Date With Deception

  Chapter

  One

  THIS IS ABSOLUTE PARADISE,” Bess Marvin said dreamily. “I just might spend the rest of my life right here, taking in all this scenery.”

  Nancy Drew shook her reddish gold hair out of her eyes and looked at the foamy waves rolling up on the white, sandy beach. “It’s definitely gorgeous,” she agreed.

  “Bess doesn’t mean the natural scenery, Nancy.” George Fayne glanced at her cousin Bess and grinned. “She’s talking about the human kind. The male, human kind.”

  Bess’s blue eyes sparkled as she looked at all the guys on the beach, sunbathing, swimming, and playing volleyball. “I’m talking about both,” she said, rubbing some sunscreen on her shoulders. “Both kinds of scenery are just about perfect. And so is this vacation. I’m so glad your aunt invited us to come here, Nancy.”

  Nancy’s aunt Eloise, who usually spent her summers at her house in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, had decided to exchange houses with someone from the Hamptons, a group of small oceanside villages on the eastern end of Long Island, in New York. When she’d invited Nancy and her two best friends to spend their vacation with her, the girls had jumped at the chance: days of sunning and swimming, nights of eating at great seafood restaurants or dancing at small clubs. As Bess said, it was just about perfect.

  “Well,” George said, getting up from her beach towel and pushing her short, dark hair behind her ears, “I think I’ll get wet again. See you in a few minutes!” Long legged and athletic, George sprinted across the sand and plunged into the gray-blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

  Watching her, Bess smiled. “George sure is happy these days.”

  “I know,” Nancy agreed. “It’s nice, isn’t it? Gary seems like a great guy.”

  George had met Gary Powell during a volleyball game two weeks earlier, and the two of them had hit it off immediately. Twenty years old, Gary lived in the Hamptons and had been hired as a test pilot for Jetstream, Inc., a local company that designed and built jet planes.

  “She’s so lucky.” Bess sighed. She pulled a brush out of her pink canvas beach bag and tugged it through her long blond hair. Next she took out a small mirror. “I have to admit I’m jealous,” she said, eyeing her slightly sunburned nose. “I mean, George has Gary. And you’ve got Ned—even though he isn’t here.”

  Ned Nickerson, Nancy’s longtime boyfriend, was working at a summer job back in their hometown, River Heights. Nancy was hoping he’d be able to come east to visit them. Even though she missed him, she was still having a great time, and she knew Bess was, too.

  “Come on, Bess,” she said, her blue eyes alight with laughter. “You’ve been out with at least five different guys since we got here!”

  “I know, and it’s been fun,” Bess agreed. “But I’m not just talking about dating. I’m talking about romance.”

  Still laughing, Nancy stood up and shook the sand from her blue- and white-striped towel. Bess was always looking for romance. “Well,” Nancy said teasingly, “maybe Sasha Petrov will dance away with your heart.”

  Bess smiled. “I’ve already thought of that.”

  Sasha Petrov was a young ballet dancer, a rising star in his own country, the Soviet Union, although he wasn’t very well known elsewhere. He was coming to the United States for the summer to join an international ballet institute sponsored by the Hamptons Cultural Society—talented young dancers from all over the world were taking part in it.

  Nancy’s aunt Eloise, who was on the board of directors of the Cultural Society, was Sasha’s official sponsor, and she’d asked the three girls to help entertain him when he wasn’t busy rehearsing.

  “I wonder what he looks like,” Bess said now.

  “What who looks like?” George asked as she rejoined them.

  “Sasha Petrov,” Nancy said. “Bess decided that the best way to entertain him will be with a little romance.”

  “I should have known!” Laughing, George toweled off and pulled on an oversize yellow T-shirt. “I guess we’d better get going,” she said to Bess. “Sasha’s plane gets here at two, and that gives you only two hours to get ready.”

  “Right,” Bess agreed with a grin. “After all, I don’t want to greet him with sand in my hair. It wouldn’t be good for international relations!”

  • • •

  At one-fifteen that afternoon Nancy pulled her rented Honda into the parking lot of the small Hamptons airport. She, George, and Bess got out to wait for Eloise, who pulled her car up next to theirs.

  Tall and elegant, Eloise Drew got out and smoothed down her shining brown hair. “I’m so glad the weather is cooperating,” she said. “It couldn’t be a more perfect day.” She smiled warmly at the girls, who were wearing brightly colored cotton sundresses. “You three certainly look nice. I think this is the first time all summer that I haven’t seen you in bathing suits and flip-flops—during the day, at any rate.”

  “First impressions are important,” Bess said seriously.

  George gave her a playful punch on the arm. “She means important for Sasha Petrov.”

  Eloise laughed. “Well, good luck, Bess!”

  “See?” Bess said. “She doesn’t think I’m crazy.”

  “We don’t either, Bess,” Nancy said as they walked into the small terminal. “We just think you should meet the guy before you decide to fall in love with him.”

  Across the room a small crowd had gathered to wait for the arrival of the Soviets. Several other members of the cultural committee were there as well as Dana Harding, the dance institute’s artistic director. Slender and intense, Dana was nervously tapping her foot. When she spotted Eloise, she waved her over.

  “Oh, dear, Dana’s looking very edgy,” Eloise commented. “I can’t blame her, though. She organized this entire project, and she’s very anxious for it to succeed. I’ll go wait with her,” she added. “Meet you outside when the plane comes in.”

  For a little while longer, the group milled around, chatting and laughing. Then the drone of an airplane was heard, and everyone moved quickly for the doors.

  The airport was so small that passengers simply got off the plane and walked across the runway to the terminal.

  “This is so exciting!” Bess said as they gathered outside. “I just hope this wind doesn’t wreck my hair,” she added, holding it down with both hands.

  “There it is!” George cried.

  With the sunlight glinting off its silver-tipped wings, the small charter jet circled the airport, then landed smoothly on the runway.

  In a few minutes the plane taxied toward the terminal. The ground crew hurried out and wheeled some portable steps into place. Then the door opened and a tall, bulky man with a head of thick gray hair appeared and started down the steps.

  “Too old and too big,” Bess said immediately. “He can’t be Sasha.”

  “It’s not,” said Eloise, who’d joined them. “I believe that’s Dmitri Kolchak. He’s the Soviet chaperon. Ah!” she said, gesturing toward the plane, “that must be Marina.”

  Marina Zukova, Sasha’s dance partner, was slender and beautiful, with gleaming black hair that fell to her shoulders in a mass of waves. Moving gracefully, she joined Dmitri Kolchak at the bottom of the steps.

  “Uh-oh,” Bess murmured, “if she’s around, I don’t know if I’ll stand a chance with Sasha.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much,” Eloise told her, smiling. “From what I’ve heard, I gather Marina’s relationship with Sasha is strictly professional.”

  “That’s a relief,” Bess responded.

  Just then a smiling young man burst through the door, gave a cheerful wave to the waiting group, and trotted quickly down to the runway.

  “That has to be Sasha,” Bess announ
ced excitedly. “He’s gorgeous!”

  Nancy and George couldn’t argue with her. Sasha Petrov was extremely good-looking. Of medium height, he had a dancer’s build, lean but muscular. His face was slender, with high cheekbones and large, heavy-lidded eyes. As he walked toward Dana Harding, he pushed his golden brown hair off his forehead and gave her a charming grin. Eloise walked over with her arm extended to greet Sasha.

  It was a few minutes before Eloise was able to introduce Sasha to the girls, so Bess had time to comb her hair and check her face to make sure a big blob of dirt hadn’t suddenly appeared on it.

  Finally Eloise brought Sasha over to them, introducing him to George first and then to Bess, who was instantly captivated by his smile.

  “And this is my niece, Nancy Drew,” Eloise said.

  “Hello,” Nancy said, shaking his hand. “Welcome to the United States.”

  “It’s a great pleasure to be here.” Sasha squeezed Nancy’s hand, his eyes gleaming with admiration. They were an incredibly clear shade of sky blue, Nancy noted.

  “Nancy and her friends are spending their vacation with me,” Eloise told Sasha. “Whenever you have any free time from your rehearsals and classes, they’ve offered to show you and Marina around.” ^

  “How lucky for me,” Sasha said, looking at Nancy and still holding on to her hand. He gave her a wide-eyed, innocent grin. “I think my stay here is going to be even better than I imagined.”

  Nancy finally managed to free her hand, but she couldn’t help smiling. Sasha, she decided, was really cute. He was also quite a flirt. Too bad she couldn’t just come right out and tell him to flirt with Bess instead of her. Maybe she could drop a hint later.

  “I hope you like the ocean,” she told him. “The beaches here are really beautiful.”

  “I’m sure they are,” he said. “But I have the feeling I won’t be looking at the view too much. I would rather be looking at you.”

  To her surprise, Nancy felt an agreeable warmth sweep through her. Usually such blatant flirting annoyed her, but coming from Sasha it was somehow charming. Maybe it was his guileless blue eyes.

  “Well, anyway, you probably won’t have much time for going to the beach with me. Me and my friends,” Nancy reminded him with a grin.

  “Of course. Your two charming friends,” Sasha agreed, then promptly steered the conversation back to flirting. “Tell me, do you believe in love at first sight?”

  Shaking her head in amusement, Nancy glanced to her right, hoping to bring George and Bess into the conversation. They’d gotten separated from her by Dmitri Kolchak and Marina Zukova, who were openly staring at her and Sasha now. Their faces had the same expression: complete disapproval.

  Uh-oh, Nancy thought. They obviously don’t like what they’re seeing. I just hope they don’t think I’m the one who’s doing the flirting.

  She decided to get Sasha to talk with somebody else. He was handsome, and it was fun being flirted with, but she didn’t want him or anybody else to think she was taking it seriously.

  Nancy spotted her aunt Eloise and was just about to call out to her when Dana Harding shouted, “I think that plane’s in trouble!”

  The pleasant chatter stopped, and in dead silence everyone looked up where Dana was pointing. A small white jet was just approaching the airport, and from the way its body was wobbling, Nancy guessed the pilot was fighting to keep the nose of the plane up.

  As the plane passed overhead, its nose did dip sharply. Then suddenly it fell into a spin, its sleek body twisting and turning, heading straight for the crowd.

  Chapter

  Two

  THAT PLANE is going to crash into us! Nancy decided, joining everyone in a flat-out run for the terminal. Sasha gripped her arm, and she knew he was as alarmed as she was. Even as she ran, Nancy couldn’t take her eyes off the plane spiraling closer and closer to the ground.

  Then, at the last possible moment, the pilot managed to pull the nose up. The plane roared over the runway, whipping the air into a minihurricane.

  Siren blaring, a fire truck sped out toward the end of the runway. The plane was looping back for an emergency landing.

  Nancy held her breath as the plane came in low. It hit the runway, bounced off, bumped again, then tilted to the side, spinning completely around before coming to a stop.

  The truck was ready, and everyone watched breathlessly as the ground crew rushed toward the plane with hoses.

  “Come on!” someone murmured tensely. “Get that pilot out of there before the thing explodes!”

  The pilot’s door was already open, and in seconds a tall, lanky figure emerged and leaped to the ground.

  “Oh, no!” George cried. “It’s Gary!” Her dark eyes wide with fright, she pushed her way to the edge of the onlookers and ran toward the plane.

  Gary caught sight of her and waved to let her know he was all right. George stopped where she was, her tall figure relaxing a bit.

  Still standing close to Nancy, Sasha said, “This Gary. He is your friend’s brother?”

  “Her boyfriend,” Nancy said, her eyes still on the plane. She’d only just noticed the bold blue Jetstream logo on its tail. She waited tensely to see what would happen.

  The ground crew was still aiming a hose at the plane, but Gary and his mechanic were standing casually close to the plane. At one point the mechanic even threw back his head and laughed, then patted Gary on the back.

  Nancy breathed a sigh of relief. Gary was all right, and it looked as if the plane wasn’t going to blow up, either.

  Gary turned and waved again to George. Then he trotted over to her, put his arms around her, and swung her off her feet in a big bear hug.

  A cheer went up from the onlookers, and Nancy joined in, smiling at Sasha. That’s when she noticed that he still had hold of her arm.

  When he saw her notice, Sasha let go of it. Reluctantly, it seemed to Nancy.

  “Such a frightening experience,” he said. “And that hug—they are in love?”

  Nancy nodded. “I think they might be,” she told Sasha.

  “That is good.” Sasha took her hand in his, smiling that disarming smile once again. “I have never been in love myself—not yet. I have never had time for it. But I have the feeling I might like it.”

  • • •

  “Well, I guess we know who waltzed away with Sasha’s heart,” Bess said that evening. She looked at Nancy and grinned. “And it sure wasn’t me. Right, Nan?”

  Nancy shook her head. “It wasn’t me, either, Bess. I think Sasha just likes to flirt.”

  The three girls were in their room, getting ready for the reception Eloise was holding for all the dancers that night at her house. The guest room was large and airy, with sliding screen doors leading out onto a wooden deck. The low and rhythmic roar of waves rolling onto the beach was soothing, drifting into the room through the screens.

  “Today he decided to flirt with me,” Nancy went on, pulling a pair of loose white cotton pants out of the closet. “Tonight it’ll probably be you.”

  “Maybe,” Bess said doubtfully. “But from the way he was looking at you, I got the feeling it was pretty serious flirting. Didn’t you think so, George?”

  “I don’t know,” George said, drying her just-washed hair with a fluffy blue towel. “Sorry, Bess, but Gary’s landing kind of pushed everything else out of my mind.” She gave a little shudder. “I just couldn’t believe it when I saw him climbing out of the plane. Did I tell you that apparently a huge downdraft hit the nose and forced the plane into a dive? Gary could easily have been killed.”

  “But he wasn’t,” Nancy said. “And after that landing, he’s practically a hero.”

  George smiled. “I know. Jetstream’s really proud of him for saving their plane. Gary said he was just glad it wasn’t the new one.”

  “What new one?” Bess asked, rummaging in a drawer of the wicker chest for a pair of panty hose.

  “Jetstream’s come up with some special new plane they?
??re really excited about,” George said. “It’s called the Jetstar. Gary tested it a couple of times, and the engineers and designers are making some changes now. They’re keeping all the plans under tight security because they don’t want the competition to find out about it. It’s supposed to knock everybody’s socks off*.”

  “Speaking of knocking somebody’s socks off,” Bess said, “how will this do?” She held up a gauzy, peach-colored dress and fluffed out the short skirt.

  “It’ll look fabulous,” Nancy told her, buttoning the cuffs on her silky yellow blouse.

  “But will it get a certain dancer’s attention?”

  “It’ll get everybody’s attention,” George said dryly.

  “You know, who I mean,” Bess said.

  Laughing, Nancy tossed a flowered pillow at her friend. “If Sasha Petrov doesn’t notice you tonight, Bess, then he ought to have his beautiful blue eyes examined. I’ll see you two later—I’m going to see if Aunt Eloise needs any help.”

  Nancy hurried downstairs and glanced around the living room with approval before heading for the kitchen. The house was perfect for a large party. The main floor had high ceilings and large rooms that opened into one another and onto wide decks outside.

  By eight o’clock that night, the house was filled with the sound of music, the good smells of food, and the chatter and laughter of at least fifty people.

  “Keep me away from the buffet table,” Bess groaned, eyeing the enormous platters of cold shrimp, bowls of pasta salad, and crusty loaves of French bread. “I can feel myself gaining weight just looking at it.”

  “I can hear my stomach growling just looking at it,” Nancy said. She picked up two plates and handed one to Bess. “Come on, Bess, you’re the only one in the world who thinks you need to lose five pounds.”

  “Well, all right.” Bess took the plate and sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to hold out, anyway. I can always swim it off.”

  “That’ll be the day!” Shaking her head in amusement, Nancy reached for the bread. Another hand got there first, though, and glancing up, Nancy saw Sasha Petrov smiling at her.