Chapter
Sixteen
THE MOMENT NANCY paused, the maintenance man took action, throwing her aside in one strong movement. Nancy was outnumbered, but she wasn’t about to give up.
She and the maintenance man faced each other, squaring off like boxers in the ring. Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw Dirk Bowman rushing toward them. Lashing out at the maintenance man with a kick, she spun around to face Dirk.
But Dirk Bowman ignored Nancy. Instead, he caught the maintenance man with his left hand, and, swinging his right arm up from somewhere around his knees, crashed his fist squarely into the man’s jaw. Lila’s boy gasped, sank to his knees, then pitched forward onto his face. He wouldn’t be chasing anybody for quite a while.
Stunned, Nancy looked at Dirk, who was rubbing his knuckles and grinning at her. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he said.
“Who are you?” Nancy asked warily. “How did you get away? And what happened to my friends?”
“Your friends helped me get away,” Dirk told her. “And they’re safe. They’re waiting for us right now, in the launch we stole. Now come on,” he said, reaching for her hand, “let’s get going. I’d love to take a nice romantic stroll in the moonlight, but we just don’t have time.”
Nancy pulled her hand away. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who you are.”
“I’m a police detective,” Dirk said calmly. “I’ve been working undercover for two months, trying to get enough evidence against Lila to stop her operation for good.” He started walking again. “Why don’t you walk behind me?” he suggested, grinning at her over his shoulder. “If you think I’m leading you into a trap, you can always jump me again, the way you did on the Rosita.”
Nancy didn’t think she had enough energy left to jump anybody. She really wanted to believe Dirk, but she was still suspicious of him, so she followed his advice and stayed about five feet behind him. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were when we first met?” she called out.
“I couldn’t risk it,” he said. “If my cover had been blown, there would have been no way to stop Lila. Besides, the lady would probably have killed me.”
“But you knew what was going on,” Nancy reminded him. “Wasn’t that enough evidence?”
“We suspected, we didn’t know for sure. We needed witnesses,” he explained. “And even after I started working for Lila, it was a long time before she trusted me with her little secret. In fact,” he said with a laugh, “you and your friends were my first assignment.”
“Me and my friends?” Nancy asked. “What about before that? What about my windsurfing accident? You didn’t have anything to do with that?”
“Nope. My guess is that one of Lila’s boys saw us together and reported it to her, and she told him to take care of you,” Dirk said. “She still didn’t trust me then. But I put on a pretty convincing act, and finally she decided I was okay.”
“So tonight, when you came down to the hold, you were supposed to kill us, right?” Nancy asked.
“Right.” Dirk stopped and turned, looking at Nancy. “I wasn’t going to follow Lila’s orders, of course. But Bess never gave me a chance to tell you that, and when I came to, you’d already taken off for the island. How did you get here, anyway?”
“I swam!” Quickly Nancy told him everything that had happened since she’d escaped from the Rosita.
As Dirk listened his eyes lit up in admiration, and when she finished he gave a low whistle. “You’re really something, Detective.” He held out his hand, and Nancy shook it.
“But just think,” he went on, his eyes twinkling mischievously, “if you hadn’t knocked me out, you could have saved yourself that swim.”
Nancy started to argue, but when she caught the look in his eyes, she found herself laughing instead. He grabbed her other hand, and the two of them began running together.
Soon they were back in the trees, and it wasn’t long before Nancy heard the distant strains of rock music and laughter from the party to nowhere. Halfway back to the shore, Dirk started heading to the right. “The launch is around a curve in the beach,” he told Nancy. “We’ll use the trees for cover.”
“How did you get it there without anyone hearing the motor?” Nancy asked.
“Kim navigated and the rest of us paddled,” Dirk replied with a laugh. “We made a great team. The only thing we really had to worry about was Lila spotting us from the Rosita. But I guess she was too busy making sure you were brought back to notice us.”
“She must be wondering what’s taking that guy so long,” Nancy said. “She’s probably getting very antsy.”
Dirk laughed again. “Wait’ll I come after her with four or five other cops. Then she’ll know what antsy really is!”
Nancy began to forget about sore feet and sore muscles. She forgot about everything but leaving the island, and when they finally caught sight of the sleek little speedboat waiting a few feet from the shoreline, she grabbed Dirk’s hand again and pulled him along behind her as she broke into a run.
“Finally!” Bess’s voice cried out. “We’ve been sitting in this boat so long I was beginning to grow barnacles!”
Nancy laughed and splashed into the water. “You think you’ve had it bad,” she joked as she reached the boat. “Wait’ll you hear what I’ve been through!”
There was no time to exchange stories, though. In spite of what Dirk had said, he and Nancy knew that Lila wouldn’t wait forever. If she discovered that they’d escaped, she might just take off, maybe for another country. That would leave the police with no one to arrest but her troop of handsome boys. Dirk didn’t want that, and neither did Nancy. They both wanted Lila Templeton caught.
Quickly Nancy, Dirk, and George pushed the speedboat far enough out so they could lower the engine into the water. When they climbed in, Dirk slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine caught with a roar, and as the boat pulled smoothly away from the island, the six passengers laughed with relief.
“I never thought I’d say it,” Bess admitted, “but I’ll actually be glad to get back to River Heights.”
“But you haven’t fallen in love yet,” George teased. “Are you sure you don’t want to stick around?”
“No thanks!” Bess said. “There are plenty of guys at home.”
“Hey, what about me?” Dirk joked. “I thought you said you’d spend the rest of your life with me if I just got you off the Rosita.”
Bess giggled, and leaning forward, planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re fantastic, Dirk,” she told him, “but I’m afraid that was a promise I just can’t keep.”
Everyone laughed again, but Nancy stopped suddenly as she became aware of another sound. Even over the whine of the speedboat, she could hear it—a heavy throbbing, almost a rumbling, like a powerful motor. She glanced around. Maria was staring out the back of the boat, her eyes wide with fear.
“Maria?” Nancy said. “What is it? What do you see?”
“Look,” Maria said, pointing. “She’s found us!”
Straining to see, Nancy could just make out a large, dark shape looming behind them. It didn’t stay dark for long, though. As Nancy watched, the deck and rail lights of the Rosita flashed on.
The Rosita was only about a hundred feet away, its powerful engines louder than ever as Lila Templeton aimed it straight at the tiny speedboat.
Bess stood halfway up and let out a scream. “She’s going to ram us!”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what she has in mind,” Dirk agreed. “And if she gets close enough, she’ll probably take a few shots at us, too. The lady is definitely desperate.”
“I thought the party was over,” George said grimly, “but it looks like it’s just getting started.”
The speedboat was fast, but so was the Rosita, and as the six of them watched, Lila’s powerful boat surged through the water, shortening the gap between them.
“Can’t we go any faster?” Nancy called to Dirk.
“Not much,” he told her. Slipping an arm around her shoulder, he pulled her head close to his lips, speaking quietly so the others wouldn’t hear. “We’re low on gas,” he said, “and I’m not sure how long we’ll last if she decides to chase us all over the Atlantic.”
Shivering with tension, Nancy stared at the gas gauge. The arrow was hovering around the one-quarter mark. It might be enough to get them back to Fort Lauderdale, but only if they made a beeline for it. If they had to do many fancy maneuvers to get away from Lila, they’d never make it.
At that moment, Nancy heard a faint popping sound, something like a firecracker. She turned and saw one of Lila’s boys on the top deck of the Rosita. He was braced against the rail like a sharpshooter, aiming a long-barreled rifle at the six people in the speedboat.
“Everybody, down!” Nancy shouted.
“If they get much closer, he’ll be able to pick us off one by one!” Bess cried out, as she huddled in the bottom of the boat.
“Us or the engine!” George exclaimed. “And if he hits the engine, there won’t be anything left of us to pick off!”
Dirk fumbled around on the floor and pulled up the revolver that Nancy had kicked out of his hand a few hours before. “It’s hardly a rifle,” he commented wryly, “but it’s better than nothing!”
Nancy nodded and reached for his hand, pulling him up. “You deal with Lila,” she suggested, “and leave the driving to me.”
Dirk nodded and crawled to the back of the boat, while Nancy slid into the driver’s seat. The fuel gauge was just under the quarter mark by then, and she knew she didn’t have much time. Glancing back, she saw that the Rosita hadn’t gained on them, but she also saw that Lila wasn’t directly behind them anymore. She’d pulled the Rosita out, so that it was between the speedboat and the mainland.
Wiping the spray from her face, Nancy pushed the stick up a notch, giving the boat more power. It slapped over the water like a roller-coaster car, but Nancy could still hear the throbbing of the Rosita’s engines, and she knew that Lila was keeping up with her.
“I could go around behind them!” she shouted to Dirk. “The Rosita can’t turn as fast as we can!”
“Try it!” he called back. “Just be careful of sandbars. They’re all over the place!”
Now he tells me, Nancy thought. She checked the fuel again and decided to risk the extra mileage. Getting a good grip on the wheel, she cut it sharply, turning the boat so that it was heading back toward the Rosita. As they passed the Rosita’s bow, Nancy saw Lila’s boy leave his post and scramble toward the stern, rifle in hand.
Suddenly the Rosita began to turn toward the mainland. She knows what I’m trying to do, Nancy thought. She’s going to cut me off if she can!
Nancy turned the wheel again and felt the boat begin to bounce wildly as it cut across the Rosita’s wake. Both boats were heading for the mainland, but Lila’s had a slight lead, and she’d angled it toward the speedboat. If she managed to get much farther ahead, she would be able to cut them off, and Nancy knew they didn’t have enough gas left to try any more tricks.
The spray was practically blinding her, and her hands were so wet they kept slipping off the wheel, but Nancy wiped her face and eyes and tried frantically to see exactly what was ahead of her. All she had to light her way were the moon and the dim glow from the Rosita.
Suddenly though, they were all Nancy needed. Ahead of her, stretching across the water like a pale ribbon, was one of the sandbars Dirk had warned her about. It seemed to go on forever, and Nancy knew that if she tried to zip around it, she’d crash into the Rosita going one way, or run out of gas going the other.
Bess had crawled up beside her, and Nancy could tell from the look on her face that she’d seen the sandbar too. Her teeth chattering with fear, Bess tried to smile. “Wouldn’t it be nice if this boat had wings?” she asked.
“That’s it!” Nancy cried out.
“What’s it?”
“Wings!” Nancy grinned and pushed Bess back down. “Hang on, everybody,” she shouted, “we’re going to fly!”
Nancy gripped the wheel and eased the stick up to full speed. As the little boat shot forward with all the power its engine could give it, Nancy gritted her teeth and aimed it straight for the sandbar.
Chapter
Seventeen
THE FRONT OF the speedboat hit the sand with a bone-jarring thump. Then, its blade stirring the air, it sailed up and over the sandbar, splashed down hard on the other side, and sped on toward the lights of Fort Lauderdale.
As soon as they caught their breath, everyone turned to look behind them, and what they saw made them cheer out loud. Lila was trying to avoid the sandbar, but she was moving too fast, and as the six people in the speedboat looked on, the Rosita plowed straight into it. Its engines grinding uselessly, Lila’s boat came to a dead stop. Lila was trapped, and her party was finally over.
“Nancy, you did it!” George shouted.
“That was one nice piece of driving, Detective,” Dirk said with a grin.
Nancy laughed. “Thanks. Just don’t ask me to do it again!”
“Being stuck out there serves Lila right,” Bess said. “I just hope there’s no way she can escape.”
“Uh-oh, I just thought of something,” Nancy said. “I’ll bet the Rosita has lifeboats. That means Lila does have a way to escape. And you can bet she’ll use it.”
“She couldn’t get very far, but you’re right, Nancy,” Dirk agreed, “she’s not the kind to give up until every last door’s been slammed in her face.”
“I don’t think even that would make her give up,” George commented. “Not when she’s as desperate as she is right now.”
There was no time to waste. As soon as they were safely back to shore, Dirk raced for the nearest phone and called in his backup team to help capture Lila and her crew. Nancy and the others hopped into their rental car and rushed Kim back to the hospital.
“I wanted to stick around and see them bring Lila in,” Kim protested on the way. “Honestly, I’m perfectly fine!”
“You might be fine,” Nancy told her, “but your mother’s probably having a nervous breakdown by now.”
“That’s right,” Bess said. “She wasn’t even with us when we left the hospital before, so she’s still completely in the dark. She must be frantic!”
Bess was right. When they got to the hospital, they found Mrs. Baylor still frantic with worry, and the entire staff in an uproar over the missing patient. As soon as Kim appeared, the doctors whisked her away to check on her condition, and finally her mother calmed down enough to listen to what had happened.
When Nancy finished telling the story, Mrs. Baylor sighed in relief. “Thank goodness you were here, Nancy, and that it’s over!”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Bess said with a yawn.
“Well, it’s not quite over,” Nancy reminded them. “We’ll all have to give statements to the police. And if there’s a trial, Kim and Maria will probably have to testify.”
“I will be very happy to do that,” Maria said. “Even if it means that I can’t stay here. I want to see Lila Templeton get . . .” she searched for the right words.
“Get what’s coming to her!” Bess finished with a laugh.
“You’re very brave, Maria,” Nancy said. “I hope things work out for you so you don’t have to go back to your country if you don’t want to.”
One of the doctors came in then and gave them the good news—Kim was weak and worn out, but otherwise she seemed to be fine. They just wanted to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days to make sure.
Leaving Maria at the hospital with Kim’s mother, Nancy, Bess, and George sped back to the docks just in time to see the police patrol boat arrive. A very happy looking Dirk Bowman waved to them from the deck, then pointed to a small group of people—it was Lila Templeton and her handsome, deadly crew, looking very unhappy.
• • •
The sun was just
coming up as Nancy, Bess, and George let themselves into their room at the Surfside Inn. They took turns in the shower, and then George and Nancy started packing. But Bess wrapped a towel around her wet head and flopped down on the cot.
“I’ve never been so exhausted in my entire life,” she yawned. “Nobody wake me for at least twelve hours.”
“Sorry,” George told her, “but our plane leaves in four hours. You don’t want to miss it, do you?”
“I don’t know,” Bess said. “Now that everything’s over, I wouldn’t mind sticking around for a couple of days. There are a lot of cute guys around and I’d hate to miss out.”
Nancy laughed. “I thought you said there were plenty of guys back home,” she teased.
“That was when I thought I was going to die,” Bess protested. “But now that Lila and her crew are behind bars, I figure I might as well enjoy the rest of spring break.”
“I would have given anything to see the look on Lila’s face when the police came to ‘rescue’ her,” George said. “I wonder if she tried to lie her way out of it.”
“If she did, it didn’t do her any good,” Nancy said. “Not with Kim and Maria and Dirk as witnesses against her.”
“Speaking of Dirk,” George said, peering out the window, “he just pulled up in that fancy red car of his, and it looks like he’s heading this way.”
Nancy opened the door and smiled as she watched Dirk Bowman come down the hall. “I thought you’d at least take the rest of the day off,” she said.
“The day? I’m taking a week off,” he replied with a grin. “But I knew you were leaving, and I had a couple of things I wanted to tell you. How about a quick walk?”
Nancy slipped on a pair of sandals, and together she and Dirk strolled down the sidewalk in the early morning sun.
“First,” Dirk said, reaching for Nancy’s hand, “I’ve got some good news. Kim’s mother agreed to vouch for Maria and get her a job with some friends here in Fort Lauderdale. So she’ll be staying on, and she says she’s going to start college as soon as she can. She wants to be an engineer.”