Carolyn Keene - Trial By Fire

“Shhh!” Nancy said. Ann blinked groggily.

The door of the enclosure was secured with a hefty padlock. Nancy took out her set of picks and went to work on it. She knew it wouldn’t be easy. Time stretched. Nancy was in agony, working as fast as she could.

Just as the hasp pulled free with a click, Ann made an urgent sound deep in her throat. Too late Nancy realized that the click had not come from the lock, but from behind her. She turned around and found herself facing the business end of a silver-plated automatic pistol.

“That ought to hold you.” Brownley tightened the last knot around Nancy’s ankles, after tying her hands behind her back.

Reston, lips stretched in a slash of a smile, squatted beside her, the gun to her temple. With the other hand, he snatched the tape from Ann’s mouth. “So you finally woke up, Granger. Good. Let’s not waste each other’s time. Who’s the snitch in our organization?”

“I don’t know,” Ann said, speaking with difficulty.

Suddenly Nancy noticed Jim Dayton lurking in the shadows. He was holding a baseball bat. She felt a small twinge of hope that they just might get out of there alive.

Meanwhile, Reston was not sympathetic. “Either you give me the name, Ms. Granger, or our young friend here joins the angels.”

“Honestly, I don’t know who it is,” Ann said. “Whoever it was just left messages for me. Please, I don’t feel well.”

“The stuff we gave you will do that,” Reston said. He jabbed her in the side. “Come on, Miss Investigative Reporter, talk-or you’ll feel a lot worse. Who’s the snitch?”

“She doesn’t know,” Nancy said, wondering if Bess was safe. “If she did, would she have fallen for that trick of yours to meet you at the Grand Cinema? Stop poking her! She hasn’t been out of the hospital that long, remember?”

“Hey, Reston, she don’t look so good.” Brownley peered down into Ann’s face. “You sure that stuff you used to put her out was all right?”

“What difference does it make?” Reston turned the gun on Nancy again. “ You tell me who it is, then,” he said and raised his arm, as if to hit her.

Ann squirmed to sit upright. “Please, don’t hurt her!”

Unfortunately, Jim picked that moment to charge forward. He went to slam Reston with the bat, but Brownley was quick to intercept. He spun Jim around and punched him so hard that he knocked him out.

“I see you ladies have engaged some help,” Reston said and nodded a thanks to Brownley.

Nancy peered at Jim lying on the floor, and her heart sank. She recovered quickly and said, “Don’t waste your breath, Ann.” Nancy looked Reston in the eye. “He’s going to kill us, whether he gets the name or not. He has to. We know too much.”

“You also talk too much,” Reston growled.

“It must be a very successful business,” Nancy went on, “considering the trouble you’ve gone to to protect it. How much have you been pulling in?”

“No harm in my telling you. You won’t be passing it along. About a million a year.”

“Pretty good,” Nancy said. “Certainly enough to spread some around to people who can help keep you in operation. How many people are on your payroll?”

Reston shrugged. “Ten. They’re cheap, all things considered. A hack inspector here, a police records clerk there. They don’t ask for much. But they’re a big help.”

“And the judge? He was about to blow it for you, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, which was unfortunate. It was very handy having someone who could tip us off about search warrants, or secret indictments that would put certain friends behind bars. No matter. We’re grooming someone to take his place. Now-” He placed the gun against her temple.

“One last thing,” Nancy said, her mouth dry. She had to play for time. “What were you holding over the judge’s head?”

Reston grinned. “Gambling debts. For every tip he gave us, we knocked ten thousand off his bill.”

“How much was framing my father worth?”

“Fifty thousand. And it worked. Your daddy’s going to jail, little girl.”

“Sooner or later, you will, too-for first-degree murder.”

“What’s she talking about?” Brownley stared at Reston. “You killed Renk? You said it wasn’t you! You said somebody had done us a favor!”

“So I lied. After little Ms. Drew got away from me, I went to relieve Casper out near the judge’s place. And who shows up? Ms. Drew again.”

“You didn’t tell me about that!” Brownley said, eyeing his partner as if he were seeing him for the first time.

“I don’t report to you. I could hear Renk beginning to cave in loud and clear. He had to go. What do you care?”

“If he doesn’t care,” Nancy said, “he should. You made him an accessory to murder.”

“Wait a minute! I didn’t know anything about it!” Brownley’s ruddy complexion had turned ashen.

“Maybe not. But you will know about ours,” Nancy pointed out. “If he kills us, you might as well have pulled the trigger. He tried to kill us once before.”

“No, I didn’t, girlie. If you mean that car bomb, that was a mistake. The bozo I hired did it all wrong. Why would I kill her when I needed information from her.”

Brownley backed out of the wire enclosure. “I don’t want anything to do with murder, Reston. You kill them and you’re on your own.”

For the first time, Nancy saw uncertainty in Reston’s icy gray eyes. “Maybe you’re right.” He backed out of the cage and slammed the door. “You come up with me. We’ll talk.”

Brownley looked worried as he secured the padlock.

As soon as they were out of sight, Nancy began looking around for a means of escape.

“I’m so sorry, Nancy,” Ann said. “They fooled me. I thought it was you driving that cab. I opened the door to get in, felt a stinging in my arm-and that’s all I remember.”

“Forget it. My dad’s hearing is this afternoon. If we don’t get out of here, we’ll probably wind up in the nearest river and my dad’ll wind up in jail.” She peered out of the enclosure. “And it doesn’t look like Jim will be able to help us.”

Scooting over to the wall, Nancy leaned her back against it and pushed herself to a standing position. She then reached into the trash barrel for one of the oil cans and tilted it toward her wrists. There wasn’t much left in it, but what little there was oozed over her hands, coating them with the thick fluid.

It took draining the dregs from two more cans before her wrists were slippery enough for her to work the cord off. She then untied her feet and freed Ann.

But their problems were far from over. The enclosure was locked, and Nancy had no idea what happened to the pick she had been using when she was caught.

“Pssst!”

Nancy’s head snapped up. Bess, on all fours, scuttled over to the wire cage. Her eyes were twice their usual size. She looked heavier than usual, too.

“Nancy! Ann! You’re okay!” She looked at the lock with alarm.

“My pick set may be out there on the floor somewhere,” Nancy said. “See if you can find it.”

Bess pawed through the trash outside the door. “Here it is. Now what?”

“The weave of the wire is too small for me to get my hands through,” Nancy said. “You’ll have to get it open for us.”

“Me?” Bess swallowed and squared her shoulders. “Okay. Tell me what to do.”

Nancy prompted her, forcing patience and encouragement into her tone. It seemed to take forever, but after a struggle, the lock clicked open and the door came ajar.

“Quick! This way,” Nancy said and started for the row of boxes.

“Uh, I think I’m going to need help.” Ann’s voice was weak. Her legs seemed to be even weaker. “It’s that stuff they gave me.”