Um, I thought for some reason I had already posted this...oops. Anyway, the timing is a little weird in this chapter, just a heads up. We start out where we left off in the last chapter, move to dinner-midnight time, to...we'll say tenish, back to midnightish...

In the next chapter we go back to Nancy, Frank, Misty, and Joe going to Sanso's house.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

"Now how did you deduce that?" Joe asked, "How in the world can you know where Kelly Sanso is?"

"No, Joe, listen to her," George said, catching on, "She's got a point!"

Nancy looked to him, "She's right: the ages don't match, the woman never said that she was Kelly, and she did turn pale at the mention of the name."

"But I still don't see how she can call that more than theory!" Joe said. He turned to Misty, "Not to burst your bubble, but I'm just saying that we should keep our minds open. We've rushed theories one too many times, and it's gotten us into a heap of trouble. I'm just trying to avoid that, that's all."

"I know where she is too," Frank looked up, surprised at himself. He turned to Misty and nodded with a smile. With that Frank and Misty quickly rose from the table, having finished their meals.

"Wait!" Bess and Nancy called urgently.

"Where are you going?" Nancy called. There was no response; the others had no further choice but to get up and follow. They hurriedly followed. Joe had become silent at Frank's outburst. If he figured it out too, Joe thought in a more lenient attitude, the least I can do is listen. George quickly covered the bill and rushed out to meet the others.

Frank was looking over Misty's shoulder as she poured over her notes. Nancy and Joe emerged from the restaurant first, closely followed by Bess. Not long after, George burst out the front doors. "What is going on?" Nancy asked, "Do you care to let us in on your plan?"

"We have to go back," Misty looked up, "We have to go back now before-"

"Go back where? To that crazy lady's house?" Joe interrupted, his manner incredulous.

"Yes, before she tells Kelly that someone found her and makes her hide somewhere else," Frank said simply.

"But," Nancy said with a sudden revelation, "she might not move her if it was just a bunch of kids…"

"So," Bess squealed, "hurry up!"

Everyone looked to Joe. He thought for a moment, met the eyes of every member of the group, and finally threw up his arms in defeat, "Okay fine! Let's go." Nancy, Misty, and Frank rushed to the car. Joe rolled his eyes and jumped in the passenger seat.

Bess slowly walked up to Nancy's side of the vehicle. She looked at her hands, twiddling her thumbs, and then smiled sweetly at her friend, "Do you think…?"

"Go on, Bess, whatever you need to do," Nancy released her friend from active duty.

Bess squealed her excitement and hugged the red-head. She grabbed George by the arm and dragged her toward the other car. "We've got to…" she began to drone on about the list of things that needed done before her date tonight.

"Are you sure that you don't need us?" George called after Nancy in a playfully begging tone.

Nancy shook her head, "Have fun!" She started her car and watched George clutch her throat with her free hand in mock agony. Nancy chuckled to herself. And so, the foursome drove toward the house in the outskirts of the tiny town.

"George! Oh, George it's so romantic!" Bess squealed in delight. She was wearing her cousin's white dress with accompanying jewelry and shoes. Her natural, blonde banana curls were pulled back into a silver simply-jeweled butterfly clip. She had poured hours of painstaking precision and much fuss into making it appear sloppy. The casual style subtly contrasted with her elegant attire.

The tanned lifeguard flashed a brilliant smile as he pulled out a chair for his date. "Anything for you, my pet."

"Mmm, there's nothing like a night at the ocean…a nice warm breeze…the salt in the air…the moonlight on the horizon, it's almost like I can reach out and touch it!" she melted in her seat on a hill overlooking the water. There were countless stars out that shone brilliantly against the black of the night.

"So you like it?" he raised a brow, flashed a hesitant smile, and sat across from her.

"Like it!" she looked around, unable to suppress a grin and a blush. "I love it," she whispered, reaching out to place her hand in his. He gave it a quick squeeze and unveiled the centerpiece for their wooden table. "Oh!" Bess softly exclaimed. A hand went to her mouth, "It's beautiful…" She looked into his huge eyes. She could just wrap herself in them and melt away forever. "I'm a sucker for roses, red ones."

"You're a classy kind of girl," her replied, "I like that…a lot."

Bess turned to hide how deeply her blush had reddened her features. She gazed at the sparkling sea, breathless. The table that they sat at and the chairs that they sat in seemed to merge into the short wall of loose dirt and grass clumps that rose opposite the ocean. The water was on Bess's left and the multicolored knob of a hill to her right. She sighed and turned to gaze at the simple red roses that sat in a stubby deep blue, glass vase. There were three of them. They weren't long stemmed, but she didn't mind. She liked being able to look over them and see his handsome face. There were red and yellow petals spread out around the base of the vase, but there were no yellow roses amidst the red ones. How odd…and creative, thought Bess.

She slipped out of her revere and turned her attention to the hunk in front of her. They laughed and ate, took a shoeless midnight walk in the sand, held and swung hands, and finally, after he drove her home, he gently kissed her lips. Without a word, he turned to go. It was just like a dream, she reveled, sinking deep into her soft pillow…slipping into a sweet blissful sleep.

"Carson!" Hannah exclaimed in surprise, "You're home early." She looked at his ashen face quizzically. She put down the pie crust that she had been working with and turned toward him, "Carson, what is it?"

"I…" he stuttered, a distant look in his eyes "…I…"

"Carson!" he knees buckled and he fell to the floor, blood covering his left suit pant's leg.

George dropped her hand to her side. If anyone had looked at her, they would have rushed immediately to her side. Her eyes were wide, and her voice was gone. She clutched the corner of wall behind her for support. She was in her room, it was dark outside, and there was very little moonlight shinning through her slightly parted curtains. She gasped, a tear slipping down her tanned cheek. "Dead…?" she mumbled, "She can't…she can't be…dead…" Her phone fell effortlessly to the floor and she slid down the side of the wall until she had joined it, crumpled in a heap of sorrow.