Nancy sat up and stared at the phone. Should she answer it? What if it was Frank? She glanced at the caller ID. "Unavailable" it read.

"Mommy?" Laurie asked. "Are you going to answer the phone?"

Nancy smiled at her. "Of course," she replied. She took a breath, crossed her fingers, and pressed talk on the receiver.

"Hello?" she answered. "Joe Hardy's residence."

"Is Mr. Hardy there?" came an unfamiliar male voice.

"No," she replied. "But he should be back at any time. May I take a message?"

"Is this his friend Ms. Drew that I'm speaking with?"

Nancy froze. "No, this is Rebecca," she replied slowly.

"Rebecca, Nancy, it doesn't make any real difference, now does it?" the voice returned.

"Who is this?" she asked hoarsely.

"Consider me a friend," the man said. "I'm going to give you a message, which you should pass on to your friend Joe. Back off. This doesn't concern either of you. The children you are looking for are in good homes, better than they would have had if their birth mothers had raised them. Open this can of worms and you're going to get a lot of innocent people hurt. You'll tear these kids from the only families they've ever known."

"What you people have done is wrong," Nancy said.

"Depends upon your point of view," the man replied. "You're a mother, aren't you, Miss Drew? You'd do anything to keep your little girl safe, wouldn't you?"

"Are you threatening me?" she asked.

"Only asking a question," he returned. "And I'll bet Joe is enjoying his time with his new found niece, isn't he? It would be a shame if he lost her as quick as he found her. Stay out of this. Both of you. Look what happened to poor Jennifer when she interfered. I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt." With that the man hung up.

When Kevin and Joe returned, they found a very pale Nancy sitting on the couch, with Laurie pulled close to her.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked. "Did Frank call back?"

"Laurie, I need you to go in the bedroom for a few minutes," Nancy said.

"Why, Mommy?"

"Because I told you too."

Recognizing the seriousness in her mother's voice, Laurie got up and disappeared through the doorway. Once Nancy was sure she was out of hearing range, she turned to the guys.

"You got a phone call while you were out," she began. By the time she finished relating the conversation, Joe was livid.

"He threatened Laurie!" he exclaimed. "Incredible. When I get my hands on whoever that was, I'll throttle him!

"You won't have to," Nancy said. "I'll do it myself. But now we have a problem. If I'm going to keep working on this, I need somewhere safe to stash Laurie. I can't take any chances that this is an idle threat. Not when my daughter's life may depend on it."

"Agreed," Joe said. He ran a hand through his blond hair and began to pace the room. "This really burns me up," he said. "I wish I'd been the one to intercept that phone call." He looked over at Kevin. "Ok, here's what we're going to do. We're going to carry on with our evening, as planned. Then you're going to all three stay here tonight."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kevin said. "After all, the caller knew how to get in touch with you. He probably has your address, too."

"I think we're safe - for now." Joe stopped pacing. "And we're as safe here as we would be at your house. After all, the caller knew who Nancy really was. So he probably also knows where they live."

"Why do you need me here tonight?" Kevin asked. "He didn't mention my name, did he?"

Nancy shook her head. "No, he didn't."

"There's safety in numbers," Joe said. "We were all at the graveyard together today. Obviously, someone was either watching us, or Darla. I say we stick together for now."

"Ok," Kevin said. "Not a problem. Just making sure I was needed."

"You're needed," Nancy assured him.

"What then?" she asked, turning to Joe.

"I don't know," he replied. "We'll come up with a better plan in the morning. He walked into the bedroom, and came back with Laurie.

"Uncle Kevin and I have a surprise for you," he told her.

"What?" she asked.

"We rented 'Return to Neverland'. And when it's over, we thought we'd have a big sleepover, right here at my apartment."

Laurie squealed. "All of us?" she asked. "Uncle Kevin and Mommy, too?"

"Yup," Kevin said. "All of us!" He glanced in Nancy's direction.

"That's right, honey," she said, forcing a smile. "Would you like that?"

"Oh yes!" she squealed again. "Let's watch the movie right now! I just love Peter Pan!" She tugged Joe toward the entertainment center.

"I know," he replied, gathering up the movies. "Kevin told me. That's why we picked it for you."

"What's the other one?" she asked, eyeing the second DVD in Joe's hand.

"That one's for the grown-ups," he replied, putting the Disney movie into the DVD player. "For after you fall asleep."

"I won't fall asleep," she said solemnly. "I'll stay awake all night!"

"We'll see about that," Nancy said, as Joe settled into the recliner and Laurie climbed into his lap. Laurie snuggled close to Joe and tuned into the movie, completely ignoring her mother. Despite the events of the day, Nancy couldn't help but smile.

An hour later, Joe found himself tucking Laurie into his bed. "You can sleep in here with Laurie," he told Nancy as she planted a kiss goodnight on the little girl's forehead. "I'll pull the couch out for Kevin, and I'll camp out on the floor in my sleeping bag."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said.

A knock sounded on the door. Nancy and Joe jumped simultaneously. Kevin stuck his head in the doorway. "Want me to answer that?" he asked.

"Hang on," Joe whispered. Reaching under his bed, he pulled out a baseball bat. Handing it to Kevin, he tilted his head toward the door. "C'mon," he said. "Let's see who that is."

Kevin positioned himself to the right of the door as Joe cautiously opened it a crack. Joe's shoulder's slumped in relief when he saw who it was. "Ashlee!" he cried. "What are you doing back so soon?"

"I got back in town early so I thought I'd surprise you," she said. Joe opened the door and let her in. She glanced in astonishment at Kevin as he lowered the baseball bat. "Looks like I'm the one in for the surprise. What are you doing here?"

Nancy emerged from the bedroom. "Joe, who was it?" she asked. "Hi," she said when she spotted Ashlee standing open mouthed in the doorway.

Ashlee stared at her for a moment. "I know you, don't I? From the restaurant last week? Rebecca, isn't it?" she eyed Nancy suspiciously.

"Um, yeah, sort of," she said. She saw the look of jealousy that Ashlee shot Joe and realized that this didn't look very good.

"Hey, Ashlee," Kevin said.

"Hey," she answered, her eyes still on Nancy.

"You're probably wondering what we're doing here," Nancy began.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Ashlee said, folding her arms across her chest. "Joe?"

Joe gave Nancy a look that screamed 'help me!'

"It's a long story," Nancy said. She crossed the room and sat down on the sofa. Patting the seat next to her, she spoke again. "Why don't you sit down here and we'll explain it to you."

"Everything?" Joe asked.

Nancy shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? I have to start explaining myself sometime, don't I?" She smiled at Ashlee.

"Ok," Joe said with a smile. He took a seat on the other side of Ashlee and Kevin took a chair across from them. "Before you start, let me introduce the two of you. It'll help with your explanation."

"Ashlee, remember the story I told you about my brother Frank? How he lost the girl he loved in a car crash five years ago and he's never quite gotten over it?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Do you remember her name?"

"Yeah, I think. It was Nancy, wasn't it?"

Joe nodded. "Ashlee, I'd like you to meet my friend, Nancy Drew."

Ashlee gaped at Nancy. "You're the dead girl? I don't understand." She turned to Joe. "How is this possible?"