Frank took Nancy's keys and headed back to her apartment. Just as a
precaution, Nancy had called ahead to her apartment manger to let them know
that Frank was allowed access. He hoped that the Chicago Police weren't
still investigating the crime scene. He wasn't sure if flashing his NYPD
badge would do him any good in Chicago. Plus, he wanted a chance to snoop
around for himself, without anyone else getting in his way.
Reaching Nancy's floor he was glad to see that the police were no where to be found. However, the yellow police tape in an x mark across the door was a garish reminder of what had happened. Tearing off the tape, Frank let himself into the apartment with Nancy's keys.
The apartment was a disaster. Everything was in shambles. It seemed that whoever had been inside had left nothing untouched. Frank glanced around, his trained eye looking for anything out of the ordinary, but it was hard to see anything in the chaos. Frank noticed patches of black powder along different surfaces, but he would bet anything that the only fingerprints to be found would belong to Ned, Nancy, and himself.
Stepping over the broken items on the floor, Frank headed towards the second bedroom that the couple used as an office. This room, too was in complete disarray. When Frank saw the desk in the corner, he hoped that the intruder hadn't found what he was looking for. Drawers were emptied on to the floor and papers were everywhere.
With a sigh, he walked over to the desk and studied it closely. He found the empty space where a drawer should have been, that Nancy had said housed the secret compartment. Frank found several drawers strewn about on the floor and started picking them up. With each one, he tapped gently on the underside, to disengage the false bottom. He finally found success with the fourth drawer he picked up.
Opening the compartment Frank pulled out the contents. 'Birth certificates, passports, Insurance policy, bond certificates, stock certificates,' he mumbled as he leafed through the papers. Suddenly, a CD fell out of from between the pages of the stock certificates.
Frank smiled to himself as he picked the CD up off the floor. This was the only unusual item in the drawer, and it wasn't labeled. "Gotcha."
Frank looked around the room and was disappointed to find that the computer was also strewn in pieces across the floor. 'Thank God for laptops,' Frank thought to himself as he remembered his was still sitting in the front seat of his rental car.
He stuffed the CD into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and quickly made his way back through the apartment to the front door. Taking one last look at the mess, he shook his head in sadness and walked out the door.
In the garage Frank located his rental car and quickly climbed inside. He pulled the laptop out of it's case and powered it on. He reached for the CD and once the computer was up and running he put the CD in the drive.
Frank reached for his cell phone to call Nancy. When her cell phone went to voice mail, he cursed as he remembered that cell phones were not allowed on inside of hospitals. He decided to leave her a message anyway, just in case she stepped outside to check her messages.
"Hey, Nan - it's me," Frank said as he typed into the computer. "I'm leaving your apartment now. I found a CD that wasn't labeled and I'm the car copying all the information on to my laptop. I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm sure it holds the secret to whatever the hell is going on here. I'll see you in a few." With that he snapped his cell phone shut and a few quick keystrokes later, Frank had copied the entire CD on to his hard drive. Saving the information in an encrypted code, he retrieved the CD and put it back in his pocket. He turned off the computer and put it back inside his carrying case.
As a safety precaution, Frank opened the glove compartment and took out his service revolver. Slipping the holstered gun into the waistband of his khakis, he climbed out of the car. As he walked to where he had parked Nancy's car, he thought he heard a noise behind him. Stiffening at the slight sound, his hand went immediately to the gun on his side, and he whirled around. Before Frank could draw his firearm, a masked man hit him over the top of his head with a baseball bat. The world faded into blackness as Frank slid to the ground and into unconsciousness.
Nancy had just finished making one of the hardest calls of her life. She had just hung up the phone with Ned's very distraught parents. She had thought it best that she be the one to break the news to his family. A sobbing Mrs. Nickerson had handed the phone off to her husband to get the details and he had calmly informed Nancy that they would be there as soon as they could. Nancy had only told them of the shooting. She thought it best to not further bother them with the messy details of their break up. They had enough to worry about without adding insult to injury.
Ned had been in surgery for two hours now and Nancy was practically climbing the walls. No one had been out to update her on his condition and she was starting to fear that he wasn't going to make it. Her heart pounded in fear that she might have been right in thinking that Ned might die thinking that she hated him.
Even though she had kicked him out the night before, Nancy didn't hate Ned. Granted, she hated how he hurt her, but she didn't hate him. She couldn't just make six years of loving him disappear over night. In fact, she was downright frightened at the prospect of him dying on the operating table.
Adding to her worry, was the fact that Frank still hadn't made it back from searching her apartment. "Where is he?" Nancy mumbled as she paced back in forth in the tiny ER waiting room. Glancing at her watch, Nancy swore under her breath. "He should've been back by now." The stress of the last two days were starting to take their toll on Nancy, and her emotions were in overdrive.
"Nancy?" Amy asked quietly as she watched Nancy pace back and forth.
Nancy looked over at the brunette with curiosity. "What?"
"I... I just want to say that I'm sorry," she said, wringing her hands together. "I promise you that I didn't know that you two were together."
Nancy closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat as she listened to Amy's apology, but she didn't respond immediately. After a long uncomfortable silence, she finally replied. "I believe you. I don't know why - but I do."
Just then a doctor appeared in the waiting room. He glanced at his chart and looked towards the girls. "Nancy Drew?" He asked.
"That's me," Nancy said stepping forward to greet the doctor.
The older man shook Nancy's hand and introduced himself, "Dr. Siebel."
"How is he?" Nancy asked shaking the doctor's hand.
The doctor sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you, Nancy. It was a rough surgery. We extracted two bullets that passed within millimeters of both his heart and his lungs. Mr. Nickerson lost a lot of blood, but we did manage to repair the damage that was inflicted."
Nancy gulped at the doctor's news. "Is he going to make it?"
"I hope so," Dr. Siebel answered. "But, I can't make any promises. The next 24 to 48 hours are extremely critical. But, he looks to be an otherwise healthy young man, so hopefully that should work in his favor."
"Can I see him?" Nancy asked hopefully.
"He's being transferred to a bed in ICU at the moment. You can visit with him briefly when they have him settled. But, he probably won't wake up until sometime tomorrow morning. We have him pretty heavily sedated in order for his body to start the healing process."
"Thank you," Nancy said, shaking the doctor's hand once more.
He smiled gently at the worried young lady in front of him. "I'll have one of the nurses come and get you as soon as he's settled," he promised.
"Thank you," Nancy repeated. As the doctor disappeared behind the doors to the emergency corridor, Nancy suddenly felt like she was losing control.
"Excuse me," Nancy said brushing past Amy, who had been listening to the doctor's news. "I need to get some air." She grabbed her purse off the chair and headed towards the automatic doors.
Anger, worry, and a myriad of other emotions consumed Nancy as she stepped out into the crisp air. She took several calming breaths and then reached for her cell phone. "Dammit, Frank - where are you?" she said to herself as she powered the phone on.
Her phone chirped and alerted her that she had voice mail. Nancy sighed in relief as she pressed the button to retrieve the messages.
"You have two new messages," the automated voice greeted her.
"Thank God," Nancy said to herself. She pressed the code to listen to the first message. Relief flooded Nancy to the core as she heard Frank's voice over the line. After listening to his message about finding the CD, Nancy pressed the delete key. 'He probably just caught up in rush hour traffic,' Nancy thought.
She entered the code once more to hear the second message. Fear coursed through her veins as she heard a threatening voice warn ominously, "Quit snooping around. One boyfriend down, one to go. And if you're not careful, you'll be next."
Nancy's heart skipped a beat as she listened to the message. Thinking quickly, she saved the message and then proceeded to check her call log. Maybe, just maybe, the guy had slipped up and Nancy could get a number on him. She scrolled through the list and found that both the calls had originated from Frank's cell phone.
"Damnit!" Nancy cursed. She knew that whoever had left her a message, had somehow gotten a hold of Frank. On a whim, Nancy tried calling Frank's cell phone, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to reach him. When it went straight to voice mail, Nancy slammed her phone shut.
AN: I know it seems kind of slow going but, is anyone still with me here? Let me know what you think. Good, bad, bird cage liner????
Reaching Nancy's floor he was glad to see that the police were no where to be found. However, the yellow police tape in an x mark across the door was a garish reminder of what had happened. Tearing off the tape, Frank let himself into the apartment with Nancy's keys.
The apartment was a disaster. Everything was in shambles. It seemed that whoever had been inside had left nothing untouched. Frank glanced around, his trained eye looking for anything out of the ordinary, but it was hard to see anything in the chaos. Frank noticed patches of black powder along different surfaces, but he would bet anything that the only fingerprints to be found would belong to Ned, Nancy, and himself.
Stepping over the broken items on the floor, Frank headed towards the second bedroom that the couple used as an office. This room, too was in complete disarray. When Frank saw the desk in the corner, he hoped that the intruder hadn't found what he was looking for. Drawers were emptied on to the floor and papers were everywhere.
With a sigh, he walked over to the desk and studied it closely. He found the empty space where a drawer should have been, that Nancy had said housed the secret compartment. Frank found several drawers strewn about on the floor and started picking them up. With each one, he tapped gently on the underside, to disengage the false bottom. He finally found success with the fourth drawer he picked up.
Opening the compartment Frank pulled out the contents. 'Birth certificates, passports, Insurance policy, bond certificates, stock certificates,' he mumbled as he leafed through the papers. Suddenly, a CD fell out of from between the pages of the stock certificates.
Frank smiled to himself as he picked the CD up off the floor. This was the only unusual item in the drawer, and it wasn't labeled. "Gotcha."
Frank looked around the room and was disappointed to find that the computer was also strewn in pieces across the floor. 'Thank God for laptops,' Frank thought to himself as he remembered his was still sitting in the front seat of his rental car.
He stuffed the CD into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and quickly made his way back through the apartment to the front door. Taking one last look at the mess, he shook his head in sadness and walked out the door.
In the garage Frank located his rental car and quickly climbed inside. He pulled the laptop out of it's case and powered it on. He reached for the CD and once the computer was up and running he put the CD in the drive.
Frank reached for his cell phone to call Nancy. When her cell phone went to voice mail, he cursed as he remembered that cell phones were not allowed on inside of hospitals. He decided to leave her a message anyway, just in case she stepped outside to check her messages.
"Hey, Nan - it's me," Frank said as he typed into the computer. "I'm leaving your apartment now. I found a CD that wasn't labeled and I'm the car copying all the information on to my laptop. I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm sure it holds the secret to whatever the hell is going on here. I'll see you in a few." With that he snapped his cell phone shut and a few quick keystrokes later, Frank had copied the entire CD on to his hard drive. Saving the information in an encrypted code, he retrieved the CD and put it back in his pocket. He turned off the computer and put it back inside his carrying case.
As a safety precaution, Frank opened the glove compartment and took out his service revolver. Slipping the holstered gun into the waistband of his khakis, he climbed out of the car. As he walked to where he had parked Nancy's car, he thought he heard a noise behind him. Stiffening at the slight sound, his hand went immediately to the gun on his side, and he whirled around. Before Frank could draw his firearm, a masked man hit him over the top of his head with a baseball bat. The world faded into blackness as Frank slid to the ground and into unconsciousness.
Nancy had just finished making one of the hardest calls of her life. She had just hung up the phone with Ned's very distraught parents. She had thought it best that she be the one to break the news to his family. A sobbing Mrs. Nickerson had handed the phone off to her husband to get the details and he had calmly informed Nancy that they would be there as soon as they could. Nancy had only told them of the shooting. She thought it best to not further bother them with the messy details of their break up. They had enough to worry about without adding insult to injury.
Ned had been in surgery for two hours now and Nancy was practically climbing the walls. No one had been out to update her on his condition and she was starting to fear that he wasn't going to make it. Her heart pounded in fear that she might have been right in thinking that Ned might die thinking that she hated him.
Even though she had kicked him out the night before, Nancy didn't hate Ned. Granted, she hated how he hurt her, but she didn't hate him. She couldn't just make six years of loving him disappear over night. In fact, she was downright frightened at the prospect of him dying on the operating table.
Adding to her worry, was the fact that Frank still hadn't made it back from searching her apartment. "Where is he?" Nancy mumbled as she paced back in forth in the tiny ER waiting room. Glancing at her watch, Nancy swore under her breath. "He should've been back by now." The stress of the last two days were starting to take their toll on Nancy, and her emotions were in overdrive.
"Nancy?" Amy asked quietly as she watched Nancy pace back and forth.
Nancy looked over at the brunette with curiosity. "What?"
"I... I just want to say that I'm sorry," she said, wringing her hands together. "I promise you that I didn't know that you two were together."
Nancy closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat as she listened to Amy's apology, but she didn't respond immediately. After a long uncomfortable silence, she finally replied. "I believe you. I don't know why - but I do."
Just then a doctor appeared in the waiting room. He glanced at his chart and looked towards the girls. "Nancy Drew?" He asked.
"That's me," Nancy said stepping forward to greet the doctor.
The older man shook Nancy's hand and introduced himself, "Dr. Siebel."
"How is he?" Nancy asked shaking the doctor's hand.
The doctor sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you, Nancy. It was a rough surgery. We extracted two bullets that passed within millimeters of both his heart and his lungs. Mr. Nickerson lost a lot of blood, but we did manage to repair the damage that was inflicted."
Nancy gulped at the doctor's news. "Is he going to make it?"
"I hope so," Dr. Siebel answered. "But, I can't make any promises. The next 24 to 48 hours are extremely critical. But, he looks to be an otherwise healthy young man, so hopefully that should work in his favor."
"Can I see him?" Nancy asked hopefully.
"He's being transferred to a bed in ICU at the moment. You can visit with him briefly when they have him settled. But, he probably won't wake up until sometime tomorrow morning. We have him pretty heavily sedated in order for his body to start the healing process."
"Thank you," Nancy said, shaking the doctor's hand once more.
He smiled gently at the worried young lady in front of him. "I'll have one of the nurses come and get you as soon as he's settled," he promised.
"Thank you," Nancy repeated. As the doctor disappeared behind the doors to the emergency corridor, Nancy suddenly felt like she was losing control.
"Excuse me," Nancy said brushing past Amy, who had been listening to the doctor's news. "I need to get some air." She grabbed her purse off the chair and headed towards the automatic doors.
Anger, worry, and a myriad of other emotions consumed Nancy as she stepped out into the crisp air. She took several calming breaths and then reached for her cell phone. "Dammit, Frank - where are you?" she said to herself as she powered the phone on.
Her phone chirped and alerted her that she had voice mail. Nancy sighed in relief as she pressed the button to retrieve the messages.
"You have two new messages," the automated voice greeted her.
"Thank God," Nancy said to herself. She pressed the code to listen to the first message. Relief flooded Nancy to the core as she heard Frank's voice over the line. After listening to his message about finding the CD, Nancy pressed the delete key. 'He probably just caught up in rush hour traffic,' Nancy thought.
She entered the code once more to hear the second message. Fear coursed through her veins as she heard a threatening voice warn ominously, "Quit snooping around. One boyfriend down, one to go. And if you're not careful, you'll be next."
Nancy's heart skipped a beat as she listened to the message. Thinking quickly, she saved the message and then proceeded to check her call log. Maybe, just maybe, the guy had slipped up and Nancy could get a number on him. She scrolled through the list and found that both the calls had originated from Frank's cell phone.
"Damnit!" Nancy cursed. She knew that whoever had left her a message, had somehow gotten a hold of Frank. On a whim, Nancy tried calling Frank's cell phone, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to reach him. When it went straight to voice mail, Nancy slammed her phone shut.
AN: I know it seems kind of slow going but, is anyone still with me here? Let me know what you think. Good, bad, bird cage liner????