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breathed in deeply. It was a beautiful May morning, sunny, yet not hot. She checked her watch, then glanced out the window.
    She hoped Bess wouldn’t take long. On the other hand, she wanted to give Detective Powderly a chance to check out the warehouse area and leave before they got there. Even though he’d been friendly and helpful, Nancy didn’t think he’d approve of their snooping around.
    Nancy looked up as the front door to the police station opened, but the person coming out wasn’t Bess. Nancy recognized B. D. Hawkins’s tall, slim build and cowboy boots. He strode around to the employees’ parking lot at the side of the station and got into a dark blue sedan. When he pulled out of the lot and drove past Nancy, she could see there was a dent in his right front fender.
    He must have finished the Jenkins report early, Nancy thought. Maybe he was going tojoin Detective Powderly in the warehouse district.
    The front doors to the police station opened again, and this time Bess did come running out. “Dirk said he’d love to come,” she told Nancy. “In fact he said something about always wanting to nab a car thief.”
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    â€œSo, what’s the plan?” Dirk asked from the back seat of Nancy’s Mustang. “We climb up a fire escape to check in windows?”
    Nancy and Bess had just picked him up at his family’s house, and they were heading for the industrial area of town.
    â€œNothing quite that dramatic, I’m afraid,” Nancy told Dirk, laughing.
    â€œWhat is our plan?” Bess asked, looking expectantly at Nancy.
    â€œActually, I haven’t thought of one,” Nancy admitted. “First, let’s just see what that dead-end street is like in daylight.”
    A few minutes later Bess pointed out her window. “There’s the sign for Pacific Trucking Company,” she said. “Take the next right, Nan.”
    Nancy turned into the dead-end street, then pulled over to the curb and turned off the ignition. She, Bess, and Dirk peered out the front windshield.
    It was definitely the street they’d been down the night before, but now it was busy with trucks loading and unloading. The ramps were dotted with men and women stackingdollies with boxes, writing on clipboards, and talking.
    â€œI’ve got an idea,” Dirk said. “We can go in and inquire about shipping my race car to California.”
    â€œYou’re going to California?” Bess asked with dismay.
    Dirk laughed. “No way. This is just to help out the investigation,” he told Bess.
    â€œIt’s a great idea, Dirk,” Nancy said. She pointed to a building on the left, a two-story warehouse with double garage doors. The sign over the doors said Ace Hauling.
    Grinning at Bess and Nancy, Dirk said, “Well, let’s find out what they haul.”
    Nancy pulled the Mustang back into the street to park by the loading dock of Ace. As she did, a huge car carrier pulled away from another loading dock farther down the street. It filled most of the road.
    â€œCan that thing get past us?” Bess asked nervously.
    â€œI think so,” Nancy replied, steering the Mustang as close to the right curb as she could.
    The carrier accelerated and came clanking toward them. Nancy honked the horn to warn the huge vehicle away. Instead, it suddenly swerved over onto Nancy’s side of the road. Nancy couldn’t pull out of its path.
    As the carrier continued to bear down on them, Bess grabbed for Nancy’s arm. “That truck’s headed straight for us!” she screamed. “We’re going to get run over!”

Chapter

Five
    N ANCY’S HEART leapt into her throat. The carrier was barreling toward them so fast, it would squash the Mustang flat as a pancake! Couldn’t the driver see them? She glanced around frantically. Just ahead there was a ramp up to a building on the right, but Nancy