010 Buried Secrets by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene [Keene, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Nine

WHAT ARE YOU doing in here?” the man growled, his voice deep and threatening. “This room is off-limits!” He waved his shotgun, motioning them toward the door. “Get out. Now, before I use this on you!”

“Wait just a minute,” Nancy said. “Before we tell you who we are, why don’t you tell us who you are?”

“I’m the caretaker—not that it’s any of your business,” he told her. “And my business is keeping trespassers off this property.”

“Trespassers!” Bess tried to sound insulted. “For your information, we happen to be volunteers for Todd Harrington’s campaign.”

“Oh? Then what are you doing up here?” he asked.

“We didn’t know where to go,” Nancy told him, quickly making up the story. “The front door was open and nobody was here, so we just wandered around the house until we found this room.” She took a few steps toward the man, staring at him angrily. “And let me tell you, if Mr. Harrington hears about this, he’s not going to be happy. So why don’t you stop pointing that gun at us and tell us where we’re supposed to be?”

Slowly the man lowered the shotgun until it was pointing at the floor. He took a few steps back and then gestured toward the door. “Downstairs,” he said. “You’re supposed to be downstairs.”

“Where downstairs?” Nancy asked. She had a funny feeling that this man wasn’t the caretaker. “Third floor? Second floor? First?”

“Find it yourselves,” the man said. “And don’t come snooping up here again, or it’ll be you Mr. Harrington’ll be unhappy with.”

Raising the gun again, the man backed out the door, slamming it behind him.

“Quick!” Nancy cried as soon as he was gone. “Let’s follow him!”

“I thought you were interested in that tape recorder,” Bess said.

“I am, but it’ll have to wait.” Nancy yanked open the door. “Right now I’m more interested in finding out who that guy really is!”

His voice was different from the one in my garage, Nancy thought as they clattered down the winding stairs, but he’s tall. And I’ll bet he was the guy in my garage and the guy who followed me in that black car.

As they dashed down the big entry hall toward the front door, they almost collided with Barry. “What’s the rush?” he said, looking startled.

“The caretaker!” Nancy shouted, without stopping. “Which way’d the caretaker go?”

“You mean old Al? It’s Al’s day off,” Barry said. “Hey!” he called after them. “What about the envelopes?”

“Later!” Nancy called back. “Sorry!”

Outside, there was no sign of the “caretaker.” Nancy stopped for a second and listened. There it was—the sound of a car, its engine roaring as it sped down the long drive toward the front gates.

“Come on!” Nancy cried. “If we hurry, we might just make it!”

Together, the three girls rushed across the grounds and through the trees, heading for the crumbled part of the wall they’d climbed earlier. If we can get to my car in time, Nancy thought, we can follow him all the way back to River Heights if we have to.

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