She hung up the phone and rushed back outside in time to see Ned, George, and Amy loading Hal into Bess’s car.
“Take Hal and Amy to the hospital,” Nancy told Ned and Bess.
“But where are you and George going?” asked Bess.
George had jumped on the motorcycle and was firing it up. Nancy ran over to the bike and leaped on behind George.
“Nancy!” Ned yelled.
“We’re going to the airport. There’s no point in your coming with us, Ned,” Nancy shouted over the noise of the engine. “You wouldn’t recognize Lance. Come on, George, let’s get going. I hope we’re not too late.”
Chapter
Sixteen
IT WAS ALMOST nine o’clock as Nancy and George arrived at the small River Heights airport. Nancy brought the motorcycle to a screeching halt outside the main entrance. “Come on! We have to hurry!” she said as she and George jumped off.
They dashed inside the airport and then stopped, frantically glancing up and down the corridor. Lance didn’t appear to be among the few people milling around.
“He’s got to be here!” Nancy exclaimed. “I know I’ve got to be right on this one.”
“I know it too,” George said. “We’ll find him.”
Nancy looked to her left. There were ticket counters spread out for about three airline carriers, and it looked as though there were a couple of more to her right.
“Let’s split up,” Nancy said. “I’ll go this way”—she nodded to the left—“and you go that way.”
“What do I do if I find him?” George asked.
“Just make some kind of commotion,” Nancy said. “I’ll do the same. That’ll be the signal to come running.”
Nancy hurried down the airport corridor, stopping at each ticket counter to check it out. All of the reservation clerks were maddeningly calm and unhurried, and none of them remembered Lance. Had she been wrong about all this?
She turned and headed back to where she and George had split up. George was walking back in her direction.
“I checked with everyone, but no one has seen him,” George said as Nancy approached. “How about you?”
“No luck either,” Nancy said. “Let me check the flight board for a second.”
She scanned it anxiously. One of the airlines that wasn’t open yet did have a direct flight to New York though. “He could take that and then get a flight to France. Let’s hang around for a while. Maybe he’ll show up. It’s the only flight, since there’s no way he can fly from here to France. This isn’t an international airport.”
“What time does the flight leave?” George asked.
“In about an hour.”
“He could be planning to get on it at the last minute,” George said.
Nancy hated to admit it even to herself, but she was getting discouraged. “George,” she began—and just then the terminal’s automatic doors opened. Lance was walking in. With Bess!
“Oh, no,” Nancy whispered, touching George’s hand and nodding in Lance’s direction.
“What’s she doing here?” George muttered.
The girls stood up. “Do we tackle him, or what?” George said.
But Lance had already spotted them. He ushered Bess over to them and genially indicated to Bess that she should sit down. “Don’t try anything,” he said calmly to Nancy and George, “or it’ll be the end of your friend here.”
“Bess!” George said between clenched teeth. “I thought Nancy told you to go to the hospital with Hal and Amy and Ned. What happened?”
Bess looked down at the floor. “I dropped them off with Ned. Then I went over to Lance’s to get his side of the story. When I asked him about it, he”—she gave Nancy a pleading look—“he just said, ‘Good timing,’ and pulled me into the car with him. He was all packed and ready to go to Saint-Tropez—just as you’d guessed, Nan.”
Nancy knew it was no use remonstrating with Bess then. They were all in it together, and she had to find a way out.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she said to Lance. “What makes you think you’re going to get away with it?”
Lance smiled. “I’ll get away with it. It’s going to be even easier now than I’d planned. I’ve got Bess here to help me.”
Bess looked up at him. “Don’t do this, Lance,” she begged. “It’s not worth it. You’ll be ruining your whole life.”
Lance shook his head. “No, you’re wrong. I spent my whole life working and doing the right thing, but I never had real money. That always belonged to Michael, my Midas brother. Everything he touched turned to gold.”
Lance chuckled to himself. “When Michael died, and I inherited control of Colson Enterprises, I realized how great it was to have money. Lots of money,” he added. “But unfortunately that money wasn’t really mine. It was the corporation’s.”
“But you had a successful business of your own before you took over at Colson Enterprises,” Nancy said. “You told me so.”
“It was nothing compared to the money Michael had.” Lance moved up closer to Bess and smiled. “When I found that ransom note on the desk, it was the best day of my life. I realized that I could change it—and borrow a little of Hal’s inheritance.”
“You’re a slime,” George said.
“A rich slime,” answered Lance. “I have almost half a million dollars with me now, courtesy of Hal’s trust fund. It’s mine to use as I please.” He glanced over his shoulder at the ticket counter. “And in a few minutes, I’ll board that plane for New York and then on to Saint-Tropez.”
Nancy looked around and wondered if there was any way to tip off the airport security as to what was going on. But at the moment she didn’t see anyone. Maybe if she could stall Lance long enough, she would figure out what to do.
“I guess you had everything figured out from the start,” she said humbly. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to get wise to you. You must have thought I was pretty slow.”
“Don’t feel bad,” Lance said. “You’re good. You’re very good. You just got outfoxed.” He stared into Nancy’s eyes. “I knew you would be trouble the minute your father mentioned your name. You have quite a reputation. I tried to scare you off the case by running you off the road that first night you came to see me.
“When it didn’t even faze you,” Lance went on, “I knew you’d be harder to handle than I’d expected. And when Monica accidentally knocked you down the stairs and even that didn’t slow you down, I knew I’d met a worthy opponent.”
“You’re staying with the story that that was an accident?” Nancy asked.
“It was. Monica has never been in on this—she’s too stupid. Although I’ll admit, that stair business was perfect. And then the stunt with the poker! I couldn’t have planned it better myself. She really came through for me, poor little fool.
“My best idea, though,” said Lance, “was the bomb in the car.” He sighed. “That was the supreme sacrifice. I loved that car.”
“Greedy people will do anything,” George said.
Ignoring her, Lance continued. “See, I knew a bomb in the car would look as though someone was after me. And it would also get you out of the way—permanently.”
Nancy had heard enough. She stepped closer to Lance.
“Let Bess go,” she said. “This is your last chance to give yourself up.”
“No, Nancy Drew,” Lance said. “In a while I’m going to get on that plane and fly off.” He beamed at her and George. “There’s no way anyone can stop me.”
“We’ll have you stopped in New York,” said George.
“I don’t think so. You don’t know what I have planned for you before I leave.”
Now! Nancy thought to herself. She reached down for Bess’s hand to pull her out of her chair and away from Lance.
But Lance jerked Bess back into the seat and pulled the pistol from his coat pocket. “Get back!” he ordered, as he went over to stand beside her.
He jabbed the gun into her ribs. “N
one of you make a sound!” he ordered. “Another trick like that, and your friend is dead.”
Chapter
Seventeen
TIME HAD RUN out. If Nancy was ever going to make a move, it had to be right then.
“Don’t worry, Bess,” she said soothingly. She stepped forward and reached a hand out to comfort her friend.
Then she looped her foot behind Lance’s leg and pulled him off balance.
Seizing the moment, Bess broke free.
George rushed in and gave Lance a karate kick in the hand, which sent his pistol flying up into the air.
Nancy raced after the gun. She swooped it up before Lance managed to regain his balance.
Quickly George slammed Lance again with another karate kick. This time she knocked him totally prone onto the floor.
Nancy positioned herself over Lance as he lay motionless. Holding the gun on him, she said, “Now. You don’t move.”
Lance grinned up at her. “I wonder why I think you won’t really pull that trigger?”
“Don’t even bother wondering about it,” George advised.
“Yeah,” Bess chimed in. “She’d pull it in a minute if she had to.”
Nancy smiled back at Lance. “Trust us. We never stop until a case is wrapped up.”
“And it won’t be long now,” Bess said. She pointed down the corridor. “Here comes the cavalry.”
Nancy took her eyes off Lance only long enough to see four River Heights policemen—led by Ned—running up the corridor toward them.
“Oh, no,” Lance whispered.
In a matter of seconds Lance had been handcuffed and yanked to his feet. Nancy kept the gun on him the whole time. Then she turned and handed it to one of the officers. “You may want to hang on to this,” she said.
“Yes, maybe so,” the officer agreed, smiling.
The policeman holding Lance jerked on his arm. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve got a nice place waiting for you. Not quite Saint-Tropez, though, I’m afraid.”
“Bess!” Lance said as the officers started to lead him away. “I just want you to know. If things had been different—well, it would have been fun knowing you.”
Bess smiled bleakly. “Strange, Lance, but that doesn’t make me feel too good.”
Lance turned to Nancy. “You’re a good detective. I wish I had killed you though.”
“Well, it doesn’t look as though you’ll get another chance, does it?” Nancy answered.
The three girls and Ned watched as the police led Lance out of the airport and into a patrol car.
“Well, that’s the end of him,” George said. “To tell you the truth, I’m glad this case is over. It was a little too close for me.”
“Yes, and I almost blew the whole thing,” Bess said. “You both could have been killed, and it would have been all my fault! I feel awful. This is the worst job I’ve ever done.”
“Don’t feel bad, Bess,” Nancy said. “We all let our emotions rule our minds from time to time.”
“You don’t,” Ned muttered beside her.
Nancy threw him an apologetic look. “We’ll talk later,” she whispered. “Anyway, Bess,” she went on matter-of-factly, “it all worked out.
That’s what’s important. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The four of them walked out of the airport terminal and onto the sidewalk.
“The thing is,” Bess said wistfully, “he seemed like such a nice guy.”
“Nice, maybe, but not too smart,” George said.
“I know,” Nancy agreed. “How did he think he was going to get through airport security with that gun?”
“Oh, he had that all worked out,” Bess said. “He told me about it on the way to the airport. I guess he was just so sure he had the perfect plan that he just had to tell somebody.”
“Well, tell us,” said George. “How’d he plan to beat the security checks?”
“It wasn’t that brilliant, actually. He was just going to ditch the gun before he went through the metal detector,” Bess said.
The four friends were outside then, and the morning sun was well up in the sky. It suddenly occurred to Nancy that she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten.
“Hey, let’s celebrate the closing of this case with some waffles for breakfast,” Nancy said. “I’ve really worked up an appetite.”
“Sounds great to me,” George agreed.
Bess frowned and turned away. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I really don’t deserve to be a part of this celebration. Why don’t you go on without me?”
Nancy, Ned, and George looked at one another in concern. Nancy was sure they were all thinking the same thing: if Bess was turning down food, she must be even more upset than she sounded.
“We’re certainly not going on without you,” Nancy said.
“You’re being crazy,” George agreed, poking Bess in the arm. “We’ve humored you all we’re going to. Besides, you know you love waffles. If you’re going to pass up those warm, buttery goodies that melt in your mouth, you deserve to be left alone.” She grabbed Bess by the shirtsleeve. “Now come on.”
A broad grin spread across Bess’s face. “Well—” she said. “Maybe just one.” She thought for a second. “And some bacon. And maybe some orange juice. Oh, and of course, a cup of coffee.”
They were all grinning by then. They decided to let the police pick up the motorcycle, and they all climbed into Bess’s car.
“We’re going to eat those waffles. But tomorrow we’re going to have to go on a diet,” Nancy said, looking at Bess and trying to hold in her giggles. “We really need to lose about five pounds.”
“How did you know?” Bess asked innocently.
They were all laughing hysterically as they drove off.
• • •
Breakfast was over. Bess had dropped Nancy and Ned off at Nancy’s house, and they were sitting on the front porch together—the same porch where they’d spent a happy time together just a few weeks before.
Now, though, Nancy wasn’t feeling nearly so happy. Ned had seemed quiet at the restaurant, and she wasn’t quite sure what to say about the past few days.
It was Ned who finally broke the silence. “So,” he said, “what’s going to happen to Hal?”
Nancy sighed. “I don’t know. He’s really had a pretty rough time. I’m not saying he handled things the right way, but I realize now that it’s not all his fault. It must have been awful having a guardian like Lance.
“Anyway,” she went on, “I’ll call my father tonight and tell him all about this. I think Hal’s going to need a lawyer—especially now that he doesn’t have a guardian anymore. Maybe my dad can take the case.”
“And speaking of calling people—” Ned began.
Nancy looked down. “Oh, Ned, I’ve been feeling so terrible! I didn’t want to tell you about this—and I didn’t want to keep it a secret—and I guess I just made a mess of everything.”
“Why didn’t you want to tell me about the case?” Ned asked, his voice carefully neutral.
“I told myself it was because you had to write your paper. But, Ned, it was really because I didn’t want another big discussion about my job.”
“That’s what Bess thought. She filled me in on everything while we waited outside that apartment. And I have to admit that at first I was pretty mad that you’d kept this a secret.”
“I was afraid of that,” Nancy said softly. “But I was also afraid you’d want me to drop the case.”
“Well, I might have,” Ned answered. “But when I got to the airport and saw you standing over Lance with that gun, I realized you can handle pretty much anything that comes your way. I decided it would have been awfully patronizing of me to tell you to stay away from the dangerous cases.
“And you know what?” he said, taking her hand in his. “I think that we should both stop worrying about what I think of your job and just let you do it. Let’s try anyway.”
“Oh, Ned!” Nancy fel
t light-headed with relief. She threw her arms around his neck. “That would be great,” she said. “And you know what? I think that right now we should both stop talking about my job. Remember how I said we’d have to come up with a way to celebrate the end of your paper over the phone? Well, there are probably a lot more ways to do it in person, wouldn’t you say?”
Ned smiled and kissed her gently. “I can think of a few,” he said.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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