Crosscurrents by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pluse

Chapter

Nine

ARMS FLAILING, legs kicking, Nancy fought the force of the water. She felt dazed from the knock on the head, and in the pitch-blackness of the water she couldn’t see a thing.

Her clothes were like weights, pulling her down. Unable to breathe, Nancy felt a surge of panic. The water seemed to press against her chest until she was desperate for air. She was going to suffocate!

Nancy’s hand scraped against a rough surface. What was that? Reaching out again, she realized that it was the side of the pool. Frantically she swam to the surface.

At last, her head pushed up into the air, and she gasped with relief. In a moment she remembered that someone had pushed her into the pool. Was he or she still lurking in the room—or worse, beside her in the pool?

As silently as possible, Nancy swam to the far side of the pool and grabbed the edge. She felt her head, but there didn’t seem to be an injury. She listened for signs of another person but heard only the distant clap of footsteps.

“Nancy!” She heard Russ’s hearty voice as he charged down the hall.

A moment later, the lights went back on, and Nancy saw Russ by the wall switch near the door. Megan was right behind him. Otherwise, the room was empty. Whoever had pushed Nancy into the pool had fled.

Megan and Russ ran to the edge of the pool.

“Are you all right?” asked Megan.

“I’m fine. Just help me out of here, please.” Russ reached down and pulled her out of the pool.

“I had just hung up when I heard you shout,” Megan explained. “What happened?”

“Someone decided I should go for a moonlight swim—without the moonlight,” Nancy said, wringing out the bottom of her sweater.

Russ and Megan exchanged a confused look. Then Russ shook his head, adding, “Things are getting too creepy around here.”

Together they searched the corridor leading to the animal care complex but found no sign of an intruder. Megan put a hand on Nancy’s wet shoulder. “Come on. You need to get out of those wet things.”

Nancy used the staff ladies’ room to change into one of Megan’s uniforms. After drying her hair with a towel Megan had given her and hanging up her clothes on the doors of the stalls, Nancy joined Megan in her office. “We have a presentation with the whales in an hour,” the woman said. “Until then, I’ll be happy to answer your questions. Doug should be along in a minute, too,” she added, nodding to the other desk in the cubicle.

“Great.” Leaning down, Nancy cuffed the hem of Megan’s khaki pants, which were a bit too long. Otherwise, it felt good to be dry again. Megan had even loaned her an old pair of sneakers.

Nancy asked Megan a few questions about the care of the seals and whales, and about the task force. Unfortunately, Megan’s answers didn’t offer any new insights into Nancy’s case.

“I know that you joined the staff this year,” Nancy said. “What did you do before that?”

“I was working at an aquarium in Texas,” Megan explained.

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.