Ya'll ready for some intensity?
Let's hope so cause you're getting it :D
"I still can't believe it. Adopted. Wow."
Nancy and George were walking home from school with Frank, Joe, and Bess.
"It happened so fast," George agreed. "You must be in shock."
"A little," Nancy admitted.
"It was just meant to be," Frank offered his opinion on the matter. Nancy gave him a smile.
"I agree with Frank," Bess announced. "Fate brought you all together!"
They all laughed at Bess's dramatic take.
Nancy shook her head with wonder. She felt so light. She was still walking on cloud nine from the announcement yesterday. The paperwork still had to go through and they would have to go to court and all that legal stuff, but the social worker hadn't thought there would be any problems.
Family.
Adopted.
Forever.
It was a new mantra that kept running through her head.
"See you tonight to celebrate?" Bess peeled off to head to her own house.
"Of course," Nancy grinned, continuing on with Frank, Joe, and George.
They turned the corner and stopped dead. The windows of the Fayne house were shattered, broken glass everywhere. The door was kicked inward.
"Oh my god." George was frozen.
"Don't go in, we've called the police. They're coming but we don't know if the attacker is still in there!" It was a neighbor, who was standing in front of the house where a small crowd had gathered.
Nancy didn't even seem to hear a word. She sprinted toward the house, with George close behind.
"Nancy!" George shouted. "Nancy, stop!"
"Nancy!" Frank grabbed her hand.
"Oh my god, this is because of me," Nancy whispered, allowing Frank to pull her to a stop.
"It's not your fault."
"Scott!" George found her little brother in the crowd of neighbors.
"George!"
Scott's freckled cheeks were tearstained as he ran to his sister.
"Oh my god." George grabbed her little brother in a tight hug. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Mom ran to the grocery store and there was this really loud crack, the door being broken open. I heard voices then gunshots, then they were destroying everything, crashes... I hid in the closet as fast as I could, I was so scared..."
Nancy stared at the house, the shattered windows, wrecked furniture.
"I heard gunshots…"
Scott's voice echoed in her mind.
She knew this was her fault.
Her thoughts were confirmed when she saw the piece of paper with her picture on it, burned around the edges, pinned to the broken door.
We know where you are, Nancy Parker. Disappear or someone is going to get hurt for real.
Nancy looked back up at the house, the broken glass, then glanced back at George holding Scott, the small boy crying, Frank gazing angrily into the distance.
Who was she kidding? No matter what happened, she wasn't going to be able to run from her past, from the situations she had been in. And now she had made herself into a walking target and the people around her were going to get hurt.
Did she really think she could just slip into this perfect family and belong?
Every house she'd been in, every relationship she'd had, it had all ended to soon. She had thought maybe the world was against her. But now she was wondering if somehow it was actually her who managed to ruin everything she touched.
What had she done?
She had crossed a line with investigating the Zadys.
"I heard gunshots…"
She had never imagined it would turn so serious so fast. But it had.
And as long as she lived with the Faynes, the Zadys would feel threatened. They knew she was onto them. Connor had probably seen her that one time in the car.
They knew where she lived.
They had guns.
She didn't trust the police to protect them.
The police had never protected her.
She needed to disappear, to stop prying, to remove herself from the people she cared about. Maybe from the anonymity of another home, she could take down the Zadys.
But for now, she wasn't going to put anyone in danger.
Nancy, shaking slightly, made a choice.
"Nancy, come on." Frank had his arm around her shoulder, gently leading her away from the door of the house. "It'll be okay."
"I need to go to the bathroom," Nancy said suddenly.
A neighbor let her go into their house, and Nancy closed the door and sat on the toilet lid. She fished out her phone and scrolled through the contacts until she got to her social worker's number.
Nancy pressed the call button.
"Where's Nancy?"
Somehow they had lost track of the slender teen somewhere in the chaos of the police showing up and then insurance agents and construction workers…
Jenna looked around the front yard where they were currently camping out, panic suddenly washing over her at the absences of the strawberry blonde.
"Alexander." She touched her husband's shoulder.
"Hold on…" He was talking with a police officer.
"Alexander, Nancy isn't here."
Almost on cue, Jenna's phone began to ring.
"It's her social worker."
George watched as her mother's face got paler.
"Nancy ran away and called her social worker, telling him she didn't feel safe."
They all stared at her, trying to comprehend the words.
"What, what does that mean?" Scott stammered.
"She's gone, sweetie. They're moving her to a different home. Nancy's gone."
Nancy's face was completely blank as she got out of her social worker's car. Her face didn't show an inch of emotion.
Inside, she felt raw, broken, like her heart had been shattered into many sharp pieces and they were all jostling around in her chest, cutting her open from the inside out.
"I really don't know why you're having me do this, Nancy. This place is nowhere near as nice as your last place." The social worker walked beside Nancy as they approached the small little yellow house.
Nancy didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken, or even that he existed at all.
The introductions were brief and basic. The home consisted of a middle aged woman and her husband and several foster children, none of which were around at the moment. Nancy didn't even make eye contact. She was silent.
"Just follow me Nancy." Patty led Nancy back through the house. Suddenly she closed a door on Nancy, leaving her alone in a dark room.
"Hey!" Nancy tugged on the door but it was locked.
She was alone in the darkness.
Hold on. Not alone.
Nancy backed up against the door, her eyes widening as she met Connor Zady's gleaming eyes.
"How are the Faynes doing?" Joe asked as he got into the car.
Joe had reluctantly left the scene of the break in to go to therapy, Frank also reluctantly leaving to drive him. They had almost forgotten about the appointment, making them have to run off without saying goodbye.
"I don't know." Frank frowned.
"This is because of your investigating, isn't it?" Joe asked quietly.
"Someone doesn't want Nancy looking into this stuff. Which means we're onto something." Frank ran a hand through his hair, sighing.
"Do you think she's in danger?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, I think she might be. There was a picture of her, the paper was partially burned and pinned to the door. If that isn't a threat I don't know what is."
"She'll be okay."
Frank glanced at his brother and gave him an appreciative smile at his attempt to reassure him.
However his heart sank when he pulled up to the Fayne house and found George running towards him.
"Frank!"
Frank got out of the car. George 's face was drained of color, dark eyes wide and wild.
"What's wrong?!" Frank asked alarmedly.
"It's Nancy. Nancy's gone," George gasped.
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Frank stared.
"She called her social worker requesting a transfer. Frank, she's gone."
"She's gone?" Frank couldn't hear anything but those words ringing in his mind. "George, she's in danger!"
"I know!" George's pale face was full of despair. "I think she left to keep us safe.
"We'll find her," Frank's jaw clenched and determination took over all other emotions as he strode towards his home. "We will find her and bring her back."
"How? She isn't answering any of my texts, the agency won't tell us where she is."
"George, my dad is a famous detective. If anyone can find her, he can. And fast."
They had to wait for the longest three hours of their life before Fenton Hardy got home from his latest case.
"Nancy Parker? As in the Nancy you and Joe keep talking about?"
Fenton took a sip of his water, exchanging a knowing look with Laura.
"Yes. She's gone... We were investigating something, which is the reason there was the break in at the Faynes, we think she left to protect us..."
"Whoa, back up son," Fenton set his glass down. "You're going to have to explain everything."
George and Frank exchanged a serious look.
"Okay. It started when Nancy told us about her friend Emily..." George started.
When they were done with the entire story, Fenton took a deep breath.
"Thank you for coming to me. I'm afraid I agree with your assessment that your friend could be in serious danger."
"Can you find her?" George asked, face strained.
Fenton hesitated.
"It isn't usually a good idea to pry into governmental systems, such as foster care. But yes. I can find her. I'm going to need as much information as possible. Do you have a picture of her?"
"Yeah, I think I have a picture on my phone." George pulled out her phone, quickly scrolling through and finding a picture. "Here."
She held out the phone and Fenton took it, peering at the screen.
His face drained of color. Laura dropped her glass and it shattered on the ground with a crash.
"Oh my god." Fenton whispered.
"What?" Frank and George looked at each other with wild confusion.
"What's going on?"
"This is Nancy Parker?" Laura asked quietly, her eyes wide.
"Yes!" George and Frank chorussed.
"It's like staring straight at Elizabeth," Laura whispered, taking Fenton's hand.
"Mom, Dad, what is going on?!" Frank's voice held an edge of fear.
Fenton seemed to pull himself together, putting the phone down and helping Laura begin to clean up the broken glass on the floor.
"Dad." Frank was almost pleading.
"I'm sorry, I just... I'm trying to process what this all means myself. Do you remember me ever mentioning my old friend, Carson Drew?"
"The lawyer that died in a car crash when I was like one?" Frank furrowed his brow confusedly. "What on earth does that have to do with this?"
"It isn't possible," Laura murmured.
"Carson Drew had a daughter named Nancy, who died in the car crash with him. The car was almost completely burnt before anybody found it, and by the time a firetruck came, there really wasn't much left." Fenton swallowed, hard. "Nancy Drew was only a couple months old when it happened."
"I cried so much. First Elizabeth died of cancer, then Carson and Nancy..." Laura gripped Fenton's hand, and he pulled her closer.
"I'm still confused." George shook her head.
"That picture..." Fenton picked up the phone again. "Your friend Nancy Parker looks exactly like a younger version of Elizabeth Drew, Nancy Drew's mother. She's the right age too... They're both named Nancy..."
"Are you saying..." Frank's eyes widened.
"I have no idea how it's possible. No idea. But... I think Nancy Parker might be Nancy Drew."
Whatttttttt just happeneddddddd? Craziness!
I would love to hear your thoughts.