Author's Note: Whew! That reveal, though! Dwayne's got the Power! XD Did any of you see it coming? I tried to hint at it a little bit by mentioning Rick Arlen once or twice and I mentioned New York a little bit, but I thought for a long time which villain from the games I wanted to bring back, and I really liked Dwayne from STD, think he's a good villain.

Also, some readers might disagree with certain character choices that I made in this last chapter, and feelings , but I am trying to be more inclusive to all* possible relationships and orientations, since this is 2020. I'll probably catch some crap for it, but since the character in question is relatively minor and not a huge role in future stories, I don't see the issue. It's called fanfic for a reason and I try not to write stuff for the ND universe that's too explicit or graphic. Mostly implied. Whatever.

Anyways, this wraps up her Silent Visitor story, and for Nancy's next adventure, she'll be dealing with another familiar face and a pack of ghost dogs!

Beast of Blood Point Summary:
Mattie Jensen is called to River Heights to star in the latest horror movie, The Beast of Blood Points Road 2. Delighted to see her old friend again, Nancy gets a job as Mattie's personal assistant on set when her old assistant quits. But weird accidents start happening on set, Mattie is attacked by one of the star's dogs, and things escalate when the star herself is kidnapped, and it's up to Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy to find her before time runs out.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nancy blinked, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing. "You," she breathed, cringing at the look of immense satisfaction in Dwayne's eyes. "B—but I thought you drowned! You're the owner?!"

She watched with that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as the former talent agent shook his head, as he no doubt he was referring to their last little encounter on Dread Isle when he'd kidnapped Bess.

Nancy guessed he'd either swam back to shore or made his getaway in a boat she didn't recognize. Nancy swallowed and watched as Dwayne dragged a trash can over and set it in the middle of the room, and with everyone's chairs facing the trash can, Nancy was reminded of a pow-wow setting, or like a group of friends who'd gathered to sit around a campfire.

"Before I light the proverbial match, do you have any questions, Drew?" Powers growled.

Anything to keep him talking till the cops get here, Nancy thought wildly, and nodded. "Were the gambling operation and the money laundering scheme all your idea, Dwayne?"

He nodded, his chest swelling and puffing out with an immense look of pride in his deranged eyes. "Give the young woman a prize. From my escape from Dread Isle, I met up with a guy who specializes in shall we say, changing identities," he smirked. "He was able to get me everything. A new name, new social security numbers, papers, employment history, you name it. I was able to buy this place and save it from the brink of bankruptcy. Thanks to my new identity and credentials, no one suspected a thing. Dwayne Powers for all intents and purposes, is dead and drowned," he snarled through gritted teeth. "I needed a new life for myself," he spat, venom in his words. "One that Mattie could learn to respect, in time. And...I could make her see that she should be with me, not that blind bloody fool Rick Arlen," Dwayne breathed, his eyes becoming wild and unhinged, his tuff of dark hair disheveled.

Frank frowned, exchanging a quick glance with Nancy. She was terrified. "How did you do it?" he snarled.

Dwayne Powers grinned. "I made a few friends when I moved back to New York who wanted to expand their business, and I came up with the perfect location, and I bought this place," he said proudly, gesturing towards the café. "It was the perfect front for my plan. All I had to do was make up extra guest checks to show a bigger profit and a fake receipt for the shipping supply company every month," he breathed, still twirling the gun in his hands, clutching the accounting ledger underneath his arm. Dwayne smirked at John, who was looking pissed. "And you. You never even noticed it when I slipped in the fake receipts with the others. You're a fool, Johnny."

Nancy frowned. "So then, those other initials are your partners?" she snapped hotly.

"Very good, Detective Drew. You might be a nosy little bitch who can't learn to keep her mouth shut, but you are a smart girl, I'll give you that. Craig and Max are my main players in this little business venture and have done the most grunt work, so it's only natural they get a cut of it," he complimented, though coming from an old enemy, it felt way more like an insult to Nancy more than anything else. "Everything was perfect…until that asshole Jerry Goldin started poking his nose where it didn't belong," he sighed, sounding almost disappointed with the café's assistant manager.

"So that's why you framed him!" John shouted, the pieces all connecting in his mind as his brain absorbed the information as Powers spouted it out. "You—you low down, dirty son of a bi—"

Dwayne irritably waved away John's insults with a brush of his hand. "Yes, yes, I'm a brute. I know. Framing him is where my good old friend Craig Masterson came into play. He opened up an account in Jerry's name and was the one to purchase all the supplies needed with Jerry's company issued credit card, so he'd take the fall when the evidence pointed to him," he explained, sounding thoroughly pleased with himself, much to Frank and Nancy's disgust.

The former New York City talent agent was obviously tremendously pleased with himself as he continued his pacing.

"You wrote me those notes and had Nick deliver them so if I found out it was him, he would take the fall. And...the driver of the white van?" Nancy asked.

Dwayne shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, yes. Max did feel bad about almost having to kill you. Says he hates to ruin a beautiful face like yours but he prefers his women silent," he hissed threateningly.

So engrossed in his explanation was he that Nancy realized Powers hadn't noticed Frank had quietly gotten up from his chair and was slowly inching his way from the corner of the office towards where Dwayne stood facing Nancy and Johnny next to the trash can he had set in the middle of the room.

If they could just keep him talking…

Then Frank can make a grab for the gun and we can call the cops! Nancy realized.

Dwayne continued, totally oblivious to Frank's movements. Nancy swallowed hard and forced her gaze to remain fixated on Powers, hoping her eyes didn't betray her and give Frank away.

"You see, all of this was very well thought out. I knew Jerry didn't strike me as the kind of guy who could be bought out, so I framed him. And somehow, I just knew that would get your attention, you little bitch," he snarled. "You always were the type to help out a friend. I knew you would come to Jerry's rescue. What better way to get back at the little teenage girl who ruined my life for the last couple of years than to pull this off?" he shouted.

Nancy bit her bottom lip in a slight pout and continued. "You—you won't get away with this," she snapped, her gaze flitting towards Frank and then back to Dwayne, refusing to let her gaze linger on her boyfriend. "You left a trail of evidence, Dwayne. You're finished."

He smirked, the corners of his mouth turning upwards in a wicked sneer. "This," he growled, shifting the accounting book under his arm, "is the only evidence against me. And once I burn it, it will be reduced to a pile of ashes, and I'll walk away a free man, Miss Drew. And then...I'll pay a visit to our old friend, Mattie," he growled, and Nancy shivered.

The rage, entitlement, and justification in his voice was cold.

As Dwayne Powers pulled his lighter from an inside pocket of his jacket, Nancy drew in a sharp breath and held it, catching Frank's eye, who gave her the slightest of nods.

John had gotten up slowly from his seat too and was flanking the other side of Powers to give the younger teen a chance at grabbing the gun out of Powers' hand before he could fire it.

Frank made the first move, lunging his entire body weight towards Dwayne and wrestling the gun from his outstretched hand. A split second later Nancy lashed out with a kick of her foot that sent the gun sprawling to the ground.

Dwayne let out a guttural growl from the back of his throat and dove for gun, but John tackled him from behind, sending the gun sprawling across the room, where it rested at Alex's feet.

The dishwasher didn't hesitate to pick it up and aim it, rather shakily so, at Dwayne's head, as it took both Frank and John to wrestle Powers to his feet and force him into the chair that John had just occupied only moments ago.

A tiny squeak of fear coming from the direction of the doorway alerted Nancy that they weren't alone.

Glancing up, letting out a sigh of relief, she could not help but smile as Callie and Deidre stood in the doorway, their jaws dropped open in shock, Callie's knuckles halfway raised to the frame of the door as she had knocked. Deirdre had one hand on Callie's arm was trying desperately to pull her friend away.

"I—I don't…what's going on?" Callie squeaked, her gaze flitting from Powers now currently being held captive in the chair, to John, and finally, her gaze rested on Nancy. "We...heard the noise from downstairs."

Nancy exchanged a quick glance with Frank and turned back to the two girls and gave them the thumbs up.

"Callie," she grinned, turning back towards Dwayne, who scowled, and flipped Nancy the bird and called her a name under his breath that she didn't dare repeat, "call the police, please. And then call the prison. Tell them to release Jerry Goldin."

Three Days Later

"Are you sure you're okay, Nancy?" Soap opera star Mattie Jensen's concerned voice rang in Nancy's eardrums as she held her cell phone up to her ear. "I...I am so sorry, I'd never in my life ever thought Dwayne capable of this," she wailed, sounding utterly distraught. "He could have killed you, Nancy!"

Nancy rolled her eyes and bit her bottom lip. "But he didn't, and he's in jail now, again, so everything is fine. Mattie, one more time. I'm fine. I'm just glad Dwayne is back behind bars where he belongs, and hopefully, this time he'll stay that way. So..." Nancy glanced towards Bess and shot her a thumbs up. "When are you coming out to River Heights? There's rumors floating around that Lillian Weiss is directing the second Hell Hounds of Blood Points Road movie close to River Heights and wants to scout out locations, and that you might be a shoe-in for one of the lead rolls. It's just a rumor, of course," she joked.

There was a beat. A pause. "Where did you hear that?" Mattie demanded defensively, and then sighed and let out a low chuckle. "Never mind where you heard it, but...off the record? Yes. Lillian's the director and she planned to fly me out to River Heights in a couple of weeks, mid August I think. She wants to start shooting in late September or early October to give it that 'Halloween chic' vibe, she says. Her words, not mine. I'd love to meet up for coffee while I'm in town. Know a good spot?"

Nancy smiled as she caught sight of John chatting animatedly with another party-goer as he instructed them where to put the bag of chips they'd brought.

"Oh...I know a good place. I'll see you then, Mattie. Really looking forward to it. Only, please...this time, don't cast me as an extra. Who knows what might happen," Nancy joked.

"Very well, but...I might have a job for you anyways," Mattie breathed, and she sounded kind of keyed up, excited. "Top secret. Can't discuss with you over the phone and I'm not even sure you'll say yes, so I'd prefer to ask when I see you. I'll see you in a few weeks, Nancy."

Hearing Mattie Jensen's light-hearted laughter lifted Nancy's spirits greatly as she ended the call and slipped her phone back into her new Scarleton dark brown leather purse underneath the refreshments table.

She fell silent and listened to the chit chat around her. "It's hard to believe that Dwayne, Craig, Max, and Charlie, might all be sharing the same cells," George commented in a content tone as they lingered near the refreshment table against one of the walls of Café Atlantica.

She, Nancy, and Frank were helping to set up a wide assortment of chips and sodas, Bess at the other end of the table monitoring the set up of the desserts for Callie's birthday party.

"I guess it'll be up to the judge to decide what to do with Powers and the others," Nancy sighed, brushing her hair off her shoulders. "Though you ask me, I think a life sentence in prison is much too easy," she growled. "Those guys are getting off light. What if he escapes again and tries to go after Mattie Jensen again or something?" Nancy protested. "He had a thing for her, once, didn't he?" she asked, raising her voice, and looking towards Bess.

"Then she'll have you and me on the case and we'll catch him again, Detective Drew," complemented Frank, from behind her, as he came up behind Nancy and snaked his arms around her waist, looking effortlessly put together in a pair of khakis and a black sweater.

Nancy gave a curt nod and glanced down at her celebratory outfit. Nothing too special.

A dress of Bess's that she had borrowed. A knee-length mauve brown and black polka dotted dress with short sleeves from Modcloth with a big black bow around the waist and a pair of black ballet flats.

The brown highlighted Nancy's red hair, which Hannah had curled into loose ringlets and expertly weaved a waterfall braid into the back of her hair, fastening it with a cute clip.

She glanced up at Frank and felt the heat speckle along her cheeks as her boyfriend assessed her slim figure in her new dress, as she always tended to whenever he looked at her that way.

"What?" she teased, playfully biting her bottom lip, careful to mind her lip gloss. "Why are you looking at me like that, Frank?" She bit down on her lip even harder and fell silent.

"Because," Frank responded without so much as missing a beat, wrapping one hand around her waist, the other toying with a lock of her hair. "You're the most beautiful thing I know."

The blush on her cheeks deepened further, and she didn't have a chance to open her mouth to speak as Frank gently pressed his lips against hers for a brief but passionate kiss. "Hold out your hand," he whispered into the shell of her ear as he pulled apart. "And close your eyes, Nancy Drew…"

Puzzled, Nancy did as her boyfriend asked, and inhaled sharply as she felt her fingers curl over something familiar, the pads of her fingertips grazing the house key she had slipped into Frank's pocket that night he had stayed over in her new apartment. She felt her eyes flew open.

"I—I can explain," she began hastily, unable to stop the crushing feeling of disappointment as Frank curled her fingers over the key tightly. "I—if it's too soon o—or if you don't want to…" But he didn't let her finish as Frank put his finger to Nancy's lips.

A mischievous grin tugging on the corners of his lips, he rummaged in the pocket of his khakis and he pulled out his car keys, fumbling through the different keys until he found the one that he was looking for.

"I already have my own," he smiled kindly, chuckling a little at the stupefied expression on Nancy's face. "I sort of found it in my jacket pocket the day of Ned's party," he explained quickly, "after I drove you home. I kind of…went to Walmart and had my own made," he said, turning it over in his palm so she could examine it closer.

Their initials were carved into Frank's copy of Nancy's apartment keys, in the shape of a heart. Touched, Nancy smiled and quickly pocketed the original key she had given him back in her purse.

"So…" she began, not bothering to disguise the note of hope in her voice.

"Yes, Nan," he said silkily, whispering it into her ear and clapping her on the shoulder. "I would love to move in with you. And…there's something else, sweetheart," he urged.

Nancy knitted her brows together in confusion. "What is it?" she asked, suddenly excited.

He grinned, and Nancy felt her heart flutter against her chest. "You're gonna have to close your eyes for this next one, too," he laughed, and rolled his eyes as Nancy stuck out her tongue at him. "Hold out your hand. No, not that one. Your other hand," he instructed kindly.

Nancy did as she was told, and felt Frank's hand clasp over hers one more time, and she opened her eyes when he could her she could, and she let out a tiny gasp as she uncurled her fist and found a simple small rose gold ring with a tiny pearl.

She felt her blue eyes go wide and round with shock and her face drain of color as she held the little piece of jewelry in her palm.

"Wh—what is this, Hardy?" she asked, feeling like her throat was suddenly dry. "Frank?"

Frank relaxed into a smile, rolling his eyes, and shaking his head at the look of shock on his girlfriend's face. "Relax, Drew," he soothed, taking her left hand in his and quietly slipping the little ring on her finger. "I'm not proposing. Yet," he joked, though Nancy knew that tone.

He was serious. His smile faltered at the look of astonishment on Nancy's face as she lifted her shaking hand up a bit to study the ring.

Frank noticed her admiring it and smiled. "Bess and Hannah sort of…helped me pick it out yesterday," he admitted, suddenly sounding sheepish as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "C'mon Nan, don't be like this," he pleaded, noticing how her blue eyes grew wide and round, and her face remained utterly impassive. "I-it's not an engagement ring or anything like that. I spent like fifty bucks on it at the Kay's in the mall, it's not that expensive," Frank confessed, reaching up a hand to scratch at an itch behind his ear. "Bess and Hannah met me for dinner yesterday while I was waiting to pick you up from the end of your shift, and…well, I—I didn't know what you'd like, a-and we've talked about our future, and think of this ring as a promise, Nancy Drew," he urged, and suddenly his voice sounded quite desperate. "I know we're still young, and I don't have plans to marry you yet till we're a little bit older in a couple more years, in our twenties, but…"

Frank paused and looked away, seeming to need a minute to compose himself. "When Dwayne Powers had that gun to your head and I was faced with the idea that I might lose you forever, and all it would take was one bullet to end your life, it might made me realize that there was something I'd regret more than anything else in the world and that's me not telling you the truth about my feelings for you, and I just…didn't want to wait," he finished, biting his lip in a fit of anxiety. "I thought I could be happy just knowing you were in the world, even if we didn't stay together, but three days ago, in this very building, I learned that that isn't true. I want you by my side."

When Nancy didn't immediately respond, still studying the ring that was displayed proudly on her left finger, she could practically see Frank break out into a cold sweat.

"Say something," he pleaded, reaching for her right hand, and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Please."

Frank drew in a sharp breath that pained his lungs as he watched Nancy slowly lift her chin and raised her head to meet Frank's gaze, and he exhaled a deep sigh of relief as she smiled.

He loved to see his girlfriend smile. The way her lips lifted upwards. The way her one dimple crinkled. The way her white teeth were perfectly aligned. The warm glow her infectious happiness gave off. It was perfect, and if he had his way, she'd smile all the time.

"It's perfect, Frank," she whispered, leaning into his chest, and wrapping her arms around his middle, having to stand up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the lips. "Thank you, Frank." She opened her mouth to speak further but was interrupted by the sound of cheering.

Bess, Katie, George, and Nick, who Nancy was pleased to see was going to make a full recovery, and was looking much better than when the cops had picked him up to take him to the hospital as Jerry Goldin entered the room with John and Callie on either side of him.

He was looking much healthier now that he had been released from prison, Nancy was pleased to see. There was color in his cheeks, which had started filling out a little, no longer looking gaunt and sunken in, and he was smiling, which made him look happier and years younger than Nancy had remembered seeing.

He gratefully accepted a drink from his sister and hugged her before laying eyes on Nancy and Frank. He clinked his glass with his spoon, and the entire room fell silent.

"I—I'd like to make a toast. I'd like to thank everyone for believing in me while I was…away," he began, and he flinched only once, but fought back the unpleasant memory. "John, Callie, Alex…but most especially, to Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy. Without whom, I would not be here. So…thank you," he said, never once removing his gaze from Nancy and Frank as he and everyone else in the party room raised their glasses.

His piece said, he offered a shy smile as everyone moved towards the tables of food to help themselves to food. Nancy chuckled as she saw Frank hungrily eyeing the chips and brownies.

"Save me some," she encouraged, giving his shoulder a light squeeze as she noticed someone she wanted to talk to.

Deidre Shannon stood in a corner by herself, a cup of punch and a plate of food in her hands, but she wasn't eating.

She was looking kind of miserable, and Nancy had a feeling that she was hiding something. Nancy liked to think she could guess what it was, but still, she wanted to hear it for herself.

Nancy caught Deidre eyeing Callie, who was, even Nancy had to admit, looking cute and well put together in a cute pink dress and wearing those same expensive earrings that she'd worn on the day of Ned's pool party, her dark brown hair loose and curled.

"Hey, Deidre," Nancy spoke up softly so as to not startle her. "You have a minute to talk?"

Deidre startled, jolted out of whatever she was thinking about, and looked around, and once she saw who had spoken, the weird little smile she'd had on her face instantly evaporated.

"Nancy," Deidre said stiffly in response, her back leaning against the wall as she set down her foot and drink on the nearby little round table next to her. "This is a party for Callie's birthday and Jerry's release, but for you, I've got all the time in the world," she said irately. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I just wanted to say thank you and Callie for your help. I couldn't have done it without you guys," Nancy offered kindly, though her intuition was buzzing like a hive of bees as she noticed Shannon's gaze following Callie as she made her rounds, saying thank you to the well-wishers who were happily wishing Shaw a happy birthday. "And…to ask you a question."

Shannon scowled, furrowing her dark brows into a frown, but nodded her head. "Shoot. Hit me."

"Did you give Shaw those earrings?" she asked, her smile widening as her gaze drifted towards Deidre's own ears and saw a similar style in her lobes, pure diamonds and exquisite. "They were a gift, right?"

Deidre's face flushed a bright pink and for a moment, she looked angry, but nodded. "I did. Callie's my…friend, a—and they were an early birthday present," she explained quickly. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "Look, Drew. I know where you're going with this, and you have to swear to me…that you won't tell anyone."

Nancy blinked, momentarily taken aback, but quickly nodded, shoving a chip into her mouth to distract herself. She drew in a breath that pained her lungs as Deidre continued.

"Look. She—she's my best friend, but…at a distance, I guess," she sighed, a pained look in her eyes. "I know I've been kind of a huge bitch to you, Drew, over the years, and I know you don't deserve it. I...I don't hate you, despite what you might think. You've always seemed to have it all. And I was jealous. Still am, in a lot of ways, I guess. I know that doesn't excuse my behavior. Maybe..." Deidre bit her lip and continued. "Maybe I can try to do better. Be a...a friend. And Callie…she doesn't even know me, not really. Like really know me, but…if she did know me, the real me…I don't think…she'd even want to be my friend, and we're going to the Uni of Southern Illinois for school in the fall as roomies, so..." Her voice trailed off and crackled a little bit.

Nancy leaned against the wall next to Deidre and folded her arms across her chest, following Deidre's gaze as Callie got in line for the refreshments, talking animatedly to Frank and Joe. Once it might have bothered her, but over the last few days with everything that happened, and if the evidence of the promise ring Frank had just given her wasn't enough proof of Frank's unwavering loyalty to her, right now, Nancy found it did not bother her at all.

"It's shocked me to my core," Deidre sighed, tucking a lock of her black chin-length bob behind her ear, and readjusting her flower clip. "All of the stuff that's happened over the last couple of days. I was jealous of Frank, you know, for a long time," she confessed, her tone sounding pained.

This was a surprise. Nancy perked up at the admission and turned her head to regard her.

"I'm not like your friends, Drew, and I'm definitely not like anybody else in town."

"Maybe that's exactly why she likes you so much," Nancy offered, momentarily surprised at the encouragement in her voice. "But why give her such expensive earrings as a birthday gift? Those earrings cost way more than any of us make at our summer jobs, so…why give them to her?"

Deidre stomped her foot in a moment of frustration. "It's because…I wanted her to look at me. But…at the pool party, she couldn't pull her eyes away from Frank and his good looks, a—and I didn't understand because when they were dating, he asked her dumb questions, and he was kind of a douchebag to her, and he didn't even like her, we could all see it, and… I would go home, and just scream into my pillow because it was so unfair," she pouted, biting her lip.

Nancy blinked. "But…Callie's a girl, Shannon," she thought, wondering where she was going with this, why Deidre was telling her all of this stuff.

Deidre rolled her eyes in frustration. "Nancy…" she whispered; her voice barely audible.

"Yeah?" Nancy asked, feeling a little nervous. Deidre bit down on her lip even harder and wiggled her brows at Nancy, still keeping her arms folded across her chest as she waited for the detective to catch on. "Oh. Oh," Nancy breathed as it finally hit her, the realization of Deidre's situation, and just what it was exactly that she was confessing. "Wow. Holy shit," she swore, grateful Frank didn't hear her curse.

"Yeah." Her voice was soft, timid. Deidre huffed in immense disappointment and sadness, rolling her eyes. "Holy shit." She turned her head away from Nancy and resumed watching her best friend make the rounds, who caught her gaze and smiled at her, waving Deidre over. "So, I guess this is it, then…"

This was the moment when Nancy realized she had misinterpreted Deidre Shannon's actions, hostility, and her words and even to a lesser extent, her expressions for so many years.

As if Shannon had been speaking a language she couldn't understand, that moment that Nancy's words stopped as she wracked her brain, trying to think back on all her (rather unpleasant) encounters with Deidre, her incessant flirting with Ned that would come on way too strong,why she seemed to flit through guys like Kleenex, never really showing an interest in any of them that she dated, her forced smiles, the growing jealousy and possessiveness over her best friend.

All of it was more about her hiding a truth from herself that she did not seem to want to face, and perhaps, that a lot of folks in River Heights, maybe even her parents, wouldn't understand.

"Your parents?" she asked softly, careful to keep her voice low. Nancy wasn't at all surprised when Deidre sadly shook her head.

"They…don't know," she admitted, a pained look in her eyes. "It would kill them if they ever found out the truth. I would be disowned. They'd kick me out and tell me never to come back. You know our little Midwestern town has a bunch of trolls in it," she growled, blinking back tears, picking up her drink cup and taking a sip of her fruit punch. "Something tells me they wouldn't react kindly to the…to the truth," she sighed. "A—and Callie and I have such a good friendship," she admitted. "I—I'd hate to ruin what we have with….me. So...I can't tell her," she whispered, her voice cracking and Deidre sounded on the verge of tears.

The self-loathing in her voice was almost too much for Nancy to bear, and the amateur sleuth found she could sympathize with Shannon and understood now why she had maintained such a horrible attitude all those years. Because she didn't want anyone in River Heights to find out the truth.

But still, it didn't seem fair that Deidre should have to suffer while everyone else got to be with whoever they wanted to be. Nancy noticed Deidre looking at the detective with a look of longing.

"Have you thought about telling her truth?" Nancy encouraged softly. "You never know what she might say. Hey, for all you know, Shaw might surprise you, Deidre…"

Deidre's sudden look of panic as the color drained from her face was too much. "I—I can't," she moaned, chucking her plate into the trash, and fiddling with her necklace.

Nancy sighed, grabbing her plate, and motioning for Deidre to follow her for refills at the refreshment table. "You'll never know what she says unless you ask her, Shannon."

Deidre was silent for a long time, biting her lip and constantly weaving her fingers in between her knuckles. She drew out a long, slightly shaking exhale and her shoulders slumped.

"Y—you're right. It's worth a try," she whispered, standing up straighter, raking her fingers through her sleek black bob and straightening her light sky blue dress.

She turned back around, and Nancy was pleased to see she was looking a little more confident as she took a step towards her best friend, and quite possibly, finding her courage and resolve along the way.

"Hey, Nancy?" she added, her tone sounding hopeful. "Thanks." But then, just as the brief smile crossed her pretty features, it vanished. "But if you tell anyone else, Drew…"

Nancy chuckled and raised her hand in mock defense as she moved to stand in the food line behind Frank. "Don't worry, Deidre. I won't tell anyone," she promised. "Cross my heart."

Frank exchanged a puzzled look with Nancy as he watched Deidre saunter off towards where Callie stood off to the side, chatting away with John and Alex, though he didn't question it as he watched his girlfriend shrug her shoulders.

"Did you hear John plans to buy out the restaurant and take over as the owner? He was telling Bess he's thinking of taking out a loan." He grinned as he felt Nancy lean into his chest from behind and let out a content sigh.

Nancy let out a giggle as she watched as Nick wrenched himself off Bess's arm and walk over to the two of them.

He didn't 'speak' to them, just nodded and smiled. He didn't need his paper and pen. It was in his eyes. Thank you. For everything. Nick smiled and turned away as Bess was calling him back.

Frank chuckled. "They make an odd pair, don't they?" Frank asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Nancy shrugged her shoulders. "Mmm. I think it's kind of cute. There's someone for everyone, and who knows? Maybe Bess will make it past date three with him," Nancy joked and remembered Frank's news about John taking over.

"That's great!" Nancy said warmly. "I know he'll be a great owner. He cares about his employees."

She smiled as she felt Frank lean down and rest his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing gently.

"Now what, Frank? We freed Jerry. I don't technically have to work here anymore," she commented, lifting her hand again to study the beautiful rose gold promise ring Frank had picked out for her, and she smiled as she saw Bess and George curiously eyeing the couple from across the room and give a thumbs up.

She smiled as he leaned in even closer and whispered into the shell of her ear. "Now, Miss Nancy Drew," he promised. "You and I are set for a vacation, aren't we? I promised to take you somewhere nice with a beach. I think we deserve it, given everything that's happened. Take a break. Where do you want to go, Nance?"

Nancy blinked, surprised by this news, but quickly shoved it off and relaxed into a smile. She twisted slightly in his embrace and had to crane her neck up to look at Frank. "As long as I get to go with you, Frank? I don't care when it is or where it is," she replied, only half-teasing.

Frank nodded. "Next weekend, then. Mark your calendar, Nan," he grinned, leaning down and she smiled as his lips met hers for a gentle, warm kiss.