Carolyn Keene. Hit and Run Holiday

Carolyn Keene. Hit and Run Holiday

Carolyn Keene. Hit and Run Holiday

Chapter One

“We made it!” Nancy Drew said with a grin. “Fort Lauderdale, here we are!”

Gripping the wheel in eager anticipation, Nancy turned the rental car onto Route A1A, a coastal highway lined with tall, swaying palm trees. To the left was a seemingly endless string of hotels and motels, fast-food places, restaurants, and discos. To the right, shimmering in the late morning sun, was a broad beach of nearly white sand, and beyond that, the sparkling blue-green waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Beside Nancy, George Fayne gazed out the window at the beach. “I can’t wait to get into that water,” she said. “I may never come out except to eat.”

“Who cares about the water?” Bess Marvin, George’s cousin, said with a giggle. “Just look at all those tan male bodies out there! I’ve already counted nine that I could fall in love with.” As their car passed a group of boys crossing the street, Bess turned around and looked out the back window. “Make that twelve,” she said excitedly.

Nancy glanced into the rearview mirror and laughed. “Help me find our hotel first,” she suggested. “Then you can check out the boys.”

Early that morning, the three friends had left the cold March sleets of River Heights and flown to the south of Florida, joining thousands of other young people on spring break who poured into Fort Lauderdale in search of sun, sand, fun, and romance.

Actually, Bess was the only one who was looking to fall in love. George was still attached to Jon Berntsen, a boy she’d met on a ski trip, and Nancy’s relationship with Ned Nickerson was in good shape at the moment. Nancy knew that Bess, with her blond hair and pretty figure, would probably have a date in fifteen minutes flat; while slender, athletic, dark-haired George was sure to set some kind of swimming, volleyball, or surfing record. As for herself, Nancy was looking just to have fun and go home with a great tan.

In her last case, Smile and Say Murder, she’d discovered that the world of publishing could be deadly, when she’d exposed a clever plot that included murder. So a Florida vacation seemed the perfect way to unwind.

“There it is,” she said, pointing to a gleaming white stucco building. “The Surfside Inn. They were right—every room has a window facing the ocean.”

“And the boys,” Bess said with a sigh.

“Let’s hurry and change so we can hit the beach,” Nancy suggested, as she pulled the car into a tight parking space on a side street next to the hotel.

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” George asked with a laugh. “You’ve got a case to solve, remember?”

Nancy laughed, too. “It’s not a case,” claimed the young detective. “I’m just checking up on Kim. It’ll take me all of five minutes.”

Kim Baylor, a friend of all three girls, had been in Fort Lauderdale for ten days. Just before Nancy left River Heights, Kim’s mother had called and told her that Kim had decided to stay on an extra week. Mrs. Baylor wasn’t really worried, she said, she simply wanted Nancy to drop by Kim’s hotel and see that everything was all right. She’d felt that Kim had sounded odd over the phone, but thought she was probably just being an over-protective parent.

“I bet I can solve your mystery for you without even talking to Kim,” Bess told Nancy as they piled out of the car. “It’s simple—Kim met a fabulous guy and she’s staying on because she’s madly in love.” Bess tugged two canvas bags from the back of the car, then stared across the street at a tall, well-muscled boy running toward the ocean. “Just look at him,” she said dreamily. “What couldn’t I do with an extra week down here!”

“Stop drooling and help us carry the bags inside,” George joked. “The sooner we get changed, the sooner you can start looking for Mr. Right.”

The hotel room wasn’t large or luxurious, but it had everything the girls needed, and besides, none of them planned to spend much time in it. In ten minutes, they had changed out of their travel clothes and into their swimsuits. Bess had brought six, and for her first trip to the sun and sand, she put on a blazing pink bikini that showed off her figure perfectly.

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