Chapter Fourteen

Nancy barely felt Max's hands on her shoulders as he tried to steer her away from the kitchen and into the living room. Her mind was completely numb to anything around her—no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Krieger's face out of her head. Even though the photo was slightly grainy, it was still enough to confirm her worst nightmares.

Dealing with Randy was going to be bad enough. Never in a million years did she ever expect to see John Krieger's face again. It turned out this week was just churning out her greatest hits, pitting her against people who should be rotting far away in prison. She honestly wasn't sure how many more surprises she could take.

"Come on, Nancy. Let's go sit down." Max's voice was gentle as he pulled her towards the sofa.

Nancy snapped out of her momentary shock, pulling out of his grasp easily. "I have to clean up the mess I just made."

Max was determined as he reached for her again, his grip on her firm, but gentle. "The mess can wait, Nancy. Come sit down with me and talk to me."

"But—"

"I wasn't actually giving you a choice."

Sighing, Nancy let Max lead her into the living room. She sat down on the edge of the cushy sofa, her hands clutched in her lap as she stared ahead of her, not really seeing anything out the picturesque window. She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to give Krieger any thought, whatsoever.

All she wanted was to convince herself that Krieger wasn't actually in the picture, that she was seeing things. It was a lot easier to deal with than to deal with the reality that he was back in her life and working side by side with Randy Wolfe.

"Nancy?" Max grabbed her hands and gave them an encouraging squeeze. "Who is John Krieger?"

Nancy shook her head, shooting a quick glance at Max. "He's no one."

"Obviously he is someone or you wouldn't look as if you've seen a ghost." He tenderly grabbed her chin as she tried to turn away from him, cupping her face. "We told each other we would tell the truth. Who is he?"

Closing her eyes, Nancy felt the warmth as his hand rested against her cheek. Just in that touch she felt his strength and she could sense he was trying to give some of that to her. Taking a deep breath, her eyes locked with his. "Krieger used to be the head of the Aquarius Group in New York City."

"What's the Aquarius Group?"

"It was an engineering firm that specialized in underground water exploration."

Max frowned. "How did you get involved with Krieger?"

"I think it may be better if I start from the very beginning." Turning around on the sofa, Nancy angled her body so she was facing him, tucking one of her legs underneath her. "It was a few years ago when myself and Frank and Joe Hardy, a couple of fellow detectives, were hired to pose as married couples by the State Department. We were under the assumption that we were trying to stop a kidnapping in Egypt, but we quickly found out that we were set up."

"Set up, how?"

"Our contact at the State Department, Jonathan Kimball, was a fake. It turned out that he was really John Krieger. Of course, we didn't find that out until sometime later. But the damage had already been done—we'd unknowingly smuggled parts of a bomb into the country."

"I don't understand…"

"Krieger had been close to working out a deal with the Egyptian government to look for water under the Sahara Desert. If he'd been successful with it, it would have meant a lot of money for him and the government. Most of the population of Egypt lives along the Nile River because it's the main water resource. If they found water underneath the Sahara, then it would mean development opportunities in the desert."

Max nodded, but didn't say anything.

"There was a U.S. Senator by the name of Michael Nasser who was supposed to help Krieger secure the deal with the Egyptian government. He was in Egypt to attend a banquet in his honor, but there were rumblings that he was going to back out of the deal with Krieger."

"I guess that didn't make Krieger too happy."

Nancy shook her head. "When he realized that we were on to him, he tried to kill Frank and me, along with one of his employees and his young daughter. He closed us all up in the tombs and it was luck that we were able to make it out of there alive."

Max's fists clenched in anger, but once again, he didn't say anything. Nancy couldn't help but he touched by his display of emotion. "Anyway, we arrived at the banquet and managed to get everyone out of there, including the senator. Then Joe and I disarmed the bomb before it could go off and Krieger and his partner were arrested."

"That's quite a story."

"Unfortunately, it happens to be how a lot of my stories go," Nancy said with a small smile. "Anyway, last I heard, Krieger was sentenced to many years in prison."

"Then how the hell did he get out?"

Nancy shrugged. "He has a lot of money, not to mention plenty of contacts. I'm actually more surprised that he didn't get out any sooner."

"If he's working with Wolfe, then I guess we now know how Wolfe managed to get out of prison." Max let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "The question now is why in the world would he be working with Wolfe?"

"If Krieger did his research on him, then he would want someone who would revenge on me as much as he does. Randy fits the bill perfectly. Not to mention, he's young, eager, and somewhat psychotic."

Max nodded. "But you said that Krieger was much worse than Wolfe."

"He is."

"Why?"

"Krieger doesn't need to get his hands dirty to get what he wants. He has plenty of people he can pay to do the job. He's very intelligent, ruthless, and very accustomed to getting what he wants."

Max frowned. "But you're not the only one who put Krieger away. Why isn't he going after any of your friends?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Nancy chewed absently at her thumbnail. "Maybe he decided to start with me before he moves on to Frank and Joe. Or maybe he figures he can hurt the two of them by coming after me."

"Is that true?"

"Yes." Nancy turned her eyes away from Max, staring at a spot on the floor. "Especially Frank."

"Do the two of you have a history?"

"Something like that…"

"But you're not with him now?"

If Nancy wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn she heard the slightest tinge of fear in Max's voice. She glanced back up to see he was staring at her intently, swallowing hard as he awaited her answer. "No, I'm not with Frank right now. If I was, do you think I would have kissed you last night?"

Max's body visibly relaxed as he smiled shyly back at her. "No, I guess you wouldn't."

"You're right. I would never do that to him." Nancy let out a deep breath, feeling some of the tension deflate from her body. Now that they knew for sure who they were dealing with, they could come up with a solid plan. It still didn't answer the question of what exactly Krieger and Randy were planning for her, but at least they had something now. "I need to go clean up that mess in the kitchen."

Before she could stand up, Max reached for her hand and pulled her towards him.

"Max, what are you—?"

He cut off her question as he softly pressed his lips against hers, cupping her face with his hands. Nancy was surprised by the suddenness of it, but her body relaxed as she returned the kiss.

"What was that for?" she asked when they finally broke apart, her lips tingling.

"Everything is going to be okay, Nancy. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they can't hurt you."

Nancy couldn't help but feel comforted by Max's reassurance. She didn't realize how much she was really worrying about the situation until he'd said that. She had no doubt that Max would do everything to ensure that she stayed safe.

"Thank you, Max," she whispered before kissing him again.

Max smiled and took her hand. "Now, let's go clean up the kitchen and figure out what we're going to do next."

Before you say it, I know I am a truly awful person for not updating any sooner. And I wouldn't have let it go this long if I wasn't sick for the last week and a half. I'm still not one hundred percent, having gone to the doctor twice this week. They still don't know what's going on with me but hopefully we'll figure it out soon.

It's a shorter chapter than I usually deliver and I apologize for it!

I would love to thank the following for their awesome reviews: SC15 (Congrats on being the 100th review!), MCR-1993 (I am trying my best not to make this smutty), Angelvie S, Michelle Gallichio (The books are The Nancy Drew Files #28 The Black Widow and A Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Supermystery Secrets of the Nile), SarahE7191, Alicia Hardy, and Sophie!

I would also like to thank Lady Emily for her gentle prodding in getting me to write again!

I apologize for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy.

Also, my spine-tingling Halloween story will be posted on October 25th