Ned cruised past to go around the block. “He might know he’s being tailed,” Ned said. “In which case, he’s leading us on a wild-goose chase.”
“Or he’s really going to work,” Nancy said.
Ned pulled into the parking lot of the car wash across the street. The sign overhead pictured a big pink elephant, outlined in neon, spraying water out of its trunk. “Maybe. Let’s just sit here and watch for a while.
“You know what?” Ned said after a few minutes. “Why didn’t Rachel tell you where she was last night on the phone?”
“There could be an easy explanation,” Nancy answered, keeping her eyes on Mike’s car. “Maybe she was afraid of being caught talking on the phone.”
Just then Mike came strolling out of the front door of Sound Performance. He walked straight toward the parking lot and got into his car.
“Pretty short workday, huh?” Ned said, starting the car.
“I’ll say,” Nancy agreed.
Mike’s sports car made a U-turn, and he drove past them without glancing in their direction. Ned waited a few beats and then pulled out behind him. There were three cars between the Camaro and Mike’s sports car.
After driving on the freeway for a while, Mike took an exit leading back to the general vicinity of Dennis’s apartment. Nancy sat up a little straighter in her seat, intrigued.
Mike took several unexpected turns, but Ned managed to keep up. Eventually, they were on a street called Beach Drive—the ocean within sight.
The name of the street seemed familiar to Nancy, and she took the Kat Club invitation out of her purse. Sure enough, the party scheduled for that night was being held on Beach Drive. She had the growing feeling that their chase had been worthwhile.
A few minutes later Mike stopped in front of a small two-story beach house. There were cars parked everywhere, and Nancy and Ned kept their distance.
“This is it,” Nancy whispered, seeing the cat logo painted above the front door.
“You mean—” Ned began.
Nancy nodded. “Yep. I’ll bet you anything this is the Kat Club.”
“That means that for all his denying it at Dennis’s apartment, Mike does know these Kats! Or is one!”
The words were barely out of Ned’s mouth when Nancy saw two people she knew come out of the Kat Club and greet Mike—Beth and Jessica. In her mind she saw Beth playing with the cat necklace around her neck.
Nancy’s words caught in her throat. “They’re Kats, too!”
Chapter
Twelve
THEY’VE BEEN LYING to us all along!” Nancy said.
Ned grabbed her arm. “Wait a minute. We don’t know that they’re Kats. We don’t have proof that any of them are behind the note we got.”
“But they know Kats,” Nancy pointed out. “That much is obvious. And they probably know who left that note. Ned, we’ve got to get in there and find out what’s going on.”
Ned shook his head. “Not now. There’s too much chance of being seen.”
“You’re right,” Nancy agreed reluctantly. “I guess we’ll have to come back tonight as we planned. But, Ned” —Nancy stopped short— “I just had a terrible thought. Suppose they’re holding Rachel in there? Her note did say she was in terrible trouble. We know one of the Kats doesn’t want us looking for her. What if they’re the ones hiding her?”
Ned backed the Camaro around a corner. “Her own friends? Why would they do that?”
Nancy ran a hand through her hair distractedly. “I know it doesn’t make sense. Think about it, though—Mike was lying to us about the Kats. He might be lying about not knowing where Rachel is. Beth obviously knows more than she’s telling, too.”
“It might all be perfectly innocent,” Ned pointed out. “Although I doubt it. All I know is, it wouldn’t be smart to go in there in broad daylight. Not with so many people around.”
Nancy hated leaving when they could be so close to finding Rachel. She knew Ned was right, though. They’d be no help to Rachel if they were caught.
“Next question,” Ned said, when they were on the freeway again, headed toward Beverly Hills. “Do we call in the police?”
Nancy considered carefully. “No,” she finally answered. “Let’s keep this to ourselves until we know what’s going on. As you said, we don’t have any proof.”
“And the Klines?”
“I don’t think we should get their hopes up,” Nancy said. “We don’t even know if she’s in there.”
Back at the Kline house, the afternoon passed slowly. Mrs. Kline stationed herself by the telephone, hoping for another call from Rachel; Josh and Mr. Kline were both at work.
Nancy felt guilty about not saying anything to her about the Kat Club, but she didn’t know what she’d say. They really didn’t know who the Kats were or if they were holding Rachel. She still didn’t know if Dennis was a Kat, or if he was responsible for Rachel’s disappearance. She’d just have to sit and wait until dark and sneak into the Kat Club.
• • •
Before dinner that night Nancy changed into black jeans, black sneakers, and a dark sweatshirt. Breaking-and-entering clothes, she thought with a rueful smile, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
Downstairs she found Ned, who grinned at her and winked.
When Allen Kline came home from work, they all had a quiet dinner beside the pool. Both the Klines were lost in thought and said very little during the meal.
“Lieutenant Heller told me about Dennis’s apartment being ransacked,” Mrs. Kline said at one point. “He thinks Rachel might have called us from there. Fingerprints were found that matched some of those in her room. Her jacket was there, too.” The woman’s composure crumbled, and she began to cry. “And there was that awful note!”
Nancy’s thoughts raced. So the person who’d been looking for something in Rachel’s room had also tried to find it in Dennis’s apartment. But what was that person looking for? Evidence? Proof? Of what? Were the Kats behind the break-ins, too?
After saying good night to the Klines, Nancy and Ned hurried to the nearest freeway entrance. Since there was still a lot of light, they took their time getting to the beach house.
When they got to the Kat Club, the place was all lit up, and even more cars were parked around it than before. Loud music filled the air.
“Okay, Drew, this is it,” Ned said, stopping the car well out of sight, around the corner from the Kat Club. “What’s the plan?”
“A little romantic stroll along the beach, I think,” Nancy said with a smile.
“Then, maybe, we sneak in the back way?”
“You got it.”
“Let’s agree to stick together as much as possible.”
Nancy nodded, and they got out of the car. Circling the club, they made their way around the back to the beach. Nancy could see there was a barbecue on the back deck of the club.
They sneaked up on the beach house, moving through the shadows cast by the other buildings along the shore, and then slipped under the deck. Above them, people were laughing and chattering as loud music continued to blare out. Nancy was grateful for the cover the sound gave them as they knelt down in the sand.
She spotted a basement window and pointed it out to Ned. He nodded, and within a few seconds he had it pried open.
Ned crawled through first, helping Nancy in after him, and they stopped to get their bearings. The place was dark, but after a few moments their eyes adjusted, and they could see a lot of boxes stacked all around them.
Nancy took a penlight from the pocket of her jeans and switched it on. Lifting the lid of one box, she looked inside.
“Ned,” she whispered, “there’s a VCR in here.”
Ned nodded, and they began to check out the other boxes. They found camcorders, stereo components, and more VCRs. Nancy’s mind was racing. Why was the basement of the Kat Club full of such valuable items?
Nancy was just about to open her mouth to speak when, at the top of the steps, a door op
ened, letting in a shaft of light. Ned put a finger to his lips and pulled Nancy behind some boxes. They held their breath as they heard someone move down the stairs and rummage around the basement before heading back upstairs again.
“That was close,” Nancy whispered to Ned when they heard the door click closed at the top of the stairs.
“I think the room right up there is full of people,” Ned whispered. “Let’s look around and see if we can find another way upstairs.”
They explored the whole basement, but all they found were more stereos, camcorders, and VCRs.
“Are you wondering what I’m wondering?” Ned asked.
“What’s the connection between the Kats and all this equipment?” Nancy whispered back. “You bet I am.” She reminded Ned of what Jessica had mentioned about the robberies in Beverly Hills.
“You don’t think that was the Kats?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Could be,” Nancy said, her excitement rising. “Except if this stuff is stolen, what’s it doing in boxes?” she wondered out loud.
“I say we keep exploring a bit more to see what else we can find,” Ned said.
“But I think we really have to check out the first floor. We’ll have to go up that way eventually,” Nancy said, pointing to the stairs.
The door opened just then, and Nancy and Ned barely had time to duck into the shadows again. They stood side by side behind a stack of boxes, their backs to the concrete wall.
“You’re getting paranoid, Hanford,” came a voice Nancy recognized as Jessica’s. “There’s nobody down there,” she said derisively.
Nancy closed her eyes tightly for a moment and automatically held her breath. After the door closed again, she exhaled.
“I need to hear what they’re saying up there,” Nancy told Ned.
He squeezed her hand. “Okay. I’m right behind you.”
They climbed the stairs with painstaking slowness. Ned feared that someone would open the door to reveal them in a splash of light. They were almost to the top when the knob turned and Jessica’s voice said, “Come on, Hanford, we’ll go down there right now, and I’ll prove to you that you’re imagining things.”
Ned and Nancy pressed against the wall along the stairs as the door opened a crack and a head peered through.
“I guess you’re right,” Beth said. “I am being paranoid. But I could have sworn somebody was there when I went down to the freezer to get more steaks for the barbecue.”
The door closed again, but not quite all the way. It was open a crack, and Nancy hoped they wouldn’t be seen.
Keeping her movements as quiet as she could, Nancy took a quick peek through the opening in the door and saw Beth and Jessica sitting at a kitchen table, drinking sodas. Mike came into the room just then, and Nancy almost gasped out loud when she saw the man behind him.
It was Ralph Lindenbaum, the owner of Sound Performance! What was he doing at the Kat Club?
Nancy glanced down at Ned, not daring even to whisper. She put her eye to the keyhole. Jessica was scowling, while Beth looked absolutely terrified. Nancy straightened up and placed her ear against the door to listen to their conversation.
“I’m telling you, Ralph,” Mike was saying, “you’ve got to let me take care of things my way. Nancy Drew and that friend of hers are on to us.”
“I’m still running this show, kid,” Ralph said furiously. “Besides, Peter Henley’s idea is more my style!”
“You promised nobody would get hurt!” Beth cried.
“Oh, shut up,” Jessica told her disdainfully. “You’re in this as deep as the rest of us, Hanford, and you’d better not get cold feet and blow the whistle on us.”
“Nobody is going to turn us in,” Ralph insisted.
“Hanford might,” Jessica said, her words dripping acid. “She’s been acting like a scared rabbit from the first.”
Nancy peered through the opening again. Ralph was bending over the girl’s chair, his hands on her shaking shoulders, his voice steely. “Don’t forget, kid, if we get caught, so do you.”
Beth began to sob. “I wish I’d never heard of the Kat Club!” she wailed.
Ned gripped Nancy’s sweatshirt and gave a little pull. He didn’t need to say anything to let her know they had more than enough information to give the police. It was time to get out.
As he stepped down, though, his step creaked. Desperate to know if the others had heard, Nancy looked directly into the kitchen.
Ralph appeared to be oblivious to the noise, as were Jessica and Mike. Then Nancy glanced at Beth, who was sitting in her direct line of sight.
The girl was staring into Nancy’s eyes. Nancy and Ned were caught!
Chapter
Thirteen
NANCY DIDN’T ALLOW HERSELF to panic. As she planned her escape she slowly turned her head from side to side, silently begging Beth not to give her away. For one heart-stopping moment Beth looked uncertain, but then she shifted her gaze.
“What is it now?” Nancy heard Jessica demand sourly.
Beth jumped up and ran out of the room. Nancy let out her breath.
She wanted to stay to check out the rest of the house, but she knew that would be too dangerous. Beth could change her mind at any time and tell Ralph what she’d seen.
Ned caught Nancy by the back of the shirt again and pulled. His message was clear—things were getting too hot, and it was time to leave.
She nodded toward the window where they’d crept in, and then they made their way carefully down the stairs.
Ned gave Nancy a boost up through the window. He was right behind her, and they lay down quietly listening to the party above them on the deck.
Sticking to the shadows, Nancy and Ned fled from the Kat Club as fast as they could.
“We just barely made it out of there,” Nancy said breathlessly, once they were both inside the Camaro and Ned was starting up the engine. “Beth looked right at me.”
“But she didn’t say anything,” Ned mused out loud, frowning as he pulled away from the curb.
“No. I think she knows she’s in way over her head.” Nancy rattled off what they knew. “The Kat Club has to be up to no good. All that stuff in the basement has to be stolen. They know we’re on to them, and they’re afraid of the police. Ralph Lindenbaum is obviously their ringleader, and maybe Peter Henley.”
“So what do we do now?” Ned asked.
“Go back to the Klines’ and call Lieutenant Heller,” Nancy said with a nod. “He should know about this right away. And so should Rachel’s parents.”
“But we still don’t know where Rachel is, or how deeply involved she and Dennis are,” Ned said.
Nancy touched his arm. “Maybe we did find her. She and Dennis might have been at the club. The police can check it out. Let’s go.”
They made their way through the light freeway traffic back to the Klines’.
“Do you think Rachel could have anything to do with the burglaries in the Hills?” Nancy asked.
“I hope not,” Ned answered.
Nancy settled back in her seat and folded her arms. “The Klines probably won’t thank us if we find out that Rachel is up to her eyeballs in this whole mess.”
“We have to do what’s right,” Ned reminded her.
Josh was just getting out of a late-model pickup truck as they pulled up. He said a tired goodbye to whoever had given him a lift home and waited in the driveway for Ned to bring the Camaro to a stop.
“I see I’m not the only one who’s had a long day,” Josh said. “What have you two been up to?”
Ned sighed. “I think we’d better talk about that inside,” he answered. The three of them walked around to the back of the house and entered the kitchen through the rear door.
“I’m starved,” Josh confided, opening the refrigerator and peering inside. “We had a dinner break, but that was hours ago. How about you two? Hungry?”
Nancy shook her head. She headed straight for the phone and dialed the police preci
nct.
“We definitely found the Kat Club tonight,” Ned told his friend.
“Please ask Lieutenant Heller to call Nancy Drew at the Kline residence,” Nancy said to the officer answering her call, then she hung up. “Ned’s getting a little ahead of himself,” she said, joining the guys at the breakfast counter. She quickly told Josh about finding Dennis’s apartment ransacked and the note Rachel had left.
Ned went on to explain about sneaking into the Kat Club and finding what they assumed was stolen stereo equipment.
Josh sank onto a kitchen stool, his sandwich forgotten. “Do you think Rachel’s involved somehow?” he asked quietly.
“We think there’s a chance,” Nancy said simply. “They could be holding her someplace. Maybe even there. We really don’t know anything about Rachel’s part in any of this. I have a call in to Lieutenant Heller.”
Josh shoved a hand through his hair. “If they are holding Rachel, they might panic if they see the police coming. They might hurt her.”
Nancy had considered that but knew Heller would be careful. “I’m going to talk to Beth Hanford,” she said. “Right now. She was really upset at the club, and I think she might have gone straight home. Maybe I can make her see that she’s Rachel’s only chance—”
Ned touched her shoulder to interrupt her. Nancy looked at Josh. He was staring right through her and appeared to be in shock.
Confused, Nancy gazed up into Ned’s grinning face. “If you’d stop talking for a minute,” he said, “you might stumble over a major clue.”
Nancy turned. “What?”
A blond-haired girl was standing in the kitchen doorway. She was tired and rumpled-looking in worn jeans and a flannel shirt. Sobbing, she flung herself into Josh’s arms.
Rachel Kline was home.
Chapter
Fourteen
OH, JOSH,” RACHEL SAID, gasping through her tears. “I’m sorry—I’m so sorry.”