Beside Nancy, Annabel growled low in her throat. Quickly Nancy reached out and put a restraining hand on the woman's arm. Andy was still below radioing the Coast Guard. If he could just get them before Nick Lazlo and Leah got away!
"Don't listen to him, Annabel," Bess whispered. "He's just trying to make you mad."
Nancy cupped her hands around her mouth. She had to do something—anything—to stall Nick. "You wouldn't sink the Skipper's Surprise, " she declared. "You worked too hard on this boat."
"And she's the perfect racing boat," Ned joined in. He caught her gaze, and Nancy realized that he'd picked up on what she was doing.
"That's a laugh." Nick chuckled. "I knew from the first time I sailed her that the keel design was no good. At least, not good enough to make me the fortune Leah and I deserve."
"So you decided to steal money from Lazlo Designs, instead," Parker said from on top of the cabin. Nancy glanced over at him. He was next to Ned, gripping the boom tightly, as if he'd like to use it to knock Lazlo into the water.
"Pretty brilliant, huh," Lazlo replied. "Andy never suspected a thing when I wrote those checks to Steele Lumber on our main account. And all I had to do was intercept the last two bank statements from our special joint account, and he never knew that I'd moved the insurance money into the Steele Lumber account, either. It ended up being quite a nice chunk of money. Enough for Leah and me to live comfortably on some tropical island."
"What about the pirates?" Ned wanted to know.
As Nancy turned to look at her boyfriend, a movement from the bow caught her eye. She could see the forward hatch rising, ever so slowly. Her heart quickened. Andy must be trying to sneak up that way! She had to get Lazlo's attention so he wouldn't notice.
Abruptly she jumped onto the starboard side of the cockpit. Lazlo swung the light into her eyes.
"Stay where you are," he warned.
"I just wanted to get a closer look at a murderer," Nancy said, pointing at Leah. Through the blinding light, she could see Leah pull away from Nick. "I bet the pirate thing was just a hoax, Mrs. O'Halloran," Nancy went on. "I think that you killed your own husband!"
"And who's going to prove it?" Leah shot back in a cocky voice. "You five are going to be at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay!"
From the corner of her eye, Nancy could see Andy pull himself quietly from the hatch and hunker down on the bow.
Parker must have noticed him, too. Quickly he called over to the other boat. "Why fake your death, Lazlo, then set up my cousin? Why didn't you just split with the money?"
"Because I didn't want to have to run for the rest of my life," Lazlo explained. Nancy could hear the impatience in his voice. She knew they didn't have much longer before he'd blast several holes in the boat. "So I planned to 'die' and come back as Bill Jobeson. I knew Old Bill was going to go any time. All that drinking had ruined his liver. So when he conveniently died Thursday morning, Leah and I put the final part of our plan into action. Setting up Andy was the easy part." He laughed heartily. "Where is that predictable, trusting sucker, anyway? In jail?"
"Arrrgh!" A furious cry came from the bow of the Skipper's Surprise. Nancy started in surprise as Andy launched himself into the air across the water, straight toward Lazlo. Nick whirled, but he was too late. Andy knocked him to the deck, and the rifle flew into the air, then clattered onto the roof of the cabin.
"Nick!" Leah screeched. Swinging around, she turned the spotlight away from the Skipper's Surprise, focusing it on the two men grappling on the deck.
Nancy quickly judged the distance between the two boats. It was about five feet. Could she make it?
When she saw Leah scrambling for the rifle, Nancy knew she had no choice. She stepped over the lifeline, steadied herself, then jumped. She landed awkwardly on the rail of the other boat. Clutching the lifeline, she pulled herself over. But Leah had reached the rifle. Grabbing the barrel, Leah swung it toward Nancy like a club.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Nancy heard Ned yell. The next thing she knew, a yellow slicker came hurtling through the air. It caught Leah in the face, stopping her just long enough for Nancy to yank the rifle from the woman's grasp and toss it over to Ned. By then Annabel had swung the Skipper's Surprise closer to the other boat, and Parker had jumped onto the bow. Together he and Andy subdued Nick. When Ned jumped aboard with the gun and rope, they quickly tied up Nick and Leah.
"Are you guys all right?" Bess shouted from the Skipper's Surprise. She had grabbed the lifeline of Fooled Them All and temporarily tied the two boats together. Now she joined Annabel at the wheel.
Standing up, Nancy surveyed the group on the bow of Fooled Them All A disgruntled Nick Lazlo and Leah O'Halloran were tied to the mast. Andy, Parker, and Ned were standing over them, with satisfied looks on their faces.
Nancy gave Bess the thumbs-up sign. "Everything's shipshape!"
"So Leah and Nick planned the whole boat theft scheme? Both times?" Andy asked.
It was the next morning, and Nancy, Ned, Bess, Parker, Andy, and Mr. and Mrs. Devereux were sitting on the patio enjoying a sumptuous brunch. Andy's parents had also invited Annabel Lazlo and Stan Yadlowski, to thank them for all their help in clearing Andy.
With a nod, Nancy picked up a sugar-coated strawberry. "Mike O'Halloran was in on the first scam, too. Then Leah must have fallen for Nick and decided that three was a crowd."
"My sources at the police department say that Nick and Leah are both singing like birds," Stan spoke up. "Leah's blaming everything on Nick, and he's blaming everything on her."
Annabel gave a disgusted snort. "At least I know Nick's a selfish jerk with all women/' Nancy noticed that Annabel had hardly touched her food and there were dark circles under her amber eyes. Nancy couldn't help feeling sorry for the woman. Even though her marriage hadn't been a happy one, it had to be painful to find out that her husband was an even worse scoundrel than she had suspected.
"I still don't understand why Nick sabotaged his own boats," Andy's father said. He and Mrs. Devereux were sitting across from Andy. 'They'd already been sold. Lazlo Designs would have made a lot of money from the sale."
"Which Nick would have had to split with Andy," Nancy said. "Nick was too greedy for that. Besides, he didn't sabotage the boats. From what the police told us, Leah and Mike contacted him a while ago saying that they knew of foreign customers who wanted to buy boats c under the table.'"
"I get it," Ned cut in. "Nick sold the boats to the foreign customers, then had Leah and Mike deliver them. They'd rendezvous in the middle of the ocean. Then to collect again from the insurance company, they concocted the story about the first boat sinking and pirates stealing the second boat."
"I bet Leah and Nick have the money from the sale to the foreigners deposited in a secret account in another country," Nancy said.
Andy was shaking his head. "I've got to hand it to Nick, it was a brilliant plan. Even when the insurance company started getting suspicious, he had it covered. Plan his own death and set me up for it."
Giving Andy a knowing look, Annabel said, "I told you Nick was a snake, but you're so trusting! You probably even gave him a copy of the key to the drawer where you kept your gun."
"Uh, as a matter of fact, I did," Andy admitted, his cheeks reddening. "But Nick was my friend! I never would've guessed that he'd turn on me . . ." His voice trailed off, and he stared down at his plate.
"He planned his so-called disappearance well in advance," Nancy said to Andy. "That's why you never guessed what was going on."
"Plus, he was very smart," Ned added. "After that argument at the party, he had us all believing someone was out to get him. I bet the person he was 'fighting' with was Leah, pretending to be the irate competitor."
"So Nick must have rigged the mast, too," Bess put in, "figuring that everybody would guess that it was meant to fall on him."
Parker sighed. "He never even let on that the keel design was a sham."
"That's for sure," Andy said glumly. "My boatbuildi
ng friend confirmed that. And that means that Lazlo Designs is about to go down the tubes." He sighed. "I don't see how I can save the company—we owe too much money from developing the Nican. And even if the insurance money is recovered, it would just go back to Bayside Insurance, since the claim was fraudulent. The most I could ever collect is the money Nick took from our main account. And fifteen thousand won't go very far."
Andy's mother reached over to pat his shoulder. "At least you're not in jail," she said comfortingly.
"If it's any consolation, Nick told the police that he was going to send proof that you didn't kill him," Stan said as he bit into another muffin.
"Oh, that was sweet of him," Annabel said. "I just bet he was going to write a cutesy letter from some faraway island where he was living on all of Andy's money." Then she shrugged. "But at least he didn't get my money. And now that he's bound for a long jail sentence, I can happily divorce him."
Nancy looked at Andy. She had expected to see him brighten at the news, but he didn't react. "Don't look so gloomy, Andy," Nancy told him. "Maybe there's still a way you can save Lazlo Designs."
"I doubt it," Andy said. "I'll have to sell the company to pay all the debts from developing the Nican."
Suddenly Annabel sat bolt upright in her chair.
"What is all this pessimistic talk? And why would you even think about selling the company, Andrew Devereux?"
Everyone stopped eating to stare at Annabel.
"I'll be your new partner," Annabel went on. "After all, I've got plenty of money and sailing experience." Standing up, she opened her arms wide. "So what if the keel design is a little off. We'll design a new one, a better one."
Andy was staring at Annabel, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Are you serious?"
Annabel snorted. "Of course I'm serious. On one condition. That the new line of boats isn't called the Nican Forty."
"Why don't you name it the Anna Forty," Bess suggested.
Annabel looked around the table, grinning at each person in turn. "Hey, I like that!"
Everyone broke out laughing. Standing up, Andy raised his glass of orange juice in the air. "Let's toast the new Anna Forty." He turned toward Nancy, who was leaning against Ned, his arm around her shoulder. "And to Nancy Drew, who solved this crazy case and who also learned how to grind that jib like the best of sailors!"
Carolyn Keene, 081 Making Waves
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