Mall. Thatâs the only place heâs been spending his time lately.â He frowned. âYou know, I just havenât known how to handle Hal these days. I guess itâs a good thing Michael isnât around to see how heâs turned out. Michael wouldnât be able to take it if he knew that Halâs main goal in life is to be a roadie for a punk rock band. And that crowd he runs withâtrash, all of them.â
âMichael wasââ
âHalâs father,â Lance explained. âHeâs the one who started Colson Enterprises. When Michael and Karen, Halâs mother, were killedin a plane crash, their will stipulated that I would be Halâs guardian and that the running of the company was up to me until Hal turns twenty-five.â
âWhen did they die?â Nancy asked.
âTwo years ago in March.â
Nancy knew that kids sometimes went off the deep end when their parents died. Maybe that was what had happened to Hal. But that wasnât the time to talk about it.
âDoes anyone know Hal is missing?â she asked instead.
âNo. Except you and your father.â
Nancy couldnât help remembering the incident earlier out on Allegheny Drive. âI know this sounds crazy,â she said, âbut I was run off the road tonight on the way over here. I wonder if someone already knows Iâm in on this case and would like to see me taken off it.â
âOh, no,â Lance said immediately. âYou werenât hurt, were you?â
âNo. Just suspicious.â
âI wouldnât be,â Lance told her. âWeâve had trouble with teenagers running people off the road out here lately. The police are trying to catch the kids, but so far they havenât been successful. As a matter of fact, I was their target the other night.â He grinned. âBut my Maserati and I outran them.â
So the Maserati is his, Nancy thought.
âDid you get a description of the car?â Lance asked.
âNo. It was too dark. All I saw were the headlights.â
âToo bad,â Lance said. âBut, as I said, I wouldnât worry about it. Iâm sure it has nothing to do with Halâs disappearance.â
He shook his head irritably. âThe teens in this town are really getting out of hand. I read in the paper just this morning that the blood bank had reported several pouches of blood missingâblood, for Godâs sake!âand that theyâd fired the teenager whoâd been driving the delivery truck because they thought heâd taken it.â
âPretty strange. But not all River Heights teenagers are bad. I know that for a factâIâm eighteen myself. But to get back to the kidnapping,â Nancy reminded him, âdo you have a photo of Hal?â
Lance was just about to answer when a tall, slender, dark-haired woman came into the room. She was wearing tailored pale gray pants and a matching sweater. Her beautiful face was bored and petulant looking.
âHello, Monica,â Lance said, getting to his feet. âNancy, this is Monica Sloane. Monica, Nancy Drew. Sheâs here to help us find Hal.â
Us? Nancy thought. Monica wasnât marriedto Lance. Nancy just smiled politely and nodded at the other woman.
Monica just stared at her. âSo youâre here to help Lance find little Hal,â she said at last. Her tone was icy.
âYes, I am,â Nancy answered. âDo you know anything about this case that might help me?â
âNo, I donât, Ms. Drew,â snapped Monica. âAnd I couldnât care less about that stupid kid.â
âMonica!â Lance protested. âThis is no timeââ
âShe might as well know what I think,â Monica said. âSheâll probably try to ask me questions anyway.â
âYouâre right,â Nancy said cheerfully. âWhy donât you tell me what you have to say now, Ms. Sloane?