Chapter 25

The girl's arrived home a plane ride before they were sending Edgar Nixon over. George's hand was wrapped in a cast and she had been given pain killers. The two girls went home to greet their parents and unpack. Nancy stayed for a while at George's house while she was unpacking, explaining the broken hand to her parents. George's father laughed and slapped a hand to his face.

"George always did have such… finesse," he said.

"Well, what did you expect? You're the one who wanted to name her 'George.' I wanted to name her Melinda," her mother accused.

"Melinda?" Nancy muttered under her breath to herself.

"Okay… and this is where we leave," George said, grabbing Nancy with her good hand and heading towards the door.

"Leave? You just got back!" her mother called out. "Don't you want to just spend the day at home with us?"

"No," George scoffed, heading out the door.

"Menopause is a scary beast," Mr. Fayne said, shaking his head.

"Damn it, Mark, I heard that!" Mrs. Fayne called out from the kitchen.

"Run, kid, run," her father whispered to her.

Nancy and George piled in the car and picked up Bess, who kissed her mom and dad goodbye and got in with them.

"You think we spend too much time together?" Bess asked.

"Nah," George replied.

They pulled into Nancy's driveway and parked. Nancy locked the car and opened the front door.

"Nancy!" her dad called out, hugging her. "I missed you, kiddo."

Nancy laughed and returned the hug. "Me too."

"You did it, baby. You found him. McGinnis says he's on a plane now and should be here in a couple of hours if you want to be there when he's interviewed."

"Do ?" her father responded. The girls all laughed. "Hannah's waiting for you in the kitchen. She's got pie."

"Ooh!" Bess squealed, leading the way.

A second later there was a screech of joy and George and Nancy looked at each other.

"Bess likes pie way too much," George said, shaking her head.

Nancy nodded gravely as the joyful cries continued. "Way too much."

The two girls stopped short in the kitchen entrance, gaping.

"I hope you guys like pie. Cutie pie," Burt said jokingly, motioning over himself.

Ned rolled his eyes and smiled. Dave was a bit preoccupied at the moment with Bess.

The other two girls ran forward and hugged the boys. George smiled into Burt's kiss and laughed when they parted. He grabbed the hand with the cast on it and gave it a questioning look.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked.

"I punched some stupid bitch," she responded, shrugging.

"I leave you alone for one day…"

"Hey, she drugged Nancy in the bathroom!"

"What?!" all three boys exclaimed, looking at Nancy.

"What exactly happened yesterday?" Ned asked, sitting down with Nancy.

Dave and Bess sank into chairs next to them. Burt leaned against the countertop with his arms around George as she leaned into him. Between the three of them they managed to tell them the story at the airport. Nancy saw Ned's nostrils flare as he tried to control his anger when they got to the part where she was drugged. She slipped her hand over his under the table. He flipped his palm up and intertwined their fingers, squeezing tightly, worriedly. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand comfortingly and gave him a small smile.

"So you're going down to the precinct to hear the questioning?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't miss it for the world," Nancy said with a nod.

"Awesome. Fieldtrip," Burt said, grinning.

"You're coming?"

"You think we drove three hours for lunch?" Ned asked.

"You drove all the way down here to listen to a dipshit confess?" Bess asked, raising a brow.

"Well… that and other things," Dave said with a smile. Bess blushed.

"Can I come in now?" Hannah called from the hallway.

"Yes!" Nancy replied excitedly, hugging the woman tightly. "I missed you, Hannah."

"I'm just glad you're back. I was so worried," she said. "Now, I'm hungry, you're father's hungry, the boys are hungry and I'm willing to bet that you guys are hungry."

"Nope," Bess said, shaking her head.

"What?" everyone said, looking at her.

She grinned. "I'm starving."

They laughed and Hannah made sandwiches and a salad and she did have a banana cream pie ready for them. As they were finishing up lunch, laughing and joking, the phone rang and Nancy grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid, it's me," McGinnis said on the other line. "He just came in. Want me to wait for you?"

Nancy nodded. "Yeah. I'll be there in five. Thanks." She hung up and scarfed the rest of her sandwich. "He's there. Whoever's coming with, let's go."

The six friends piled into two cars and headed to the police station. The guard at the desk smiled kindly at Nancy and waved them through. They were led to a one-sided window where Nixon was sitting alone, hands drumming on the table, bored. Nancy turned to McGinnis as he walked up.

"I thought you were going to start questioning him," Nancy said.

"Thing is, when they grabbed the girlfriend, she started squealing like a pig. Crying and all. She basically gave us the whole story and we have a pretty good case, even without Ira's testimony. But it'd be definite if he testified."

"So why is he in the questioning cell?" George asked.

"Last minute details, get him to sign a written confession. Said he would under one condition."

"What's that?" Burt asked.

"He wants to see you," McGinnis said, tilting his chin at Nancy.

Nancy looked through the glass at the man sitting in the little room, looking bored.

"You wanted a testimony from Ira, right?" Nancy said.

"It'd be nice," McGinnis said.

Nancy looked up at the police chief. "Go get him. I'll get it for you."