063 Mixed Signals Read Online Free PDF

as she recognized the girl with long black hair.
    “There’s Danielle,” she whispered to Bess. “I’m going to ask her a few questions.”
    As soon as Bess got her candy bar from the machine, she and Nancy joined the other girls.
    “You guys were great tonight!” Bess said.
    “Thanks,” said Danielle, smiling. She shook the pom-poms in her hand, and the purple- and orange-foil ribbons shimmered.
    “Too bad about the fire,” Nancy commented casually.
    “I’ve never seen anything like that!” the other cheerleader, a tall red-haired girl, exclaimed. Nancy noticed that Danielle merely glanced away and began to tap her foot.
    Nancy kept her eyes focused on Danielle as she said, “It’s a good thing that Randy Simpson’s okay. From what I hear, he’s Emerson’s only hope of winning on Sunday.”
    “That’s a joke!” Danielle snapped.
    An awkward silence fell over them. “Uh, don’t you think Randy can lead the team to victory?” Bess finally asked.
    Danielle’s face became drawn with anger. “I wouldn’t count on Randy Simpson for anything!” she said bitterly.
    She threw her raven hair back with a defiant toss of the head and added, “Randy Simpson should have been burned—just the way he burned me!”
     

Chapter Five
    N ANCY STARED at the petite cheerleader in surprise. “Don’t you care about Sunday’s game?”
    “Not if that creep gets all the glory,” Danielle snapped.
    The elevator doors opened just then. The three students inside didn’t even have a chance to get out before Danielle barreled in, the foil strands of her pom-poms fluttering.
    The red-haired cheerleader gave Nancy and Bess an embarrassed smile as the other students quickly shuffled out and she stepped in. The door slid closed before Nancy and Bess could make it in.
    “Talk about touchy!” said Bess.
    “That’s for sure,” Nancy agreed. They waited for another elevator and rode up to their suite. After their long day Nancy and Bess still had to unpack. Nancy was relieved to finally tug on her nightshirt and slippers. Curling up on a chair in the living room, she turned her thoughts to the case.
    “After that outburst, Danielle is definitely up there on my list of suspects,” she said.
    Wearing a nightgown, Bess wandered back into the living room, the candy bar in her hand. Stretching out on the couch, she unwrapped the chocolate-covered bar and took a bite.
    “I’m not sure I really think she had anything to do with setting that fire tonight, though. I mean, this is probably just a case of bad romance.”
    “Danielle and Randy didn’t break up until today, so it’s not likely she had anything to do with the phone calls,” Nancy said. “But maybe it’s not a coincidence that the threats suddenly got a lot worse today.”
    She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Danielle practically admitted that she’d do anything to get even, even if it means that Emerson loses the big game. She could have set the fire and sent Randy that threatening note.”
    “There’s no limit to how far a scorned boyfriend or girlfriend will go,” Bess said dramatically, licking chocolate from her fingers. “A broken heart can make people do strange things.”
    “I knew I could count on you for the romantic point of view,” Nancy said with a laugh.
    There were other suspects, too, Nancy reminded herself, remembering Zip Williams and the other Pirates, as well as the guys on Emerson’s team. Starting the next day, she was going to check all of them out.
     
    “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!” Nancy called from the doorway of Bess’s room. She was already up and dressed, wearing a thick ivory-colored sweater and a suede skirt in a deep shade of green. She held a paper bag in one hand.
    Bess cracked an eye open. “What time is it?” she asked, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. “Did I miss breakfast?”
    “It’s almost nine. I couldn’t wake you before, so I went and had breakfast with Ned.”
    “Guess I was really