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Chapter 9

Nancy freed Cara from all of her restraints and helped her sit up. The poor girl was trembling as Nancy removed her jacket and wrapped it around her. "It's okay. You're safe now," she said trying to sound reassuring.

She watched Cara carefully looking for signs of injury or distress. "Are you hurt?" she asked finally.

Cara shook her head still trembling. She didn't appear to be harmed. "At least on the outside," Nancy thought angrily.

"The police are here," Frank said gently as Chief Collig and two other officers entered the room.

"We've got officers tearing this street apart," the chief promised, "but it looks like they are long gone."

Hearing sirens outside, the chief continued. "The ambulance is here. They will take Cara to be checked out and then we will need to speak with her. Her parents will meet her at the hospital."

"I'm going with her," Nancy said firmly. Chief Collig just nodded. She seemed to trust Nancy and it would be best for her not to be alone until she could be reunited with her parents.

Turning to Frank, Nancy smiled grimly. "I'll meet you guys at the hospital."

"We'll follow you," Frank agreed.

The paramedics arrived and helped Cara to the waiting ambulance where Nancy climbed in after her. As they started to pull away, she spoke for the first time since they had discovered her in the abandoned building. "It was him," she whispered.

"Who?" Nancy prompted. "Mr. Wiggins?"

Cara nodded in agreement. "I trusted him," she said softly.

Nancy put her arm around the younger woman. She looked much younger than her 18 years and Nancy immediately felt protective. "We'll find him," she said confidently. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Nancy knew that time was of the essence in a situation like this, but she also knew that Cara would be questioned relentlessly in the coming days. As curious as she was, Nancy felt it was more important to help put the girl at ease. She had been through quite an ordeal and it wouldn't help to pressure her now.

Sure enough, as soon as they arrived at the hospital, Cara was whisked away. As she saw the officers enter the room, she sighed. "At least her parents are with her," she murmured not hearing Frank and Joe walk up behind her.

Frank put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "She'll be okay."

"I hope so," Nancy whispered still watching the closed door to Cara's hospital room.

Much to Nancy's annoyance, the police would not allow them to see Cara anymore until they concluded their own investigation. Not knowing what else to do, the three detectives finally returned to the office to catch Fenton up on the latest developments. Con Riley had promised to keep them apprised of the situation, but Nancy felt so helpless. They really needed to speak to Cara.

"We finally find Cara, and don't get me wrong I am thrilled, but I feel like we are no closer to solving the case," she said frowning frustratingly.

"Well, it's clear they wanted us to find her," Frank agreed, "but why? There was no ransom note. We weren't really any closer to finding them. Why now?"

"That's a good question," Nancy muttered as she paced back and forth across the room. "Cara said Mr. Wiggins was the one who did this to her. Why don't we have anything on him yet? He worked for the school and we don't even have a PICTURE of him?" She was practically shouting at this point. "How is this even possible?"

"He had only been working there a few months," Frank said calmly. "And everything he did give them was faked- very well I might add." He watched Nancy as she became more and more exasperated. He was getting worried about her. He knew this was a frustrating case, but it was unlike her to get so emotionally involved.

"Something will turn up, Nance," Joe said reasonably. "The important thing is Cara's safe. Hopefully she can shed some light on what is going on."

"Yes, Cara's safe," Nancy agreed. "But the people who did this are still out there and we are all just sitting here doing NOTHING!" She was definitely yelling now.

Fenton, Joe, and Frank shared a concerned look. This was definitely not the calm, levelheaded Nancy they knew.

"C'mon, Nan," Frank said putting his arm around her. "Let's go for a walk and clear our heads."

Nancy had followed Frank reluctantly, but was relieved to be out in the fresh air. They had walked for several minutes in silence before she finally turned to him and sighed. "I'm sorry."

Frank took her hand, "You don't have to apologize," he said gently. "I'm just worried about you, Nan. This isn't like you. What's going on?"

Tears welled in her eyes as they continued walking, hand in hand, until finally she was able to speak. "I guess I just feel like I have been on an emotional roller coaster the past several months. It wasn't that long ago that I thought I had everything figured out. And while I appreciate all your family has done for me, I still don't have a real plan. I can't keep mooching off your parents forever."

Frank started to speak, but Nancy stopped him. "No, I know what you are going to say, but I do have some things to figure out. Not being able to find the ones responsible for kidnapping Cara just added to my frustration. We all know how I like to be in control." She laughed aloud thinking just how true that was.

Frank pulled her into a slow hug. He wanted so badly to fix it for her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But this was Nancy and he knew that she needed to do this herself. He held her tighter and his lips brushed against her hair as he whispered, "When you figure it out, Drew, I'll be here."

They made their way back to the office in companionable silence. Nancy was feeling better. She knew it was more than the fresh air. Frank definitely had a calming effect on her. Still, it was true that she had some big decisions to make and she needed to make them with a clear head. That meant not under the dizzying influence of Frank Hardy's smile, she thought wryly.

"There you are!" Joe exclaimed bringing her abruptly out of her thoughts.

"Yes, look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted before…" she began, feeling rather embarrassed at her earlier behavior.

"Yeah, yeah, never mind that," Joe interrupted. "Cara is refusing to talk to police," he continued excitedly. "She says she will only talk to Nancy!"

"Me?" Nancy looked surprised. "Why me? What about her parents?"

"Apparently she trusts you," Fenton shrugged. "It's true. She is refusing to talk to anyone else."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Nancy said eagerly. "Let's get to the hospital!"

Sooo, what do you think? Let me know! :)