Flirting with Danger Read Online Free PDF

black-and-white-checked miniskirt, Josh and Ned were standing at the foot of the stairs. Both let out whistles.
    Nancy grinned. “You don’t look so bad yourselves,” she said, taking in Ned’s red dress shirt and beige chinos. “Ready?”
    The three of them set out for the party, which was being held in an ultramodern house perched on the side of one of the San Gabriel foothills. The place was surrounded by redwood decks, and the views of Los Angeles at dusk were spectacular.
    Josh introduced Nancy and Ned to the host and hostess of the party, longtime friends of the Klines, and then he and Ned went off to get cold drinks.
    Nancy was standing alone at the railing of the deck, thirty feet above the pool, which was full of shouting, laughing kids. As she watchedthe setting sun she felt sad, thinking that Rachel should be there, having fun and celebrating with her friends.
    She heard someone behind her. “It’s about time, Nickerson,” she murmured without turning. “I was just thinking about enjoying the view with you.”
    She started to reach out for Ned. But before her hand moved a couple of inches, two strong hands struck her hard in the back. In the next instant she was sailing headfirst over the deck railing!

Chapter

Five
    A S SHE FELL through the air Nancy reached out desperately for a handhold. Nothing. She was vaguely aware of the swimmers’ screams and panic-stricken faces as she plummeted headfirst into the pool.
    The water closed over her. Sinking quickly to the bottom, Nancy almost blacked out when her shoulder struck the concrete floor of the pool. The pain was intense. Gasping but trying not to swallow water, she propelled herself up to the surface.
    When she finally bobbed up, she lookedaround, and one of the first things she saw was Ned hurrying through the crowd toward her. Josh was close behind.
    Nancy lifted her eyes to the terrace high overhead, but she knew it would be useless. The deck was empty. Whoever had pushed her was gone.
    â€œAre you all right?” everyone asked at once, crowding around her.
    Nancy nodded, realizing how lucky she’d been to land in the deep end of the pool instead of the shallow one. A bruised shoulder was hardly anything. “I’m fine. Did any of you see who pushed me?”
    The swimmers glanced at one another and shook their heads. Until Nancy had actually fallen into the pool, they’d all been having too good a time to notice anything happening on a deck thirty feet above their heads.
    Disappointed, Nancy kicked slowly to the side. Her clothes were heavy with water, but Ned was there with a hand extended to help her climb out.
    â€œWhat happened?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”
    â€œOne question at a time,” Nancy replied with a shaky smile, drying her face and pushing back her hair with a corner of a towel someone tossed to her. “I was standing upthere on the deck, admiring the view, when I heard someone behind me. I thought it was you. The next thing I knew, someone had pushed me, and I was falling into the pool.”
    Karen and Allen Kline ran up just then with some of the other parents. Again Nancy explained what had happened.
    Mrs. Becker, the hostess, offered Nancy a change of clothes. After Nancy had slipped into a pair of dry white shorts and a red T-shirt, she went back to the pool and joined the Klines and Josh and Ned. Allen Kline was in the middle of telling his son what little he and his wife had learned that day.
    â€œSo the police took the report, but they said there wasn’t much they could do. At least not until there’s a ransom note—if there is one.” The fear in his voice was evident.
    â€œThere hadn’t been any other recent withdrawals from her savings account,” Karen Kline added in a bleak voice. “I just don’t know what to think or even what to hope for.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Mom,” Josh told her. “We’ll