“Was she alone?” Nancy asked.
“Yeah,” Mike answered. His tone told Nancy he thought it was a stupid question.
“Did she seem to be worried about anything?” Nancy asked, choosing to ignore his attitude.
Mike thought for a moment. “Well, she was a little rushed. Now that I think about it, she didn’t take her cap and gown at all. She just hung around for a few minutes, then left.”
Nancy glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to meet Josh and Ned in the parking lot,” she told Beth. “Maybe they’ve had better luck than we have.”
“I hope so,” Beth said, almost in a whisper. “I really hope so.”
She and Nancy made their way through the diminishing crowd to the front doors of the high school. It was a big school, clean, well designed, and well built, and Nancy paused for a moment to admire the view of the ocean. She and Beth started toward the parking lot. There were still a lot of cars around, but she didn’t spot Ned or Josh.
“Have you and Rachel been best friends for a long time?” Nancy asked.
“Since first grade,” Beth confirmed. She stared down at the pavement for a few seconds. “She tells me everything—or I thought she did. You’d think she’d have mentioned it if she planned to skip graduation.”
Nancy shaded her eyes from the bright afternoon sunshine and scanned the parking lot for Ned and Josh. Wherever they were, she hoped Rachel was with them, safe and sound. “Maybe something came up,” she said. “Are you absolutely sure Rachel wasn’t in any kind of trouble?”
Beth hesitated for a long time before answering. “Yes,” she said finally. “I’m sure.”
“Nancy!” a familiar masculine voice called. “Over here!”
Nancy spotted Ned calling to her. “Come on! I think we’ve found something,” he shouted.
She and Beth sprinted toward the two boys, who were standing beside a silver Camaro in the far corner of the parking lot.
“It’s Rachel’s car,” Ned explained when they caught up.
“There’s no way she would have left her car behind,” Josh stated. “It’s practically like her baby.”
Nancy didn’t know what Josh had expected to find in the car. Was he hoping that Rachel would be sitting inside, waiting? Nancy knew Rachel’s brother had been disappointed, though. It was empty.
Josh looked first at Ned, then at Nancy, his handsome face full of strain. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“What’s that?” Nancy asked, studying his face.
“That my sister’s been kidnapped!”
Chapter
Three
KIDNAPPING ISN’T the only possibility, Josh,” Nancy said gently, noticing that the keys were still in the ignition. She tried to catch Beth’s eye. It appeared more and more likely that Rachel’s friend was wrong about the girl not being in some kind of trouble. Rachel must have been in a big hurry if she’d left the keys in the car.
“Let’s go back to your place and find out if your parents have heard anything,” Ned said, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Maybe Rachel’s there, and we’re all standing around worrying for nothing.”
Josh checked out the silver Camaro again. “She’s even left the keys in the ignition,” he pointed out with a frown. “I don’t like the look of this at all.”
“Ned, why don’t you and Josh take Rachel’s car back to the house? Beth, can you drop me off?” The girl nodded. Nancy wanted another chance to try to find out what Beth wasn’t telling her.
Josh nodded distractedly as he and Ned climbed into the Camaro. Beth led the way to a yellow Volkswagen.
Once they were in the car, Beth gave a little sigh and reached up to drape the tassel from her graduation cap over the rearview mirror. “This day isn’t turning out at all like I thought it would,” she said.
“No, I guess it isn’t,” Nancy said, feeling sorry for the girl. “Are you sure you’ve told me everything?” she ventured.
Beth swallowed hard. “I’m sure.” Her expression told Nancy that she wasn’t going to say anything more. Beth started the car.
“Everything will be okay” was all Nancy could say. She just hoped she was right.
When Nancy and Beth pulled into the Klines’ driveway, Ned was waiting for them. Josh had probably gone inside to be with his parents.
“Is she here?” Beth asked eagerly.
Ned shook his head. “No. And the Klines were really upset when they found out Rachel had left her car.”
Ned and Nancy and Beth found Josh watching his father talk on the telephone when they went inside. Mr. Kline was on the phone with the police, trying to file a missing persons report.
Nancy glanced at Ned. They both knew from experience that the police wouldn’t be able to do a thing for twenty-four hours. Until that much time had passed, a person wasn’t considered legally missing.
“I’m telling you, her car was found in the school parking lot!” Mr. Kline yelled into the receiver. “The keys were in the ignition! Now, that indicates that there is at least a possibility that our daughter has been kidnapped!”
“Where’s your mother?” Nancy asked Josh in a quiet voice.
“Upstairs, in Rachel’s room,” Josh said. “She’s pretty shook up.”
Nancy excused herself and went upstairs with Beth close behind.
Karen Kline was sitting on Rachel’s bed, crying softly. She looked up hopefully at the noise, but when she saw it was Nancy and Beth her face fell.
Beth sat down on the bed beside Karen Kline and said, “Please don’t cry, Mrs. Kline. Rachel’s probably going to come walking through the front door at any minute, with a perfectly good explanation.”
“Has Rachel ever run away before?” Nancy asked, trying to keep her voice as gentle as possible.
Karen Kline looked shocked. “Oh, no!” she said quickly. “We’ve never had any trouble with Rachel at all.” Her face became pale again. “I’m so afraid she’s been kidnapped,” she said, as though she was afraid even to speak the words. “Allen and I aren’t rich, even though we live very well. All our money is tied up in the house. Someone must have gotten the idea that we could pay a king’s ransom—”
Nancy touched Mrs. Kline’s shoulder. “There’s no reason to jump to conclusions. We have to wait to see if anyone calls or sends a ransom note,” she said.
“I don’t think she was kidnapped,” Beth remarked slowly, staring at Rachel’s dresser.
“Why?” Nancy asked.
Beth left her place beside Mrs. Kline to walk over to the bureau. The top was crowded with a jewelry chest, a music box, makeup, perfume, and a framed picture of Rachel with the rest of the cheerleading squad. “Because Rachel’s bank is empty,” she said, excitement rising in her voice. She pointed at an expensive electronic bank on Rachel’s dresser.
Mrs. Kline jumped up to see for herself. “You’re right!” she said, holding up the bank. “And I know that she had taken money out of her account and was keeping it here. Now it’s gone!”
Karen Kline dashed for the door. “Allen!” she cried out into the hall.
Nancy and Beth followed Mrs. Kline downstairs. While Mrs. Kline talked with her husband, Nancy and Beth joined the boys outside by the pool.
“Rachel must have run away,” Beth announced. Then she explained about the missing money.
“But why would she have done that?” Josh wondered. “She seemed a little edgy this morning, but she’s not the type of person to run away. She knows Mom and Dad love her.”
“I’d like to question a few more of Rachel’s friends,” Nancy said thoughtfully, watching as sunlight danced in golden patches on the pool’s cool blue water. “Somebody must know something.”
“There’s a party down at the Surf Club later,” Beth put in helpfully. “Why don’t you all come? That’ll give you a chance to find out if anybody knows what’s going on.”
“Good idea,” Nancy said, looking at her watch. “What time does it start?”
“Soon?
??at six,” Beth answered. “But it’ll go late. Bring your bathing suits. Everybody’s planning on swimming after they’ve had dinner and danced for a while.”
Josh and Ned agreed to attend the party, but they said they probably wouldn’t feel like swimming. “I just hope Mr. and Mrs. Kline will be okay,” Beth said in a faraway tone. “They don’t deserve this.”
Beth’s words struck Nancy as odd. She was about to ask for an explanation when the girl glanced at her watch. “Well, I guess I’d better get home—my folks would like to see me before I take off. Catch you at the party.”
“Right,” said Ned.
“I guess I’ll go inside and see if I can do anything to help my folks,” Josh told them.
Ned pulled up two deck chairs for him and Nancy. “What do you think?” he asked after they were settled.
Nancy was staring at the clear California sky and frowning. “My guess is Rachel probably ran away,” she said after a while. “She took her savings. On the other hand, why would she be in such a rush that she had to miss her own graduation? And why didn’t she take her car?”
“I can’t explain the graduation ceremony. But she doesn’t need the car if she’s with somebody else,” Ned pointed out. -
Nancy snapped her fingers. “You know, you’re right. Someone like her boyfriend Dennis, for example.”
Nancy explained what Beth had told her about Dennis.
“So you think they’re together?” Ned asked.
“I don’t know about that. But I do know one thing: this party should be very interesting.”
“I recognize that look, Nancy,” Ned said with a smile.
“What look?” Nancy asked.
“That look that says you’re happy to be on a new case.”
• • •
Promptly at six Nancy, Josh, and Ned left for the party in Rachel’s car.
The Surf Club turned out to be a nice restaurant overlooking the beach. Tables were set up on the terrace, complete with colorful umbrellas. A band was playing the latest hits. Just beyond the terrace was a dance floor crowded with graduates and their dates determined to have a good time. Waiters in white coats were bustling around, setting out a buffet dinner on a long table back on the terrace.
While Josh and Ned went to get sodas, Nancy stood observing the crowd. Mike Rasmussen approached her almost immediately, bringing a pretty brown-haired girl with him. Nancy saw Beth coming toward them, too.
“I don’t suppose anybody’s heard anything from Rachel,” Mike said, sounding almost testy.
Nancy supposed he was just concerned, like everybody else. “Nothing yet,” she said.
“I’m Jessica Bates,” the girl beside him announced. “And if you want my opinion, you’re all wasting your time looking for Rachel. It’s obvious that she’s run off with her punk boyfriend, Dennis Harper,” she finished smugly.
Mike glowered at Jessica, but before Nancy could ask her what she meant, Beth was beside her. She looked terrific in a green silk jumpsuit.
“I can’t imagine why any of us would want your opinion,” she said sweetly. “You don’t like Rachel, and everybody knows it.”
Jessica drew back, looking insulted. She started to say something, then stopped herself.
“I’m Nancy Drew,” Nancy told her, since no one had introduced the two.
Jessica glared at Beth for a moment before lifting her chin and turning a smiling face on Nancy. “Welcome to Beverly Hills,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll find it’s a very exciting place.” With that, she turned and walked away, Mike following her to the buffet table.
“Still no news?” Beth asked, watching Nancy’s face.
Nancy shook her head. “No news,” she confirmed. “Tell me about Dennis Harper,” Nancy said firmly as Ned and Josh joined them at one of the umbrella-covered tables.
For a moment fear flickered in Beth’s eyes, but then she sighed and answered, “Rachel broke up with Mike about a month ago to date Dennis. He’s kind of wild—Dennis, I mean. He graduated from Ocean Highlands last year.”
“And?” Nancy prompted.
“Dennis works at a stereo equipment store in West Hollywood,” Beth went on. “It’s called Sound Performance. Mike works there, too.”
Nancy glanced at Mike, who was standing in line at the buffet table next to Jessica. “He’s not exactly crazy about Dennis, I take it.”
Beth gave a nervous giggle and shook her head. “You’ve got that right,” she agreed.
“Do my parents know about this Dennis character?” Josh asked. “This is the first I’ve heard about him since I got back from school.”
Beth shrugged. “I don’t know what Rachel told your mom and dad,” she said.
Ned was looking at the buffet table. “Let’s eat,” he suggested. “I’m starved.”
The four of them got plates, but Ned was the only one who ate much. Nancy was eager to question some other kids to find out more about Rachel and Dennis Harper.
No one was eager to talk, though, and after another hour, Josh wanted to leave. He was understandably worried about his parents, and of course, he wanted to know if there had been any new developments. There was always the hope that Rachel had called or gone home while they were at the party.
“Are you going to start your internship tomorrow?” Ned asked Josh as the three of them headed for the parking lot.
Josh shrugged. “I’m not sure I could concentrate, knowing Rachel might be in trouble.”
Nancy had already decided that their best chance of finding Rachel was to find Dennis. She decided to pay a visit to Sound Performance first thing in the morning.
They went to the Camaro and were about to get into the car when they noticed a piece of paper tucked under one of the windshield wipers. Nancy pulled it out and saw that it was a program for the Ocean Highlands High School graduation ceremony.
As her eyes scanned the page Nancy felt a rush of fear.
“Stop looking for Rachel or you may get hurt,” someone had written in large black letters. “Love, The Kats.”
Chapter
Four
NANCY HANDED THE PROGRAM to Josh. “Read this,” she told him, her thoughts racing. Just who were these “Kats,” and who was the note intended for? Were they threatening just her, or were Ned and Josh included? Was it just some prank, or could these Kats have something to do with Rachel’s disappearance?
As Josh scanned the program Ned read it over his friend’s shoulder. He gave a low whistle.
“I don’t get it,” Josh murmured. “Why are these Kats threatening us?”
Ned’s expression was worried. “They obviously don’t want us to find Rachel,” he concluded, following Nancy’s train of thought.
Nancy nodded. “That’s what I decided, too,” she told Josh. She took the program from him and read it again. “I do get notes like this all the time,” she told Josh, to relieve his fears.
“And they haven’t stopped you before,” Ned pointed out ruefully.
With a smile, Nancy answered him. “You got that right, Nickerson. I’d say we have more reason than ever to find Rachel Kline.”
• • •
The next morning Josh’s parents convinced him to go to the movie studio. They promised they’d call if there was any news about Rachel. Mr. and Mrs. Kline were going to go to the police to convince them to file a missing persons report, then to the bank to find out if Rachel had closed out her savings account.
After dropping Josh off at the studio in Rachel’s car, Ned and Nancy consulted a map and set out for Sound Performance.
It was a warm, sunny day with hardly any of the usual L.A. smog. As they drove along with the car windows open the wind felt good in Nancy’s hair, and her spirits lifted. Finding out where Dennis worked was the best lead they had.
“I have a feeling that if we find Dennis Harper, we’re going to be closer to finding Rachel.”
“You think he kidnapped her?” Ned asked, keeping an eye out for their exit.
&nb
sp; “I don’t know,” Nancy answered. “We don’t have a ransom note.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe they have run away. One thing’s sure: Rachel’s missing, and I overheard a conversation she had with Dennis that might involve him. Chances are they’re together.”
They found Sound Performance across the street from a large shopping mall. The building was a little run-down, and two of the neon letters in “Performance” were burned out. Inside, the store was crowded with merchandise, though, and there were a number of customers checking out the VCRs, camcorders, color TVs, and stereo systems.
A young salesman approached them immediately. “Welcome to Sound Performance,” he said. “May I help you?”
Nancy hoped to spot Mike Rasmussen. She remembered Beth had told her he worked there, too. “We’d like to talk to the owner.”
“You mean Mr. Lindenbaum?”
Nancy nodded. The salesman looked mildly disappointed but turned and pointed out a middle-aged man with a few strands of hair combed over his large bald spot. Mr. Lindenbaum, in pink slacks, an open-necked shirt, and a cardigan sweater that barely closed over his stomach, was busy selling a customer a new TV.
Nancy and Ned waited until he was finished before walking over to him.
“Mr. Lindenbaum?” Nancy held out her hand. “I’m Nancy Drew, and this is Ned Nickerson. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Ralph Lindenbaum,” he said with a smile. “Happy to be of service. What did you have in mind, a nice young couple like you?” His gaze shifted slightly to take in Ned. “A microwave? A VCR? We have both new and reconditioned appliances—”
“We’d like to talk to Dennis Harper,” Nancy broke in politely, glancing around the store. “Is he here today?”
Ralph Lindenbaum looked decidedly less friendly. “What do you want with him?” He almost spat out the question.
“A friend of ours is missing,” Ned answered, his hands resting on his hips. “Her name is Rachel Kline, and she and Dennis were dating.”
Ralph scratched his head and carefully smoothed his hair back over the bald spot. “I could tell that kid was no good,” he said. “Punk haircut and all. I’d heard he’d been in trouble before I hired him, too. Just thought I’d give him a chance.” He paused to sigh dramatically. “Harper isn’t around here anymore. I fired him day before yesterday, when some speakers turned up missing. It wasn’t the first time things were missing when he worked. I made sure it was the last time, though!”