1

Disclaimer: I know, I know...I forgot it in the last chapter. You know it...I'm tired of typing it.

A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews. Some of this chapter may be confusing. But remember as revealed in the last chapter, Nancy is putting on an act for Fitz. Well, I hope you enjoy and please review!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nancy woke up the next morning, feeling great. Last night was the first night that she had really slept since this whole nightmare with Fitz began. Keeping up the charade was putting a strain on her, but telling Frank and Joe relieved a lot of stress.

She knew by telling Frank that the wedding was off nearly killed him. She had seen the hurt and pain in his eyes and it broke her heart. But at least he knew it was all an act. Only now, she had to keep it up for Fitz.

Nancy was still saddened by the fact that Kristin had been killed the night before. Fitz was upping his game and she had to do something. Fast.

Nancy got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She looked in the mirror and sighed.

"Well, here we go." She said to herself.

Nancy went into the living room to see that Joe was up watching TV. He looked up at her when he heard her footsteps and they exchanged a smile. Nancy sent him a look that said, Let's put on a good show for Fitz.

"Where's Frank?" Nancy asked, acting depressed.

"He left early. Said he couldn't handle talking about last night right now. Not that you can blame him. He was really hurt last night." Joe said.

"I know." Nancy said quietly. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She then went into the living room and sat down on the sofa. There was a silence between them as Nancy sipped her coffee.

"I never meant to hurt him, Joe." Nancy said.

"I know you didn't, Nan. But you need to be telling him that, not me." Joe said.

"I explained everything to him last night. And now he doesn't want to talk to me about it. He's going to avoid the subject and act like it never happened." Nancy said.

"He just needs to think things through. What you said last night was like a slap in the face for him." Joe explained. "Nancy, my brother loves you very much. I have never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you."

"I know he loves me, Joe. And I love him very much. But it's like I told him, I can't think of a wedding and worry about Fitz at the same time." Nancy said.

"But you're letting Fitz think that he has won. He will think that he holds this unbelievable power over you. You're just letting him know how terrified you are of him." Joe said.

"I am terrified of him!" Nancy said. That was partly true anyway. You would have to be stupid not to be a little scared. "I never know where he is. He could be anywhere, and I wouldn't know it."

"We're not going to let him get you, Nancy." Joe said.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Nancy got up off of the sofa."I need to get ready for work."

"You're kidding me, right? You just told me you don't know where he is so you're going to go to work where you'll be an easy target?" Joe asked.

"Work is the only thing that is going to keep me sane." Nancy said. She put her coffee cup in the sink and walked to her bedroom. She turned on her stereo.

Joe tiptoed into the bedroom a few seconds later. They beamed at each other.

"So, do you think we have him fooled?" Joe asked softly.

"I believe that we were convincing enough. If not then I don't know what it's going to take." Nancy said.

"We should really consider taking our act on the road." Joe said.

"Maybe when this is all over." Nancy teased.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So the wedding is really off, Fitz thought to himself. He smiled. He never knew ruining Nancy's life could be this much fun.

But what to do next?

He wasn't ready to kill her, that he knew for sure. He wanted to play with her head a little more. When it was her time, he wanted her to beg him to kill her.

Fitz got up and paced around the room. But all of this waiting was making him antsy. His doctors at the Schneider Institute would not be pleased with him. He had stopped taking his medication two months ago. That was when he had seen the wedding announcement for Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy in the newspaper. They had radiated love and their love for each other couldn't have been any greater.

He had been doing very well after he got out of the institution, provided that he had stayed on his medication. But then her picture had to show up.

Fitz screamed in frustration.

He clenched and unclenched his fists. He was getting angry. And the buzzing in his head just would not stop.

He needed to get out. Just get in his Jeep and drive. That usually calmed him down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nancy arrived at work by ten o'clock. She had barely put on any makeup, just to give the effect that she had had a rough night. She hated that she had to keep the charade up, but as she had told Frank and Joe, she never knew if Fitz was listening to her.

"Hey, Nancy." Paul greeted her.

Nancy gave him a small smile. "Hey, Paul."

Paul looked at her, concerned. "Are you okay, Nancy?"

Nancy gave a small nod. "I just had a rough night." she said.

Nancy took the elevator up to her office. When she opened up her door she found that Ashley was in there, waiting for her.

"Hey, Ashley." Nancy said.

"Hey, Nancy." She looked at Nancy. "Are you okay?"

"You're the second person to ask me that. I must look really bad." Nancy said. "I just had a rough night, that's all."

"You want to talk about it?" Ashley asked.

Nancy sighed. She wished she could tell Ashley the truth, but it just wasn't safe. "I called the wedding off last night."

"What?!" Ashley exclaimed. "Why?"

"There was another murder last night and they seem to be directed at me. I just don't want some psycho to ruin my wedding day." Nancy explained.

"Was the girl someone else you knew?" Ashley asked.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah."

"What are you doing here, Nancy? You should be at home. You have been dealt three really big traumas." Ashley said.

"I needed to come in. I need to get my mind off of everything." Nancy said.

"Are you and Frank okay? I mean, you're still together, right?" she asked.

"Frank and I are fine. We just think this is the best thing right now." Nancy said.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Ashley." Nancy said. "That really means a lot to me."

"I need to get to work. You just need to take it easy." Ashley said.

"Hey, have you seen Andy?" Nancy asked.

"He called in today. Said he has some kind of virus."

"Oh." Nancy said.

Ashley gave her an encouraging smile and left Nancy to be alone.

Nancy sighed and put her head on her desk. Her desk phone rang, startling her.

"Nancy Drew." She answered.

"I hear that the wedding's off." Fitz said.

Nancy had been waiting for him to call. "Hoe do you know that?" she asked.

"I can hear everything, Nancy." Fitz said. "I have to keep up with you somehow."

"You bugged my apartment." Nancy said.

"Among other places." Fitz answered.

"What do you want?" Nancy asked, pretending to be afraid.

"Right now, nothing. I'm just taking a drive. I can't be sure, but I think I may be on my way to River Heights."

Nancy gripped the phone tightly. Now there was no faking her fear.

"You stay away from there." Nancy said.

"You have family and friends there, don't you, Nancy?" Fitz said.

"You leave them out of this. It's me you want, so come on. Come after me already." Nancy said.

Fitz didn't see to hear her. "I wonder who should be first." He said.

Nancy heard im laugh as he hung up the phone on her.