Inside the house, Nancy was startled as she heard someone bang on the door, calling out her name. Vanessa?

Melissa took the split second that Nancy turned in the direction of the voice to catch her opponent off guard. Bucking forcefully, she rolled Nancy off of her and scrambled to her feet. As Nancy struggled to get up and go after her, Melissa grabbed a chair from the dining room table and swung it at Nancy. Nancy threw her hands up to protect herself as the chair connected with her shoulder, knocking her back to the floor.

Melissa fled through the house, stopping just long enough to yank open a desk drawer in the front entryway. Grabbing out a utility knife, she glanced over her shoulder to see that Nancy was right behind her. Extending the blade of the knife, she whirled on Nancy.

"Stop!" she cried.

Nancy froze, one hand still on her bruised shoulder.

"Melissa, you don't want to hurt anyone else," Nancy said. She heard Vanessa pound on the door again, calling out their names.

"You're right, I don't" Melissa said. Her eyes frantically scanned the hall as Vanessa rattled the door. Spotting the closet, she pointed the knife at Nancy. "I just want to go back to where everything started and put it right. But I can't. Get in the closet, Nancy."

Nancy looked at the closet. "What?"

"You heard me," she said. "Get in there. Please don't make me hurt you." She pointed the knife at Nancy.

Carefully, Nancy backed away from the teenager and opened the closet door behind her. She walked into the closet, pushing the coats that hung there aside. Turning to face Melissa, she tried to reason with her. "Melissa, just hear me out..."

Melissa slammed the door in her face. She could hear the sounds of the desk being dragged in front of the door. Nancy pushed the door. It didn't budge. "Melissa," she called out. "Melissa!"

She heard Melissa's voice. "I'm sorry," she said through the door. "I'm sure someone will let you out. When they do, go ahead and tell the police what you know. Get my sister out of jail. I'm going to put an end to this once and for all." She heard Melissa's footsteps as they raced toward the back of the house. Nancy began to pound on the closet door, shouting for Vanessa.

Vanessa heard Nancy shouts, first Melissa's name, then her own. Hearing a door slam, she ran around the side of the house, only to collide with Melissa as she came around the corner. The teenager stared at Vanessa for a moment, as if trying to figure out how she'd ended up on the ground.

"Melissa, come back here," they both heard Nancy yell from inside the house. Jumping up, Melissa pushed past Vanessa and headed for the street. Realizing that Melissa was getting away, she ran after her.

Grabbing Melissa's arm, she yanked her back. "Where do you think you're going," Vanessa demanded.

Melissa whirled, knife still in her hand. "I'm going to finish this," she said. "Now let me go."

Vanessa quickly dropped her hand. "Ok, no need for violence here!"

She looked quickly around. "How did you get here?"

Vanessa looked blankly at her. "How did I get here?"

"Yes," Melissa demanded. "Did you drive? Walk?"

Vanessa could hear Nancy pounding on something inside the house. "Why?"

Melissa grabbed her arm and held the knife close. "Because I need a ride. Where's your car?" When Vanessa didn't answer, she moved the knife close to Vanessa's throat.

"Answer me! Did you bring a car?"

Vanessa's eyes widened. This was not something she'd bargained for. "Back there, on the next block," she said.

"Good," Melissa tightened her grip on Vanessa's arm, but lowered the knife away from her throat. "Let's go."

"Go?" Vanessa asked. "Listen, taking a hostage - bad idea."

"You're not my hostage," Melissa said. "I'm only fifteen. I can't drive. You're my driver." Keeping the knife close to Vanessa's side, she propelled Vanessa in the direction of her car.

Joe pulled up in front of Maggie's house and raced to the door just steps behind Frank. He could hear Nancy yelling from inside the house.

"We're coming, Nan," Frank yelled. He pushed on the door. It didn't open.

"It's locked," he said, turning to Joe. "Try the back."

As Joe leapt over the porch railing and went around the house, Frank tried ramming his shoulder against the door. It shuddered, but didn't give. Rubbing his shoulder, he looked around the porch for something to break the window with if Joe couldn't get in the back.

Joe, however, found the backdoor standing wide open, Hurrying into the house, he found it empty, with the exception of Nancy, who was banging on something in the front of the house. Quickly heading for the front door, he found the source of the sound.

"I'm in, Frank," he yelled out to his brother. Moving the desk away from the door, he opened it, letting Nancy out.

"You know, Nan, sometimes we find you in the strangest places." Joe offered as she stepped out, rubbing her injured shoulder. Noticing the movement, he asked. "You ok?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'll be fine, thanks." Moving quickly, she opened the door. Frank's worried face filled her vision.

"Are you ok?" he asked, putting his arms around her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she repeated, quickly returning his hug. "Melissa did it, Frank. She killed both women."

"We know," he replied. He motioned to Joe's car, sitting in front of the house. Jeff was getting out of the back seat. "Jeff told us that she killed Sara two years ago and that she planned to get rid of Emma right before Emma's "suicide" happened.

Nancy nodded, glancing up and down the street as the boy came up the walk.. "Melissa confessed pretty much the same thing to me," she said. Jeff joined them. He held a phone out to Frank.

"You left this in the car and it was ringing," he said apologetically. "I thought maybe I should answer it. It's some woman named Callie and she sounds pretty upset."

Nancy's eyes widened at the mention of Callie's name. "Oh no!" she cried. "I forgot all about her and Laurie. I wonder if that's how Vanessa knew I was here?" She glanced around again, this time starting down the steps in search of Vanessa.

"Vanessa?" Joe asked, following Nancy down the steps. "I didn't see Vanessa anywhere."

"Yes," Frank was saying into the phone. "No, she's fine. She's here with us ......No, I haven't seen her anywhere ....Ok, you can go on home..... yeah, one of us will call you as soon as we know something ....I'll tell her .....thanks, Callie."

Frank walked over to Nancy, who was looking up and down the street for something. "Callie wanted to know if we needed her to come back. She said she dropped Laurie by Mom and Dad's and was on her way back here, just like Vanessa told her to do." He looked questioningly at Nancy. "Was Vanessa here?"

Nancy nodded. "I heard her yelling my name." Her eyes filled with worry. "Frank, Melissa's not exactly balancing on stable right now. She's got a knife. That's how she managed to trap me in the closet. Did Callie mention if Vanessa had her car?"

Frank nodded. "She said Vanessa pulled in behind her. Where you told her to wait."

Nancy pivoted and ran quickly through the backyard. Cutting across the neighbors' properties, she came out on the next block. It was empty. Nancy groaned.

She turned to the guys, who had been right behind her. Turning worried eyes to meet first Joe's then Frank's, she said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Grabbing her keys from her pocket, Nancy pushed past both brothers and Jeff as she cut back across the yards towards Maggie's house. Making a beeline for her car, she fumbled with the keys as she tried to open the door. Frank, only a step behind, put a restraining hand on her arm.

"Slow down, Nancy. We don't even know where they're going."

"Yes, we do," she said quickly. "At least I think we do. I'll explain it on the way. Get in the car."

Frank looked doubtfully at her as she pulled her arm free of his grip and slid into the driver's seat. Joe had already yanked open the front passenger door and joined her. Jeff got into the car behind Joe.

"Frank, let's go!" Joe demanded. "Don't just stand there! That girl has Vanessa. If Nancy says she knows where they're going, I believe her. So get in, or we're leaving you behind!"

That's all it took. Frank got in the back and had barely closed the door when Nancy threw the car in reverse and headed out. Slamming back against the seat, he hastily grabbed for the seat belt and buckled in. "Hey Nancy," he said, "remember you're the one in the driver's seat. Not Joe. There's no reason to drive like him."

Nancy managed a smile at him via the rear view mirror. Joe turned around in his seat to glare at his brother. "I'm an excellent driver, thank you very much." Turning back around, he told Nancy, "Ignore him. Just get us to Vanessa."

Nancy slowed slightly as she made a right turn past the police station. Nodding her head in the direction of the station, she asked, "Do either of you have your cell phone with you?"

"I do," Frank said, struggling to get the compact phone out of his pants pocket without unbuckling his seat belt. "Speaking of phones, when this is over, you and I have to discuss the need for you to carry a phone."

"Sure," Nancy said. "Later. Right now I think maybe you should call the police chief and tell him that Maggie lied about killing both Emma and Sarah. Tell him that Maggie was trying to protect her sister and that we're trying get to Melissa now. A little back up would be nice."

"Where do I tell him we're going?" Frank asked.

Nancy met his eyes in the mirror. "I think she's headed for the place this all started. The bluffs overlooking the bay."

Vanessa Bender tapped the gas lightly, as she sped through town, with Melissa sitting next to her in the front passenger seat. She could see the tip of the knife peeking out of Melissa's lap. She contemplated screeching to a stop and trying to wrestle the knife from her, but didn't want to take her chances.

"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" Vanessa asked the teenager.

"I need to get to the bluffs," she said. "Get me to the bluffs and I promise not to hurt you."

"I don't think you're going to hurt me," Vanessa said softly. "Why don't I just pull over and.."

"No!" Melissa said forcefully. "Please don't make me use this." She raised the knife in the air. "I don't want to hurt anyone else. Just keep driving."

Vanessa frowned, but kept the car in motion. Signaling, she turned toward the two lane highway that wound past the bay. "Want to tell me what went on back there?" Vanessa asked.

"Not really," Melissa replied, eyes staring out the windshield.

She risked another glance at Melissa. "Sure you don't want to talk? I'm a good listener. You look like you need a friend."

Melissa stared at her. "I don't need a friend. Besides, I already talked to Nancy. She said I didn't need her for a friend. I need friends my own age, not yours."

Vanessa exhaled. "She was in professional mode, Melissa. Trying to solve a mystery the best way she knew how. When she's not on a case, you'll find she's a great friend - no matter what how young you are. Don't believe that we can't be your friend just because we're a little older than you. You can trust us both."

Melissa shook her head. "You don't want to be my friend," she said. "Sara was my friend. Look what I did to her."

"I don't know what you did to her," Vanessa said. "I'm kind of out of the loop here. I just came to help Nancy. One of my friends." She looked questioningly at the girl as she rounded a curve. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I locked her in the closet so she couldn't follow me." She looked down at the knife. "I never meant for it to go this far." Peering out through the windshield, she pointed to an upcoming curve. "Pull over just past that curve. The road has a wider shoulder there and

no one will hit you if they come around the curve too fast."

Vanessa took the curve carefully and pulled off the road. She recognized the spot. This is where Sara Taylor died two years ago. And just several yards away, Nancy's car had went over the bluffs five years ago. Vanessa shuddered.

Melissa opened the door and got out. "Thanks, um," she paused. "Whatever your name is. I'm sorry I held the knife on you. I didn't know how else to get you to bring me." She slammed the door and headed for the guard rail.

Vanessa's eyes widened as she realized what the girl planned to do. Getting out in the rain, she quickly crossed the distance between herself and Melissa. "What do you think you're doing?" she called out. "Melissa? Melissa!"