Chapter Two

He strolled through the parking lot with a girl, Club Rex directly across from them. He knew the bouncer well enough that the couple would get into the club without hesitation. The man also knew he had to ditch his date without her getting the wiser. That would be easier said than done though. They walked by a car that was facing the street and he saw two men sitting and talking. He smiled knowing exactly who they were but they wouldn't be able to stop him from what he was about to do. It was careful planning on his part.

Earlier in the evening, the man made sure that his car was parked not far from the back door. He also placed a duffle bag in one of the lockers the club had for patrons. It held everything he would need for the evening including his kit to change his disguise if he needed to. He had a feeling that it would happen at some point in the evening. It all depended on how he would have to deal with his date this evening but then again, with his bag of goodies, he could just simple disappear and she would never know it.

As the couple entered the club, the man scanned the dance floor wondering if they were early. His eyes stopped the moment he saw them. Six girls sitting together in a small alcove off to the side of the dance floor. He smiled maliciously as he saw his prey. This was going to be easier than he thought.


Nancy caught up to Candace as the group walked into the club. Jax followed close behind, his eyes scanning all around. Dance music blared, the neon lights moving to the beat. Crowds of people huddled the dance floor, bumping and grinding to the rhythm. A large bar lined one wall with several bartenders attending to the patrons and waitresses gathered around. The other wall was lined with small alcoves and tables, each one filled with people. The moment they were inside, Bess was dancing to the rhythm of the beat as a fast-paced song came on.

"Oh, I wish George could have made it!" she cried into Nancy's ear as they stood watching the people around them dancing to the beat.

"She would have hated it and you know it!" Nancy yelled back. "Besides, she had to work today, remember?"

"Right," Bess nodded. "Still, it would have been nice to have her here. At least you and Vanessa are here so that I know someone!"

"Ah, Ms. Miller and company!" cried a man who approached them. He had dark hair and dark eyes and wore a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top. "Parker said you were coming this evening! Are you ready to have an amazing time this evening?"

"Hi, Ben!" Candace waved to him. "Oh, we are so ready! It was nice of you to let us in."

"Hey, anything for Parker! This way ladies. I have a special area just for you!"

Ben led them through the crowd and crossed the dance floor. A small round alcove was blocked off by two stanchions with a red velvet rope connecting them. Ben opened the rope and held it open for the ladies to enter the small alcove. The plush cushions were made of red velvet and a large, round, black coffee table stretched the whole alcove. Mirrors lined the walls around them giving the girls privacy but the opening gave them a massive view of the dance floor and bar. Jax stopped outside the alcove facing the dance floor to stand guard, his beefy arms visible to everyone around them.

"Chelsea and Anya will be your servers tonight," Ben announced as two girls with trays came up behind him. "Order anything you like. Parker has already dealt with the bill."

After giving them a brief nod and smile, he strolled away and the servers took their orders. Bess watched the man with interest and Nancy rolled her eyes.

"What?" Bess asked when she saw the look her friend was giving her. "Can't a girl look?"

"Yeah, but you do have a boyfriend," Nancy reminded her.

"I know but I can still look! He was super cute!"

"That was really nice of Parker to pay for everything," Stephanie said as the servers returned with a round of drinks.

"Yeah, it was!" cried Vanessa raising her shot glass.

"I guess this calls for a toast!" Nancy yelled over the music. The girls had ordered a round of Tequila and they all raised their shot glasses. "Let's get this party started!"

"Woo!" the girls all screamed before draining their shots. Moments later the servers returned with their food and a round of mixed drinks before taking away their shot glasses. Candace pulled out her phone and started taking pictures of everyone from selfies to full group photos. Soon Stephanie, Amy, and Bess went out onto the dance floor leaving Candace, Nancy, and Vanessa behind to chat.

"Too bad George couldn't get here for tonight," Candace stated popping a tortilla chip dipped in spinach and artichoke dip into her mouth. "She's still coming tomorrow right?"

"Yeah," Nancy nodded taking a chicken wing. "This really isn't her thing though. It's more Bess than anything."

"It's not mine either!" the bride laughed.

"Then why are we here?" Vanessa asked surprised.

"Oh, I think it's because I wanted to at least experience a place like this before I got married," she shrugged. "I won't be able to do much like this after the wedding since Parker is councilman in Milford Point."

"So? What's wrong with having fun?"

"According to his image consultant, it's not prudent for a politician's wife to be the life of the party," Candace sighed. "But then again, I'm not that anyway. I just wanted something different for my last night as a single lady."

"Well, I don't blame you, Candace," Nancy smiled. "Let's just not get too tipsy tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, as if my nerves aren't already shot as it is," she said. "But it's a good thing that the wedding doesn't start until after five tomorrow."

"But aren't we going to the spa all morning to get ready?" Vanessa asked. "We won't have much time to relax. But I am so looking forward to a massage! Being with Joe has put some strain on my back and shoulders."

"Vanessa!" Nancy cried in mock shock. The three girls were still laughing when Bess bounded up to them.

"Come on, Nan!" her friend cried breathlessly. "We're here to celebrate and you three are being party poopers by sitting over here when you should be dancing!"

"Bess, I'm taken, remember?" she shook her head.

"Oh, please?" Bess gave her a huge pout and puppy dog eyes causing the girls to go through another fit of laughter.

"Okay, okay! We're coming!"

Bess clapped her hands quickly and bounced on her heels. She grabbed a hold of Nancy who grabbed on to Candace and the three rushed out onto the dance floor with Vanessa right behind them. Jax remained behind but kept his eyes on the bridal party. Stephanie and Amy greeted them energetically and the group danced to a fast, techno version of Shut Up and Dance. Once the song was over, Stephanie excused herself and left for a few minutes while the others danced to several more songs.

"Phew!" Nancy whistled a half hour later. She plopped down onto the couch and waved a hand over her face to fan herself. "Now I know why I don't go dancing very much!"

"You said it!" Candace giggled sitting down next to her.

The other four girls came rushing back to their alcove and the group enjoyed the rest of their food and drinks. Nancy took a sip of her margarita, feeling the cold drink roll down her parched throat. It felt good to sit down so she kicked off her heels and laid her head back against the couch.

"You better not fall asleep on me, Drew!" Bess warned.

Nancy looked up at her and giggled. "Nope, I'm just taking in the quiet moment."

"You call this quiet?" Amy cried and the girls all laughed together.

Nancy finished her margarita then ordered a water instead of another drink. She had every intention of keeping herself alert for anything even though the evening was halfway over already. Before long, Nancy drank two glasses of water while the others were getting a little tipsier and gigglier than before. Candace though was the only other one who didn't drink as much as the others. She ordered an iced tea and downed it in seconds.

"Man, someone was thirsty!" Vanessa giggled. Candace almost spilled the tea on her as she laughed with her friends. It was turning out to be a great night and the bride was really enjoying herself.

"Let's go back out on the dance floor!" Stephanie suggested excitedly. They all agreed and rose to leave. When Nancy stood up she swayed slightly. Vanessa caught her before she could topple over.

"Woah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Nancy mumbled. She looked out onto the dance floor where she could barely see Bess, Amy, and Stephanie dancing, her eyes blurry. Candace was still with them and held on to Nancy's other arm.

"Are you going to be okay, Nancy?" Vanessa asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said waving her off dismissively. Nancy shook her head and suddenly felt dizzy almost falling over again. "Okay, maybe not."

"Maybe we should leave," Candace suggested, guiding Nancy back to the couch. "I don't really want to go back out there anyway. I'm not that good of a dancer."

"I agree," Vanessa nodded. She looked around for the others but stopped when Nancy protested.

"No, we should stay. It's your night, Candace. I don't want to ruin it for you." Nancy's speech was slurred and she was blinking hard, trying to focus but she didn't remember drinking all that much.

"Oh, please, Nancy," Candace said. "I've never had this much fun in all my life. Do you honestly think that you not feeling good will ruin it for me?" She looked at Vanessa. "You can go on. I'll stay here with her."

"No, I don't think i should leave either of you alone," Vanessa said concerned. She looked back out onto the dance floor. "Bess should know though. I'll go get her and be right back. Stay put. Don't go anywhere."

Candace nodded in agreement then watched as Vanessa disappeared into the throng of dancers and drinkers. As the two waited, Nancy eyed a spot outside the alcove that was supposed to mean something but with her brain being fuzzy she couldn't think of what was wrong. She tried her best to get her brain moving but nothing came to mind but she felt she should be on guard.

"Hey, ladies," replied a familiar voice. Candace looked relieved when she saw the man standing before them but when he took a look at the two, his voice became more concerned. "Oh, my gosh! Do you need some help?"


It took her a few minutes to navigate the dance floor but Vanessa finally caught up to Bess and the others. She pulled her toward the bar to talk to her.

"What's wrong?" Bess asked the moment she saw the worried look on Vanessa's face.

"Nancy isn't feeling good," she yelled. "I think we should be going."

"What do you mean she isn't feeling good?" the girl cried. She looked over to where the alcove was but couldn't see anything through the dancers.

"I think she might have drank too much!"

"That's ridiculous! Nancy just drank two glasses of water! She barely had anything heavy to drink." Bess tried to look over the dancers again but still couldn't see anything. She couldn't even see Jax. Her heart started pounding as she looked back at Vanessa. "Something's wrong."

The two girls rushed through the dancers, hearing numerous cries of irritation as they went. When they got to the alcove, they saw the thin sheer curtains drawn, blocking out the small area beyond. Jax was no longer standing at his post which concerned Bess even more. She opened the curtain to find the alcove empty. Nancy's purse and cell phone were still on the table as were Candace's but there was no evidence of them leaving.

"I told them to stay here!" Vanessa cried. "But they couldn't have gotten far. I was only gone for a few minutes."

Bess turned around searching the club but couldn't see or hear anything over the lights and music. The two girls started moving through the crowd looking for Candace and Nancy but turned up nothing. They were nowhere to be found.

"Have you seen our friends?" Vanessa asked stopping one of the waitresses who served them as she went by.

"Which ones, hun?"

"The bride and…"

"Oh, yeah!" the waitress interrupted her pointing towards a hallway in the back. "I just saw them go back to the bathrooms with some guy. Looked like they knew him so I didn't stop them. He was real cute too. Your other friend didn't look good though. She looked…hey! Where you going?"

Vanessa and Bess didn't wait for Anya to finish her sentence before rushing over toward the bathrooms. The two burst in to the ladies room but only to startle a group of girls about 18 years old putting lipstick on.

"Hey, did you see anyone come in just now?" Bess asked politely.

"You mean besides you two weirdos coming in here and causing me to mess up my makeup?" replied an angry dark-haired girl. "Nope and we've been in here for ten minutes now so get lost!"

Vanessa glared at the girl, taking a step toward her but Bess held her back. Her face lightened remembering their cause. They needed to find their friends first before dealing with pettiness from strangers. The two left the bathroom and stopped in the hallway wondering where their friends had gone. They looked at one another then toward the men's room which was the only other place they hadn't checked besides the emergency door leading outside. Vanessa mustered up and knocked on the door but no one was inside.

"What now?" she asked going back towards the club.

Bess shook her head and pulled out her phone. There was only one thing left to do and that was to bring in help.


Frank was bent over the pool table, the cue stick aimed at the white ball as he set his eyes on the eight ball in the corner pocket. The game was the only thing keeping his mind off of Nancy and the girls at the club. They still hadn't heard anything from them but it was only 10:30 and the girls weren't expected back until after midnight. After careful aim, he finally hit the ball and a resounding crack echoed around the room. The eight ball sank into the pocket and Joe let out a groan.

"Dang it!" he cried miserably. "I hate playing pool with you, Frank. You're too good!"

"And that's another $20 you owe me, Joe," his brother laughed. "What does that make? $100 now?"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled folding his arms like a little kid. Joe looked over at Parker who was on the leather couch, his long legs propped up on the table and the TV remote in his hand. "Hey, Parker! You want to help me win back some of my money?"

Parker laughed, turning around to see him. "I'm not that that stupid. I've seen Frank play before and I'd only make it worse for you."

"I'm done anyway, Joe," Frank announced, placing his cue stick back on the wall rack. He went over to the sitting area and plopped down in the recliner. "I wonder when they're going to call."

"Would you?" the young groom quirked an eyebrow. "I mean, come on. They're at a club with friends probably having the time of their lives. Do you honestly think they'd call so early?" When Frank didn't answer, Parker pulled out his phone and began searching for something. "Here, Candace told me she would post pics on social media throughout the night. See?"

He handed the phone to Frank as Joe came up behind him. The brothers' mouths dropped opened simultaneously when they saw the pictures Candace posted.

"Damn!" Joe whistled. He was looking at a picture of the girls, seeing nothing but skimpy dresses and legs. He was a jealous that he wasn't there to actually see Vanessa in a leather mini-skirt.

"Not too shabby, eh?" Parker smirked. "I think you are more worried about the evening than I am, Frank. Besides, we all know that Candace, Vanessa, and Nancy will be back and they'll be safe. Jax is there with them and your dad is outside so we're covered. Plus do you honestly think that since they look like that they would go with the first guy that came along?"

"Looking like that?" Joe piped up and shrugged. "Yeah."

"I highly doubt you actually believe that, Joe."

"Okay, maybe I don't but damn all I see are legs!"

"Joe!" cried Frank incredulously. "What about Vanessa?"

"She's one of them and I never knew Nancy had it in her to wear something so skimpy! She's hot!" Frank whacked his brother on the back of his head. "Ow! I get it! So, you wanna go check out the scene?"

"No, we promised Dad we'd stay here, Joe," he answered.

"As much as I would love to go see Candace in her dress, I'm good where I'm at," Parker laughed. "Besides, the last thing I want is to get drunk the night before the wedding. As if my stomach wasn't already doing flip flops for tomorrow."

"You nervous?" Frank asked.

"Uh, yeah, but I don't think nervous is the word. More like anxious. I just want the day to be over and be with Candace without having to worry about anything else." Parker sighed. "I don't know what's worse: the thought of getting married or the fact that there's a serial killer out there targeting brides. What happened to someone that would drive them to kill another person on what is to be the happiest day of their lives?"

"Maybe he got ditched at the altar?" Joe suggested. "Are you really worried about it?"

"I said I wasn't earlier since Nancy, Jax, and Giles were there but I'm not so sure now." He shook his head. "I just really want to get through tomorrow without any glitches. That's all."

"Well, if it doesn't, it'll make a great story to tell your kids and grandkids," the young Hardy said trying to sound optimistic.

"Joe…" Frank gave his brother a look.

"Sorry, that came out wrong. I'm just saying it will be a part of your story."

"Since when did you get so philosophical?"

"I read it on some wedding magazine," Joe shrugged.

"Okay, now you're scaring me," Frank laughed nervously. "You? Read a wedding magazine? What, was Vanessa dropping hints or something?"

"No." Joe glowered then smirked maliciously. "I found it next to where Nancy was sitting last night. It had pages folded over too."

Frank's face went pale, his eyes wide as saucers.

His brother laughed. "I'm kidding, Frank!" Joe patted his shoulder. "The pages weren't folded."

"Man, that was cold, Joe," Frank growled.

"Hey, you started it."

"Yeah, but you didn't need to be an ass about it!" Frank was relieved when his phone went off. Thinking it was Nancy he quickly pulled it out and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Oh, thank God!" came a frantic voice. He could hear the booming music and voices going on around her.

"Bess?" Frank sat up, his heart pounding in his chest. Something was wrong. He could tell by her voice. Joe's and Parker's smiles seemed to melt when they saw the look on Frank's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"We can't find them!"

"What? I…I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"Candace, Nancy, and Jax!" cried Bess. "They're missing!"


Author's Note:

I told you I would get this chapter out sooner than it took me to do the previous one. Thank you so much for reading and for the reviews! I am really glad to hear that you are enjoying it so far. I know that these chapters are a little shorter than my usual but as you can see, I tend to like my cliffhangers (muwahahahaha!). Believe me, there's more to come! Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and if you will, please leave a review to let me know what you think! Have a great day and as always, God bless! Tootles!