I would first like to thank rosa lunae, SarahE7191, Cruelest Sea, and zenfrodo for their reviews. You guys rock and they made me so happy when I saw them. I am so glad that you are enjoying it so far! I would also like to thank everyone who has added me to their alert lists...those mean just as much to me as the reviews, so thanks!

I would also love to thank my awesome beta, roswalyn!

Don't be shy to let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy and until the next update...

Chapter Two

Nancy Drew smiled as she saw the top of Frank Hardy's head peeking out from the crowd as he made his way towards her. He wasn't too hard to distinguish considering he stood well over the majority of the hungry patrons packing the entrance of La Fiesta, the newest Mexican restaurant in River Heights. She had arrived fifteen minutes earlier to secure them a table while Frank had finished up some paperwork back at the office and she was glad she did, since the line outside the door seemed to be getting longer.

"Sorry it took me so long to get here," Frank said, planting a kiss on her cheek before sliding into the booth next to her.

"Don't worry about it," Nancy answered, feeling that familiar heat rushing through her body as she came into contact with Frank. The attraction was still as strong as when they were teenagers, maybe even a little stronger. "You're here now."

Frank smiled. "I thought the crowd was going to kill me when I was making my way through. Did you have to wait long for a table?"

"Not really. Maybe about ten minutes or so." Nancy picked up the menu and held it between them so they both could browse through the selections. "I went ahead and ordered you a tea and the queso should be here at any moment."

"You know me too well, Drew."

"You're just too predictable, Hardy," Nancy said with a teasing smile.

Frank arched a brow as he nudged her gently. "Is that so?"

Nancy let out a theatrical sigh as she shrugged. "I'm afraid it is. You know, if it wasn't for this ring you put on my finger, I may have already gone and found someone more exciting and unpredictable."

"Not happening, Nan," Frank said softly, taking her left hand in his, the diamonds in the engagement ring sparkling under the faint light above them. "It took me a long time to get that ring on your finger. I'm not about to let you go now…or ever, for that matter."

"Glad to hear it."

After years of flirting and dodging their obvious attraction for one another, Frank had shown up on her doorstep late one night, professing his love for her. Nancy would never forget that night—it seemed as if everything was finally perfectly aligning, as if the universe knew they were always meant to be together. She had broken up with Ned two years before and while she'd wanted nothing more than to call Frank up and tell him how she really felt about him, she didn't. Joe, Frank's younger brother, had told her that Frank was engaged to Callie, though he hadn't seemed thrilled with the idea.

After that bit of unsettling news, Nancy had done her best to put Frank behind her, focusing on her career. She'd earned her criminal justice degree from Wilder and immediately enrolled into the police academy. Upon completion, she'd considered joining the FBI and was in the process of getting the paperwork in order for Quantico when Chief McGinnis had called her and offered her a position as lead detective for the River Height Police Department.

Not wanting to pass up the chance of remaining in her hometown around her family and friends, Nancy jumped at the opportunity. And for seven months, she had succeeded in submerging herself in her work, putting everything behind her and focusing on what was ahead. She thought she was doing great until that night when Frank showed up at her apartment, dripping wet and breathless.

As soon as he'd told her everything she'd wanted to hear for years, all the walls she had built around herself came crumbling down. It was only the next day that she'd found out from Joe that Frank had called off his wedding in the middle of the ceremony and had boarded the first flight to River Heights.

To be with her.

It took everything she had not to send Frank packing because she never wanted to be that person—the one that everyone resented because she had ruined a marriage, though technically she'd had nothing to do with it. It took a lot of convincing from Frank that it wasn't her fault, that it was his for even stringing Callie along when it was Nancy he'd wanted to be with all along.

Now, eight months later, Callie had moved on and was married to a pediatrician and Frank and Nancy were engaged to be married.

"So, have you talked to Joe lately?" Nancy asked after the waitress had come over to take their orders.

Frank took a tortilla chip from the basket and dipped it into the melted cheese, popping it into his mouth before it could drip onto his shirt. "Yeah…right before I got here. He was complaining about the delay and anything else he could think of."

"Typical."

"They were starting to board when he hung up with me so he should be here within a couple of hours or so."

Nancy glanced down at her watch, seeing that it was close to seven, meaning Joe wouldn't show up at the apartment until around ten, given the hour it takes to drive from Chicago. She had to admit that she was happy to see the younger Hardy since he hadn't been around in a couple of months, though she knew she was nowhere near as excited as Frank.

Growing up, the brothers had pretty much been inseparable, teaming up with each other to help their father, Fenton, on cases. On many occasions, Nancy had teamed up with them as well and had always envied the way they each had someone to depend on. That's not saying she didn't have that herself with Ned and her two best friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne, but there was something about having a sibling to count on that made it better. Not having any siblings herself, Nancy had always likened her relationship with Joe to a brother/sister one.

Frank had been ideally upset when Joe had broken the news to him that he'd wanted to stay in Bayport and help their father run their thriving private detective business. It took a while for Nancy to convince Frank that it was for the best, considering Joe had his own life with Vanessa. Besides, it had been Frank's choice to stay in River Heights with Nancy and he couldn't expect Joe to just drop everything just to join him.

"It's too bad he couldn't get here earlier," Nancy commented as she nibbled on a chip. "He would have loved to come here."

"Joe would love anything you put in front of his face," Frank said with a grin. "Give him one of those food carts in New York City and he thinks it's a gourmet meal."

Nancy smiled at him. "You've missed him, haven't you?"

Frank glanced away sheepishly. "If I admit to that, you promise not to tell him? He already thinks I'm the more emotional of the two of us as it is."

"He's not going to hear a peep out of me."

"You're going to rat me out to him, aren't you?"

Nancy was saved from saying anything as the waitress came back to the table with their meals. Placing each of their orders in front of them, she made sure they didn't need anything else before scurrying away to her next table. Nancy didn't envy any of the staff as the line at the door seemed to be getting longer and longer.

The young couple ate in companionable silence, exchanging a few words every now and then. Nancy preferred to people watch as she ate, guessing it stemmed from her line of work. You could tell a lot about people in public settings, especially restaurants, whether it was from business meetings where people were most of the time trying to kiss each other's ass to couples who were either deeply in love or trying to salvage the last thread of their relationships.

"Do you ever wonder what people think of us when we're out together?" Nancy asked, her eyes roaming over the tables.

Frank shrugged. "Not really. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I guess because I do the same thing as I look at everyone else."

"That's because you can never give your mind any rest. You have to turn it off sometimes, Nan. Even you're allowed that option."

Nancy shook her head. "If I did that, I think I might actually go insane."

Frank chuckled as he wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin. "And I actually believe that. It's one of the reasons I love you so much, Drew. You never stop, always wanting to know what's around the next corner."

"Some people would just call that being nosy."

"And I'm not just 'some people'. When are you going to learn that?" Frank leaned forward, brushing a tender kiss across her lips as the waitress came back with their check. Pulling away from Nancy, he reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. Thumbing through his money, he pulled it free, throwing it on the table on top of the check, leaving extra for a tip.

Scooting out of the booth, he held out his hand to Nancy. "Come on, let's get out of here before they kick us out."

Taking Frank's hand, Nancy let him pull her out, holding onto it tightly as he led her out of the restaurant. As soon as they pushed out of the door, the cool air bit into her skin, making her pull her jacket tighter around her. It was a brisk autumn night, the full moon tucked away behind the gray clouds. She felt herself relax as Frank put his arm around her shoulders, holding her close against him as they walked down the sidewalk.

The solitude of the moment was broken by the sound of her cell phone ringing. Breaking away from Frank, she reached into her pocket and sighed when she saw the screen.

"Hey, Chief. What's going on?"

"Nancy, I'm sorry to bother you while you're off-duty. I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"No, sir—now's a good time," Nancy said with an apologetic glance at Frank. "Is everything okay?"

"Not exactly."

"What happened?"

"We just got a report of a jumper outside the Eisenhower Apartments."

"The Eisenhower Apartments have been abandoned for years," Nancy said, frowning. "That sounds like an open-and-shut case though. Can't one of the officers handle it until the morning? We still need to pick up Joe from the airport."

"I wouldn't call you if it wasn't important, Nancy. You could be right; it could be a clear-cut suicide. But I'd like to be sure and that's where you come in. You're my lead detective, after all."

Nancy stopped walking as she glanced up at the sky, wishing for just once that the responsibility didn't lie on her. "I'll call you when I know something."

"What's wrong?" Frank asked as soon as she hung up.

"There was a suicide at the Eisenhower Apartments. The chief wants me to go check it out."

"But you're not on duty and we're supposed to be at the airport in an hour to pick Joe up."

"Yeah, I tried to tell him that but he didn't want to hear it." Nancy looked up at him. "Why don't you go and pick Joe up and I'll meet you back at the apartment later after I wrap things up?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Drew?"

Nancy shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Frank kissed her on her forehead. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I can leave a message for Joe to grab a rental."

"No, it's okay…really. With luck, this will just turn into something quick and I'll be home before you and Joe even get there."

Rolling his eyes, Frank smiled down at her. "Since when have we ever had luck on our side?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Eisenhower Apartment complex wasn't too difficult to find. It was in the quieter part of River Heights, just out of the main downtown area but still close enough where it was within walking distance from the shops. No one had lived there in years, the old building the unfortunate victim of neglect and foreclosure. There had been talks recently of a developer from Chicago coming in to remodel it but as far as Nancy knew, those were just rumors.

Pulling her car to a stop, she made sure her cell phone was in her pocket before getting out of the car. A group of officers and the medical examiner were clustered around what she assumed to be the body of the jumper. As soon as she approached, everyone looked up and greeted her.

Nancy glanced at the sheet that was covering the victim, glad that he was covered if the blood on the fabric was any indication of what was waiting behind it. She actually didn't mind the sight of blood—just not the gory contents that usually went with a jumper.

"What do we have?"

An older man with a slight gut stepped forward and took her by the arm, pulling her away from the crowd. Officer Crawford had a round face with rosy cheeks and thinning black hair. He was affectionately known as "Papa" around the small force. "We got a call around seven thirty from a pedestrian who said they heard screaming." He nodded at a teen who was standing to the side with another of the officers.

"Did he see anything?" Nancy asked.

Papa shook his head. "No. Not that we can gather anyway. He said he heard the victim scream and he came racing around. By the time he got up here, our guy had already hit the pavement."

Nancy nodded as she glanced up at the tall structure. "Where do you think he jumped from?"

"The medical examiner is thinking it had to be at least five stories up, considering the damage to the victim's body."

"Do we have a name for the victim?"

Papa thumbed through his notebook before coming to a stop towards the end. "Ben Matthews. Twenty-three years old and his address isn't too far from here."

"Did you find a note?"

"Not on him."

"What about his car?"

"We haven't located his car. But then again, he could have just walked here."

"Have you notified his family?"

"Not yet but we will be shortly."

Nancy let out a sigh as she ran her hands through her hair. "So, this is looking more like a suicide. But why come all the way out here?"

Papa shrugged. "It's quiet and abandoned."

"Detective Drew!"

Nancy turned around at the sound of her name, seeing Karen Gill, the medical examiner/funeral director for River Heights, waving her over. Excusing herself from Papa, Nancy made her way over to the petite woman. "Hey, Karen."

"Hey, Nancy. It's been a while," Karen said with a smile. "We don't typically get many calls together."

"I'm not going to complain about that," Nancy said, returning the smile. "Are you ready to call this a suicide?"

Karen frowned. "Maybe…maybe not."

"What does that mean?" Nancy asked, feeling a knot form in her stomach. Murders didn't normally occur in River Heights. In fact, the last one had to be at least a year ago.

"I found something that may suggest it wasn't a suicide, after all."

"What?"

Karen knelt down next to the body, pulling the sheet away from his arm to reveal his left wrist. There was a deep indentation that was turning a purplish brown with trace amounts of blood. "What does that look like to you?"

It was Nancy's turn to frown as she bent down to peer closely at the victim's wrist. She knew what she was looking at considering she'd had her fair share of experience with being tied up from many cases in her past. "It looks like a ligature mark."

"Exactly. He has one on the other wrist as well."

That feeling of dread completely consumed Nancy as she thought about what that meant. Unless the victim had a partner he was working with, there was no way this was a suicide. There was no way a person could tie themselves up and leave the kind of marks that were visible on Ben's wrists.

Straightening up to her full height, Nancy took a step back and glanced up at the balconies that loomed over them. "We obviously know he fell from up there but the real question is was he dead before he hit the ground?"

Karen stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans as a gurney was brought over to them. "I won't know for sure until I get back to the office and perform the autopsy. I'll let you know something as soon as I find it."

"Thanks, Karen."

Stepping away from them, Nancy reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. So much for getting home anytime soon, she thought as she dialed Frank's number. She sighed as it rang before going to voicemail.

"Hey, it's me," she said as soon as she heard the beep. "Looks like I'm going to be held up out here for a while, considering our suicide most likely just turned into a murder. Don't worry about coming out here—I'm sure Joe is exhausted. I'll catch you up on everything when I get home later. I love you."

Disconnecting the call, Nancy then dialed the number for Chief McGinnis, not surprised when her supervisor picked up on the first ring.

"Tell me what you got, Drew."

"Looks like you were right to send me out here, after all. Karen found evidence to suggest it may not have been a suicide." Turning around, she once more glanced at the old building. "It's looking more like we might have a murder on our hands."