DISCLAIMER: I don't own Nancy Drew.

Chapter 22

Nancy had been sitting there in the middle of the bushes, cramped and now cold, wondering if she had been stupid to come all this way. She was thinking through the mystery, to pumped to sleep like her friends. She sighed, resting her chin on her hands, knees curled up to her chest. She suddenly sat up, rigid and alert as she head the faint sound of footsteps on the gravel. She moved stealthily to peek out of the bushes.

Whoever it was, it was a man. Either that or a freakishly large woman who had to have been an Olympic gold medalist. She turned to wake up George and Bess and stopped. If she shook them, they might say something or make some kind of noise that would alert the person, whoever he was. And the problem was, she didn't know if it was a police officer, a nosy neighbor, Ned coming to meet them, or Raybolt himself. She watched the man as he walked up to the large lawn. He turned towards the ruined house and out of sight.

Nancy made a quick decision and crept out from her hiding spot. She silently stepped on the grass, following the shadowy figure carefully. He stepped onto the ruins, walked over to the stones that had once been the cellar and then pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shone it.

It flashed briefly across his face, but just long enough to see that it wasn't a policeman and no way in hell that it was Ned. Her father had shown her a picture of him before and she knew at once that the tall, lean figure was Felix Raybolt. Anger bubbled up from within her, knowing that this was the guy that had caused the Swenson family all the trouble that had come their way. But Nancy was smart and she waited, doing a slow boil, as the man made his next move.

It was then that she noticed that Raybolt had a shovel in his hand. He grunted as she began digging through the ruins a couple of yard away from where she and her friends had been looking. Nancy watched eagerly as he tossed aside the shovel and bent, throwing a beam of light across a metal door. He swung the door open after a second and reached in for something. He emerged from the safe with a thick stack of papers in his hand.

Yes! Nancy thought. Finally, hardcore evidence that would prove that Raybolt was a thief. Now she could get Joe Swenson out of jail, she could finally see the poor Swedish family together and happy. Her father would make the court case and he would win, no doubt about it.

Nancy's mental celebration was cut short, her face contorting into a horrified, awful expression as she continued to watch Raybolt. He threw the thick stack of papers to the ground with a dull thud and then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a matchbook, lit one and let it drop to the pile. He was going to burn it!

"No!" Nancy yelled suddenly, leaping out of the darkness and stomping the small flame out before it could do too much damage. "You can't do that!"

Raybolt rocked backward, obviously stunned. He stared, wide-eyed and confused at the girl who now turned on him.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. "Why did you hide, Raybolt?"

Raybolt recovered quickly from the badgering and stepped back. "Nosy little bitch," he snarled and turned. "Mind your own Goddamned business, you hear?"

And with that he turned and fled. Nancy gave chase, tripping over some stones and then heading off after the man.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. "I should've waken George and Bess. Well, at least George."

She thought hard, trying to find a way to catch the man. She couldn't just let this crook get away, not now when she was so close to victory. But she couldn't do it alone. She needed help. And all her help was either not at home or asleep. She had one last desperate hope.

"HELP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, screaming with all her might. She hoped she'd wake the cousins.

George and Bess had just sprung from the bushes when she cried out again.

"Nancy!" Bess called out, afraid and on the verge of hysterics.

"Who is that?" George snapped, looking at the person coming up the path.

They realized then that it wasn't one person, it was two. Bess fumbled with her flashlight for a minute and then turned the beam on the approaching shadows. They stopped short, shielding their eyes from the blinding light.

"Bess, turn it off. We can't see!"

"Mr. Drew!" she breathed in relief. "And Ned."

"Where's Nancy?" Ned asked, getting to the point.

"We don't know. We fell asleep and when we woke up she was gone. I think that's her screaming," George explained, features drawn and worried.

"Come on," Mr. Drew said, then stopped as the sound of running footsteps came towards them.

They turned towards the sound, confused and scared. Bess brought her flashlight up again and the man running at them shielded his eyes but didn't stop. He pushed through them.

"That's Raybolt!" Carson exclaimed.

Nancy appeared a few seconds later, gasping. "Get him."

Ned had already dashed after the man, following and gaining quickly. He tackled Raybolt to the ground and gripped him tightly. After a short struggle, Raybolt went with his towards the group. Carson Drew shook his head and looked at the conman.

"Stupid move, Raybolt," he said.

"Eat me, Drew," Raybolt spat. "You and you're freaking crew of gangsters. I can sue, you know."

"You could, but he'd have to come out in public openly and you don't want that. My daughter found that out."

"Daughter, huh? Just as nosy as you, I'll bet."

"You already met her. This is Nancy."

Raybolt glared at Nancy and his lips pulled back angrily. "You."

He moved to lunge at the girl. Nancy stepped back, scared. But Ned was so much quicker. He grabbed Raybolt in an iron grip and yanked him back, holding him painfully in place, the man's face contorting into one of agony. Ned glared down at him, pissed.

"You touch her and I'll rip you apart," he snarled angrily in a low, menacing voice that told Raybolt that the boy meant what he said. He pulled down on Raybolt's arm harder, causing more pain. "Got me?"

"Come on, let's go," Mr. Drew said, leading the way to the cars.

"Where are we going?" Raybolt panted.

"Headquarters."

"I didn't do anything."

"Maybe not," Mr. Drew snorted, obviously unconvinced. "But there's a man who you are going to clear. The name Joe Swenson mean anything to you?"

"Swenson is still-" Raybolt started and caught himself. But he became much calmer, drawn and pale.

Ned and Mr. Drew piled into Carson's car with Raybolt. George drove Ned's mustang and Nancy and Bess followed last. Mr. Drew got down with Raybolt first, the latter calm now. Ned waited for Nancy and walked beside her. He was giving her a disapproving look.

"What?" she asked, a little sad and ashamed.

"You should've waited for me," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah?" Nancy asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where were you anyway, Mr. I'll-have-my-cell-phone-on?"

Ned grinned sheepishly. "My phone ran out of battery and I didn't notice until later. I heard your message late and I called your father. We met at the Raybolt estate and the rest is history. I kind of spent the day with Burt and Dave. We went… well, we were hanging out."

"You went…?" Nancy prodded, interested by his aversion to the subject.

"Hey look, they're taking Raybolt in for questioning. Do your detective-y stuff and whatever. Go," Ned said, pushing her forward.

At first, Raybolt didn't look that flustered. His wife was called down to the station and they waited for her to come down before beginning. Officers Davil and Rock came forward to handle the case, along with Captain Johnson. Johnson nodded his head at Mr. Drew.

"It's your case, Drew," he said.

Carson nodded. "Go ahead."

Raybolt sighed and leaned back in his chair, dirty and disheveled. "Okay, I had a meeting with Swenson the day of the explosion, you all know that I assume. That's why I'm down here. I wasn't in the house, though."

"But you did have some illegal explosives in the cellar, didn't you?" Nancy asked, stepping forward.

Raybolt was surprised by the question, but he sighed meekly. "Yeah, I did. The explosion was an accident. Set off by some electronic wave I guess."

Just then Mrs. Raybolt came in and made a show of hugging and kissing her husband, who didn't look too thrilled about it, but didn't, for his own sake, push her away. When the officers had calmed her down, the questioning continued. Raybolt was asked about his vanishing act, and he gave an evasive answer stating that he'd been stunned, shocked and he drifted off into the woods behind the house.

"Convenient," Mr. Drew said, looking down at the man. "So you just stayed lost, huh? You carry heavy, heavy life and fire insurance, don't you?"

"Heavy," George added from the background.

"You figured you'd just bail out, have your lovely wife here collect and meet you in a brand new place to start a brand new life?"

Mrs. Raybolt started to say something, but her husband cut her off with a wave of his hand. His cheek had reddened with a telltale flush, but the man said nothing at all. Everyone knew he was guilty and that Mr. Drew had hit a bulls-eye with his question. Raybolt was disliked, more than that he was despised. The man probably lived in a constant state of fear that one of his disgruntled ex-clients would come pounding on his door and beat the crap out of him.

Johnson sighed. "Well, if that's it, I guess we can't really hold him. This proves that Swenson is innocent enough. We apologize for having held him, but you have to admit that it pointed his way."

Rock went to go release the man and when he found out he was free, tears came to the Swedish inventor's eyes. He thanked the Drew's and their friends vehemently.

"So, you're just letting them go?' George asked, nodding towards the Raybolt couple. "After everything they've done?"

"We don't have any evidence to hold him," Davil said, obviously disappointed.

"Maybe not," Nancy said, "but I do."

Everyone in the room looked at her with different expressions, her friends waiting, the police surprised, and the Raybolt's with burning hatred. She reached into her oversized bag and carefully brought forth a stack of worn papers, the top few a bit burned.

"These were in Raybolt's safe at the ruins. He was trying to burn them. I figure if he wanted them gone so badly, they had to have been really important."

She handed them to the police chief. Raybolt had gone white, staring in disgust and shock at the papers. Johnson glanced over them, not understanding what they were. He held them out to Carson.

"It's all a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo. Read them through and if there's anything worthwhile-"

"NO!" Raybolt yelled suddenly, jerking forward and grabbing the papers before Mr. Drew could get them. He looked wild, crazed and desperate. "Wait, hold on. Just… hold on!"

The room was silent, staring at him and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Wait, I can… look, I'll confess, okay?"

"Felix, no!" Mrs. Raybolt cried out suddenly. "Shut up, you stupid bastard. Shut up! You'll ruin us!"

"Shut you trap, woman," Raybolt snapped at his wife. "What the hell do you know? Nothing, so butt out of my business! If I don't tell them, I'm ruined. I'll be thrown in jail so fast my head will spin and I ain't doing that. Not for you, not for nobody." He paused and then looked up at Mr. Drew and the police officers in the room. "I admit it, all right? I cheated every single one of my customers. I promised them big sums and then stole their ideas, paying them a minimum balance for it. I'll make good on it, I swear. I'll write each and every single client a check for the total amount. I'll pay it all back if it takes every dime I have, I swear. I'll sign a contract stating the fact, I'll record a video announcement, whatever I have to do. Please, just… I promise."

"No!" Mrs. Raybolt wailed, crying. "Felix, you goddamned, selfish son of a bitch. You son of a bitch! My money!"

"My money! And I'll use it how I need to if it means saving my ass!"

The officers looked to Mr. Drew.

"Like I said, Drew. It's your client. Your case," Johnson repeated, shrugging.

"I'll write up the contract first thing tomorrow morning. Hold him until then," Carson replied stonily.

"Bastard!" Mrs. Raybolt screeched, flaring violently. The she sank into her chair again and sobbed into her hands. "We had it so planned. So perfectly planned. Then you, little Miss Detective Nancy Drew, comes along a ruins EVERYTHING!"

"Are you admitting to having plotted the explosion?" Rock asked, leaning forward interestedly.

"Shut your mouth, wench!" Raybolt yelled.

The girls and Ned stared in shocked silence as the detectives did their work. The damage was done. Little by little a full confession was given and taped. Raybolt admitted to having rigged a TV to set off the explosions by remote at the time that Swenson was supposed to show up. He was supposed to be framed. But Swenson had shown up half an hour early and Raybolt never had a chance to get the papers from the safe. He'd had to blow up the house and disappear, coming back for the papers later. Mrs. Raybolt was responsible for having put the police out for Swenson, trying to pin him for the house. She was going to collect the insurance money and meet up with her husband in Europe. Raybolt made a check to Swenson for the full amount right then and there.

Nancy glared at the two of them in disgust as they were led away to be held. All that conniving and planning at the expense of others. Everyone went home, tired and mentally exhausted. Two days later, the Swenson's invited the Drews, Bess and George, and Ned over to have a celebration dinner at their house. The atmosphere was happy, the family finally past all the obstacles that had hampered them for so long. They thanked all the young people over and over again.

"We wanted to thank you in a bigger way, though," Helen Swenson said, presenting each of the girls, Ned, and Mr. Drew with a wrapped gift.

After a couple of protests, they opened up the packages. The girls had beautiful, hand crafted purses and the men had received wallets. They fawned over them for a while, then sat down to eat.

"You know," Ned commented, "I've been thinking that it was actually really lucky that you dropped your diary, Mr. Swenson, or else none of this would have been solved."

"Indeed," Swenson said with a smile. "You should start one too, Ned. You know, just in case."

Ned laughed. "I'd always thought my life was to boring to write down. That is until lately."

"Oh yeah?" George teased, giving him a knowing look. "Why is that?"

Ned shrugged, but under the table his had slid over Nancy's and she flushed, grinning down at her food like an idiot.

"You just never know what turns up."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's it! What did you guys think? Hope you enjoyed it. If you liked this one, please keep on the look out for my next one. I've decided that I'm also going to do the nest one "Nancy's Mysterious Letter." THANKS to all my loyal readers who review every time I updated. It means a lot to me.