Illusions of Evil (13 page)

Now, as she stepped inside, Nancy saw that the ride had fallen into disrepair. There were cobwebs everywhere. The cars were standing by the front entrance. They looked as if they hadn't been used in years.

Nancy made her way into the Tunnel of Love carefully, trying to keep the soles of her shoes from making any sound on the floor. It was cold and dank in the passageway, and Nancy pulled her jacket closed. Just as she rounded a bend, Nancy spotted a beam of light up ahead.

Hagan, she thought, identifying the man and hugging the wall so he couldn't see her.

The light moved off again. Slowly she crept forward, keeping Hagan in sight.

What's he doing here? she wondered.

Suddenly a rectangular patch of light appeared in the darkness, and Nancy realized that Hagan had opened a door leading off the tunnel. Once the door was closed again, Nancy made her way to the spot. She counted to thirty, giving Hagan time to get ahead of her, then she opened the door.

What Nancy found surprised her. Near her head was a dim lightbulb revealing a rickety flight of steps, leading into the darkness below.

“The bootleggers' tunnels!” she murmured. Obviously, Hagan knew about them. Could it be that they were why Vince Garraty wanted to buy
the place? Maybe Hagan had been in on some kind of a plot with Garraty all along . . .

Could this be where Ned was? What if Ned had come here to search and had been caught by Rand?

Nancy had to find out. She stepped carefully onto the steps and slowly descended. When she reached the bottom, she started walking into the gently sloping tunnel. Searching through her shoulder bag, Nancy found her flashlight. Careful to keep the beam low, she made her way deeper into the tunnel's dark cavity.

She walked for a long time and began to despair of finding Hagan. Maybe he hadn't come this way at all.

Then, in the distance, Nancy spotted a dull glow farther down the tunnel. She made her way toward it, hugging the side of the tunnel to keep out of sight.

When she finally came to the end of the passageway, Nancy was shocked to see that the tunnel opened into an enormous chamber as large as a warehouse. Light fixtures strung along its ceiling glowed eerily. Several other passageways led off from the chamber at various points along its walls. Most were narrow, like the one Nancy had traversed, but one was big enough to drive a large truck through.

Rand Hagan stood with his back to her in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by fifty-gallon drums. Each drum had a familiar crosshatched
symbol stenciled on it. Nancy's jaw dropped open when she realized what they held—hazardous waste!

The sound of an engine startled her. It was coming from the big tunnel. She pressed herself against the wall just as Hagan turned to wave a truck full of more drums into the chamber. The truck had Garraty's name and slogan painted on its side. Behind the wheel was Vince Garraty himself!

V
INCE
G
ARRATY WAS DUMPING
illegal waste underneath Riverfront Park, Nancy realized. And Rand Hagan was helping him!

“Hagan!” Garraty called out, jumping down from the cab of the truck. “Help me with this stuff!”

While Hagan and Garraty unloaded the truck, Nancy's mind raced. The two men had obviously been working together all along. Hagan must have found out about the tunnels and told Garraty. What better place to dispose of hazardous waste than in underground tunnels?

No wonder Garraty wanted to buy the place, Nancy thought. When Adriana took over the park, he must have figured that he'd be found out—especially when she starting redeveloping
Riverfront as a modern magic theme park. Nancy clicked off her flashlight and leaned into the chamber to get a better view. As she reached out to grasp a rock ledge, her flashlight fell from her hand and clattered to the ground.

“Hey!” Garraty called out. “Who's there?”

“What do you mean?” Hagan demanded.

Nancy saw the two men looking in her direction. She pressed herself against the wall and froze.

“Someone followed you,” Garraty said angrily.

“No way,” Hagan assured him.

“Just like that kid yesterday never came by,” Garraty said.

Ned! Nancy guessed. She watched in horror as Garraty started walking in her direction. She had to get out of there and fast.

How? The only choice was back up the tunnel. In a flash Nancy spun on her heels and took off as fast as she could. She didn't even have time to pick up her flashlight. She'd just have to find her way in the dark.

“I told you there was someone there!” came Garraty's voice. “Get her!”

Her heart racing, Nancy put on speed. She could hear the men's footsteps behind her, gaining fast. She kept running, though all she could see in front of her was a dark hole. If she could just keep going she was sure she could outrun them!

Then she stumbled and fell to her knees. A quick glance behind her told Nancy that Hagan was practically on top of her. She struggled to her feet, but before she could take off running, Hagan grabbed her arm and yanked her toward him hard.

“You!” Hagan said, the beam from his flashlight casting eerie shadows on his face. “You're just too nosy for your own good.”

Nancy spun her other arm around and slammed her fist into his stomach. He groaned and dropped to his knees.

Nancy turned and ran for the end of the tunnel, clambering back up the steps. She had just reached the door and was throwing it open when a hand came down on her shoulder.

It was Garraty. He had a fierce gleam in his eyes. “Not so fast, Nancy Drew,” he growled.

Then he raised his arm above his head and brought the butt of a gun down on her head. Everything went black.

• • •

When Nancy awoke, she realized the tightness at her arms and legs meant she was tied up. At her back, she felt warmth and movement. She still felt dazed but gradually she became aware of someone calling out her name.

She recognized the voice. Twisting around, Nancy saw Ned tied up with his back to her.

“Ned!” Nancy cried with relief. “Are you okay?”

“I should ask you the same thing,” he said. His hands were bound just as hers were. “I saw them drag you in here and watched them tie you up. There was nothing I could do.”

“It's okay,” Nancy murmured. “But I was so worried,” she said.

“Me, too, Nan,” he replied. “I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again.”

“Where are we?” Nancy asked, looking around.

“Don't you recognize the place?” Ned asked. “It's the prop and pyrotechnics room just off the auditorium.”

Nancy noticed the long worktables and the flame retardant tank she'd checked out the night they'd seen the show. At the far end of the room was a door marked Danger: Explosives. “Have you been tied up here ever since yesterday?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “They locked me in a storeroom in the Tunnel of Love. But they came and got me a few minutes ago and brought me here.” He smiled slightly. “You were unconscious when they carried you in, but was I ever glad to see you!”

“But, Ned,” she cried, “why did you come to the park yesterday? I got your message about the tunnels and then nothing. Your folks are so worried.”

He sighed. “When I left the Hall of Records, I went back to Matthews's, like I said. He wouldn't
tell me a thing. But I kept thinking about the tunnels and how important it was for you to know about them. I came to Riverfront, hoping that you might have ended up here. Then I ran into Hagan—and like a fool asked him about the tunnels. He seemed like such a good guy . . . .”

“Oh, he's a great guy,” Nancy said, shaking her head in disgust.

“After he tied me up, he told me everything. He sabotaged the ride, Nan, and put kerosene in the tank over there. He's teamed up with Vince Garraty because Garraty wants Riverfront. The two of them have been storing toxic—”

“I know, Ned,” she cut in, squirming against the ropes that bound her wrists. “We've got to get out of here,” she said. Then she remembered George. More than half an hour had to have passed by now. Her friend was sure to have called the police.

Before Nancy could tell Ned that George was waiting for them, the door flew open and Hagan and Garraty appeared.

“We came to say goodbye,” Hagan announced. He knelt down to check Nancy's rope, giving both her and Ned a withering look.

Garraty pried open the door that had the danger sign on it, went inside, and emerged carrying an armload of dynamite. Hanging from his arm was a spool of fuse wire. He handed the dynamite to Hagan, who propped several sticks beside Ned and Nancy.

Nancy watched in horror as Garraty fastened the sticks together with the wire.

“You'll never get away with this,” she warned them, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “The police are on their way.”

“Sorry, but you're wrong,” Garraty told her. “The hick cops around here won't be able to figure out what happened, but they'll find two dead kids and that'll be enough to shut this place down forever.”

When Garraty was certain that the explosives were secure, he stood back and surveyed his work. “See, here's what the cops are going to think,” he explained. “You two broke in, started messing around with stuff you shouldn't have gone near, and accidentally set off a great big explosion. Riverfront Park closes forever, Adriana Polidori sells out to the mystery buyer, no one ever finds out what's in the tunnels.”

“End of story,” Hagan said with a wicked smile. He ran a length of fuse out toward the door. “What do you think, Vince—is that enough?”

“Yeah, it's great,” Garraty answered. Hagan clipped off the fuse with a pocket knife. “This place should go up like rockets on the Fourth of July,” he said.

“I just have one question,” Nancy said, stalling for time. “Which one of you tried to run me down in Grigov's car?”

“I may as well tell you. That was me,” Hagan
put in. “I hot-wired his car and went looking for you. I figured, even if you survived, you'd think it was Grigov who tried to kill you. And then I found the knife in the trunk of his car. Wasn't that convenient?” he asked, his face twisted in an ugly smirk.

“So you killed Benny Gotnick with Grigov's knife,” Nancy pressed, “and planted the cotter pin from the roller coaster in his closet.”

“Bright girl,” Hagan snapped.

Nancy wanted the whole story. She also knew that if she kept the men talking, it wouldn't be long before Pulaski's men would be on their way. All she and Ned had to do was stay alive until someone came looking for them. “How do you two even know each other?” she asked.

Garraty gave her one of his engaging smiles. “We have Benny to thank for that. He introduced us.”

“Was he in on this thing, too?” Ned asked.

“For a while,” Hagan replied. “Two years ago, Benny and I were working on the Tunnel of Love together, and we found a door we'd never opened before. It led down into these tunnels. Benny saw the possibilities right away. He was up to his eyeballs in debt and figured out a way for all of us to make a ton of money. So he introduced Vince and me.”

“I don't get it,” Ned interrupted. “How does putting this junk down here make money for you?”

“Simple,” Garraty said, taking over the conversation from Hagan. “Let's say a customer wants me to get rid of a hundred barrels of toxic waste. What I used to do was send it to a chemical detox plant in Chicago. But the detox plant charged me an arm and a leg to get rid of every barrel. Are you starting to get my drift?”

“I'm afraid so,” Ned answered.

“Dumping the toxic waste in the tunnels is a lot less expensive. It all adds up to big money.”

“But those drums could leak into the groundwater and contaminate the river!” she exclaimed.

Garraty just shrugged. “What's it to me?”

“But why all the other crimes?” she asked. “Why kill Benny? Why sabotage the roller coaster and Adriana's act?”

Garraty broke in. “Don't forget to include Nicos,” he said, almost smiling.

“Nicos, too?” Ned said incredulously.

“He brought it on himself,” Hagan cut in. “He found out what we were doing down here and threatened to call the cops.”

“But because we were friends, he gave us the option of just cleaning the wastes out of here,” Hagan said. Instead, I left the power on over the midway when it was supposed to be off. He stuck a screwdriver into a socket—and zap, no more Nicos.”

“You killed an old friend just like that?” Nancy said, horrified.

“I had to. After the roller coaster derailment, Benny started to get cold feet. He wanted out, so he had to go, too.” Hagan explained.

“And Freda Clarke was the perfect tool for you two, wasn't she?” Nancy guessed.

“Absolutely,” Garraty said. “Rand and Benny knew all about her lawsuit. It wasn't going anywhere without big money behind it. I called her up, acted interested in her, her lawsuit, even in that bratty kid, and it wasn't long before she was hooked.”