Strangers on a Train (Nancy Drew Diaries #2)(33)

The mother moose heard it and spun around, shoving her calf aside and snorting suspiciously at the spot where the rock had landed.

Meanwhile Wendy bent and stretched a hand down, then grabbed my arm and helped to pull me up as I scrambled for safety. Whew!

“Where’d he go?” I asked as soon as I caught my breath. “Hurry—we have to find him! Who knows what he’s capable of?”





******





"I still can’t believe Alan was after you this whole time,” Bess said. “How stupid am I?”

I glanced at her. She and George and I were on the lodge’s back deck, relaxing in lounge chairs and enjoying the bright Alaska evening.

"Don’t beat yourself up,” I said. "He had us all fooled.”

"Not me,” George put in with a frown. "I never liked the jerk.”

"You never like any of the guys Bess dates,” I reminded her with a half-smile.

The smile faded as I sighed, thinking back on the events of the day. Everything was kind of a blur for the few minutes after I’d climbed out of that moose pit. Wendy, Tobias, and I ran back and told Hiro and Tatjana what had happened. A search was mounted, and Alan was found quickly. There weren’t many places to hide in the sparse landscape, and Alan wasn’t much of an outdoorsman.

Soon the bus driver was radioing for help, and we were waiting for the police to come and take Alan away. In the meantime, he’d had quite a bit to say. Apparently my father had been the prosecuting attorney who’d helped get Alan’s father put away for life for fraud and embezzlement. Alan had vowed revenge, but he’d decided that just going after my dad wasn’t enough. He wanted to hurt him by hurting his family—which meant me. And that must have been what Ned was calling to tell me before the call was dropped.

That was the whole reason he’d pursued Bess. He’d figured it would be an easy way to get close to me, figure out my weaknesses. The Alaska trip was a lucky break for him. It had given him lots of opportunities to mess with me.

Then he’d found out that I really was a pretty accomplished sleuth. That had made him realize he needed to up the ante. He’d started watching for a chance to really hurt me. His original plan had involved causing an accident during that horseback excursion I’d ended up skipping, but spotting that mother moose had provided him with a second chance.

"I couldn’t believe the way he kept threatening you, even when the police were dragging him away.” Bess shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “Swearing he’d never rest until you and your dad paid...What a nut!”

"Good thing Wendy recorded his whole rant on her smartphone.” George grinned. "I loved the way she waved the phone in his face and told him she was going to forward it to the police.” She leaned back in her chair. “You know, I thought that chick was a real weirdo at first. But she’s okay.”

“Tobias, too,” Bess put in. "I’m glad he finally started to enjoy this vacation. He’s actually kind of a cool kid.”

I glanced at her with a wry smile. "It just goes to show that people aren’t always what they seem.”

“No kidding,” Bess said with feeling. “I still can’t believe I fell for a jerk like Alan.”

We heard the door swing open behind us. Sitting up, I saw Wendy hurrying over.

"There you are!” she said. “Listen, I know you’ve had a tough day, Nance. But I’d love to get a post about this whole dealio up before the story hits the wires.” She winked. “Nothing like an exclusive for a little free publicity, right? So how about it? Can we do that interview now? Maybe get some photos of the day’s hero?” She formed her hands into a mock camera lens, framing me inside it.

Once again, I hesitated. I really owed her now. But I still didn’t like the thought of losing even more of my anonymity if she got her wish and the story went viral.

“I’ve got an even better idea,” I told her. "You should focus your story on the real hero of today.”

"Who, the moose?” George put in. "You’re right, she showed great restraint in not stomping you. But I doubt she’s in any mood for interviews.”

I ignored her, standing up and smiling at Wendy. “Let’s go find Tobias,” I said. "I’m thinking maybe you could focus your story around him. Isn’t that the kind of thing that’s more likely to go viral? Kid hero saves the day?”

Wendy’s eyebrows shot up. "Oh my gosh, you’re so right!” she exclaimed. "I know I can get some serious attention with that story. Nancy, you’re a total genius!”

"You don’t know the half of it,” George said with a smirk.

But Wendy was already heading for the lobby, shouting for us to hurry up and follow. "Come on,” I told my friends with a smile. "Let’s go help her track down her new victim—er, I mean star.” "And maybe then we’ll be able to relax and enjoy the rest of the trip?” Bess said.

I grinned. “Definitely.”

Dear Diary,

WOW! THAT'S ABOUT ALL I CAN SAY.

I would never have believed that the bones of endangered animals were valuable enough to be smuggled.

But almost more incredible was that Alan posed as Bess’s boyfriend just to get revenge on me.