Authors: Carolyn Keene

Into Thin Air (14 page)

BOOK: Into Thin Air

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According to River Heights's own Nancy Drew, who also played a role in the dramatic events, Johnson, an embezzler, had been presumed dead.Â .Â .Â .

Nancy put the newspaper down and stopped reading. George and Bess looked at her from across the Drews' living room with annoyed expressions.

“Ooh, that Brenda Carlton! She makes it sound as if you hardly had anything to do with
capturing Johnson!” Bess seethed. “What's wrong with that girl, anyway?”

“I think she looked into Mark's deep blue eyes and was swept away,” George joked. “Anyway, Bess,” she added, “I was there when Nancy gave Brenda the story. Nancy did give Mark most of the credit.”

“But it was you who solved it, Nan,” Bess protested.

Settling into her dad's brown leather chair, Nancy smiled. “I figured Mark needed the boost,” she explained. “I thought it might help his battered ego.”

“I guess so,” Bess said, nodding in agreement. “If Mark was my boyfriend, I'd make sure he never had ego problems.”

“What's this? Are you getting ideas, Bess?” George teased.

“Well, he is free now, isn't he?” Bess challenged.

“Yes, but I wouldn't say he's much of a prizeâdespite his looks,” George counseled her cousin.

Bess arched an eyebrow provocatively. “Are you sure you're not just saying that because you've got an eye on him yourself?”

Nancy shook her head, amused. Thank goodness she had Ned Nickerson. And now that the case was over, she was going to visit him at Emerson College as soon as she could.

“Anyway, Nancy, I still don't see why you
told Brenda it was all Mark's doing,” George said. “No matter what you say, Mark knows you were the one who did everything.”

“Come on, I didn't do everything,” Nancy corrected her. “Mark was the one who brought me in on this case, remember. If it wasn't for his persistence, I wouldn't even have stayed involved. He made some very good deductions, too,” she added.

“But don't forget he almost got us all killed, trying to pull that gun of his,” George added.

Nancy nodded. “That was dumb of him,” she agreed. “I hope he's learned his lesson.”

“Come to think of it, I guess he is a little too intense for me,” Bess said.

The phone rang, interrupting her. Nancy picked it up. “Hello?”

“Nancy? It's me, Mark!” came the excited voice on the other end of the line.

“Mark, hi! Are your ears burning? We were just talking about you,” Nancy said.

“Did you see the paper? Isn't it fantastic!” Mark sounded more enthusiastic than ever.

“Gee, Mark, it's just an article,” Nancy started to say.

“Just an article?” Mark replied. “Well, guess who read it? Archer Crabtree, that's who. He just called me with a job offer!”

“Mark, that's great!” Nancy cried. “Bess, George, Mark got his old job back!”

Mark interrupted her. “Not my old job,
Nancyâa new job. He made me a full detective! I'm taking over Hal Slade's position! Well, not exactly his position, since he had a lot of seniority. I'm already on another case, can you believe it! And, Nancy, this is a really big oneânext time you see my face it's going to be on the cover of the Chicago
Times!”

He launched into a description of his new case, which had something to do with a military contractor defrauding the government. By the time she hung up the phone, Nancy's mind was reeling.

She told Bess and George all his news, then made a face. “I hope I haven't created a monster!” she confessed.

The three girls broke into gales of laughter. “Oh, well,” Nancy managed to say at last. “From now on, when Mark has a problem, it's his, not mine.”

“Don't be too sure of that, Nancy,” George teased her. “What do you want to bet that the first time he runs into trouble, Mark will be back on your doorstep,”

“Yeah,” Bess chimed in. “Mark Rubin may be an up-and-comer as a detective, but he's got a long way to go before he's as good as the one and only Nancy Drew!”

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.