Yay! 10th chapter! And 10 is my favorite number :)
Action soon, probably next chapter! I would write some witty comments here but my brain is seriously too dead to come up with anything. So let's just get on with the chapter :D
Anyways, thanks for the amazing reviews! Glad you all liked the Fenton/Frank scene!
Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys
"What does a cow say?"
"MOO!" Lizzy squealed, bouncing up and down in Nancy's lap.
"Moo!" Ivan laughed, cuddled up against Nancy's side.
"Did you know that cows have four stomachs?" Nick said, wrapping his arms around Nancy's neck.
"No they don't!" Zoe's brow furrowed. She paused from playing with her stuffed animals and turned to Nancy. "We have one stomach, right, Mommy?"
"I said a cow, silly," Nick explained earnestly.
"No!" Zoe stubbornly shook her head. "One stomach!'
"Noooooo! They have four!" Nick argued.
"No! Only one!"
"MOO! MOO!" Lizzy and Ivan shrieked.
"Okay, settle down!" Nancy raised her voice slightly to be heard. "Zoe is right. Humans have one stomach. But Nick is also right, because cows do have four stomachs. Do you know why?" Nancy asked Nick.
"Because they have to digest grass," Nick announced promptly.
"Nancy?"
Nancy looked up to see that Helen was standing in the doorway, her face pale.
"What?" Nancy quickly got up, pushing some toys towards Ivan and Lizzy and stepping into the door. "Helen?" Nancy's heartbeat rose as she saw her friend's tear streaked face.
Helen wordlessly held out a piece of paper.
"I found it outside the door."
Nancy quickly scanned the note written in dark red ink.
We know where you are.
"No prints," Frank confirmed, his brow furrowed with worry. "No watermarks on the paper either. There aren't any clues on this thing."
"Someone knows where we are," Helen said shakily. Joe was standing in the doorway, a stormy expression on his face.
"The question is, is that person connected with your husband or a criminal from the case?" Nancy mused.
"Or both," Frank murmured darkly. "The note could be intended for Helen, or for me. It's ambiguous."
Suddenly Nancy's cell phone began to ring. She quickly opened it.
"Hello?"
"Hi Nancy, this is Lance," a male voice said cheerfully. Nancy's brow furrowed quizzically.
"I'm sorry, who?" she asked. Frank gave her a questioning look and she shrugged.
"Lance Peters. I was the police officer at your apartment after the shooting."
Ah. Nancy thought with a tinge of annoyance, quickly matching a face with a name.
"Oh, hi Lance. Do you need my statement on something?"
"Actually I need to talk to you," Lance said. "I forgot to ask you some things in my questioning."
"Okay. Want to just ask me over the phone?" Nancy suggested, slipping out of the room. She walked quietly past the bedrooms where her children and Ivan were sleeping. She couldn't decide whether or not to be annoyed. But Lance had been pretty polite, so Nancy wasn't too bothered.
"Well… Sure," Lance agreed. "Alright. I need to know if you saw where the shooter exited."
"I'm not sure but I think he went out the front door, which he smashed on the way in."
"And you and your friend were behind the counter the entire time?" Lance asked.
"We were standing around the counter when the shooter came in, I was closer to the door. We were behind the counter in less than a minute. We probably spent about fifteen minutes there before the shooter left, and another couple minutes before the police showed up," Nancy explained.
"Do you think you could identify the man on a line up?" Lance asked seriously.
"Probably not. The person was in all black with a ski mask. All I know is that the shooter was pretty tall, and on the thinner side. That's all. I mean, technically we don't even know that it is a man," Nancy sighed, sitting down, running a hand through her hair, the red blonde strands slipping through her fingers. "Do you have some suspects?"
"None," Lance said grimly. "The whole thing is a dead end. We have reports that he ran into the woods behind the complex but the tracks disappear. And we have no idea who we're looking for. It's not looking good. Any ideas on who would be out there to get you?"
"Nope," Nancy murmured. She knew since the case was Frank's, it was his call whether or not that information was able to be shared with Lance. And until she knew that, she wasn't going to say a word. As for the questions around Helen's husband, she wasn't going to say anything yet. Maybe it was her stubbornness or her past as a detective that kept her from telling him. Sometimes it was simplest to leave the police out.
Although technically Joe was a police officer…
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure there will be a detective assigned to the case due to the lack of evidence. I mean, there's a police search, but it might not go further than that."
"How's the apartment?" Nancy asked, her respect for Lance rising. He seemed to know what he was talking about, and even with he was obviously flirting with her earlier, he knew his job.
"Pretty trashed. You know your insurance company came to look at it?"
"Yeah, they told me. They're covering the repairs, thank goodness. Is there any chance that I could go over there at some point and pick up some of our stuff?" Nancy asked hopefully. "My kids have toys and clothing there that I would really appreciate getting back." Quickly she started mentally creating a list. Lizzy's blanky, Nick's books and school supplies, Zoe's stuffed animals, all ourclothes….
"I don't know…." Lance hesitated. "I'll see what I can do."
"Great. Thank you so much," Nancy grinned, shifting in her chair.
"Okay, well thanks Nancy. I'll get back to you about your stuff. I need to talk to my boss about this case. Chances are that there will be a look out for the shooter, but I think the search will be dropped. I'll let you know."
"Well, just keep me updated. Alright. Thanks Lance." Nancy closed the cell phone.
"Who was that?"
Nancy jumped and looked up to see Frank leaning nonchalantly in the doorway. She could see the slight unease in his eyes. Jealous, Frank?
"Officer Peters. He was the first policeman at our apartment. He had a couple questions. How's Helen?" Nancy stood up.
"Shaken up, but okay," Frank relaxed, subconsciously drawing Nancy close to him. She sighed and leaned her head lightly against his shoulder. "Doing okay?" Frank murmured.
"Tired," Nancy yawned.
"The kiddos wearing you out?" Frank asked playfully.
"A bit. And the whole case. I'm behind in my studies too." Nancy blinked tiredly. "I should try to get some done today…"
"You should go to sleep," Frank said firmly.
"Are you?" Nancy crossed her arms and stepped back.
"I took a forced nap this morning, remember?" A smile played on Frank's lips. "I might see if Greta Patterson is up and try to talk to her."
"Where are Joe and Vanessa?" Nancy asked suddenly.
"Vanessa's already in bed. Joe was pretty firm about her needing to get some rest. Maybe she's sick," Frank shrugged. "And Joe went out to the base to check in on some stuff, but he should be back soon. Mom and Dad are already in bed too."
"Was Vanessa okay this morning?" Nancy mused. "I heard her and Joe up pretty early. And we both know that Joe doesn't wake up early unless there's something major. Or bacon."
"She seemed alright," Frank said. "Maybe she's sick and that's why Joe has been treating her like a queen. More than usual, that is…"
Nancy thought that over for a moment, a sudden thought flashing through her mind.
"Alright then, I'm going to go to bed then," Nancy decided, keeping the theory to herself. "Are you going back to your place now?"
"I'll probably do some work here then head out." To be honest, Frank wasn't exactly eager to leave the house. His whole family was in this house. A cold empty apartment wasn't very appealing compared to that. At night, the house was so attractive, knowing that those he loved were all there.
During the day, it was the definition of pure chaos.
"Alright. Well, see you sometime tomorrow." Nancy kissed him gently. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss, feeling her body press against his.
"Good night," Nancy whispered as they broke apart.
"Good night."
She slipped by him, leaving him gazing after her as she went up the stairs.
Please review! Maybe 10 reviews for the 10th chapter? :D