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  A huge splash came from below, as though a whale had leaped into the pool. Carefully, I began to pull myself up the curtain, hand over hand. I heard a tearing sound at the top, and I slipped back down a few inches. The fabric wouldn’t hold much longer—every time I moved, I could hear it tearing a little more.

  I had no way of getting in touch with anyone without my cell phone. Joe would have no idea where I was. Nancy, Bess, and George had all been moved to another room. The real guard on duty for this suite wouldn’t be here until midnight.

  I heard the fabric rip again. There was no way I was going to last until then.

  CHAPTER 9

  JOE

  HANGING OUT

  After my close call with Nikitin, I was feeling pretty good. Finally, we had a lead on the robberies. And I got out of washing dishes. Bonus! Now all we had to do was figure out who was on the other end of that phone, and this case would be wrapped up with enough time for me to get a good tan before we headed back to Bayport.

  No word from Frank or Nancy after my text, so I figured they were all still busy. It was late, and the Wetlands was getting quiet. When I left Nikitin’s office, most of the crowd in the lobby had died down, either gone off to their rooms or to the hotel nightclub. I went to find Frank in the kitchen, but the doors were locked, and when I peeked through the window, all I saw were empty tables and a lone janitor vacuuming the carpets. If Frank was still inside, well, it sucked to be him.

  Next I headed back to our room. Frank wasn’t really the party animal type, so it was a pretty safe bet he wasn’t down in the nightclub or at the beach. He was probably asleep by now.

  The Wetlands treated their employees pretty well, from what I saw. Since many of them were immigrants, they offered housing to anyone who worked full-time. There was a whole compound within the hotel, separated off from the guest areas. It had its own pool, gym, and places to relax where guests wouldn’t constantly be asking staff to do things while they were off-duty. All in all, it was a pretty sweet deal. I mean, not as cool as being a teenage superspy, but not bad for what it was.

  Our room was dark when I entered, and I figured Frank was asleep. I tried to get to my bed quietly, but I stubbed my toe on the hard wooden leg of the bedside table.

  “Ow!” I said. “Sorry, Frank, didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  There was silence from the other side of the room.

  “Frank?”

  I turned on the light. Frank’s bed was still made. I wondered if he’d gone off to search Nancy’s room. I decided I might as well stay up until he got back.

  We needed to make a plan of attack on Nikitin. Maybe I could get back into his office and actually search his computer this time. Or maybe we would find something in Nancy’s room that we could go on. And who knew what Nancy would find out at the spa. She might not be in ATAC, but she was pretty smart. Not to mention way cute.

  I decided to hop in the employee pool to kill time, so I changed into my bathing suit. I still stank like kitchen grease and sweat, and it would be nice to feel clean again. I could get used to this, I thought. When we got back to Bayport, I was going to try and convince Mom that we should rip out her garden and put in a pool. I wouldn’t even mind cleaning it…sometimes. It couldn’t be worse than mowing the lawn.

  The night was still hot and muggy. It never seemed to cool down around here. I was excited to have a chance to get in the water. Thanks to our stupid cover, this would be the first time I got to go swimming all vacation—if you didn’t count the time Frank, Matthias, and I all fell into the swamp.

  But when I got to the pool, there was no lifeguard on duty and no one swimming. The gate was locked. It looked like I wasn’t going to get to go in after all. As I turned to head back to the room, I heard a tiny splash. Maybe someone is in the pool after all, I thought.

  I looked back, but didn’t see anything. Had I just imagined the noise?

  Then something large and dark came hurtling out of the air and into the pool. It looked like a big piece of metal, like the door to an oven. What was going on? Was someone throwing things into the pool? I leaned my back against the gate and looked around, but there was no one else out there with me.

  Suddenly, there was a huge splash and I was soaked with water from head to toe. I turned around just in time to see a piece of the hotel sinking to the bottom of the pool. It looked like an entire balcony!

  I looked up to figure out where it had come from and saw someone dangling out one of the hotel windows, up at the top floor…right where Nancy’s room had been.

  Frank!

  I was running before I even realized it, my feet pounding away as my mind was still taking it all in. Twenty stories up. If Frank fell, there was no way he would survive. I considered calling hotel security, but by the time I explained everything, it would be too late. I didn’t doubt that Frank could hold on, but whatever he was holding on to might give at any moment.

  In the lobby, I stabbed the elevator button repeatedly. It seemed to take forever to come. A puddle of water formed around me, and I realized that the few people who were still awake were staring at me. One of the night managers came over.

  “I’m sorry, but we ask that people dry off before they go farther into the ho—”

  I thrust my staff ID at him and cut him off.

  “It’s a plumbing emergency. Code 372-A.”

  He looked confused. It was always good to quote regulations at people. It generally took them at least a few minutes to figure out that you were making it all up. And by that point, I’d be gone. If the elevator would ever come.

  Finally the doors opened and I raced inside, leaving the night manager standing there scratching his head. I hit the penthouse button and waited. Never had an elevator moved so slowly before.

  Hang on, Frank, I thought. Hang on.

  I burst out of the elevator as soon as the doors were open wide enough for me to fit through. The door to Nancy’s suite was open, and I ran straight through the caution tape. I wasn’t sure where in the suite the doorway to the balcony was.

  “Frank?” I yelled.

  “Out here!” came his reply. I heard the sound of fabric tearing.

  “Stay still!”

  I raced through the room to where I’d heard his voice. I could see the curtain out the window, straining under his weight. It was going to give at any moment. I threw myself on the floor, braced one arm against the wall, and stuck the other one out the door.

  Frank wrapped his hand around my wrist, and I did the same. The curtain finally gave way entirely, and Frank’s weight nearly pulled me out the door with him. I braced myself and hauled him up the side, slowly.

  When he was finally all the way in, we both lay on the floor panting.

  “So,” I said. “You need to lose some weight.”

  “Very funny.”

  “You decided to just hang out for a little while, eh?”

  “Stop.”

  “Wanted to get a little air?”

  “I’m going to go back out there if you keep this up.”

  Frank got onto his hands and knees.

  “I’m just kidding! Jeez…”

  “No, look,” Frank said. He was pointing at the outside wall beneath the door, where the balcony had been.

  There were grooves in the plaster. Someone had spent a long time with a sharp object, tearing away at the supports until the balcony was ready to give.

  “This wasn’t an accident.” Frank reached for his pocket, then stopped.

  “I dropped my cell phone. You’ve got to let Nancy know that she and the girls are in danger.”

  So that had been the first splash I heard! I texted Nancy, but didn’t hear anything back. I hoped she was asleep already. Things were getting crazy, and I’d hate to think…

  Then something occurred to me.

  “Frank?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t think whoever did this was going after Nancy. They trashed the room, and they had to know that Nancy an
d Bess and George would be moved to a new one. This was a trap for someone investigating the break-in. This was a trap for us. Someone knows we’re here.”

  Just when we thought this case couldn’t get any hotter!

  CHAPTER 10

  NANCY

  PLAN OF ATAC

  I woke up in the morning to a text message from Joe, warning me about danger. I texted him back, letting him know I had some news of my own, and we made plans to meet up that afternoon at the café. I guess they wanted to sleep in for once—this was definitely more of a vacation for me than it was for them. Something must have gone down in the night, but I’d have to wait a few hours to find out what.

  I looked around. Our new suite was even more beautiful than the first. This one had an underwater theme. One whole wall was a giant aquarium, with all kinds of fish, from tiny pink ones the size of my finger to a giant yellow-and-green-striped fish that was bigger than my head. There was even an octopus hiding at the bottom of the tank, trying its best to blend in with the coral around it. There were more than seventy fish in total. And I know, because I spent all morning counting them, too excited and nervous to do anything else.

  “So you think this Petrovitch guy might be in league with Nikitin?” Bess asked me, leaning on one of the couches that looked like coral but was much softer and more comfortable. She was wearing what I thought of as her “action Bess” outfit—a pair of frayed jean shorts, sneakers, and a pink tank top. On anyone else, it would have looked boring. On Bess, it looked like it could have come straight from a runway in Paris. We were all dressed to investigate—shorts we could run in, our hair pulled back. For the time being, our vacation was officially over.

  “Maybe. It seems like it would be possible. But we need something that would connect them. I mean, I’ve never even seen them together. But Petrovitch was pretty angry at the guests here, and Joe seemed certain Nikitin was involved.”

  George, as usual, was on her computer. I thought she was checking her e-mail, or playing solitaire, or surfing the Web, but I should have known better. She was doing what she did best.

  “It’s funny—I can’t find any records for ‘Andrew Nikitin’ anywhere,” said George, her fingers flying across the keys. “It’s almost like he doesn’t exist. No address, no phone number, nothing. Sorry, Nancy, I can’t get you anything on him. But I did find this.

  “It’s a newspaper article about Jasmina’s assault and robbery. The usual stuff, basically what we already know. But listen to this: ‘There was no sign of forced entry, leading authorities to speculate that the victim knew her attacker.’” George stopped reading.

  “Hmmm,” I began. “So if it was Petrovitch—”

  “If it was Petrovitch, it would make sense that there was no evidence of a break-in, since she was expecting him,” George finished.

  I nodded. It did seem to fit in with what we knew. And perhaps the robberies were getting more violent because Petrovitch himself was getting angrier and angrier. One thing was for sure, I needed to talk this all over with Joe and Frank.

  “How was your date with Matthias, George?” Bess asked, trying to change the subject and distract us for a while.

  “It wasn’t a date. I mean, not really,” George stammered. “But it was good. He’s definitely a little odd. Uptight, but nice. He showed me all around the swamp. There are some beautiful islands hidden out there. You’d never find them if you didn’t know exactly where to go. And he gave me this present—”

  There was a knock at the door. We all jumped, and then laughed at ourselves. We were a little bit on edge. When I opened the door, a bellhop in a Wetlands uniform was standing there holding a silver tray. It was Thatcher again! He winked at me, and then bowed deeply, enjoying his uniformed role. He lifted the silver lid off his platter and held the platter out to me. On it was a small envelope. I opened it up while Thatcher watched.

  Inside, it read, You are cordially invited to dine today with Mr. Jack Thorton. 4:00 p.m. in the White Heron Restaurant.

  “May I inform Mr. Thorton that you will be joining him?” Thatcher’s rich Australian accent rang out.

  I nodded, too overwhelmed by the silly formality of it to speak. Thatcher smiled, tipped his hat, and left. I was curious to finally meet Mr. Thorton in person. Perhaps he’d have some insight on the robberies.

  As Thatcher got into the elevator, he called out over his shoulder, “Oh, and if your friends don’t have other plans this afternoon, there’s going to be a barbecue on the beach today. I could give them both surfing lessons.”

  “Sure,” Bess and George yelled out. Thatcher gave me a thumbs-up as the elevator doors closed. Looks like we all had big plans for this evening!

  Finally, lunchtime rolled around. We were headed out the door when Bess called my name.

  “You forgot something, Nancy.” In her left hand, Bess was holding my sandals. I looked down at my bare feet and blushed. It was a sure sign I was on a case when I was too distracted to remember to put on my shoes. I was thankful for my friends at moments like these.

  At the Courtyard Café, Frank and Joe were wearing normal clothes, not their uniforms. Today was their day off, and they were free to try and find some answers. Quickly, they told us all about what had happened to them last night.

  “Wow, I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” said Bess, reaching out to put her hand on Frank’s shoulder. Frank blushed beet red and seemed to swallow his own tongue. He coughed and took a big drink of water.

  “Luckily, I came along just in time to save him,” said Joe, but Bess was too busy patting Frank on the back to notice Joe. Once Frank stopped choking, I told them everything I’d learned the night before at the spa.

  “So I think Petrovitch is in on it—maybe he’s even Nikitin’s partner,” I summed up.

  George showed them the article she had found about Jasmina’s attack. It felt like we had all the pieces of the puzzle in front of us, but for whatever reason, it still wasn’t coming together.

  “We need something to link Petrovitch and Nikitin,” said Frank. “But until we figure it out, Nancy, you might need to lie low for a while.”

  George laughed and mumbled something under her breath that sounded like “fat chance.” She knew me too well.

  “Yeah,” Joe added. “This is getting a dangerous. If you had been the one out on your balcony—”

  “Exactly,” I cut Joe off. “Our balcony. Whoever set that trap already knows we’re involved. If we back off, that just means fewer people trying to solve this case. Besides, I think I know just the person we need to talk to—and I have plans with him tonight.”

  I told Frank and Joe about Mr. Thorton’s invitation. They didn’t much like it, but they didn’t have a choice. As lowly busboys, there was no way they would ever get to talk to him. And if anyone knew more about the robberies or the employees at the Wetlands than Mr. Thorton, I would be amazed. I’d try to find out as much as I could about both Andrew Nikitin and Petrovitch.

  “All right,” Frank said. “But leave Petrovitch to us.”

  “Be careful,” I told them. Petrovitch was bigger than both of the Hardys combined. He could have bench-pressed them!

  “Don’t worry.” Joe grinned. “I can take care of Frank.”

  Well, I thought, Frank and Joe can take care of themselves. Most of the time.

  Bess, George, and I decided to head out to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. There didn’t seem to be anything more we could do around the hotel. I had the feeling that, by the end of the day, we’d have some answers, one way or another.

  I was standing to go when Matthias came running up out of nowhere. His hair was messy and he looked upset. His face was red and he was breathing hard. His uniform was soaked with sweat.

  “Where have you been?” he barked at Joe and Frank. Then he noticed George was sitting with us and tried to smile.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said. “I’ve just been looking for Joe and Frank all morning.”

  “We had
the day off, so we decided to sleep late,” Frank said.

  “For once,” Joe mumbled after.

  “Well, even on your day off you’re supposed to be wearing your ID badges. I think we went over that in your staff orientation, did we not?” Matthias was getting worked up. His words were very precise, like a teacher’s when he is upset and trying not to let it show.

  “Chill out,” Joe said. “I’ve got mine in my pocket.”

  “You do?” said Matthias. “Let’s see it.”

  Joe fumbled through his pockets and came up empty-handed. He said something about forgetting to take it out of his uniform. Matthias started railing on him again about how important it was that they carry their IDs at all times. For an “old friend,” he didn’t seem to like Joe and Frank very much.

  “We were just leaving,” I said to Matthias. “Would you like my chair?” It was weird having him towering over all of us, looking so angry. At least if he was sitting down, it wouldn’t be quite so uncomfortable.

  Frank and Joe seemed embarrassed, even though it wasn’t their fault Matthias was behaving so rudely.

  “Oh,” he said, looking only at George. He seemed to suddenly remember we were here. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to smooth it back into place. “You’re leaving? I hope you enjoyed the tour yesterday. I’d love to get to take you out again while you’re here.”

  “Maybe,” said George coolly. Frank and Joe were friends of hers, and as much as Matthias might be cute, she wouldn’t tolerate anyone yelling at them.

  “I was thinking maybe this evening, if you don’t have any plans, we could go to the beach, or out for dinner?”

  “Actually, Bess and I have plans tonight,” George said, linking her arm through Bess’s. “But thanks for the offer.”

  With that, we left.

  CHAPTER 11

  FRANK