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Nancy felt herself start to panic, which was something rare for her to do. She had always kept her cool, but now she felt that she was losing it. Her plan was not going to work; it was going all wrong. She didn't think that a missing persons would come in that fast. But she was wrong–she had been wrong about it all. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing.

"Are you okay, Nancy?" Sheriff Vaughn asked, concern written all over her face.

"I–I need some water." Nancy said softly.

"I'll get it." Luke said. He got up and went outside the office. He returned a few seconds later and handed her the small paper cup. Nancy took it from him and gulped it down.

"Thank you." she said. "May I see that report?"

Sheriff Vaughn hesitated. "I'm not supposed to let citizens see official reports, but considering you're the one who dropped this case into our laps, I don't see where a peek would hurt."

Nancy took the file from her and began to read it over. When she finished it, she laid it back down on Vaughn's desk.

"That's Maddie." Nancy said, softly.

"Are you sure?" Vaughn asked.

Nancy nodded her head.

"Okay." Vaughn said. She picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Bob, get me the Holly Springs sheriff on the phone."

"What are you doing?" Nancy asked.

"I'm calling the station where the missing persons popped up." Sheriff Vaughn said, covering the mouthpiece with her hand.

"You can't do that." Nancy said.

"Why not?" Vaughn asked.

"Please, you have to trust me on this." Nancy said.

"I want to, Nancy, but you're not telling me everything. Now, I have two panicked parents, awaiting word on their missing daughter and if I can give them a little piece of mind, I am." Sheriff Vaughn said, calmly.

"I want to tell you everything. Really, I do. But I don't want anyone else to get hurt." Nancy said.

"How about you let me decide that?" Vaughn asked.

Nancy hesitated. Then she felt Luke grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

"He said he'd kill me if I kept the police involved." Nancy said.

"You've been in contact with the killer?" Sheriff Vaughn asked. She hung up the phone and gave Nancy her full attention.

"Kind of hard not to when he shows up in your bedroom in the middle of the night." Nancy said.

"What did he say? Who is he?" Vaughn asked.

"He said to drop everything or he would come back and kill me." Nancy said.

"How did he get into your bedroom without you noticing?" Sheriff Vaughn asked.

"I don't know. I searched the door and the window and they weren't forced open. All I do know, is that he's serious." Nancy said.

"What's his name? We can put out an APB on him." Vaughn said.

"No." Nancy said firmly. "I'll tell you his name, but you can't put out an APB."

"Nancy, we have to find him." Vaughn said.

"I know." Nancy said. "Isn't there a way we can do this quietly?"

"You really think he'll do something to you?" Sheriff Vaughn asked.

"I think the past two nights prove that." Nancy said.

"All right. We'll work this as quietly as we can. But I can't promise you anything, Nancy." Vaughn said. "In the meantime, I'll keep someone posted at Luke's house."

"No," Nancy said.

"Are you sure?" Vaughn asked.

"I'll look out for her." Luke said.

"All right," Vaughn said. "What's his name?"

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When Nancy and Luke got back out to his truck, she dug her cell phone out of her purse and saw that she had two messages on her phone. She played them and heard that they were both from Frank. Nancy dialed him up and he answered on the first ring.

"Where are you?" he asked when she greeted him.

"Leaving the police station." Nancy said. "Where are you?"

"Luke's." Frank answered.

"What are you doing there?" Nancy asked.

"We'll explain when you get here." Frank said.

"Okay." Nancy said and hung up the phone.

"Anything wrong?" Luke asked.

"No," Nancy said. "Frank and Joe are at your house, though."

"Why don't they just stay there?" Luke asked.

"What?" Nancy asked.

"They're over there every chance they can get. Besides, they can watch over you better than anyone else could. You trust them. And they'll be able to protect you." Luke explained.

"Are you sure it will be okay?" Nancy asked.

"If it keeps you safe, then yes." Luke said, smiling at her.

Nancy smiled her thanks to him. He pulled into his driveway and Nancy saw Frank and Joe sitting on the trunk of their car.

"How long have you been here?" Nancy asked when she got out of the truck.

"Fifteen minutes." Frank said. "How did it go?"

"Let's go inside and talk." Nancy said.

"I needed to talk to you about something first." Frank said.

"It's okay, Frank. We can talk in front of Luke." Nancy said.

Frank hesitated, but Nancy gave him a stern look. He sighed and reluctantly followed them inside the house. Luke went into the kitchen to get everyone a soda. When he had handed them out to everyone, Nancy began.

"First off, let me say something to Luke." Nancy turned to look at him. "There's something I haven't told you about Frank and Joe. They're detectives–like me."

Luke looked at the three of them in turn and nodded. "That explains some things."

"That doesn't leave this house." Nancy said. "I don't want anyone else to know and I don't want it getting back to Eric."

"I won't tell anyone." Luke promised.

"Good." Nancy said. She turned to Frank and Joe. "So did you guys find out anything?"

"Not much." Frank admitted.

"But we did get word back on missing persons." Joe said, pulling out a sheet of folded paper from his pocket.

"Let me guess," Nancy said. "Madelyn Fields from Holly Springs."

"How did you know?" Frank asked.

"It came to the sheriff when I was talking to her." Nancy explained.

"So, what happened at the station?" Frank asked.

"Sheriff Vaughn knew I was lying when I told her I imagined it all. And the missing persons coming in didn't help me at all." Nancy said.

"So, they're not dropping it?" Joe asked.

"Nope." Nancy said. "If anything, they're going to pursue this even harder."

"There goes your plan." Joe said.

"Tell me about it." Nancy said, rolling her eyes.

"So, what are you going to do?" Frank asked.

"Sheriff Vaughn promised me they would go about the investigation quietly. So I guess we'll have to wait and see." Nancy said.

"Frank and I want to watch this place." Joe said. "We don't like him coming after you and us not being able to do anything about it."

"What are you going to do?" Nancy asked.

"We'll sit across the street in our car and watch the house." Frank said.

"I have a better idea." Nancy said.

"What's that?" Joe asked.

"How about you just stay in the house. I have another spare bedroom." Luke said.

"I don't know." Frank said.

"You can help Nancy more if you're inside rather than outside. And the bedroom is right next to hers." Luke said.

"It's a lot better than our idea." Joe said. "Besides, it's not like we have a bathroom in our car."

"Come on, Frank." Nancy said. "Luke's offering his help here."

"All right." Frank said. "I will admit it's better than our plan."

"Good." Nancy said.

"We just have to go out to the car and get our stuff." Frank said.

When Frank and Joe went outside, Nancy turned to Luke. "Did I happen to say thank you for doing this?"

"No, I don't think so." Luke said, teasing.

Nancy smiled at him. "Thank you."

Luke smiled at her in return. For a moment, their eyes met and they gazed at each other. Luke then leaned in slowly until their lips met in a soft kiss. Nancy broke it off and smiled.

"Wow." she whispered.

"You're welcome." Luke said.

Nancy leaned towards him and they began to kiss again, this time with a little more passion. At that moment everything that had happened escaped from her mind except Luke and what a great kisser he was.

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Author's Note: Well, I have given some of you what you wanted–Nancy and Luke. It was my original intention before I even started writing this story. I am all for Frank and Nancy, but I think they need a little turmoil every now and then. Well, tell me what you think!