Nancy wished to hell that she had left Ned in the damned car.

It wasn't that he wasn't athletic and capable; it was that he wasn't used to being in this kind of situation, and she had to devote half her attention to him, to making sure he wasn't in danger.

She snorted to herself. Well, any more danger than all the damn guns presented.

She aimed wide over Joey's head intentionally, smiling to herself when he ducked behind the desk, just as she had intended. Ned had moved closer to her, and though he didn't seem particularly happy when she maneuvered in front of him, he remained behind her.

Her aim wasn't quite as good with her left hand, but she was still ninety-five percent accurate with it.

A shot sounded from behind the desk. Nancy jerked back instinctually, avoiding the path of the bullet, and one of the guys in the doorway let out a startled cry, dropping his gun. Nancy darted forward and kicked it behind her, out of his armspan and toward Ned.

She spared him a split-second glance. "Cover Joey," she said quietly. "I've got this."

Ned's gaze was still troubled, but he nodded and sidled around the desk, the muzzle of the gun pointed at the opposite side. She aimed high over the doorway and the men there dropped back, ducking into the hallway, and Nancy heard screaming from outside as the bar patrons finally realized what was going on in the inner office.

It was about fucking time.

Moving quickly, Nancy kicked the door shut, then jammed a heavy chair beneath. Joey's expression was enraged as he glanced between Nancy and her boyfriend.

"Bess. Blonde girl. Was working the bar earlier tonight. Where is she."

Joey's arm tensed. Nancy raised her eyebrows.

"You want me to shoot your hand off?"

The corner of Joey's mouth went up. "You're bluffing."

Without taking her gaze from his—her boss would have reamed her out for it, but he wasn't here to see—she raised the gun in her right hand a few inches and loosed a bullet that kissed his ear, making him howl in pain. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Basement," Joey said angrily, cupping his ear. "You bitch. You're gonna pay for that."

The pounding at the door was growing louder, and Ned looked concerned. "Get the lamp," she said, and Ned raised his eyebrows. "The cord," she explained, tilting her head. "You, asshole. Get up."

Ned was able to manage a pretty tight knot, Nancy noticed, although he ducked when one of the frustrated henchmen outside managed to shoot through the sheetrock. "You wanna kill your boss in here?" Nancy shouted, holding her cell away from her ear as she dialed, and the angry rumblings just got louder, but at least the shooting stopped. "Hi, this is Nancy Drew. There's been a shootout downtown..."

Ned was gazing at her quite frankly when she hung up the phone, having arranged for some cops to come collect Joey and whoever else they could round up before they vanished. "So this is what you do," he said wonderingly.

She shrugged, aware but not really giving a damn that Joey, tied to his desk chair, was still watching them. "Depends on the day," she said lightly, although she did notice that when she scrolled through her contact list again, her hand was shaking a little. Adrenaline.

"Hey, George? Bess is apparently in the basement. Want to go check it out or... Yeah. We'll be up here for a while, keeping this asshole company until the cops get here. ...Yeah, true. Okay. See you in a minute."

Despite herself, Nancy's lips turned up in a small smile when she heard the fire alarm go off. The chaos outside rose to a damn roar, and Ned's eyebrows went up again.

"You sure know how to show a guy a good time."

Nancy's smile widened into a grin. "The night's not over yet, sweetheart."

George tapped on the door in the usual code knock a moment later, and Nancy moved the chair, cautiously letting her in. "George is gonna hang here with Joey while I go get Bess," she said, casting a glance back at Ned. "You can stay here if you want—"

George accepted the gun Nancy handed to her and pointed it at Joey, obviously less than comfortable with the situation, but she still looked very able to handle it. Ned shook his head immediately. "To hell with that. I mean, I wish you'd said something about packing my bulletproof vest before we left the house..."

For a second Nancy almost asked if he was serious, as she glanced into the hallway, her gun at the ready. "Well, I was trying to decide what to get you for Christmas," she commented, keeping her voice low as he followed her. He leaned close to hear her over the drone of the fire alarm, the distraction George had set up so she could more easily sneak inside. "It is pretty hard to know what to buy for the first Christmas together."

"So you're actually assuming we're going to make it through tonight. Instead of getting shot forty-seven times by gangsters."

Nancy snorted. "Okay, if these guys were Russian or Albanian? We'd really be in fucking trouble. The worst part is going to be getting to the basement. And, yes, we are definitely making it to Christmas."

She could hear the smile in his voice with his next words. "I would hug you, but I'm afraid you'll accidentally shoot me. By the way, you look kind of like Lara Croft right now."

"Is this a good thing?" she asked, scanning for possible doors to the basement.

"Very good thing. Plus you look hotter. So, besides a bulletproof vest, what else were you considering?"

"Well, there is this red-velvet white-fur-lined Mrs. Claus suit that seemed appropriate," she said musingly.

"Well, that's a damn tough choice," Ned said.

"Especially since I didn't know Mrs. Claus was apparently such a slut."

Ned was quiet for a moment, and Nancy glanced back at him. "Okay, hand me a gun, Drew, because I have some tension that I definitely need to release now."

Nancy chuckled. "So that was a vote for the bulletproof vest, then?"

He didn't have a chance to respond before they rounded a corner and caught sight of a man guarding a door. Nancy smoothly tucked her guns back into her waistband, outside her shirt this time, and reached for Ned's hand. He slowed to match her lazy gait, and when she tipped her head back to gaze adoringly up into his eyes, he chuckled a little.

They came even with the guard, and Nancy squeezed Ned's hand before she turned to the other guy. "You mind watching out for us?" she said, fluttering her lashes as she reached for the doorknob.

"Can't go back there," the guard said.

"Come on," Nancy said with a pout, reaching behind her back. The guard shook his head, but before he could raise his own gun, Nancy had hers out.

"Ned," she murmured, handing him the other. "I'll be right back."

Bess's blue eyes were wide with relief when Nancy cut the ropes and pulled the gag out of her mouth. "You okay?" she asked, helping her up.

Bess nodded, a little unsteadily. "Yeah," she murmured, touching her cheek and wincing.

"Did that asshole rough you up?" Nancy said angrily.

"A little," Bess admitted, following her to the door.

"Let's get back to the office so I can pistol-whip him a few times before he's in custody."

Bess chuckled weakly. "I know you're joking, but I really wouldn't mind that."

"Oh, I'm not joking," Nancy said, and Ned's eyes widened when he saw the two of them.

"Bess, you okay?"

Bess smiled at Ned. "I will be," she said.

Nancy gestured for the guard to get in the basement, then began to rush them back to the main part of the bar. "So you decided to be my knight in shining armor?" Bess teased Ned.

"Well, Nan promised me some making out later, so..."

Nancy cast a mock-glare back at her boyfriend. "I must have missed that part of the conversation."

"Sorry, I thought that getting shot at kind of implied that..."

George sighed with relief when they walked back into the office. "Bess, you okay?"

Bess nodded, but she stumbled a little when they walked in. "Yeah, I'm... well, I'm feeling a little weak..."

George glanced between Bess and Nancy. They could hear sirens growing louder as the emergency personnel closed in. "I better get her to the hospital," George said worriedly. "Can you guys handle it from here?"

Nancy nodded. As George wrapped her arm around her cousin's waist and began to lead her out, Nancy cast a look back over her shoulder at Joey. Shouts of "Police!" reached their ears. Joey glared back at Nancy.

"You're damn lucky they're here," she told him. By the time the cops found them, Nancy had her guns tucked back under her shirt, and her threatening scowl was replaced by a pleased smile.

"We'll need your statement," the policeman said, as he untied Joey to cuff him.

Nancy nodded, then glanced at her boyfriend. "Look... this usually takes a while," she said apologetically.

Ned glanced at his watch. "Shit. Well... look, when you get home, call me, okay? Let me know you made it in."

She nodded, glancing over at Joey, who was noisily and rather profanely demanding his lawyer. She waited until the cops had led him out before she stood on her toes and kissed him.

He brushed his thumb against her cheek. "This definitely isn't the way I thought tonight was gonna end."

When the policeman walked back in, his notepad out, Nancy smiled and put her mouth against Ned's ear. "Tell me all about it when I call you."