Free Never Say Die by Carolyn Keene Page A

unfolded it and read:
    You have exactly twenty minutes to reach your final destination. If you do not make it, the program will be sold. Your next instructions are in the phone booth at the corner of Main and First. Run.
    Main and First—that was five blocks away! She would have to hustle. Dropping the note, she grabbed the gym bag, yanked open the door, and took off.
    Five blocks later, she was breathing hard. The bag was awkward and it made running difficult. Were her father and Steven following her? Probably, but she couldn’t stop to check. The first note had said that she had only twenty minutes, and she had just used up three.
    Spotting the phone booth at the corner of a gas-station lot, Nancy sprinted up, pushedthrough the door, and stuck her finger into the coin return to retrieve the next note.
    Two blocks north. Two blocks west. Go diagonally across the field. Next note in the clown’s mouth.
    The clown’s mouth? A field? Nancy didn’t have time to stop and think. She memorized the instructions, then turned and ran.
    Four blocks later, she came to the back of the high school. A vast, dark football field stretched in front of her. That explained the “field” part, anyway. She ran across the field. Glancing at the illuminated dial of her watch, she saw it was 10:09. She ran even faster.
    Finally, on the other side, she stopped and looked around. There! A block away she spotted the abandoned miniature golf course, which had been closed for years. She dashed across the street and jumped the low chain-link fence. There was a carved wooden clown in the middle of the course. She stuck her hand into its red-lipped mouth. The note she found inside read:
    Two blocks north. Cross the interstate. Cross lot. Next note tucked under windshield wiper.
    â€œThis is getting ridiculous,” Nancy said out loud, catching her breath.
    She especially didn’t want to cross the interstate. It was a major limited-access highway, and although she could get across it fine, for her backups it would be a wall. In order to follow her, they would have to take a long detour. They would definitely lose sight of her.
    Still, there was no choice. Time was quickly running out. Shifting the gym bag to her other hand, Nancy sprinted on.
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    A few minutes later Nancy read the final note. She was standing in a huge, empty parking lot. Ahead of her loomed the tall, blank rear wall of a building. It was the River Heights aquarium, Oceanworld!
    The note said that she should pull open the metal security door at the back of the building. There was only one, so she had no trouble finding it. She went inside.
    It was 10:23. She was late.
    Inside, Nancy paused to get her bearings. A hall stretched ahead of her. Jogging down it, she turned a corner and found herself in a room full of thick glass windows. Behind them, illuminated by soft green lights, were tanks of exotic fish.
    â€œI don’t believe this,” she whispered.
    Glancing down, she checked the note in her hand:
    Door marked private. Upstairs. Leave money on catwalk.
    Suddenly Nancy was nervous. She was very aware that she was alone—and vulnerable. True, the extortionist probably wouldn’t hurt her— not until he got the money, anyway—but she would have felt better if she knew her father was nearby. But he was probably miles away. Should she go on?
    Nancy decided to continue. She had the money, after all. If the extortionist showed up, she would simply drop it and run. He’d choose the money over chasing her.
    The door marked Private was across the room. Nancy walked over and pulled it open, then tiptoed up the stairs.
    At the top was another door. Pulling it open, Nancy stepped through and found herself on a narrow catwalk, just as the note had promised. What the note had not told her, however, was that the catwalk was suspended over the exhibit tanks. Below her a killer shark was swimming in circles!
    Nancy