Sinister Paradise (2 page)

Nancy's eyes flew desperately around the front seat. Then they zeroed in on the stick shift. I'll put the engine in another gear, she thought. That ought to cut our speed.

Nancy jammed the stick shift into low gear. Then, gripping the steering wheel even harder, she hollered, “Hang on!”

The sedan took the bend on two wheels, hugging the forested slope. But with the engine in a lower gear, the car began to slow down. The needle fell past sixty. The car felt heavier—more a part of the road.

On the next straightaway, Nancy swung the steering wheel from side to side. The sedan performed a lazy ballet, losing speed with each swerve. Nancy knocked the speed down to forty. But the next hairpin turn boosted it right back up to sixty again!

Nancy wanted to weep. They were still rolling too fast. At this speed, they were certain to jump the road on the next turn.

Suddenly Ned shouted, “Nancy, look!”

There was a grassy area on the right-hand side of the road, just before the bend.

“Nancy! The turnaround! Bank into it!” Ned cried.

Nancy spun the wheel all the way over. The car shuddered as it jumped the embankment. Gritting her teeth, Nancy held the wheel steady.

Screeeeeeech!
The car performed a perfect loop, its tires chopping up the grass. Then Nancy yanked on the emergency brake, and the car shrieked to a halt, rocking on its springs. Its blunt nose was pointing back uphill.

Nancy exhaled heavily, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. She peered out the side window—and shuddered violently.

Just inches from the car's tires, the grassy area plunged abruptly into a misty valley. A long sea gull whizzed past, oblivious to the car perched above him.

Trembling in relief, Nancy whispered, “Everybody all right?”

Ned nodded. He stumbled out of the car, and Bess and George followed a moment later. Nancy waited until she was sure her legs would support her. Her knees felt as limp as cooked spaghetti.

Ned was studying the tire gouges in the turf. Looking back uphill, he remarked, “This is
not
a road to lose your brakes on. We're going to need a tow truck. We broke the axle when we spun around.”

“Ned, would you stay with the car until the tow truck gets here?” Nancy asked. “I'll call a garage from the marina.”

“You mean we've got to
walk
back to Ala Wai?” Bess protested. “Nancy, I don't know if I'm up to it. Not after that!”

“Well, we don't have to walk all the way.” Nancy smiled reassuringly. “I noticed a bus stop at the bottom of Tantalus Drive.”

“Let's go,” George urged, turning her back on the wreck. “The less I see of that car, the better I'll feel.”

George led the way downhill. Bess trudged along right behind. “And on top of everything else, it's so hot,” she complained. “You're the one who likes hiking cross-country, George.”

Nancy brought up the rear. She couldn't stop thinking about the accident. If a car's brakes were going to fail, Tantalus Drive wasn't the place for it to happen. Yet the car was last year's model. Had it been tampered with?

Nancy made up her mind to find out.

• • •

Nancy replaced the cordless phone in its bulkhead cradle. “We're all set,” she told George. “The tow truck's on its way out. But the guy at the gas station said we have to go to the airport to fill out an accident report for the car rental company. Feel like taking a ride?”

“Love to.”

Nancy crossed the
Kahala's
teakwood cabin and peered into the aft stateroom. “How about you, Bess?”

“Not me!” Bess lay on the double bunk, her arm draped across her forehead. “Not after that hike. I thought Oahu was a
little
island!”

“Suit yourself.” Nancy began to close the louvered hatch, then thought better of it. “Bess, after we're gone, make sure you lock the hatch, okay?,”

Bess blinked in surprise. “Okay. But why?”

Nancy had made up her mind to ask the rental people a few pointed questions about that car. But there was no sense in getting Bess all worked up over what might turn out to be nothing.

“It's a good habit to get into. Don't mind me, I'm just a little jumpy today.” Nancy closed the hatch. “We'll be back in a little while.”

After taking a quick shower, Nancy retired to her cabin and put on a cream-colored sailing shirt and shorts. Then she and George hailed a cab to take them to the airport.

They found Sunrise Rentals in the main terminal, sandwiched in between the lockers and a fast-food restaurant. The Sunrise clerk was a slender young woman with large glasses who looked very shy. A name tag reading “Meredith” was pinned to her shirt.

She smiled as George and Nancy approached. “Hi! May I help you?”

“We're here to report an accident,” Nancy said, slipping off her shoulder bag. “One of your cars. We rented it from another clerk—Janine—first thing this morning.”

Meredith immediately reached for an official-looking document. Picking up a pen, she asked for Nancy's name and a description of the accident. Then she turned and studied the pigeonholes behind her. “One moment, please.” She reached into a slot, withdrew a piece of paper, and stared at it for a long moment.

Facing the girls again, Meredith lowered her glasses. “That can't be right. We have
no car
rented to a Nancy Drew!”

W
HAT
!” N
ANCY EXCLAIMED
, surprised. “I was here this morning. Janine made me sign for it. You people rented me that car.”

Meredith showed her the front of the paper. “I'm sorry, but your name's not on the master list. You're not in our records.”

“Wait a minute!” Nancy rummaged in her shoulder bag. “I've got the rental agreement right here.” She put it on the counter. “Janine gave me this when I arrived. While she typed it up, she had me sign your master roster and list everyone in my party. Then she gave me this agreement and the car keys, and I left.”

Looking a bit confused, Meredith glanced at
the shelf again. “Hmmmm. Maybe Janine misfiled it.”

Nancy waited patiently while the girl carefully examined the rental agreement. All at once, Meredith's face brightened with understanding. “Ah, now I see.” She put down the agreement. “We were booked solid yesterday. I talked to your credit card company—told them we had no cars available. Didn't they get in touch with you?”

Nancy sighed. “If they tried, we were probably already airborne. But if my request didn't go through, why was this car waiting for me when I arrived?”

“Someone else rented the car for you.” Meredith pointed out a block of print. “See? ‘Hold for Nancy Drew and party.' Just before we closed yesterday, a woman called and said she wanted to rent a car for you.”

“A woman?” George said. “Mrs. Faulkner?”

“She didn't identify herself,” Meredith answered. “She said she was from the Malihini Corporation and asked for one of the corporate cars we keep on standby. She even named the car—tan four-door sedan, license number HI-9876.”

“Corporate cars?” echoed Nancy. “What do you mean?”

“We keep a number of cars set aside for use by companies here in Honolulu,” Meredith explained. “These companies have long-term rental
agreements with us. Whenever they need a rental car in a hurry, we send one right over.”

“Do you own these cars?” Nancy asked.

“Oh, no. We lease them on a six-month basis from car dealerships here in the Islands,” Meredith replied.

Nancy frowned thoughtfully. “This Malihini Corporation—have you done business with them for very long?”

Meredith shook her head. “No. As a matter of fact, they're brand-new clients. I processed their agreement just the other day.”

Just then, the airport intercom blared, “Nancy Drew, please report to the courtesy desk. You have a phone call.”

Excusing herself, Nancy hurried across the lobby. At the paneled courtesy desk, a clerk handed Nancy a telephone.

“Hi, Nancy.” It was Ned, and he sounded weary. “Bess told me you were at the airport. I'm down here at Kamaaina's gas station. We just finished putting that car on the lift.”

“Is it in bad shape?”

“It was in bad shape when you rented it, Nancy. The brake drums are as bald as an eagle!” Anger sharpened his voice as he told her what else was wrong with it. “You want me to come down to the airport?”

“Stay where you are, Ned. We'll pick you up in a little while.”

“Good enough. See you later.”

After handing back the phone, Nancy returned to the Sunrise desk. “Meredith, you said the Malihini Corporation
specifically
requested that car for me?”

“Yes, they did.”

Replacing the rental agreement in her bag, Nancy asked, “Where did that particular car come from?”

“We leased it from Smiling Al's Auto Sales in Pearl City.” Meredith adjusted her glasses. “He sent it over first thing this morning.”

Nancy took a pen from her shoulder bag. “Could you get me Smiling Al's address?”

“Certainly.”

Meredith copied the address from the central file and handed it to Nancy. In another instant, Nancy and George were hurrying out to the taxi stand.

“Where are we going now?” George asked.

“First we pick up Ned,” Nancy replied, opening the rear door of a cab.
“Then
we're going to see a man about a car. Ned says it was a rolling death trap.” Nancy sat down and slammed the door shut. “I want to know
why
it was waiting for us when we arrived at the airport.”

• • •

Smiling Al's Auto Sales wasn't hard to find. Its three-story cartoon billboard loomed huge above the Punanai Hills.

One of the showroom salesmen conducted them to the manager's office. A short, jowly man
with bushy eyebrows and a receding hairline sat behind a sprawling mahogany desk. He had more diplomas on his wall than a doctor.

He looked up with a broad salesman's smile as Nancy and her friends entered. “Hi, I'm Al Lutsen. Smiling Al. What can I do for you?”

“I had a problem with one of your cars, Mr. Lutsen,” Nancy said. “The brakes failed!”

“What car?” Al's smile vanished instantly. “When did this happen?”

“About two o'clock this afternoon,” Nancy replied. “It was a tan four-door sedan. Remember it?”

“Vaguely.” But Al's face gave him away. Nancy could tell that he remembered the car quite well. “What was wrong with it?”

Ned counted off points on his fingers. “One, the brake drums were bald. Two, the axle had rusted out. Three, the muffler fell off while it was on the lift—”

“I didn't sell you that car,” Al blustered. “Why are you so interested?”

“You leased it to Sunrise Rentals this morning,” Nancy replied. “They rented it to us. We were nearly killed in that clunker. So we're here for some answers, Mr. Lutsen.”

Al cleared his throat and began shuffling through some papers. “Well, if you rented it from Sunrise, you'll have to take it up with them. I'm not responsible for cars once they leave the
lot. I'm a busy man. Lot of work to do. Goodbye. Please close the door on your way out.”

Ned leaned across the desk. “We're not leaving until we get our answers.”

“I don't discuss the firm's business with outsiders.”

Nancy cocked her head to one side. “Would you like to know where we're going next?” she asked.

Al's eyebrows lifted. “Where?”

“The Department of Transportation!” Nancy rested her fingertips on his desk. “I think they'll be very interested to hear that Smiling Al is putting unsafe cars on the road.”

As the three turned to leave, Al jumped out of his chair and beat them to the door. “Whoa-whoa-whoa! Wait a minute! Let's talk about this, eh?” His salesman's smile had magically reappeared.

“How'd you come by that car?” Nancy asked.

Al shrugged. “I picked it up a couple of days ago. Got it from the Malihini Corporation.”

Nancy's eyes widened. She glanced at George, who mirrored her look of astonishment. Al bit his lower lip. “Um, I said something?”

An excited note in her voice, Nancy asked, “How did this Malihini Corporation get in touch with you?”

“That's the funny part,” Al recalled. “They sent me a telegram. ‘Dear Mr. Lutsen.' I thought
they were hitting me up for a donation at first. It was a little strange, but what a deal!”

“What do you mean, ‘strange'?” Ned interjected.

“Well, the Malihini Corporation offered to sell me that car, but only if I leased it immediately to Sunrise Rentals,” Al replied. “I had to scramble to do that. But it was worth it. The Malihini Corporation sold me that car for half the book value!”