Let’s Talk Terror Read Online Free PDF Page A

Ling—that’s us,” Nancy said, checking the place cards. Then she put her small sequined clutch bag on the table by her setting and walked around the table. “Let’s see who else is sitting with us. Mr. and Mrs. Ringer, Mr. Appleby, Ms. Fox—”
    â€œThat must be Brenda,” Susan said. “She warmed up the audience for Marcy today.”
    â€œShe seems really nice,” George said.
    â€œBrenda’s a doll,” Susan said. “One of these days I predict she’ll be a top producer. She’s a hard worker and has everything it takes to succeed.”
    â€œLike you,” Nancy said, complimentingSusan. “And here’s the last place—Ms. Kristoff.”
    â€œYes?” said a brunette who had just approached the table. She wore a black dress with sequins outlining the scooped neckline.
    â€œMs. Kristoff!” Susan exclaimed, sounding impressed. “I’ve always wanted to meet you! My boss, Marcy Robbins, has told me so many nice things about you. I’m Susan Ling, of ‘Marcy!’ and these are my friends Nancy Drew and George Fayne. We went to high school together.”
    â€œHow do you do,” the woman in black murmured.
    â€œMs. Kristoff is the executive editor of Teen Talk, ” Susan explained.
    â€œPlease!” the woman said, laughing lightly. “Call me Karen. ‘Ms. Kristoff’ sounds like someone over forty. I have at least a decade to go before that.”
    â€œYou must be proud of Marcy,” Nancy said.
    â€œI certainly am,” the editor gushed. “I picked her out of a bunch of applicants for her very first job. Now she’s doing better than I am!”
    â€œYou have a great eye for talent,” Nancy said.
    â€œThat’s one way to look at it,” Karen said, taking her place.
    â€œDidn’t you and Marcy go to high schooltogether?” Susan asked Karen. “I thought Marcy told me you did.”
    â€œShe was a freshman when I was a senior,” Karen explained. “But I didn’t really know her that well back then.”
    â€œMarcy said you taught her everything she knows about communicating with people,” Susan said.
    â€œIsn’t that sweet of her,” Karen murmured, and pointed to a vase in the center of the table. It was filled with foot-long placards with large numbers printed on them. Beside the vase was a stack of blank index cards and a crystal container holding several small pencils. “What in the world is all this?”
    â€œThose are the bidding sticks for the auction,” Susan explained. “You raise yours to show you want to bid. You write the number of your bid on the cards.
    â€œHey, there’s Brenda,” Susan said, turning around as the assistant producer approached the table, smiling.
    â€œBrenda, have you met Karen Kristoff, and my friends Nancy and George?”
    â€œI met Karen at the last Lake Shore Hospital benefit—nice to see you again,” Brenda told the editor before turning to Nancy and George. “I noticed you two at today’s taping. You both said some good things.”
    The ballroom was practically full now, andNancy sensed from the buzz that the crowd was excited. Onstage Nancy could see Jack Cole adjusting microphone levels.
    â€œI hear they’re going to auction the mayor’s socks,” Brenda said with a laugh. “Who’d ever bid on those?”
    â€œA date with Vic Molina has a lot more appeal to me,” Karen Kristoff replied dryly.
    â€œI promised my son I’d bid on the date with Samantha Savage,” said Mr. Appleby, a portly man of about fifty who was just sitting down at his place. He nodded to the girls.
    Nancy spoke quietly to George and Susan, “I want to keep an eye on Marcy. I’m going to look around backstage.”
    Nancy made her way to the backstage entrance as the president of the country club took the stage and began to describe the