Danger for Hire by Carolyn Keene Read Free Book Online

glad to meet you, young lady.” He offered Nancy his hand. “You know, it’s nice—”
    â€œClam up, Roy,” Loomis said rudely, cutting his partner off.
    â€œStanley!”
    â€œNancy is helping Hayward investigate those robberies,” Loomis said.
    â€œOh—yes, a terrible business,” Petersen said. “I hope you can get to the bottom of it, Nancy.”
    Nancy listened to the exchange in fascination. The partners were as different as night and day. She also suspected that they were in the middle of a major disagreement—a disagreement that had everything to do with Tom Hayward. But what was it?
    â€œAnyway, Stanley,” Petersen went on,“about this letter. We shouldn’t be so quick to brush off young Hayward. His offer—”
    Again, Loomis cut off his partner in midsentence. “Roy, I told you that subject is closed!” He quickly turned to Nancy. “Miss Drew, would you please excuse us? We have some business here—that is, unless you have more questions?”
    â€œNone for now.”
    After leaving Loomis & Petersen, Nancy turned her Mustang out of town and into the farmland that lay beyond the city limits. She needed time to drive and think.
    Questions were swimming around in her mind. Had the thieves known in advance that she would be patrolling the warehouse district? Who had told them? Why did they steal only moderate amounts of loot? And what about the codes? How had they gotten hold of them?
    More than anything else, however, she was nagged by the feeling that she had missed something during her talk with Stanley Loomis. Something he had said was more important than it seemed—but what? She couldn’t figure it out.
    Nancy checked her rearview mirror. A hundred yards behind her a beige-colored car waskeeping pace with her. Nancy slowed down, so the car could overtake and pass her, but it didn’t. She shrugged and returned to her thoughts.
    A few minutes later she checked her rearview mirror again. The car was still there. It looked familiar. Hadn’t a car just like it stopped behind her at a red light back in River Heights?
    She sped up. The car behind her sped up, too. Without signaling, Nancy quickly braked and swung onto another road. The car behind her turned, too.
    Nancy clenched her jaw and pressed down on the gas pedal. There was no doubt about it. She was being followed.

Chapter

Eight
    N ANCY CONTINUED to drive normally. She didn’t want to lose this tail. She wanted to identify the person.
    The road rose and dipped over a series of low hills. Nancy was pleased to spot a barn roof over the next hill. A farm was just what she needed.
    As Nancy topped the rise, she jammed the gas pedal to the floor, and in a few seconds she reached the farm. Swiftly she braked and swung into the muddy yard on the far side of the barn. When she was out of sight, sheturned so that the Mustang was again facing the road.
    A few seconds later the other car raced past her position. It was going much faster than before. The driver was obviously panic-stricken because Nancy was no longer in sight.
    Smiling in satisfaction, Nancy gunned her engine, swung onto the road, and zoomed off the way she had come. As she topped the rise, she glanced in her rearview mirror. The other car was about a hundred yards beyond the farm, doing a hasty three-point turn in the middle of the road.
    All right, she thought. The chase is on!
    Nancy quickly formulated her plan. A mile later she found the spot to execute it—another farm. The dirt yard surrounding the barn was even wetter than the one at the last farm. A tractor had gouged deep tracks in the mud, she could see. Thank goodness for the previous night’s rain!
    Quickly Nancy drove to the far side of the barnyard and turned right. Next, she pushed open her door and slumped down in her seat. From a distance, she hoped, it would look as if she had abandoned her car and run into the