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Authors: Carolyn Keene

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BOOK: 041 Something to Hide
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“Did you all miss me?”

Justin interrupted Nancy’s train of thought. He walked up with a new box of Spotless samples and dumped them on the table. “You know, I’d forgotten it was almost Halloween
until I saw the store windows,” he commented. “Since we’re all going to be in River Heights for the next few days, why don’t we have a party?”

“Sounds good!” said Heather. It wasn’t Nancy’s imagination that Heather glanced over at Ned that time.

“We can have it at my house Tuesday night,” Justin added. “Want to make it a costume party?”

“A party with just the five of us?” Marcia asked a little snidely.

“Well, I’m sure Bess would like to come,” Brad said gallantly. “And Nancy and George, of course,” he added. “And we all have some other friends who still live around here.”

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a party,” said Justin. “But what are we going to do for fun tonight? And don’t suggest that we fill out any more questionnaires.”

Heather laughed. “I won’t. Everyone’s welcome at my house tonight. We can send out for pizza.” She glanced sideways at Ned. “Lucky my parents are out of town.” There was no mistaking her motive that time, Nancy decided.

“You three will come, won’t you?” Brad asked Nancy, George, and Bess. But once again he seemed to be talking only to Bess.

“We’d love to,” Bess answered him. With a laugh, she added, “I guess I’ll start making
myself beautiful right now. Let’s see if this stuff really works!”

She reached for one of the sample jars of Spotless, opened the lid, and dabbed a little of the cream on her cheek.

Without any warning, Justin lunged for Bess. He knocked the jar out of her hand with a swift blow.

“Stop!” he shouted. “Don’t do it! That stuff is dangerous!”

Chapter

Two

W
HAT DO YOU MEAN
—dangerous?” Bess cried. She grabbed a tissue and frantically began scrubbing her cheek.

“What’s in that cream?” Nancy demanded sharply. “Why are we giving away free samples if there’s something the matter with it?”

Justin flushed and sheepishly ran his hand through his curly hair. “I—I— Aw, come on, guys. Can’t you take a joke? I was only fooling!”

“That’s not my idea of a joke,” George snapped. Bess just stared at him.

Nancy echoed George’s anger. “You seemed
pretty convincing just now, Justin. Why did you pull a stunt like that?” she asked.

“I’m always kidding around!” Justin protested. He laughed feebly and shrugged.

Brad came up behind Bess and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Then he turned his attention to Justin. “I get the feeling you’re holding something back. Like something you may have learned last summer?”

Justin’s smile vanished instantly. For a moment he didn’t answer. Then he lowered his gaze to the floor, as if he couldn’t meet Brad’s accusing eyes.

“So I worked for Asco last summer,” he muttered finally. “There’s no crime in that.”

“Wait a minute,” Nancy broke in. “Isn’t Asco that pharmaceuticals company on LeBlond Avenue?”

“That’s right. And they’re the biggest potential competitor to Spotless,” Marcia answered. “Their skin cream is called Clearly. But maybe you should get Justin to tell you about them.”

“Asco is incredibly ruthless,” Brad added darkly. “They’d do anything to make Clearly number one. Anything.”

“Hold on!” Justin protested. His chubby face was utterly serious now. “They may be rival companies, but Asco wouldn’t do something underhanded. They don’t need to. Clearly’s a good product.”

“What does Asco know about Spotless?”
asked Brad accusingly. “You haven’t told them anything, have you?”

“Of course I haven’t!” sputtered Justin. “Honestly, I was only kidding Bess. I just wanted to liven things up, you know?”

“Well, you sure picked a strange way,” Heather said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

At that moment a fresh wave of teenagers approached the booth. For the next few minutes, no one had time for anything but handing out samples and questionnaires.

The second there was a lull, Nancy asked Justin another question. “What exactly did you do at Asco?” she said.

Everyone at the booth paused to listen to Justin’s answer.

Nervously he ran his hand through his hair. “I worked in their labs as a summer intern,” he answered. “I was a chemistry major last year, so I guess they thought I was a good fit.”

“But now you’re majoring in marketing?” George asked. “That’s kind of an unusual change of majors, isn’t it?”

Justin opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I found out that I wasn’t a very good chemist,” he said finally. “But I had taken a couple of marketing courses and had a flair for it. So now I’m in the marketing program. Okay? Are you all satisfied?”

There was an edge in Justin’s voice now. “If the question-and-answer period is over now,
I’d like to get some more samples from the car.” With that, he strode away from the booth.

Heather pointed at the sample table. “Didn’t he notice that we’ve got plenty?” she asked. The table was still covered with jars.

“Maybe he just couldn’t face us anymore,” said Marcia. She slid a pile of completed questionnaires into a large envelope. “Don’t you think we ought to tell the ad agency about him?”

To Nancy’s surprise, Heather burst into laughter. “Marcia, you just want him to drop out of the program. That way you’d have less competition. Come on, admit I’m right!”

“What competition?” George asked in bewilderment. “I’m lost.”

Marcia tossed back her hair and shot Heather a hostile look. “Didn’t Ned tell you?” she asked George.

“Tell us what?” Nancy asked.

“There’s more than grades at stake in this project,” Marcia explained. “There’s a great job after graduation for the top student. We’re getting rated by Spotless’s ad agency—the Premier Advertising Agency, in Chicago—on how well we do. The one who does best gets hired by the agency.”

“And Marcia just knows she’s going to be that Premier person,” Heather said mockingly.

The smile Marcia gave her looked very stiff. “At least I’m going to try hard for it,” she shot back. “Unlike some people I could mention.”

Nancy, Bess, and George exchanged a look. There seemed to be a lot of tension among the participants in this college project.

Nancy felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ned smiling down at her.

“Feel like taking a break?” he asked. “I could use some fresh air.”

The booth wasn’t crowded, so Nancy nodded, and the two of them headed out of the mall, arm in arm.

Nancy blinked in the sudden sunshine. It was a crisp October day. The sun felt warm on Nancy’s head and shoulders.

“Well,” said Ned ruefully, “I guess you learned how boring market research can be.” He took Nancy’s hand in his and laced his fingers through hers.

“Oh, I don’t know. I think it’s all interesting,” Nancy said sincerely. “Besides, I wouldn’t care even if it were horrible. I love getting to be with you,” she added.

Ned leaned over and brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Having you here makes it special for me, too,” he said. He squeezed her hand. “Do you feel like going to a movie tonight?” he asked.

“We can’t. Remember?” Nancy said. “Heather’s having everyone over for pizza.”

“Oh, that’s right,” said Ned. “Well, tomorrow, then.”

“You’ve got yourself a date, Mr. Nickerson,” Nancy told him happily. “I’ll bet Brad asks Bess out, too. They seem to have hit it off.”

“They sure do,” Ned agreed. “I hope it works out. To tell you the truth, Nancy, I’ve been worried about Brad. There’s so much competition in this program that I thought it might be getting to him.”

“I got a hint of that from Heather and Marcia,” Nancy said. “They tried to make it sound like a joke, but I think they were serious.”

“It is serious. The job with that ad agency is terrific for someone just out of college,” Ned told her. “Whoever wins will be part of the Premier training program, so they’ll get fantastic experience. On top of that, the pay is great.”

“But how did Premier happen to pick the marketing majors at Emerson to compete for this job?” Nancy asked.

Ned laughed. “Connections. The president of the agency is an Emerson graduate.”

“And how does Premier plan on picking who gets the job?” Nancy asked.

“Well, it’s a combination of grades and attitude,” said Ned. “And we have to write up reports of what we learned from marketing Spotless. Those will count for a lot. I’ve heard
rumors, too—I don’t know if they’re true— that Premier’s got someone checking on all the groups who are manning these test-marketing booths. You know—seeing if we’re giving service with a smile. That kind of thing.”

“Well, for your group’s sake, I hope no one from Premier was at the mall this morning,” Nancy said dryly. “I feel sorry for all of you, Ned. It must be tough competing with your friends.”

“At least I don’t want the job,” Ned said. “But you’re right, Nan—this kind of competition can put a strain on even the best friendships. That’s why it’s good to see Brad relaxing again.”

Ned sighed and put his arm around Nancy’s shoulder. “You know, I wish I could steal you away from here, but I guess we’d better get back inside.”

The Spotless booth was surrounded by teenagers when Nancy and Ned got back inside. Bess and Brad were working as a team; Bess gave out questionnaires to each of the people who took samples from Brad. Marcia was handing out samples with her back to Brad and Bess. Nancy wasn’t sure if that was deliberate or not.

Justin had come back and was looking like his jolly self again. “You and I get the next break,” he said to Heather as Nancy and Ned rejoined the group.

“Not until these crowds thin out.” There was a sharp edge to Marcia’s voice, and she narrowed her eyes as she looked at Nancy. “We’ve been swamped while you two were gone.”

“Sorry,” Nancy said mildly. She picked up a clipboard and turned to the next person waiting for a questionnaire. “Oh, no! Someone’s run off with my pencil,” she said, looking around. “Does anyone have an extra?”

George was about to hand her one, when Justin pulled out a gold pen. “Here you go,” he said.

Pretty fancy pen for a college kid, Nancy mused as she clicked it open and began to write. Justin really was eccentric, she thought. He even used brown ink instead of black or blue.

With George’s help, Nancy was busy interviewing the kids standing around the booth, when Bess suddenly doubled over in a coughing fit. Nancy turned to her with concern.

“Are you okay, Bess?” asked Brad. “That’s a nasty cough!”

Bess looked pale, and Nancy noticed that she was having trouble breathing. “Sure, I’m fine,” she said, but her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

“You don’t sound fine to me,” George said. “Why don’t I take you home? I’m sure Nancy will let us use her car.”

“No, please. I’ll be fine!” Bess insisted. “My throat just hurts a little, that’s all.”

Brad leaned closer to her. “Let me get you something for it,” he said. “What about some cough drops? There’s a drugstore at the other end of the mall.”

Bess looked up at him gratefully. “I don’t need any cough drops, but I would love something to drink,” she said.

“Some lemonade?” George suggested. “We could go to the Florida Fresh.”

“One large lemonade coming up,” Brad said promptly. “Anyone else want something to drink?”

When he’d taken everyone’s order, Brad looked searchingly at Bess. “You’ll be okay, won’t you?”

“It’s just a sore throat,” Justin said. “You can leave her for three minutes, Chanin.”

Brad flushed and turned to walk down to the juice stand. When he was out of earshot, Marcia suddenly stood up. “I think he may need some help with all those drinks,” she said, and hurried to catch up with him.

Nancy was about to ask Bess if she was sure she didn’t want to go home, when she glanced down the promenade and saw Marcia gesturing furiously at Brad. And Nancy could tell Brad was pretty angry himself.

“I wonder what they’re fighting about,” Nancy remarked softly to Ned.

Ned was looking serious. “They were going out until about a month ago,” he said. “I guess Marcia must be mad that Brad’s so interested in Bess. He hasn’t exactly been hiding it.”

So that was it. Marcia still liked Brad, which explained why she seemed so jumpy and irritable around him.

But when Brad and Marcia returned with the drinks, they were both smiling. “Here you go, Bess,” said Brad. “And the rest of you, too.”

As Bess took her lemonade from his hand, she almost dropped the cup. “Sorry,” she said. “My hand felt funny all of a sudden. Must be from filling out all those questionnaires.” She took a sip of lemonade. “This tastes great. My throat feels better already.”

But Nancy thought her friend still looked pale. “Why don’t you sit down for a little while?” she suggested. “We can handle things.”

Bess didn’t protest. She sank into a chair with a little sigh and leaned her head against her hand.

There were fewer shoppers in the mall now. It was close to closing time, when they’d all be able to go home.

At five o’clock Justin slammed his clipboard down on the table. “Quittin’ time!” he shouted. “I’m out of here!”

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