Danger on Parade (15 page)

Authors: Carolyn Keene

BOOK: Danger on Parade

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Neil gave her a self-satisfied smile. “That was pretty clever, if I do say so myself. I knew you wouldn't say no to a meeting with Greg at the North Pole, much less Brooklyn. After I called and left a message with Nancy's aunt, I took a cab to the parade studio and waited around the corner until the guard went in to make his rounds. Then I sneaked in, knocked him out, and slashed the balloons. I rigged the door so that it would open for you, then left before you even got there.”

Jill had been listening silently to his explanation. Now she asked, “Why, Neil? Why would you do this to me and to the parade? I thought you were my friend.”

There was a cold look in Neil's eyes as he gazed at Jill. “I wanted the Mitchell's executives to think that you weren't capable of handling the parade. That way, they would give the responsibility back to me. I deserve to be in charge,” he declared angrily. “The parade should never have been taken away from me in the first place.”

For the first time, Nancy noticed that Aileen's camera crew had come over and that the camera was rolling. After getting a long shot of Neil's face, Aileen said, “Okay, that's a wrap.”

“I'll say,” Jill put in wearily. “Officer, take him away.” Then she turned to Greg and said, “Come on, we have to get you cleaned up and on the grand marshal's float!”

â¢Â â¢Â â¢

“Congratulations, Ms. Drew, you saved the parade,” Howard Langley said fifteen minutes later. He smiled and extended his hand to Nancy.

“Good job,” Jules chimed in.

As Nancy shook Mr. Langley's hand, she looked over at the makeup table where Greg was having some powder brushed on his face. After Neil had been taken away by the police, Nancy, Bess, and Eloise had accompanied Jill and Greg to a wardrobe van. Luckily they had found some
slacks and a cowboy shirt that fit Greg. Nancy, her aunt, and Bess had also cleaned up as best they could.

Nancy looked over as Jill emerged from the wardrobe van, handed Greg a cowboy hat, and then came over to Nancy and Bess. “Nancy, how can I ever repay you?” Jill said. “I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I, wellâI thought Neil was on my side.”

“Don't worry about it,” Nancy said, smiling. “I'm just glad everything is all right now.”

“And, Bess, I hope you can forgive me for treating you so badly,” Jill added, turning to Bess. “I should have believed Nancy when she said you were being set up.”

“It's okay. I understand,” Bess said. She kept looking around, taking in all the excitement surrounding the parade. “The floats look gorgeous!” she exclaimed. “And look at the great costumes that band is wearing!”

Jill laughed and took Bess's arm. “The least I can do is give you a short tour in the few minutes before the parade begins.” She turned to Nancy's aunt and added, “Eloise, why don't you join us?”

As the three of them moved toward the first float, Nancy turned back to Mr. Langley and Jules. “Have you had any luck proving that Louis Clark stole the perfume formula?” she asked.

“Our lawyers presented Louis with all of our evidence and threatened to sue,” Mr. Langley
explained. “Louis had the brains to see that the millions in legal fees and all of the bad publicity for him and his store would be more trouble than stealing the perfume was worth.”

“In other words, he backed off,” Jules put in, grinning. “Last night he signed a paper stating that he would not, under any circumstances, duplicate the perfume.”

Nancy smiled back at Jules. “Did you ever find out how he managed to duplicate the perfume in the first place?” she asked.

“We can't be sure,” Jules replied. “But our lawyers did discover that Louis knows someone who works at the advertising company that's handling the launch of Forever. He must have gotten a sample of the perfume from them and then given it to his scientists to duplicate.”

Thinking back, Nancy remembered the sheet of formulas she had found in Louis's desk. “Those vials must have been his scientists' trials,” she said. “I bet he broke into the cosmetics lab to try and find a copy of the formula, to see if his scientists had succeeded.”

With a shrug, Mr. Langley said, “We may never know for certain. The important thing is that his plan failed, and we have you to thank for that, Nancy.”

Nancy could feel herself blush. She was relieved when their attention shifted away from her as Jill, Bess, and Eloise returned.

“I have the perfect idea,” Nancy's aunt announced, beaming. “Why doesn't everyone come over to my apartment after the parade for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Howard Langley looked at his son, who replied, “We'd love to! If it's not too much trouble, that is.”

Eloise waved dismissively. “It's no trouble at all,” she assured him. “I'm going to go downtown and pick up my car, then go home and start cooking. But I'll be watching the parade on TV!”

As Nancy's aunt hurried off, Greg Willow came over from the makeup table. “I hate to break up the party, but it's nine-thirteen, and I've got only two minutes to get to the lead float.”

“Over here!” Dan called out, pulling up next to the group in a golf cart. “I'll take you up to the front of the parade, Mr. Willow.”

“Come on!” Greg said. He grabbed Nancy and Bess by the hand and started pulling them toward the cart.

Nancy shot Bess a puzzled look. “Where are we going?” she asked Greg.

“You're riding on the lead float with me!”

“We are?” Bess asked.

Pausing to look at Jill, Greg asked, “Is that okay?”

“That's a great idea!” Jill said, giving them the thumbs-up sign.

As Nancy and Bess climbed into the cart with
Greg, they exchanged a look of glee. “We're actually going to ride on the lead float in the Thanksgiving Day parade!” Bess crowed, “George is going to die when she sees us on TV!”

“Here we are,” Dan announced a minute later. He stopped the cart next to a float with a huge turkey wearing a top hat. In front of the float a huge banner proclaimed The Forty-first Annual Mitchell's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The crowd of spectators roared with delight as Greg, Nancy, and Bess got out of the cart and climbed up onto the float. Greg stood in the middle, with Bess to his right and Nancy to the left. No sooner did they start waving to the crowds than the band in front of them burst into a marching song, and the float began to move.

“Not a moment to spare,” Greg said, smiling down at Nancy and Bess.

Nancy felt herself being caught up in the excitement of the music and the parade. A plane circled overhead with a banner that read Happy Thanksgiving. In front of them a sea of people stretched as far as the eye could see. Nancy caught a glimpse of Aileen and her crew filming the event.

Glancing over at Bess, Nancy saw that she was grinning from ear to ear. She and Greg were both waving to the crowds.

“Happy Thanksgiving, Bess,” Nancy said, leaning close to her friend.

Bess's eyes shone as she gave Nancy a hug. “Same to you, Nan. This is the best Thanksgiving ever!”

She and Bess smiled at each other. Then they turned and waved to the crowds.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.