She couldn't turn it off. Bess loved Nancy to death but she couldn't turn it off.

George had managed to produce a dusty bottle of cheap vodka, and Bess twisted the cap off and poured another generous slug into Nancy's tumbler. Nancy was arched against the backseat, staring at her reflection in the rear windshield.

"Come on," she demanded, throwing her head forward again. "Come on. Let's go."

"We are not," George said firmly, "listening to the police scanner again. We got in so much trouble last time."

Nancy waved her hand, dismissing George's protests. "Daddy'll get us out."

Bess and George exchanged a glance just before Nancy thrust her face between them, her elbows on the backs of their seats. "Don't you want to go see Ned?" Bess asked, twisting the cap back onto the bottle and sliding it under her seat.

Nancy pouted. "I do," she groaned. "But it's been ages since I've had a mystery to solve."

George sighed loudly. "Don't you remember last week? The smugglers and those jeweled elephants and us almost burning down an entire warehouse?"

"That was a lifetime ago."

Bess twisted around in the seat to look at Nancy. "Look, we'll pick up Ned and then we'll do something fun, all right?"

Nancy still looked suspicious. "Like what?"

"I don't know, but I have to get gas," George interposed, taking the next exit off the highway. "Keep an eye on her," she said to her cousin, under her breath. "You know how she gets when she's like this."

"I heard that," Nancy called from the backseat.

George slid out of the car to pump the gas, and Nancy rattled the ice in her empty tumbler. "Do you have any more punch?"

Bess shook her head. "I'll go inside and get something to drink. What do you want?"

"Anything."

Bess felt under the seat to make sure the vodka bottle was out of sight before pushing her door open. "Hey George, I'll be back."

"I'll keep an eye on her."