The Wrong Track (3 page)

Jody's face flushed with embarrassment. “That's off the record,” she said.

“No problem,” Nancy told her, mentally storing the item away. She glanced at her luggage, which the bellman had brought in, and decided to unpack later. “I'd like to go pick out my skis.”

“Sure,” Jody said, leading the way back to the rear of the main lodge. “There's the school, and next to it is where we rent equipment,” Jody told her. “There's a snack bar, too. The food's good but cheap. Most of the employees eat there.”

Nancy took the opportunity to turn the conversation to Rebecca. “I heard you lost an employee recently. Didn't your bookkeeper leave?”

Jody stared at Nancy, her green eyes suddenly angry. “Rebecca didn't leave. She was fired. Personally, I think she probably deserved it.”

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, surprised by Jody's sudden hostility.

Before Jody could answer, a girl ran up to them. “Jody! There you are! I've been looking all over for you.” She stopped next to Nancy and Jody. “Michelle's having a problem with the cash register, and she's got customers waiting.”

Jody turned to Nancy. “Will you excuse me for a minute? I'll meet you at the ski shop as soon as I'm done.”

As Nancy walked slowly toward the shop she tried to make sense of Jody's anger. Why was she so hostile toward Rebecca? Rebecca thought Jody was her friend. If so, Nancy would have expected her to be sympathetic toward Rebecca.

Unless Jody was the person who framed Rebecca, Nancy thought as she stomped the snow off her boots before entering the ski shop and ski school complex. The sign above her head told her that the shop was to the left and the Inge Gustafson Ski School was to the right. Jody seemed friendly enough, but Nancy had learned not to be taken in by charm. And Jody
had
acted nervous when Nancy had jokingly commented about not writing anything incriminating.

Inside, the entrance alcove seemed dark after the dazzling sunshine on the clean snow. Her eyes took a minute to adjust to the darkness.

“I'm sick and tired of this setup!” Nancy heard a masculine voice declare in the ski school to her right.

She stopped. She'd heard that voice before.

“Unless something changes soon,” the man went on, “you'd better start looking for another sucker.”

Nancy heard what sounded like the thump of a fist on wood. “I'm not going to put up with this much longer.” There was no doubt about it. The voice belonged to the same young man who had been shouting at Dave less than an hour before.

“I've got choices,” he reminded his listener. “I can always work at Rob Watson's. At least
he's
honest.”

N
ANCY'S EYES WIDENED
. Twice now she'd heard the dark-haired young man making threats about something that was going on at Tall Pines. She drew in a deep breath and stepped out of the alcove and into the ski school, resolving to find out what he knew.

When she saw that the young man was shouting at Karl Reismueller she was shocked. The two men were standing next to a black potbellied stove. The young man's face was red with anger.

Reismueller spotted Nancy first. “Come in, Nancy,” he said, his voice honey smooth and charming. He gestured toward the tall, black-haired young man. “Have you met Ben Wrobley? Ben, this is Nancy Drew, a reporter from
Tracks
magazine,” he added importantly. “Ben's one of our best ski instructors.”

Ben's shoulders stiffened. He glared at Karl before reaching out to shake hands with Nancy. “Nice to meet you,” he said gruffly.

Nancy's investigative instincts began to race. Ben seemed anything but pleased with Karl's compliment. There was a lot of tension between the two men, and Nancy hoped she'd get a chance to question Ben—alone—to find out why.

Ben stared at Nancy for a moment, his dark blue eyes assessing her. “So you're the reporter,” he said slowly. “You'll find a lot to write about here.”

“All good, I hope,” Karl quipped, giving Nancy another of his charming smiles.

“Of course.” Ben made no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

“I'd like to interview you for the article, if that'd be okay with you,” Nancy said to Ben.

After shooting Karl an icy look Ben told Nancy, “I'd be glad to tell you everything I know.” The emphasis was on “everything,” and Nancy felt her heart begin to beat faster.

“Can I arrange a private lesson?” Nancy asked. “We could do the interview on skis.”

Ben shrugged. “I'm booked for the rest of the day. How about tomorrow morning? Nine o'clock?”

“Nine's fine,” Nancy said.

At that moment the door to the school flew open and Jody Ashton rushed inside.

“Sorry I had to leave you,” Jody said breathlessly, hurrying over to Nancy. “Are you ready for the rest of the tour?”

“I see you're back in good hands,” Karl said to Nancy, “so I'll leave you. Don't forget, dinner tonight at eight.”

When the door had closed behind Karl Ben raised an eyebrow at Nancy. “Aren't you lucky? Dinner with the great man.” His lips curled in disgust.

“Mr. Reismueller has been very pleasant to me,” Nancy said in her most professional manner.

“I'm sure he has,” Ben shot back. “After all, you're a guest.”

His words echoed what Jody had said, and Nancy had to wonder if a disgruntled employee could be responsible for the theft. Someone like Ben, for instance.

“I couldn't help overhearing your argument when I came in,” Nancy said to Ben, taking out her notebook. “Why would you want to work for Rob Watson? The Tall Pines trails are a thousand times better than Rob's.”

Ben flushed, glancing nervously at Nancy's notebook. “I was only joking,” he said, pausing. “Rob doesn't have the kind of money Karl does. He wouldn't be able to pay me what I'm worth. But there would be one good thing about working at Watson's.” Ben's blue eyes were serious as he met Nancy's. “Rob's not impressed with Scandinavian names like Inge.”

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, puzzled. She wondered if Ben was referring to Inge Gustafson—the name on the sign for the ski school. The name did seem familiar to her, but she couldn't place it.

Jody shifted from one foot to the other as though she were uncomfortable with the conversation. “Ben's just blowing off steam, aren't you, Ben?” she asked, giving him a warning look and changing the subject. “Don't you have a class?”

“Yeah,” Ben replied, clamping his mouth shut. He stepped over to a row of lockers along one wall, opened one, and pulled out his ski clothes. His jacket bore the familiar Tall Pines insignia.

“What's going on?” Nancy asked Jody under her breath. “Who's Inge, and why is Ben so upset about her?”

Jody became even more uncomfortable. “It's no big deal,” she told Nancy. “Karl hired Inge Gustafson, a Norwegian skier, to head the ski school.”

Nancy nodded, realizing now why she'd thought she remembered the name. “I've heard of Inge. She's good.” She had scanned a couple of back issues of
Tracks
to prepare for her cover, and one of the stories had been on Inge. “So what's the problem?”

“There
is
no problem,” Jody insisted. “Inge's just delayed in coming over, and Ben's had to take on some of her work.”

Nancy heard Ben slam his locker door. The ski instructor turned to face them. “Try
all
of her work,” he said, and he headed out of the school.

Jody tried to smile brightly. “Ready to get fitted?” she asked, changing the subject.

“You bet,” Nancy replied. She followed the girl
back through the entrance alcove and into the ski shop. Two walls of the shop were lined with new skis, boots, and poles, and a third was reserved for the rental area. A huge glass window filled the fourth wall. Nancy spotted Ben through it. His lesson had obviously started because he was in the middle of a group of skiers. There were a couple of other ski instructors outside, too, their Tall Pines logo jackets clearly visible. Ben skied over to talk to one of them for a moment.

Jody stepped over to a low counter next to the skis where a cashier stood. She came back with a tape measure. The girl worked quickly, writing down Nancy's height and shoe size and the length of poles she'd need. When she finished Jody said, “I'll make sure everything's ready for you tomorrow morning. Sorry I can't show you around anymore, but I have to get back to work.”

“No problem,” Nancy told her. “I think I'd like to rest a bit before dinner, anyway. Maybe take a sauna or check out that hot tub,” she added with a grin.

“Good idea!” Jody said brightly. “See you later!” With a wave, she took off.

Nancy spied Ben taking his students off onto a trail and realized there was nothing more she could do for now. She yawned, realized that she really was a little tired, and decided to head back to her condo to unpack and rest before dinner. Bess and George should be arriving soon, she thought. Maybe she could find a way to talk to them before dinner.

• • •

Later Nancy had finished unpacking and was lying on her bed on top of the luxurious down comforter when the phone rang.

“Yes?” she answered in her most professional voice. “This is Nancy Drew.”

“You mean the famous reporter from
Tracks?
You're my idol!” came George's familiar voice, laughing. “How's it going, Nan?”

“Fine, just fine.” Nancy twirled the cord between her fingers.

“Have you learned anything yet?” George asked eagerly.

“No, but I have met Karl, Dave, Ben, and Jody.”

George whistled over the phone line. “Wow! You were busy. Do you think any of them framed Rebecca?”

“I don't know,” Nancy admitted. “Jody seems to hate her, but I don't know why yet.” Nancy told George about Jody's reaction when she'd asked about Rebecca's being fired. “What's really interesting, though, is that Ben Wrobley has a major grudge against Tall Pines, and he talks as though he knows something shady's going on. I wonder if it's about the money.”

George was silent for a moment. “Rebecca introduced me to Ben, and I skied with him once since the theft. But I never heard him say anything about it.”

“Do you know why he's so unhappy at Tall Pines?” Nancy asked. “Why he resents Inge Gustafson so much?”

“Well, he's got good reason.” George paused.
“Ben's a great skier and a terrific teacher, but what does he get for it?” She answered her own question. “Nothing. Inge gets all the credit and her name on the school, but she hasn't even shown up yet. Ben's doing his job and hers.”

Nancy could understand why Ben was angry. The question was, was he angry enough to steal fifty thousand dollars? And why would he frame Rebecca for the theft? What could he have against her?

“Keep an eye on Ben, George,” Nancy advised. “If you run into him, see what you can find out.”

“Right,” George said. “Hey, why don't we all meet in the sauna? Bess said she wanted to try it out.”

“Great idea!” Nancy said. “But remember, if there's anyone else there, act like you don't know me.

“Nancy who? Who's ever heard of a Nancy Drew?” George joked, and she hung up.

Nancy laughed, got up, and quickly slipped into her parka and boots. On her way out she grabbed a gym bag, which already had her bathing suit and towel in it. The snow crunched under her feet as she made her way toward the fitness building. She was climbing the steps to the back entrance of the building when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

“Going to the pool?” Nancy turned to see Dave Kendall a few feet away. “I don't think it's open yet,” he added.

She shook her head. “I'm trying the sauna.”

Dave's smile was earnest. “I hope you're enjoying your stay so far.”

“Oh, I am,” Nancy assured him. “I wanted to ask you—”

Before she could finish her question Dave interrupted. “Why don't we schedule some time to talk? I'm sure you want to get into the sauna now.” He stomped the snow off his boots. “How about tomorrow afternoon? Right after lunch?”

After Nancy nodded Dave waved and walked off. That's odd, Nancy thought as she watched him retreat. It was as if Dave hadn't wanted to talk to her.

Storing the thought away, Nancy entered the sauna and exercise area. There she was greeted by a friendly attendant wearing a forest green uniform. “I hope you enjoy our facilities,” the attendant said as she handed Nancy a locker key and an oversize towel.

A minute later Bess and George joined Nancy in the locker room, and Nancy and Bess changed into their bathing suits while George put on sweats. George was going to work out and join them in the sauna afterward.

“This is a great place,” Nancy said as she closed the door to the sauna and sat on a wooden bench.