Dance Till You Die by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online Page A

I’d like to see them. The ones with Bess in them, plus any others you have of the party,” Nancy said.
    Tom rose from his chair. “I’ve got a makeshift darkroom in the back.”
    Nancy and George followed Tom down a narrow hallway into a small room that had been converted into a darkroom. “One advantage of being the boss’s son—you get to pursue your hobbies on company time,” Tom said with a grin.
    In the glowing red light of the darkroom, Nancy peered at several photographs that Tom had tacked onto a corkboard wall. A couple of the photos featured Bess wearing her mermaid outfit at the club the night before.
    Nancy glanced at some of the other photographs that were scattered about the room. “Here’s a photograph of Bess at her riding club,” she observed.
    Nancy suddenly became aware that many of the pictures on the walls were photos of Bess thathad been taken at various times over the past year. It almost looked as if Tom had been doing a photographic study of Bess. She thought it seemed strange. “You seem to have taken quite a few pictures of Bess,” Nancy said to Tom in a neutral tone.
    Tom suddenly became aware of what Nancy was thinking. “I think Bess is really photogenic,” he said hastily. “I’m starting a portfolio that I hope will land me a photography job one of these days.”
    Nancy decided to press Tom about his father’s earlier comment. “George and I met your father just outside the trailer. He said you’d told him that you and Bess were dating,” Nancy said. “Why did you say that?”
    The dim light of the darkroom couldn’t hide the embarrassed blush that had crept up Tom’s neck and face. He turned away to fumble with some beakers on the worktable. “I guess he just misunderstood when I said that Bess and I are friends,” he said awkwardly. Tom quickly un-tacked the pictures of the party from the cork-board and offered them to Nancy. “Here, you can take these if you want.”
    â€œThanks,” Nancy said. She decided to wait until they were outside to study the photographs more closely. “By the way,” she added, keepingher tone casual. “You left the party kind of early last night. Didn’t you like the music?”
    â€œOh, I’m not much of a dancer.” Tom opened the door of the darkroom. “I came back here to develop the photos.” He led the way back to the main office. “Since you’re here, why don’t I give you a tour of the quarry,” he added.
    Nancy hesitated, then nodded her head. “Sure, why not,” she agreed. The tour would give her a chance to talk to Tom on his own turf.
    As they left the trailer, Tom handed Nancy and George a couple of yellow hard hats. “We have to be really careful around here, what with all the blasting we do,” he explained. Remembering the prowler’s footprints from the night before, Nancy studied Tom’s shoes. They looked fairly large—they could be a size thirteen, Nancy thought. She purposely hung back a few steps for a moment while they walked through the loose earth toward the quarry. She noticed that his footprints didn’t have the same distinctive waffle-pattern that had been under Bess’s window.
    It was almost noon, and the quarry seemed almost deserted. “Everyone on lunch break?” George asked.
    Tom nodded. “Since everyone’s gone, we can go right up to the edge of the pit,” he said, leading Nancy and George through the gate of a safetychain-link fence. They walked about fifteen yards to the rock-strewn lip of the vast, yawning gravel pit.
    The mouth of the pit was surrounded on two sides by rocky outcroppings from the surrounding hills. Far below, Nancy could see some ladders and equipment that workers had left behind. From that vantage point, the equipment looked like children’s toys.
    Nancy, Tom, and George walked along a