Joe almost wished he had never called his father. All he had mostly succeeded in doing was getting him anxious and upset, especially when Fenton Hardy found out Frank and Nancy had been taken by a serial killer.

But Joe also couldn't worry about getting his father upset. He had to do everything he could to get his brother and one of his best friends back. It took no time at all for Fenton to call in and have the chip activated. Now Joe was just waiting anxiously by the phone for his father to call back and let him know where Frank was.

B.D. had also been working as hard. He had gotten on the phone with Ned's insurance company that he worked for and was trying to find anyone who maybe knew where Ned was going with the mystery client. They were absolutely positive that Ned's client was the killer they had been searching for. The only problem now was that the only person who knew where Ned was going was out of the office and had conveniently forgotten their cell phone.

"Do you have anything yet?" B.D. asked Joe.

Joe shook his head. "I'm just waiting for my dad to call back with the location."

"And I'm waiting for the receptionist to get back to the office," B.D. said with a sigh.

He sat down on the sofa beside Joe and rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm telling you right now, no one has ever caused me as much stress as Nancy Drew has."

"She's worth it, B.D.," Joe said. "Think about what it would be like without her."

"I don't even want to begin to imagine," B.D. said.

They sat in silence, each occupied by their own thoughts. That was quickly interrupted by the simultaneous ringing of their phones. They both answered and were only on for two minutes before they hung up at the same time.

"Roxie Theater?" B.D. asked, hopeful.

Joe smiled. "The Roxie Theater."

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Nancy looked at both Frank and Ned and then back at Dom. How could he ask her to choose between two people she truly loved and cared about. Was it just to see her crack? Or was it just to see who she would be willing to betray?

"I'm waiting, Katie," Dom said.

Nancy shook her head. "I need to think about it," she said.

"You're asking me to choose who deserves to live more than the other. It's not something I can answer immediately," Nancy said.

"That wasn't one of your choices, Katie," Dom said. He came around to face her. "Either you make a choice or I will."

Nancy closed her eyes and swallowed hard. What could she do? Like he said, he was going to kill them anyway, so why did she have to choose? She glanced at Frank and Ned to see them staring at her intently.

"Leave her alone!" Frank yelled. Nancy cast a quick look at him to see him give her a small wave. His hands were free!

"Well, I guess we see who really steps up to bat for you," Dom said. "And it looks as if you're answer just got easier."

"Please, just let me think" Nancy said.

Dom turned his back to her and sighed. "I guess you've left it up to me," he said.

Nancy watched as he pulled a large hunting knife from his tuxedo jacket and walk towards the boys. She needed to do something to get his attention so Frank could disarm him.

"Dom, wait!" Nancy called.

"I really don't have time for this, Katie," Dom said, stopping to face her.

"I was just thinking," Nancy said. "And I made my decision."

"I'm listening," Dom said, playing with the blade of the knife.

Nancy quickly glanced at Frank to see him winking at her. Nancy gave him a slight nod and looked up at Dom as he approached her.

"So, who will it be, Katie?" Dom asked. "Frank...or Ned?"

"I want..." Nancy took a deep breath. "I want Frank to live."

Dom smiled at her. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Katie. I knew you could choose if you were forced to."

Nancy peeked over at Ned to see him staring at her with his mouth agape. She could see betrayal in his eyes and it made her heart ache. But he had to know it was in order to save his life!

"Any last words for Ned, Katie?" Dom asked as he walked towards Ned.

Nancy swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Ned," she whispered. "I love you."

Ned didn't say anything back to her. He braced himself as Dom came closer with the knife raised.

"It looks like she made her choice, Ned," Dom said. "I have to say, I was really hoping she would choose you to live. But think of it this way: at least you know how she really feels about Frank now."

Before Dom could plunge the knife into Ned, Frank leapt off his chair and tackled Dom to the ground. Nancy watched as Dom tried to push Frank off of him, but Frank wasn't letting up. He delivered a swift karate chop to his knife hand and Dom dropped the knife, yelling in pain.

Frank pushed the knife across the floor and Dom landed a punch against Frank's jaw. Frank quickly recovered and landed a punch of his own. Dom's head flew back, but the punch didn't knock him out. He pushed Frank away and ran backstage. Frank quickly got up from the stage and ran to the knife. He cut the ropes around Nancy's raw hands and then freed Ned.

"We need to find catch him," Nancy said, looking down at Dom. "I refuse to let him get away after everything that he's done."

"Are you okay?" Ned asked, coldly.

Nancy looked at him in surprise, but nodded and rubbed her wrists.

"You don't look okay," Frank said.

"Nancy, you're bleeding," Ned said, worried.

"It's just where my skin is raw," Nancy said with a wave of her hand. "But we don't have time to worry about that right now."

Frank and Ned wanted to say something else, but Nancy was already taking off for the backstage area. She looked everywhere but couldn't see him.

"He's not back here," Nancy said.

"Did you really expect him to stick around?" Frank asked.

"No, but he's also not one to just let this go," Nancy said. "I think he has something else up his sleeve."

"I'm going to see if there's a way out and call the police," Ned said.

Nancy watched him take off and sighed. Frank saw the look on her face but figured now wasn't the time to talk about what was bothering her.

"We need to keep looking," Nancy said. "Let's split up."

"Do you think that's wise?" Frank asked.

"No, but maybe one of us will get lucky and find him," Nancy said.

Before they could even take two steps, the theater was plunged into total darkness. Nancy gasped when she realized Dom must have been hiding somewhere. She could hear footsteps moving all around and it confused her. She wasn't sure which way she should go, and she realized that she was a sitting duck. If she could make her way to the door, maybe she could get her and Frank out safely.

She put out her hands, feeling in the darkness for anything that may be in her way. But it was hard for her to conceal herself moving around since she wasn't sure of the layout of the room. She thought she could see a dim light coming from a small crack near the floor, so she decided to make her way towards it. She was barely two feet away from the light when a hand clasped over her mouth and she was grabbed from behind. She was about to fight back when she felt the blade of the knife at her throat.

I am so stupid! Why didn't I take the knife with me? she thought desperately.

Dom dragged her back up the stage and turned on the lights. He kept his hand firmly over her mouth and Nancy saw Frank at the backstage entrance and Ned in the middle of the theater.

"Stop where you are," Dom said, menacingly. He pressed the knife closer to her throat and Nancy inhaled sharply as it grazed her neck. But she did see that Frank and Ned had stopped moving.

She was so frustrated with herself. They had been so close!

"That was a good diversion, but you shouldn't have done that, Katie," Dom said into her ear. "It will only make your death even more painful than what I had in mind."

Nancy couldn't stop the tear that ran down her cheek. She was so stupid to think they could get away from a cold-blooded killer. She knew he wouldn't be stupid enough to make another mistake.

"Let her go, Dom," Frank said. "She hasn't done anything to you."

"She's done everything to me!" Dom yelled. "She's made every single night a living hell for me!"

"You're basing her on a book character–someone who doesn't even exist," Frank said, trying to reason with him.

"Why can't you see that she's Katie?" Dom asked. "She is the exact personification of Katie and I can't let Katie win again."

"Her name is Nancy," Ned said. "Katie isn't real–she's just a character from a book. You've already ruined several lives, but it needs to stop. Don't take her from us."

"I can't listen to this!" Dom screamed. He dug the point of the knife into her throat and Nancy could feel blood drizzling down her neck. "She's made where you're confused!"

He started to move back, dragging her with him. "I can see we'll just have to do this alone. I had wanted an audience, but I can always rework my plans."

Just as Dom was about to be at the door with her, the back door flew open and Nancy saw Joe, B.D., and several police officers rush in with their guns drawn.

"Put the knife down, Dominic!" B.D. demanded, gun drawn.

"It's too late for her," Dom said, still holding the knife at her throat. "Katie can't be saved."

"It's over," B.D. said.

"She has to die!" Dom screamed. "Why can't you understand that?"

Nancy didn't know where she found adrenaline rush that went through her body, but it his her all of a sudden. She stomped down on Dom's foot and he moved the knife from her throat. She elbowed him in the stomach and tore his hand from her mouth. He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.

"Looks like you won after all, Katie," Dom whispered. B.D. and the rest of the officers surrounded him as Joe pulled Nancy to the side. Frank and Ned ran onto the stage as B.D. handcuffed Dom and read him his rights.

"Are you all right?" B.D. asked Nancy.

"I am now," Nancy said. She watched as one of the officers picked Dom off the ground and started to walk him towards the door.

Dom stopped before he reached the door and turned to give Nancy one last chilling smile. "I hope to do this again, Katie."

"Get him out of here!" B.D. ordered.

Nancy could hear Dom laughing as the officer escorted him out the door.

B.D. shook his head in disgust and turned to them. "Are any of you hurt?"

"I think Nancy is more than us," Frank said.

"I'm fine," Nancy said, finding her voice.

"You should have a paramedic take a look at your neck, Nancy," B.D. said.

Nancy shook her head. "I just want to go home and put all of this behind me."

B.D. nodded and decided not to push her on it. No one said anything as they made their way out of the theater and into the chilly night air.

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Author's Note: I really want to thank TesubCalle and katiejaneway for their help with this chapter. I was kind of stuck and they offered me some brilliant ideas. I hope that this was a great chapter for everyone and there is still one more chapter to go. (Sad, I know!)

I also know that some of you probably aren't happy with this chapter because of Ned, but like I always say: I can't please everyone! I did what I felt was right for the story.

Let me know what you think and stay tuned for the last chapter!