“Bess, stay here in case the senator calls. Tell her what happened. George, come with me. The sooner we get some answers from Teresa Montenegro, the better.”

Nancy and George ran for the emergency stairs. They were running so fast that George crashed into a dark figure who was on her way down. It was Señora Ramirez, out of breath and distraught. She grabbed Nancy and began shouting at her in Spanish.

“Please! Speak more slowly,” Nancy pleaded, also in Spanish.

“Señorita Montenegro-she is my responsibility, and she has tricked me-”

Nancy finally understood that Teresa had asked her chaperon for some aspirin. While the older woman was in the bathroom getting it, Teresa had slammed the door shut on her and run out.

“She is going for the car I have rented. I know it. She took the keys-”

“We’ll get her. Come on, George!” Nancy shouted.

They sprinted down the stairs and headed for the parking garage, leaving Señora Ramirez behind.

The garage was dim with shadows, lit only by a few overhead bulbs and the twilight coming in through the exit and entryway.

“Split,” Nancy whispered, gesturing for George to take the left side. George nodded. Her tennis shoes made no sound as she ran.

A banner hung over the center parking area. It read International Women’s Semi-Pro Tennis Tournament. Someone was doing a good job of promotion, Nancy thought briefly as she threaded her way to the right lane.

Something moved. Was it-yes, it was Teresa, furtively hurrying toward a car. Nancy started to run.

Then, all at once, a car engine roared to life nearby. Headlights glared blindingly, and Nancy saw the great shape bearing down on her-and on Teresa!

With a burst of speed, Nancy flung herself at the girl from San Carlos, knocking her down. Teresa screamed. At the same moment, Nancy wrapped her arms around Teresa tightly and jerked to the right. The two of them rolled over once, twice, as the car screamed by in a dark blur, just inches away from them.

“Nancy!” George shouted.

“Here!” Nancy called back. In that split second she must have let down her guard. Suddenly Teresa broke free, kicking Nancy away and leaping up.

As she did so, the dark sedan suddenly whipped into a turn and bore down on her again with incredible power.

Nancy scrambled to her feet. But there was no way she could reach Teresa in time.

Chapter Five

Teresa froze, paralyzed in the blinding light. Suddenly a figure leaped into the air.

George’s strong arms caught at the tournament banner. It broke away, coming down with her, and was flung onto the front windshield of the sedan.

The car swerved crazily to the left. It bounced off the front fender of a sports car and tore erratically toward the exit.

The banner slid off in a little heap as the sedan, burning rubber, roared up the ramp and then vanished.

Suddenly the garage seemed very silent. The only sound was the gasping sobs coming from Teresa, lying crumpled on the floor. Nancy and George ran to her, but she shrank away from them like a wounded bird.

“It’s all right. I’m Nancy… Nancy Drew,” Nancy murmured reassuringly, stroking the hair back from Teresa’s frightened eyes. Teresa nodded, recognizing Nancy’s voice. There was a large bruise like a rope burn on her cheek. She must have skinned it on the concrete when she fell.

George, an expert first-aider, checked Teresa for other injuries. “No damage except bruises,” she reported.

“No thanks to whoever was driving that car,” Nancy said grimly. “Teresa, somebody tried to kidnap me this afternoon. Yes, probably mistaking me for you,” she said as Teresa’s blue eyes widened. “Why is somebody trying to kill you?”

Teresa jerked her head away, pressing her lips together. George’s eyes met Nancy’s. “The same guy who shot at your boyfriend? They got him, you know,” George said brutally. “That’s what the racket was in the hallway, Nancy told me. If you won’t talk to save yourself, how about him? We’re on your side,” she went on more gently as Teresa cried out. “Nancy can help you if you’ll let her.”

Nancy put her arms around Teresa as she struggled to sit up. “Find Señora Ramirez and tell her Teresa’s safe,” Nancy told George in a low voice. “And brief the house detective. His name’s Dixon.”

George nodded and left. For a few minutes there was no sound except Teresa’s ragged breathing.

“Don’t you think you owe me at least some explanation?” Nancy asked presently. “After all, I almost got killed twice today because of you.” As she hoped, that approach brought a response.

“I am so sorry. I do not know, really.” Teresa swallowed hard. “It is-how do you say? A night scare?”

“Nightmare,” Nancy supplied. “Teresa, you must think. There has to be a reason.” No answer. “Why were you running away? From the police? From your chaperon?” She repeated the words in Spanish because Teresa seemed too distraught to understand.

“Not running away… Roberto? You said Roberto is dead? He can’t be!”

“George didn’t say that. He was kidnapped-probably by the same men who grabbed me. There was a witness. And there were shots fired. Roberto may have been killed, but we don’t know yet. Teresa, don’t you think you’d better-”

Teresa was shaking her head violently. “No! There was a phone call-” She stopped abruptly.

“Teresa, tell me!” Nancy needed the facts before the police showed up and chased her away.

Teresa looked at her for a long moment. Then she nodded. “Someone called,” she whispered. “Not Roberto-it was a message from Roberto.”

“In English or Spanish?”

“Spanish. It said Roberto was hurt and needed me. He wanted me to come to get him.”

“Where?”

Teresa gave an address in Alexandria. “I knew Señora Ramirez wouldn’t let me go. She was hired especially to watch out for me on this trip, and she is very strict. She thinks I should have my mind only on my tennis game. So I… I tricked her.”

“Didn’t you realize how dangerous it could be?”

Teresa just looked at Nancy. “In my country, there is always danger. We have a dictatorship, very harsh-and often there are troublemakers from outside.” She shrugged. “Roberto needs me. I must go.”

“Not now, you can’t,” Nancy said firmly. “I’ll go.”

As she said it she remembered with a start that she also had to meet Senator Kilpatrick’s mysterious courier soon. Nancy knew she needed to make sure Teresa was safe, then go after Roberto before it was too late. With relief, she saw Dixon and one of the policemen coming toward them.

“We’ll take over now,” the policeman said. He and the house detective led Teresa away.

Nancy returned to her suite, where George and Bess were anxiously waiting. “We’re going with you,” Bess said promptly when Nancy described her evening plans.

“Somebody has to be here in case the senator calls.”

“I’ll stay this time,” George said.

“What you’d better do is order in some pizza for around ten o’clock,” Nancy suggested, changing rapidly into the requested T-shirt, skirt, and red belt. “Looks as if none of us is going to get any real dinner. Come on, Bess.”

With Bess holding a map and acting as navigator, Nancy cruised through the factory area on the outskirts of Alexandria, looking for the address Teresa had given.

“Either you heard her wrong or Teresa was supposed to meet her boyfriend in the Potomac River,” Bess said at last.

“Maybe that’s exactly what somebody had in mind,” Nancy answered. “We’d better head for the tournament. Bess, go to your seat and stay there. Something dangerous is going on. If I don’t show up by nine-thirty, send help!”

An amber moon was shining as they drove into the Loudon College parking lots. Nancy was fortunate to find a space close to the gym. She went with Bess to the box and leaned well forward in it, directly into the stream of light coming from nearby floodlights. It seemed a good way to advertise her arrival to whoever was watching for a girl in a denim miniskirt and a red belt.