Portrait in Crime Read online

“Food’s ready,” Tommy said proudly as the girls approached. “Best burgers you’ll ever eat.”

  The three couples settled in front of the roaring bonfire, eating burgers and potato salad and catching up on the details of the mystery.

  “They let Diana go,” Nancy told her friends. “She’s going to testify for the state, so they’ve granted her immunity.”

  “And I heard Megan gave the Vanity to the Nisus Gallery to make up for Bob’s thievery. Everyone was talking about the case at Jetstream today,” Gary chimed in. “I guess once Megan knew the whole story it was just too painful to keep it.”

  “So we have a happy ending,” Sasha declared with satisfaction. “But who left those notes and warnings for you, Nancy?”

  “Bob Tercero did,” Nancy said.

  “Bob?” Bess asked. “Why would he do that?”

  “I guess he thought someone would eventually find out Christopher was dead,” Nancy explained. “And he figured if he was helping out with the investigation, he could pin all the blame on Nicholas. But I didn’t let him help. And then, when I seemed determined to find Diana, the one person who could tell the whole truth, he panicked and tried to warn me away.”

  Tommy and Bess picked up the paper plates from dinner.

  “So what’s the story?” George asked. “What took you so long with Sergeant Jones?”

  “I went on a boat ride,” Nancy explained. “Remember the old wreck we saw when we went diving? The one right near Nicholas’s boat?”

  Tommy nodded.

  “Well, when Diana told me about Christopher’s sea burial, I had a hunch that might have been the boat he was—well, buried in. Nicholas must have gone back to the site to brood: We went out to investigate, and I was right. The police now have all the evidence they need.”

  “Oh.” Bess grimaced. “I’m really glad I didn’t have my scuba certification.”

  Tommy hugged Bess fondly. “Just think, it could have been swarming with sharks.”

  Bess crinkled her nose. “You are terrible!” she declared, her eyes shining. “If I had been with you, you wouldn’t have let the sharks eat me, would you?”

  Tommy dropped a quick kiss on Bess’s forehead. “No way,” he said.

  George looked at Gary. “Um, if you guys don’t mind, we’d like to take a walk down the beach,” she said. “You don’t need us, do you?”

  “I’ve got to get going, actually,” Tommy said, rising to his feet. “Bess, walk me back to the jeep?”

  The friends said their goodbyes, and Nancy and Sasha were left alone.

  “Well, we did it.” Nancy lay back on the sand.

  “We did.” Sasha leaned back next to her, his head propped on one hand. “What a team, eh?”

  Nancy smiled, looking at the stars. “What a team,” she repeated softly,

  “I must tell you, I liked it better when I was the one in danger,” Sasha said tenderly. “When I walked into the gallery and found you on the floor—it was not much fun.”

  “Sasha, I was fine!” Nancy said. “Just a little headache.”

  “Well, it was not ‘just a little headache’ when Bob Tercero had a gun at your back.” Sasha shuddered. “It was then I realized how important you are to me.”

  Nancy stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. What was he going to say?

  “Solving mysteries is a lot of fun, but it can be deadly serious, too,” Sasha remarked softly. He reached out and touched Nancy’s hair. “Just like being with you.”

  Nancy caught her breath. She knew he was going to kiss her then, but she couldn’t rouse herself to stop him. She wanted him to!

  He leaned over and kissed her gently, then with more passion. She could feel his body pressed against hers.

  Nancy broke away, her head spinning.

  Sasha sat up next to her. Gently, he took her hands in his and brought them to his lips.

  “Hey,” he said softly, locking his eyes on hers. “Don’t you see I love you, Nancy 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.

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