Chapter
Fourteen
BESS SMOOTHED OUT the skirt of her cherry-red dress and stood on tiptoe, trying to get a glimpse of herself in the mirror. “It’s no use,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll have to wait until this place clears out.”
“I’m not in any hurry anyway,” Nancy said tensely. She and George and Bess were in the girls’ bathroom just outside the Bedford High gym. It was the night of the high school’s first big dance. For an hour and a half Nancy had been putting on an act—first when Daryl had picked her up at home, then on the drive to Bedford, and for the past forty-five minutes while she’d been dancing with him. She’d laughed and joked and made conversation, pretending that everything was the same between them. She probably deserved an Oscar for her performance, she told herself wryly. But staying in character was growing difficult. She’d been glad when the band had finally taken a break and she could take refuge in the bathroom and just be herself.
“Well, it won’t be much longer,” she said with a nervous glance at her watch. “I wish my hands weren’t so clammy.”
“Don’t worry,” George told her. “Daryl will just think you’re excited to be with him.”
“Speaking of that,” Bess said, giggling, “what do you think of Alan Wales, Nancy? Isn’t he absolutely gorgeous?”
“Incredible,” Nancy agreed. Actually, she hadn’t paid much attention to Bess’s new heartthrob, but she didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings. “When this case is over, we’ll all have to do something together.”
“Oh, sure, that’ll be great!” Bess said. “Of course, Alan’s really serious about making it in the music business, so he’s always busy. But we’ll try to find a spare hour somewhere.”
Nancy was glad Bess had a new boyfriend, but she just couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for the subject, not at the moment, anyway. It wouldn’t be long before she had to confront Daryl, and that prospect was making her heart pound so hard it almost drowned out the sound of Bess’s voice.
A girl behind Nancy finally moved away from the mirror, and Nancy grabbed the space. Well, you don’t look terrified, she told herself. Actually, she looked good. She was wearing a dress she’d worn the year before, at a university dance with Ned—a soft blue wraparound that hugged her waist and came to a mildly revealing V in the front.
That V had put a sparkle in Daryl’s eyes, but Nancy knew that the sparkle would fade fast once she started talking to him about Jake Webb, a man at a defense plant, and a diplomatic compound. What worried her was what would happen next. If Daryl was the murderer, would he turn on her? It was hard to imagine his getting vicious, but she knew it was a chance she had to take.
Nancy leaned close to the mirror to touch up her lipstick, and just as she brought the tube to her mouth, a girl moved into the space next to her, bumping Nancy’s arm with her elbow.
Nancy stared at the pale red smear on the side of her mouth, and then at the girl who’d helped put it there. Carla Dalton.
George passed Nancy a tissue. Bess raised her eyebrows and shook her head. Nancy wiped her mouth and started over again. Carla ignored everyone, brushed her hair, and then turned to leave.
Suddenly there was a loud shriek, followed by a distinct thud. Carla was sitting on the bathroom floor, skinny legs sticking out in front of her, narrow lips pressed into a thin line of disgust.
Nancy was trying to figure out how Carla had gotten there, not that she cared, when Bess cried out, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Her voice dripped with mock sympathy. “Me and my big feet! My mother always told me to be sure to keep my feet out of the way or people would trip on them, but I guess I just didn’t see you coming.” She shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Here, let me give you a hand up.”
“Don’t bother,” Carla said through clenched teeth. “You’ve done enough!” She got clumsily to her feet and stalked out of the bathroom, but not before Nancy saw a large, soapy water stain smack on the rear of Carla’s peach colored dress.
“Nice work. Thanks,” Nancy whispered to Bess.
“Well, I just couldn’t let her keep dumping on you,” Bess giggled. “You’ve got enough on your mind.”
George fluffed out her short dark curls and then checked her watch. “It’s almost time,” she said. “The band’ll be back in just a couple of minutes.”
Nancy took a deep breath. “You guys know what you’re supposed to do, right?”
George nodded. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there.” She grinned. “By the way, you were right about that date you got for me. He’s terrific.”
“I kind of like him myself,” Nancy agreed with a laugh. “Okay, then,” she went on. “I’ll see you after the next break. Keep your fingers crossed.” With another deep breath and a last look in the mirror, she walked out of the bathroom and into the Bedford High gym.
The band was just reassembling, and Nancy took a moment to try to relax before finding Daryl. The gym was decorated with hundreds of crepe-paper streamers, and colored spotlights sent shafts of red, blue, and orange to the floor. Nancy spotted Walt Hogan, looking happier than she’d ever seen him. She didn’t see Hal or Connie, and she realized that Connie probably never went to dances. Maybe when this case is over, Nancy thought, Connie will straighten her life out and stop trying so desperately to be somebody she’s not.
Alan Wales, the latest love of Bess’s life, picked up his electric guitar and, with a frown of concentration, started in on a wild, pounding rock number that put everyone into motion.
“Okay, Daryl,” Nancy said under her breath, “here I come, ready or not.”
Her heart still pounding, Nancy threaded her way through the crowded gym until she reached Daryl Gray’s side. Without a word, Daryl grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him.
“Hey,” Nancy joked, “this is a fast dance. I don’t think I can move like this.”
“Who wants to move?” Daryl whispered in her ear.
“I know what you mean.” Nancy traced his lips with her finger and pretended to be feeling as passionate as Daryl was. “Let’s just stick around a little while longer, though, okay? If we leave now, everybody will know why.”
“I don’t care about everybody,” Daryl said with a grin. “But all right. As long as we’re here, we might as well dance.”
For almost half an hour, Nancy danced with Daryl. The band was good, keeping up a steady stream of popular rock numbers, as well as a few originals. They were all loud and fast, and it was almost impossible to carry on a conversation. Nancy was just as glad. She’d have to do some fast talking soon enough.
Finally, just before the next break, the band started in on a dreamy slow dance. Daryl took Nancy in his arms and held her tight, barely moving to the music. With a sigh he said, “This has to be the best night I’ve ever had.”
This is it, Nancy told herself. She pulled her head back until she could look in Daryl’s eyes. Touching his lips again, she whispered, “It could be a whole lot better, though, couldn’t it? Especially if we spent some time alone together. I’ve danced enough now. How about you?”
With a slow smile Daryl laced his fingers through hers and led her through the gym, around the slow-dancing couples, and out the door.
Nancy shivered as they crossed the parking lot, but it wasn’t because of the cool night air. It was because the dangerous part of the evening was coming up, when Nancy would find out who Daryl Gray really was. Was he a nice guy gone wrong, or was he a killer?
Except for a few widely spaced lampposts, the Bedford High parking lot was dark, as Nancy had expected. Daryl’s Porsche loomed like a black hulk in the shadows. Nancy forced herself to smile as Daryl unlocked the car and ushered her inside. As he walked around to the driver’s door, she heard strains of music coming from the gym, and wished, for a second, that she were still at the dance.
Once Daryl got in the car, though, Nancy didn’t have time to think of anything but his arms. They were around her immediately, and Nancy couldn’t help remembering that
just a few days before, she’d loved that feeling. She didn’t love it anymore, but even as Daryl held her, she felt a pang of regret that such a gorgeous guy was involved in something so rotten.
Thinking of what Daryl had done, and might have done, made Nancy pull away. “Hey,” she said breathlessly. “Not so fast, there’s plenty of time.”
“I know, I know.” Daryl was just as breathless. “I just love the way you feel.” He leaned forward to kiss her.
Nancy put her arms around his neck, and when the kiss was over, she decided it was time. Bringing her lips close to his ear, she whispered softly, “I thought you’d like to know—I found out why Jake Webb was killed.”
Chapter
Fifteen
FOR A SECOND Daryl didn’t move, and Nancy wondered if he’d even heard her. “Daryl?” she whispered again.
Finally, slowly, Daryl pulled away from her and sat back. In the faint light Nancy could see a look of surprise on his face. But fear was mixed with that surprise, and she knew that nothing was ever going to be the same between them again.
“Well,” Daryl said. “Good work, Detective. How’d you do it?”
“I was lucky,” Nancy admitted. “A piece of evidence was right in front of me, but I didn’t see it for a while. It was on the tape.”
“The tape? Jake’s tape?” Daryl asked sharply.
“The one and only.”
“Wow, you never know, do you?” Daryl gave a low whistle. “So which one did it?”
What an actor, Nancy thought. “It wasn’t Hal or Connie,” she told him. “It wasn’t Walt Hogan, either.” That was a guess on Nancy’s part.
Daryl frowned. “But I thought you said you knew who killed Jake.”
“No, I didn’t. I said I knew why he was killed. There’s a big difference.”
Daryl shifted impatiently. “He was killed because he was blackmailing people and one of them finally stood up to him. We already know that.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Nancy agreed. “But it wasn’t one of those three. They were all tucked in their beds when Jake took that fall.” Nancy was still going on guesswork. For all she knew, Hal, Connie, and Walt could have formed a team and pushed Jake down the stairs on the count of three. But she didn’t believe it, not for a minute. “So,” she went on, “don’t you want me to tell you what I found?”
“It’s not exactly what I had in mind when we came out here,” Daryl said, trying to joke, “but if you really want to talk instead of . . . doing other things, then go ahead.”
“Okay, here’s what I saw on the tape,” Nancy said. “I call it ‘The Daryl Gray Show.’ ” Calmly and quietly she went on to describe exactly what she and Bess and George had seen after Daryl had left her house that afternoon. “Surprised doesn’t even come close to the way I felt when that tape ended,” she said. “Sick is more like it.”
Daryl didn’t say anything, so Nancy kept talking. “But I was confused, too. I mean, I still didn’t know what Jake had on you. So I decided to find out. I don’t have to tell you where I went, do I? Out Route 110 to a U.S. defense plant. Then back to Bedford to a private estate where Russian diplomats hang out—relax, study a lot of top-secret plans from the defense plant, stuff like that.”
Nancy shook her head and laughed softly. “I can just imagine how Jake felt when he realized what was going on. He must have thought he was sitting on a gold mine.” She leaned forward slightly, and in the semi-darkness, she saw the expression on Daryl’s face. He looked resigned, like a trapped animal that knows it can’t get free. But like that trapped animal, he also looked angry, ready to strike out at anyone who came close.
For the first time since she’d left the dance with Daryl, Nancy felt she might be in danger. He was so close to her, physically, and she found herself wishing the Porsche were a little more roomy. Some space would be nice just then, the length of a football field, for example.
You’re almost finished, she told herself. Just get it over with. “I know Jake told you that he’d found out your secret. I don’t know how much of your ‘salary’ you had to fork over to keep him quiet, but that doesn’t matter,” Nancy said. “It probably didn’t even matter to Jake after a while, because Jake decided to go after the bigger fish, didn’t he? Which of your ‘contacts’ did he try to blackmail? The one at the defense plant? The one here in Bedford? Both?”
Daryl turned his head to look at her, and Nancy saw that the anger was growing stronger. “Well, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll find out.” She spoke quickly, wanting to finish before Daryl exploded. “What I really want to know—and what I think you can tell me—is who killed Jake. Was it you?”
The explosion came then. Nancy felt Daryl’s hand—the touch of which had once made her quiver with excitement—close over her wrist in a painfully tight grip. Then he was getting out of the car, dragging her roughly after him. Nancy stumbled and felt her knee scrape the parking lot pavement, but Daryl had grabbed her arms by then, and was pulling her up and pushing her against the car.
“Listen,” he whispered hoarsely, “Jake got in over his head, and so have you. If you think I’m a killer, what makes you think I’d stop with Jake Webb?”
Nancy saw the look of desperate fury in Daryl’s eyes and knew she needed help. Fortunately she’d planned for it. As she stared back at Daryl, she saw his eyes blink suddenly as three sets of headlights were switched on in three different locations. The glare blinded both of them for a second, but Nancy heard car doors opening and knew that Bess and George were on their way. Most important, George’s “blind” date—Ned Nickerson—was with them. Nancy was glad he’d come home for the weekend. Knowing he was there made her feel stronger.
Daryl heard the doors, too, and the sound of hurried footsteps on the pavement. He turned his head just in time to see the three figures moving swiftly toward the Porsche. Then he ran.
“Nan, are you all right?” Bess called out.
“I’m fine!” Nancy shouted back. She took off after Daryl, but before she’d taken even two steps, she felt someone rush past her. When she saw who it was, she stopped. Ned Nickerson could handle Daryl Gray any day of the week.
Ned’s strong legs easily ate up the distance between him and Daryl. As Nancy watched he sprang into the air, landed on Daryl’s back, and brought them both crashing to the ground. Then he was up, yanking Daryl to his feet. He half-dragged him back to the Porsche and slammed him up against its side.
“Ned!” Nancy had never seen him act so rough. When he’d arrived earlier, she’d told him everything about Daryl, except for his feelings about her—and vice versa. She was saving that for later, when the case was all cleared up. But seeing the tension in Ned’s face, she wondered if he suspected something. She hoped not. She definitely couldn’t handle it at the moment.
But then Ned loosened his grip on Daryl’s jacket and turned to Nancy with an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” he said. “I tend to get carried away when some killer threatens my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend!” Daryl exclaimed. Then he cried, “I’m not a killer!”
“You could have fooled me,” Ned said quietly, as he stepped away from Daryl and let Nancy take over.
“You didn’t kill Jake Webb?” Nancy asked.
Daryl shook his head. “I just said that stuff to scare you off.” His voice was drained of energy. He looked like a whipped puppy. “The guy at the defense plant—Mitch Dillon—killed Jake. He told me so.” Daryl took a shaky breath and then went on. “See, Jake wasn’t satisfied with blackmailing just me. So he forced me to get him in touch with Mitch. Mitch played along with him, let Jake set up a meeting at the school. Then he told Jake to give him the tape or he’d kill him.” Daryl shook his head again, as if he couldn’t quite believe it. “I don’t have to tell you what happened then.”
“Knowing Jake, he probably laughed at the guy,” Nancy said.
“Yeah, and he died laughing, the stupid jerk.” Daryl was calmer now. There was no anger in his voice, jus
t sadness. “Anyway, when Mitch didn’t get the tape he was ready to explode. He told me to get it, came on really strong with all kinds of threats.”
“It was you in the video lab that day, wasn’t it?” Nancy asked.
Daryl nodded. “I started to chase you,” he explained, “but I just couldn’t go through with it. I mean, what was I supposed to do when I caught you? Beat you up?” He smiled weakly and shrugged. “Waiting until you told me about the tape was one of the hardest times I’ve ever been through. But then when I watched it with you, I wasn’t on it. I thought I could put this whole thing behind me.”
Finally Nancy had the entire story. She should have felt like celebrating, but she didn’t. She felt more like crying. From the looks on Bess’s and George’s faces, she could tell they felt the same way. How could you celebrate when someone-—even a creep like Jake Webb—had been murdered? When Daryl Gray’s life was probably ruined?
Nancy glanced at Ned. As usual, he sensed how she felt before she had to tell him. He came over and put his arm around her shoulders. Nancy smiled at him and then turned back to Daryl.
“I don’t think you’ll ever be able to put it behind you,” she told him. “Not completely, anyway. You’ll have to face up to what you’ve done, and to what the government will want to do to you.”
Daryl didn’t bother to answer. He just gave a defeated shrug, not meeting her eyes.
“But I think I know a way for you to make it a whole lot easier on yourself,” Nancy went on.
Daryl raised his head, a spark of interest in his beautiful eyes. “How?”
“By helping us catch the murderer.”
“You’ve got to be kidding! Mitch has nothing to lose at this point.” Daryl’s eyes swept over the parking lot, as if he were trying to find an escape route. But he was trapped, and he knew it. “Don’t you understand?!” he screamed. “He’ll kill me!”
Chapter