Author's Note:

Merry Christmas! Another chapter! Woo hoo! A good thing too considering tomorrow is not only Christmas Eve but also my daughter's 5th birthday. Hard to believe that she will be 5 tomorrow! If anyone remembers, I was pregnant with her while I was writing Past Transgressions and Magnolia and Wildfire. Wow. That was FIVE years ago. Time sure does fly! But she's growing up too fast! Noooo! And don't get me started with the idea that she starts kindergarten next year...be still my aching heart! Plus the fact that my oldest will be starting middle school? Nope, nope, nope. Not gonna think about it till I need to. Okay, now that I've got that out of my system, we can move on. As it is Christmas, I probably won't be getting another chapter out until sometime next week (or beyond). I'm hoping to get one more in before the end of the year but before 4pm New Year's Eve as I will be glued to my TV with my Michigan blanket, hoodie, and socks on for three and a half hours. Go Blue! Thank you so much for reading the previous chapter and another special thanks to those who left reviews. I love reading your thoughts! It makes me so happy knowing that what I'm doing is bringing joy to people...well, at least I hope it is! I hope that you enjoy this next chapter and, if you will, please leave a review to let me know what you think! Sending good tidings to you all and your families this Christmas (or any holiday you happen to celebrate). May God bless you and keep you as well welcome the birth of Jesus. Much love to you all!

Chapter Fifteen

Just breathe replied a small voice in her head. Nancy's eyes were closed, her thoughts running rampant. The sounds and voices around her seemed to be muted. What was thought to be screams turned out to be a voice that rang out, clearing the fog of mystery.

"Well?" Bündchen demanded.

Nancy opened her eyes, focusing on the woman standing before her. Bündchen's face was still fresh and clean as if nothing happened. Her head was cocked, waiting for an answer. Nancy blinked, confused as to what was going on. The dream seemed so real but the entire event of her beating Bündchen was just an image of what she could do. The question was, was she better than that?

Yes, you are the voice said which gave Nancy a boost of confidence. She knew her pent up frustrations with Bündchen would only lead to a darker path in which Nancy did not want to go down. She wanted to hold her head high and maybe someday actually be able to go home instead of living in this nightmare.

"You're not going to beat me," she finally said, loud enough for the entire room to hear. Nancy rose her head high, her shoulders back. "I know what I am capable of but I am not going to let you or anyone else push me into doing something I don't want to do. You may say these things about my father but I am still his daughter and he would never stoop to your level. Neither would my mother. I am done with this and I am done with all of you."

She pushed her way past Bündchen to leave when a slow clap echoed from the far side of the room. Nancy whirled around to see Donatelli watching her with interest. He slowly walked toward them, his perfectly polished shoes clacking on the floor. As he came up to her, Nancy stood her ground, ready for anything that he might bring down upon her.

"Bravo, Nancy," he said sarcastically. "I commend you. Obviously, I underestimated your strength. I'm impressed."

His next move surprised her just as much as his words. Donatelli smiled, giving her a tender but somewhat awkward hug, one that she did not reciprocate. He then turned to Bündchen, his demeanor suddenly changing.

"I gave you one job to do," he said coldly, "and you did not produce the outcome I wanted."

"But my Lord…" Bündchen stammered but stopped when he held up his hand. The color drained from her face and Nancy began to feel pity upon the woman who was so horrible to her.

"There is nothing you can say to remedy this."

Without warning, Donatelli pulled out a gun and shot the woman point blank in the head. Any female servants who were in the room collectively screamed as they watched in horror. Bündchen knocked back, a look of sheer terror etched on her face. The shot still echoed around the cavernous room as her body hit the ground.

Nancy's mouth hung open in shock, watching the woman die in front of her. A few drops of blood splattered on her face and dress she didn't move to wipe them off. She wasn't sure what was worse though: thinking she killed the woman or actually watching someone else kill her. Even though Bündchen was an awful woman, Nancy didn't want to see her dead.

"Get the body out of here!" Donatelli ordered, putting his gun back in the holster hidden in his jacket. Several guards rushed to attend to the body as he turned his attention back to Nancy. She stood silent, staring at what was left of Madam Bündchen. "I'm sorry I had to do that, my dear. It was you who should have done it but I now know that it's no use trying to change you to something that you are clearly not."

"Why…why did you kill her?" she whispered, her eyes watery. "She…she didn't deserve it."

"Oh, yes, Nancy," he nodded. "She did. I warned her about leaving bruises on your body and your neck is a testament to her ability to follow directions. She brought in outside help without permission. That person is going to be dealt with soon. As a final order for her, I did tell Bündchen to say those things about your father in order to see what you were capable of. It may have been her last job but somehow she still didn't realize the consequence of her failure. Now, she does."

"You're a monster," Nancy hissed, backing away from him.

Before she could get far, Donatelli grabbed a hold of her arm and brought her close to him. "I'm not mad at you, my dear," he replied firmly. He guided her away from Bündchen's body, forcefully intertwining her hand on his arm while never letting go. "I honestly don't blame you for standing up to her like that instead of punching her. But please, enlighten me. Did you really not think of killing her?"

Nancy looked away, bowing her head in shame. Donatelli chuckled as he walked on, ascending the stairs slowly. "I thought so," he said with a smile. "I really wanted you to do it, Nancy. It would have shown that I was right about you. Clearly, I was incorrect."

"What are you going to do to me now?" she said bluntly. She already decided that she would take any punishment with her head held high. Anything to get her away from him.

"Oh, I have something in mind," the man vaguely noted. Just those words alone were cause for concern though Nancy kept her mouth shut.

She noticed that they were not heading for her room, rather the opposite end of the wing. Nancy started to struggle when she realized that he was taking her towards his own room, fearing the punishment involved the bedroom. She could see a guard sitting in a chair outside a door though it wasn't near Donatelli's bedroom. The guard rose to attention as his boss stopped just before him. Nancy was confused as the man opened the door, allowing both her and Donatelli to enter the room.

As they walked in, Nancy's eyes settled on a woman sitting at a window. She was startled at seeing her, not knowing if she was dreaming. The woman turned toward them, then rose slowly from the window bench, her green eyes wide. If no one knew who they were, one would think they were twins with exception to their eye color. Nancy couldn't believe what she was seeing and it was foreign to her in what she said next.

"Mom?"

Gidget scrubbed her hair, careful not to irritate the wound she had in her arm. She never got the chance to go to the hospital or doctor's office to get it looked at but at least the bullet was removed courtesy of Carlos. Still, it throbbed every so often especially when she's in the shower since she had to avoid getting the bandage wet.

Ten minutes later, Gidget stepped out of the shower knowing that she had to complete what she started. It concerned her that Frank had disappeared from his pseudo hotel room making her wonder how he got out before her delivery boys arrived to fetch him. She gave him enough medication to give him either a headache for a week or even completely knock him out for a day or two but somehow Frank was gone. Someone had to have helped him, but who?

Her first thought was of Carlos. He seemed to be irritated with her after she left Nancy behind with Donatelli. But then again, he was irritated in the first place that Nancy was with her when they all escaped on the boat months before. Carlos was against everything she did though he continued to follow her like a lost puppy. He knew the only way to get back to the states and his kid was to align with her to defeat Donatelli, no matter what the cost.

She also wasn't surprised when Nancy refused to come with her when the two actually escaped. The girl could have easily just ran off and found a way off the property but in all honesty, Gidget wanted Nancy to stay behind. It was imperative that she stay with Donatelli. It was the only way for him to actually be caught. Without the evidence of her being there, the man would deny everything and more than likely the police would side with him considering his position. But with Nancy physically being in his home, there was always the possibility of catching him off-guard and the police arriving when needed.

Gidget's thoughts returned to Carlos and now Joe. The two seemed to be quickly becoming allies which she didn't anticipate. She thought Joe would have been angry with Carlos due to his involvement in Nancy's disappearance. But it all changed when she took the phone call from Katherine the day before. When both of them returned to the car, Joe seemed more inclined to help. Then when she took the phone call from Harry earlier, both Carlos and Joe were speaking in low tones away from the car so that she couldn't hear.

With this last thought, Gidget quickened her pace to get out of the bathroom. She didn't want to give either of them the chance to leave or worse, contact Fenton Hardy which would be hard considering the fact that she took Carlos' phone. The moment she exited the bathroom though, Gidget knew she was too late. The cottage was quiet, too quiet. Rushing to the nearest window, she immediately noticed their car was missing.

"Damn it!" Gidget cursed rushing back to the bedroom. Sure enough, the drawer where she hid Carlos' phone was open and the phone missing along with her own. She slammed the drawer closed and gave a loud roar in anger, cursing herself for letting her guard down even for a few minutes. The two men had left her behind. But there was one thing they hadn't counted on. It was only a matter of time before her boys came with who they found in place of Frank. Now she would have the advantage. And she wasn't even close to being done.

When the boys arrived, she would use Harry's cell phone to make one phone call. Carlos will soon learn that he should have never betrayed Genevieve Carter.

While Gidget was in the shower, Carlos and Joe took the opportunity to ditch the woman. They took along Carlos' phone plus a good portion of the supplies they acquired the hour before which included binoculars. Their plan was to get a lay of the land, possibly get a picture of Nancy for proof that she was there, and come up with a plan to get her out. The only problem they foresaw was actually getting onto the estate without detection.

The sprawling estate was beautiful and looked peaceful, with not much activity going on around it. Only an occasional guard was seen walking around the perimeter of the mansion. Joe and Carlos were looking down onto the property from a distance, their binoculars seemingly glued to their faces. One was scanning the front while the other scanned the back.

"Do you see anything?" Joe asked, his voice tired.

"Nada," the former agent replied grimly. "I can't see inside the house either. Most of the curtains are drawn."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

"Hold up," Carlos suddenly said shifting his position.

"What? What is it?" Joe asked looking over at him.

"A car pulling up to the house."

Joe aimed his binoculars in the general direction of the front driveway. Sure enough, a dark sedan pulled up to the front steps of the mansion and the driver quickly got out. Joe watched as two men, one young, one older, exit the back of the vehicle. His heart did a quick jump for he recognized the two but he couldn't quite pick up as to where he'd seen them before.

"Something wrong?" Carlos asked seconds after he felt Joe jump.

"I don't know," he stated, pulling the binoculars down. Joe glanced at Carlos. "I feel like I've seen them before but I don't know where."

"We'll figure it out," the agent nodded. He shifted then rose from his position. Stretching, Carlos wanted to get out of there before someone saw them. It was only a matter of time before a patrol came along, if there was one. "I think we should get out of here."

"Right," Joe muttered, staring at something he noticed. He had to do a double take to make sure but it was definitely something he needed. "Do we have that long-range camera?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because," he smirked. "I think we just found our evidence."

He took the camera from Carlos then aimed it towards where he needed it. Seconds later, Joe was on his feet looking down at the screen of the camera. Staring out the window was a woman who looked a lot like Nancy. Now all they needed to do was get her out.

"We're looking for Jenny Powell," Fenton announced.

The administrative assistant looked up from her computer with a smile, seeing three parents standing in front of her. "I'm sorry," she stated sweetly, "Ms. Powell's not in today."

"We know that," Carson snapped then shook his head.

"I'm sorry for my friend here," Fenton said, patting Carson's good arm. "We just flew in from New York and we are here looking for his daughter and my sons. Ms. Powell was supposed to be with my sons along with a friend of ours."

"Oh!" the woman perked up, her eyes going wide as she looked at each one of them. "You must be Fenton and Laura Hardy and Carson Drew! Ambassador Wallace said you would be coming and that he wanted to see you when you got here. Right this way."

She rose from her chair and escorted the trio down the hall to another door where she knocked lightly. A man's voice responded and they walked into what looked like a large office. The walls consisted of dark paneling riddled with photos of world leaders and a few paintings. Behind a large mahogany desk sat a man of about 45 years of age, slightly younger than the Hardys and Carson. When they walked into the room, the man looked up and smiled as he rose from his chair.

Another man sat in a wing-back chair, facing away from the Hardys and Carson. When he got up and turned, the trio made a collective gasp when they saw who he was.

"Winston!" cried Carson making his way over to his old friend. "What are you doing here?"

"I got here about an hour ago," Senator Hawkley smiled. He shook hands with Fenton and gave Laura a small hug. "I've been keeping an eye on everything here and when I received a phone call from Jenny about the boys going missing I had to come. Parker wanted to come too but he couldn't get away."

"You've spoken with Jenny?" Fenton asked surprised. "When she wasn't at the hotel, we thought…"

"You thought something happened to her and possibly Charlie?" the man concluded. The three nodded solemnly. "They're both fine."

"They're with one of the best guardsmen I've ever had the pleasure of working with," Ambassador Wallace announced proudly. "The first time they called, they had just found cell phones belonging to Frank and Joe. Muldoon has been keeping me posted even if Charlie and Ms. Powell have not."

"Where are they?"

"Well, that's a tough thing to explain," Hawkley answered grimly. He exchanged a look with the ambassador before continuing. "He told us that Charlie figured out where Frank might be but by the time they got there, he was gone."

"How do they know he was even there?" Laura inquired. "There's thousands of places he could be."

Wallace went on to explain how the phones were found and any clues.

"Charlie figured that Frank was there," the senator continued. "A few other clues led them to the hotel. Muldoon stayed outside under order to stay with the car while Ms. Powell and Charlie went inside. Apparently, there were two others there looking for Frank."

"Oh, no!" Laura gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "Are they okay?"

"They're all fine," the ambassador nodded. "Muldoon intervened and the two goons were apprehended. They're currently at a hospital where Muldoon dropped them off and I have a detail going over there right now to interview them to see who them. Muldoon, Ms. Powell, and Charlie were headed to a small town about an hour's drive from here, last time we spoke with them."

"Why are they going there?" Fenton said confused. "They're not going after that baron alone are they?"

"No, they're going after another lead that was given to them by the two men looking for Frank," he shook his head. "Speaking of the baron, I'm sorry but we can't go accusing the nobility of this country on just a hunch. We are guests here and there is no real proof that the baron has your daughter, Mr. Drew."

"I get that," Carson replied gruffly, "but can't we make sure? There has to be a way. What if she is there and we don't know it until it's too late."

"I get what you are saying, Mr. Drew," Wallace said sympathetically, "but it is really out of my hands. If you can get Interpol or Scotland Yard to help, we might be able to do something."

"Unfortunately, Carson," Hawkley piped in, "he's right. Without any real evidence that she's there, we can't do anything."

"So, we came here for nothing?" Carson bowed his head. He knew Nancy was close. All they had to do was find the right evidence of where she was. Then someone might actually believe them. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

"What's bothering you, kid?" Carlos asked as the pair drove away from the estate. Joe looked thoughtfully out the window watching the trees go by. Seeing the two men at the mansion was really bugging him.

"Huh?" he said blinking as he got out of his thoughts. "What did you say?"

"I said 'what's bothering you?' You haven't been the same since we left the estate."

"Yeah, there's something about those two who went into that house," Joe mumbled. "I don't know what but it's just bothering me, that's all."

"I get it. If only Charlie were here we might have been able to get a facial recognition software going on it, right?" the former agent joked. Joe whirled his head around at Carlos, his eyes wide. "What? What did I say?"

"Charlie!" Joe cried shifting in his seat. "He…he had a list of lords who were possible suspects as to who Donatelli was. One of them was that dude!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I swear, it's him! But he seemed too old in my opinion. I mean, I didn't really think that they were involved. Or any of the lords were involved. It's why Frank walked out because I didn't trust his instincts. What I do remember is that this particular guy had two sons. What do you wanna bet that the younger guy was one of his sons!"

"Okay, but what's the significance of the father and son?"

Joe thought about it for a minute. He didn't really spend much time on the lords when Charlie first introduced him but this particular lord stood not because of who he was but who his son was. If only he had his phone or a computer in order to really make sure it was them who he saw.

"I can't remember the guy's name but I remember a little bit about the son," Joe finally spoke. "I'm just not sure if it really is them or not. I don't have a computer or smart phone to look it up."

Carlos nodded then pulled over to the side of the road. He got his phone out of his pocket then opened up Google. "What do you remember?"

"The son had a rap sheet a mile long, not something that anyone would actually forget. I just can't remember his name."

"Does Geoffrey Kingsley ring any bells?" the agent asked glancing at Joe. He passed his phone over and waited as Joe perused the photos and articles.

"That's him," the young Hardy finally stated, pointing to a photo of the son. He flipped through to find the father and sure enough it was the same man they just saw. "Damn. We have to get in there tonight."

"Why? What's the rush?"

"I already had a bad feeling about this whole thing earlier," Joe shook his head and handed the phone back to Carlos. "Now I'm sure of it. Donatelli has something planned and it has to do with Kingsley. We need to get a hold of my dad and let him know."

"And you think your dad will help?"

"Yeah, I do. He's on his way, if he's not here already. That dude we're talking about, the son? He's a known rapist. Sexual assault, DUI, drug possession, you name it."

"So, why are we worried?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It...it's just a feeling."

Carlos sighed then handed the phone to Joe. "Call your dad. Let him know we're going in tonight. I already had a backup plan. I'll just let them know that they need to get here and fast. This ends tonight."