Free Dance Till You Die by Carolyn Keene Page A

sight. She grabbed a flashlight and her special detective’s tool kit from the glove compartment. Then she and George walked up to the fence that surrounded the quarry. The chain-link fence was secured with a huge padlock.
    â€œHow’re we going to get in?” George whispered.
    Nancy surveyed the fence. There was no sign that it was wired. “Let’s look for a break in the fence—someplace big enough to squeeze through,” she said. “Otherwise we’ll have to scale it.”
    Nancy and George walked around the perimeter of the fence, checking for gaps. As they turned a corner, Nancy saw that the chain wire had separated from one of the metal posts in one spot. She grasped the metal fence and pulled it up and back, opening a gap about eight inches wide. “Let me try first,” she said, bending down and crawling through. Nancy felt a scrape on her arm as the jagged edge of the fence tore her skin. Then she scrambled up on the other side.
    George tried to follow Nancy, but found it impossible to squeeze her slightly larger frame through the opening. “Wait for me here,” Nancy said, disappearing toward the trailer office.
    Nancy took her flashlight and shined it across the trailer. Seeing nothing unusual, she pulled out her lock pick and jimmied the lock. The door swung open.
    Nancy was just about to enter the trailer when she heard a soft popping sound. At that same moment she found herself caught in the brilliant glare of a security spotlight. Then the piercing sound of multiple alarms split the night!

Chapter

Ten
    N ANCY INSTANTLY REALIZED she had triggered a security alarm when she opened the office door. A security company was probably being summoned at that very moment. Her heart thumped with panic. Nancy figured that she probably had only a few minutes to get away.
    Gnashing her teeth because her mission had failed, Nancy wheeled around and sped back toward the fence. George was waiting.
    â€œNancy, what happened?” George asked as she held open the fence for Nancy. “Did you get inside?”
    â€œI’m afraid not,” Nancy replied breathlessly, crawling out from under the fence. “We’d betterget back to the car pronto, George. I’m sure a security company is sending a car around right now.”
    The two girls hustled back to the Mustang and pulled away from the curb. When they were less than a quarter mile away from the quarry, they passed a sleek white-and-blue security patrol car. The car’s yellow roof lights were flashing as it headed the other way. The officer at the wheel took no notice of Nancy and George.
    Nancy breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, we barely got away that time,” she said.
    â€œWhat were you hoping to find?” George asked.
    â€œSomething solid to tie Tom to the kidnapping,” Nancy replied. “The photos-1 saw in his darkroom earlier, and the fact that he lied about dating Bess, may indicate that he’s been following her, or worse.”
    â€œDo you want to try again after the security patrol leaves?” George asked.
    Nancy shook her head. “With that alarm system, it’s too risky to go back unless I’m sure of finding something. Let’s call B. D. Hawkins and find out what he’s turned up so far on Gaetan.”
    Nancy stopped at a pay phone to call the police detective. B.D. took her call right away.
    â€œNancy, I’m glad you called,” the detective said. “I was just leaving for the night.”
    â€œDid you find Gaetan?” Nancy asked.
    B.D. sighed. “No, we went to that address you gave me, but he’d already left. It looked as if he left in a hurry, too. There was stuff strewn all over the place.”
    Just how a guilty party would respond, Nancy thought to herself.
    Nancy chatted with the detective a few more minutes, then hung up and turned to George. “Gaetan’s running from the police. He abandoned his apartment, and