Danger on Parade Read online

  Nancy shuddered at the thought. She quickly skimmed the article, but it didn’t mention what time the wrecking would start. It was already after seven-thirty. She had to get over there right away!

  She flew out the door and back to the elevator. When she reached the ground floor, she tried to act natural and smiled at the doorman as she breezed outside. Then she hurried over to her aunt’s silver hatchback and climbed in the passenger seat.

  “We have to get to Thirtieth Street and Seventh Avenue!” she said urgently.

  As her aunt started the car, Nancy quickly relayed her fears that Bess and Neil were being trapped in the building that was due to be demolished.

  “How dreadful!” Eloise gripped the steering wheel more tightly, her eyes trained on the traffic in front of her. “That building is just a few blocks south of the parade route,” she said grimly. “So we may have a hard time finding a place to park. We’ll probably have to walk a few blocks.”

  Nancy nodded. “I just hope we get there in time.” She pressed her foot against the car floor, mentally urging the car to go faster. All she could think about was Bess and Greg, trapped and fearing for their lives. Nancy didn’t think she could ever forgive herself if anything happened to her friend.

  “It’s not your fault, Nancy,” Eloise said, reaching over to pat Nancy’s hand. “It’s still early. I doubt they would have started wrecking it yet.”

  Eloise drove downtown on the East Side, then crossed to the West Side on Forty-second Street and headed downtown again. Suddenly she spotted a parking garage with a Vacancy sign outside. “Let’s park here,” Eloise said. “I think this is the best we can do.”

  Nancy and Eloise didn’t lose a second. They both jumped out of the car, and Eloise left it with the attendant. Then the two of them ran as quickly as they could the last few blocks to Thirtieth Street and Seventh Avenue.

  “There it is!” Nancy exclaimed, pointing at the four-story brownstone building.

  The area in front of the building, including part of the street, had been blocked off with orange cones and police barriers. About half a dozen men were outside. It looked to Nancy as if they were making some adjustments to their equipment.

  “The building’s still standing, thank goodness,” her aunt said. “Let’s go!”

  Nancy and Eloise raced past the men, toward the boarded-up entrance.

  “Hey! Hey you! You can’t go in there!” the foreman screamed after them. “This building’s about to be blown up!”

  Nancy tried to ignore the shiver that ran through her as she struggled with a board blocking the entrance.

  “The timer’s set to go off in four minutes! It’s locked in—I can’t stop it!” the foreman yelled, stalking toward them.

  The board finally gave way, and Nancy squeezed inside. Her aunt was right behind her. “Let’s split up,” Nancy said, trying not to panic. “You take the first two floors. I’ll take the top two.”

  As Nancy raced up the staircase, she heard her aunt calling frantically for Bess and Greg. The wrecking crew was screaming at them on megaphones from outside, too, but she ignored them.

  When Nancy got to the third floor, she raced through the rooms, all her senses alert for any sign of Bess or Greg. The windows had been boarded up, so it was difficult to see clearly. The tiny streams of light that came through the slits between the boards only served to cast murky shadows on the walls.

  “Bess! Greg!” Nancy was unable to keep the panic from her voice as she scrambled up the last flight of stairs. There were only about two minutes left before the timer was set to go off.

  As soon as she reached the hallway, she saw them. Bess and Greg were bound and gagged, and leaning against the wall.

  “Aunt Eloise, I found them!” Nancy called, racing over to Bess and Greg. It took only a few moments to untie the ropes.

  “Nancy, I’m so glad you’re here!” Bess cried as Nancy removed the piece of tape covering her mouth.

  Nancy pulled her friend to her feet. “We have to get out of here. The building’s about to blow up!”

  The three of them raced down the stairs, picking up Eloise on the second floor. Nancy could still hear the workers screaming at them.

  “Thirty seconds!” Eloise shouted.

  Nancy was moving so fast that she didn’t even feel the steps under her feet as she hurried down the last flight. She made sure the others got through the door. Then she burst outside and rushed toward the street.

  She had only gone a few yards when there was a huge boom.

  Nancy felt herself being pitched forward. She closed her eyes, covered her head, and rolled to the ground as debris fell all around her!

  Chapter

  Fifteen

  FOR A FEW moments everything around Nancy was in chaos. Then there was silence.

  Nancy’s heart pounded as she finally lifted up an arm and peeked out. Just ahead of her, her aunt, Bess, and Greg were also lying flat on the ground. Stones and debris were scattered all around them. “Everyone okay?” she asked in a shaky voice.

  She was relieved when the others started to dust themselves off and get up. No one appeared to be injured. As Nancy, too, got to her feet, she gazed back at the brownstone they had just escaped from. Where a four-story building had once stood, there was now a pile of rubble.

  “I don’t know what you crazy people think you’re doing!”

  Nancy turned to see the foreman heading toward them, his face purple with rage. A few members of his crew followed behind him.

  “You could’ve been killed in there!” the foreman sputtered. “What in the—” He stopped short, looking back and forth between Bess and Greg. “Where did you two come from?” he demanded.

  “I’m sorry we rushed in like that,” Nancy said. “Our friends were trapped in the building, and we had to rescue them.”

  “Trapped! What—?” The foreman wanted to know what was going on.

  Nancy looked at her watch. “Sir, we’d love to stay and chat, but we only have forty-five minutes to get this young man to the lead float in the Mitchell’s Thanksgiving parade.”

  The four of them ran, leaving the foreman with a puzzled look on his face. As they hurried back to the parking garage, Bess and Greg explained what had happened.

  “After we left the apartment, Greg and I went over to Neil’s apartment to pick up the passes for the club,” Bess began. “When we walked inside, Neil was his usual self. He offered us some sodas and then went into the kitchen to pour them—”

  “There’s a cab,” Eloise interrupted. “Let’s get it. I’ll never find a parking space by the museum now. I’ll just have to come back for the car later.” She hailed the cab, and they all piled in. Nancy’s aunt told the driver their destination and asked him to hurry.

  As they rode, Bess continued telling what had happened. “Anyway, Neil was gone for a minute, and then he called Greg to the kitchen.”

  Nancy could guess what had happened next. “You stayed in the living room?” she asked. When Bess nodded, she said, “He separated you so you couldn’t gang up on him.”

  “You got it,” Greg said. “I walked into the kitchen, and before I knew it, Neil was swinging something at me, and everything went black.” He winced as he rubbed the back of his head.

  “I heard a sort of thud, but I just assumed they had dropped something,” Bess said, picking up the story. “I mean, this was Neil, Mr. Guest Relations. So when he came out of the kitchen without Greg, I didn’t think much of it. I never even saw whatever he hit me with, but I got knocked out, too.”

  Eloise looked at Greg and Bess. “And when you woke up, you were tied up in that building?”

  “Right again,” Greg replied. “Neil was still with us. He said he didn’t think the wrecking crew would check inside the building as long as there was no sign of anyone tampering with the boards.” He let out a bitter laugh. “I guess Neil was very careful because he was right—they never did check.”

  Bess’s voice shook as she exclai
med, “It was awful! Neil even said that if anyone found our . . . our bodies, they would never be able to trace them back to him!”

  Nancy was seething with anger toward Neil. How could he hurt her friends like that? Turning in her seat, she saw Bess and Greg exchange glances. She knew they realized they were lucky to be alive.

  “I found the clown costumes in his apartment,” Nancy told Bess and Greg.

  “He told us about that,” Greg said. “He actually bragged about how clever he had been to set up Bess to take the blame. When the delivery boy arrived with the costumes, Greg made him wait.”

  “That’s when he met Greg and me to go to Morelli’s. He pretended that we were leaving, then suggested that I treat myself to something in the store,” Bess explained. “After I signed the receipt, he brought it back to the delivery boy.”

  Greg shook his head. “We were so busy looking around that we didn’t think anything of it when he took off for a minute. The next thing we knew he was back, and we left for Morelli’s.”

  “So I was right about someone putting the delivery receipt on top of your charge receipt,” Nancy said. “There were probably a couple of copies of the receipt, and he must have used one of their carbons so your signature would show up on the charge receipt.”

  Bess nodded, then said, “You were right about his slashing the balloons, too. He had everything planned so well.”

  “It’s scary. He almost got away with it,” Greg added, giving the others a meaningful look.

  “Not with Nancy Drew on the case!” her aunt said, grinning at Nancy.

  A few moments later, the cab pulled up to the curb at Seventy-seventh and Columbus, next to the Museum of Natural History. As they got out of the cab, Greg looked ruefully at his dusty, wrinkled black jeans and button-down shirt. “I hope there’s a costume waiting for me here. Nobody’s going to want a grand marshal who looks like this.”

  Bess took his hand and squeezed it. “The fans should just be happy they get to see you at all,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “Come on, we’ve got to find Jill and Neil,” Nancy said.

  As they headed toward Clown Corner, Nancy saw that everything was just about ready. Dozens of clowns in colorful costumes, wigs, and makeup were taking their places in the parade lineup. Floats and bands and balloons stretched down the street in a dazzling line as far as Nancy could see, and the sidewalks were thick with spectators.

  “There’s Jill!” Eloise called out.

  Nancy followed her aunt’s gaze and spotted Jill standing between a balloon and a high school band. She looked even more worried and upset than she had earlier—until her gaze landed on the group coming toward her.

  “Greg! Where have you been?” she asked frantically. “I’ve been worried sick.”

  Greg opened his mouth to explain, but Nancy cut in. “We’ll explain later. Where’s Neil?” she asked, looking around.

  Jill pointed to the table where coffee was being served. Neil was chatting with a few of the parade guests. Nancy couldn’t believe he could act so nonchalant when he had just tried to have Bess and Greg killed.

  “You still don’t think he was the one trying to sabotage the parade, do you?” Jill asked, eyeing Nancy dubiously.

  “I don’t think so,” Nancy told her. “I know so! I found the clown costumes in his apartment. And he kidnapped Bess and Greg last night.”

  Jill’s eyes flitted nervously to Greg and Neil. Before she could ask any questions, Nancy said, “You’ll find out the rest in a minute. Right now, we have to get him.”

  Nancy was off, leading the group over to the table where Neil was standing. She was still about twenty feet away when he saw them coming toward him.

  At first he smiled at Nancy. But when his gaze landed on Bess and Greg, his face went white with shock. He looked nervously around and started to back away, but a group of clowns blocked his way. Some of the clowns thought Neil was trying to joke with them, so they kiddingly blocked his path and squirted water at him from the trick flowers in their lapels.

  “Out of my way!” Neil shouted as he tried to get through.

  “Give it up, Neil,” Nancy called, heading toward him.

  Neil shoved a clown out of the way and darted around to the other side of the doughnut table. For the briefest instant, he stared right into Nancy’s eyes, and the dark look she saw chilled her to the bone.

  Suddenly Neil’s hands shot forward, and he grabbed the edge of the table. Nancy gasped as he gave the table a mighty heave, sending it flying right at her!

  Chapter

  Sixteen

  NANCY instinctively dove to the side. She felt something hard strike her foot, then heard the table clatter to the pavement next to her. Cries of alarm rose up from the clowns nearby.

  Rolling to her side, Nancy quickly got up. Her foot was sore but didn’t seem injured. Doughnuts and coffee cups were scattered on the ground around her.

  “Are you all right?” Bess asked with concern. Eloise, Jill, and Greg were right behind her.

  Nancy didn’t bother to answer. Her attention was focused on Neil, who was running away from her through the crowds. “Stop him!” she shouted, taking off after him.

  Within seconds she closed the distance between them. With a final burst of speed, she covered the last few yards and lashed out with a karate kick to Neil’s left leg. He fell to his knees with a cry. Nancy quickly grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

  A moment later Bess and Greg hurried up with a police officer. “He’s the one, Officer,” Bess said, pointing at Neil.

  “It’s no use, Neil,” Nancy added, handing him over to the policeman. “We know everything. You were the one who knocked me out last night.”

  Neil glared at Nancy, but his gaze faltered when he saw Jill. She was looking at him with a mixture of hurt and pity in her eyes.

  “Was it really you, Neil?” she asked quietly. “Do you really hate me enough to wreck the parade we both worked so hard for?”

  “No, I— It wasn’t me!” Neil protested.

  “You’re lying,” Nancy said, shooting him a probing gaze. “You stole Heath Nealon’s ID. In fact, I bet you have it right now.”

  Neil took a step back as the police asked him to empty his pockets. He looked as if he were about to protest. But seeing all the unyielding faces around him, he finally relented.

  “My goodness, he does have two IDs,” Eloise murmured from behind Nancy.

  Sure enough, Neil handed over two cards to the police officer. Nancy felt a bubble of triumph when she saw the name Heath Nealon on one of them. He also handed over a pocketknife.

  “I bet this is what you used to slash the balloons in the warehouse,” Nancy guessed. “And to cut the ropes supporting the helium balloons in the museum last night.”

  Neil glared at her but said nothing.

  “Why me, Neil?” Bess asked, coming over to stand right in front of him. “Why did you try to make it look as if I did all those terrible things?”

  Neil kicked at the pavement with his shoe before answering. “You set yourself up,” he finally said. “I wasn’t going to try to pin the sabotage on anyone in particular. But after the explosion, your sunglasses were found near the torches.”

  “She must have dropped them when I yelled at her to get away from the tanks,” Jill put in, “just as you guessed, Nancy.”

  Nancy nodded but remained silent.

  “You were the one who pretended to be Greg and arranged for me to meet him at the parade studio,” Bess accused him angrily.

  Neil gave her a self-satisfied smile. “That was pretty clever, if I do say so myself. I knew you wouldn’t say no to a meeting with Greg at the North Pole, much less Brooklyn. After I called and left a message with Nancy’s aunt, I took a cab to the parade studio and waited around the corner until the guard went in to make his rounds. Then I sneaked in, knocked him out, and slashed the balloons. I rigged the door so that it would open for you, then left before you even got there.”


  Jill had been listening silently to his explanation. Now she asked, “Why, Neil? Why would you do this to me and to the parade? I thought you were my friend.”

  There was a cold look in Neil’s eyes as he gazed at Jill. “I wanted the Mitchell’s executives to think that you weren’t capable of handling the parade. That way, they would give the responsibility back to me. I deserve to be in charge,” he declared angrily. “The parade should never have been taken away from me in the first place.”

  For the first time, Nancy noticed that Aileen’s camera crew had come over and that the camera was rolling. After getting a long shot of Neil’s face, Aileen said, “Okay, that’s a wrap.”

  “I’ll say,” Jill put in wearily. “Officer, take him away.” Then she turned to Greg and said, “Come on, we have to get you cleaned up and on the grand marshal’s float!”

  • • •

  “Congratulations, Ms. Drew, you saved the parade,” Howard Langley said fifteen minutes later. He smiled and extended his hand to Nancy.

  “Good job,” Jules chimed in.

  As Nancy shook Mr. Langley’s hand, she looked over at the makeup table where Greg was having some powder brushed on his face. After Neil had been taken away by the police, Nancy, Bess, and Eloise had accompanied Jill and Greg to a wardrobe van. Luckily they had found some slacks and a cowboy shirt that fit Greg. Nancy, her aunt, and Bess had also cleaned up as best they could.

  Nancy looked over as Jill emerged from the wardrobe van, handed Greg a cowboy hat, and then came over to Nancy and Bess. “Nancy, how can I ever repay you?” Jill said. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I, well—I thought Neil was on my side.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Nancy said, smiling. “I’m just glad everything is all right now.”

  “And, Bess, I hope you can forgive me for treating you so badly,” Jill added, turning to Bess. “I should have believed Nancy when she said you were being set up.”