NANCY DREW AND THE SECRET OF MERMAID COVE

Chapter Twenty

As Nancy neared the home, she noticed a car that was half-hidden behind a few lush bushes. From where she stood, no one looked to be inside the vehicle. She decided to take a peek inside to find that one of the windows had been broken. "That does not look good," she whispered. 

Next, she checked the car doors and found that the front passenger door was left unlocked. When Nancy pulled open the door, the smell of sour-smelling garbage turned her stomach. "Oh Lord, what slobs. This is just so disgusting," she commented while looking through the car. 

All she found at first was fast food bags and empty candy wrappers. Then she opened the glove compartment. "OH MY GOD THERE IS A GUN IN HERE!" she exclaimed. Hopefully, no one heard her. She checked the gun's chamber to find two bullets left there. 

For protection, Nancy decided to hold on to the gun by turning on the safety, tucking it behind her belt, and letting her shirt drape over it. The teen felt so thankful that her father had insisted she learn how to one a few years prior. Before moving on, she pulled out a small notebook and pencil from her purse. Then she scribbled down the license plate number. Better to be safe than sorry, she mused.

Nancy took her time moving closer to the house. With a clear view of the back door, the girl noticed a man sitting on the back steps. He was smoking a think cigar, occasionally sending smoke rings into the night air. Nancy wondered if this man was acting as a lookout for others. She looked to the door, searching for a sign that Chase had made it inside. 

All of a sudden, she heard the bushes rustle behind her. Before Nancy could turn around to see what was happening, a hand was put over her mouth. Then she was pulled behind one of the bushes. In retaliation, she bit the hand that covered her mouth. 

Almost instantly, the attacker let go, allowing her to escape.  She got to her feet only to almost die of laughter. There on the ground was Chase crying as he held his hand. 
"What are you, Nancy Drew? I am sure there is some bulldog mixed into your family tree," 

She smirked, "Yeah well you deserve it, scaring me like that." 

Chase sat up, "The front door is locked and the back is guarded."

"Let's try the windows on the dark side of the house to see if we can get in," suggested Nancy. 

Chase nodded in agreement. 

Once there, they checked the windows only to discover that they were all locked. Nancy sighed and hung her head. When she looked up, however, Chase was pointing at a smaller window that had gone unnoticed until now. This one looked much older than the others and had a keyhole on it. This gave Nancy an idea. She pulled a small bobby pin from her locks before beginning to try to pick the lock. 

Chase elbowed her gently, "Do I really want to know how you obtained this questionable skill?"

Nancy smirked back at him, "Probably not."

Chase shot her a funny look before shaking his head in frustration. Before he knew it the window was unlocked. He pulled out his small pocket knife to help open the window. After making sure no one was nearby inside of the house, they stabbed the knife into the wood to act as a handle. 

Nancy was the first inside, followed by Chase.  They found themselves in a dark dining room. There was stuff dumped all over the room. It had obviously been ransacked.

They searched the space and found a large suitcase sitting on the floor. Nancy unlatched it to find a pile of old books and maps inside. What was going on here? Who would want this old junk? 

They could hear someone else in the house, so the teens peeked into the next room. There they discovered a short round man dressed in a dark coat. He was putting more books into a duffle bag. Why steal a bunch of old dusty books? Were they first editions and thus worth a lot of money?

From overhead footsteps were audible. It was hard to tell how many people were up there. The two crept up the stairs to investigate. 

Once at the top of the stairs, Carter and Nancy could see the shadows of two men elongated on the right wall. "It has to be around here somewhere. What did the boss say it looked like Joe?" said of the men in a raspy voice.

"He did not. The boss just said to go get the Captain's Brookes old map. It could be in a book, picture frame, or hidden anywhere." replied the other in a deep low voice.

"James needs to be here. He is the only one that knows anything about this stuff. We might just have to take everything with us to sort out later." said the first man.

"I'm just glad the Blacks are gone off for the season. The last thing we need is captives right now."

Nancy pulled Chase close and whispered into his ear, "Since there is no one being held here, I think we are better off hiding until these guys leave."

"Are you sure? I think we should call the police." Chase tried to argue in a hushed tone.

Nancy shook her head no, "I am afraid they would hear us on the phone. Come on, let's hide in one of the closets."

They made their way back down the stair as noiselessly as possible. To thair dismay, Chase stepped on a loose step, causing a loud "creek" to sound.

They looked to each other, as they held their breath. After a long pause, they signed in relief when no appeared to investigate. Then they made their way down the rest of the stairs to soon discover what looked like a little girl's room. Figuring this would the last place anyone would look for a map they decided to hide in here. They opened the closet door, went inside, hid behind the child's clothing, and waited.

They head a man with a raspy voice call out, "I think this is it in this old dusty journal!"

"Better take that and the other two books just in case." replied another man with a deep voice.

"Ace, come on it is time to go!" yelled the raspy-voiced man.

Chase and Nancy waited until they heard the sound of the car pulling away, to peek outside the closet. Then they carefully searched the house before calling the police. Upon their return, the teens found Bess asleep in the boat. Nancy shook her friend awake , as Chase eased the boat away from the shallows.

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