105 Stolen Affections

by Carolyn Keene

  "That's Jeremy's room," she said, pointing to a wide window with a balcony in front. "But the drapes are closed."

  "Have you been here before?" George asked.

  "No," Kamla said. "But one of my class projects is called My World. I have the children draw their homes and tell what they can see from their rooms. Jeremy said his room had a balcony and that he looked out at a big oak tree with a ladder up the side, leading to a tree house. That's got to be it," she continued, motioning toward an oak with rustic board steps nailed to its side.

  "Well, it may be his room, but we're not going to see much through those curtains," Nancy said. "Let's go over to the Village Inn. It's close by and quiet, and it's too early to be crowded. I want to hear more about Jeremy's mother."

  Traffic was heavy, and it took twice as long as it usually did to get to the popular restaurant.

  When the three had settled in a comfortable back booth at the inn, Nancy turned to Kamla. "Now," she said, "tell us about Jeremy's mother."

  "I first met Jodi Fontaine through my father, who's an executive in the motion picture indus-

  try in Bombay. The American producer of the film Jodi was starring in was looking for a certain setting in India, and my father helped to find it.

  "My father took me to the set to meet Jodi. I spent a lot of time with her while she was in India, and we corresponded when she returned to California. Jodi convinced me to come to the United States for my schooling. She's been like a big sister to me."

  "I'm impressed," George said. "I wouldn't mind having Jodi Fontaine for a big sister. What's she really like? She gets good press, but you never know how much is true."

  "She's wonderful!" Kamla said. "She's generous and loving and compassionate. Always doing things for people. For all her fame, there's not an arrogant bone in her body."

  "What happened to her marriage?" Nancy asked. "Or don't you know?"

  Kamla nodded. "Well, the man she married was a scientist. Their worlds were too far apart," she said. "He spent his time in the laboratory; she spent hers on a soundstage. He was always trekking off to do field research; she was always filming on location. It was a sad case of two nice people getting married and finding out that they had little to share with each other."

  "And Jeremy?" Nancy asked.

  "He seems fairly well adjusted to the split. The parents have both worked hard to help him. They have joint custody, and they both love him a lot.

  Jeremy spends the school year here in River Heights with his father, and holidays and vacations with Jodi in California. Only right now his father is doing research in South America, so he's been with his grandfather. Jodi wasn't happy about that."

  "Why?" George asked. "Don't she and Edwin Wright get along?"

  Kamla shook her head. "Not at all!" she said emphatically. "Mr. Wright was against his son marrying Jodi, but he was headstrong and he went against his father's wishes."

  "Is it because of your friendship with Jodi that Mr. Wright doesn't like you?" Nancy asked.

  "Mostly," Kamla replied as she picked at her salad plate. "He also looks at me as a—" She paused. "As a foreigner. He's bigoted. As one of the biggest contributors to River's Edge Day School, he tried to talk the board out of hiring me, but the papers had already been signed."

  "That rat!" George said.

  Kamla nodded. "He doesn't like me, and he likes Jodi even less. He'd do anything to stop her sharing custody of Jeremy. I tell you"—her eyes were sad as she looked at them—"I don't think Jeremy's sick."

  "Have you talked to Jodi about Edwin Wright?" Nancy asked.

  "Not recently. And I don't want to alarm her unnecessarily about this situation. For all we know, Jeremy could be at home in his bed sound asleep. So far, we have no proof that Wright's broken the law. We can't arrest him for being rude. And if Jeremy's father chooses to leave Jeremy with his grandfather, there's nothing we can do." She shrugged and spread her hands out in a gesture of futility.

  "Well, you've got to admit that Edwin Wright takes good care of Jeremy," Nancy said. "I mean, he had apparently taken him to the doctor. Didn't he mention Dr. McColl before he slammed the door?"

  Suddenly George sat up straight. "Dr. McColl!" she exclaimed. "I bet that's Steven McColl, the pediatrician. I can find out if Jeremy really has strep throat. I'll call my friend Marlene Otto. She's Dr. McColl's nurse." She looked at her watch. "I may catch her at the office. Sometimes she works late."

  George borrowed a quarter from Nancy and left to make the phone call. She was back in a few minutes, and the grim expression on her face told Nancy that the news wasn't good.

  "Guess what?" George said, sliding into the booth. "Dr. McColl couldn't have said no visitors for Jeremy. He's been abroad on a medical mission for a month and won't be back till next week!"

  Chapter Three

  "So Edwin Wright was lying," Nancy said.

  "Looks like it," George rephed.

  "I just know Jeremy's in danger," Kamla whispered.

  "We don't know anything for sure, Kamla," Nancy said as she looked over to the hostess station to signal for their check. The restaurant with its charming, rustic country-inn furnishings was beginning to fill up. She looked at her watch. "The dinner crowd is arriving. Let's go and do some checking, okay?"

  "How? How can you check when Edwin Wright won't even let us in the front door?" Kamla asked.

  "There are ways," Nancy replied confidently. She picked up the check the waitress had brought, then pulled some money from her wallet. The other two did the same. Nancy looked from Kamla to George. "Are you ready to go?"

  Walking through the parking lot to the car, Nancy handed George her keys. "George, you drive. Drop me off at the Wright estate and then take Kamla home. I don't want my car to be seen parked outside the place."

  "I don't want to go home," Kamla protested. "I'd like to come along and help you with that man. Just because he's got a lot of money and influence in this town, it doesn't mean he can get away with anything!"

  Nancy reached over and took her friend's hand. "Kamla, I really do understand your frustration, but this is something I need to handle myself. I promise I'll call and let you know what I find out. But for now let George take you home."

  "All right," Kamla said reluctantly. "Sorry I got carried away." An impish grin spread across her face. "What are you planning to do?"

  "I'm not sure yet," Nancy replied, grinning back at her. "I'm going to try to get into the place and see if Jeremy is there."

  "How are you going to do that? Break in?"

  "No, nothing that drastic. But your having pointed out his room was helpful. Maybe there'll be a door open in the back of the house, or maybe Wright will have a change of mind and let me see Jeremy."

  "Not a chance," George muttered, and Kamla nodded her agreement.

  Nancy didn't think there was much chance of that, either. Edwin Wright didn't look like someone who could be swayed easily once he had made up his mind, and he'd already proved that he was not above being downright rude to stop any visit to Jeremy. Nancy could remember hearing her father say that he was a formidable court attorney when cross-examining witnesses and that he didn't care who was hurt in the process. Edwin Wright's record as an attorney was respected, but Edwin Wright, the man, was not well liked in legal circles.

  As they approached the Wright estate, a large dark-colored car pulled out of the driveway, heading in the other direction. George slowed down and pulled over to the edge of the road.

  "That's him!" Kamla said as the car disappeared. "That's Edwin Wright's car! I've seen it when he comes to pick up Jeremy at school."

  "All the better," Nancy muttered. "One possible complication out of the way. Maybe there'll be somebody at the house who'll let me in." She opened the passenger door and got out. "Give me an hour, and then come back and get me," she said to George.

  Nancy stood on the front walk, staring at the rather gloomy mansion. The curtains were open in one of the downstairs rooms, but the rest o
f the house was dark and heavily draped. Nancy moved cautiously from the front walk to the flower bed and looked through the window.

  There was no one in the room, which appeared to be a den or a home office. Bookcases lined the far wall and leather chairs flanked a large desk.

  Nancy approached the front door and rang the bell. No one responded. She rang again. If Jeremy was in the house, someone was bound to be there to look after him, she thought. When a third ring brought no answer, she crept from the front of the house to the side. She glanced up at Jeremy's room. The drapes were still closed.

  Silently, Nancy moved toward the old oak that housed Jeremy's tree house. She was glad she had changed into jeans and jogging shoes before going to the school to get Kamla.

  Dusk was closing in. If she was going to see anything from the tree house, she knew she needed to act quickly. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and reached for the first rung of the makeshift ladder.

  "Nancy Drew!"

  Startled, Nancy let go and looked up. The voice was coming from above, but she couldn't see anyone.

  "Nancy Drew!"

  "Who is that?" she asked.

  There was a thump over her head, and a face appeared out of the tree house, at the top of the ladder.

  "It's me, Darcy Adams. I saw you yesterday at school."

  "I remember you, Darcy," Nancy said, grinning up at her. "You're Jeremy's friend."

  "That's right," Darcy said. "His best friend. Are you coming up?"

  "May I?"

  "Yes, you may, but if you're looking for Jeremy, forget it. He's history."

  Nancy climbed into the tree house and sat cross-legged on the floor, facing Darcy, who was fiddling with a walkie-talkie. A couple of jigsaw puzzles were stacked on top of some board games in a comer. An unfinished puzzle took up part of the floor space.

  "What do you mean, he's history?" Nancy asked.

  "I mean he's not here anymore."

  "Are you sure?" Nancy asked.

  "Positive," Darcy said. "See, we have these walkie-talkies, and when I call Jeremy, I get somebody who doesn't know the password."

  "Oh," Nancy said. "What does this somebody say to you?"

  "Not much," Darcy replied. "He pretends to be Jeremy with a sore throat, but I know ft's his grandfather. He keeps telling me to go home, so I know it's not Jeremy. We're co-owners of this place. He wouldn't tell me to go home."

  "Co-owners of the tree house?" Nancy asked.

  Darcy nodded. She pushed the antenna in and sighed. "No use even trying now," she said. "Mr. Wright just left. Do you want to help me finish this puzzle? It's hard. It's all sand on one side and ocean on the other, and the colors are all the same. Jeremy's great at puzzles. He started this one yesterday. I wish he was here to help me finish it."

  "Darcy," Nancy said, "where do you think Jeremy is?"

  "He's probably with Arnie."

  "Who's Arnie?"

  "Mr. Wright's friend. He's a crook. He fixes TVs. He fixed Jeremy's TV last week."

  "What makes you say he's a crook?"

  "I don't know," Darcy said with a shrug. "He just looks like a crook to me. And besides, we were up here the other day when—"

  "Who's w^?''Nancy asked. "You and Jeremy?"

  Darcy nodded. "Of course! He's the only other person who's ever come up here—except you."

  Darcy picked up a pair of binoculars from the floor and trained them on the window of Jeremy's room. "So we were up here the other day when Arnie came to fix the TV, and he and Mr. Wright were standing down by his truck. It's green and yellow."

  She put down the binoculars, stretched out on her stomach on the floor, and pointed to the driveway below. "He was parked right down there, and we could hear everything they were saying."

  "What were they saying?" Nancy asked.

  "Oh, they were talking about Arnie picking up

  Jeremy and taking him off to a motel for a few days. Jeremy would have a ton of games and puzzles to play with, no schoolwork, and then after a while he'd come home. Jeremy kind of liked the idea." She turned and looked at Nancy. "But I thought it sounded strange—too much like a kidnapping. Like what your father was talking about yesterday at school."

  "And you think that Jeremy has been taken away by this Amie?"

  Darcy nodded. "Yeah."

  "Well, why didn't you tell somebody?"

  Darcy gave her a puzzled look. "Jeremy said yesterday he told you."

  Nancy swallowed. "Well, that's true. He did say something about a kidnapping." She paused as she replayed Jeremy's conversation through her mind. He had said that no strangers would be involved. And no bribes. And no strange vehicles. Drew, she said to herself, you blew it.

  "What else did Mr. Wright say to Amie?" Nancy asked Darcy.

  "That he'd get the rest of his money when the job was done, and that he should pick up some games and books and puzzles to keep Jeremy amused."

  "Wasn't Jeremy scared when he heard that?"

  Darcy gave her a look that suggested Nancy had taken leave of her senses. "Why would he be scared?" she asked. "It's an adventure! His grandfather planned it. Jeremy doesn't have to go to school. He doesn't have to clean up his room. He probably doesn't have to take a shower every night. I wish I could have gone, too."

  "Oh," Nancy said, smiling as she followed the eight-year-old's logic. She looked beyond Darcy to a thick rope hanging from a branch just above the girl's head. "What's that rope for?" she asked.

  "That's our newest home improvement," Darcy said proudly. "Just watch!" She grabbed the sturdy rope with both hands and before Nancy could stop her, pushed ofif and sailed out of the tree house and over the balcony railing that skirted Jeremy's room. "Cool, huh?" she said, clutching the rope for the trip back.

  "Really cool," Nancy said as Darcy swung back to the tree house.

  A beeper signal sounded, and Darcy looked at her watch. "Rats. Time to go home. But you can stay as long as you want."

  "Thanks," Nancy said. "I may just sit up here and think for a few minutes."

  "Fine with me!" Darcy yelled, skittering down the ladder. "See you around!"

  Nancy grinned as the small figure ran across the rolling lawn to the large house next door, but she didn't sit long. When Darcy was out of sight, Nancy grabbed the rope close to where it was knotted on the branch and tested it. Satisfied that it would hold her weight, she wrapped her legs around it and swung out over the lawn, skirting the railing, and landed with a thump on the balcony outside Jeremy's bedroom window.

  Her feet had barely touched the balcony when a floodlight below flashed on and the angry barking of dogs shattered the evening's stillness. Startled at the vicious clamor, Nancy let go and watched in horror as the rope swung back to the tree, far out of reach.

  She was stranded on a second-story balcony of Edwin Wright's mansion!

  Chapter Four

  "STAY RIGHT THERE, lady!" a man shouted. "This is one break-in you're not going to finish!"

  A short, squat man wearing a tan windbreaker and shorts and a plaid tam was standing beneath the balcony, looking up at her. He was holding the leashes of two fierce-looking Dobermans, who were straining at their leashes, growling and snarling.

  "I'm not trying to break in!" Nancy yelled down at him. "I can explain!"

  The sound of her voice only agitated the dogs more, and they tugged at their leashes.

  "That's what they all say," the man called up at her. "I can't imagine any good explanation for you being on my neighbor's second-floor balcony. You just stay put while I go and call the poHce."

  "No, wait!" Nancy called out.

  "Seems like you're the one in a position to wait," the man said. "Let me warn you—these are trained attack dogs. They've got funny names —my wife named them—but in this case names don't mean a thing."

  He stared up at her, looking ridiculous with his jaunty plaid hat with its pompom on top and his knobby knees sticking out under his shorts, and Nancy struggled with a powerfu
l urge to laugh.

  "Minnie and Mickey here, they mean business. They'll see that you don't go anywhere! They're as military as I am. I'm Colonel Albert Fingal, U.S. Army, retired." He gave a sharp command to the dogs, and their response was impressive. They calmed down instantly, stretching out full-length on the ground below, quiet but alert to Nancy's every move. She decided to take this man seriously.

  "No! Colonel Fingal!" Nancy called out as he walked away. "Don't call the police! Please, wait. You don't understand! I know Mr. Wright!"

  The man below looked up at her and shook his head. "Sure you do," he said sarcastically. "You just swung in for a cup of tea, right? Funny way to come visiting. I'm going to call the police."

  As he spoke, the headlights of a car turned into the curving driveway.

  "Here's Edwin now!" the colonel said. "Guess I'll let him handle this." He turned his back to her and waved at the car, which was pulling up to the house. "Edwin! Edwin! M and M treed a lady burglar for you! She swung from the kid's tree house right over to the balcony. Says she knows you."

  Edwin Wright shut off the powerful engine and got out of the car. He hurried over to his neighbor and peered up at Nancy, who was standing on the balcony, looking very embarrassed. "It's Ms. Drew, isn't it?" he said in a tone that suggested he knew perfectly well who it was. "I didn't expect you'd be paying a return visit tonight. Is there something I can do for you?"

  Nancy glared down at him angrily. "Yes," she snapped. "You can get a ladder and get me down from here." Her angry tone agitated the dogs, who stood up and snarled.

  "In due time," Edwin Wright said. "And I'll thank you not to yell. I have a sick child in the house." He turned to his neighbor, who was wrapping the dogs' leashes around his hand. "Thank you, Colonel. It was a stroke of luck that you and the dogs should have been out at just the right time to intercept Ms. Drew." He leaned over and stroked the head of one of the Dobermans, who licked his hand in response. "Sort of like our own neighborhood watch," he said, laughing.