Curse of the Arctic Star (15 page)

It wasn’t the first time that type of thing had happened. But it was the first time Bess had said yes. She said it was because she saw something different in Alan. He was different, all right. He was outgoing and cheerful and kind of excitable—nerdy, as George liked to call it. I guess that worked for Bess, because the two of them had been together ever since.

Then Becca had called, begging me and my friends to come solve her mystery. Our cover story was that we’d won the cruise in a contest. When Alan found out we would be staying in a luxury four-bedroom cabin, he’d practically begged to come along. He was an environmental studies major at the university, and this trip was supposed to give him a head start on
his sophomore year research project. That was nice for him, but it made things kind of complicated for the rest of us. See, Becca had sworn us to secrecy—we weren’t supposed to tell a soul why we were really onboard the
Arctic Star
. Not even Alan. Had I just blown our cover?

“Nancy! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Alan exclaimed, hurrying toward me. “Did you get lost on the way to the bathroom or something? You’re missing some amazing views.”

“Nope, I was just chatting with Becca, that’s all.” I forced a smile, studying Alan’s face. Had he overheard what Becca and I were talking about? His gray eyes looked as guileless as ever. Or did they? Something about the way they were peering into mine made me wonder just how much he’d heard while coming up the stairs . . . .

Read all the mysteries in the

NANCY DREW DIARIES

#1 Curse of the
Arctic Star

#2 Strangers on a Train

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

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First Aladdin paperback edition February 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster

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Designed by Karina Granda

Cover designed by Karin Paprocki

Cover illustration copyright © 2013 by Eric McGuire

The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.

Library of Congress Control Number 2012949338

ISBN 978-1-4169-9072-7 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-4424-6610-4 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4424-5162-9 (eBook)