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you I’d get out of here. This isn’t the kind of place young folks should be hanging around.” As if to emphasize his words, he took a knife from his pocket, plunged it into one of the boxes, and ripped it in two.
    Dirk took Nancy’s elbow and firmly propelled her to the driver’s side of the Mustang. “Uh, thanks again,” Nancy called while Dirk climbed into the back seat. She then slid into the front.
    â€œHurry up,” Bess whispered, nervously peering out the window at the men on the loading dock.
    Nancy started the car, but looked at thebuilding in front of them carefully before pulling away. “There’s no sign on this warehouse. I wonder who owns it. I hate leaving without finding out anything.”
    â€œOh, we found out plenty,” Bess said as Nancy backed down the ramp. “Like not to come here during the day.”
    â€œI’m pretty sure that that car carrier’s trying to run us down was no accident,” Nancy said, steering her Mustang onto the main road.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Dirk asked.
    Nancy looked at him in the rearview mirror. “That driver could have stopped. He had to have seen us. And those guys on the loading dock sure acted as if they were hiding something.” She tapped the steering wheel. “Which proves there’s a chop shop somewhere on this street. Maybe right where we crashed, or in the building where the carrier was parked.”
    â€œI don’t know,” Dirk said, shaking his head. “You’d think the thieves would have brains enough to play it cool. I mean, trying to run us over was like waving a sign that said, Chop Shop in Here.”
    Bess laughed. “You’re right. Hey, are you guys hungry? I was so nervous back there, I must have burned off a zillion calories. Let’s eat.”
    They stopped at a pizzeria downtown. Bess and Dirk kept up a steady stream of talk while they ate, but Nancy hardly spoke. She was glad Bess and Dirk were hitting it off, but somethingabout their encounter at the warehouse was still bothering her.
    Someone had to have warned the guy driving the carrier that they were coming. Only one person that she could think of knew that they were headed there, and that person was Dirk. After Bess called him, he could easily have phoned his contacts at the chop shop—if it was him. Nancy couldn’t figure out why he would have stayed in the car, though.
    â€œHey. Can you guys drop me off at Harry’s Garage?” Dirk asked as they left the pizzeria. “I need to pick up some parts. My brother works there, so he can give me a ride home.”
    â€œSure,” Nancy agreed. The garage was just a few blocks away. When they got there, Dirk climbed out on Bess’s side. After he’d shut the door, he leaned his arms on her open window.
    â€œThanks for the wild ride, Nancy,” he said, his green eyes twinkling. “I guess I’ll see you girls tomorrow at the track?”
    Bess grinned at him. “You got it.”
    As Nancy drove away, Bess turned to her with dreamy, glassy eyes. “Wow. What a guy,” she said. “Aren’t you glad we invited him?”
    â€œYeah. I like Dirk, too,” Nancy agreed. Taking a deep breath, she added, “That’s what makes this hard to bring up.”
    Bess straightened up in her seat and questioned Nancy, “What are you talking about?”
    â€œSomebody tipped off that guy in the carrier that we were coming,” Nancy said quietly.
    â€œBut who? Nobody knew except—” Bess’s face blanched white. “No. No way,” she protested. “Dirk in cahoots with car thieves?”
    â€œIt makes sense. He’s an expert driver, and he knows cars. Guys who race cars always need parts.”
    Bess shook her head. “I still don’t believe Dirk would work with criminals just to get parts. I mean, you don’t have any proof.”
    â€œThat is