Joe found that he was having trouble keeping up with the dinner conversation. He wanted desperately to get Nancy somewhere private to find out exactly what was going on. There was no way he was letting her out of his sight before he could at least get a few answers out of her. There just had to be a way to get her alone.

"What did you think of the movie, Joe?" he heard Greg ask.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. He turned away from Nancy, who he'd been attempting not to stare at throughout most of dinner. He noticed Ashlee watching him, a curious look on her face. "I guess I wasn't paying attention. Which movie?"

"Double Jeopardy. Ashlee said you guys watched it the other night.

Joe thought for a minute. His mind was suddenly blank. "Double Jeopardy?" he asked. "I'm trying to place it."

Ashlee gave Joe a funny look. "We just rented it the other night. It Ashley Judd in it. You even teased me about it, telling me that she's your other favorite Ashley. Honestly, Joe, where is your mind tonight?"

"I'm sorry, hon. I guess I had a long day. I think I remember it now. Isn't that the one where she went to jail for murdering her husband, and then discovered that her husband was not only still alive, but living under an assumed name?"

"Yeah," she shook her head. "You couldn't stop talking about it." Ashlee looked as if she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. She pursed her lips tightly and stared at Joe.

Mark decided to break the tension. "While you were spaced out on us, Ashlee's been talking non stop about you, Joe. She's been telling us that you're quite the mystery buff."

"I guess I am," Joe said. "My brother and I used to solve mysteries all the time. We got into some pretty dangerous scrapes occasionally, too. Had some help from our friends once in a while. Nothing like a life or death situation to bring people closer together." He looked across the table, trying to catch Nancy's eye. She was doing a great job of looking anywhere but at him.

"Really?" Mark asked. "I don't know. Danger doesn't really sound like my idea of a good time."

"Oh, but think of the excitement!" Ashlee said. "It must be thrilling to be able to put all the pieces of a crime together, chase down the bad guys, and bring them to justice! Joe's told me some of the most exciting stories about his cases! I mean, it's the kind of stuff you see in movies or read about in a book!"

"Rebecca and Greg solve mysteries," Kevin said.

"Really?" Joe asked, glancing over at Greg. "Oh, are you detectives?"

"No, not at all. It's nothing that exciting," Greg said. "We both work for Find the Children. Parents can turn to us for help with locating missing children. We work along with the police and FBI to bring home everything from runaways to kids caught in child custody disputes."

"What about stranger abductions?" Ashlee asked.

"We those too," Greg replied. "Although, to be honest, most kids that disappear are either runaways or were kidnapped by someone they know."

"So you track down kidnappers?" Ashlee asked. "That's got to exciting - and dangerous!"

"No," Nancy said. "We don't track down the kidnappers. We work to help coordinate the different agencies that do track down kidnappers.

"How does that work?" Mark wanted to know.

Nancy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She could feel Joe's eyes on her. "We work with the parents of the missing child and the Child Abduction Task Force to get out information as soon as a child disappears. I send out releases to the press with the child's photo, help organize people to search the child's neighborhood, pass out fliers, and whatever else needs doing. Greg here helps track down runaways by doing interviews with their friends, searching local hangouts, stuff like that. He tends to deal with teenagers better than I do and most runaways are in their teens."

Kevin grinned. "Don't let her fool you. That may be what her job description says she does, but she gets more involved than that. She actually has helped the LAPD and FBI track down quite a few of those missing kids. "

Nancy shook her head. "That's not what Find the Children does, Kevin. We just coordinate everyone else's efforts."

"That may not be what the organization does," Kevin said with a wink. "But it's what you do. She ought to be working with the LAPD or FBI as a detective. She tracks down those kids like a bloodhound."

"Well how about that?" Joe said. "You guys are mystery buffs too, then! Isn't it a small world!" Nancy glanced over at him finally, meeting his eyes. Joe gave her an innocent smile. "You must tell us about some of your cases, Rebecca."

Nancy shrugged her shoulders. "I wish I could, but I wouldn't want to break a client's confidentiality. Besides, it's not that big a deal. I spend more time counseling parents than tracking down kids."

"Oh, but it is a big deal, Kevin said proudly.

Last year Greg located 27 kids and got them back home to their parents. That may not sound like much, but considering how many runaways never return home each year, it really is. And I've been with Rebecca when she was able to take a mother down to Dept. of Child and Family Services to pick up her son. It was a real tear jerker!"

"Really?" Joe said.

"Oh yeah," Kevin said, patting her hand. She graced him with a completely annoyed look. "She's helped reunite quite a few children with their moms or dads."

"Hmm," Joe said. "That sounds interesting. This would be situations where one parent deprives the other of their child, right?" He looked straight at Nancy.

She lifted her glass as if to take a sip from it, then set it down again. "Yes," she answered, running her finger around the rim of the glass.

"So, tell me," Joe said. "What causes someone to do something like that? Are they running from abusive spouses? Do they fear for their children's lives?"

Nancy didn't answer.

"Sometimes they are doing it to protect their children," Greg responded. "But other times, they're just not willing to let the spouse win anything in the divorce and they put their kids in the middle. Kind of like pawns in a chess game."

"That's so sad," Mark responded.

"I agree," Ashley said, nodding her head.

"I can't imagine why anyone would want to run off and deprive someone else of their child. It must be heartbreaking to the parent that's left behind." Joe shook his head.

"Excuse me," Nancy interrupted. "As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I need to go to the ladies room. I'll be back in a few minutes." She smiled apologetically at Mark.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Ashley asked.

"No," she said. "I know where it is. You guys carry on without me. I'll be back."

Bingo! He knew that if he pushed the right buttons, he could get her alone. Joe waited a few moments, then slid out of his chair.

"Where are you going?" Ashley asked him.

"Bathroom," Joe said. "Nature calls, you know." He grinned, then kissed her on the cheek. "Be right back."

*****

Nancy exited the bathroom stall she had sought refuge in and moved to the sinks to wash her hands. Glancing up, she stared at herself in the mirror. Tears threatened to break through at any moment. She wiped her hand across her eyes, then splashed her face with cold water. 'Get a grip. You can get through this!' She scolded herself.

She'd known this would happen one day. Fate had put her in Frank and Joe's path so many times as teenagers that it was bound to happen again. She'd secretly wanted it to, since she had never found the courage to face what she'd done and just go home. What was she supposed to say if she did? Hey, thought I'd tell you I'm actually alive and have been living someone else's life for the past few years. And oh, by the way, I had a baby. It belongs to Frank, but I didn't think he'd care if I didn't tell him about it? Yeah, right. She supposed she should be glad that it was Joe that had spotted her first. She wasn't sure if she could handle facing Frank. Not yet.

She sighed. "Oh well," she said to the mirror. "Time to face the music." She turned to leave and jumped, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a short scream.

"Joe!" she said. "You scared me half to death! What are you doing in the ladies room?"

Joe was leaning against the door, arms folded over his chest. He stared at her for a moment, then answered, "Nope. Not possible, Rebecca. Can't scare someone to death who is already dead!"

"Well, that's good," she said. "I'm getting humor - or sarcasm at least. Knowing your temper, I figured it would be anger."

"I haven't reached anger yet," he told her. "I'm still mired in disbelief. I promise to work my way up to anger at some point, Rebecca. Don't suppose you care to explain what you're doing in LA, do you Rebecca? Or how long you've been here, Rebecca? Or how you happen to still be alive, REBECCA?" Joe's voice rose slightly on the last word, but his face remained passive. She held his gaze, not quite sure how to respond.

Joe moved from his spot by the door and stood in front of Nancy. Moving in close, mere inches from her face, he searched her eyes. "Hmm," he observed. "The interesting thing is, when I look into Rebecca's eyes, I seem to see someone I thought was a girl named Nancy Drew."

"Cut it out, Joe," Nancy sighed. "There's no need for us to play games with each other at this point. You know who I am. I guess my secret's out."

"Secret?" Joe said. "Not much of a secret. I mean, come on, Nancy, how much more obvious can you get? Using the name Rebecca Addison? If I remember correctly, that's an alias we used for you on that bomb smuggling case in Egypt. And I'm sorry, but that dark brown hair isn't much of a disguise. You haven't even bothered to get contacts to change your eye color."

"I didn't dye my hair to try to hide. I had other reasons for doing that."

"Really?" Joe said. "So the name change doesn't have anything to do with hiding out, either?"

She shrugged. "Can we not get into this now? I'd really like to get through this fiasco of a night."

"No," Joe said. "We can get into this now. I would like some answers. Lots of them. Do you know what you did to your family? Your friends? To Frank?"

Nancy winced. "I can imagine exactly what I did," she replied.

"I honestly don't see how," Joe said.

"Believe me, I do know," she said. "And I know I owe you answers to your questions. But we're standing in the ladies room of a public restaurant. We both have people waiting at the table for us. Let's just go back out there, try to finish this evening, and I promise, tomorrow I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Joe regarded her for a moment. "How do I know you won't pull another disappearing act between now and tomorrow?"

"I won't," she said simply. "I'm not a confused girl barely out of her teens anymore. I'm a little more grown up now, with responsibilities. I'm not planning to cut and run."

"All right," Joe said. "What time do you get off work tomorrow?"

"I'm free tomorrow," Nancy responded.

"Fine," Joe replied. "So am I. I'll pick you up at 11 for an early lunch. Keep the rest of the afternoon clear, because I have a feeling you have a lot of explaining to do."

"Fair enough," Nancy said. She started toward the door, when Joe stopped her by putting his hand on her arm.

"I do need to know one thing now," he said.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Am I an uncle?"

For the first time all night, Nancy smiled. A smile that Joe remembered so well. "Yes. You have a niece."

"What...where is she?"

"She better be home with the babysitter, or Kevin and Greg are in big trouble."

"Good." He removed his hand. "I'm going to want to meet her, you know."

"I'm sure she'd like that." Nancy said. She went to the door and peered out. "The coast is clear, Joe. You better go now before someone comes in and wonders what you're doing in the ladies restroom. I'll follow in a minute or two."

Joe nodded and slipped out. Nancy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'That wasn't so bad,' she thought. 'Now I just need to get through tomorrow.'

*****

Joe dropped his keys on the plant stand by the door to his apartment. He plopped down onto the sofa and closed his eyes. Boy, did he ever have a headache. What an interesting day this had been! Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw the red light blinking on his answering machine. Sighing, he got up, moved to the desk, and hit PLAY.

"Hey, Joe! It’s me, Frank. Remember that case I was telling you about? The one concerning the internet adoption scams. I have reason to believe there’s more to it now. It may involve actual babies being kidnapped and adopted out. Anyway, I need someone to bounce some ideas off of, and you’ve always been my best sounding board. When you get in, give me a call. I really need to run this case by you. Catch you later."