Free Poison Pen by Carolyn Keene Page A

“Brenda’s car is out of control!”
    Nancy watched helplessly as the red sports car barreled out of the drive and straight across the street. Then, with a terrible crunch, it slammed headlong into a huge tree!

Chapter

Ten
    O H, NO !” Nancy cried. She jammed on the Mustang’s emergency brake, threw off her seat belt, and jumped out of the car. Ned’s footsteps echoed right behind her on the pavement as she raced toward Brenda’s car.
    The red sports car had thrown up a huge cloud of dust when it plowed into the dry earth around the tree. At first it was hard to see through the dense cloud.
    â€œBrenda! Rick!” Nancy yelled, coughing from all the dust as she and Ned reached the car.
    Ned yanked open the driver’s side door and pulled at Brenda’s safety belt. A moment later she fell out into his arms. “I couldn’t turn the wheel!” Brenda cried. “I lost control!”
    â€œRick?” Nancy called, alarmed. She bent down and peered into the interior.
    Rick was in the passenger seat, still wearing his seat belt. He stared at Nancy with a dazed expression. “I’m okay,” he said. Then he managed a shaky grin. “It’s a good thing I remembered to buckle up.”
    â€œBoy, am I glad you did,” Nancy said fervently. She hurried around to his side and helped him out of the car. “Are you hurt at all?”
    â€œI don’t think so.” Rick rubbed his neck gingerly. “My head snapped back when we hit the tree, but it doesn’t feel too bad.”
    Rick’s knees were wobbly, so Nancy supported him with an arm around his waist. They went around to the driver’s side, where Brenda stood shivering, her arms crossed tightly across her chest and her dark eyes brimming with tears. “Three times in three days,” she said.
    It took Nancy a moment to make sense of what the reporter was saying. But then she realized it was true—the crash in the parking lot, the beam falling inside the mall, and now this. Could they all be accidents?
    â€œWhat happened?” Nancy asked gently.
    â€œI don’t know,” Brenda answered, turning to face Nancy. “I just couldn’t move the steering wheel. It felt as if there were a heavy weight on it.” The tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “And—and I was going too fast to stop—” She broke into a sob, and Rick put an arm around her shoulders.
    â€œThe whole thing happened like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “We didn’t even have time to react.”
    Brenda dried her eyes on the back of her hand, then looked at Ned and Nancy. “I thought the wheel felt stiff when I took the car out of the garage,” she explained. “I didn’t pay any attention to it, though. Then all of a sudden we were flying down the hill, and I couldn’t turn.” Her lip quivered again. “I hit the brakes, but we still crashed.”
    Nancy didn’t like the sound of that, but she kept quiet. No use scaring Brenda for no reason. “If you hadn’t slammed on the brakes,” she said reassuringly, “the accident would have been a lot more serious. Come on, let’s get over to my car. You two need to sit and calm down.”
    Once Brenda and Rick were seated in Nancy’s car, Nancy, keeping her voice light and casual, said, “Ned and I’ll be right back. I just want to take a look under your hood, Brenda.”
    â€œOkay.” Brenda was holding Rick’s hand tightly. She still looked frightened, but Nancy thought she seemed to be recovering from her scare—and that she was definitely enjoying Rick’s attention.
    As they crossed the street again, Ned asked Nancy in a low voice, “What’s going on? Do you think there’s something wrong with Brenda’s car?”
    Nancy simply shrugged. She’d had a sudden, frightening idea, but it was such a long shot she