tall, dark and dangerous (Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson) - complete

chapter 11

"And he's texted me every morning," Nancy finished, reaching for her nearly-empty water bottle. "Well, except a few days ago when he was in Paris, and then he sent me an email because he was awake way before I was."

Nancy, Bess, and George were in Florida visiting their old friend Kim Larsen, but it seemed that half the United States was in Florida with them, soaking up the July rays on all the most popular beaches. After searching in vain for a spot to park their rental car at Daytona, and finding that many other visitors had just given up the search and parked illegally wherever they could find space, George had whipped out her cell phone and searched for a good runner's beach. While the spot they had found was out of the way, and a good twenty minute drive from the rest of civilization, at least they weren't surrounded by mobs of screaming sand-crusted toddlers, anorexic orange women in barely-there bikinis, and sunburned middle-aged men with pronounced beer bellies.

Bess, who had already built a perfect base tan, was staring at Nancy with her mouth agape, and had been for the past several minutes. While Bess had pouted that she didn't have a good audience for her metallic green and pink bikini and her new satiny lip gloss, reassurance that the three of them would hit a nightclub later with Kim, once their friend was off work, had served to calm her down. Then Nancy had finally started to tell both her best friends the full story about what had happened in New York, starting at the beginning for George's benefit, and soon they had both been totally enrapt.

George was the first to speak. "And you're sure this guy wasn't involved in the murder you were investigating?"

Bess lightly smacked her cousin on the arm. George wore a sleek emerald-green tank suit that emphasized her well-toned arms and legs, and her normally dark hair had even lightened a little, despite her refusal to passively sunbathe the way her cousin always did. She was always up for organizing a volleyball match with Nancy, Kim, and whoever was passing by—and Bess always insisted that they try for the hottest guy in sight.

"Of course he wasn't!" Bess declared. "A man does not buy a woman Oscar de la Renta couture like that. Just to buy her off."

"Sounds like a perfect reason to me," George said cheerfully, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes. "I'm sure it would have totally bought you completely off, Bess."

"Mmm," Bess murmured, instead of objecting the way Nancy had thought she would, and Nancy had to laugh. "Well, if a guy were willing to spend that kind of money on me... I'd probably be a lot more forgiving. Not of murder, though. You cynic."

George reached for her own bottle of sports drink, wrinkling her nose at Bess.

"He wasn't involved," Nancy said, stretching. "The police broke down Cantoni's story. He did have a partner, but it was a guy who wasn't a member of the Bennett Group, so Ned was out of it."

Bess crossed her arms and glared at her cousin. "See? Why can't you be happy that Nancy has found, like, the most perfect man in existence? Because I am. I'm so happy that I could just strangle you, Nan." Bess sighed. "Are you totally sure he doesn't have, like, some illegitimate brother you could introduce me to?"

Nancy laughed, adjusting the strapless top of her black and white polka-dot bikini. "Sorry, Bess. No such luck."

"But what are you going to do now?" George asked pragmatically. "So you've said that you want to have a relationship, but he lives in a different time zone."

Bess shook the now-empty can of diet soda she had been sipping for the entirety of Nancy's story, then sighed and reached into the cooler for a new one. Drops of freezing-cold water clung to the silver sides of the can, and Bess made sure to shake them in her cousin's direction before she pulled the tab. George just glared at her.