Although she tried to disguise it, the voice belonged to Rita!
Chapter
Fourteen
NANCY TOOK A slow, deep breath, hoping her voice wouldn’t shake when she accused the person on the other end. “Hello, Rita,” she said, surprisingly steadily.
“You couldn’t stay away, could you?” Rita asked, dropping her disguise. “You just had to keep on trying to help your little friend, Joanna.”
“Right,” Nancy said. “Well, Rita, it’s been nice talking to you, but I’ve really got to hang up now.”
“Nice try,” Rita said with a laugh. “But, Nancy dear, here’s what’s really going to happen. First, say goodbye to anyone you know at the bar in a real friendly way. We don’t want anyone suspecting anything.”
Nancy glanced over at the door leading to the pool, hoping to see Ned or George out there. No luck. She had told them to stay with Cindy, and that’s exactly what they were doing.
“And then,” Rita continued, “you’ll do exactly what Zach tells you to do.”
“What if I don’t?” Nancy asked.
Rita laughed her usual friendly laugh. “Why don’t you take a look at everybody’s favorite bartender?” she suggested.
Nancy looked. Zach was standing right beside her. In one hand, he held a glass of soda. But in the other hand, hidden from everyone’s view but Nancy’s, was a gun, pointed straight at her. When he saw her notice the gun, Zach winked.
“Okay, I’ve seen it,” Nancy told Rita. “What are you telling me? That if I don’t do what he says, he’ll shoot me? Right here in front of all these witnesses? That’s pretty hard to believe.”
“Well, you’re welcome to put him to the test,” Rita said. And she didn’t laugh this time. “But I guarantee you’ll be very disappointed.”
For a second, Nancy was tempted to call their bluff, if it was a bluff. But then she looked at the gun again and saw that its barrel was longer than usual. Looking more closely, she realized that it wasn’t an extralong barrel; it was a normal barrel with a silencer on the end of it. The lounge was so crowded and noisy that a gunshot would sound about as loud as a pin dropping on the carpet.
“All right,” Nancy said to Rita. “You win. For now, anyway. What do you want me to do?”
Rita chuckled. “As I said, do whatever Zach tells you. And no tricks, Nancy, or you’ll be very sorry.”
I’m sorry already, Nancy thought, hanging up the phone. Turning to Zach, she said, “Well? What’s the plan?”
For an answer, Zach draped a dishtowel over his wrist, concealing the gun. Then he nodded toward the direction of the locker room stairs. “I’ll be right behind you,” he said, smiling so that everyone would think he was enjoying the company of a pretty girl. “Let’s move, Nancy, okay?”
As slowly as she could, Nancy walked toward the stairs. But it wasn’t slow enough. Ned and George didn’t suddenly appear in the lounge to help her. No one even paid any attention as the two of them went down to the lower level.
As they walked along the hall, they passed the weight room, and out of the corner of her eye Nancy saw Bess. Her friend was on the rowing machine, going nowhere very slowly. It was easy to see that Bess was bored—she kept glancing around the room. Nancy was tempted to wave to get Bess’s attention. Maybe Bess would see Zach, realize that something was wrong, and go for help. But just as she was about to raise her hand, Nancy felt something on her back. She was wearing a thin cotton top, and what she felt was cold and hard—Zach was pushing her ahead with the gun.
The hallway was empty. If Nancy was going to make a move, she knew she had to do it then. Pretending to stumble, she whirled around, aimed her left foot at Zach’s gun hand, and kicked. The gun went flying, landing at the bottom of the stairs. Nancy started to race toward it and then stopped.
At the bottom of the stairs stood Max Fletcher. He bent down and calmly picked up the gun. He aimed it at Nancy. “Walk,” he said softly. Nancy had no choice but to turn around and walk.
A few more feet, and they were at the door to the massage room. Max motioned with the gun, and Zach roughly pushed Nancy inside, then closed and locked the door behind them.
Rita was waiting. At the sight of Max, she looked slightly surprised. Not as surprised as I am, Nancy thought.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Nancy,” Max said with a chuckle. “Except for ignoring me, you’ve been very clever. Of course, you wasted some valuable time with the lifeguard and that redheaded kleptomaniac.” He chuckled again. “But there was no reason for you to suspect me. After all, I never did anything suspicious. And I’m a very wealthy man. Sole owner of Fletcher Electronics, a multimillion-dollar company that manufactures, among other things, the Fletcher Home Alarm System and wall safes. Maybe you’ve heard of them?”
Nancy stared at him. Now she knew why the name of his company had rung a bell when Joanna mentioned it. Fletcher alarms and safes were all over the place—in houses, office buildings, even cars. Home alarm systems, she thought. No wonder they were able to break into those houses without problems. Max Fletcher wouldn’t have any trouble dismantling his own product. And if a house used a different system, well, that wouldn’t stop him, either. He probably knew the competition’s alarms as well as he knew his own.
“But why?” Nancy asked. “You have enough money.”
“The challenge, Nancy,” he said. “The excitement. Fletcher Electronics is boring. Haven’t you ever been so bored you’d do anything for excitement?”
Nancy didn’t answer.
“Fortunately,” Max said, “Rita and Zach shared my enthusiasm for a challenge, and I had no trouble getting them to join in my scheme. But, now that you know it all, I’m afraid we have to stop you.”
Calmly, Max handed the gun to Zach. Then, with a nod and a smile to Nancy, he left the room.
She looked around quickly, hoping to spot a way out. Rita laughed. “Don’t bother,” she said. “There’s only one way in and one way out, and Zach’s covering it.”
Nancy looked at Zach, who was leaning against the door, pointing the gun at her. Then she looked back at Rita. “Well,” she said. “What now?”
“Let’s get it over with, Rita,” Zach said. “The sooner the better.”
“Don’t worry,” Rita told him. “We have plenty of time.” She smiled at Nancy. “I have to tell you, you really had us hopping for a while. We tried everything—the shower, the diving pool, the messages, the weight machine, but you wouldn’t stop.”
“Hey, Rita.” Zach seemed very edgy. “I don’t think Max wanted us to chat. Let’s get this over with and get out of here.”
Desperately, Nancy tried to stall for time. “I know you two could call each other on your phones to say when to get a key. But I hate to admit it, there’s one thing I haven’t figured out yet.”
“I don’t believe it,” Rita said sarcastically. “The great girl detective doesn’t have all the answers?”
“Not quite,” Nancy said. “I don’t know where you put the things you stole. So as long as you’re going to seal my lips permanently, why don’t you tell me? I’m dying of curiosity—excuse the pun.”
Rita started to answer, but Zach broke in. “Okay, that’s enough,” he said to Rita. “Max left me in charge of this part of the operation, and I say we wrap it up and hit the road.”
“Oh?” Nancy asked. “You’re leaving town?”
“That’s right,” Rita said. “The River Heights Country Club has been very good to us, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing. Max says it’s time to move on.”
“Yeah, but there’s just one thing we have to do before we leave,” Zach said.
Rita nodded. “That’s right,” she said sadly, as if she really cared. “We’re going to have to do something about you, Nancy.”
“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I’d keep my mouth shut.” Nancy could tell that Zach was getting edgier by the second, and she wanted to keep the conversation going. Anything
to keep him from “wrapping it up.”
“No, I wouldn’t believe you for a minute,” Rita told her. She was moving around the room now, closing cabinet doors and checking to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind. “I’m surprised you’d even say anything as phony as that.”
Nancy tried to laugh again. “Well, you can’t blame me for trying. But since it didn’t work, I think I ought to tell you that I do have friends here helping me. And if I don’t meet them soon, they’ll come looking for me. If they don’t find me, they’ll know something’s wrong, and then you’ll have the police breathing down your necks.”
But Rita didn’t seem threatened at all. “The police?” she said, raising her eyebrows skeptically. “The police were here once and went away empty-handed. Besides, we’ll be long gone when they find you. And at that point, I’m afraid you won’t be able to tell them a thing.”
“Rita, will you just shut up!” Zach cried hoarsely. “If you keep running your mouth, somebody’s going to turn up here.”
Zach had obviously had enough, and Nancy knew that if she wanted to make a break for it, this was the time. She slowly took a step forward as if to follow Zach, then suddenly whirled around and started to swing the side of her hand down on Zach’s arm.
But Zach was ready for her. Before Nancy could finish her move, he had dropped the gun and pinned her arms to her sides. Lifting her up, he tossed her onto the massage table and held her down, one hand over her mouth.
“My, my, Nancy, you’re very tense,” Rita said, clucking her tongue sympathetically. “You’re lucky, though. I know all about relaxing tight muscles.”
Nancy looked on helplessly as Rita moved to the table. Next she felt Rita’s fingers tightening around her neck.
Nancy squirmed, twisting her body and shaking her head as hard as she could. She felt Zach’s hand slip and immediately bit him on the thumb. He gasped and took his hand away. Nancy opened her mouth to scream.
“Don’t do it!” Zach ordered, his dark eyes inches from hers. “One sound out of you and, believe me, I’ll use this!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw the gun—it was pointed straight at her temple. She closed her mouth.
“That’s better,” Rita said.
Again, Nancy felt Rita’s fingers on her neck, then a sharp pain, and finally nothing.
Chapter
Fifteen
SLOWLY, NANCY TURNED her head and opened her eyes. It was as black as when she had them closed. Her head ached, and she wanted to raise her hand to rub it. But she couldn’t move her hands because they were tied behind her. Nancy then realized that her feet were tied also. She started to yell but discovered that her mouth had been taped.
One corner of the tape was loose, though, and by rubbing the edge against her shoulder, Nancy was able to peel it off. She shouted, but the only reply was the echo of her own voice.
Instinctively, Nancy began to struggle against the bindings that held her. All of her pulling and twisting only succeeding in scraping raw spots on her wrists and ankles.
Stop it, she told herself after a minute. Panicking won’t get you anywhere. Breathe normally, and be thankful you’re alive.
Nancy managed to calm herself and lay still on what felt like a hard floor. Her wrists and ankles were sore, and her head still ached, but otherwise she was fine. Which was weird, she thought, since the last thing she had seen before blacking out was the wrong end of a gun pointing at her head.
So Zach and Rita hadn’t really meant to shoot her. Not right there in the massage room, anyway. Rita must have found some nerve in her neck that was guaranteed to send her straight to sleep. A pretty good trick, Nancy admitted. I’ll have to learn that one myself someday.
But why hadn’t Max wanted her killed yet? Nancy wondered. Well, of course, it was obvious. They could hardly haul a body through the crowded country club. They had stashed her someplace, and when they were good and ready, they’d come back and “wrap it up,” as Zach had said.
That must mean I’m still at the club, Nancy thought. It would be too hard to get me out of here dead or unconscious. There are just too many people around.
But where in the club was she? Was she still downstairs, maybe in the massage room? It was possible. Rita could have closed up for the day and gone to join the holiday crowd.
Nancy tried to see anything that would give her a clue to where she was. The cabinets in the massage room were gleaming white metal, she remembered, and the tables were covered with white pads. Her eyes should have adjusted enough by then to see white, even with the lights off. But all she saw were black and dark shades of gray.
Cautiously, Nancy tested her wrists and ankles again. The ropes seemed to have loosened a little; she might be able to get free if she didn’t rub her skin raw.
Moving slowly, Nancy sat up with her legs out in front of her. She decided to try to slip her arms under her legs and then shove her feet through the loop her arms made. That way, her arms would be in front of her, and she could untie her feet.
Digging at the knots with her fingernails, Nancy did eventually loosen them. When her legs were free, she discovered that they had gone to sleep, and she kicked them to get the circulation moving. Her foot struck something metallic.
She reached out with her feet again, and this time the metal gave a little. She scooted closer to the wall and shoved her foot against it as hard as she could. The cover moved as if it were on hinges.
As it flapped open, Nancy noticed thin lines of yellow light leaking in. When she realized what it was, she felt like smiling. She was looking through the back end of a locker. Zach and Rita had put her in the passageway between the locker rooms.
But suddenly, Nancy didn’t feel like smiling. The time must be getting very close to when they would come back for her. The yellow light meant that it was night. The locker rooms and weight room were closed for the day. Nobody would be interested in using them, anyway; they were all outside, dancing and eating and waiting for the fireworks. No wonder no one had heard her when she yelled.
Max and Rita and Zach were probably up there, too, Nancy realized. And once the big bash was over and the club was deserted, they’d come for her. She didn’t know exactly what they had in mind, but she had a feeling she’d be found the next day at the bottom of the swimming pool or out on the golf course, the victim of an accidental drowning or a bad fall. Of course, Ned and Bess and George would tell the police about her investigation. But they wouldn’t know whom she suspected. And by the time they figured it out, those two would be gone. And Max would be back at the tennis courts, making bets on games. He’d never be caught. He could even wait awhile, recruit more people to help him, and then start his whole operation all over again. I’m the only one who knows, Nancy thought. I’m the only one who can stop him.
Aware that she didn’t have much time, Nancy bit down on the ropes holding her wrists and began pulling at the knots. The task was too difficult, and she felt like weeping. But then she remembered the light bulbs. She stood and walked down the passageway until she reached the end. It was the wrong end, though. Turning around, she worked her way back until she stumbled into the light bulbs stacked in front of the weight room door.
Breaking a bulb against the wall, Nancy put the base of it into her mouth and sawed at the rope on her wrists with the jagged, broken glass. Eventually, the rope frayed, and she pulled her hands free.
The door to the weight room was locked, naturally. But Nancy banged on it a few times, hoping that someone might hear her. No one came.
On her hands and knees again, Nancy felt around the floor, hoping to come across something she could use to pick the lock. She turned around and crawled in the other direction, sweeping her hands across the floor in front of her. By the time she reached the far end, she had picked up nothing but a lot of dust.
Nancy sat down and leaned back against the end wall, trying to decide what to do next. She heard something. Sitting up straighter, she listened closely. There
it was again—the sound of cheering and clapping. Could the fireworks have started already? If they had, then time was really running out. She listened again. People were still laughing and cheering, but she didn’t hear the pop or whine of firecrackers. They were probably just clapping for the music and laughing at their own jokes. Now, if she could just find a way to get out, she could join them.
Frustrated, Nancy banged at one of the locker backs with her fist. It swung in smoothly, just like all the others. Inside, she saw a pale blob of something. Pulling it out, she discovered it was a pair of much-used sweat socks. She started to stuff them back in and then realized how stupid she was being.
These are lockers, you idiot, she told herself. Storage lockers. Find something like a belt buckle or a barrette, and you just might be out of here.
Five minutes later, Nancy was a quarter of the way down the passage, rifling what must have been her fiftieth locker. So far, she had found a belt with the wrong kind of buckle, a deck of playing cards that were too flimsy to wedge open the lock, several combs and brushes, three dozen tennis balls, and enough dirty towels to start a laundry service. But she hadn’t found anything that would help her get out.
Just keep going, Nancy told herself. There has to be something in one of these lockers that I can use. After all, people leave their keys in them; maybe they leave their credit cards, too. Or maybe a pocket knife or a nail clipper.
Pushing open yet another locker back, Nancy dragged out the usual wadded-up towel and then stretched her arm deep inside, hoping that this time she’d be lucky.
Suddenly, there was a screech of metal, and the thin lines of yellow light grew wide. Nancy’s eyes had become so used to the dark by then that she squinted as if a floodlight had been turned on. Then she finally realized that the locker door had been yanked open—from inside the locker room. Before she had a chance to react, a hand had closed over her wrist, the fingers tightening in a powerful grip.