Gone: A Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Mystery

5. Everyone

"She may be. The car wasn't totally destroyed and they didn't find a body," I answer. Did that sound hopeful? It really was supposed to.

Mr. Drew nodded curtly. "I guessed right that you were in on finding her. George and Bess have been trying to recruit as many people as possible."

"Thank you, Mr. Drew. Don't worry. If Nancy's out there we will find her," Bess promises.

"I know you will. That's what I'm worried about," Mr. Drew's eyebrows sagged as he turned back to his computer screen. "All of those cases she took, all the danger she put herself in and yet a slippery road and a speeding car are what killed her," he mummers. His eyes drift out the window and we all quietly sneak out.

"Even if Nancy did die, we still should try to figure out how," George says as soon as the door clicks closed.

I want to glare at her. I want to scream at her that Nancy is still alive. But instead, I say, "She was so alive yesterday. How could she be gone today?"

"We saw her yesterday? Just yesterday?" George questions as we pad down the carpeted hall of the lawyer's office.

"George, Nancy told you the Hardys helped with the case, remember?" Bess hinted.

George darkened over. "How did I miss that whole thing." George sighs.

A lady in a gray and purple pants suit came down the hall. She had her arms full of manila folders and she unlocked the door and paused with it halfway open.

"Hello Georgia and Elizabeth," she greeted. "My deepest heartfelt apologies to you both. Nancy was a darling, sweet, precious girl. That girl loved to stick her nose into other people stuff." she laughs. "My, and what a great job she did with my office. If that girl wasn't a detective she would be an interior decorator. You should see my office." She enters the door labeled

MANDILINE M. MOORE

Funny, if she went by Mandy she would have the same name as the actress.

Mandiline opened her room door to reveal a white office room with purple speckled all over. She has a white lined clear desk and purple chair.

"I am a private, undercover investigator so Nancy said putting the purple over the white fit my job and personality." Mandiline laughs. "Dear, sweet, Nancy. I can't believe the poor thing could even hurt a fly through in my head I know she can hurt even more!" Mandiline sighs. "Oh well, I don't want to keep you."

We are all filing out when Joe turns and asks the inevitable.

"Were you named after the actress?"

She smiles. "No, I am not that young. But it is fun to introduce myself as Mandy Moore."

JOE

Why are some days filled with so much excitement? I mean, come on, before three o'clock in the afternoon we have driven across two states, learned about two "dead" people and traveled all the way across the small town of River Heights. After all that I have soaked in today, I am still not sure what to believe. I don't want Nancy to be dead, but what other option is reasonable? Could she really be alive? Is it really just a coincidence that Nancy and her mother died in the same way? My brain is so scrambled I don't know what to think. From the looks of things, Nancy is dead. But how could that be? The Nancy Drew cannot just die in a car accident. As Carson Drew said, she wasn't even on a case. She's a fighter; she's a survivor.

I am usually optimistic in these situations, but what if Nancy's dead?

GEORGE

My first instinct was, of course, Nancy's alive! Why wouldn't she? Maybe this was a prank. Then I realized this was serious. Someone must've kidnapped her, we just have to find the villain and get back Nancy. Then I felt pangs at my heart. Chief McGinnis rules Nancy as dead. PANG! Drew schedules a funeral. PANG! The Hardys disbelief. PANG! The only hope I have is the story of Stella Drew. The accidents are too similar to not be foul play. What if it is the same criminal? Nancy is alive, I sincerely hope.

BESS

Breath hard, Elizabeth. Your best friend certainly seems gone. Is she gone? Well, she had to go somewhere, just where? When the police ruled the crash had killed her, I was with them and I still couldn't believe it. These men and women have worked with Nancy Drew, they knew her personality, her strength, and they still ruled her dead.

Do you know how many times Nancy's driven recklessly and lived through it? I won't even let her drive when I am in the car it's terrifying, even if she only drives that way on cases. Still, she hugs people while she's driving! Come on! But for George's sake, I said I believed that Nancy was dead. Judge me if I am a lying pessimist. I am trying hard to be positive because in order to find Nancy someone has to believe she is alive.

FRANK

The cases match up but it can't be. Neither cases have any evidence of foul play. No criminal would be stupid enough to keep Stella and now kidnap Nancy in the same exact fashion. Fourteen years later and he suddenly decides to take Nancy?! What would he want with them anyway? Why pick the Drew family out? There has to be some explanation other than Stella and Nancy being dead and I wish someone would explain it to me!

NANCY

I try to shake my head. My neck is stiff and pain ripples through my body. My eyes jerk open and pain collides with my vision. White surrounds me. Am I dead? Because I think I am seeing heaven.