Chapter Six

The silence in the room was deafening. Only Miranda seemed pleasant over the devastating news as both she and Wendy were the only ones to not know Jessica.

"In light of this," Fenton replied sadly, "I want everyone to go home for the day. Don't worry about your cases that are currently open. Just go home and deal with it tomorrow."

As the group dispersed, Fenton kept close watch on the three women in the room. Miranda tried to take Frank's hand though he shrugged her off and walked toward Joe. She left in a huff followed by Wendy who seemed to smirk a little bit. Stacy walked out the door looking as if she were about to cry. Xander tried to stop her but she just waved him away. Sam came over to Fenton and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Are you sure it was her?" he asked quietly.

"As sure as you are standing next to me, Sam," Fenton answered, hanging his head.

"This burns me up," Sam said angrily. "Jessica was a good and kind woman. Why would anyone hurt her?"

"That's a good question," Fenton replied. "Bayport PD is sending over the file tomorrow. Collig gave us permission to look into it, even though he had some protests from the detectives in the case. I don't care what they complain about. Jessica was one of ours and it just seems fitting that we help out with the case. I take it that you will want to be the one to look into it more closely."

"Absolutely," Sam nodded. "I'll find the bastard if it's the last thing I do."

"We want to help too, Dad," Joe piped in. Frank stood behind him though it looked as if his thoughts were elsewhere. "Jessica was practically a part of our family. The least we could do is all pitch in."

"I'll welcome any help," Sam smiled, looking at the brothers.

"Joe, I think I want you here along with Frank," Fenton said.

"Seriously?" Joe cried. "This is Jessica we're talking about here! I want to help in any way I can."

"No!" his father yelled, hitting the table. Frank looked up, the outburst knocking him out of his thoughts. Joe took a step back, shocked. "I want you two here! Sam, take someone else. This is getting far too dangerous and I am not going to have one of my family get hurt."

"But, Dad!" cried Joe. "We've been in worse situations in the past! You don't think this has anything to do with this whole Jack Treyford thing, do you?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Joe," Fenton sighed. "The more you're together, the less likely anything will happen."

"Said absolutely no one ever," Joe rolled his eyes. He looked back at Frank. "You're awfully quiet. What do you think?"

Frank ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. He was angry that he had to stay at the office another day but he thought that maybe it would really give him the chance to find Nancy. The familiarity he felt with Wendy earlier was still bugging him and she continued to make sure she was nowhere near him. "I think Dad's right," he finally said, looking up at the rest of them. "We need to stay here, Joe. Jessica's death is not something we expected and it might have nothing to do with Treyford for all we know. Our priority is to find out who's feeding the information and where Nancy is."

"Fine," Joe stated, folding his arms in front of him. "We'll stay here. But I want to know if anything from the investigation pertains to Treyford or the case in general."

"I agree," Fenton nodded, looking at Sam. "Sam, let us know what you find. As for you two, this will be your opportunity to get any information out of Wendy, Stacy, and Miranda. From what I saw just now, all three of them have something to hide."

"I trust Stacy, Fenton," Sam piped up.

"Do you really?" he turned his attention to his partner. "Why's that?"

"I can't really explain it at the moment," he answered looking around the room, "but she's a good person even though she seems like a hard ass."

"Then why does she treat me like crap?" Joe asked.

"You'll have to ask her, Joe," Sam shrugged. He looked back at Fenton. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Trust me about Stacy, though. She's trustworthy."

Joe scoffed once Sam left the room. "I don't believe that for one second," he said.

"She is hiding something but I don't think it's that," Frank said softly though he didn't elaborate.

"Let's get home," Fenton stated, pushing his sons out of the conference room. "We can discuss this later. Think about a plan and go through with it in the morning. But I do want to know, Frank, did you find out anything today?"

"Besides the fact that Miranda is crazy, Stacy is hiding something but I don't know what, and Wendy avoids me like the plague?" Frank quipped. "No, nothing at all, Dad."

"And I thought I had women problems," Joe snickered.

"Shut up, Joe." Frank hit him in the arm. "The only way to find out what's going on with them is to ask. I'm not going anywhere near Miranda though and since you and Stacy aren't on the best of terms, I'll take her. You get Miranda."

"Why do I get her?" Joe whined.

"Because you set me up on a date with her," Frank replied. "I have to endure her for at least two hours on Friday so the least you could do is that."

"But we're going on a double date!" Joe pleaded.

"I'll take Miranda," Fenton stated. The three walked out and he locked up the building. "Joe, you talk to Wendy. That way all of us are taking the time to do it. We should be able to figure out something by the end of the day tomorrow, maybe even earlier. Frank, are you sure there's nothing else you can tell us before we go?"

"No," he said rather quickly and went to his car. Fenton and Joe looked at each other knowingly. Something was bothering Frank and there was really nothing they could do to get it out of him.

Nancy watched as the Hardys locked up Hardy Investigations for the day. She knew they were getting closer to finding out everything so she decided to lay low the next day. The near encounters she had with Fenton and Frank that day spooked her. She wanted to talk to them so badly but there was always someone watching or listening. Nancy feared that Treyford and Ned were going to make their move soon.

After making her phone calls to Hayworth and Hannah, Nancy decided to shower and clean up, her hair feeling greasy from all of the products she had in it to keep it back. The long, hot shower felt good to her, the water washing away her fears for the moment. Nancy thought about where she was staying. She knew it was risky to stay so close to the Hardys but she knew it was the best way to keep an eye on them. It was sheer luck that she was able to find an apartment directly across the street above a pizza parlor, much less the fact that it came fully furnished. Although she felt safe knowing that there were people nearby, Nancy still felt a sudden urgency to leave.

As she was drying her hair, Nancy didn't hear the door to her apartment open though the bathroom door was locked. It was the one saving grace from the mistake she made in not bolting her door as usual. When she put down the dryer, Nancy heard a noise coming from the bedroom. Her heart hammering in her chest, she searched the small bathroom for a weapon. There was no way out other than the door. She thanked God that she at least brought some clothes into the bathroom with her and changed into the shorts and t-shirt, her feet bare.

Grabbing the hair dryer to use as a weapon, Nancy unlocked the door and slowly eased it open. She saw no one in the room and immediately went to the bed where she kept a 9mm gun under her pillow. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt nothing under the pillow and she frantically searched around the bed.

"You're not going to find it, Nancy," replied a voice from across the room. She was kneeling beside her bed when the voice came but she knew who it was. Biting her lip, Nancy eased herself up, her head just passing the top of the bed when she saw Ned standing by the door, a smile on his face. "You forget I know who you are and where to find things you hide."

Nancy slowly stood up, backing away though the wall stopped her from going any further. Ned stepped forward, still smirking. She looked over her shoulder, the window inches from her. If she could only get out of the room, she'd be able to get away. She moved closer to the window but she stopped when he laughed.

"You make me laugh, Nancy," he said. "Your mind is always thinking to get out of a sticky situation. Unfortunately for you, there's no way out this time."

"What makes you so sure?" she spat.

"She speaks!" Ned laughed again. "I know there's no way down that window without falling several feet to the ground. Break a leg that way, sweetheart and that won't do well with my plans."

"How did you…"

"How did I find you? Well, that was simpler than I thought it would be. You made several mistakes, Nancy, including taking a picture feet from where you slept." Ned walked closer to her as she searched for a way out. "A little birdie saw you go into the pizza parlor downstairs so I put two and two together and voila. Here we are."

Nancy saw her chance to get out of the room and scrambled across the bed but Ned was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her toward him. He overpowered her easily by picking her up and pushing her against the wall, holding on to her by the neck.

"Get off me!" she gasped, still squirming.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," he said with a smile. "All you have to do right now is to cooperate. If you don't, then we take a little bit different approach. Don't make this any harder than it already is. Now that I have you, the rest will fall into place. Don't worry your pretty little head though. Frank will be joining us soon and the rest of the Hardy clan will come afterward. Then you and I can do what we were destined to do."

He pulled out a small ring and held it up to her to see. "Do you remember this? You said 'yes' and that means you made a promise to me. You need to keep that promise, Nancy."

"You're psycho," she whispered. She continued to squirm though he still didn't let go of her neck. "I'm never marrying you!"

"Oh, but Nancy," Ned said sweetly, "you are and if you don't, I'll make you watch as I torture Frank to death, just like I promised. Now, we're going to walk out the back door without any more fuss. Am I clear?"

The moment he let go of her neck, Nancy kneed him in the groin, causing him to bend over. He cursed at her as she ran out of the room. She was almost to the door when someone grabbed her from behind and placed a cloth to her mouth and nose. Ned moved toward her smirking, her attacker someone she didn't know was there.

"See?" Ned replied, watching her. "All you had to do was cooperate. Now, you can't watch the fun. Good night, Nancy."

Although she continued to struggle as she held her breath, Nancy knew she had to breathe sooner or later. Her attacker was just as strong as Ned and she could hear the man complain as she struggled. Finally, she took a breath, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen. It wasn't long before her eyes drooped and the world went black.

Author's Note:

Well, I hope that everyone's weekend went well and the start of Holy Week is a blessed one. Thanks so much to everyone who left a review! Everything you say is so much appreciated. I did want to respond to a few of you. To most of you, I assure you that things will get better but not right now. To Drumboy100, I am a HUGE GoT fan although I do not have the ability to watch the current season. No one tell me or I hunt you down! I never thought of it in that way but maybe that's why I do kill off these people so easily. I don't know. This chapter is shorter than my usual but if I were to have added more, it would have been a monster chapter and the current ending would have been lost. Don't think you want that. I assure you though that the next chapter is going to explain all (hopefully) so you really don't want to miss it. I plan to get it out before the end of the week but I can't make a promise with it being Easter week. Besides, work and kids play in the mix on that. Good thing is, the next chapter is almost finished since I intended on having it in this one so who knows. As usual, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to leave your mark to let me know that you were here. Until next time, have a great week!

*Pray for Paris and Notre Dame.*