“Ned!” Nancy whispered into the darkness, afraid to use her flashlight. “Where are you?”
A nearby door opened soundlessly, and Ned and Josh appeared. Rachel didn’t waste any time in leading the way up the attic steps. Pushing the door at the top open, the girl ran into the lighted attic.
Dennis, a good-looking guy with spiky brown hair and wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, was sitting in a chair, his hands and feet tied. When he saw them, his eyes lit up.
Nancy immediately began untying him while Rachel bent to put her arms around his neck. “You didn’t think I wouldn’t come back, did you?” she said.
“You should have stayed away,” Dennis replied, a worried tone in his voice. “You know how dangerous those guys are.”
“I couldn’t leave you here,” Rachel insisted.
Nancy finished untying Dennis’s ankles. She looked over to where Ned was keeping watch at the top of the attic steps. There wasn’t any time to waste. They had to get out fast.
“Who are these people?” Dennis asked, standing and trying to get the circulation going in his legs.
“It’s okay,” Rachel said, reassuring him. “This is my brother Josh, and his friend Ned Nickerson is over there. This is Nancy Drew.”
Dennis nodded slowly. “You told them, didn’t you?” he whispered to Rachel.
“I had to,” she answered. “It’s all over, Dennis.”
“We have to get out of here fast,” Nancy said firmly. “Can you make it out that window and down the tree?” she asked Dennis.
He shook his head, indicating his legs were still too shaky.
Nancy grabbed Ned’s hand and led the way carefully back downstairs. She kept her eyes wide open for any sign of Mike, Peter, or Ralph.
They made it safely down to the first floor. Nancy could barely hear Ralph’s booming voice. It sounded as though it was coming from the deck outside. With a wave of relief she realized that if they were really careful, they could head back out through the basement.
Nancy led the way into the kitchen, Rachel and Dennis right behind her, Josh and Ned bringing up the rear.
Just as she was opening the door to the basement Nancy heard a voice behind her.
“Welcome to the Kat Club.”
She turned to see Ralph, Peter, and Mike standing in the doorway leading to the deck. Ralph’s hands held a drawn gun as he smiled at his uninvited guests.
She looked over at her friends’ shocked faces. They were caught.
Chapter
Sixteen
THESE TWO,” Ralph went on, smiling sardonically at Dennis and Rachel, “aren’t going anywhere. They know too much.” His gaze took in Nancy, Ned, and Josh. “Now, of course, you do, too.”
Nancy swallowed. Whatever happened, she couldn’t lose her cool. “It’s too late, Mr. Lindenbaum. You can’t get away with this.”
Ralph ignored her. His smile had faded, and he was glaring at Dennis. “You know, you should have been in jail already.”
“Why?” Nancy put in. “Because you tried to frame him for stealing equipment from your store?”
Ralph gave Nancy a shocked look. “We’re on to you,” Ned told him. “We know what you’ve been up to.”
Dennis put his arm around Rachel, but his eyes never left Ralph’s gun. “You’re a creep, you know that, Lindenbaum,” he sneered. “And that frame was the lowest. I knew you’d guessed that Rachel was about to break down and tell her folks what was going on, so you decided to pin the blame for everything on me.”
Nancy glanced at Rachel, then at Ned and Josh. She made a sign that told him he should be prepared to jump Ralph and Dennis and Peter. Ned gave her an almost imperceptible nod.
“I want the security tape, Rachel,” Ralph said. “The one that shows you kids robbing Sound Performance.”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s over, Ralph,” she said steadily. “Give up.”
Lindenbaum held his gun steady on Rachel. “The other Kats are willing to pretend the whole thing never happened!” he said furiously. “Why couldn’t you cooperate?”
He reached out and grabbed Rachel by the arm, shoving the gun into her rib cage. “Now I’ll tell you what you’re going to do, little lady,” he crooned into her ear. “You’re going to tell me where that tape is, and do you know why? Because your boyfriend Dennis and all your friends here are going to be in real danger until I give the word to let them go, that’s why!”
“Let her go,” Dennis said, his eyes flashing.
Ralph laughed. “Let’s take them upstairs and tie them up,” he said as Peter drew a gun of his own and held it on them.
“Let’s go!” Peter barked, his eyes glinting. “Everybody up to the attic!”
“Anybody tries anything,” Ralph warned, “and the girl gets shot.”
There was nothing to do but put their hands up and do as Ralph said. Even if Ned and Nancy could have gotten the jump on Peter, Ralph was still holding his gun on Rachel at very close range.
As they climbed the attic stairs, though, Nancy was already devising a plan. They’d have to act fast, before their hands and feet were tied.
“Wait a minute!” Mike rasped, hovering in the doorway once they were all in the attic. “I’m not going along with anything like this! Let Rachel go, Ralph. You’re hurting her!”
Peter turned on him. “As if you cared. Get the rope, Rasmussen!” he snarled. “And I’m not going to tell you twice!”
In that moment Nancy’s eyes met Mike’s. She asked him a silent question: Who will it be, Mike—them or us?
She drew a deep breath and signaled to Ned. Her eyes turned toward Peter. She silently counted to three, then threw herself at Peter’s knees.
The boy’s gun flew out of his hand and fell to the floor, out of reach. With Ned’s help Nancy wrestled him to the floor.
Rachel began screaming at the top of her lungs. The result was ear-shattering. Then she stomped down hard on Ralph’s instep, and he howled in pain and rage and dropped his gun. Nancy scooped it up in one quick motion.
Josh caught Mike by the back of the collar before he could escape down the stairs. He threw him roughly to the attic floor.
Mike just sat there with his hands away from his sides to show he didn’t want any part of the fight.
Dennis went to Rachel and took her in his arms. The girl burst into tears. “It’s over,” she murmured into his shoulder. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
Nancy and Ned tied Ralph and Peter to the poles that supported the attic ceiling while Josh pushed a scowling Mike into the chair where Dennis had been held and bound his hands behind his back.
“Come on, Ned,” she said, “let’s go downstairs and wait for the police.”
Rachel was drying her eyes. “Come on, Dennis,” she said sadly. “Let’s go with them. I don’t want to be in the same room with these guys.”
“You’ll never prove anything!” Ralph spat out, glaring at Nancy.
“Oh, no?” she asked. “This basement is full of stolen goods. I bet the lease on this place is in your name. We’ve also got a roomful of people who are willing to testify that you blackmailed them into stealing for you.” She paused, pulled the computer disk from her pocket, and held it up. “Your inventory. This should be proof enough, I think.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them while you go downstairs and wait for the police,” Josh said to Nancy and Ned. “Look out for Rachel, will you? She’s pretty upset.”
Ned slapped his friend on the back. “Don’t worry, buddy. Everything’s okay now.”
Downstairs Rachel was sitting at the kitchen table with Dennis. She looked up as Nancy sat down at the table next to her. “What’s going to happen to us?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nancy replied. “Burglary is a felony, but the judge might be lenient because Ralph coerced you.”
“My mom and dad are going to be so upset!”
“I’m sure they’ll deal with it. The most important thing to them is your safety
.”
“What about Peter?” Rachel asked. “And Mike?”
Nancy sighed. “My guess is that the courts will be pretty hard on Peter, considering what he did.”
“His parents are going to be really angry,” Rachel said.
“I honestly don’t know about Mike, but he’s obviously in pretty deep,” Nancy said.
Rachel nodded sadly. “Where’s Josh?”
“Upstairs, standing guard,” Ned replied, laying a hand on Rachel’s shoulder.
At that moment three uniformed officers came into the kitchen, their guns drawn. Lieutenant Heller was close behind.
He looked as if he’d dressed hurriedly, and he was surprised when he saw Nancy. “Sorry for the delay. They didn’t call me right away. They thought Ned’s call was a prank. Someone who knew about the case saw the note, and then we got into high gear. So tell me what’s happening.”
“We got Rachel back and solved the Beverly Hills robberies. The ringleader is Ralph Lindenbaum—he’s upstairs, in the attic, with his right-hand man, Peter Henley, and Mike Rasmussen,” Nancy replied.
The lieutenant’s gaze fell on Rachel. “Hello there, young lady,” he said kindly. “We’ve been looking for you.”
“Rachel and Dennis have a few things they want to tell you,” Nancy said quietly.
The detective got out his notebook and sat down at the table. The uniformed officers, in the meantime, were going up to bring down Ralph, Mike, and Peter.
“Read them their rights, then take them downtown and book them,” Heller said without looking away from Rachel and Dennis. “Now let’s hear it, kids—right from the start.”
Slowly, haltingly at first, Rachel explained how she and Beth and Jessica had joined in the robbery at Sound Performance, thinking it was a practical joke. Then she went on to say that Ralph had used the security tape, which had been running that night, to blackmail them into committing further burglaries.
“What about you, Dennis?” the lieutenant asked quietly when Rachel had finished speaking. “How did you get involved?”
Dennis lowered his eyes for a moment, then met the lieutenant’s gaze squarely. “I’m guilty,” he said. “I guess I pretty much knew what was going on when Rasmussen and Henley planned the rip-off at Sound Performance. I should have stopped them from getting the girls to join in, but I didn’t.”
“I’m going to have to take you and Rachel down to the station for questioning,” the detective said. “And I have to be honest with you—there’s every chance that you’ll be charged, Dennis.”
Dennis swallowed visibly, and his arm tightened around Rachel’s shoulders. “What about Rachel?”
“I don’t know. One thing I do know, though—I need the names of all the other kids who were involved.”
Rachel lifted her eyes to Josh’s face, and her brother nodded solemnly. “Beth Hanford,” she began in a small, shaky voice. “Jessica Bates . . .”
• • •
It was late when Mr. Kline brought an ashen-faced Rachel home from the police station. His face was grim as he greeted his anxious wife. “Charges have been filed against all the kids,” he said. When Mrs. Kline gasped, he added, “Our attorney thinks Rachel will probably get a long probationary period and some public service, since she was essentially coerced into the crime. Dennis may get off lightly, too, since he was prepared to go to the police when he and Rachel took off.”
“What about Ralph and Peter?” Nancy asked.
“Lindenbaum is being charged with grand theft, kidnapping, and conspiracy,” Mr. Kline explained. “Henley, too, only he’s got assault and attempted murder added on for good measure.”
Mrs. Kline put her arms around Rachel. “You’re exhausted, dear. You have to get some sleep. And so should you,” she said, turning to her son.
Josh shook his head. “I’m due at the studio in an hour,” he said. “I’ll just take a shower and grab some breakfast.”
Nancy was exhausted, but she knew she was probably too wound up to sleep. “What about Jessica and Mike?” she asked. “What’s going to happen to them?”
Rachel looked sad. “They’ll probably have to go to jail for a while.”
“And Beth?”
“She wanted to tell from the first,” Rachel said. “And you said she didn’t give you away when she saw you peeking out of the cellar door.”
“There’s one last thing,” Nancy said, remembering how Dennis had disappeared from the Snake Pit that night. “What was Dennis doing at the club if you two were laying low?”
“He wanted to reason with Peter,” Rachel said. “I told him it was useless, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Then, when he saw Mike and everyone else there, he was afraid he’d be caught. That’s why he took off.”
“What I don’t understand is why you let this go on so long,” Karen Kline said to her daughter in a sad voice. “Why didn’t you call us sooner? You knew we’d have helped.”
Rachel sighed. Nancy could tell it was the one thing the girl couldn’t really explain. “I thought Dennis and I could take care of it ourselves. We’d gotten into the mess, and somehow we had to get out of it.”
“Don’t ever think that way again,” Allen Kline told his daughter. “You know we’re here for you, no matter what you do.”
“It wasn’t easy for you, was it, Rachel?” Nancy asked, genuinely concerned.
The girl swallowed hard and looked at her family. “No. I’m just glad it’s all over.”
“Me, too,” Josh said, and he turned to Ned and Nancy. “Now maybe you two can have that vacation you planned.”
Karen Kline smiled at her son’s effort to cheer them all up. Allen put an arm around his daughter.
Nancy hooked her arm through Ned’s. “That sounds great. I have to admit I’m ready for a little relaxation.”
Ned grinned at her. “Me, too. For a while there it was beginning to look like we’d have to go back to River Heights to get it!”
“What would you say to a nice romantic walk on the beach?” Nancy suggested playfully.
“No spying on anyone?” Ned asked with a gleam in his eye.
“No spying,” Nancy assured him. “This time it’ll be the real thing.”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Carolyn Keene, Flirting With Danger
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