087 The Case of the Rising Star by Carolyn Keene

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

8

Speeding Terror

Nancy’s eyes were watering so much she could barely see. Grabbing a pillow from the bed, she fanned the air in front of her, trying to get to Will’s desk where she had first seen the flames.

Through the smoke, Nancy could still make out a pile of papers on the desk, crackling and snapping as they rapidly turned to carbon. Nancy sprang across the room.

She yanked the heavy bedspread off Will’s bed, sending clothes and pillows flying. She flung the bedspread over the desk, smothering the flames.

After making sure the fire was out on the desk, Nancy ran to the window. Braddock followed. Together, they tore down the smoking drapes, stamping out the beginning flames with their feet. The heat ate through the soles of their shoes, and sweat poured down their backs, but they ignored the discomfort. When they were sure every last lick of fire was out, Nancy kicked through the charred fabric lying on the blackened carpet. She felt something small and lumpy and nudged it out with the toe of her shoe. It was burnt and crispy, but Nancy could tell what it was—Sherbinski’s cigar.

Nancy picked it up. Pushing a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear, she turned to face Eileen Braddock. “Now it’s time to call Security,” she said.

Eileen Braddock made the call. Moments later the bolt turned in the lock. Ray Sherbinski stood in the doorway of Will Leonard’s room. “You again?” he asked, surprised.

Then Sherbinski noticed Nancy’s soot-blackened face and all the damage in the room. “What happened here?” he asked accusingly, striding into the room. “We could have you kicked out of here for what you’ve just done.”

“Correction,” said Nancy. “For what you’ve just done.”

“Me?” Sherbinski asked. “I just got here.”

“And you just left here less than five minutes ago,” Nancy said. “We saw you.”

“What were you doing here?” Sherbinski asked. “You had no right to be in this room.”

“I think the bigger question is what you were doing here,” Nancy said. “It looks to me like you were here to set a fire. Tell me, Mr. Sherbinski. Did you do it because you knew we were in the room?”

“I didn’t even see you!” Sherbinski blustered. “And I didn’t start any fire.”

Silently Nancy held out the blackened cigar. “Forget something?” she asked.

Sherbinski coughed and sputtered. “Where’d you find that?”

“On the floor where you left it,” Nancy said.

Sherbinski started to sweat, dark patches spotting the light gray of his uniform. “I admit that’s my cigar,” Sherbinski said. “I’m no liar. But I swear to you the whole thing was an accident. I meant to put the cigar out, not set the room on fire.”

“Whether it was an accident or not,” Nancy said, “that still doesn’t explain what you were doing in the room in the first place.”

“I was investigating,” Sherbinski said. “You’re the one who told me the guy in this room was kidnapped.”

“Are you sure you weren’t really here to destroy evidence?” Nancy asked.

“I was here to do my job,” Sherbinski insisted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.