005 Hit and Run Holiday (5 page)

It was impossible to talk over the buzz of the motor and the thumping of the waves as the boat plowed through the ocean, but Nancy did manage to ask Dirk where they were going.
When he answered her—telling her they were headed for a small island—he leaned so close she could smell his aftershave. He reminded her of Daryl Gray, a guy she’d almost fallen for. In fact, there was a lot about Dirk that reminded her of Daryl. He was gorgeous and friendly and would be easy to fall for too, but Nancy wasn’t about to do that. She was after information, not involvement.

After twenty minutes, Dirk cut the motor and let the boat drift gently toward a sandy island dotted with palm trees. It shimmered in the sun, like a beautiful mirage.

“This is where we bring all the party-goers,” he explained. “We drop them off around midnight and pick them up a few hours later. It’s wild, sort of a big bash in the middle of nowhere.”

Nancy nodded, remembering that he worked for some kind of excursion boat. As they beached the motorboat, she asked if he liked the job.

“It’s great,” he said. “And my boss, Lila Templeton, is one fun lady. Running these parties to nowhere isn’t a job for her—she doesn’t need one. Her boat is just a big toy. Ever eat a Templeton orange?”

“Probably,” Nancy said.

“Well, every time you do, you’re putting money in Lila’s pocket. Her family owns half the citrus and sugarcane farms in Florida.”

Nancy looked around. The island really is in the middle of nowhere, she thought. “Where does the party boat go after you drop everybody off?” she asked.

“Oh, it just cruises around.” Dirk took Nancy’s hand again and smiled at her. “I’m really glad you came out with me, you know. I wanted to be alone with you the minute I laid eyes on you, Detective.”

Again Nancy noticed the warmth of his hand and the dimple alongside his mouth. Dirk Bowman was a real charmer, all right, but charm wasn’t what she was after. “You called me ‘detective,’ ” she pointed out, “so let’s do some detecting, okay?”

With a laugh, Dirk agreed, so while they stripped down to their bathing suits, unloaded the surfboards, and unfurled the brightly colored sails, Nancy told him what had gone on the day before without giving away any important details. By the time she finished, they were on the boards, paddling away from the shore. “It’s your turn,” she said. “Tell me what
you
know.”

Dirk sighed and shook his head. “Sorry, Detective. I’m afraid I came up with a great big zero.”

Stunned, Nancy sat up, straddling the board. He never knew anything in the first place, she told herself furiously. It was just a line to get you out here, and you fell for it!

As if he read her mind, Dirk reached out and touched her knee. “Aw, come on, Detective. Don’t be mad. I did ask around, but nobody knew anything. If I’d told you that this morning, you wouldn’t have come with me, right?”

“Right,” Nancy agreed instantly.

But Dirk didn’t look insulted. Instead, he laughed. “Look at it this way. You’re already in the water, so why not relax and let me teach you how to windsurf? It’s the least I can do.”

His laugh was hard for Nancy to resist, even with the thoughts of Ricardo and Kim and Rosita whirling through her mind. But she managed to keep a straight face. “One lesson, one ride,” she said seriously. “That’s it. Then we go back.”

“You got it, Detective,” Dirk promised. He went on to give her instructions about how to handle the board, how to pull up the sail, when to turn the boom, and how to bail out. “Always bail out backward, right onto your backside,” he said. “That way the board won’t break your skull.”

Soon, Nancy was on her own, in deep water. Carefully she eased up from her stomach to her knees, reached into the water, and pulled up the sail. Keeping a tight grip on the boom, she got to her feet, found her balance, and stood up straight.

Wind filled the sail, and suddenly Nancy felt
as if she were flying over the water. She heard Dirk shouting encouragement and found herself laughing out loud as the board slapped over the waves. For just a moment, she forgot about everything but the sun and the wind and the salt spray.

Just when Nancy thought she was going as fast as it was possible to go, the board picked up speed. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it, so she turned the boom, hoping to slow down. But she must have turned it the wrong way, because the sail was so full it looked ready to rip. Nancy decided to try one more time to slow down. If that didn’t work, then she’d bail out.

Nancy turned the boom. Instantly, the pole fell over as if it had been snapped in two. The board tipped, pushing Nancy forward, and before she had time to react, she found herself hitting the water. Behind her, the heavy surfboard rose up like a sailfish leaping from the ocean. Then it started to fall—heading straight for Nancy’s head.

N
ANCY TOSSED HER
head back and desperately gulped in a mouthful of air. The board was falling fast; in a few seconds it would be on top of her. Nancy flipped sideways, kicked up with her legs, and felt the lethal board graze her thigh as she pulled herself deep under the water.

The current was strong; it somersaulted her over and over until she couldn’t tell which way was up. Her lungs felt ready to burst, and for a second, she almost panicked. She’d escaped the surfboard, she realized frantically, but she was in danger of drowning.

Just as she thought she might never make it,
Nancy caught sight of the sky above her. The undercurrent tried to spin her over again, but she fought it and pulled herself up through the water until her head broke the surface. Gratefully Nancy filled her lungs with air, pushed her streaming hair out of her face, and looked around. Just a few feet away, her surfboard bobbed peacefully on the waves. Nancy swam over to it and climbed on, then spotted her sail. It was spread out on the water like a giant magenta scarf, and Nancy remembered that awful snap she’d felt when she’d turned the boom. What had happened? Those poles had to be sturdy, they couldn’t just snap in two when the wind got strong. Or could they?

Off in the distance, Dirk Bowman was stretched out on his board, pulling himself against the current to reach Nancy. She waved to let him know she was okay, then caught hold of her sail and dragged it from the water. Hand over hand, she pulled the pole up. When she saw the end of it, where it had snapped, she shivered in spite of the hot sun beating down on her back.

There was a clean slice three quarters of the way through the pole and then a ragged edge where the wind had done the rest of the job. Someone had sawed partway through it, and Nancy shivered again, remembering Ricardo standing at the dock that morning, watching her climb into the boat.

Nancy raised her head and looked at Dirk, who was still bucking the waves to get to her. Maybe he and Ricardo knew each other. Why not? Their jobs brought them to the same beach every day, and maybe Dirk had mentioned that he was taking her windsurfing, so Ricardo had decided to try to get rid of her, making it look like an accident. Just like Kim, Nancy thought.

First the man-of-war, then the windsurfing incident. Ricardo wasn’t exactly subtle with the messages he was sending her, and Nancy wondered how many more “accidents” she’d have to survive before she found out what he was involved in.

She was still staring at the pole, fingering the ragged edge, when she heard the buzz of a motor close by. Looking up, she saw a sleek raspberry-and-turquoise speedboat heading toward her. It zipped past, making choppy waves so that Nancy had to drop the pole and clutch the board with both hands. The driver made a sharp turn and then sped back, cutting the twin engines at the last possible second.

“Hi there!” the driver called out. She was a beautiful woman just a couple of years older than Nancy, with golden skin, silky blond hair, and a smile in her wide green eyes. “Need a lift?” she asked.

“It looks that way, doesn’t it?” Nancy said, laughing. “I’m not really stranded though.”
She pointed to Dirk. “But thanks for the offer.”

The woman pulled her dark glasses down from the top of her head and peered through them at Dirk. “Oh, are you with him? Well, let me tell you, he’s cute, but he’s a klutz, if you know what I mean. I should know—I’m his boss.” With a delightful smile, she stuck her hand over the side of the boat. “I’m Lila Templeton.”

So she was the fun lady Dirk had mentioned. Shaking Lila’s outstretched hand, Nancy glanced over her shoulder at Dirk, who was closer but still struggling with the waves. He lied to get me out here, she thought, and now it’s time to pay him back. Laughing again, she hauled herself into Lila’s boat. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer after all,” she said, “if you don’t mind stopping at the island a moment so I can get my things.”

Grinning, Lila Templeton started the engines, and the boat took off with a roar. As they passed Dirk, Lila slowed long enough to shout, “I want to talk to you the minute you get back!” She and Nancy made a fast stop at the island. Then Lila put the boat into high gear and sped off, leaving Dirk Bowman floundering in its wake.

As they sped back to the mainland, Lila kept up a steady stream of chatter about where Nancy should go and what she should do while
she was in Florida. Mostly, though, she gave a sales pitch for her party to nowhere. “It’s absolutely the wildest party you’ll ever go to,” she shouted. “You ought to try it while you’re down here. You won’t forget it, I promise you that!”

Nancy started to say that Dirk had already invited her, but she changed her mind. Lila seemed genuinely friendly, and Nancy didn’t want to disappoint her. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have time for any wild island parties. She had other things to do, she thought grimly, and other people to see. Beginning with Ricardo.

“So what brings you to Lauderdale?” Lila asked, as they approached the docks. “Let me guess—spring break, right?”

“Right,” Nancy said. She didn’t like lying, but even though Lila seemed harmless and empty-headed, Nancy decided she shouldn’t trust anyone. She’d talked to Dirk and look what had happened. Dirk had probably mentioned her to Ricardo, and it was just luck that her surfboard hadn’t cracked open her skull half an hour ago.

When Lila docked the boat, Nancy thanked her for the ride and climbed out. “Don’t forget the party, Nancy!” Lila called after her, and Nancy said she wouldn’t. But she knew that that night she wouldn’t be at any party.

Twenty minutes later, Nancy had grabbed a
bite to eat and was back on Fort Lauderdale Beach, looking for Ricardo. She had a strong urge to use one of George’s most painful judo moves on him, but she knew that instead she would simply have to be patient. She would have to watch him, see where he went, whom he talked to. If she was careful, he just might lead her to Rosita.

The first place Nancy checked was Ricardo’s lifeguard chair, but he wasn’t in it. She strolled along the beach, keeping one eye out for Ricardo and the other out for stray men-of-war. Two of a kind, she thought with a grim smile.

Finally Nancy spotted the lifeguard standing ankle-deep in the surf. Beside him, holding his hand, was a blond girl in a red string bikini. It was Bess.

Nancy stopped, trying to figure out what to do. If Ricardo found out she and Bess were friends, he might decide that Bess should be the victim of a few accidents too. But if he thought that Bess was just another pretty girl out for a good time, he might relax with her. And Bess might learn something important about him. Nancy dropped back, trying to blend in with a group of sunbathers.

“Well, hi there, how’s your foot?” a voice shouted. “I see you survived your encounter with the deadly man-of-war!”

Wishing he’d keep his voice down, Nancy
smiled at the boy who’d helped her up the day before. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said softly.

“Great! I gotta hand it to you, you said you’d be back and here you are!” The boy didn’t lower his voice a notch.

“Right,” Nancy replied, watching as Ricardo turned his head and looked straight at her. Without a word to Bess, he dropped her hand and trotted down the beach, through the mass of sunbathing bodies, and out of sight. Here I am and there he goes, Nancy thought.

Bess looked at Nancy, her expression puzzled. Nancy waved goodbye to the boy and went to join Bess.

“Gosh,” said Bess. “That was weird. That guy took one look at you and left.”

Nancy started to explain that his name was Ricardo, and that he was the one she’d seen snooping around Kim’s hotel room. But Bess was off on another subject.

“You’re back awfully soon,” she remarked. “Didn’t your date with Dirk work out?”

“As a matter of fact, it was a real washout,” Nancy admitted. “I shouldn’t have gone with him. He didn’t know a thing about the case.”

“So now I guess he’s through with you, right?” Bess said sarcastically. “Gee, maybe I still have a chance.”

“Come on, Bess.” Nancy sighed. “I’m sorry things got messed up for you, but you know I’m trying to find out what happened to Kim.”

“Oh, and speaking of Kim,” Bess said, “she still hasn’t come to. While you were off with Dirk I was at the hospital. George is there now, but she has to leave in about an hour.” Bess waded out of the water and onto the hard-packed sand. “Maybe you should go visit her. . . . So this Ricardo is really the same guy you saw in Kim’s hotel room?”