Nancy turned on her heel and left without another word. How could she prove to them that she needed them to help her?
Nancy checked her watch. Sean and Paul would be getting off work soon, and Bess and Jennifer’s flight should be back. Thinking she might just as well wait for them at the apartment, she headed for the stairs.
Halfway there Nancy heard sharp staccato footsteps coming her way. Then a flight attendant with blunt-cut shoulder-length blond hair suddenly rounded the corner and ran straight into her.
“Oh, sorry,” Nancy apologized, though it really wasn’t her fault. In that brief second she read the woman’s nameplate: “Linda Cotilla, Senior Flight Attendant.”
“My fault,” Linda answered shortly. She swept past Nancy without a glance.
Nancy hesitated only a moment. Then she ducked around the corner and started following Linda.
Linda kept right on going. Glad she had on soft-soled flats, Nancy walked quietly behind Linda. Nancy’s heart began to pound. Linda was heading straight for Grant Sweeney’s office!
Nancy held her breath as she heard Linda’s knuckles rap quietly on the door.
To her surprise she heard a man’s muffled voice answer.
“It’s me,” Linda said urgently. “Hurry up! I’ve got to talk to you!”
Nancy heard the latch click back. Then Sweeney said, “Are you crazy? What are you doing down here? Don’t you know that girl’s around?”
“She’s not the only one. There’s another,” Linda said anxiously. “Her name’s Bess Marvin, and she’s masquerading as a flight attendant. I heard it from Talbot. She’s on my flight. I think she knows about the smuggling!”
“Shut up and get in here!” Sweeney growled. The door slammed shut.
With her back against the wall, Nancy slowly worked her way to Sweeney’s door. She could hear faint voices from within. Leaning closer to the door, she pressed her ear against the panel.
“They’re on to us,” Linda was saying, her voice rising hysterically. “It’s only a matter of time before it all comes down, and who do you think’s going to take the blame? We are! We’re the ones who’ll be thrown to the wolves—and guess who’ll get away scot-free?”
“Shut up! You want someone to hear you? Like that Drew girl?”
“I don’t care! I’m scared to death. Just—”
Nancy didn’t get a chance to hear any more. A hand suddenly clapped over her mouth, and strong arms started dragging her down the hall.
Chapter
Twelve
NANCY STRUGGLED WILDLY against her captor’s grip, but she couldn’t get away. He pulled her down the hallway around the corner, and when they were out of earshot of Grant’s door, he hissed, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Nancy went limp with relief. “Sean!” she murmured against his hand.
Sean took his hand from her mouth, and Nancy twisted from his grasp. “What am I doing?” she demanded, her fear giving way to anger. “What are you doing? Trying to keep me from solving this mystery, or are you involved in this smuggling operation somehow?” she asked.
Sean’s jaw sagged. “Do you really think I am?”
“I don’t know!”
“Well, I’m not,” he said flatly. “But I guess you’re going to have to figure that but on your own.” Glancing over her shoulder, he asked, “What would you have done if Grant had come out of his office and caught you eavesdropping?”
“Well, it wouldn’t have been the first time!” Nancy snapped.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he practically bashed my head in with a wrench the last time I went to his office. If you hadn’t yanked me away just then, I might have learned something important. Linda Cotilla’s in with Grant right now!”
“Linda Cotilla!”
“That’s right. She was saying something about smuggling and how Bess and I were on to them. Look, I’ll explain later.”
Nancy left Sean standing in the hallway and ran back to Grant’s office. But she could hear two pairs of footsteps retreating in the distance, and when she listened at the door, the room sounded ominously quiet. “I could scream,” Nancy muttered in frustration. “They’ve already left.”
A very subdued Sean appeared at her elbow. Swallowing hard, he said, “I’ve been thinking, maybe I owe you an apology.”
“Oh, yes?” Nancy didn’t feel very forgiving.
“I was mad because you dragged Jennifer into this, and now I’ve messed things up for you. I wanted to be your friend, Nancy. But I had a talk with Mr. Talbot and—”
Nancy’s eyes searched Sean’s. “Mr. Talbot was the one who turned you against me?”
“He didn’t actually turn me against you. He’s just worried about Victory’s reputation. And when he thought about what would happen to it if something happened to you and Jennifer—” Sean shrugged.
Nancy leaned against the wall. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that he was trying to put a wedge between us?”
“Mr. Talbot?” Sean said in disbelief.
“If he’s behind the smuggling ring, then it would be to his advantage to keep you from siding with me.”
Scan managed a harsh laugh. “I don’t believe any of this.”
“Believe it,” Nancy said. “Talbot and Sweeney are probably working together—and they mean business.” It was such a relief to be able to trust Sean again! Nancy felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Sean exhaled heavily. “If Talbot’s really the man behind the smuggling ring, it makes me sick. This whole management training program was his idea. But what’ll happen to the program if he’s exposed?”
“I don’t know.” Nancy was genuinely sorry she had thought the management trainee program had been the basis for bringing new recruits into the smuggling ring. Maybe Mr. Talbot had brought in Rod Fullerton, but other management trainees— like Sean, and probably Celia—were completely innocent. “If the management program has been successful, I don’t see why the next person in charge won’t keep it going,” Nancy added.
Sean forced a weak smile. “Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. How can I help?”
Glancing thoughtfully at Grant’s door, Nancy said, “We’ve got to prove Talbot’s in on this, and we need to find how customs is being bypassed and what kind of contraband is being brought in.”
“Whew. You don’t ask for much, do you?”
“That’s what it’s going to take to get to the bottom of this,” Nancy said grimly. “Are you with me?”
“All the way,” Sean agreed, his blue eyes telling her again how sorry he was. “You want to search the planes when they come in?”
“No, I can’t search all the planes,” Nancy said, feeling frustrated. “I thought the smugglers were just using seven forty-sevens, but now I don’t know . . .” Her voice trailed off as her mind spun ahead. “Celia gave me a ton of printouts. Maybe the answers are in those sheets.”
Checking his watch, Sean said, “Look, I just have to go back and punch out.” He glanced at Nancy. “If you’d like some help, you and I could head back to Jennifer’s apartment and go through the printouts together.”
“Terrific!” Nancy said.
• • •
“This is no use,” Nancy said back in Jennifer’s apartment. She got up from her chair and stretched. “We could go over these all day and all night and still not come up with anything!”
“There must be something special in here about a seven forty-seven,” Sean said, shaking his head.
Nancy turned to stare at Sean, her mind racing. “Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees,” she said. “That’s the problem! We just assumed seven forty-seven referred to the airplane type.”
Sean looked at her as if she were crazy.
“What if it isn’t a plane at all? What if seven forty-seven stands for a flight number or something?,”
It was Sean’s turn to stare. “That plane that Grant loaded this afterno
on,” he said slowly. “It was a DC ten, but what was its flight number?”
Nancy shuffled through the printouts on the table and scanned the list of DC 10s, but none of them had the flight number 747.
“I was wrong,” she said, disappointed. Then her eye caught something else—and a chill slid up her spine. “Oh, Sean!” she said, hardly daring to believe her eyes.
“That flight, the one that Grant was loading? It got into Seattle airport this morning at seven forty-seven!”
“Let me see that!” Sean said.
He looked over her shoulder, reading down the list. “And it came from Malaysia,” he said. “Do you suppose something was on that flight?”
“The plane had already been unloaded. I bet Grant was just making sure all the contraband was out of it. When I showed up, he panicked.” Nancy paced around the kitchen. “And you know what else I think? I think that seven forty-seven is how they tag flights for smuggling.”
“How do you mean?”
“Suppose it’s a code. It’s how the smugglers know which flight to use to ship their goods. That number could be anything: plane type, departure or arrival time, maybe even flight number!”
“I think you’ve cracked the code, Nancy! You’ve done it!” Sean exclaimed.
In his exuberance, he caught her up in a big bear hug. “Now you can blow this investigation wide open. Wait till I tell Jennifer!”
Suddenly the front door slammed shut. Nancy and Sean looked around to see Jennifer and Bess come into the kitchen.
“Wait until you tell Jennifer what?” Jennifer asked in a brittle voice as she stared at the two of them.
Chapter
Thirteen
JENNIFER!” SEAN SAID, dropping his arms from around Nancy.
Jennifer just stared at him, the color leaving her face. “Don’t mind me,” she said in a flat, trembling voice. “Go right ahead with what you were doing. It’s a free country.” She twisted around and started walking stiffly toward the bedroom.
“Jennifer!” Sean called, walking after her. But she slammed the door in his face.
Bess’s brows were sky-high. “Well,” she said, sinking into one of the kitchen chairs.
“This is too much.” Nancy was divided between disbelief and frustration. “You’re not going to tell me you think Sean and I are interested in each other, are you?”
Bess shook her head. “I know you better than that, Nancy. But it was a terrible day. Linda Cotilla was even worse than before. And then Jen and I had to stay late and do paperwork.” She gave Nancy and Sean a crooked smile. “I think seeing you two together was kind of the last straw.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Sean said, starting for Jennifer’s room. “I owe her an apology for the other night anyway.”
“Guess what? We think we’ve figured out what seven forty-seven means,” Nancy said to Bess.
“You mean it’s not the airplane?”
As Nancy started to tell Bess about their findings, Jennifer came back into the room. It was obvious that she’d been crying, but she tried to pretend nothing was wrong.
Nancy couldn’t bear to have her friend think she had been trying to steal Sean. “Hey, Jen,” she said. “Sean came here to see you. You know that.”
Jennifer didn’t answer. Sean stepped closer to her. “Come on, Jen,” he said in a low voice. “Let’s get out of here so we can talk. I’m sorry about the other night. Nancy and I had a talk today, and I realized a few things about you and me, too.”
Jennifer didn’t seem to know what to do, but when Sean steered her toward the door, she made no protest.
“I hope they get things worked out,” Bess said.
“Me, too. I wish I could convince Jennifer that Ned’s the only guy I’m interested in.”
“Maybe Sean’ll convince her,” Bess said with a smile. “So what’s the deal with him, anyway? Why is he off the suspect list?”
“He was so destroyed by what I told him that I knew he wasn’t involved. He doesn’t want to believe Mr. Talbot is behind all this, but it’s hard not to suspect him.”
Bess kicked off her shoes, moaned, and rubbed her feet. “Well, I’m glad Sean’s on our side. I just wish I could get Linda Cotilla off my back. The woman is an absolute witch!”
“Hold on to your socks, Bess—Linda’s involved in the smuggling ring, too.”
“What? You’re kidding!”
Nancy repeated what she’d overheard of the conversation between Grant and Linda. “I’d like to find out what she’s up to,” Nancy finished. “I think I’ll book a seat on your flight tomorrow and see for myself. I’ll have to wear a disguise, though. You’ve got a ton of clothes, Bess. Let me wear that black sweater-and-skirt outfit you brought. Then I’ll have to figure out something to do with my hair.”
“My black sweater and skirt? You’ll swim in them!” Bess declared. Then she caught herself. “Oh, I get it. That’s the idea.”
“But what’ll I do about this hair?”
“I think I’ve got the answer for you,” Bess said, grinning. “Linda will never recognize you! Just give me the keys to the car.”
“Bess—” Nancy said.
Then the door opened, and Jennifer and Sean came back inside. From the expressions on their faces it was clear they’d worked out their problems.
“Sorry, Nancy,” Jennifer said, darting her an apologetic glance. “I was just upset. I overreacted.”
“It’s already forgotten,” Nancy assured her. “I’m just glad we’re all on the same side again. Now we can get down to business.”
“Speaking of business, Jennifer,” Bess said, “how would you and Sean like to do a little shopping with me? I’ve got to pick up a few things for Nancy.”
“What kind of things?” Jennifer asked, following Bess to the door.
“You’ll see,” she answered mysteriously, and the three of them left together.
A few minutes after they’d gone, Miranda came in looking totally worn out. “That’s my last flight for a few days,” she said. “I’m going to go to bed and sleep for a week!” She said good night and staggered off to her room.
To occupy her time, Nancy made a list of all inbound Victory flights that met the 747 code requirements. She was just finishing up when Bess, Jennifer, and Sean returned. Bess was holding a large brown paper bag.
“Bess has got the perfect disguise for you,” Jennifer said enthusiastically.
“I can hardly wait,” Nancy answered dryly.
Bess began pulling all kinds of things from the sack: costume jewelry, a black lace headband with a huge bow, a pair of black stockings, and a can of some kind of spray that she instantly began to shake.
“What is that?” Nancy eyed the can suspiciously.
“Your new hair color.”
“Oh, no!” Nancy backed away. “I’m not dying my hair. No way!”
“It’s glitter spray. It’ll artificially darken your hair and fill it full of gold glitter. You can wash it out when you get home tomorrow.”
“Are you crazy? I’ll look as though I’m auditioning for a rock video!”
“Well, you won’t look like you. You can wear dark glasses,” Bess said, holding up her hands when Nancy started to protest further. “Look, you’re the detective, right? Well, I’m the fashion expert. This time you listen to me.”
• • •
It was still dark outside when Nancy, Bess, and Jennifer had gotten up to create the “new” Nancy Drew.
“There,” Bess said. Nancy uncovered her eyes to see the result. Her hair waved to her shoulders in a bushy curtain. The spray had darkened it to an auburn shade and spangled it with flecks of gold.
Bess pulled the headband on next and tilted the black lace bow jauntily to one side.
“What do you think?” Bess asked as Nancy examined herself critically.
“Let’s see,” Nancy said, turning around. Bess’s black sweater practically swallowed her up. Long gold earrings dangled from her ears, and a heavy V-shaped c
hoker encircled her throat.
Striking a pose, Nancy said, “Coffee, tea, or—”
“Murder,” Jennifer broke in, coming from the living room. Her face was white. In her hand was a newspaper. She thrust it in front of Nancy’s nose. “Look! The brakes on Rod Fullerton’s car gave out!”
“What?” Nancy grabbed the newspaper and skimmed the article. The police had investigated the fatal accident that had taken Rod Fullerton’s life and had linked it to faulty brakes.
“Read it on the plane!” Bess said, handing Nancy her dark glasses. “We’ve got to get going. Now.”
• • •
Rather than risk detection by using her pass to board the plane, Nancy bought a ticket under the name Ms. N. Nickerson. Wait until Ned hears about this! she thought with a laugh.
People kept staring at her as she walked along. Nancy glanced into one of the mirrors beside the airport’s Vapor Trail Cafe. With scarlet lipstick, red heels, black nylons, the oversize black sweater and skirt, and her wild new hair, Nancy’s own father wouldn’t have recognized her!
Nancy checked in and boarded the plane. She threw her overnight bag with a change of clothes into an overhead storage bin. She planned to take a different flight back to Seattle—and she couldn’t wait to get into her comfortable black cords and flats in Los Angeles.
Nancy looked for Linda Cotilla, but she didn’t see her. She decided the flight attendant must be in the back galley.
Nancy’s aisle seat was about halfway down the coach section of the 727. The 727 was much smaller than the 747s, but it was roomy, anyway. The chair beside her was empty, but the window seat was occupied by a businessman. He looked her over from head to toe, then snapped open his newspaper in silent disapproval.
Amused, Nancy picked up a magazine and began leafing through it. When all the passengers had been seated, Linda came out of the back galley, walked to the front of the plane, and picked up the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to flight two thirty-three, nonstop to Los Angeles. We will be departing in about five minutes. Please make sure your seats and tray tables are in an upright position and fasten your seat belts for takeoff.”