Author's Note: I've really enjoyed writing this story. 1 more chapter to go and then I look forward to posting the sequel to this story next week. I will be doing 2 chapters a week for that story, posted on Tuesdays and Saturday's. It's definitely lighter in tone, with a different kind of villain this time, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out for Nancy and Frank as they begin to explore their newfound relationship :) .
Nancy really hated this. She shivered, clutching herself as it was cold in here. She jerked upright, panicked, but her wrists refused to move. Something sharp and cold dug into her skin. She looked down groggily, the effects of whatever Baines had drugged her with was slowly beginning to wear off and saw that there were handcuffs holding her hands to the table. She bit her tongue, feeling an odd coldness on her tongue and that was when the door opened and slammed shut, making the young woman jump with the only little slack that she had. The grizzled detective in front of her was looking worn, his face lined and careworn.
"Evening, ma'am. Name's Detective Warren. Assigned to our Black Lake killer's case. Been working this case for the last two years. I won't hurt you, but not many have escaped his clutches alive. I am here to interrogate you. Do you understand?" He clamped a cigarette between his jaws and folded his arms across his chest. Nancy nodded slowly, her brain working on overdrive to process all the information.
"Handcuffs? Is this necessary? I haven't done anything wrong, detective! I want my phone call if you're going to treat me this way. Right now," she demanded huskily, giving a rather harsh tug of her wrists to try to slip out of her restraints, and she flinched. The skin was still rubbed raw from where Todd had handcuffed her, and she'd fought to get out of it, and now, this added measure of 'precaution' wasn't helping matters. In fact, such a gesture was only making things worse for herself.
"They're necessary so you don't hurt yourself, ma'am," came his curt answer, crankily so, as he sat himself in the chair opposite to her. Nancy stayed silent, not sure what to think of this news. "What's your name?" When Nancy did not answer him, he grew even more cross. "Tell. Me." he repeated sternly. Nancy felt coldness envelope her, but no darkness came. The man called Warren broke her cuffs and wrapped his large hands around the girl's throat and squeezed. "TELL ME!"
She wanted to, but she couldn't very well do that with his hands at her throat. Nancy coughed and spluttered as he raised her off the ground, and black spots swirled at the front of her vision. Just as her vision went blurry, two uniformed men came in, and Detective Warren dropped Nancy to the ground. He was led out by an officer while she collapsed back into the cold metal chair, panting for breath. The cop who was left to supervise came to Nancy's aid, removing her handcuffs.
"You okay, ma'am?" he mumbled, his face reddening as he looked towards the door. He reached up a hand and sheepishly scratched at an itch behind his ear as he threw his steno pad on the interrogation table. "I…apologize for Warren's outburst. I hope he didn't hurt you. He's been lead detective on this case for a long time, and…the latest victim, the counselor, that little girl Alice, the kid was his granddaughter, so he's a little shook up over it. But we caught the bastard."
There were a thousand retorts burning on the tip of her tongue, just begging to be released. Nancy wanted to ask the cop where the police were when all of these murders first started happening, why it had taken them years to catch Todd, and the man responsible for catching Baines wasn't even one of their own, but instead an out-of-state police officer from River Heights, Illinois.
She was fairly certain Casston's chief of police, if the man was anything like Chief McGinnis back home, wouldn't like that little fact. Nancy nodded mutely, gingerly clutching her ribcage as she heaved trying to catch her breath.
"It's fine," she panted, sitting up straighter in her chair as the cop took the chair opposite from her. This one at least seemed kinder than the last one had. But still, she hated it here. It felt wrong. "Can't Frank come in?" she pleaded as the cop, who introduced himself as Reggie, got himself settled and placed a bottle of water in front of her. Out of all the times to talk to a cop, why did she have to talk alone? Her father was all the way back in Maine and very well couldn't serve as her lawyer states away. Then again, she had to remind herself, these guys just wanted to talk. To get her side of the story. Not accuse. The cop, she realized, and the rest of the others on the town's payroll, were just doing their jobs, and this guy's job right now was to question Nancy and get her side of the story directly.
"I'd just like to talk with you for now, Miss Drew. You're not in trouble." Reggie forced a smile that didn't quite meet his green eyes. In fact, he looked to Nancy like he was ticked. "Your boyfriend is right outside. I just need your version of what happened in the barn tonight, everything to start out, ma'am."
Nancy swallowed past the lump forming in her throat and looked down at the water bottle. She was thirsty, and her throat felt scratchy and dry, and an hour ago she'd wanted nothing more than a simple drink. But now as she looked at the bottle, it almost felt like a trap. She recognized she was at the Casston Police Department, and they certainly weren't going to poison her or drug her like Todd Baines had.
Reggie laced his fingers together and regarded the broken young woman in front of him. "Can I get you anything else? You hungry? I think we got some donuts and bagels in the lounge if you're hungry. You look like you've not eaten in at least a day. Is it warm enough in here for you? You're kind of shaking, ma'am. Do you have blood sugar dips, by any chance? Want me to go get you one?"
"N—no," she stammered, folding her arms across her chest so that her now-bandaged hands were over her upper arms. "I—it's just been a long night, Officer. One I wasn't sure I was going to survive."
"No need for you to be scared," the cop piped up reassuringly, offering her a smile and hoping it was genuine. "I'm just here to get the truth from you, that's all. I promise you, ma'am, that you're not in trouble. We just want to hear what happened. We got him. But in order to put him behind bars for life, we need the whole story. We got the sister's statement, that Hardy fellow's, and even got a call earlier from a guy named Nickerson, says he knows you, and now we just need yours. Shouldn't take long, miss."
Nancy let out a tiny sigh and shivered, wrapping the blanket the cop had given her tighter around herself, letting the thing drape loosely over her shoulders as she chanced a glance towards the one-way mirror. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that Frank was standing on the other side of the glass.
Though she couldn't see him, she could sense his presence. And right now, she needed for him to be sitting next to her, though she knew her request was going to be denied, that did not stop her from asking. "Can't Frank come in?" she pleaded. "I—if he doesn't say anything, can he just…sit next to me?"
But Reggie was shaking his head no. "Sorry, Miss ah…Drew is it?" he added, scrunching his nose and glancing down at the steno pad in front of him. "Um. Nancy is that right? But people call you Nan?"
"Only friends and family," corrected Nancy immediately, a tremor of cold going down her spine and she shivered. She bit her bottom and lip and stared blankly at the bottled water in front of her. She had to start telling the cop the truth. "The truth," she whispered. "About Todd. Who he is…" Nancy knew she was going to look like she was covering for him if she didn't speak up, and fast. "I…he took me," she whispered hoarsely, and then, remember the man's last words to her, was quick to correct herself. "B—but he didn't… he didn't hurt me," she added softly, as Baines' threat lingered in her mind, refusing to part from her thoughts. If she told the truth, how he had almost strangled her to death, and this next part was a very big if, if he was ever released from prison one day (highly unlikely, but then stranger things had happened to Nancy) then Todd Baines would most assuredly come after her, Frank, her friends and family. No. That she could not allow. "I—I swear," she breathed, hating the tremor laced in her voice.
The police officer quirked a brow at Nancy and folded his arms across his chest. His scrutinizing gaze drifted down towards her arms and at the rapidly developing bruise that was already starting to purple underneath her eye. "You have an awful lot of cuts and bruises on your arms. How did you get them?"
Nancy felt the heat creep to her cheeks, and she could ignore the scratching sensation in her throat no longer and she shakily reached for the water bottle, undoing the cap with trembling fingers. "I…Frank and I were walking in the woods in the dark. I fell down a lot. Ran into branches, trees, you know how it goes when you're in the woods. I—I slipped. It was dark out, I couldn't see, rocks, branches, trees…"
"Oh?" he asked, narrowing his green eyes. Reggie leaned over the interrogation table and his fingertips grazed Nancy's neck, to which she immediately shirked back from his gentle touch, her back resting against her chair as far as she could go.
"Don't," she pleaded, inhaling a sharp breath that pained her lungs. Before she could even fathom what she was doing, she reached up and slapped Reggie's hand away. "I—I'm sorry," she apologized, as soon as she saw the all-too familiar flicker of anger pass through the cop's eyes. "I—I didn't mean to…"
Reggie's lips pursed into a pencil-thin narrow line and he gave a curt nod, forcing an obviously faked smile, though Nancy could read this man like a book. It was in his eyes. Nancy wished he had kept his trance at the spot on the wall behind her.
The young detective knew that deliberation was over for him. He had judged her already, and in the cop's eyes she saw only misunderstanding and a cool hatred.
"It's okay," the police officer breathed, feeling his shoulders sag as he settled back in his chair. "Listen to me, Miss Drew…I need you to be straight with me. Whatever he said to you to make you scared, forget his words. We got him. He's behind bars, and he won't be going anywhere. He'll spend the rest of his life in the state prison. I realize you know that Todd Baines did that to you. There's no point in trying to pretend otherwise." The cop hesitated, running his hands through his tuft of dark hair and fixing Nancy with a glare. "I get it. Baines is a frightening guy. He's scary. But I'm not him, you got that, Miss Drew?"
The cop reached over and grabbed Nancy's hand, squeezing her right hand a little tighter than what would have supposed to have been reassuring. Nancy flinched, saying nothing, and he let go of her. Nancy jerked her hand back, tenderly rubbing it. The gauze the nurse at the hospital that had applied it was starting to loosen, but maybe once she got out of here, Frank could tighten it for her. He was good at tending wounds. She swallowed nervously and glanced up at Reggie, who took a sip of coffee from his mug. The way his eyes squinted when the cop glared at Nancy reminded her of a pit viper's slit-like pupils. She gulped a swig of her water nervously. A burning animosity was developing in the police officer's green orbs, and Nancy could tell she was likely the root cause of the problem right now.
But still, she couldn't bring herself to talk about it. It was all too fresh. She just wanted to sleep.
"You can trust me, Miss Drew. I'm an officer of the law, I'm on your side. It's my job to help people. So you have to tell me what Baines did to you, and it has to be the truth," he growled, leaning over the table and squinting his eyes at the markings Todd's strong fingers had made around her throat.
Nancy swallowed another sip of water, all the while actively avoiding the police officer's piercing gaze that felt like it was burning a hole in her skull. She really wished Dad was here. She didn't want to answer any more questions, though she knew that as a victim she wouldn't get in trouble tonight, but…
She was also the victim here, and she doubted she was going to get in trouble if she refused to talk. The cop seemed to sense her hesitation and stifled a low growl from the back of his throat. "Those are finger markings on your neck, Miss Drew, and that bruise underneath your eye looks mighty painful. Doesn't take a genius to guess that our boy hit you while he had you cooped up in that barn of his, am I right?" When Nancy did not answer, the cop continued pressing the young woman. "Protecting someone, a serial killer no less, who hurt you is just going to make things worse, yeah? Especially if you're called to testify what happened to you in a court of law, it's going to look back, Miss Drew. For your sake. Don't. If Baines threatened you, you gotta let me know. There's no need for you to protect that creep, Miss Nancy."
At his words, Nancy bolted from her chair and backed herself further against the wall, pretty much into a corner. Why was this cop cornering her in an interrogation room and treating her like she was a suspect, an accessory to Todd Baines' crimes?
She wondered briefly if he had done the same to Jessica, questioned her until the point that she broke and did whatever the cop told her to do. Coercion. Surely, he realized she wasn't a criminal, right? "Get away from me! I already told you and your friends at the scene everything I know. I—I invoke the fifth!" whisper-hissed Nancy desperately through clenched teeth, back pressed against the wall. Every muscle bone and fiber in her body ached and screamed for relief, to sleep, but she couldn't. Reggie slowly raised his hands in defense. "Why am I being detained? You know this isn't right. I—I want a phone call. I'm calling my lawyer, Officer!"
"Nancy, I swear, I'm not trying to scare you. What you've been through tonight, no one should ever have to go through that, but you gotta start talking to me."
An angry shout rent the air that rendered both Nancy and the Casston police officer frozen to their respective spots. Both swiveled their heads towards the door. The knock came quietly first, and then there was silence, save for the occasional murmuring of Frank Hardy's voice talking in low tones to someone.
The knock came again, louder and faster this time. Nancy stood next to Reggie, who stared at the door, un-moving. "Nancy?" came a voice, a man's, and Nancy's ears perked up as she heard a sound that was unexpectedly comforting—her father's voice. "Nance, honey? You in there, baby girl? It's Dad. Let me in, sweetheart, I can hear voices…" Carson Drew knocked against the door, then yanked it open.
"Oh, Dad," Nancy croaked hoarsely, feeling fresh tears well in her eyes. She hadn't realized how much she missed her father and how much she needed him here. Nancy all throughout the trip up here had been worried what her father would think of her putting her own life in danger to catch a serial killer.
Asking too many questions, asking the right questions to the wrong people, being ticked at her for getting into this mess, for not letting the proper authorities deal with this. But in the moment, she only wanted her father to hug her tight, to hold her, be overprotective. Carson Drew strode into the room, Frank hovering by the door, his arms folded across his chest and a grim expression on his face. He walked up to Nancy slowly and pulled his daughter closer to him wrapping his arms around her. His embrace was warm, and his arms seemed very protective when wrapped around Nancy's frail, healing body. The world around Nancy melted away as she squeezed him back, not wanting the moment to end. Her dad, a well renowned attorney in his early forties, and still quite handsome with dark hair and kind green eyes behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses, was currently looking very upset.
"What are you doing here, Dad?" she whispered, tightening her grip around her father's middle.
"Frank called me a few days ago, asked me to catch the earliest plane I could. Told me what was happening."
Nancy snuggled in, "You're the only person I know that gives indefinite hugs."
Her father snickered, "Well, Nance, where else would I rather be?" In that moment the arms squeezed a fraction tighter and Nancy breathed more slowly, her body melting into her dad's as every muscle lost its tension now that help was here. This was life, real life, and she was headed for home. She craned her neck upward to look at her father, but she saw to her surprise her father was glowering at the police officer. One glance over at Reggie was more than enough. Nancy bit her lip to suppress her urge to break into laughter. She knew what the cop saw when he looked at Carson. Everybody always thought the same thing. Carson Drew was fitter looking than anyone expected. His face told of a lean body beneath his black business suit and his expression behind his black-rimmed glasses was serious but not unkind. He had that beginning look of salt and pepper look that was beginning to fleck to his dark hair as he aged, against his still youthful skin it looked good on him.
Nancy drew in a sharp breath, steeling herself for one of her father's outbursts.
"How dare you?" Carson accused, glaring directly at Reggie. "Can't you see my daughter has been through enough? She's lucky to be alive after the ordeal this Baines character put her through, and you want to traumatize her even further? How dare you take her in here, all alone without me being present. I'm a lawyer," he added coldly, seeing the look of dawning confusion in the cop's eyes as he opened his mouth to retort. "You're questioning her like she's some sort of…criminal," he growled. "She barely managed to escape with her life after being held against her will by a serial killer, Officer…?" He fell silent and waited.
"Newall, sir," the police officer answered stiffly.
"I'm fine, Dad," Nancy spoke up softly, still allowing her father to keep his arms around her shoulders.
"With all due respect, sir, your daughter is covered in bruises and cuts. I know our guy did this to her, but she won't talk. I gotta get to the bottom of this and having other people present in the room leads to a lot of witnesses and victims alike withholding vital information that will allow us to put this guy behind bars for good. That's why I wanted to talk to Miss Drew alone. Lawyer or not, Mr. Drew, with all due respect, you need to leave," growled the cop, taking a step towards the father and daughter.
Carson instinctively pulled Nancy back, stepping in front of her and holding out a hand in front of her to prevent her from taking another step forward. When he spoke his next words to the cop, his words were cold enough that even Nancy shivered.
"No. Just look at her. She's in no condition to answer any questions right now. You will not talk to my daughter like this. You cannot corner her and threaten her and demand she tell you what happened. My daughter's wounds are healing, and her conditions are causing her a great deal of stress which your…aggressive methods of questioning will only exacerbate. Now, if you will excuse me, officer, I'm going to take my daughter and her…boyfriend," here he glanced towards Nancy for confirmation, who gave the tiniest of nods and a small crooked half-smile, and then his gaze flitted to Frank, who had entered the interrogation room and was hovering behind Nancy, one hand on the small of her back and the other and he barely held back his smile as a pink blush graced his daughter's cheeks. "And we're going to go home. You've already got her statement when your men arrived on the scene, and accounts from the man's sister, as well as a statement from one of the man's other victims, a Megan Grunhild?" he added, glancing towards Nancy and Frank for confirmation, who quickly nodded. "That should suffice as evidence enough to hold up in his trial when he goes to court. Nancy, Frank, let's get out of here and head for home. Come on, you two, let's get out of here. Right now," he added harshly.
She knew his fire-seed of anger that had seemingly sprouted without warning was more so directed towards the cop than at Nancy or Frank, but still, sensing the irritation in his tone and seeing the agitation in his eyes behind his glasses, she hurried. Nancy, sensing danger as the cop immediately opened his mouth to argue, took a ginger step forward, despite Carson's arm still planted firmly in front of her. She peeked over his shoulder, having to stand on her tiptoes, or as well as she could given her broken ankle still rested in a cast, and the other was sprained, not to mention her poor thigh still throbbed from being stabbed, but it had been treated.
Nancy had undergone one hell of a night, however, and she just wanted it done. "I already told you everything, Officer. My dad's right, sir. You can't keep me locked up in here. I can't force you to believe what I told you was the truth, but…I've already said everything there was to tell. I haven't done anything wrong. You can't keep me here," Nancy reminded Reggie quietly, timidly.
The cop regarded the father and daughter for what felt like an eternity in an uncomfortable silence. If tension in the room would have been a color, the air would have been scarlet. Finally, he huffed and exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're right, Miss Drew. I can't keep you here, or force you to talk, but I wish you'd just tell me the truth. I know Todd Baines did those awful things to you. But you and your father are right. I can't force you. Though it would go easier for everyone if you would just say it."
"I am telling the truth." Nancy flinched as she felt the lie escape her lies. Lying went completely against her nature, unless she was faced with no other choice while on a case, and to lie to a law enforcement officer was even worse, but she wanted nothing more than to put what happened behind her forever.
Carson nodded and put his hand on his daughter's right shoulder, shooting the Casston police officer one last look of distrust as he steered her out of the interrogation room and towards the precinct's parking lot. "You're lucky you have someone like Frank watching your back," he complimented, raising his voice loud enough so Frank, who hadn't left Nancy's side once since the pair had re-emerged from the interrogation room, could hear him. He chuckled as he watched Frank's face flush at the compliment. Leaning forward just slightly and lowering his voice so only Nancy could hear, he spoke to his daughter in low tones. "I was sorry to hear about Ned, Nance," he apologized, his voice sounding pained. "Frank? Are you sure that's what you want? It won't…affect your friendships with any of the others?"
Nancy nodded mutely, instinctively reaching for Frank's hard and giving it a squeeze. "Yes. I think…I think I've known for a while now, but…didn't want to admit it to myself," she whispered timidly.
Carson returned the nod, showing his only child he understood. "Good." He turned to Frank and regarded the dark-haired young man standing protectively next to Nancy, and he did not bother to hide the small smile that crept onto his handsome but quite lined features. "Treat your woman like a queen, I always say," he said solemnly, clapping Frank on the shoulder. "Take care of my daughter, Hardy. And please…" he added, a sudden note of mock sternness twinkling in his eyes behind the lenses of his glasses, "When you come over, for the sake of Hannah and your poor old dad, Nance…keep your door open three inches." His mouth was set into a hard line, though the corners of his mouth twitched, fighting a smile.
Frank looked surprised but quickly recovered. "Y—yes, sir," he stammered. "I promise."
Carson held open the car door of the taxi and gestured for the two to get in the backseat.
"Let's go home," Carson said, chuckling softly at witnessing the silent exchange between Frank and Nancy. With Frank, Carson knew, it was different for his daughter than it had ever been with Ned. The two didn't even have to communicate in words, because even now, as they sat in silence in the backseat of the cab, Nancy's head resting against Frank's chest as she slowly drifted into an easy sleep. Carson knew that that Nancy could not see the world through his eyes, and mostly it was a good thing she couldn't. She was so like her mother, seeing excitement and possibilities, whereas Carson saw a world of danger and uncertainty. She wanted to walk out of their house after dark, and why shouldn't she? Take on a serial killer? Why not. When Nancy would rail against the confines of being a woman in a world that wasn't necessarily kind to female detectives, Carson was reminded of its unfairness. To him, as her father, it was simply a reality he unquestioningly accepted. A reality he was forced to impose on her lest he wanted the risk of burying her one day, just as her had done for his wife, Kate. And he didn't. Yet, as he glanced in the review mirror at the pair now sleeping soundly in the backseat, he was filled with a newfound sense of admiration and respect for the eldest Hardy brother. He just wanted his daughter to be happy. And it would seem to Carson that she had finally found her source of happiness. In Frank. And if that were good enough for Nancy, then it would be good enough for him too.
She tried to sleep in the car ride to the airport, but visions of Baines and the others kept flashing through her mind. Her dad was saying something from the driver's seat, and she had to struggle to keep her eyes open. Nancy furrowed her brow into a frown as Carson tossed what appeared to be a draft of an article to the backseat so Nancy and Frank could take a quick look, written by none other than Lana Graham's assistant, Eve Vanderhilt. "So that's how Megan found us…"
"Have to hand it to her, sweetheart, that reporter's assistant is smoother than silk," chuckled Carson from the driver seat of their rental car. "You might not like how Miss Graham operates, but she knows her stuff. So does her partner, for that matter. She called me less than ten minutes after Frank did, gave me the scoop and told me I needed to get up here to Maine no matter what happened, and that she knew where you were being held, and I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time to prevent that cop asking you questions." There was no mistaking the bitterness in Carson Drew's tone. Nancy knew he blamed himself. She knew that her father was thinking if he had not suggested Nancy to Helen, she wouldn't have had to endure madness at the hands of a deranged serial killer and would not have gotten hurt.
"It's not your fault, Dad. There's no way you could have known what was going to happen. And we solved it, didn't we? All of us," she offered shyly, as her eyes skimmed the pages of the articles. It didn't tell her much; other than somehow the reporter had already received word Baines would be spending life in prison for what he had done. She was just grateful the woman's date hadn't shot him dead where he stood. She had seen enough blood to last the rest of her life. Nancy shivered and handed the article back. Nancy heaved a heavy sigh as she felt her cell phone vibrate and chirp deep within the confines of her now-ruined purse, and upon picking it up, she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as she fingered the tear in the bottom of the bag, courtesy of all the branches it must have snagged on during her little trek through the wilderness. Muttering an inaudible curse to herself, she pulled out her cell phone and hit the green 'Accept' button, holding the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked, hoping her voice was calm, though she felt quite frazzled.
Even she wasn't quite sure how much more excitement she could take.
"Nancy?" came a woman's voice, and she could tell by the way the young woman exhaled that she sounded relieved that Nancy had answered the phone. "I—I was hoping it would be you. I—it's Elizabeth. I—I mean Jessica," she stammered quickly, fumbling to correct herself. "I just…wanted to say how sorry I am. I should have never gotten you involved in this. I lied to you right from the beginning."
Nancy fell silent, not sure what to say, so she just let Jessica Baines talk. Maybe she needed to get out of her system, and the best thing she could do for her right in this moment was listen to her. After all, she had, just as Nancy and the others had been, been put through so much, perhaps possibly even more.
Jessica sighed, and Nancy could tell whatever she wanted to tell the detective was weighing on her mind. "I haven't been truthful with you from the start, but I'd like to now. I—it's my fault you got mixed up into this. The—the journal that I asked you to help me find? I lied about that, too. Captain James Baycroft was actually our great-great-great grandfather, a—and I know he was innocent of those crimes, though nobody in our family, distant or otherwise could ever prove it, so I guess in that way you could say our family name was cursed right from the very beginning."
"Was he?" Nancy found herself asking, despite her previous strong will to remain silent on the call.
"Yes!" breathed Jessica into the phone, and, perhaps realizing her emotions were getting the better of her, let out another tired sigh, and Nancy could almost picture Baines pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger in exhaustion. "Thought I must admit, I was wrong in having you accompany me to that lighthouse. The place has been condemned for years, and I don't know what happened to you up there to cause you to fall down those stairs, b—but I'd bet my life that place is haunted. The locals there say more accidents happen in that lighthouse as the years pass. Stupid kids you know, climbing it for a dare, trying to see if they can get that little girl's ghost to appear. Maybe she was the one who pushed you down the stairs. Guess we'll never know what happened."
A beat. A pause, and Nancy waited for Jessica to continue. "All the more reason for the city to shut that place down. Maybe when I head back to the university, I can make some calls. Get that place boarded up and torn down for good. I won't have any more blood spilt on my hands. I'm so sorry, Miss Drew, for what I put you through these last few days. I—it's no secret that Todd and I come from a family with a long history of problems, a—and it was about a week or two before I called you that the murders in Casston started happening again. I…didn't want to believe it was Todd, but… the signs were there. I know my brother, Miss Drew, perhaps better than anyone else, I—I just didn't want to believe it, and I thought if I could prove that it wasn't him, th—then maybe…just maybe there was a slim chance that my brother could still be saved, somehow. That…"
But her voice trailed off and Jessica didn't complete her sentence.
"I understand," Nancy murmured softly, catching Frank's sympathetic stare out of the corner of her eye. Instinctively, without even realizing she was doing so, she felt her hand drift towards his and give it a gentle squeeze. "The important thing is Todd is behind bars, where, you might not like it, Jessica, but that's the safest place for him. Even if he were to take you and flee like he had wanted to do, do you really think the murders would have stopped? I don't know if Todd would have been able to control it."
There was a long pause, and when Jessica spoke again, it sounded like she was fighting back tears.
"I know," she whispered. "It's the best place for him. I plan to visit him at least a few times a year, when my teaching schedule allows it. I just…want to put all of this behind me, if I can, but it won't be easy."
"I know that feeling," Nancy said, and allowed the tiniest smile to curve at the edge of her lips.
"I know there's no way I can ever make up for what's happened to you during your time here in Casston, but I can try," said Jessica, and Nancy was surprised to hear the steadfast determination in her voice. "I spoke with your father who agreed to my deal, and I've already arranged the wire transfer between your bank back in River Heights and mine. You'll find a nice little chunk of change waiting for you when you get back. I hope that a settlement of $500,000 is more than enough for you to forget this. I know you won't be able to forget it, but…I hope you will use the money for something good. Buy a house, pay off debts, just save it, invest it, build a new life for yourself. I know you won't truly be able to forget, but I don't want Todd and mine's stories blasted everywhere, though the media's already gotten wind of it, so there's not much I can do in that regard, but it would mean a great deal to me and to Todd if the reporters start clamoring for interviews, don't give them one single quote. We…I…I just want to be left alone," Jessica whispered.
Nancy felt her mouth drop open and she spluttered trying to think of a retort. But none came. "How…?" Nancy opened her mouth to protest, to say that she did not want Jessica's money, that it was entirely too much and that she could not accept such a generous gift, but upon hearing the detective's tone shift and seemingly want to argue, Jessica Baines shut her down fast. "Miss Baines, I can't accept it!"
"Too late," came Jessica's voice. "The transfer was already initiated and complete. And before you ask, in addition to my professor salary, my family grew up quite wealthy, though we don't look it. Does that answer your questions?" her tone was slightly teasing now, which made Nancy smile just a little bit.
"It does," she breathed, feeling her eyes go wide and round at the thought of that much money waiting for her in her checking account when they got back to River Heights, and she made a mental note to put her father in charge of handling most of the money. He could put it into an investment account for her, considering she had no debts that needed paying off, and she made enough money with each new case that presented itself that she wasn't entirely sure if college was necessarily in her future. She felt like she learned plenty on her cases, and every time it seemed like she was thinking about enrolling, a new case always presented itself, thus delaying actually enrolling it. Nancy opened her mouth to say thank you, but it didn't come out. The young woman supposed she was still quite flustered and shell-shocked.
"Thanks again, Nancy," Jessica replied warmly. "For everything." And with that, the call ended. Nancy stared at her phone in her palm numbly before plunking it back into her purse, before remembering that her purse had a hole in it, and, in a moment of frustration, kicked her ruined bag to the floor by her feet.
Maybe Bess could help her buy a new one when they got home. Bess and George, she surmised as she glanced at the clock on the car's dashboard, had probably just arrived back in River Heights. A sudden flash of white came into Nancy's view on her left side, and she froze, remembering something.
"Wait, Dad. Stop here a moment, just here," came Nancy's voice, sounding urgent. She reached for her phone and shot Frank a curt little nod. "I won't be long, Dad. Five minutes. If I'm not out by then, call me," she added, plunking her cell phone into her bag and zipping it up, pinching the hole at the bottom shut with her thumb and forefinger, and threw her purse over her shoulder, all the while having to hold the bottom shut so the contents of her bag wouldn't spill out, and making a beeline straight for the city's hospital. The hospital corridor of Casston, Maine, was stuffy and the air had an unpleasant undertone of bleach. The hospital hallway has as much personality as the interstate.
The dull beige tile lead onward passed identical doorways edged in a dull gray color. The walls simply grow from the floor and stretch upward to the matching ceiling. It is a place of sickness, a place to be forgotten slowly after the initial shock of admittance. After that, it's a slow slide to the morgue, sallow eyes tilted toward a sun that remains stubbornly on the wrong side of the dirty windowpane. The walls of the patient's rooms were a dark magnolia and are scraped in places from the hundreds of trolleys that have bumped into them. The pictures on the walls are cheap benign prints of uplifting scenes and above the double doors are large blue plastic signs with the areas of the hospital that lie ahead. Nancy, with Frank in tow, weaved through the crowded hallways of doctors, nurses, and visiting family members to those who were cooped up here. Finally, they found it. The door, just like all the others in the hospital, was brown and dull, but she could already see people inside.
"Well, here we are," the nurse smiled kindly and opened the door wider.
Doctors and nurses surrounded Megan Grunhild's hospital bed, attaching IV's, heart monitors to her. Nancy decided to explore the room while the other people were still crowded the young woman. An old TV set hung from the ceiling. A window giving her the view of the world below was just beneath the screen. In the corner were two chairs, frayed with wear and tear. It was a typical hospital room, sparse and functional. Nancy and Frank dragged the two spare chairs towards Megan's bedside and stared dejectedly up at the ceiling, glancing down at the thank you gift she'd thought to buy from the hospital gift shop.
It wasn't much. Just a little 8 inch stuffed brown monkey with a Get Well Soon message scrawled on its little t-shirt, and a couple of Koko Kringles Bars and some magazines for her to read, given she was to stay here for at least a week before she could be expected to be discharged, given the scope of her injuries.
Megan blearily opened her eyes and struggled to focus her gaze a few feet in front of herself. The young blonde girl had seen better days. Dark circles were still quite prominent under her eyes and she still appeared very pale, but a little tinge of pink color had returned to her cheeks, so that was something.
"When…when did you get here? You…you must be Nancy…? Eve told me you had red hair," she managed hoarsely, gesturing towards her own head of hair and then drifted her hands downwards, curling her fingers around the heated blankets one of the nurses had draped over her lap.
Nancy perked up at the noise and sat up straighter in her chair. "Not very long ago. How are you feeling?"
"Weak, but better…thank you, Nancy."
The detective felt the heat creep to her cheeks, and she brushed away Megan's compliment with a wave of her hand. "Don't thank me. It's Eve you should be thanking and…" But she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as the door to Megan's hospital room flung open, startling both Nancy and Frank, who whirled around in their seats to get a better look at the sudden newcomer and froze.
"Oh," Ned breathed. Nancy drew in a sharp intake of breath as she saw he was holding a simple bouquet of white lilies. His face reddened and his posture stiffened. "I…er…didn't realize you'd be here. I um…came to say goodbye to Megan."
To Megan?! Nancy felt her blue eyes grow wide and round, and just for a moment, the tiniest flickers of jealousy passed through Nancy, but then, remembering Frank was by her side, she breathed out a shaking breath and relaxed.
He certainly moved on fast, she thought darkly. As far as awkward situations go, Nancy thought, this was definitely by far the worst one she'd suffered through yet. "Ned," she answered, cringing a little as she realized how stiff and unwelcoming she sounded. "Is that your real reason for coming here, Ned?" She sounded desperate. She knew it. Ned knew it. Megan knew. And Frank knew it too. Nancy wished nothing more than for a hole to open up in the floor beneath her feet and swallow her whole, and not spit her back out until Ned was well and truly gone.
Frank glanced sideways at Nancy, sensing her embarrassment, and spoke up, saving her the trouble. "We were just here to visit Megan, but we can give you a minute if you need to be alone," he stated coldly, reaching for Nancy's hand, and was surprised when Ned waved away the offer, almost politely.
"No, no, i—it's fine," he stammered, setting aside the bouquet of flowers and stooping down slightly to take the gifts Nancy had brought for Megan and set them on her nearby little wooden bedside table. "Stay," he pleaded, and this was the first time Nancy realized it was directed to both of them, not just her.
"So, um…you two know each other?" Megan asked, her inquisitive gaze darting between the three of them. All three of them were looking awkward and uncomfortable around each other, and all of them had red eyes. Yes, there was some drama brewing between the three of them, but maybe she could help. Though she was no expert on relationship advice, it was the least she could do for Nancy Drew.
"Ah…you could say that," Nancy confessed, suddenly feeling sheepish as she reached up to tuck a lock of stray hair back behind her ear. "Um…Ned and I used to date, a—and now…we don't." There. She said it. A quick glance over at Ned, however, surprised her. He was, perhaps for the first time in a long time, looking rather calm and collected, and she didn't know what to make of this change.
"Oh." Megan's face fell and a crestfallen look overcame her pale sickly features.
Ned heaved a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his dark hair and fixed Frank and Nancy with an interesting stare. Nancy wasn't sure if it was jealousy or something else, but she had no time to dwell on it. "I was angry with you at first, Nan. And you, Frank," he growled, and there was no mistaking the tenseness in Frank's posture as he stiffened, bracing for a fight and fully prepared to step outside so as to give Megan the peace she needed to recover. The stress wasn't good for her…or for Nancy, for that matter. But something in Ned seemed to shift, and the look on his best friend (or probably former by the end of this little visit, depending on how things went) that gave Frank Hardy pause, and he fell silent, just waiting.
Ned's brow furrowed into a frown as he regarded Nancy and Ned in silence for a moment. The heat crept to his cheeks as he realized Megan was listening in, but he forsook the embarrassment in order to say what he really wanted to say. "I was pissed at you, Nan. For…a long time, always choosing your cases over me," he began hesitantly, and it did not escape the man's attention at how Frank drew in a sharp breath and his body straightened and stiffened in his chair, as if his body were going into a defensive stance if the need arose to protect Nancy. But he hoped it wouldn't come to that. "It wasn't right, but I couldn't help how I felt about how everything turned out. But after I—after we met in that café, a—and we fought…" Here, he swallowed hard and cringed, his gaze drifting towards the bruise underneath Frank Hardy's eye, all his doing. "S—sorry, Frank," he stammered. His face was fully red now. "I did some thinking. There's…."
He seemed to be struggling with whatever was on his mind, but as he lifted his chin to meet Nancy's gaze, he felt his resolve return to him, and a sudden shift give way. "There's no hard feelings, Nance, at least not on my part. Not anymore," he confessed at last. "I—it's taken a lot of me to ask of you what I did, to try to put me before your cases and I realize now that was completely selfish. Maybe I'm not the right one to have along on one of your adventures, and maybe that's true, but I just wish it hadn't taken me coming up here to Maine for me to realize that. If…if…Frank is the one who truly makes you happy, Nan, then…I won't stand in the way. If this is really what you want, then I shouldn't…I shouldn't…get in the way. I should let you live your own life. Without…me," he whispered, and he swallowed, seeming to blink back briny tears. "I value our friendship too much to let this be the thing that drives us all apart." Ned hesitated, and reached behind his right ear to scratch at an itch. He made a show of checking his watch as he stood to his feet, making a show of brushing the palms of his hands on his jacket. "I don't know how this will ah…affect things going forward," he began hesitantly as he made his way towards the door to leave. "But…at least as long as I'm in River Heights, I'd still like to be friends. With both of you," he emphasized, noticing the stupefied looks on both Nancy and Frank's faces. He swallowed hard, as though whatever was weighing on Ned's mind was causing a great internal conflict, and it showed by the way his hands shook. "I…"
"What's wrong, Ned?" Nancy encouraged gently, not wanting to trigger his temper even further, but if this was to be the last time in a while she would look into his eyes for a good long while, then…well… given their history, she wanted to make it count, and a quick glance over at Frank told the young detective he wouldn't' think any less of her for it or fault her for wanting to do such a thing.
For some reason, Nancy couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away from Ned.
This was it, the defining moment. Both knew, at least for a good long while, this would be the last time the two would really, truly, look at one another for a long time. Nancy swallowed hard past the lump forming in her throat, fighting tears.
"Goodbye, Ned," she whispered. Ned gave a curt nod, coughing once to fight back his own onset of tears.
"Take care of Nan, Frank. Nance. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. Megan, take care of yourself. I hope you get better soon. Call me sometime, won't you? I still owe you that breakfast, don't I? Well…I—I'd better go. Later guys, I'll see you around," he said gruffly, and abruptly turned away out of Megan's hospital room.
Nancy watched him go, and sat rooted to her chair, staring at the space where Ned had stood in the doorway only moments ago before finally tearing her gaze away from the door, quickly brushing away the last remnants of tears with a practiced flick of her finger. The detective returned her attention to Megan, who, if she wasn't mistaken about these things, and she usually wasn't, was looking sympathetic. Nancy coughed once to clear her throat and quell the frog that had formed in her throat and she tossed her red hair over her shoulders. "Well…we can't stay long," she mumbled, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as she felt Frank's gaze. "But we just…wanted to stop in and make sure you were okay before going home."
Megan nodded tiredly. "They're saying I can go home in another day or two, but they want to keep me overnight for a few days to make sure nothing else is wrong," she breathed, her fingers curling into tight fists over the heated blanket one of the nurses had draped over her lap. "It was awful," she said, shuddering.
Nancy knew this was an already sensitive subject, and she didn't want to pry and make things worse for the young woman, but her curiosity was just killing her now.
Besides, her conscience reasoned. Maybe talking it over with me will help….
"What happened?" Nancy encouraged gently, not unkindly, seeing how Megan was fumbling to reach the glass of ice water that was perched on her nightstand, immediately reached out a hand and gave it to her. "Can you tell you tell me?"
The young blonde gave a meek little nod after swallowing a few sips of water through the straw in the glass. "I did what he said, Nancy," she said in a tiny voice.
"What did he do?" she pressed, careful to mind her tone. Of course, she wanted Megan to open up and talk about it in her own way, but she also wanted the truth.
"He took me at the fair. Troy, my—my old boyfriend," here she breathed the word in just barely above a whisper and both Frank and Nancy had to strain to hear her, "I was walking down the sidewalk. Troy had already left for home after the carnival was over." Megan blushed and looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers. "Anyways, I—I did what he told me to. I ran at first, tried to fight him."
Nancy noticed how Megan's voice was weaker than normal, almost strained. She met Megan's gaze and noticed how scared her eyes looked, darting this way and that.
Almost as if she expected Baines himself to pop out from behind the hospital room's door, or out of the bathroom or closet or something. Megan stuck out her lower lip in a slight pout and continued. "I—I didn't want him taking my purse, but he had a freaking axe, Nancy, so I let him take whatever he wanted, hoping he'd go."
"Did he take anything?" Nancy asked, already knowing full well the answer. Todd didn't strike her as the type to commit burglaries. He was interested in her.
Megan shook her head. "No. I stopped fighting him, even though I wanted to keep doing it. It's my purse, not his," she whispered, casting an almost affectionate glance towards her pink Angelkiss crossbody purse which lay draped over the chair.
"What happened after you stopped resisting?" Frank urged, his hands drifting towards Nancy's lap and settling there. Megan noticed the gesture but said nothing.
"He hit me over the head with something sharp," she continued, wincing, and as if the very recollection of the memory itself had caused her head to hurt, Megan felt her hand instinctively wander of its own accord towards the back of her skull.
It hurt.
"I woke up in that old barn that he took you guys to. He—he was gone by the time I woke up a—and I don't know how I managed to get out, b—but I did. I'm glad I ran into Ned and Eve and her friend after I crashed my car. I—if they hadn't, no one would have found me, and then who knows what might have happened to me." Her lower lip quivered, and Nancy could tell she was on the verge of a breakdown. She shot a silent glance towards Frank and gave a curt nod of her head.
"Thank you for telling me what happened," Nancy said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. "You can always talk to me, Megan. You know that. Now, or later."
Megan smiled and gave a curt nod. "Thanks," she sniffed. "I'll keep that in mind." But Nancy knew by the look in the young blonde's bright blue eyes.
There wasn't going to be a next time. Megan wanted just as much as Nancy to try to forget these last four days had ever happened. They'd all been through so much. They were done here.
"I'm so sorry," Nancy soothed, reaching out a gentle hand and giving Megan a light pat on the shoulder. "No one should ever have to go through what you did."
Megan blearily lifted her chin, jutting out slightly defiantly to meet her gaze. "You did," she pointed out rather bluntly, and Nancy flinched, blushing.
"Ah…well…that's—that's not what's important right now," Nancy stammered, immediately trying to steer the conversation towards a more pleasant direction.
Nancy didn't want to talk about what had happened to her. Not for a while.
Her father had already made her an appointment with a therapist to meet with her at their house sometime early next week, Carson had painstakingly told her.
She didn't really want to go through these sessions, but if there was the slightest chance that they would help her get to the bottom of what she was feeling… well, then she would do it. Nancy heaved a heavy sigh as she noticed Frank tap his watch out of the corner of her eyes, signaling it was time for them to be on their way back home. "I'm afraid we can't stay any longer, Megan, but don't be a stranger, 'kay?"
"Write to us from time to time, and if you ever make it back to River Heights, we'd love to show you the area," offered Frank, helping Nancy to her feet as they both made to stand. Nancy let out another exhausted sigh as she grabbed for her purse, making sure to pinch the bottom of it with her thumb and forefinger to prevent the contents from spilling out. Frank noticed this movement from her and stifled back his urge to grin, opting instead to merely roll his eyes in good humor.
Nancy chanced one last glance backward over her shoulder as she hovered in the doorway of Megan's hospital room, and the ghost of a smile graced the edges of her lips. Megan was already fast asleep, the little white stuffed teddy Nancy had brought her as a Get-Well gift currently clutched in a tight vice grip in her clutches, a tiny smile on her face as her head rested against the pillow. Somehow, Nancy knew.
Megan was going to be okay. And so was she…
