Don’t Look Twice Read Online Free Page B

into the nearest restaurant to call Ned and the others. Unfortunately, she had chosen a classy French restaurant.
    â€œI-I’ve had an accident,” said Nancy. It was much simpler than saying, “I’ve been kidnapped.” Besides, who would believe her?
    â€œIt’s nothing serious,” she added when she saw the shocked look on the hostess’s face. “I just need to use the pay phone.”
    She reached into her pocket. There was one precious quarter tucked away, right next to the heart-shaped stone. Ned! She had to see him. She needed to feel his strong arms around her, right then.
    The hostess pointed the way to the back of therestaurant. Nancy swallowed and tried to walk quickly through the room. It was a beautiful restaurant, with linen cloths and flowers on the tables. Most of the tables were for two, and many couples sat with their hands entwined as they chatted intimately in the dim, rosy light. Everybody turned and stared at the bedraggled girl walking through their midst. Nancy breathed a sigh of relief when she finally spotted the phone, right beside the swinging door to the kitchen.
    She picked up the receiver and froze. So much had happened in the last hour—and it had all started with this same simple movement.
    But nothing happened, and slowly Nancy’s feeling of déjà vu passed. Now, where would she find Ned? She decided to try Puccini’s. They would probably still be sitting at the table, wondering where she was.
    Would they have been worried enough to call the police yet? She had been quiet during dinner, but Ned and George would know that it wasn’t like her to disappear without telling anyone.
    She called directory assistance and got the number for Puccini’s. As she was dialing, wonderful smells wafted under her nose from the kitchen of the French restaurant. The nausea from the chloroform was almost gone, and she sniffed appreciatively.
    â€œPuccini’s. How can I help you?” asked a male voice on the other end of the line. It was noisy, and Nancy could barely hear him. To makematters worse, waiters balancing huge, round trays were rushing in and out through the swinging doors at her left, and the clatter of the many kitchen workers was a definite distraction.
    â€œHello,” she practically yelled into the receiver. “I’m looking for some friends who were at your restaurant. My name is Nancy Drew.”
    â€œOh, Miss Drew, hello, this is Mario. Did you enjoy your ride?”
    My ride? An alarm went off in Nancy’s head. So it was Mario she had seen as she was being dragged out of Puccini’s. Could he have been involved in her kidnapping? If so, why would he be crazy enough to admit it? The best idea, she decided, was to play it safe.
    â€œI, uh—I got a chance to see a few spots in Chicago I’ve never seen before,” she replied, trying not to give anything away.
    â€œThat’s nice,” said Mario. “I thought it was a crazy idea, but you kids today, you’re all crazy.” He laughed, then added something else.
    â€œWhat’s that, Mario?” Nancy couldn’t hear him over the combined noise of Puccini’s and the kitchen of the French restaurant. She had covered her left ear with her hand and had the receiver clamped to her right ear.
    â€œYour friends, they just left.”
    â€œThey left?” Nancy couldn’t believe her ears. “Did they say where they were going?”
    â€œOkay, fine, I gotta be going, too. Ciao.” Mario hung up. Nancy listened to the dead line for amoment before she placed the receiver back on the hook.
    Where could her friends have gone? More to the point, how could they have left Puccini’s without her? Didn’t they wonder where she was?
    She turned around to find the hostess hovering behind her. This time the woman looked less shocked and more concerned.
    â€œAre you all right?” she asked. “You look a little