Diamond Deceit Page 10

Nancy took a quick breath. She didn’t know how much longer she could distract Stephanie. “Rachel is at the police station right now, telling them everything she knows,” Nancy lied. She had to try anything.

  “That’s a laugh!” Stephanie said. “The police will end up putting her in jail once Morgan and I are through with her.”

  Nancy shot the agent a nervous glance. “Why? What have you done?”

  “It’s what we’re going to do that’s important,” Stephanie said. “Rachel will be the one who gets blamed for the diamond theft, Joanna’s murder—everything. You see, the police will find out that she has a history of stealing jewels that don’t belong to her. They’ll find the old setting for Joanna’s diamonds hidden in Rachel’s apartment. Morgan will find a good spot for it. I’m sure the police will assume she killed Joanna, too.”

  “I’m sure,” Nancy said sarcastically.

  “But enough about Rachel,” Stephanie said, her expression hardening.

  As the agent started toward her, Nancy knew her time was up. She twisted the lock one last time, and it turned!

  Stephanie slipped in a small puddle of water left by the dripping diamonds. Nancy didn’t waste a second. Yanking open the terrace doors, she tore outside.

  She tried to run but was slowed by the pain in her ankle. The stairs leading to the beach were right in front of her, and Nancy started down them.

  She gasped when she felt hands shove against her back. She swayed slightly, then plunged forward.

  “No!” Nancy screamed. The last thing she felt was a blinding pain as her head struck the stairs. Then everything went black.

  Chapter

  Sixteen

  NANCY COULDN’T figure out why she had her clothes on in the bathtub or why she’d let the water get so cold. She didn’t want to open her eyes to find out, because her head was throbbing.

  At last she managed to open one eye, but all she saw was swirling gray. Perhaps her dream wasn’t over yet. Nancy opened both eyes, then slowly sat up. If she was dreaming, her head and ankle wouldn’t hurt so much.

  Beneath her Nancy felt the rough surface of a large rock. Water lapped gently against her body, and fog wrapped her in a gray blanket. She couldn’t see more than two feet in front of her.

  Nancy tried to think where she was. How had she ended up here?

  Then it all came back to her—the scene with Stephanie and getting pushed down the steps. She gingerly felt her forehead, flinching as she touched the bump there.

  Just then a wave swept over Nancy, drenching her. She felt its powerful pull. The tide was coming in. Nancy’s heart leapt into her throat as she realized that Stephanie must have dragged her onto a rock offshore and left her to drown! The water was already up to her chin. Soon it would cover her completely.

  “The diamonds!” Nancy gasped aloud. Her hand moved automatically to her back pocket. It was empty. Stephanie had gotten them!

  Nancy let out a frustrated groan. How was she going to get out of there? She dangled her foot, then her leg, off the rock but couldn’t find solid ground. The water was too deep. She searched for the shoreline, but all she saw was a constant and steady gray mist.

  “Help!” Nancy shouted with all the strength she could muster. There was no response. She yelled again, even though it made her head hurt more.

  How long have I been unconscious? She wondered. Despite her throbbing ankle, Nancy stood up—the water was too high to sit anymore. Waves continued to wash over the rock, each one higher than the last.

  “How am I going to get out of this one?” she wondered out loud. She could swim, but if she chose the wrong direction, she’d be a goner.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Nancy murmured as another wave crashed over her. Waves moved toward the beach, didn’t they? All she had to do was swim with the flow of water.

  Nancy lowered herself into the water and waited for the next wave. As it came toward her she kicked along with it. The pain in her ankle and her head made her feel faint, but she forced herself to keep moving. “Come on, Drew,” she urged.

  She didn’t know how long she swam, but just when she thought she couldn’t last another second her feet touched the sandy bottom. Nancy crawled out of the water and collapsed on the beach, shivering.

  Too exhausted to move, she drew in huge, gulping breaths of air. When she finally caught her breath, she slowly got to her feet. She had to call the police!

  Nancy cocked her head to one side, listening. Was that someone calling her name? She listened again, then grinned.

  “Over here! Bess, George, I’m over here!” she called back.

  Out of the fog her two friends appeared, both of them worried.

  “How did you find me?” Nancy asked as the two girls hugged her, then wrapped her in a blanket George was carrying.

  “It wasn’t easy,” George said. “I read your note when I got back from my golf game around lunchtime. It seemed to be taking you a long time to get back, so I called Bess, and we came out here pronto.”

  Bess picked up the story. “When we got here, police were everywhere. Seaside Security called them because they found the front gate open when they were making their rounds. But there was no sign of you.”

  “Stephanie opened the gate,” Nancy said, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her.

  “Stephanie?” George looked surprised. “She said it was open when she arrived, and that you hadn’t ever been here. We knew you had because we saw the car parked at the overlook. She insisted it wouldn’t do any good to look for you here. Boy, am I glad we didn’t listen to her.”

  “Where is Stephanie now?” Nancy asked. “She hasn’t gotten away yet, has she?”

  “Gotten away? What are you talking about?” George asked, perplexed.

  A horrified shiver ran through Nancy. “You mean the police didn’t find out?” Nancy started to move down the beach, propelled by a new sense of urgency. “I don’t have time to go into it now, but Stephanie has the diamonds, and she killed Joanna. We have to stop her!”

  “But Stephanie said that Cy Baxter’s assistant, Rachel, made the switch,” Bess said. She caught up with Nancy, supporting her with one arm.

  Nancy shook her head. “Stephanie and Morgan are framing Rachel.”

  “Uh-oh,” George said, frowning. “Morgan is with Stephanie at Joanna Burton’s house right now! Stephanie said that she wanted to get some of her belongings at the house. But, Nancy, the house is back the other way.”

  Nancy frowned down at her swollen ankle. “George, you can run faster than I can. Go on ahead and make sure Stephanie doesn’t get away.”

  “You got it!” George sprinted and was soon swallowed up by the fog.

  Nancy and Bess followed behind as quickly as they could. When they reached the steps leading to Joanna Burton’s terrace, Nancy ran up them. Bad ankle or no, she couldn’t lose a second! She raced across the terrace, threw open the doors, and hurried inside the house. She heard Bess behind her.

  “You let go of me this instant!” Stephanie was yelling at the front door. Hurrying over, Nancy saw that George had the agent in an arm lock. The agent was clutching a small bag in one hand.

  “You have no right!” Stephanie continued ranting. “I’m calling my lawyer—”

  The agent broke off when her gaze fell on Nancy. Stephanie’s face went completely white.

  Nancy was relieved to see Detective Bommarito come down the stairs from the second floor, accompanied by Morgan Fowler. “What’s going on here?” the detective asked, staring at Nancy’s sopping wet clothes. “What happened to you?”

  “I’ll be glad to tell you everything,” Nancy said. “But first I think you should search these two.” She nodded toward Stephanie and Morgan. “One of them has Joanna Burton’s diamonds.”

  • • •

  Nancy lay back in her bed at the Provence Inn, her ankle propped up on pillows and wrapped in an ice pack. “Come on in,” she said, motioning to the three people standing in the doorway.

 
; “Are you sure you feel up to it?” Marcia asked. Len and Ted crowded in behind her.

  “I do if you’ve brought food. I’m starving!” Nancy said, grinning.

  Bess held the door open. Ted set a platter of fruit on the table beside Nancy’s bed. Nancy immediately took an apple slice.

  After moving over beside Nancy’s bed, Marcia stood and twisted her bracelet. “How can we ever thank you?” she asked.

  “You don’t have to,” Nancy told her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Ted pulled Bess aside and spoke quietly to her. Bess said something to him, then they slipped out the door.

  Finally Len cleared his throat and said, “Business is great now that people know we didn’t steal Joanna Burton’s diamonds. I can’t believe how many calls Marcia and I both have had since our names appeared in the newspaper.”

  “I’m really glad for you,” George said.

  Marcia held out a charm for George and Nancy to see. “Look, Len gave me this. It’s the logo for his landscaping business. Isn’t it darling?”

  “It’s beautiful,” Nancy said, acting as if she’d never seen the charm before. She picked up a jeweler’s box from the bedside table and opened it, showing Marcia and Len a charm bracelet with a sea otter hanging from it. “Bess and George and I got bracelets, too.”

  George held out her arm, decorated with the same bracelet. “They’re from Rachel. She was so grateful that we cleared her name and found the real culprits that she sent these over as gifts.”

  Marcia smiled, then looked at Len. “We’re not going to stay. We just wanted to know if you’d come back in October for our wedding.”

  “I’d love to come,” Nancy said right away. She was really happy that things had worked out for Marcia and Len.

  Marcia gave Nancy a hug, then she and Len left.

  “Romance is definitely in the air,” Nancy said after the door closed. “Speaking of which, I wonder where Bess and Ted went.”

  “Who knows? A romantic walk on the beach?” George said. “I guess we’ll have to get used to the idea that Bess is moving here.”

  Nancy forced a smile. “If she’s happy, then we should be happy for her,” she said.

  George handed Nancy another slice of apple and picked up a banana for herself. She sat down on the bed beside Nancy, and they munched in silence.

  A few minutes later the door opened, and Bess walked in. “Anything left for me?” she asked.

  “A little,” George told her. “What happened to Ted? Where did you two lovebirds go?”

  Bess’s blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she sat in the chair next to Nancy’s bed. “Ted and I were saying goodbye,” she said. “I’m not staying in Carmel.”

  Nancy wasn’t entirely surprised. “What made you change your mind?” she asked, reaching out and squeezing Bess’s hand.

  “Ted hadn’t wanted me to go look for you yesterday,” Bess said. “What if we hadn’t? What would have happened to you? Anyway, that got me thinking about some of the things you guys have said. I realized that every time we wanted to do something, Ted tried to stop me.”

  George said, “I don’t want you to leave Carmel just because of what Nancy and I said. I’m sure Ted has his good side.”

  “But you have to admit that he hasn’t shown it much since you and Nancy got here,” Bess said, frowning. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. There’s no way I can give up all I have in River Heights for someone who’s so jealous and possessive. What kind of life would that be?”

  “We’re sorry things didn’t work out for you here,” Nancy said.

  “But I’m glad you’re coming back home with us,” George added.

  Bess leaned back in her chair with a sigh. “I think I got carried away by all the compliments on my desserts,” Bess admitted. “I can still bake in River Heights, and maybe I’ll even get one or two good words on my desserts there.”

  Nancy couldn’t help grinning. “Bess, you never have to ask for compliments. You are the greatest,” she said.

  She and George swooped down on Bess to wrap her in a giant hug.

  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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