Read Online 037 Last Dance by Carolyn Keene - Free Book Online Page A

to supervise.
    “It looks like somebody deliberately tried to cook you,” George pointed out.
    “But how would anyone know I was going into the kitchen just then?” Nancy countered logically. “And what happened to the person? How did he or she get out?”
    Then Nancy thought of Adam again. Had he been angry enough to do something so risky and dangerous?
    “Maybe it. was an accident,” she said, but somehow she doubted it. She washed her hands and face and then, with George and Bess following right behind her, she set out for the kitchen. Jon was there, talking to Pam and the head cook, whom he seemed to have persuaded to stay.
    “Are you all right?” he demanded, when he saw Nancy.
    “I don’t have any idea how this could have happened,” fussed the cook. “The fryer is supposed to have a regulator to keep it from overheating. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
    “Me, either,” agreed Pam, who was a little pale.
    “How did you get here with the extinguisher so quickly?” Nancy asked her.
    “I was just coming in to pick up an order,” Pam said. “I was right behind you and saw the whole thing. So I ran for an extinguisher in the club.”
    Nancy glanced at the clock. She wanted to find out who had set this fire. “I guess I’d better get back to work now,” she said, thinking about other possible leads.
    Jon stared at her. “Work? After what you’ve been through? Nancy, I want you to go home for the night.”
    “It’s only twenty minutes until quitting time,” Nancy argued politely. “And I’m not hurt. I’d like to stay.”
    Jon shrugged looking baffled. “Have it your own way,” he said and walked out.
    Nancy hurried back to the main part of the club with George and Bess right behind her.
    “We’ll each take a third of the room,” Nancywhispered. “I want to know if Adam Boyd is still around.”
    As Nancy worked her way through the crowd, several people stopped her to ask if she was all right. She spotted Ned, sitting alone at a table, and she saw concern in his eyes.
    “I’m fine,” she mouthed, but he only shook his head.
    When Bess, George, and Nancy met again, they exchanged the same story. There was. no sign of Adam Boyd. He was gone.
    • • •
    The next morning Bess and George dragged Nancy off to the mall’ for what Bess called a “relaxation session.” This consisted mostly of window-shopping and listening to Bess rave about the cute guys they saw. Ordinarily, Nancy would have enjoyed herself, but that day she couldn’t keep her mind off the case.
    “I can’t believe you’re actually going back to that place after what happened,” Bess protested. “You could have been scarred for life—or even killed!”
    “But I wasn’t,” Nancy pointed out reasonably.
    “Which only means that you might not be so lucky next time,” Bess replied.
    After checking out the music store and renting a video, the girls went into a restaurant for an early lunch.
    “Maybe the fire really was an accident,” George speculated, as she munched on her bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.
    Bess shook her head. “It wasn’t any more of an accident than the noose on Laurie’s porch or the message on the answering machine or the slashed tires. Somebody almost drowned Nancy, and now he’s tried to barbecue her!”
    Nancy couldn’t help chuckling at Bess’s dramatic way of looking at things. “I have a feeling you’re right, Bess. But I am going to solve this mystery, no matter what.”
    • • •
    Nancy arrived at work on the stroke of seven that night. With Bess and George she wanted to let Jon know that she was all right—he’d seemed so worried about her the night before—so she headed straight for his office.
    Just as she was turning the corner into the hall, however, she caught the scent of cigar smoke and stopped. A tough-looking, middle-aged man was just stepping into Jon’s office. He pulled the door closed behind him.
    Something about the man’s expression told