Charlotte Hardy was now eleven years old. She had grown up to be just like her father. Curious and kind, she helped out whenever she could with a mystery.
It was mid fall in Bayport, and her father was going to be returning from Denmark the following afternoon. She sat in front of the clock in the living room, impatiently counting the hours down until he would come through the door.
"Charlotte, you still have a good hour before he comes home." her mother said.
"I know, but I want to be extra early so I'm not late!"
The minutes ticked by, and soon she heard the sound of an engine turning off. Excitement ran through her veins and as the door clicked open, she sprinted towards him.
"Daddy! You're home!" she exclaimed.
"It's so good to see you!" he managed to say through the hug.
He let her go and kissed Callie on the cheek.
"How was Denmark?"
"It was good. It turned out being the mansion owner who kidnapped the heir to the mansion." he told them.
" Come on you two, let's go eat some lunch." Callie said.
After a quick sandwich, they drove over to Joe and Iola's home. Joe opened the door and Charlotte ran to give him a hug.
"Uncle Joe!" she said.
"Hey, Charlotte! Let's go inside it's freezing out here."
In the living room, Charlotte played with Ben and Margaret. They took turns being detectives and criminals.
" Ben's the bad guy and I'll be the detective! " Charlotte exclaimed.
"Hey, what about me?" Margaret pouted.
" You can be my assistant,"
The two girls tackled Ben to the floor and returned the cup to Joe.
" I got the bad guy, Uncle Joe!"
" That's great! You'll make a good detective." said Joe.
Whenever Frank woke up, he was in a dark warehouse. He searched around and found a light. Whenever the room illuminated, he saw a woman who looked broken. The woman was holding a little girl with dark hair and sobbing. Frank placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and she looked up at him, it was Callie!
"She's gone, Frank. She's not coming back. We were too late." she said through sobs.
Heart racing, he moved Callie's hands to see Charlotte. She was pale and bleeding. Worst of all, she wasn't breathing.
"Who did this to her? Why?" he asked.
Whenever Callie didn't answer him, he shook her.
" Who hurt our little girl?" he screamed.
" You did," she whispered.
He woke up and tried to catch his breath. He sprinted down the hall to Charlotte's door. As the door opened, he saw her. Alive and safe.
"Frank? Are you alright?" asked Callie.
"Yeah, it was just a bad dream." he told her, sounding more reassuring to himself than to her.
The next morning, he got up and received the mail. Other then bills, there was a letter addressed to him.
Dear Mr. Hardy,
We have news of Mr. Calvin escaping the Denmark prison. Authorites say he is likely on the run. Be safe.
- Jean Paul, Denmark mayor
This news left him unsettled. How could they let a man who kidnapped the heir to a wealthy mansion run free? He could make it on American soil and kidnap-
"No, it won't happen." he told himself.
"What won't happen, Daddy?" Charlotte asked.
"Nothing, let's go eat breakfast!" he said hiding the letter.
After his waffle, he and Charlotte drove over to see Joe and Iola. While Charlotte went and found the children. Frank turned to Joe.
"Joe, I got this letter." he said.
Joe skimmed the letter and looked up in shock.
"This is insane! He could already be on American soil plotting revenge!" Joe exclaimed.
" Keep your voice down! I don't want Charlotte to hear."
"Sorry, I'm sure everything will be alright." Joe tried.
" I hope so," Frank mumbled.
As Charlotte went upstairs to bed that night, Frank and Callie talked in the living room.
"What did you dream about? It obviously troubled you,"
"I dreamt you were holding Charlotte, but she was-" Frank started.
" Oh, I'm so sorry. I saw the letter. The best thing we can do is try to protect her. It'll be hard, but we've done well so far."
"I'm not ready to watch another person die,"
"You won't," she said walking upstairs.
