010 Buried Secrets (6 page)

“Oh, yes.” Hannah smiled, as if she could see him. “He had bright black eyes and wavy dark hair and a dimple in his chin. All the girls were crazy about him, but he used to laugh when anyone told him he was handsome.”

“He did?” Nancy asked. “Why?”

“Because he was short,” Hannah said, heading for the back door. “He couldn’t have been more than an inch taller than I am.”

• • •

“So he was short,” Ned said, taking a slice of pizza with everything on it. “All that means is he wasn’t driving that black car today. He still could have killed John Harrington.”

“I know,” Nancy agreed. She picked a mushroom off her pizza and popped it into her mouth. “I guess it was too much to hope for.”

Nancy and Ned were in Dino’s, River Heights’s
busiest pizza place. After talking to Hannah, Nancy had driven over to the Nickersons’ and talked to Ned’s parents about Neil Gray. They had worked for Gray’s campaign because they were against John Harrington, but they’d thought Gray was a very unpleasant man. “Always looking over his shoulder,” Mr. Nickerson said. “Always thinking everybody was out to get him.”

Nancy had thanked them. Then, because she was hungry, and because she had wanted to be with him, she invited Ned to Dino’s so she could tell him everything she’d learned about the case. What she wound up telling him was everything she
hadn’t
learned.

“Your mother doesn’t know where Neil Gray is,” she said. “Your father doesn’t know where Neil Gray is, and Hannah doesn’t know where Charles Ogden is.”

“Well, cheer up,” Ned told her. “At least my parents said that Neil Gray was tall.”

“Tallish,” Nancy reminded him. “Your mother said tallish. He doesn’t sound like somebody whose head would graze the roof of a car.”

“You only have Brenda’s word for that,” Ned pointed out. “And she’s hardly the most reliable witness.”

“I suppose.” Nancy frowned at her pizza slice,
which was now picked clean of everything but the cheese. Shaking her head, she took a new slice and bit into it. “Let’s forget the case for now,” she said. “Let’s enjoy Dino’s.”

Ned leaned back and looked around. Dino’s was packed and noisy as usual, with young people laughing and calling to one another, and the jukebox playing full blast.

“Uh-oh,” Ned said suddenly. “I’m not sure we’re going to be able to enjoy Dino’s after all. Look who’s here.”

Nancy looked in the direction he was pointing and saw Brenda Carlton, her black hair gleaming against a red silk blouse, heading for their table.

“Well, Nancy,” Brenda said, “taking time off from the case? I’m surprised at you.”

Nancy took a sip of soda and tried to ignore her, but Brenda obviously had something on her mind. “I wouldn’t waste too much time if I were you,” she went on. “You just might find I’ve solved the case while you were taking a pizza break.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nancy asked.

“It means I’ve got a lead,” Brenda told her. “An important lead. It’s too bad we’re rivals, isn’t it? Otherwise I might let you in on it.” With a gloating smile, Brenda left the table.

“I just lost my appetite,” Nancy said as she watched Brenda walk away.

“Don’t believe a word she says,” Ned advised. “She’s just trying to get to you.”

“I know,” Nancy agreed. Still, she couldn’t help being curious. Had Brenda really discovered something important about the case? “I really am finished eating, though,” she told Ned. “As soon as you’re done, we’ll go.”

Nancy was quiet as she drove Ned home. Finally he said, “Hey, Nancy, can’t you forget about the case just for a little while?”

Nancy looked over at him, wishing he didn’t know her so well. You’ve done it again, she told herself. Gotten so involved in a case that you practically forgot he was there. “Sorry,” she said. “I
was
thinking about the case, but I was thinking about Hannah, too. Something she said was kind of sad.”

“What was it?”

“When I asked her why she and Charles Ogden never married. She said that things like that happen. You think someone is perfect for you, and then after a while, you find out he’s not.”

Pulling up in front of the Nickersons’ house, Nancy glanced at Ned again. What Hannah had said made her wonder if that was what Ned was feeling about her. Something was still missing in their relationship. They just weren’t as close as they had been. Nancy couldn’t help wondering if
Ned had decided that she wasn’t the one for him anymore.

“Well, I guess things like that do happen,” Ned said. “And it
is
sad, but it’s better to find out sooner rather than later, right?”

Nancy nodded, feeling miserable. “Right.”

“Anyway, thanks for the pizza, Nancy. And remember, don’t let Brenda Carlton get to you.” Ned started to open his door, then leaned across the seat and gave Nancy a kiss on the cheek. “See you,” he said. Then he got out, slammed the door behind him, and trotted up the sidewalk to his house.

Well, he did kiss you, Nancy thought as she drove home. Somehow, though, a brotherly kiss didn’t exactly make her want to jump for joy. By the time Nancy pulled the Mustang into her garage, she was furious with herself.

You should have grabbed him and kissed
him
, she thought, climbing out of the car. Who says you have to wait for him to make the first move?

Disgusted with herself, Nancy pushed the button to lower the garage door. It came down with a screech and a thump. As it settled into place, the garage went completely dark.

Groping, Nancy made her way along the wall, searching for the door that led into the house.
Then she heard it—by the workbench on the other side of the garage—a shuffling sound of someone moving, and then the sound of someone breathing.

Nancy froze. She wasn’t alone in the pitch-black garage. Someone was with her.

F
OR A MOMENT
the garage was completely still, except for the sounds of two people breathing. Nancy knew she was only a few feet away from the door into the house, but she wasn’t sure she should run for it. Whoever was with her might have a gun, and once she opened the door, the light from inside would make her a perfect target.

Trying to keep her voice from shaking, Nancy called out, “Who’s there? What do you want?”

“I came to warn you, Miss Drew.” The whisper was deep and harsh, and it made Nancy shiver.

“Warn me about what?” she asked.

“The Harrington case. It could be dangerous.”

“You mean I might get hurt, and you wanted to warn me about it?” Nancy said. “I guess I should be grateful, but somehow, trapping me in my own garage doesn’t seem like a friendly warning.”

“This isn’t a joke, Miss Drew.” The voice was still a whisper, but Nancy could hear the anger in it. “Stop your investigation of John Harrington’s death.”

“Why should I?”

“It belongs to the past. It’s over and done with.”

Hah! Nancy thought. If it’s over and done with, then why are you so upset about it?

“Enough lives have been ruined,” the voice went on. “Stop your investigation now.”

“And if I don’t?” Nancy asked.

There was a soft chuckle. “You said it earlier—you might get hurt.
Your
life might be ruined, too.”

By then Nancy’s eyes had gotten used to the dark, but even though she could make out the shape of the workbench, she still couldn’t tell exactly where the man was.

“Now,” the voice said, “I want you to do just as I say. If you do, you won’t get hurt—not tonight, anyway.”

Thanks a lot, Nancy thought.

“Get in your car,” the voice directed, “and lie facedown on the front seat. When you hear the garage door open, don’t look up. Remember, I’ll be watching you. If you look up, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

Slowly Nancy felt her way across the floor to her car. Opening the door, she crawled in and stretched uncomfortably across the seats. The gearshift was jabbing her in the ribs. I’ll do this, she thought, but there’s no way I’m not going to look up when that door opens.

In another few seconds, Nancy heard clanging and whirring as the garage door lifted. She forced herself to count to three. Then she lifted her head just in time to see a crouched, shadowy figure slip under the door.

Quickly Nancy slid out of her car and ran out to the driveway. The neighborhood was quiet and well lit by streetlights and a few porch lights. But as far as Nancy could tell, she was the only person around.

A rustling sound made her jump. She whirled around, expecting to see someone creeping along the side of the house. Instead, she saw only the shrubbery blowing in the light wind.

You should have moved faster, she told herself. She walked down the driveway to the street, hoping to see someone fleeing the neighborhood,
but she knew it was useless. Her nighttime visitor was long gone.

Carefully Nancy locked the garage door and went into the house. As she walked into her room, a thought suddenly hit her. If somebody had threatened
her
, had he threatened Brenda, too?

You should call her, Nancy told herself. If Brenda had gotten cornered in a dark garage by a stranger with a deep-throated whisper, she’d probably collapse and be out of commission for a week.

Having Brenda off her back for a week wasn’t such a bad idea, actually! Still, Nancy went to the phone, found the number, and dialed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brenda said after Nancy had explained why she’d called. “Nobody’s told me to stay away from the Harrington case.”

“Well, just keep your eyes open,” Nancy suggested. “This is my second warning, remember? The first one was on the cliff road today.”

“But I don’t get it.” Brenda sounded indignant. “Why haven’t I gotten a warning, too?”

Probably because you’re not much of a detective, Nancy thought. Out loud, she said, “I don’t know, Brenda. I just thought I ought to let you know what’s happened.”

“Well, I suppose I should thank you,” Brenda
said, trying to sound grateful. “But no one’s going to stop me from solving this case.”

No one’s going to stop me, either, Nancy thought as she fell into bed. I don’t care if it’s Neil Gray or Charles Ogden or Todd Harrington or even the mayor of River Heights. No one is going to keep me from figuring this one out.

• • •

The next morning Nancy was sitting in the kitchen, eating an English muffin and trying to decide what to do. So far, she’d had no luck finding Neil Gray or Charles Ogden, but at least she knew where Mayor Abbott was. The problem was, her appointment with him wasn’t until the afternoon, and she hated wasting a whole morning without following a single lead.

The doorbell rang, and when Nancy answered it, she was surprised to see a mailman standing there.

“Express letter for Miss Nancy Drew,” he said.

“That’s me,” Nancy told him. She took the letter and closed the door, wondering if it, too, would be another warning.

The letter read: “Thanks again for your flying leap. If I ever get elected, want to be my bodyguard? Todd Harrington.”

Nancy laughed. Todd’s a real charmer, she thought. She just hoped he was sincere and that he
wasn’t the one who was trying to stop her from investigating his father’s death.

Then Nancy remembered—Todd had left that day for a town-by-town campaign tour of his district. She wanted to have a good look around that tower office, and with Todd gone, she could get into Harrington House without his even knowing about it.

Half an hour later, dressed in a khaki safari jumpsuit with a canvas belt, Nancy was back in the Mustang, heading toward Harrington House. Remembering the day before, she kept a close eye on every black car she saw, but as far as she could tell, none of them followed her. She kept a lookout for Brenda’s red tomato, too. She wouldn’t put anything past Brenda Carlton.

But it wasn’t Brenda Nancy saw as she drove near to the cliff road. It was Bess and George, in bright-colored sweat suits, jogging together along the street where the gasoline truck had just missed getting blown up. Actually, Nancy noticed, it was George who was doing the jogging. What Bess was doing could only be called a shuffle.

Pulling up to the side of the road, Nancy stuck her head out the window and called, “Hey! Need a ride?”

George, her dark hair bouncing, waved and kept trotting in place, but Bess stopped completely.
Her lavender sweat suit was drenched, her blond hair was tangled, and her cheeks were as red as Brenda Carlton’s car.

“Nan,” Bess said breathlessly, “you’ll never know how glad I am you came by. We’ve been jogging for hours, and I haven’t run into a single good-looking guy yet. I’ve been breathing so much dust I’m choking, and I’m totally wiped out.”

“We’ve only been jogging for fifteen minutes,” George told her. “And you said you wanted to keep going.”

“That was before I saw Nancy’s car,” Bess said. “Now that I’ve seen it, I’m ready to collapse.”

“Well, okay,” George agreed as they walked over to climb in. “I guess you shouldn’t go too long the first day out, anyway.”

“First day and
last
day,” Bess moaned, collapsing into the seat.