Flirting with Danger (13 page)

“I'm not sure,” Nancy replied. “Burglary is a felony, but the judge might be lenient because Ralph coerced you.”

“My mom and dad are going to be so upset!”

“I'm sure they'll deal with it. The most important thing to them is your safety.”

“What about Peter?” Rachel asked. “And Mike?”

Nancy sighed. “My guess is that the courts will be pretty hard on Peter, considering what he did.”

“His parents are going to be really angry,” Rachel said.

“I honestly don't know about Mike, but he's obviously in pretty deep,” Nancy said.

Rachel nodded sadly. “Where's Josh?”

“Upstairs, standing guard,” Ned replied, laying a hand on Rachel's shoulder.

At that moment three uniformed officers came into the kitchen, their guns drawn. Lieutenant Heller was close behind.

He looked as if he'd dressed hurriedly, and he was surprised when he saw Nancy. “Sorry for the delay. They didn't call me right away. They thought Ned's call was a prank. Someone who knew about the case saw the note, and then we got into high gear. So tell me what's happening.”

“We got Rachel back and solved the Beverly
Hills robberies. The ringleader is Ralph Lindenbaum—he's upstairs, in the attic, with his right-hand man, Peter Henley, and Mike Rasmussen,” Nancy replied.

The lieutenant's gaze fell on Rachel. “Hello there, young lady,” he said kindly. “We've been looking for you.”

“Rachel and Dennis have a few things they want to tell you,” Nancy said quietly.

The detective got out his notebook and sat down at the table. The uniformed officers, in the meantime, were going up to bring down Ralph, Mike, and Peter.

“Read them their rights, then take them downtown and book them,” Heller said without looking away from Rachel and Dennis. “Now let's hear it, kids—right from the start.”

Slowly, haltingly at first, Rachel explained how she and Beth and Jessica had joined in the robbery at Sound Performance, thinking it was a practical joke. Then she went on to say that Ralph had used the security tape, which had been running that night, to blackmail them into committing further burglaries.

“What about you, Dennis?” the lieutenant asked quietly when Rachel had finished speaking. “How did you get involved?”

Dennis lowered his eyes for a moment, then met the lieutenant's gaze squarely. “I'm
guilty,” he said. “I guess I pretty much knew what was going on when Rasmussen and Henley planned the rip-off at Sound Performance. I should have stopped them from getting the girls to join in, but I didn't.”

“I'm going to have to take you and Rachel down to the station for questioning,” the detective said. “And I have to be honest with you—there's every chance that you'll be charged, Dennis.”

Dennis swallowed visibly, and his arm tightened around Rachel's shoulders. “What about Rachel?”

“I don't know. One thing I do know, though—I need the names of all the other kids who were involved.”

Rachel lifted her eyes to Josh's face, and her brother nodded solemnly. “Beth Hanford,” she began in a small, shaky voice. “Jessica Bates . . .”

• • •

It was late when Mr. Kline brought an ashen-faced Rachel home from the police station. His face was grim as he greeted his anxious wife. “Charges have been filed against all the kids,” he said. When Mrs. Kline gasped, he added, “Our attorney thinks Rachel will probably get a long probationary period and some public service, since she was essentially
coerced into the crime. Dennis may get off lightly, too, since he was prepared to go to the police when he and Rachel took off.”

“What about Ralph and Peter?” Nancy asked.

“Lindenbaum is being charged with grand theft, kidnapping, and conspiracy,” Mr. Kline explained. “Henley, too, only he's got assault and attempted murder added on for good measure.”

Mrs. Kline put her arms around Rachel. “You're exhausted, dear. You have to get some sleep. And so should you,” she said, turning to her son.

Josh shook his head. “I'm due at the studio in an hour,” he said. “I'll just take a shower and grab some breakfast.”

Nancy was exhausted, but she knew she was probably too wound up to sleep. “What about Jessica and Mike?” she asked. “What's going to happen to them?”

Rachel looked sad. “They'll probably have to go to jail for a while.”

“And Beth?”

“She wanted to tell from the first,” Rachel said. “And you said she didn't give you away when she saw you peeking out of the cellar door.”

“There's one last thing,” Nancy said, remembering
how Dennis had disappeared from the Snake Pit that night. “What was Dennis doing at the club if you two were laying low?”

“He wanted to reason with Peter,” Rachel said. “I told him it was useless, but he wouldn't listen to me. Then, when he saw Mike and everyone else there, he was afraid he'd be caught. That's why he took off.”

“What I don't understand is why you let this go on so long,” Karen Kline said to her daughter in a sad voice. “Why didn't you call us sooner? You knew we'd have helped.”

Rachel sighed. Nancy could tell it was the one thing the girl couldn't really explain. “I thought Dennis and I could take care of it ourselves. We'd gotten into the mess, and somehow we had to get out of it.”

“Don't ever think that way again,” Allen Kline told his daughter. “You know we're here for you, no matter what you do.”

“It wasn't easy for you, was it, Rachel?” Nancy asked, genuinely concerned.

The girl swallowed hard and looked at her family. “No. I'm just glad it's all over.”

“Me, too,” Josh said, and he turned to Ned and Nancy. “Now maybe you two can have that vacation you planned.”

Karen Kline smiled at her son's effort to
cheer them all up. Allen put an arm around his daughter.

Nancy hooked her arm through Ned's. “That sounds great. I have to admit I'm ready for a little relaxation.”

Ned grinned at her. “Me, too. For a while there it was beginning to look like we'd have to go back to River Heights to get it!”

“What would you say to a nice romantic walk on the beach?” Nancy suggested playfully.

“No spying on anyone?” Ned asked with a gleam in his eye.

“No spying,” Nancy assured him. “This time it'll be the real thing.”

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.

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