Stage Fright (Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Book 6) by Carolyn Keene, Franklin W. Dixon Page B

calculating the distance between us. If I tried to tackle her, would she shoot me? I wondered …
    “Oh, sorry.” Claire laughed and dropped the gun on the floor. “Prop gun. My bad.”
    “That’s cool,” I said. “Just give me a minute to pry my heart out of my throat.”
    Claire laughed, but Linden sighed loudly.
    “So have you two found anything yet?” he asked. His voice made it clear that he expected the answer to be no.
    “We’re following some leads,” said Frank.
    “Sounds like a ‘no’ to me.” Linden laughed and stood up, pacing the room. He seemed on edge, but with his star getting death threats and opening night a few hours away, I could forgive him that.
    “We need to talk to a few people. Have you seen Laurel or Damien?”
    “Not in hours,” said Claire. Linden nodded his agreement. I looked at Frank.
    “Claire …” I said. “We need you to be careful today, okay?”
    Claire nodded, her eyes wide. “Well, I was planning on taking a walk down that abandoned alley next door without telling anyone, but maybe I’ll skip that.”
    She stuck her tongue out at me. It was hard to keep a straight face around her, but I had to impress upon her how serious this was. It was literally life or death.
    “Claire, for real,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. Man, was she warm! “If anything seems suspicious, for any reason, get one of us. Or Nancy.”
    “Touching,” snickered Linden. “But I’ve got to get ready for tonight. Everyone who’s anyone is going to be here. And I’ve got to go lead a press tour backstage. Unless you need me for anything?”
    Frank shook his head. “No, it’s okay. But if you see Damien or Laurel, send them our way?”
    “Of course,” said Linden as he breezed out the door.
    “Finally!” said Claire. “He’s such a stick-in-the-mud. You get one line wrong, and suddenly you’re running lines with him twenty times in a row! He doesn’t work any of the other actors this hard.”
    “Are you ready for tonight?” I asked. I couldn’t help thinking that Linden must have decided that Claire needed all the extra rehearsal time. With the whole show basically riding on her, he had to be worried.
    “I’m not even going to answer that,” she said, taking Linden’s chair. “I was born ready for this. Tonight is going to be fantastic!”
    I have to admit, I was surprised. Claire seemed to be in a great mood, despite the death threats.
    “You’re not worried?”
    “Worried?” Claire laughed. “Ticket sales are through the roof! A scalper is offering tickets on Craigslist for four hundred dollars. And they’re in the mezzanine! Earlier today, my agent got a call from some national schools coalition, and they want me to do a public service announcement about standing up to bullies. This is rad!”
    Claire clapped her hands with glee, like a kid in a candy store.
    “I was asking about the threats, actually,” I told her. “Not the show.”
    “Whatever,” she said. “It’s just some wacko with too much time on his hands. This stuff happens. Try not to sweat it.”
    The theme music from her TV show suddenly started playing, and Claire paused to pull her phone from her bag.
    “Ugh!” she made a face. “Speak of the devil.”
    She handed the phone to me. On the screen it said “The opening act will be your final number!”
    “It’s the same phone number as before,” I said. “Quick, Frank, call Vijay.”
    “Already on it,” said Frank. “Hey, Veej, we need you to run a trace on that number we gave you. They just texted Claire.”
    The room went quiet as Frank waited for Vijay’s response. Claire tapped her foot unconsciously, and Iwondered if she was more nervous than she let on. The silence stretched out. Finally, Claire couldn’t take it any longer.
    “Don’t bother,” she said. “It’s probably some sad, Internet crazy in Omaha or something.”
    “What’s that Vijay?” said Frank, putting one hand over his ear. “Okay, got