Choosing Sides (2 page)

Ned laughed and looked around the room. “Actually, maybe I
shouldn't
be here,” he told her. “I wouldn't want to embarrass you.”

“You could never embarrass me, Nickerson,” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “But I do have to get busy. Bess is around here somewhere. I'll find you guys in a little while, okay?”

It took only a few minutes to pass out the remaining wontons on her tray. She was about to head back to the kitchen when Caroline broke away from a small group to greet her. “This is the first chance I've had all night to thank you,” Caroline said.

Nancy smiled. “I'm happy to help out. I thought your speech was—”

“Excuse me,” an older man interrupted. He was in his late sixties, Nancy guessed, with a short but powerful build, widely spaced pale gray eyes, graying blond hair, and a no-nonsense expression. The man looked past Nancy at Caroline.

“Mr. Blount, I'm so glad you could come tonight,” Caroline said, smiling politely.

“Thank you,” he said in a deep, gravelly voice. “I must say, I'm very impressed by your campaign so far. I can see that you care as much
about River Heights as I do. I'm afraid I have to leave now, but first I'd like to make a small contribution to your cause.” He shook her hand and pressed a check into it, then said goodbye and walked away.

Caroline studied the check. “Wow, that's a lot of ice cream!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening.

Glancing at the check, Nancy saw that it was for five thousand dollars. “Talk about generous!” Nancy agreed. “But what does ice cream have to do with anything?”

Caroline folded the check and slipped it into her dress pocket. “That was Alan Blount. He made a fortune with his ice cream company in Chicago before he retired to River Heights about ten years ago. He really does love this town. He's the one who donated a new wing to the hospital last year. I'm sure glad he's on our side.”

Before Caroline could say anything more, Hector appeared and whisked her off to talk to more supporters. Nancy passed out a few more trays of food, then decided to take a break. She found Ned and Bess standing next to the fireplace in the living room.

“Bess, you mean to say that in this house packed with people, you don't see a single guy you're interested in?” Ned was asking, a teasing glint in his brown eyes.

Bess looked at her friends and sighed. “Sad but true. There's not a cute guy in the whole room who's under thirty.”

“I guess most kids our age don't have money to throw around at fundraisers. . . .” Nancy said. Her voice trailed off as she spotted a newcomer who'd just entered the house. “Or maybe I spoke too soon. Hold on, I'll be right back.”

Nancy quickly made her way to the foyer, where a tall guy in his early twenties was standing. He had short, curly blond hair, high cheekbones, and a cleft chin. He was with a girl who had brown eyes and curly auburn hair.

“Kyle, I'm glad you came!” Nancy said, taking their jackets and squeezing them into the hall closet. She had met Kyle Donovan at her father's law firm, where he had just started as a paralegal. Besides being cute, she knew that Kyle was also really nice—just the kind of guy Bess would go crazy over. But who was the girl with him?

“Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this,” Kyle told Nancy, smiling. He put a friendly arm around the auburn-haired girl and added, “Nancy, this is my sister, Mary.”

“Your sister? Great! I mean, nice to meet you,” Nancy said, shaking hands with her. “Why don't you two come with me? I want to introduce you to my friends.”

Mary hesitated. “I hate to be rude, but I promised my boyfriend I'd call as soon as we got here. Is there a phone I could use?”

“No problem. There's a phone in the kitchen, through that door.” After Mary disappeared into the kitchen, Nancy led Kyle over to Ned and
Bess. When she introduced them, Nancy didn't miss the quick glimmer of interest in Bess's blue eyes. Then, just as quickly, the glimmer disappeared.

Nancy wasn't sure why Bess was acting so cool.

“Kyle, are you in college?” Ned asked.

“Uh, no, just graduated,” Kyle replied, pulling his gaze away from Bess. “I'm working as a paralegal for Mr. Drew—I'm saving up for law school. But I'm taking some time off this week to work on the Hill campaign. We figured that with the election down to the wire, Caroline needs all the help she can get.”

Nancy glanced quizzically at Bess. She had thought that her friend would be attracted to Kyle. He was handsome, smart, and interesting. But Bess was just staring off into space. Kyle, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off Bess, even while he and Ned discussed his plans for law school. Suddenly, Bess excused herself. As she headed out of the room, Kyle followed her with his eyes.

“Did I say something wrong?” Kyle asked, turning back to Nancy.

Nancy shrugged. “Let me see if I can find out what's bothering her.”

She caught up to Bess in the hallway. “Bess, why were you so cold to Kyle?”

“He has a lot of nerve!” Bess burst out. “Did you see the way he looked at me?”

“Hold it,” Nancy said. “Since when is it a crime for a guy to smile at you?”

Bess looked insulted. “I can't believe you're saying this. I mean, sure, he's cute and all, but I saw him at the door with his girlfriend! If you ask me, it's pretty rude of him to flirt with me the second she's not around.”

Nancy burst into laughter.

“I don't see what's so funny about that!”

“I'm sorry, Bess. I should have realized,” Nancy began. “The person you thought was his girlfriend is actually his
sister.”

A look of horror crossed Bess's face. “His sister?” she gasped. “I am such a jerk! Nancy, he must think I'm awful!”

“I'm sure you could convince him otherwise,” Nancy replied, raising an eyebrow. “He definitely seems interested in you.”

“Do you think so?” Bess paused, then grinned. “He really is gorgeous, isn't he?”

“Well, I'm relieved to see the old Bess back,” Nancy joked. “You had me worried there.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go back so I can talk to him!”

• • •

The next morning Nancy arrived at Caroline Hill's headquarters at nine o'clock. For the past week, she and Bess had answered phones, run errands, and generally done whatever was needed. As she glanced around the crowded
storefront headquarters, Nancy saw that Bess hadn't arrived yet. About a dozen other volunteers were scattered about, talking on the phones and stuffing publicity pamphlets into envelopes. Nancy was just going over to help with the pamphlets when Bess walked in, singing softly to herself.

“It looked like you and Kyle hit it off last night,” Nancy said, grinning at her friend.

“Did we ever!” Bess sighed happily. “He asked me out for Tuesday night! Luckily, he's working in your dad's office this morning. If he was here, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else but him.”

“Looks like you've got it bad, Bess,” Nancy commented. “But before we lose you altogether, let's ask Caroline if she wants us to do anything for tonight's rally.” A big rally for Caroline was being held at the high school that evening, and Nancy had a feeling there would be last-minute details to take care of.

Nancy led the way to a doorway at the rear of the room that led to Caroline's tiny office. Hector was already there, standing in front of Caroline's desk and talking on her phone. Caroline was sitting behind the desk, looking at some papers.

“Great party last night, Nancy,” Hector said with a smile as he hung up the phone. “Hi, Bess.”

“You two were a tremendous help,” Caroline added, glancing up from her desk. “Thanks again.”

“No problem,” Nancy replied. “I thought it—”

She broke off as a woman pushed through the doorway, almost knocking down Nancy and Bess.

“Whoa!” Bess exclaimed, stumbling.

“Have you seen this yet?” the woman asked urgently, shoving a newspaper at Hector.

Hector took one glance at the paper, and his face turned white. “Oh, no!” he exclaimed.

Nancy exchanged a worried look with Bess.

“Hector, what is it?” Caroline asked, a note of tenseness creeping into her voice.

Hector handed the newspaper to Caroline. As the candidate spread it out on her desk, Nancy twisted her head around to look at the headline: “Caroline Caught with Cold Cash. Mayoral Hopeful Finances Fencing Ring!”

A shiver of shock ran through Nancy as she looked at the grainy photograph below the headline. The photo showed a woman handing money to a seedy-looking guy. There was no mistaking the woman's face—it was Caroline Hill!

C
AROLINE
!” Nancy exclaimed. “They're calling you a criminal!”

“This is awful!” Bess cried.

“Of all the outrageous stunts,” Caroline spat out. She looked around the room, meeting everyone's gaze directly. “I want you all to know that this story is completely false. Someone is trying to frame me!”

“What exactly does the story say?” Bess asked.

Caroline looked back at the paper and read the article out loud. “ ‘Caroline Hill began her association with Bobby Rouse, seen in the photograph with Hill, when Hill prosecuted him two years ago for armed robbery.' ”

She looked up and frowned. “I remember that case. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough evidence
to convict Rouse.” Turning back to the paper, she read on. “ ‘Later, according to a reputable source, Rouse and Hill became partners in a fencing ring for stolen electronics.' ”

Hector had been reading ahead. “The article says you gave Rouse money to buy electronics that had been stolen from warehouses,” he explained. “Then he sold them for a higher price, and you two split the money.”

“It's all lies!” Caroline said angrily.

Nancy noticed that a crowd of volunteers and staff members had gathered outside the office doorway. Everyone was talking and asking questions.

“Someone's out to frame you, Caroline,” a young guy said.

There were loud cries of agreement, but one woman said, “What about the photograph? It sure looks real.”

“All right, everyone. Calm down and let's get back to work,” Hector said, waving everyone away from the doorway. “This story is false, of course. I'm going to get on the phone to the paper right away to issue a denial.”

Nancy glanced at the article again, and for the first time she noticed the byline. “Bess, look. Brenda Carlton reported this story!”

“That figures.” Bess rolled her eyes.

“You know her?” Caroline asked.

Nancy nodded. “Brenda's father owns
Today's
Times.
He lets her report for the paper, but she's not exactly the most experienced professional on their staff.”

“Hey, Nan, maybe we could talk to Brenda instead of Hector,” Bess suggested. “Since we know her, we might have a better chance of finding out what really happened.”

“Sounds good,” Hector agreed.

Nancy saw that Caroline was still glaring at the newspaper article. “This woman is wearing a flowered dress. I never wear flowered prints!”

Nancy looked at the photo again. “Something's not right about this,” she said slowly slowly. She looked at Caroline, noticing for the first time the silver bracelet that the candidate wore. “How long have you worn that medical bracelet?”

Caroline glanced at her wrist. “Since I was eighteen. Why?”

“And you never take it off?” Nancy asked.

“Of course not, I'm diabetic.”

Nancy felt a wave of relief. “The woman in the photograph isn't wearing one. That
proves
that this picture is a fake!”

Hector, Bess, and Caroline all leaned over the paper. Sure enough, the woman had no bracelet on the wrist of her bare, outstretched arm.

“Nancy, you're a genius!” Caroline exclaimed.

“Great. Now we have proof. I'd better work on a statement to give the media right away.” Hector
took a pad from Caroline's desk and began writing.

“Nancy, my staff is going to be working overtime countering this accusation,” Caroline said. “I know you volunteered to help campaign, but I could really use a good detective to get to the bottom of this, and your dad tells me you're the best. Do you think you could find time to look into the story?”

“Sure thing,” Nancy replied.

“I could help, too,” Bess offered. “If you want me to, that is.”

Caroline flashed a smile at Bess. “Great idea.”

“We'd better go over everything you know first,” Nancy said. She and Bess pulled two wooden chairs up to Caroline's desk and sat down. “Can you think of anyone who would want to ruin your campaign?” Nancy asked.