Don’t Look Twice Read Online Free

only she could get it open, she might be able to roll out, or at least attract some passerby’s attention.
    The gloved hand clamped down on her right wrist again, stopping her before she even reached the door. Nancy cried out in pain as her arm was twisted behind her back.
    A second later a gag was forced into her mouth. Then her arms were both pulled behind her back and tied, tightly but not painfully.
    Nancy’s mind raced. Why would anybody want to kidnap her? She wasn’t working on acase. She didn’t have any enemies out of prison—at least, none that she knew of. . . .
    I’m in Chicago to see my boyfriend’s college basketball game, Nancy thought. She was forcing herself to think slowly and logically—it would be all too easy to give in to panic. Who even knows I’m here?
    Suddenly a thought struck her. Was it even remotely possible? Would someone be crazy enough to kidnap her to sabotage the Wildcats’ chances of winning? Maybe someone was hoping to put Ned out of action. He was the cocaptain and one of the top players, after all. And with illegal betting there was a lot of money riding on the outcome of the tournament.
    Her kidnappers rode in eerie silence. Nancy knew there must be at least two of them—one to drive and one to keep an eye on her. She wished they’d say something. Hearing their conversation, or their voices, might help her figure out who they were.
    The car took many sharp turns, speeding up, then coming to sudden stops. Nancy tried to concentrate on where they were taking her. Right, then left, then left again . . . She quickly lost track of the turns. The only thing she could guess was that they must be winding their way through the streets of Chicago.
    She began to feel slightly nauseated from all the stopping and starting. Well, at least they weren’t running any red lights.
    Nancy could feel panic beginning to mix with her nausea. She needed to concentrate, she kept telling herself. If she was going to get out of this jam, she had to make some sense of where they were taking her.
    The twisting and turning must have been intended to keep her from doing just that. Nancy wondered if they were being careful because they knew she was a detective.
    A few minutes later she felt the car going down a sharp incline. It was bumpy, and although the windows were rolled up, she could tell that they were on a gravel road. Then the car stopped abruptly.
    The back door opened, and at the same time Nancy heard the whine of an automatic door. Maybe we’re in a garage, she thought. She felt a hand grasp her upper arm and pull. Stiffly she got up from the seat and stepped out of the car.
    She straightened up. By then she was sure they were in a garage. She smelled a faint reek of gasoline, and although it was cold, it wasn’t nearly so cold as it had been outside.
    The hand still had hold of her arm. For a moment she was grateful for the firm grasp. She felt slightly unstable from the ride, and the blindfold was throwing off her sense of balance.
    A heavy coat was slung over her shoulders. With it she caught a whiff of a man’s cologne. Nancy felt a little spark of triumph. They weren’t the most careful of kidnappers, she thought. Itwas a good sign. Maybe kidnapping was just a hobby and not a full-time job for these people, whoever they were.
    Again she was led through a door. From the sudden change in temperature, she guessed she was inside now. Someone took back the coat from her shoulders. Nancy shivered. It felt drafty. She could hear the pop and crackle of a fire, but it was not in the room she was in.
    She was pulled and prodded forward. She stepped slowly, feeling wooden floorboards that creaked under her feet in places. Once she almost tripped over a rug.
    The kidnappers herded her into yet another room. A door clanged shut, and a motor and a grinding of gears began. The room started moving. Instinctively Nancy reached out to