A/N: I know it's a little weird to do the whole "One Hour Earlier" thing, but I needed to in order to set some things up for the rest of the story. I promise there won't be a whole lot of that going on. :)

For everyone who reviewed: Thank you so much for your kind reviews!! Nobody told me that my first reviews would be so intoxicating...I was so excited I worked on the story late into the night :)

KCS and LauraHardy: I've recently been reading a lot of Hardy Boys fan fics without Nancy, and I have to say...I'm starting to think that perhaps the absence of the girl detective isn't such a bad thing. :) I already have an idea for a fic without Nancy rolling around in my head. I might start it before too long...I do have an English paper that I'm just dying to procrastinate on! I've actually felt lately that I'm becoming a bit of a purist myself!

Roswalyn: Thank you so much for the nice review and helping me feel less nervous! I'm sorry about the wordiness of this chapter...and just as you complimented me for not going overboard! Hopefully it wasn't too bad. :)

Second Chances

Chapter Two

One Hour Earlier...

Nancy Drew sat on the couch in her living room, channel surfing and checking the clock over the fireplace every few minutes. She changed the channel yet again and a local news broadcast popped up. Her interest finally piqued, she sat up a little straighter and turned up the volume.

"It was a madhouse in Chicago today as court re-convened for the trial of Vincent Giamatti who is being charged with four counts of murder one and numerous counts of fraud and forgery. Mr. Giamatti has been notoriously linked with infamous crime group syndicates around the world. So far today, the jury heard testimony from over 45 witnesses. We'll be back with more updates to this story during our 11 o'clock broadcast."

Nancy turned the volume down as the news station went to a commercial break. Her thoughts strayed to what she had just heard. Her father, Carson had been working on the Giamatti case for over four months and it was his biggest and highest profile case right now.

Her father didn't talk much about his cases with Nancy, but she could tell that this particular case was taking its toll. She had come across Carson more than a few times going over his notes and muttering to himself. At one time he had smiled at her thinly and said: "honey, I think we're really going to get him. I really think we are."

Nancy glanced at the clock again and she furrowed her brow in concentration. She quickly calculated the time from Chicago to River Heights and factored in rush hour traffic...her father should have been home by now.

Because she had nothing better to do, Nancy felt her mind wandering back, as it had done thousands of times already, to her encounter with Ned not even a month ago.

"Nancy, I went to a party last weekend."

She had thought he was so silly, so cute, standing there in her living room confessing that he had gone to a party, like it was a big deal. She had been about to tease him when his next words hit her like a pile of bricks.

"And...I met a girl, I mean, a woman."

Nancy remembered standing there, not knowing what to say. "It's not like that! I swear, nothing happened, Nancy! I love you!" He had hurled the words at her like an accusation. "It's just, she listened to me, you know? Not once did we talk about mysteries or evidence or murder. It was normal. Jessie helped me realize how much I crave normality in my life."

Even now, Nancy could hardly believe what Ned had said to her. Normality? She had always thought that, yes Ned was sometimes frustrated by what she chose to do but in the end he still loved her.

"I just think we need to take a break. I need to examine my life, Nancy. I need to know what I want."

"Well, that's just perfect. Good for you, Ned. You take your break, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to sit around here and wait to see if you're going to accept me for who I am" Nancy had waited until Ned left to break down. She had cried for hours, not really wanting to talk to anyone. The next day Bess and George had come over with Ben and Jerry and they had passed an enjoyable afternoon trashing men and their very existence. The sugar overload and laughs had helped somewhat, but Nancy still felt hollow inside.

Even after a month, it still hurt.

The sound of the phone ringing snapped Nancy out of her reverie. She picked it up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Nancy?" her father's voice pushed all her bitter thoughts about Ned out of her mind.

"Dad! Where are you? You should have been home a long time ago!" she gripped the phone a little tighter, suddenly feeling anxious.

"Nancy, listen to me. Don't do what they tell you to do, no matter what. Do you hear me, Nancy? Don't do-" but he was cut off before he could finish what he was saying.

There was a loud crash on the other end of the line and she could hear shouting, someone was yelling at her father, "I told you to say exactly what we told you!" the voice raged. Suddenly that same voice picked up the phone, "Nancy Drew, is that you?" it asked.

"What have you done with my father!" Nancy sat up straight and gripped the receiver tighter to her ear.

"My dear Nancy, you're father has gotten himself into spot of trouble. Haven't you Carson?" there was some more scuffling in the background. "Now Nancy, I've heard you're quite the girl detective...solving all those little mysteries down there in River Heights. Well, now is your chance to run with the big dogs. You do something for me, solve a little problem I have and I'll let your father go. Should be no problem for a girl of your...skill."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to meet me tomorrow night at six, 19th and Lewis street. There's an old factory there, wait outside the red door for me."

"19th and Lewis street? There isn't a 19th and Lewis street in River Heights." Nancy said as she thought quickly about streets in her city.

"That's right!" the voice answered with approval. "I can already tell that this is going to be fun, you're such a smart girl. Because you're such a smart girl I'm going to give you a little help: 19th and Lewis street is not in Chicago or your quaint River Heights. It's in New York City." the voice sounded positively gleeful at the news.

"New York City?" she asked incredulously.

"Very good! I'll see you at six then, my darling!" there was a pause and Nancy thought that the man had hung up. She was about to do the same when his silky sweet voice caught her attention. "Oh and Nancy, I assume I don't have to tell a seasoned pro like yourself not to call the police, am I correct?"

"Yes, I understand." Nancy replied. She had barely gotten the words out when she heard the ominous click on the other end of the phone.

Frank sat in silence a few moments before he could find his voice, "Nancy? Nancy Drew, is that you?"

Joe stopped mid-bite and cheese dripped comically out of his mouth. He quickly slurped up the cheese and swallowed before he mouthed, "Nancy?"

"Who's Nancy?" Vanessa asked in a quiet voice.

"Old friend," Joe replied and then listened to Frank's side of the conversation.

"What time was the call?" Frank glanced at his watch. After listening for a few minutes he said, "Alright, we'll meet you there at one o'clock." He listened for another beat and then added, "and Nancy, don't worry, Joe and I have your back." He shut his phone and then glanced around the table.

"Well, what's up?" Joe asked.

"You might just have to track down that vicious mob boss after all, Joe." Frank laughed when he noted Joe's expression. Instead of horror, which would have been written all over most people's faces, Joe's face shone with excitement.

"Oh yeah? What kind of case is Nancy working on now?" Joe was all but bouncing up and down in the booth.

"Settle down, hun. I know it's been awhile since you've had a mystery to sink your teeth into..." Vanessa patted Joe's shoulder soothingly. In turn, Joe began to tickle Vanessa's sides.

During the exchange between the pair, Frank glanced at Callie who had been methodically tearing a napkin into thin strips. "You okay?" Frank asked gently.

Callie jerked her head up quickly. "Yes! Of course! Why wouldn't I be!" her voice was little too bright.

"Well, Frank...what's up?" Joe said, interrupting the couple.

"Nancy received a call tonight from an unknown man. Someone has her father and wants her to meet him at a warehouse in New York City tomorrow night."

"What? She can't go by herself! It's too dangerous!"

"I know, that's why I told Nancy that we're going with her. Her flight will land tomorrow at one o'clock. We're going to pick her up. She was pretty adamant about not telling the police, but I don't see the harm in telling Dad."

The group sat in silence for a minute, all stewing with their own thoughts. Vanessa couldn't help but notice that there was suddenly a lot of tension surrounding Frank and Callie. She wondered just who this Nancy person was and why she seemed to have upset Callie so much. She resolved to grill Joe about it later but in the meantime decided to change the subject.

"Did I tell you about my Math final today?" she asked the group. When three pairs of eyes looked at her with blank expressions she laughed. "Oh my, it was funny! Okay, so I'm sitting there and Mark raises his hand and in this very serious voice says 'I don't think you taught us how to solve the last four problems on this test, Mr. Fredericks.'" she laughed and took a sip of her drink, "Mr. Fredericks answers just as seriously, 'Well Mark, I don't think you bothered to show up for the last five classes. Which is when I taught you how to solve those problems.' The whole room was laughing and Mark just turned bright red. He mumbled something about being sick, but we all knew that he had been cutting class to smoke under the bleachers."

The four laughed and the tension slowly started to leave the group as Joe began his own wildly dramatic tale of his final. By the time the teens were ready to call it a night on the surface it seemed as if everyone had forgotten the awkwardness of earlier.

In a prison cell 800 miles away the man sat in the corner, his knees drawn up to his chest. He laughed wildly to himself and shook his head back and forth, it was all going according to plan. He had everyone exactly where he wanted them, all the pawns were in place and ready to be played.

It was a bit unfortunate that he was in his current predicament...but he'd find a way out. He always found a way...by whatever means necessary. Everything was right on track. The first thing that stupid Drew girl had done was call the Hardy brothers...as predictable as the sunrise. Yes, it was all going perfectly.

His maniacal laughter reverberated around the cell and sent shivers down even the most hardened of criminals spines.

Thanks for reading!