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give the answers. Clear?"
    "That depends on the questions," Frank said.
    "Okay, try this one. What happened to Fenton Hardy?"
    "Something happened to Dad?" Joe blurted out.
    "Fenton Hardy is your father?" The agent's eyes narrowed as he turned to his partner, who was still holding his bruised arm. "Next time get all the facts first. We've just blown half a day."
    He looked back at the Hardys. "Sorry about all this. Come on, let's get out of here, and I'll explain."
    As they walked down the trail the FBI agent talked. "I can't tell you very much. I don't know a whole lot myself. We're just watchdogs. Your father is working on a sensitive case for the Bureau, and my partner and I are supposed to make sure nothing happens to him."
    Frank nodded. "I see. You knew the car was rented to him. So you followed it, thinking he was in it. Then when we tried to give you the slip, you figured something must be wrong - like maybe we kidnapped him or something."
    "Say, you'd make a pretty good detective yourself," the man said. "You've got all the answers."
    "Not all the answers," Frank said coolly. "I still don't know who you are."
    The agent smiled thinly. "Well, I see we're at the end of the trail, and there's your car. Drive safely now. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, would we?"
    Joe didn't notice the icy exchange between his brother and the man in the suit. He was worried about Jade, and he wanted to get moving. "Give me the keys," he insisted. "I'm driving."
    Frank didn't respond. He was studying the two FBI agents. He watched them walk back to the black van, get in, and drive away. Then he turned to his brother. "I think we'd better go back to the hotel and talk to Dad before we do anything else."
    "Not before we check on Jade," Joe demanded.
    "Our little detour took almost an hour," Frank replied. "If nothing happened to her while we were running around in here, she's probably safe - for now."
    "At least let me call her," Joe persisted.
    "It will only take a couple of minutes to get back to the hotel," Frank pointed out. "You can call her from there."
    ***
    Fenton Hardy was waiting for his sons when they walked through the door of the luxury suite. He glanced at his watch. "I was starting to get worried," he began.
    Joe braced himself for a lecture - something about responsibility, letting your parents know where you are, and not taking the car without permission. "Before you say anything," he cut in, "I can explain ... "
    His words trailed off when he saw the people sitting on the couch behind his father.
    Fenton Hardy glanced back over his shoulder. "Yes." He nodded. "I'm sure you could, but I've already heard most of it. I'd like you to meet Kevin Roberts," he continued. "I think you already know the young lady sitting next to him."
    Jade smiled at Joe. He thought she looked more exotic than ever.
    "My daughter tells me some strange things have been happening since she met you," Kevin Roberts said.
    "I spotted a car following me home today," Jade explained. "I think I shook him off, but it really spooked me. I told my father everything, and we decided to talk it out with you. I'm really sorry to drag you into this."
    "You didn't drag us into anything," Frank assured her.
    "That's right," Joe said. "We jumped in with both feet."
    "I still don't understand why anyone would be after me," Jade said.
    Frank exchanged a quick glance with his father and Joe. "I think I may have come up with something. There may not be much prize money in surfing, but what about illegal gambling? What if somebody has bet a bundle on another surfer in the Banzai?"
    "It's a possibility," Fenton Hardy said. "There is organized crime in Hawaii, but not on the same scale as on the mainland."
    Kevin Roberts nodded. "The big crime families from the mainland haven't been too successful in breaking the local mob," he said. "At least, that's what I've read in the papers," he added.
    "Well, we all agree that there seems to be a definite threat to Jade's life,"