Thank you to everyone for your wonderful feedback. To assure many of you, approximately 90 or so of this has already been written, and updates will be approximately one week (or less) apart. Again, thank you to everyone who has been reading, and especially to the reviewers. And a special thanks (again) to Roswalyn for her continued help and support through this! You're the best!

Also, please pay close attention to the dates at the top of each chapter. The chapters are NOT being posted chronologically for now.

Avoidance by Death

by lightwarai

Chapter 1

April 23rd, 6pm

(evening of the accident)

RING RING

Hannah Gruen, tall, elegant, and graceful, glanced up from the green pepper she was busy slicing up for the salad. It never failed; the phone never rang unless her hands were buried in food or in garden dirt. She swiftly wiped her hands on the apron she wore and reached for the phone.

She listened patiently as the caller dove into his prepared speech on the wonders of their phone company's new long-distance plan. She understood that people had to make a living, and she wasn't one to just hang up on a telemarketer. After a few moments, she turned down the offer graciously and firmly, and hung up.

No sooner had she set the cordless phone back in its cradle then the doorbell rang. She rolled her eyes and smiled, moving gracefully out of the kitchen towards the front door. She peeked through the peephole and saw the River Heights Chief of Police standing on their front porch.

"Chief McGinnis?" she murmured quietly before swinging the door open. It wasn't unusual to see him on their doorstep, but normally he called first.

When Chief McGinnis looked up, she started to greet him warmly, but then she noticed the look on his face. The grief and sadness were as evident as the gray hairs on his head.

"No..." she took a step backward and felt her knees begin to buckle.

"Hannah, I'm so sorry," he reached out and gripped her arms to steady her. His firm grasp gave her no comfort as she struggled to quell the nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her heart pounded in her chest, taking away her breath.

"Is Carson home yet?" he asked, though he already suspected her answer, casting a miserable glance at the lawyer's car in the driveway.

NDHB NDHB NDHB NDHB

RING RING

Carson Drew sighed from his leather office chair as the telephone disturbed his after-work ritual. He knew Hannah would answer, as she always did between his return home and dinner. She screened all calls for him until after dinner, something Elizabeth had always done as well.

He smiled at Elizabeth's picture on his desk. Her happy face smiled back. Although the photo was more than twenty years old, her eyes still sparkled. Exactly like Nancy's.

He turned back to the newspaper, reading the articles he had skipped over during breakfast. It was his way to relax after what was normally a strenuous day at work. Return home, change clothes, quick jog around the neighborhood, then catch up on the news. By the time he would finish, Hannah would usually have dinner ready. Carson always insisted on eating before 7 pm each night.

"Late enough to not need a bedtime snack, and early enough so it doesn't go to my hips," he would joke when questioned.

As he skimmed the article about the latest efforts of world terrorists, the door to his office opened. He glanced up, slightly surprised that Hannah didn't knock like normal. "Hannah?"

Hannah entered and drew in a shaky breath, but didn't say anything. Carson saw her trembling and immediately jumped to his feet, dropping the newspaper on the floor. "Hannah, what is it?" he croaked, his voice catching. Very few things could shake up this firm woman.

She turned and stepped to the side. Chief McGinnis stepped into the office next to her. "Carson, maybe you should sit down…" he trailed off.

Carson didn't miss the tears pooling in his eyes.

"It can't be..." he whispered.

NDHB NDHB NDHB NDHB

In Bayport, New York, Laura Hardy pulled the clothes out of the dryer and placed them in the clothes basket. She hummed softly to herself as she carried the warm, clean clothes into the master bedroom of the Hardy household. Her elegant hands folded the clothes with ease, as she had done so for many years.

The house was quiet, with her husband Fenton on his way home from work, and her sister-in-law Gertrude playing cards with her friends. Her boys were wrapping up a case with Nancy Drew, and would be home in a day or so. She smiled as she thought of the three young people.

Although she dreaded every single case they took part in, she knew it was in their blood. They each had the desires of their fathers embedded into their very core, the desires to protect the innocent and bring justice to all.

And even though Nancy was not her daughter, she felt a special bond with the young woman, who had lost her own mother at a very early age. Laura made it her priority whenever Nancy was around to make a special effort to help her feel welcome in her household. And she never had to worry about Nancy's relationship with her sons. Nancy and Joe got along like siblings. Nancy and Frank were another story, a story Laura had promised herself she wouldn't interfere with unless one of them came to her.

Laura's gaze swept to the window as she heard Fenton's car pull into the driveway, and a smile appeared instantly on her face. She stood up, careful to not disturb the neatly-folded clothes, and quickly headed downstairs to greet her husband. True, they had been married for nearly three decades, but some days, she felt as if it had only been three days.

She reached the front door and opened it, smiling broadly at her husband who was walking up the sidewalk. But when she noticed his slow saunter, she frowned. He was gripping his suitcase firmly in his left hand, and his right hand was shoved in his pocket. Laura felt her stomach turn over at the site, but brushed it aside, thinking it was due to a rough day at work.

When Laura stepped onto the porch and opened her arms to greet her husband, Fenton practically fell into her embrace. "Fenton, honey? What's wrong?"

Fenton dropped the briefcase and wrapped his arms around his wife, holding her tightly, but remained silent.

Laura felt Fenton trembling against her chest. She felt the hairs on her neck rise, as she suddenly became very attuned to the immediate area surrounding them. "Fenton," she whispered, "let's go inside." Still holding onto him, she knelt down to pick up his briefcase.

He allowed himself to be led into the house, keeping his face from her. The dark sky hid the truth that he knew was evident on his features, and he wanted his wife to have as many seconds of painless breathing as possible.

But when she gently pushed him down onto the couch and knelt on the floor in front of him, taking his hands into her own, and looking up into his dark, anguished eyes, the pain embedded itself into her heart.

Fenton looked down at her, meeting her eyes. He saw her bright blue eyes cloud over and moisten. "Laura, I... I have bad news." He stopped when Laura pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Laura." He slid off the couch and embraced his wife, drawing her into his lap. He felt her tears dampen his shirt as his own tears slid down his face.

"My babies," she whispered. Tears streamed down her face, soaking his shirt. For a moment, Fenton didn't know what hurt worse, the death of his sons, or the agony his wife now felt over their deaths.