When Frank walked back into Nikki's room, she was still sitting up against her pillows. He smiled softly at her and sat down in the chair that Nancy had been in.

"Where's Nancy?" she asked.

"She had to go," Frank said.

"Did something happen?" Nikki asked, alarmed.

"You really shouldn't worry yourself with it," Frank said.

"I wish that everyone would quit treating me like I'm fragile," Nikki said with a sigh.

"Well, technically, you kind of are," Frank said.

Nikki sent him an icy look, so Frank thought there was no reason why he shouldn't be honest with her. Maybe it would motivate her to give him what they needed to catch the killer.

"We think the killer may have gotten a hold of Ned," Frank said.

"What?" Nikki asked, shocked.

"Nancy went back to her house to see if the killer would contact her," Frank went on.

"Oh, my God," Nikki whispered. "Poor Nancy."

"That's why we need your help, Nikki," Frank said, softly but firmly. "If you can just tell us if the picture that we have matches your attacker, maybe we can find him before he kills again. You don't want him to kill Ned, do you?"

Slowly Nikki shook her head and looked at Frank with teary eyes. "I'll help you," she whispered.

"Thank you, Nikki," Frank said. He opened the folder and pulled out the picture. "Are you ready?"

Nikki nodded.

Frank turned the picture around and held it in front of Nikki. She brought a hand to her mouth and choked back a sob.

"That's him," she whispered. "That's the bastard that attacked me."

Frank hurried and put the picture away. "You did good, Nikki," he said. "You did really good."

He gave Nikki's hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled at her.

"You catch him, Frank," Nikki said. "Don't let him get away."

Frank nodded. "We're going to get him. I promise you that."

He stood up as a doctor came into the room. He had a couple of calls he had to make.

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Nancy unlocked the door to her house and let out a weary sigh. Joe watched her walk in and felt bad for her. Maybe Frank was right–maybe she wouldn't be able to take it anymore. And that really hurt him because Nancy was the strongest woman he knew, besides his mother and Aunt Gertrude.

He walked in behind Nancy and shut the door. She threw her purse down and collapsed into a chair.

"Are you okay?" Joe asked, sitting on the couch across from her.

Nancy gave him a half shrug. "I guess," she said.

"We'll find him, Nan," Joe said.

She gave him a small smile. "I know we will, Joe. I think I'm just tired of it all. I just want it to finally be over."

"You've had a lot to deal with," Joe said. "I mean, not everyone gets to go head-to-head with a killer."

"You always have to try to find some humor in everything, don't you?" Nancy asked.

"I've always thought every day was better if you had something to laugh about," Joe said. "You need something to smile about, Nan."

"I'll smile whenever we catch the killer," Nancy said. "Believe me, you'll be begging me to stop smiling."

"I know one person for sure who would love to see you smile," Joe said.

Nancy looked at Joe thoughtfully and he returned her gaze. She knew who he was talking about: Frank. But she didn't voice it; she had other things to deal with right now.

"You can't just sit here and wait all day, Nancy," Joe said, changing the subject. "Why don't you go up and take a hot shower. You need to relax for a while."

"I really wish people would quit telling me that I need to relax," Nancy said.

"Well, if everyone's telling you that, then maybe it's good advice," Joe commented.

"All right, I'll go," Nancy said, standing up. "But not because you told me to."

"Whatever you say," Joe said. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television just as the telephone rang.

"Got it," Nancy said, rushing down the stairs.

Joe rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the television.

"Hello?" Nancy said into the phone.

"Hey, Nan–it's me," Frank said on the other end.

"Please tell me you have something for me," Nancy said, almost pleading.

"It's him, Nan," Frank said. "Nikki just ID'd him for us."

Nancy felt like she was going to collapse. "Thank God," she said. She saw Joe looking at her expectantly and she nodded at him.

"Where are you going now?" she asked.

"I'm going over to the police station and see if we can get this photo in the database," Frank explained. "Maybe we'll get a match and a name."

"We're heading over there soon," Nancy said.

"I thought you wanted to stay at the house in case the killer called," Frank said.

"I want to be there when we get a name," Nancy said.

"All right," Frank sighed. "Just be careful."

Nancy hung up the phone and actually smiled at Joe. He didn't say anything but smiled at her as she went up the stairs to take a shower.

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When Frank hung up the phone with Nancy, we had to admit he was feeling better. She really seemed happy and relieved that they had a face to work with now. Maybe he was getting too worried about her. But he couldn't help it; he always felt this connection with her and this unbelievable desire to protect her.

He dialed B.D.'s cell number and it was answered on the first ring. "It's Frank Hardy. Run the picture through the database. Nikki just gave us a positive ID."

"I'll get right on it," B.D. said. "Are you headed this way?"

"Yeah–I should be there in five minutes," Frank answered.

"Did you tell Nancy?" B.D. asked.

"She already knows," Frank said. "She's coming back to the station."

Frank hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. He stepped onto the elevator and pushed the "Down" button. Just as the doors were about to close, a man with a ball cap pulled over his eyes put hand out, making the doors open again. Frank stepped to the side and let him in. The man didn't say anything, but pushed the button for the parking garage.

The ride down was in silence, but Frank still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that came over him. It was the feeling that made the hair on his arms stand on end. Then thing was, he couldn't figure out why he was feeling like this.

The doors finally opened at the lobby and just as Frank was about to step out, the man pushed the button, making the doors close again.

"Why did you do that?" Frank asked. "That was my stop."

The man didn't say anything, but pulled an object out of his pocket. Frank's eyes widened when he saw that it was a stun gun. He pushed the man against the side of the elevator, but it barely fazed him. Frank realized what a tight spot he was in, being trapped in the elevator.

But before he could do or think of anything to get him out of his predicament, the man pressed the stun gun into his side and Frank felt volts of electricity jolting through his body. The doors of the elevator opened at the parking garage when Frank fell to the ground, unconscious.

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When Nancy got out of the shower, she grudgingly had to admit that Joe was right. A hot shower did feel good and it seemed to relax her a good bit. She quickly got dressed and ran a brush through her hair.

As she was walking down the stairs, she could hear the television blaring. She rolled her eyes and shook her head in wonder.

"Geez, Joe–are you really that hard of hearing?" Nancy commented, sarcastically.

Joe didn't answer her and the volume didn't go down either.

"I'll take that as a yes," Nancy said dryly.

She walked into the living room and didn't see Joe in there. "Hey–are you in the kitchen?" Nancy asked as she grabbed the remote and turned the volume down.

She sighed when Joe still didn't answer her.

"Are you trying to be cute?" she muttered.

She walked into the kitchen and froze when she saw Joe lying face-down on the floor.

"Joe!" she exclaimed. She rushed over to him and knelt down, feeling for pulse. She found a faint one and let out a huge sigh of relief.

She lightly tapped his face and continued to call his name. "Joe...Joe, wake up! It's Nancy!"

He still didn't stir.

Nancy continued to try to stir him when she saw a shadow fall across the both of them. Before she could turn around and see what was behind her, she was grabbed from behind and a sweet smelling cloth was put over her mouth and nose.

She struggled and managed to pull the hand away from her face long enough to let out an ear-piercing scream. But the rag was quickly put back over her face.

"Quit fighting me, Katie," the voice said.

Nancy soon realized that she was losing the fight. Her world was getting fuzzy and it was hard to keep her eyes open. A few seconds later and her world was complete darkness.

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Author's Note: Yes, another cliffhanger...probably the worst one yet. But as I said before, I'm good at them. In fact, I think I can hear your screams of frustration right now. Well, you'll have to wait a couple of days before you get to find out what happens.

Katie I can really tell that you love Dom and I think that's great! If you are totally loving the villian of this story, then I know I am doing something right with my story.

TesubCalle I'm not so sure if they have TVs in the ICU or not. But I guess in my weird world they do. Maybe if they did, a lot more people would recover faster! LOL!