Author's Note: Yes, I know, I lied about updating, unfortunately real life got in the way. As always thank you, thank you, for all the reviews and hope you enjoy the this next chapter.
"Guys, go home. I'm sick of having babysitters. Besides you've already given up a month of your summer for nothing."
"Not for nothing, Nan. And anyway you get no say in when we leave. Your dad is our boss." Joe laughed with amusement.
"Hmp!" Nancy crossed her arms over her chest in disgust.
Frank looked at her throwing her tantrum and an image of her at a younger age pulling the same stunt came to his mind. Nancy Drew had definitely been feisty all her life.
"Why couldn't I drive? I feel like a prisoner stuck here in the back seat? This is so unfair."
"Do you always feel the need to whine so much?"
"I figure if I annoy you enough you will eventually give in to my wishes."
Both boys laughed, though, secretly, each knew that she was right.
"Nancy, the day that you don't get your way will be the day that—" Frank trailed off as Joe turned into Nancy's neighborhood.
Near the end of the street chaos reined. At least 10 emergency vehicles-police, fire, & ambulance-were covering the street and a small crowd of people were forming behind them. Their interest was the gorgeous two story house that use to stand proudly. Now it was darkened by flames and smoke.
"Oh my god." Joe whispered, though the words echoed throughout the car. He began to slow the vehicle down half a block a way from the Drew's house.
A strangled cry came from behind the brothers.
"DAD!"
Frank barely had time to catch a glimpse of Nancy's face before she tore out of the car. He himself was out the door chasing after her before Joe had even finished parking. He caught up to her just as she reached Chief McGinnis, demanding to know what happened.
The chief shared a look with Frank before he turned and spoke to the young woman in front of him. "Nancy, I don't know what to tell you. A neighbor is the one who called in the incident. They said they heard a small explosion and next thing they knew the house was on fire."
"Chief, I don't care about that right now. Where's my dad? I didn't see him in any of the ambulances. Did they already take him to the hospital? Is he alright?"
"Nancy…" Compassion filled the older man's eyes and he tried to reach for her hand, but she took a step back in anger.
"No." She shook her head. "Don't give me that look. I know that look. I've given that look. WHERE IS HE!"
"Nancy, I'm sorry. It seems that the explosion occurred in his office-"
He was still speaking, but Nancy didn't seem to hear anything beyond "I'm sorry." The chief was wrong. Her father was stronger than something like this. He was safe and she knew it.
Before either man could stop her she was running as fast as she could toward the house yelling for her father.
"DAD, CAN YOU HEAR ME. DAD, WHERE ARE YOU? DADDY!"
The smoke was already getting thick as she raced across the neighbor's lawn, but she didn't slow down in the slightest. If she was having trouble, that just meant it was so much worse for her father. Her mind tried to reason with her that things weren't looking very good the closer she got, but she pushed the voice away. She was going to make it. She was going to sav-.
The air was knocked out of her as she was tackled to the ground, landing flat on her stomach. As she tried to regain her breath she turned under her captor and caught a glimpse of blue eyes shining with unshed tears. She didn't want to see that right now. She didn't want to see pity. She needed to get away from that, so she did the only thing she could thing of. She began kicking and screaming with all her might.
"Dammit!" Joe yelled when she got a well placed kick between the legs. He rolled off her, murmuring a few choice words, and she took that time to get back up and start moving again.
Nancy had only taken a few steps, before she was captured again. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air. Her arms and legs were flailing, but her attempts were futile.
"Please, you have to let me go! You have to let me save him!"
The farther she got taken away from the house the louder her pleading got, but her captor had no intention of giving in to her wishes.
They were four houses down before he set her on the ground. She tried to move forward again, but the arms weren't letting go. She whirled around furiously and slammed her fist repeatedly into his chest.
"Nancy, there's nothing you can do." Frank grabbed her wrists as her fist flew toward his face and shook her hard, but it only seemed to infuriate her more.
"No, you're lying. Let me go. I can help him. I can save him."
"Nancy," he tried again, but she wasn't going to listen to what he was going to say.
"I hate you. You're letting him die. I HATE YOU!" she screamed with all her might.
Frank was taken aback by her words, but realized he had to put a stop to this now. He caught her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"He's gone, Nancy." The words floated in the air between the two and Frank saw the moment the words clicked in understanding. Her arms fell helplessly to her side and her knees buckled sending her sprawling to the ground.
The eldest Hardy dropped down next to her and barely had time to catch his balance before she flung herself at him. Arms tight around his neck, she grasped desperately at his shirt trying to pull him closer, and he complied by bringing her into his lap. Her body shook uncontrollably as she buried her tear-stained face in his chest and her anguished cries sliced through the neighborhood.
X X X X X X X
Nancy's eyes popped open as she sat up in her bed. She was soaked in sweat and breathing heavily. It's been a while since I've had that nightmare.
Once she felt her heart returning to a normal beat, she leaned over and picked up her watch off the night stand. 5:51 AM. She groaned in disbelief. Even though she and Joe had returned by 1AM it had still taken another two and a half hours for her to fall asleep.
Groaning in frustration, she slipped out from under the covers and reached down to pull on her slippers. Knowing that she wasn't going to fall back asleep easily, Nancy figured she'd go grab a mug of tea and see if the paper had been delivered yet.
Creeping down the stairs, she turned to make her way into the kitchen and held back a gasp of surprise as she noticed she wasn't the only one up.
Laura looked up from her spot at the breakfast table and gave a slight smile to the younger girl. She got up and made her way to the stove where she had a kettle of water already warm. After pushing Nancy toward a chair, she poured a cup for the visitor and grabbed another tea bag before joining her back at the table.
Nancy smiled in thanks and took to preparing her tea. Laura watched her for a moment before speaking up.
"I'm surprised to see you up this early. Usually I'm the only one up with the sun, especially on a weekend. The rest of this house won't begin making noise until about 10. My body, on the other hand, doesn't seem to understand the concept of sleeping in. So, what are you doing up? Couldn't sleep?"
Nancy shook her head and mumbled something about still being on her exam schedule. The last thing Nancy wanted to do was burden someone else with all her problems, and she figured that by blowing off the question she could finish her tea in silence before escaping back to her room. Laura Hardy had other plans.
"So your insomnia has nothing to do with why you're in Bayport?"
Nancy continued to play with her tea bag.
"And I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the fight you had with my son or the long walk with my other son?"
At this Nancy looked up in surprise and saw the knowing look on the other woman's face. She thought about asking how Mrs. Hardy could know about everything with the brothers, but thought better of it. Laura Hardy may not be a practiced detective like the rest of her family, but that did not mean that she wasn't capable of their skills as investigators.
Slumping forward in defeat, she muttered, "Who told you?"
Laura chuckled slightly. "Nancy, you underestimate my boys if you think that they spill everything to their parents. It doesn't take a genius to know something was up with you and Frank, and judging by his behavior when we got home, and the ice pack on his face," Nancy slipped even lower in her chair. "I knew that you two must have duked it out."
"I didn't mean to hit him." She whispered.
"Yes, you did, don't be apologizing to me. I know my son and, while he is the level-headed one, when his temper rises he is a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure your 'discussion,'" Nancy felt her face burning in embarrassment, "got rather heated and he said something stupid. I believe he got that trait from his father."
Nancy couldn't believe that this conversation was happening. While the conversation was somewhat civil at the moment, she half expected Laura to suddenly turn on her and tell her to get out of the house before she caused anymore problems. However, she was not prepared for what came out next.
"So, did you at least tell Joe everything that has been happening at Wilder this past year?"
Nancy choked on her tea and slowly put down her mug. She glanced up at the older woman and was surprised to see her sitting there as calmly as if they were discussing the weather.
"What makes you think something has been happening?"
Laura waited until Nancy looked at her before she spoke. "What makes you think that we wouldn't know about all of this?"
"But, I never said-"
"You not saying anything is what tipped me off. Nancy, you seemed fine when you left here last summer. You were calling almost every other day just to talk and then all of a sudden you just stopped. I got a phone call on holidays and a vague letter every month after that. Fenton and I got worried, so he began asking around and it's a good thing he did. Why didn't you tell us? We could have been helping you sooner?"
"I-I didn't want to put you in danger." Nancy knew it was a weak argument and Laura had no problem putting Nancy in her place.
"Sweetie, do you know who my family is. Between my husband and the boys, I think we have more people after us than you could ever imagine. I'm living in a constant state of awareness, but you don't see me running away and hiding. It's part of the job. The most important thing in the world is my family and we would do anything to protect each other. And whether you like it or not, you are a part of this family."
Nancy was quiet as she mulled everything over. She should have known that the Hardys' would find out about everything, but something still didn't make sense.
"How come you never told the boys?"
"Because it wasn't our place. We knew that you would come to any one of us when you were ready, and we weren't going to rush you. That does not mean that Fenton and I weren't worried however. After the accident at Christmas, Fenton put protection on you. We've had someone watching you around the clock for the past few months. Not to mention the fact that we've been working with the police down at Wilder to help catch this psycho."
Nancy was in shock. This whole time someone else had known. The people she was trying to protect were protecting her.
Laura watched her for a minute, before she stood up and put her mug in the sink. She slowly walked over to Nancy and placed a soft kiss on the girl's head.
"It's a mother's job to look after her babies no matter how old or tough they think they are."
Nancy waited for the creaking of the stairs as Laura headed back upstairs, before she set her head on the table and began to cry.
