Fatal Attraction by Carolyn Keene Page B

me?”
    â€œIt’s Mr. Carlton. But shouldn’t I tell him that you can’t . . . ?”
    Nancy shook her head. “This is important ,” she said. “Mr. Carlton? We have to get together, right away. I’ve got something very important—”
    â€œI do too,” Mr. Carlton said grimly. “Do you know the park on Allegheny Avenue? Meet me there in fifteen minutes—at five-thirty.”
    â€œActually, I’m not supposed to move around a lot,” said Nancy. “Can you possibly come here?”
    â€œAre you all right?” Mr. Carlton asked anxiously.
    â€œI had a little car accident,” Nancy told him. She decided not to get into the attempt on her life. Mr. Carlton was upset enough as it was.
    â€œI’ll be right over,” Mr. Carlton promised.
    Nancy hung up. “He’s on his way,” she said to Hannah and Ned. “Now I’d better call George and Bess. I may need them tonight.”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    When Mr. Carlton arrived, he seemed nervous and preoccupied.
    â€œIs Brenda okay?” Nancy asked.
    â€œBrenda was fine when I left,” Mr. Carlton said. “But I think I’ve just blown everything.”
    Nancy stared at him. “Blown it?”
    â€œI just got back forty minutes ago. There was a call waiting for me when I walked in, from a man who said he was a friend of Mike McKeever’s.”
    â€œIt must have been Felix!” Nancy exclaimed.
    Mr. Carlton shrugged. His eyebrows were drawn together in an angry line and his mouth was tight. “He didn’t say his name. But he did say that he knew about McKeever and my daughter, and he could fix it—for a price. A big price.” He looked down. “That’s when I blew it.”
    â€œHow? What did you say?”
    â€œI lost my temper when the guy started talking money. I told him what he could do with his offer.” He swallowed, the worry beginning to displace the anger in his eyes. “What’s worse, I told him that I’d hired somebody to expose his fraud. I told him that we had enough to put him and his partner away for a long time.”
    Nancy stared at him in consternation. After a minute, she said, “Well, it’s too late now to wish things had been done differently. But now that Mike and Felix have been spooked, we’re going to have to act fast.” She quickly sketched whatshe had found out about Mike’s relationship with Darla DeCamp and Felix’s criminal record.
    â€œTheir last victim wound up dead,” she concluded. “I think Brenda risks death every minute she spends with Mike.”
    â€œI agree,” Mr. Carlton said bleakly. “What are you recommending?”
    Nancy thought fast. “It’s time that we got the River Heights police into the act. Sergeant Tom Robinson is a friend of Dad’s. He’s helped me out on a couple of other cases. And it’s time to confront Brenda with the truth, don’t you think?”
    Mr. Carlton grimaced. “I suspect that’s going to be harder than collaring those crooks.”
    â€œBut just as necessary,” Nancy reminded him.
    â€œRight,” he said. “When I left, she was just getting home. We can talk to Brenda, and then you can call your friend on the police force. Are you up to coming with me?”
    â€œI think I can manage—with Ned’s help.”
    Ned and Nancy followed Mr. Carlton as he wound through River Heights’ most posh neighborhood, enormous houses set well back from the street behind spacious sweeps of green lawn. The Carlton house itself was a mansion with white plantation-style columns.
    â€œBrenda!” Mr. Carlton shouted as they cameinto the front hallway. “Brenda, where are you? I need to talk to you.”
    There was no answer.
    â€œBrenda!” Mr. Carlton shouted. He took the stairs two at a time, with Nancy and Ned right behind. Upstairs,