the intensity but you’re the first to charge in with both hands and feet, occasionally without any thought. It’s only later you usually get scared and fall apart.”

“I,” Mandy said succinctly, her blue eyes flashing. “Never fall apart. I’m above such things, Mr. MacKenzie.

She lightly thwapped him on the arm and laughed, kissing him yet again. “We aren’t accomplishing anything standing here. We need to get to searching. I wonder what’s keeping the police?”

“I don’t know,” Connor said. “But, you’re right, we should get to more searching or we’ll miss out on all the good stuff. Of course, I hope your parents can bail me out of jail when the police lock us up for interfering with a crime scene…”

“You won’t get in trouble, Connor, I will,” Mandy said. “And I’m willing to take whatever they dish out. How are the ribs?”

Mandy gently probed his shirt above Connor’s wrapped ribs and looked into his expressive green eyes.

“They hurt,” Connor said. “But this isn’t the first time I’ve had broken ribs and it won’t be the last time, not if I continue to play football and hang out with Hardys. What about your leg?”

“Huh?” Mandy looked down at her leg, then shrugged. “Forgot I hurt it, actually.”

“You mean to tell me it’s not hurting?” Connor stared at her for a moment. She had a bunch of stitches in her leg and several bandages wrapped around it. “What are you on?”

“I’ve been busy,” Mandy retorted, smacking Connor again lightly on the arm before she kissed him. “Too busy to worry about trivialities like a few stitches.”

Mandy looked around the picture room some more – though what she found in the way of pictures was making her sick. It wasn’t that they were alluring – it was just the ways that Andrew set them up, with Joe next to him, as if they were ‘together’. Connor was digging around in drawers, carefully, using the edge of his sleeve to open things and root around. Mandy smiled at him occasionally, her own one-dimple smile in evidence as he was very cutely trying not to get fingerprints on anything. She held back a giggle.

“Mandy, I think I found something,” Connor said as he pulled out a box, balancing it on one arm with his sleeve over his other hand. “Look…”

He opened the box to reveal what looked like newspaper clippings inside – along with a fair amount of post-it notes – or rather post-it notes attached to the clippings. Mandy took the box from him, curiosity on her face as she carried it out of the room, down two halls and into the kitchen of the old house. She set the box gently on the dining room table and pulled out the first clipping.

LOCAL TEEN KILLED IN EXPLOSION

Mandy swallowed heavily, horror-filled, as she read the article. It was one of the articles printed regarding Iola Morton’s death when Joe’s car was blown up at the mall. Mandy didn’t reread the whole article – she already knew the events all too well and had no desire at all to relive them.

The picture was a shell-shocked Joe – Mandy remembered the picture taken right after the explosion – and she noticed that Frank had been cut out of the picture.

There was a yellow post-it note attached to the clipping.

“My baby, my Joe, I haven’t seen him in so long. Glad the girl died. No one in the way now.”

Mandy started shaking as she leaned back and looked up at her boyfriend. She couldn’t believe that she was seeing this. Connor laid a second one out on the table.

HAUNTED MANSION – ALL GHOUL FUN

It was just one of those short articles on a local Halloween Haunted House. Mandy remembered that Joe had really liked it, Frank had thought it was ‘unrealistic’ and she’d just been grossed out because someone dropped ooze on her head.

The picture itself was just a picture of the mansion.

There was a blue post-it note attached to the clipping.

The dungeon – a good idea! Must build one like it soon. Will be helpful.

Connor stared over at Mandy – she could see the question on his face that he wasn’t asking.

“I don’t know.” Mandy touched the mansion. “But…the room we found downstairs, that’s kind of like the one we saw in that Haunted House.”

“How long ago was that?” Connor asked, curiously.

“They do it every year,” Mandy told him. “But Joe, Frank and I went two years ago, when we were all seniors. I don’t remember this article…”

“Maybe you could call the paper and ask them when it ran,” Samantha suggested.

“Don’t know which paper, either,” Mandy admitted. “Probably the Gazette…”

FOOTBALL RUSHING RECORD BROKEN

Mandy recognized this one too – it was from their senior year in high school, just after Joe broke the rushing record for Bayport High.

The picture was of Joe in his football uniform, right after the game where he broke the record.

This one had another yellow post-it note attached to it:

My Conquering Hero. I can’t wait to tell him he’s conquered me.

Mandy made a face at that one. Andrew was completely warped.

“Is there some kind of pattern to these notes, do you think? Or is it just the random rambling of a madman?” Connor asked her in a quiet voice. “Why the different colored post-it notes? Wasn’t the breaking record the same time as – or at least a little after when…Iola?”

Mandy nodded.

“I don’t know that it means anything,” she said. “Maybe he has one of those pads of post-it notes that are different colors every sheet. Or maybe he’s just eclectic enough to use whatever sheet he gets to first.”

Is he sane enough to think in a pattern? Mandy wondered. If he is, then there might be a pattern to all of these. I doubt I’ll get enough time to figure it out, though; the police will be here any second.

She had time to read a few more though, and she asked Connor to write down as many of them as he could. He found a pad of paper in the kitchen and a pen, and began to scribble quickly. Samantha sat down to join them and she too was able to copy down several more of the headlines, notes on the pictures, the color of the post-it notes and the notes on the post-it notes.

The three she copied:

THE HARDYS CLEAR COLLIG – CHIEF DECAMPO FORCED OUT

Mandy knew what that one was about – Collig had been accused of murder and Joe and Frank had traveled to another state to clear him of the murder. It had been a rather sticky case – especially when the new Chief had been causing so many problems for everyone.

The picture was of Frank and Joe with Collig – though Frank and Collig’s faces had been X’d out.

The post-it note attached to this one was green:

Joe is still so far away. Must somehow get closer. I love him so much.

Mandy was just a little bit chilled by that one. To see it out in the open like that.

LIFE OF A HARDY – AN EXPOSÈ ON LOCAL TEEN DETECTIVES

Mandy groaned as she looked at it – that blasted ‘the life of’ scenario when she and Joe had just turned eighteen. Mandy had never read such drivel in her life. Trust Andrew to save a copy of it.

The picture was of the three of them, Joe between Frank and Mandy, as he was in age. She was holding his arm and Joe had his other hand on Frank’s shoulder. For some reason, Andrew hadn’t altered this picture.

There was a red post-it note attached to it:

There are too many people around him! Too many people between him and me. I must separate him from them. I must make him mine!

Be strong, Mandy, Mandy warned herself. Be strong.

Then, suddenly, she was filled with utter and total revulsion. Mandy nearly fell backward out of her chair, causing Connor to start and reach for her and Samantha to spring to her feet. Samantha reached for the clipping Mandy just viewed but Mandy snapped it up off of the table to read it again.

MANSION UP IN SMOKE

It was an accounting of a mansion that had gone up in smoke and burned to the ground in only two hours. The mansion had been made of rock but whatever had been used to burn it had caused it to burn very, very hot. Mandy’s hand started shaking again.

The picture was simply the burned out foundation of the mansion.

The post-it note was blue. It was the post-it note that had made Mandy react.

I will separate my Joe from his family – and then they will pay for keeping us apart. What better way to do that?

KA-BOOM!

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Disclaimer

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.