Hola again :) I'd like to thank all of the lovely reviewers, especially Elja, who has given me advice and help while working on this story. Thanks for everything :) Here's the final chapter of the story. Sorry if you think the ending sucks, but I tried my best. R&R please and enjoy this last chapter :)

PS: My computer fast has changed--I'm starting it tomorrow since I didn't get this story finished lol. Just if you're wonering...

Enjoy.

Peter Lawson, Craig Smith, and Louis Harold were taken into custody immediately. The men were put in three separate holding cells, far apart from one another. Then, one by one, they were brought in for questioning. And one by one, the detectives got the same answer: they were innocent.

It was a ridiculous statement, of course; the three men were found only moments away from murdering Nancy Drew. But for the longest time, they stuck to their story, which was obviously planned out.

"I've told you already, I've never seen Nancy Drew before in my life."

"How do you explain your presence at the time that Ms. Drew was found in the woods?"

"I was just a passerby. Nothing more. I knew nothin' about it."

The detective cleared his throat. "Mr. Harold, I'm giving you one more opportunity to confess. It'll be much easier on you if you cooperate with us." But the man remained silent.

--

It was Craig that finally broke.

After nearly two continuous hours of questioning, Craig Smith finally gave his story.

"Sometime in the middle of July, I received a call from an old friend of mine, Peter Lawson. I had gone to school with him, and he was in my graduating class—we went back real far. Anyway, I hadn't talked to him since the two of us got put in prison two years prior—"

"What for?"

"Breaking and entering."

"Continue."

"Peter said that he had a little favor to ask, and I agreed. He asked if I had heard of Nancy Drew, and I snickered. She'd been the one to put me in prison in the first place, after all. So he said he had an opportunity to get back at her. This was how:

Louis Harold and I followed Ms. Drew from the party held at Emerson College on August 16, just as instructed. We had been keeping a close eye on her the entire night, waiting for our opportunity to come. And finally, it did. As soon as she got into her car, we got into ours and followed her.

We kept a safe distance away from her, just so she wouldn't get suspicious, but she never left our sight. She drove for almost an hour straight before she finally stopped at a small gas station in some deserted-looking town. She went inside to pre-pay for gas. As soon as she did, I turned to Louis to discuss the situation. We decided that as soon as she came back out, we'd grab her; finish the job right then. But she didn't come out alone. Instead, one of the clerks came out, keys in hand, walking quite close to her, chatting nonchalantly. I guess her car died on her, and he jumped it for her. Anyway, she said a quick thanks, got in her car, and left."

Craig paused for a breath before continuing. "We followed her for about another mile before she pulled over to the side of the highway. Louis, who was driving, held back a short while to see what she was doing. We watched as she got out of her car, went around front, and opened the hood. Immediately, smoke emerged, and she jumped back. Louis and I looked at each other. We knew that this was it.

Louis pulled to the side of the road, several feet away from her car, and I jumped out. I ran up to her, asking if she needed help. She smiled and said no, someone was already coming, but thanks for the offer. She reached for the car door, but before she even got the door open, I grabbed her. She immediately began to struggle."

Craig gave a small smile at the memory. "She was a lot tougher than she looks, that's for sure. I had her hands held behind her, but she began to kick hard. She got me good in the knee. My grip loosened a bit, and I was worried that she would get away, so I slammed her against the car. Her entire arm broke through the window, and for a split second, she stopped struggling. I took advantage of the moment and hit her hard on the back of the head. She went limp in my arms. I dragged her to our car, threw her in the back seat, and we left."

"What did you do with her car?"

"Louis drove back as soon as he dropped her off at the cabin. He messed with the car for a while, I guess, and somehow got it working well enough to get it back to the cabin."

Craig continued his story, explaining every vivid detail of the kidnapping and attempted murder. Nancy had been held in a cabin that Peter had rented for the week. She was kept in one of the bedrooms, tied up the entire time. Craig and Louis were given permission to do whatever they pleased with her, and almost immediately decided to rape her.

"But you never raped her?" The detective's question came out as more of a statement than a question.

Craig shook his head. "We tried, but like I said before, she's tougher than she looks. She would yank away from us whenever we came close, thrusting her bound feet up, trying to hit us. We finally gave up on raping her.

After several days, Peter finally said we would need to finish her off fairly quickly. If we didn't get rid of her soon, the police might catch up with us, he'd said. So we beat her. We beat her many, many times in that one night until she finally just didn't come to for the longest time. It was then that they put her in her own car, drove her several miles away, then moved her to the driver's side to look as if she had been driving, all the while taking chance that maybe this time, she wouldn't wake up. After they left her to die, they returned to the cabin, cleaned up, and left for Mexico to start a new life.

The room was completely silent after Craig Smith finished his confession. A detective reached over and turned off the tape recorder, then two officers approached Craig as he was handcuffed and led out of the room. The remaining detectives followed, their faces grim and hearts heavy as for the first time, they realized what exactly Nancy had experienced in that week and a half. The detectives stood outside the interrogation room for several long, quiet moments, before Detective Brown said softly, "It's over."

--

Ned knocked lightly on Nancy's hospital room door. "Come in," Nancy called.

Ned walked in, then closed the door behind him. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," she echoed.

"How're you doing? Do you feel any better?"

Nancy nodded. "They've been taking good care of me, don't worry," she said with a smile.

"That's good," he replied, then kissed her gently. "So I hear you should be out of here soon."

"So I hear," she said. Her smile widened. "We should celebrate. Celebrate the ending of this case."

"I agree." Ned sighed. "What should we do?"

Nancy shrugged. "I think I still owe you one dinner date from earlier," she said. "Since it got so rudely interrupted."

Ned laughed. "'Rudely' just puts it nicely," he said. "But that sounds great."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Carson Drew walked in.

"Dad! I didn't know you were released from the hospital yet. How are you?"

Carson Drew laughed. "I was kept overnight, just to be safe, but I'm fine. The real question is how are you?"

"Better, now," she replied. Ned took her hand and she squeezed it gently.

"I was just dropping in for a moment. I just wanted to make sure you were doing all right."

"I am. Thanks."

Mr. Drew kissed his daughter, and then turned to Ned. "Don't tire the patient out," he said jokingly.

Ned laughed. "I'll try not to."

The young couple talked for a long time after Mr. Drew left. Conversation was carefully steered away from the past week, and instead was focused on other issues. At some point in the conversation, Ned reached into his jacket pocked and felt something solid beneath his fingers, and he remembered his intentions from the night Nancy went missing again. He made the decision that he wouldn't be able to wait much longer.

"Nancy, you know that I love you. I've loved you from the moment I met you. And I know we've been talking about spending the rest of our lives together." He took a breath. "And there's something I wanted to ask you."

Ned pulled a small box from his pocket, then knelt on the firm floor on one knee.

"Oh, my—" Nancy said softly, but broke off.

"I know that this isn't how you would have planned on this happening, and I didn't plan on it either, but here I am, asking, will you marry me, Nancy Drew?"

Nancy nodded fervently. "Of course," she said. "Of course I will."

Ned sighed inwardly a sigh of relief as he stood again and took Nancy in his arms. The young couple kissed, then Ned slipped the ring on Nancy's finger.

"I love you," Nancy whispered.

"I love you, too."

Nancy sighed. "Should we tell the family?" she asked.

Ned shrugged. "If you want to. Or we could wait…"

Nancy smiled. "I think there would be a lot of upset people if we waited," she replied.

"You're right. I'll go get them."

When Ned left, Nancy sighed deeply and closed her eyes, and for the first time in a long time, relaxed.

That night, when Nancy fell asleep, she had a dream unlike any that she had had in the past few weeks.

It was of a beautiful wedding, and the promising years ahead of them.