Danger on Parade (13 page)

“Nancy, I'd love to listen, but I've got major problems here,” Jill snapped. “And if you hadn't noticed, in a little more than two hours, we're putting on a really big parade. By the way, do you—”

Nancy grabbed Jill's arm. “Jill, I'm almost positive that Neil is the one trying to sabotage the parade!” she said urgently.

In a flash, Jill's expression changed from one of annoyance to one of shock. “What!” she cried.

Nancy explained her theory as quickly as she could, before Jill had time to protest. As she spoke, Jill's face grew red with fury.

“No, I just don't believe any of it,” Jill said when Nancy was done. “Neil has been such a big help with everything. He's worked just as hard as I have. There's no way he'd do anything to ruin it.”

Jill's voice was trembling, and Nancy thought she saw tears in her eyes. “I just don't believe it, Nancy,” Jill said again. “And I don't think you should go around accusing my co-workers, especially on the morning of the parade!”

Nancy faced Jill squarely. She had to get Jill to see the truth. “Jill, on Tuesday Neil left his ID with me by mistake, yet he had no problem getting around the store or the warehouse without it,” she began. “I think he's the person who stole Heath Nealon's ID card.”

Jill showed no reaction.

“He was around the warehouse before the explosion, so he could easily have planted the timer,” Nancy continued. “And the person who knocked me out last night was wearing Forever Male. That cologne isn't even in the stores yet. Neil is the only person I've ever smelled it on.”

Jill still didn't seem convinced. In fact, she was
looking impatient, as if she didn't want to hear any of Nancy's argument.

“Neil was also with Bess when she bought her scarf,” Nancy said forcefully. “That's the only time Bess signed her name here in New York— which means it's the only time she could have signed for the costumes!”

Finally Jill spoke. “I have one for you, Nancy,” she said, her dark eyes flashing angrily. “I've been trying to ask you this since I saw you. Do you know where your friend Bess is?”

Nancy blinked in surprise. What did Bess have to do with any of this? “She was supposed to meet me here at six-thirty. She should be around somewhere,” Nancy told Jill.

“Well, believe me, she's not here,” Jill said curtly. “I ought to know—I've had Bonnie scouring the area for her or Greg. I'd know it if they were around.”

What was going on? Nancy wondered, frowning. “Why are
you
looking for Bess?” she asked.

Jill pressed her lips together in an angry line. “Greg Willow was nowhere to be found when the limousine went to the hotel to pick him up this morning,” she explained.

Nancy didn't like the sound of this. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“Positive. I called and talked to every single person who worked at the front desk from five o'clock last night through this morning. Greg
dropped off his key at the desk at about five-thirty last night, and he never returned to pick it up.”

Jill's voice rose shrilly as she spoke. “In fact” —she was practically shouting now—“the last time anyone saw our grand marshal, he was with your friend Bess!”

N
ANCY FELT
herself bristle. “You can't think Bess is responsible,” she said right away. “She probably slept late, and that's why she's not here yet.” She reached into her bag for a quarter. “Let me call my aunt's apartment. I'm sure Bess is there, and we can ask her what happened.”

“I already tried that,” Jill snapped. “Eloise told me that Bess never came home last night.”

“Oh, no!” Nancy knew Bess would never stay out without calling—unless something was terribly wrong. “She must be in trouble,” she said, a feeling of dread welling up inside her.

“Jill, we need you over here,” Bonnie called from the float line-up. “There's a disagreement about which float Pam Hart is supposed to be on.”

Jill waved distractedly at Bonnie before turning back to Nancy. “I don't care what you do about Bess, Nancy. Just please,
please
find my grand marshal so I don't have twenty thousand disappointed teenage girls lined up all the way down Broadway.” With that, she turned and went over to Bonnie.

Nancy couldn't stop thinking about Bess. She was filled with worry for her friend as she hurried to a pay phone and dialed her aunt's apartment. She let it ring ten times, but there was no answer. Thinking she might have dialed the wrong number, she hung up and tried again.

“Nancy! Nancy!”

Nancy turned to see her aunt running toward her. “Aunt Eloise!” she called out, rushing to meet her. “What are you doing here?”

“I came right after I got off the phone with Jill,” she explained. “I'm so worried about Bess! When she didn't come home last night, I just assumed she had come here to meet you. I'll just feel awful if . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“It's not your fault, Aunt Eloise. But to tell you the truth, I'm worried, too,” Nancy confided.

Eloise frowned and shook her head. “Jill seems to think that Bess is responsible for the disappearance of this Greg Willow fellow.”

“I think someone else just wants to make it look that way. But since they're both missing, they could be in danger,” Nancy said grimly.
“Tell me about last night. When was the last time you saw Bess?”

Nancy's aunt rubbed her cheek. “At about six o'clock,” she replied. “Greg picked her up to go out. They said something about stopping at Neil's apartment—”

“To pick up the tickets for the party at the Dot Matrix club!” Nancy finished her aunt's sentence. “Aunt Eloise, come on! We have to get to eighty-eight East Eighty-eighth Street as soon as possible.”

• • •

“There's the building,” Aunt Eloise announced ten minutes later. “Why don't you get out here and I'll park,” she said, looking down the street for an open spot.

“Okay,” Nancy said. They had driven to the East Side of Manhattan in Eloise's silver hatchback. Now Nancy stepped from the car and walked between two parked cars to the curb.

While she waited for her aunt, Nancy turned to look at the apartment building. She frowned when she spotted a doorman standing behind the glass doors in the lobby.

“All set,” Eloise said, coming up to Nancy. She started for the building's entrance, but Nancy held her back.

“There's a doorman,” Nancy cautioned.

Her aunt grinned at her. “No problem,” she said, shaking her car keys. “I'll tell him I have a
problem with my car. When he comes out to help me, you can sneak inside.”

Nancy kissed her aunt on the cheek. “That's brilliant!”

“It's no wonder we're related,” her aunt said, looking pleased.

Nancy hung back on the sidewalk as her aunt entered the apartment building. A few minutes later, Eloise and the doorman came out and walked past Nancy to the parked car. Nancy waited until they were bent over the engine, and then she slipped inside.

She hurried to the elevator and was relieved when the door immediately opened. Jumping in, she pushed the button for the eighth floor. “Hurry!” she whispered, as if that might coax the elevator to go faster.

Finally, the elevator doors opened on the eighth floor, and she ran down the hallway until she came to apartment 8D. She wasn't surprised to find the door locked. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the small lock-picking kit she always carried with her and went to work. A few minutes later the lock clicked, and the door swung inward.

She paused briefly, listening for any noise, but there was only silence.

“Bess? Neil?” Nancy called, hurrying into the living room, then the kitchen. There were no immediate signs of Bess and Greg. As she went
into the bedroom, Nancy's stomach began to twist with worry.

The room was empty, too, and Nancy went over to the closet door. She opened it—and gasped.

“I knew it!” she whispered.

Dozens of clown costumes were jammed into the closet. That cinched it—Neil was definitely the saboteur. “But where
is
he?” she wondered aloud. “And what's he done with Greg and Bess?”

Nancy took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as she went back into the living room. Think, Drew, she told herself. There must be
some
clue here to where they are.

There were a lot of papers on the coffee table. Sitting down on the sleek black leather couch, she began to flip through them. Most were personal letters and junk mail, but she stopped at an article that had been clipped from a newspaper.

“Historic Building to be Demolished” the headline read.

It was the same story she and Bess had seen Aileen covering, about the brownstone building that was being demolished on Thanksgiving Day. Nancy frowned as she stared down at the newsprint. Why would Neil cut out this article?

A sudden chill ran up Nancy's spine. That building was being demolished
today
. What if Neil had more on his mind than just keeping Bess
and Greg out of the way until the parade was over? What if he had a plan to make sure they kept quiet about his scheme—permanently?

Nancy shuddered at the thought. She quickly skimmed the article, but it didn't mention what time the wrecking would start. It was already after seven-thirty. She had to get over there right away!

She flew out the door and back to the elevator. When she reached the ground floor, she tried to act natural and smiled at the doorman as she breezed outside. Then she hurried over to her aunt's silver hatchback and climbed in the passenger seat.

“We have to get to Thirtieth Street and Seventh Avenue!” she said urgently.

As her aunt started the car, Nancy quickly relayed her fears that Bess and Neil were being trapped in the building that was due to be demolished.

“How dreadful!” Eloise gripped the steering wheel more tightly, her eyes trained on the traffic in front of her. “That building is just a few blocks south of the parade route,” she said grimly. “So we may have a hard time finding a place to park. We'll probably have to walk a few blocks.”

Nancy nodded. “I just hope we get there in time.” She pressed her foot against the car floor, mentally urging the car to go faster. All she could think about was Bess and Greg, trapped and fearing for their lives. Nancy didn't think she
could ever forgive herself if anything happened to her friend.

“It's not your fault, Nancy,” Eloise said, reaching over to pat Nancy's hand. “It's still early. I doubt they would have started wrecking it yet.”

Eloise drove downtown on the East Side, then crossed to the West Side on Forty-second Street and headed downtown again. Suddenly she spotted a parking garage with a Vacancy sign outside. “Let's park here,” Eloise said. “I think this is the best we can do.”

Nancy and Eloise didn't lose a second. They both jumped out of the car, and Eloise left it with the attendant. Then the two of them ran as quickly as they could the last few blocks to Thirtieth Street and Seventh Avenue.

“There it is!” Nancy exclaimed, pointing at the four-story brownstone building.

The area in front of the building, including part of the street, had been blocked off with orange cones and police barriers. About half a dozen men were outside. It looked to Nancy as if they were making some adjustments to their equipment.

“The building's still standing, thank goodness,” her aunt said. “Let's go!”

Nancy and Eloise raced past the men, toward the boarded-up entrance.

“Hey! Hey you! You can't go in there!” the foreman screamed after them. “This building's about to be blown up!”

Nancy tried to ignore the shiver that ran through her as she struggled with a board blocking the entrance.

“The timer's set to go off in four minutes! It's locked in—I can't stop it!” the foreman yelled, stalking toward them.

The board finally gave way, and Nancy squeezed inside. Her aunt was right behind her. “Let's split up,” Nancy said, trying not to panic. “You take the first two floors. I'll take the top two.”

As Nancy raced up the staircase, she heard her aunt calling frantically for Bess and Greg. The wrecking crew was screaming at them on megaphones from outside, too, but she ignored them.

When Nancy got to the third floor, she raced through the rooms, all her senses alert for any sign of Bess or Greg. The windows had been boarded up, so it was difficult to see clearly. The tiny streams of light that came through the slits between the boards only served to cast murky shadows on the walls.

“Bess! Greg!” Nancy was unable to keep the panic from her voice as she scrambled up the last flight of stairs. There were only about two minutes left before the timer was set to go off.

As soon as she reached the hallway, she saw them. Bess and Greg were bound and gagged, and leaning against the wall.