A/N: Huge thanks to all those that are still reading, whether you just stumbled upon my story or have been with it since the start. Enormous thanks to those that take the time to review, follow, and/or favourite, for being the most wonderful kind of people. :) (Note: this chapter is a bit more fluffy than usual)

Hope you enjoy! ;)

George had been pacing the lounge of the lodge for a good 15 minutes, but the snow still wasn't letting down and the cabin phones still weren't connecting. Nancy and Frank would be back at the cabin, she was fairly certain. And, judging by his speed as George left, Joe had moved fast to get Bess back to the cabin in the woods: George was positive they had made it there safely.

But something worse was wrong with Bess. And George wasn't there to help her.

Of course, she trusted Joe completely and knew that he had plenty of experience dealing with dangerous situations. So all things considered, George supposed that Bess was probably in good hands. But her protective instinct for her friends was stronger than logic, and the storm outside was still raging on.

George knew she was pacing a hole in the floor, the small heels Bess had chosen taking the brunt of her anger against the lobby's paneled flooring, but her nervous energy was making her brain rattle with adrenaline. She wrung her hands as she stalked around the room, not really paying attention to her surroundings. A quick check out the glass doors showed that, far from letting up, the storm was actually growing worse.

Fan-fricking-tastic... George thought to herself with a heavy sigh.

She tried to force the glare off her face, knowing that she had probably ended up getting a bit short with the workers in the lodge that were all running around and catering to the needs of the hotel guests. George knew the staff wasn't responsible for the weather, and she couldn't blame them for refusing to send out a rescue team with such horrible visibility, but still.

Something had to be done! More importantly, she needed something, anything, to occupy her for a while. Just sitting around was already driving her insane, and despite her many attempts, it was obvious there was no way any kind of rescue squad could be sent into the blizzard.

"Excuse me, Miss. May I get you anything? A blanket, perhaps, or a glass of water?"

A timid voice broke her restless pacing and she wheeled around to face the man behind it fiercely. George caught herself at the last second, holding her tongue from lashing out at the various things she needed right now that obviously no one could help her out with. George took a deep breath and put a forced smile on her face, smoothing out the bottom of the green dress Bess had chosen for her. She would at least try to control her temper - after all, she couldn't blame the concierge for doing his job.

He was a short man, this concierge, and with the added height from her heels George ended up staring down at him by a few inches. His voice fit his appearance to a T, with mousey brown hair and a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose that gave him a meek, gentle look.

"I'm fine, thank you... Unless..." George paused, and the concierge waited hopefully as she deliberated on her request. "Well, I don't suppose you happen to have a spare laptop lying around, do you?"

Her tone wasn't optimistic, as she didn't really expect the answer would be yes - it was a ski resort, after all - but she figured it couldn't hurt to ask and she desperately needed something to do to take her mind off the situation. She couldn't do anything for Bess right now, but maybe she could help out on the case instead.

The worker beamed, happy that he was able to offer something to one of the lodge's patrons. "As a matter of fact, there's a computer in the lodge's library that guests are welcome to use. I'd be delighted to show you the way."

George gave him a small smile and accepted his offer. A few minutes later she was standing in the library, alone but for a quiet girl who was shelving books in the back of the library. She was pleasantly surprised in seeing the library. She had known, from her research before coming here, that there were several additional sections of the lodge the five hadn't seen yet, but she hadn't expected the library would be this warm and cozy.

Someone had painted the ceiling in a beautiful gold and royal blue, and the wooden tables and shelves were a smooth, dark oak. The golden glow of several small lamps filled the room, combined with small overhead lights set on dim. For the first time since she'd made it back into the lodge, George felt a slight bit more at peace thanks to the quiet of the library.

She wasted no more time admiring her surroundings and headed to the one computer she could see in the room, fairly antique but definitely functional for her purposes. The workers had regretfully informed her that they would all be stuck within the lodge for at the very least several hours, but at least now she had something to do other than twiddle her thumbs in the lobby/lounge.

The computer powered on with a low hum and George set to work. Before Bess had persuaded them all into to the Winter Ball, George's plans for the evening had been to trace the email Frank had given her earlier that day. George paused for a moment as she realized that it had been only that afternoon that they had all sat around the table at the cafeteria eating lunch. It felt like days had passed in the last few hours alone.

Putting her mind back to her work, George focused on her task at hand. According to Frank, he and Joe had found several messages from this sender to Mr. White on his office computer, messages that neither White had mentioned to the detectives that they themselves hired to stop the sabotage around the resort. George didn't need to be a detective to know that that was more than a little bit suspicious.

This was definitely not the first time her friends had needed George to trace or hack an email address, but the ancient computer took ages to load anything up. It took half an hour of fidgeting, toying with the hem of her dress and tapping her fingers on the desk, before her program was able to break into the email account. While she was waiting at the computer, the quiet girl in the library had slipped out and left George alone amongst the books and the quiet stillness that hung in the dusty air.

Finally opening up the email account George perused the emails carefully, snorting now and then at the angry accusations made by the person. Whoever it was, their temper ran high and it seemed as though they had a grudge that stretched 10 miles long. They had obviously been hurt by the White family somewhere along when the Whites made their resort become one of the top businesses of the resort world.

While the content didn't reveal much about the person himself, George did her best to glean as much information as she could. Other than several vague references towards the resort his family had owned, that had apparently been bought out after they had fallen into massive debt, there wasn't much to go on. But George wasn't a quitter, and she was most certainly not going to stop her search at that. Besides, the faint sound of the howling wind hadn't let up outside, and if she let herself stop now the anxiety might creep back up again.

The silly thing was that George wouldn't have had a qualm about facing the storm herself, even in her ball gown and heels, as she was confident in her ability to push through things with sheer will power. George knew that Bess, though ostensibly different in her attitude towards sports, held her own kind of stubbornness and determination, but for all she knew Bess was seriously sick right now and/or stuck in the middle of a blizzard. It was hard to shake those kinds of thoughts from her mind at the moment, but it would do no good for anyone if George dwelled too heavily on it.

Her thoughts kept a running commentary in the back of her mind as she conducted a variety of searches into records of old newspapers and magazines online. There had to be something that referenced a small, family-owned ski resort bought out by the White family.

As she searched, she came across a large number of stories about the White family and their rise to fame and fortune. George had been led to believe that they were born with money, the twin brothers that controlled the lodge, but this was only partially true. Apparently their father had been a poor business man and had come close to losing what little money was left to their family name, until one day they bought up the land the ski resort was built on and began development.

It was fascinating, but not what George was looking for. It took more minutes of frustrating patience as the websites loaded on the slow computer, but George couldn't be picky about her options. She flipped through sites about Canada's ski resorts, the national parks in Alberta, and numerous biographies about influential figures of the White family before she hit the jackpot.

She skimmed quickly through the first few lines of the paragraph, already moving to click away when something jumped out at her. The White family's return in fortune was met with general amazement in the world of business, but some sources question the legitimacy of their source of money.

The page continued on about other examples in the past of scrupulous dealings before returning to the Whites once more. Finally, she found the name of the family whose company had been bought out by the Whites: O'Connor.

George's very being froze. It had to be a coincidence... O'Connor was a fairly common name, after all, because how on earth could Adam, funny and kind Adam of all people, be the one threatening the White brothers online? Was he responsible for the sabotage? He could, after all, very well be an accomplice to the man that had inhabited the cabin that Bess and Joe were likely huddled up inside at the moment.

She was dragged back to the real world with a grinding halt as a hand landed on her shoulder, making her jump in surprise. George felt her heart leaping into her throat for a moment before her pulse resumed its regular tempo as she realized it was no more than the concierge that had led her to the library in the first place.

"Excuse me," he said shyly, apologizing for startling her.

George waved her hand, indicating it was of no importance and gestured for him to continue.

"I thought it might be best to inform you that the phone lines are back up to the hotel and cabins again, so you can try calling your friends again," he said happily.

"You're serious? Thank you," George said sincerely, apologetic at her rude behaviour to the resort workers earlier. "It's very kind of you to let me know."

She hastily shut down the computer and closed the evidence that incriminated Adam, then turned to follow the man back to the lobby. She had to let Nancy and Frank know what she'd learned immediately, just in case Adam had a bigger role in this mystery than any of them had first realized.

AaA

Joe burst into the cabin as the blizzard was still forming, Bess lying limp in his arms. He wasted no time in getting her to the bed that occupied a small space in the little cabin, immediately exchanging her snowy winter wear for as many blankets as he could find piled up around the room.

Her breath was shallow and laboured, and her skin ice cold: Joe was positive she was suffering from hypothermia, and he could have kicked himself for it. Joe should have seen the signs, should have known she wasn't well, and above all he shouldn't have pushed her onward in the snowy weather. Now he might have to pay the ultimate price for his error.

The small cabin was filled with motion as he flew around in a frenzy, unearthing blankets and pillows and starting up a fire in the wood stove. The heat was reassuring, and he hurried back to Bess' side to check on her again.

He knelt beside her bed as she gradually regained consciousness, and took one of her hands to rub between his own for warmth.

"Joe?" she mumbled, her voice groggy and hoarse.

"Right here, Bess. How are you feeling?" he asked anxiously.

She ignored the question, sitting up and taking in her surroundings for the first time. "Where are we?"

"I brought you back to Haines' cabin," Joe said. "George went back to the lodge for help."

Bess' blue eyes widened. "The last thing I remember, I had tripped over something on the ground and fallen."

"One of the effects of hypothermia. That's why you fell unconscious, too."

She raised her eyebrows. "Hypothermia?"

Joe grimaced in guilt. "Bess, this is all my fault. I'm so sor-"

Before he could finish speaking, Bess put a finger on his lips and shushed him. "Don't you dare blame this on yourself, Joe Hardy. There's no way you could have known what was wrong, so I won't have you beating yourself up about it."

He made to speak but she cut him off again. "Seriously. Not a word."
Joe reluctantly agreed to drop it, and Bess grinned happily.

"Let me get you something hot to drink," Joe said instead. He jumped to his feet and crossed the room in three strides, quickly heating up some water in a slightly dusty kettle.

Bringing it back to her side, he crouched on the floor at the foot of the bed with nothing else to sit on in the room.

"Seriously, I'm fine now," Bess said as she sipped slowly at the hot liquid. She was still freezing, but the warmth of the fire and the quilts around her were a huge plus. "Come join me up here," she said, patting the space on the blankets beside her. It was a small, narrow bed, and the comforters and quilts piled on top made it more so, but Joe managed to find some room next to Bess and settled himself in gently.

He examined her subtly from the corner of his eyes, and was relieved to note that, though she was still shivering slightly, the colour was returning to her cheeks again and her breath was slow and even.

She leaned against his side, and he rested his arm around her shoulder to bring her closer. "I have a feeling we might be stuck here for a while," Joe admitted. "But there's plenty of food and firewood, and we can drink the snow if it gets that bad, so we have nothing to worry about."

Bess glanced at the window and found she couldn't see a thing for the snow and frost that covered the glass pane. "What happened while I was out?"

"Like I said, I brought you back to the cabin while George went off to the lodge for help. It wasn't snowing too horribly at that point, but the weather really picked up by the time we arrived back here. At the moment, a full-blown blizzard is in effect and no one will be able to come for us until the visibility is better."

The news was slightly alarming to Bess, but she tried to take it in stride and gave an impish grin. "I have to say, if I had to get snowed in with someone I'm glad it was with you."

Joe smiled at this and let his head fall lightly against hers, reaching for her hand that lay on top of the blanket again. He brought their joined hands up to his lips for a lingering moment and said, ever so quietly, "Me too, Bess. Me, too."

They lay side by side on the bed in silence, save for the whistling of the wind and the crackling of the fire. Leaning against each other for warmth, they fell asleep in the dim glow of the fire.

AaA

When the shrill ringing of the cabin phone broke through the silent tranquility, it startled Frank out his sleep with a jolt. Unfortunately, as the sleeping figure of his girlfriend was still curled up next to him under the comforter, this resulted in a rather rude awakening for her as well as they both fell off the couch.

They landed painfully in a heap of limbs, surrounded by pillows and blankets in front of the dying fire.

Nancy gave a small groan as she untangled her legs from Frank's and brought herself upright on the living room floor. She blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room and realized that a) it was still the middle of the night, and b) the incessant ringing of the phone had finally stopped.

She glanced at Frank, confusion written across his face, and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. With his messy brown hair and rumpled shirt, he looked absolutely adorable to her.

"You know, next time you want to wake me up creatively, a kiss would suffice," she said with a grin, before leaning over to give him one herself.

Frank grinned and reciprocated the kiss immediately, moving closer to encircle her in his arms and run his fingers through her strawberry blonde hair as he pressed his lips firmly to hers. "You know, I think I'll keep that in mind," he said once they finally broke apart for air.

"What time is it?" Nancy asked, having woken up completely by this point.

Frank glanced at his watch, hindered by the poor lighting, and realized it was barely 1:00AM. "About an hour past midnight... was the phone ringing?"

Nancy opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the same shrill tone as the caller tried again. She groaned, but started to get up to answer it.

"No, you stay here, I can get it," Frank said, pushing himself off the floor quickly. He picked up the phone and said hello, and was met with an extremely relieved George on the other end.

"Oh thank god you guys are alright. Is Nancy there too?"

"George?" Frank said in surprise. Nancy, interest piqued, scrambled off the floor to join him at the telephone.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm at the lodge right now, in the lobby. Listen, is Nancy there? I need to tell you guys something important," George said.

Frank held the receiver between them so they could both hear.

"I'm here, George. Is everything okay?" Nancy asked worriedly.

"No," George replied bluntly. "Bess passed out while we were on the trail, and Joe took her back to the hideout cabin because it was closer than the lodge. He sent me back to see if I could get a rescue squad out there, but by the time I made it the storm was a proper blizzard. I tried to call you earlier, but phone lines were down."

"Yeah, we noticed that," Frank said. "And it doesn't look like it'll die down for another few hours at least, if not longer."

"So what did you want to tell us?" Nancy asked curiously. "You said it was important?"

"Yeah." George's voice was grim, her tone utterly serious. "The thing is, I've had a lot of time to kill since I made it back to the lodge so I used the library's computer to track down that email address you found, Frank."

"From Mr. White's office computer?"

"That's the one. So I hacked into the account and decided to read through their emails, see if it gave away anything incriminating."

"And?" Nancy asked in excitement.

"I found-" Before George could finish her speaking, Frank and Nancy heard her cover the mouthpiece with her hand. They heard in the distance the sound of George's name being called.

The two sleuths stared at each other in surprise, but before they could ask what was wrong George brought the telephone to her mouth again.

"Shit. I gotta go," George hissed under her breath, slamming down the phone before either Frank or Nancy could react.

Frank hung up, mirroring Nancy's expression of worry and confusion.

"What just happened?" Nancy asked, nonplussed.

But Frank was now frowning in concentration. "Did that voice sound familiar to you?"

"I didn't hear it very well, except to know it was definitely male," Nancy said as she shrugged. "Why? Do you think you recognize it?"

"I just feel like we know him from somewhere... and besides, they obviously know George somehow."

"That's true," Nancy conceded. "But I don't think we really know anyone at the resort other than some of the employees that we've encountered on the case."

"There has to be someone you've met here," Frank countered.

"Not really... well, except for Adam, I guess," she replied.

The two stared at each other for a moment, cocking their heads to the side in consideration. "Could that have been him?"

"Well, it's not unreasonable that he might have gotten stuck in the lodge with George," Nancy said.

"But then, why would George hang up upon hearing him? She learned something, something important, and she was about to share it before she saw someone."

"There's still no proof that it was even Adam in the first place," Nancy cautioned. "But if it was..."

"George must have found a connection between him and the emails."

"Speaking of which, where did she get the email address from anyway?"

"I gave it to her at lunch, after Joe and I broke into the White brothers' offices. We didn't find anything particularly suspicious in there except for the chain of threatening emails all sent by the same person, none of which were mentioned to us by Mr. White. Joe and I didn't have time to read through all of them so I just grabbed the address of the sender."

Nancy nodded, looking intently at the windows and door thoughtfully. Her behaviour elicited a chuckle from Frank, who said gently,"Nan, you know as well as I do that there's no way we can make it to the lodge right now. The wind's still going and we'd probably end up lost in the snow long before we made it there."

The redhead sighed in disappointment. "You read me too well, Hardy. I just wish we could do something productive... what if George needs help?"

Frank shook his head in response as the two made their way back to the living room. "There's no reason Adam would be dangerous to George while they're both surrounded by the other people in the lodge. George is able to keep her head when she's in dangerous situations, too. She'll be fine for now."

As he stoked the fire and added another log to it, Nancy scooped up the blankets and pillows on the floor and dumped them unceremoniously on the couch, letting herself sink into the pile with a contented sigh. "I hope you're right. And I especially hope Bess is okay."

"Chances are, she may have gotten a mild case of hypothermia," Frank said, biting his lip. "Joe and I have both experienced that before on a few separate occasions during our cases, but on the upside we're both experts in treating it now. All that we can really do now is wait the storm out - as long as all of us are stuck where we are, the bomber and saboteur shouldn't be able to do anything too drastic." Frank could sense the underlying current of worry in her voice, though.

He took his place beside Nancy on the couch and gladly let her snuggle up against his side, hoping he could help offer her some comfort or distraction. "I guess you'll just have to live with being stuck with me, Nance," he teased.

Nancy relaxed against the strong arms wrapped around her, amazed as always by his ability to reassure her even at the worst of times. "You know, I think I can live with that," she said with a growing grin. "Although we may have to find a way to pass the time with just the two of us."

"Oh?" Frank said with raised eyebrows. "Care to elaborate?"

Instead of responding verbally, Nancy shifted her position so that she was straddling his lap, still wearing a mischievous smile. She leaned forward and teasingly kissed him on the cheek, leaving a trail of warm kisses down his jaw. Sensing Frank's need for a little more, she obliged his desire and let their lips meet. But she didn't deepen the kiss yet - she was enjoying this far too much, and didn't want to rush the moment. Nancy slowly trailed her fingers down his shirt as she moved her lips against his.

Nancy let out a soft gasp as she felt his hands, slightly rough but warm, slip under the hem of her shirt to rest against the small of her back. The slow, and slightly tentative, way he moved his hands was driving her crazy. Unable to resist any longer, Nancy parted her lips against his, a small moan escaping her as they moved to this new level of intimacy.

She couldn't get enough of him, and she wasn't sure she ever would. Just the feel of his strong physique made her knees go weak. Nancy wasn't consciously aware of moving her hands, but she suddenly found her fingers entangled in his dark chestnut brown hair as they held each other in a passionate embrace. Her body curved into his, chests pressed closely, and his very touch made her pulse increase.

Even before this case, Frank had thought Nancy beautiful. Tonight, he finally realized that 'beautiful' was a mediocre description at best. For the first time that day, there was nothing to interrupt them and no crook that needed a beating down, and Frank planned on taking full advantage of this. It was just him and her, and nothing else mattered at that moment. Their need for breath was the only reason they parted, and even then it was just for a second or two before they sought each other's lips out again.

For an unknown amount of time that seemed like forever, they remained locked together, their senses filled with nothing more than each other. Gradually, they adjusted their positions until Nancy was partially underneath him, his strong arms holding his weight off of her. She leaned back against the pile of blankets, her body on fire from his deep kisses.

And then the phone rang.

Nancy was the first to react, pushing Frank back and trying to switch gears in her mind as she caught her breath. "That's probably George!" she exclaimed. Nancy raced to the phone, followed by a rather disheveled looking Frank.

"George?" Nancy said as she picked up the phone.

Her friend responded by apologizing first, then explaining that she was in a bit of a rush. "Listen, the important thing is that Adam was the guy that sent those emails and he has reason to hold a huge grudge against the Whites. If what I read was correct, this guy's life was basically ruined by them - he lost his family's entire business after they were bought out by the brothers."

"George, is he there with you now?" Nancy asked urgently.

"Yes, but I haven't let on that I know anything yet so don't worry about me. Wait - he's coming back from the bathroom now."

Nancy stared at the phone, the dial tone indicating that George had hung up on her again.

"So we have another suspect on the list," Frank said grimly. "Now we just need to figure out exactly how much of the damage he was responsible for."

Nancy nodded slowly. "You know, did you catch Adam's last name?" she asked.

Frank shrugged. "O-something, I think. Connel, maybe?"

She tried to recall what had made her think to this. "I have a hunch that we need to take a look at those employment papers again," she said.

They made their way up the stairs, entering Frank's bedroom in search of the lists they had asked for of employee records. It took them about half an hour just to sift through the various names of all the employees, combined with their hiring and firing dates at the resort. They passed the time by making quips to each other about whatever caught their attention on the pages, from a ridiculous name to a hilarious reason for getting fired.

Finally, they found what Nancy had been looking for: "Right here, Frank - Adam O'Connor, fired for being caught sneaking around restricted areas after receiving a warning."

Frank furrowed his brows. "This confirms it: it explains how he got his knowledge of the machines, putting him as the most likely to have committed the sabotage. But then there's his accomplice..."

"How does he fit into all of this?" Nancy pondered out loud.

"We'll find out, Nan. George is likely doing some of her own sleuth work as we speak."

She gave him a small smile, and agreed. "In that case, it's high time we called it a night."

The two gave each other a lingering kiss goodnight before heading to bed, Frank taking Joe's bed and Nancy taking Frank's. The two sleuths slumbered peacefully as the storm raged on outside.