Flirting With Danger

She popped it into the machine. Almost immediately a famous mystery movie lit up the screen. Nancy settled down beside Ned again, and his arm came to rest comfortably around her shoulders.

  Midway through the movie, the telephone rang. Knowing Mrs. Morgan was off for the night, Nancy answered it after only two rings.

  “Kline residence,” she said. From the other end Nancy could hear a low, rhythmic roar that sounded like the ocean.

  “This is Rachel Kline,” the caller said in a soft voice that Nancy recognized. “Could I please speak to my mom and dad?”

  Chapter

  Ten

  DON’T HANG UP, RACHEL!” Nancy cried out. She signaled Ned, who bounded off the couch and out of the room at the sound of the girl’s name. “We’ll put your parents on right away.”

  “Okay,” Rachel answered in a small voice. “But please hurry. I don’t have much time.”

  “Where are you?” Nancy asked softly. “Are you all right?”

  “I can’t answer your questions,” Rachel replied. She sounded as though she was about to burst into tears. “I’m just calling because I know my mom and dad must be awfully worried.”

  “We can help you,” Nancy continued persuasively. “But first we need to know where you are.”

  “Rachel!” Karen Kline’s frantic voice came on the line. “Rachel, honey—”

  Feeling awkward about intruding, Nancy quietly hung up the receiver. Ned came rushing back into the room while she was rewinding the movie they’d been watching and putting it back into its case.

  “Did she tell you anything?” he asked expectantly.

  Nancy turned and shook her head as she met his eyes. “No, but she sounded really scared, and she said she didn’t have much time.”

  Ned put his arms around Nancy. “At least we know she’s okay,” he said.

  Nancy was about to give Ned a hug when Karen Kline came running into the room in her robe, followed by her husband.

  “She hung up!” Rachel’s mother cried, hugging her arms around her chest. “I was so close to finding out where she was when the line went dead!”

  Allen Kline tried to comfort his wife. “At least we know she’s alive.”

  “Did you hear anything in the background before she hung up?” Nancy prodded. “Any other voices?”

  “No voices.” Karen Kline paused, thinking. “There was a low murmuring—”

  “The ocean,” Nancy said. “I recognized it as soon as I picked up the phone,” she explained.

  Allen Kline’s expression brightened. “Rachel must be somewhere close to the water.”

  “But where?” Mrs. Kline asked. Her voice sounded weary and desperate again.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Kline,” Ned told her. “We’ll find her. We’ve got one good lead: We know she’s somewhere by the beach.” He met Nancy’s eyes. They both knew that in Southern California that really didn’t mean much.

  “I’m calling the police,” Mr. Kline said. “They should know about this right away.”

  “I could use a glass of iced tea,” Karen Kline said. “Anyone else?”

  “I’ll help,” Nancy offered, following Mrs. Kline out.

  “We should call Mike,” Karen Kline said as she took a pitcher down from the cabinet.

  “Mike Rasmussen?” Nancy asked, surprised. She took four glasses down from the cupboard and set them on the breakfast bar.

  “I like Mike,” Mrs. Kline said. “I trust him. Not like this Dennis.” She sighed and looked as though she was about to cry again. “I can’t help thinking none of this would have happened if Rachel hadn’t taken up with him in the first place.”

  Josh came in through the back door just then. He perked up at the sight of Nancy and Mrs. Kline. “What’s going on?”

  Mrs. Kline put her arm around her son while Nancy finished making the iced tea. “We heard from Rachel just now. She hung up before we could find out where she was, but we know she’s all right.”

  Josh let out a relieved sigh. “That’s great, Mom. She’s okay.”

  “We do know one thing, though,” Nancy told him. “I distinctly heard the sound of the ocean in the background. Your sister is somewhere by the water.”

  Josh looked puzzled for a moment. “That could be anywhere, though. Did it sound like she was calling long distance?” he asked.

  Nancy shook her head. On a hunch, she recited the address Lieutenant Heller had given her for Dennis Harper. “Is that near the water?” she asked.

  Josh thought for a long moment, then nodded. “Yeah. I think it is.”

  “It’s possible she was calling from there,” Nancy said thoughtfully.

  “The police checked his place out and didn’t see any sign of Rachel. Or Dennis,” Josh said.

  “True,” Nancy agreed. “It may be a long shot, but it’s worth a try. Ned and I will go there tomorrow. There’s got to be a clue of some kind,” she said emphatically. She hoped so, anyway.

  Mrs. Kline picked up the tray. “I think you should get Mike to go with you, Nancy,” she said as they headed back into the den. “You and Ned shouldn’t go alone. I’m going to call him first thing in the morning. I just want this to be over.”

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Kline,” Nancy said reassuringly. “I have a feeling she’s okay.” Secretly, though, Nancy wondered. What made Rachel Kline hang up so fast? If she really was safe, why couldn’t she talk or come home? Nancy knew they’d better find her. And soon.

  • • •

  Everyone was gathered in the dining room for an early breakfast the next morning when Mike Rasmussen showed up. Mr. Kline invited him to join them.

  “Thanks,” Mike said cheerfully, sitting down. “I’ve already eaten, but I could use some tea.”

  Mrs. Morgan poured him a cup from the pot on the side table and set it in front of him.

  Mike’s face had an eager expression as he looked at Mrs. Kline. “So you heard from Rachel,” he said. “What did she say? Is she okay?”

  “She’s alive,” Mr. Kline replied. “I’m afraid that’s about all we know.” He touched a napkin to his mouth and set it aside. “We’re hoping you can tell us something, Mike. Any little detail we might have overlooked. Are you absolutely sure that Rachel didn’t confide in you before she disappeared?”

  Mike lowered his eyes for a moment, and his broad shoulders sagged a little. “Rachel stopped talking to me after she gave me back my class ring,” he said. He met Mr. Kline’s gaze again. “I wish I could help you, I really do, but I don’t know any more than you do.”

  Nancy jumped in. “Ned and I are going to Dennis Harper’s place today,” she told Mike. “I was hoping you’d come with us. You might notice some sign that Rachel had been there that we’d miss.”

  “We think Rachel might have been calling from there last night,” Josh put in.

  “Why?” Mike asked. He hadn’t touched his tea.

  “We heard the surf in the background,” Mr. Kline answered, his face pinched and tired-looking. “I called the police, but Heller was off duty last night,” he said with irritation.

  “Allen,” Mrs. Kline said softly. “They’re doing the best they can.”

  “Well, their best isn’t good enough!” snapped Mr. Kline. He was dressed for the office, and he stood and excused himself from the table. “I’ll call Lieutenant Heller from my study,” he said in quieter tones. Josh left the room with him, since his father was giving him a ride to the studio. Nancy and Ned were going to use Rachel’s car.

  “Ready?” Nancy asked, turning to Ned.

  He nodded, pushing back his chair.

  “We’ll let you know the second we find anything,” Nancy told Karen Kline before they left the dining room. The woman nodded silently, obviously afraid to hope for too much. She had had too many disappointments so far.

  Ned, Nancy, and Mike set out for Dennis Harper’s apartment a few minutes later, with Mike giving directions.

  “Did you and Rachel get along pretty well?” Nancy asked cautiously, turning
to look at Mike in the backseat as they sped along the freeway. “Before the breakup, I mean?”

  Mike stared out through the side window, and Nancy saw a muscle tighten in his jaw, then relax again. “Most of the time,” he answered, without turning his head.

  Since Mike seemed to hang out with Jessica so much, Nancy decided to feel him out about the girl. She was especially curious about why Jessica had intimidated Beth in the pizza place the day before. “Are Jessica and Beth good friends?” she asked.

  “No way,” Mike blurted out. Then, after a long time, he added, “Jessica is nobody’s friend.”

  “Then why does she hang around with your crowd?”

  Mike shrugged. “Something to do, I guess.”

  “What makes her so nasty?” Nancy persisted. “Yesterday she was pretty hard on Beth.”

  “I don’t know,” Mike said noncommittally. “I know for a fact that she dislikes Rachel—intensely. That’s mainly because she’s jealous. Rachel has always been more popular and done better in school.” He pointed toward a green and white sign on the edge of the freeway. “Take this exit and turn right,” he said.

  Ned followed Mike’s instructions. “What do you think Beth could know that she’s too scared to tell us?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mike said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  Nancy shrugged, too, and then concentrated on the road.

  Dennis’s apartment was in a large, rundown complex within a hundred yards of the beach. After getting out of the car, Nancy checked the mailboxes in the hall and found out that Dennis lived in number seventeen. They found it on the side of the building facing the water, on the ground floor.

  Nancy rang the doorbell. “Dennis!” she called out when there was no answer. Nothing came back but the sound of children laughing somewhere nearby and the soothing rush of the waves on the beach. “Try the knob,” Ned said.

  Nancy reached for it, and it turned. The door of the apartment opened with a little push.

  “Dennis?” Nancy called again, stepping slowly over the threshold. The sight of the living room made her draw in her breath sharply. The chairs and sofa were overturned, and the screen on the small TV set had been smashed, scattering shards of glass all over the cheap carpet.

  “Be careful,” Ned warned, stepping in behind Nancy. “There might still be someone here.”

  Nancy moved on to the kitchen. All the dishes had been pulled from the cupboards and broken on the floor. Houseplants had been dumped from their pots and ground into the mess of shattered glass, and the cotton curtains had been pulled off the wall, along with the rods that held them.

  Mike whistled under his breath. “Somebody is really mad at this guy,” he said.

  “Or looking for something,” Nancy said, remembering the scene in Rachel’s room. She went on through the apartment, finding the bedroom and bathroom much the same. There was no sign of either Rachel or Dennis, though.

  “Freeze. Police!” ordered a man’s voice as Nancy stepped back into the demolished living room.

  Lieutenant Heller lowered his gun at the sight of Nancy. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for Dennis and Rachel,” Nancy answered. “The door was open, and we were worried.”

  The detective returned his revolver to the holster beneath his suit jacket and slowly took in the mess. “I hope you haven’t touched anything,” he said.

  Ned and Mike were standing just behind Nancy, one on either side. “We haven’t,” Ned said. “We just got here.”

  “I take it this happened since you were here last time?” Nancy asked, stepping carefully over a broken vase.

  The detective nodded. “Yep. My men came by last night. When Mr. Kline let me know Rachel had called, I thought I’d double-check this place. I didn’t expect to find it like this, though.”

  He went to the telephone, lifted the receiver with a handkerchief, and punched in a number with the end of a pen. “This is Heller,” he said, then he barked out the address and asked for a fingerprint person.

  Mike’s gaze landed on a denim jacket lying on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, his face gray. “This is Rachel’s,” he said, turning around and holding the garment close to his chest for a moment.

  “Let me see,” Lieutenant Heller said gently.

  When Mike held out the jacket, a piece of paper slipped to the floor. Nancy reached for it.

  She found her voice shaking as she read the note out loud: “ ‘We’re in terrible trouble. Find us. Please.’ ”

  Chapter

  Eleven

  AS SOON AS NANCY finished reading the note, Mike leaned back against the wall, clutching Rachel’s jacket to him, his eyes fixed on the floor.

  Ned looked on with a worried expression on his face. “Do you think Rachel wrote it?” he asked.

  “Let me see that,” Lieutenant Heller said, holding out his hand.

  Mike glanced at the piece of paper as Nancy gave it to the lieutenant. “That’s Rachel’s handwriting, all right,” he said, his voice shaking.

  Nancy looked around the ransacked apartment. “What are you going to do now?” she asked the detective.

  “Ask for more manpower,” the policeman answered. He went back to the telephone and called the station in the same careful way he had before.

  Nancy turned to Rachel’s ex-boyfriend. “Are you okay, Mike?”

  The boy nodded glumly, but his grip on the jacket was still so tight that his knuckles glowed white. “I—I think I just need some fresh air,” he said haltingly. He stumbled toward the open door, and Nancy watched as he went down the hall.

  “This is hitting him hard,” Ned commented to Nancy.

  Nancy nodded thoughtfully. “He must still love her,” she replied.

  The lieutenant completed his phone call and turned back to Nancy and Ned. “Was he all right?” he asked, cocking a thumb toward the door that Mike had taken out. “He looks as though he’s been kicked.”

  “He’s the guy who went with Rachel until about a month ago,” Nancy explained. “They broke up when Rachel started dating Dennis Harper. Obviously, Mike still cares about her.”

  “This can’t be easy for him,” the lieutenant said. Then he went outside to find Mike. Nancy followed, with Ned close behind.

  “You seem pretty shook up,” the policeman said to Mike, who was sitting on the front steps. “You must care a lot about this girl.”

  “I do,” Mike agreed. Then, quickly, he corrected himself. “Did.”

  “Mike, is there anything you can think of that would explain why Rachel might be in danger?” Nancy asked.

  “Or what might have made her leave that note?” Ned added.

  “I know what you think,” Mike snapped, still holding Rachel’s jacket across his lap. “You think maybe I’m connected with this somehow, that I wanted to get even with Rachel or something! Well, I wouldn’t hurt her. I really loved her!”

  “That’s not what we’re saying, son,” the lieutenant said in a gentle voice. “We’re just looking for some kind of lead.”

  Mike lowered his head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just as confused as you are. All I want is to find her before something really bad happens.”

  The lieutenant nodded and rose to his feet. “So do we, son. So do we.” He paused for a moment. “I’ll need the jacket for evidence,” he said, holding out one hand. Mike gave the jacket to him.

  Two squad cars pulled up, and three uniformed officers—along with the woman who had come to the Klines’ to lift fingerprints—came across the narrow lawn.

  At the sight of them, Mike got to his feet and stood staring out toward the ocean.

  Mike was lost in thought and seemed unaware that Nancy and Ned were standing next to him. “Those cats can be dangerous,” he muttered under his breath with a shake of his head.

  Nancy touched his arm. “What did you mean just now?” she asked. “About cats being dangerous?”

  Mike almost jumped at the que
stion, but he recovered his composure almost immediately. “I just meant ‘those guys,’ criminals in general,” he said. Nancy thought Mike was acting a bit flustered. “Look,” he said suddenly, glancing at his watch and trying to smile, “I’ve got to get to work pretty soon. Think you could drive me back to the Klines’ so I can pick up my car?”

  “Sure,” Ned answered.

  “I’ll ask the lieutenant if it’s okay for us to leave,” Nancy added.

  Minutes later they were in the Camaro. Soon after they arrived back at the Klines’, Ned and Nancy watched Mike drive off to work.

  “Come on, Nickerson,” Nancy said, grabbing his hand and leading him back to Rachel’s car.

  “What’s up?” Ned asked.

  “I don’t know exactly,” Nancy said as Ned started up the car. “But I get the feeling Mike’s hiding something. Remember what he said about ‘those cats’?”

  Ned nodded and pulled out into the street. Mike’s car was making a turn at a stop sign up ahead.

  “I’ll bet you anything it’s got to do with those cat symbols we’ve been seeing.” She counted them off on her fingers. “Beth’s necklace. The graffiti on the wall at the Snake Pit. And this invitation.” She pulled it out of her purse.

  “So you think Mike knows who these ‘Kats’ are?” Ned asked.

  “There’s only one way to find out. I hope if we follow him, we’ll learn more.”

  Up ahead she spied Mike’s blue sports car. Ned kept as much distance between the two vehicles as he could without losing sight of Mike.

  Soon the sports car zoomed up a freeway ramp. At the moment, Nancy knew, they were headed in the general direction of Sound Performance, where Mike had said he was going. Still, she recalled what Mike had said about having a few days off. Was he going to work or not?

  “I doubt if Mike is involved in Rachel’s disappearance, though,” Ned threw in as Mike slowed down for an exit. He dropped back a few car lengths, then took the same ramp. “He seemed honestly shook up back there.”

  “It could have been an act, though,” Nancy said. She was almost disappointed when Mike headed straight for Sound Performance, turned into the parking lot beside the store, and got out of his car. She’d been so sure they were on to something.