Circle of Evil (13 page)

The whole area was lit by torches, and
Nancy knew she'd have trouble picking out specific faces in the flickering light, but she stepped into the crowd, anyway. They have to be here, she told herself. They were planning to come back for her when the party was over, and they wouldn't want to go too far while they waited. Besides, Zach was the bartender. He had a job to do. And if he wasn't doing it in the lounge, then he must be outside, passing around trays of drinks.

As Nancy was edging her way through a knot of people, someone put a hot dog in her hand. She gratefully ate it while she continued searching. She saw Detective Ryan over by the swimming pool and caught his eye. Shaking his head, he gave her a thumbs-down signal.

Turning around, Nancy walked back to the lounge door, hoping that maybe Zach had returned for a refill. He hadn't, but on the far side of the room she saw Bess and George. When they spotted her, they waved and smiled, glad to see that she was okay. Nancy quickly joined them and explained who the thieves were. But neither girl had seen them, so Nancy decided to move on to the golf course.

Wishing she had another hot dog, Nancy pushed her way through clumps of people and finally made it to the smooth grass of the golf
course. She stopped a second to take off her sandals, just in case she had to do any running. Carrying them in her hand, she started wandering through the happy crowd, checking every face but never finding the right ones.

Suddenly, the noise of the crowd seemed to get even louder. A cheer went up, and everyone started clapping. A man said, “This is the biggest one ever. I bet they'll see it as far away as Chicago.” Looking to where he was pointing—at a small hill just a short distance from the crowd—Nancy could see where the fireworks display had been set up, and she realized it was about to begin.

Frustrated, Nancy turned around, and that was when she saw them. Two of them, anyway. Standing close together, Zach and Rita were looking at the hill, too. Zach raised his hand to point something out to Rita, and then he caught sight of Nancy.

Slowly, he lowered his hand, watching Nancy the whole time. Not taking her eyes off him, either, Nancy started moving in their direction. She ignored the jostling crowds around her.

Suddenly, when she was about ten feet from them, Nancy stopped walking. Zach hadn't taken a single step, and now she saw why. In his hand, barely hidden by a jacket tossed over
his arm, was the gun. He raised it and pointed it straight at her. In a flash, Nancy realized that he was waiting for the fireworks to start before firing it. It was a perfect cover. Between the exploding firecrackers and the screams of the crowd, no one would hear a single silenced shot that would leave her lying on the ground.

A
S QUICKLY AS
she could, Nancy glanced over her shoulder. The group of people in charge of the fireworks display had broken apart, and one man was checking his watch. Nancy realized that it was only a matter of seconds.

Looking back, she saw that Zach and Rita still hadn't moved. They were just waiting for the right moment.

Although there weren't crowds of people around her, there were people nearby. And Nancy knew that if she tried to protect herself, either she could lose Zach and Rita, or some
innocent person could get hurt, or both. It wasn't worth the risk. She dropped her sandals and tossed her hair out of her eyes, but she stayed where she was.

The spectators became quieter. Shrieks of laughter died down to giggles, and loud conversations faded to soft murmurs. Nancy knew it was time for the fireworks—if she was going to do something, she had to do it then.

Before the first burst of a firecracker and the
whoosh
of a Roman candle shooting into the sky, Nancy ran and closed the gap between Zach and herself. And at the exact same moment that the club's most spectacular and biggest display got underway, Nancy leaped on him, both hands grabbing the arm that held the gun and forcing it straight up into the air.

The gun went off, its bullet shooting harmlessly into the sky, which was now filled with multicolored lights and bursting stars that glowed and then disappeared.

Nancy let go of Zach's arm with one hand, using it to dig her fingers into his throat. At the same time, she brought her knee up, giving him a sharp kick in the stomach.

Zach gasped and doubled over, and when he raised his head again, Nancy hit him on the jaw. Unconscious, he fell sideways onto the grass.

Breathing hard, Nancy looked for Rita, who was scrambling out of the area as fast as she could. Nancy stretched out her hand to grab the gun, when someone planted a foot on her wrist, pressing down hard and painfully.

Nancy looked up into the pale eyes of Max Fletcher.

“That was
very
exciting,” Max said as he surreptitiously picked up and pocketed the gun. “But I'm afraid we've all had enough excitement for one night,” he said to a couple of people who had glanced over to watch the antics on the ground.

Aiming the gun at her through his jacket pocket, Max said, “Come on, sweetie. Enough fooling around.”

Slowly, Nancy got to her feet, keeping her eye on the gun.

“Oh, I'll use it all right,” Max whispered into her ear. “Smile at anyone who looks at you, and walk nicely, or I will have to kill you.”

Beside her, Nancy heard a low moan and realized that Zach was coming to. Rubbing his jaw, Zach got shakily to his feet and joined Max.

“Let's go now, shall we, sweetie?” Max said, smiling.

The fireworks were going strong; the sky was
lit up for miles, and the air reeked of gunpowder. Amazing, she thought, that just a couple of people even noticed what had happened. And they thought she and Zach were just goofing off.

As soon as they got close to the clubhouse, Nancy scanned the crowds for someone who knew her. If she could spot Detective Ryan, Ned, Bess, or George, she'd be all right. They'd
know
she was in trouble.

“Keep going,” Max ordered, still in a whisper. “Around by the pool.”

The crowd was thickest around the pool area, and Nancy hated the thought of getting into the middle of it. There wouldn't be room to try anything if she was packed in. But with a gun at her back, she didn't have much say in the matter.

As the three of them moved slowly through the crowd, a sudden shout went up. Nancy didn't pay much attention at first; it was probably just another reaction to the fireworks. Then she realized that the shout wasn't quite the same as the others she had been hearing. People weren't screaming in amazement over some fabulous pyrotechnic display. They were yelling because something completely unexpected had happened.

“I knew this was going to be a wild night,”
Nancy heard someone say. “But I still can't believe it. I mean, first the girl jumps into the diving pool with all her clothes on, and then the guy follows her, tie and all!”

A tie? Nancy thought. The only person who could possibly be wearing a tie to a Fourth of July party is Detective Ryan. And the only reason for him to be in the pool is that he's after Rita.

Glancing back, Nancy saw that Max and Zach hadn't paid any attention to the comment about the people in the pool. This was her chance.

Pretending that it was the only way to move through the crowd, Nancy began to make a path closer and closer to the diving pool. If I can get close enough, she thought, maybe Detective Ryan will see me.

When they reached the edge of the pool, Nancy looked down. In the middle of it, soaked to the skin, were Rita and Detective Ryan. Nancy was just about to call out when Zach spotted them. “Look,” he said to Max. “It's Rita. She's been caught!”

“Too bad,” Max commented. To Nancy, he whispered, “Keep moving. One word and I'll pull the trigger.”

Nancy moved, but not the way Max had expected. She whirled around, reached out her
arms, and shoved. Losing his balance, Max crashed backward into Zach, and, like two dominoes, they fell into the water.

In the water, Rita was swimming as quickly as she could toward the edge. But Nancy planted herself in front of her. “You can get out, Rita,” she said. “But that's about as far as you'll go.” Then she called to Detective Ryan, “Look out, Detective, one of them has a gun!”

“Not anymore!” he shouted back. Holding the gun out of the water, the detective motioned for Zach and Max to swim to the side.

Dripping wet, the three thieves climbed out of the pool, followed by Detective Ryan. By this time, George, Ned, and Bess had joined Nancy, and the four friends watched as the detective put handcuffs on the culprits.

As he started to lead them away, Detective Ryan turned back to Nancy. “Pretty nice work, Ms. Drew,” he said. Then he left.

Bess gasped, amazement written across her delicate features. “Is he serious?” she said. “You just caught the crooks for him single-handedly. If it hadn't been for you, they'd be out of town by now. And that's all the thanks you get?”

“Forget it,” Nancy told her. “The detective's just not the grateful type, I guess. Anyway, the important thing is it's over. Finally,
we can relax a little and watch the rest of the fireworks!”

• • •

“It's just fantastic!” Joanna said, plopping herself into a lounge chair beside Nancy. “I mean, you caught them, you found my necklace, and my parents don't get back until tomorrow!”

It was the fifth of July, and Nancy was back at the country club. When she had called Joanna that morning to tell her that the case had been solved, Joanna had insisted on meeting her at the club. “I've been away too long,” Joanna had said. “I need some sun. Besides, I can't wait to tell everybody what happened.”

After the last few days, the club was the last place Nancy wanted to be, but she had finally agreed.

“I didn't really find out where they kept the stuff they stole,” Nancy said now. “Detective Ryan made them admit that Rita had stashed it in her apartment.”

“Oh, don't be so modest,” Joanna said. “If it hadn't been for you, I'd be in big trouble. But now? As I said, my parents will be slightly mad, but once they know the necklace is back, they'll be calm about it all.”

“Do you mind if I give you some advice?” Nancy asked.

“No, go ahead.”

“Don't talk so much,” Nancy suggested.

Joanna looked insulted.

“I mean, don't talk so much about the things you have,” Nancy said quickly. “Especially the expensive things. And don't let the whole world know when your house will be empty. You never know who might be listening.”

“Believe me, I'm going to keep my mouth shut from now on,” Joanna said. Then, as she saw the lifeguard coming out of the clubhouse, she cried, “Mike! Guess what? Nancy found my necklace! It's a good thing I never told Max or Zach or Rita about that safe in the dining room, isn't it? That's where my parents keep cash, and I'm not talking about small bills, either!”

Shaking her head, Nancy decided to leave. Joanna would never change, but if she was lucky, maybe she'd never run into another Zach or Rita.

As Nancy walked toward her car, she almost bumped into Detective Ryan. He was wearing a striped tie, but otherwise he looked the same—grimly serious.

“Hi,” Nancy said. “How did everything go after I left last night?”

“By the book,” the detective said. “I just
came to tell Ms. Tate that her necklace will have to be used as evidence, so she won't get it back as soon as she thought.”

“Uh-oh,” Nancy said. “She's not going to be very happy about that.”

Detective Ryan looked annoyed. “What does she expect?” he asked. “Does she think everything that happened was just a bad dream?”

“Something like that,” Nancy said. “But don't worry. Even if she doesn't like it, she'll cooperate.”

“Good.” The detective started to walk away, and then he stopped. “By the way,” he said, “I don't know if I told you, but you did a good job.”

“You told me,” Nancy said. “You said, ‘pretty nice work.' ” She laughed. “I expected you to say ‘pretty nice work, for an
amateur.
' ”

To her surprise, Detective Ryan shook his head, chuckling the way he had in the locker room the night before.

“What's so funny this time?” Nancy asked.

“Same thing,” he said. “I might as well admit it. I was laughing at myself because I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been not to listen to you.”

“I've got an idea,” Nancy said with a grin.
“Why don't we try to work together from now on? We might solve more cases. And if it doesn't work out, well, we can always break the truce and start arguing again. Deal, Detective Ryan?”

He grinned back. “Deal, Detective Drew.”

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.