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  Double Crossing

  "No, but maybe one of his friends. Did you see Connor or Demetrios?"

  "Huh-uh," George said, biting her lip. "Nor Gail."

  Nancy shook her head. "To tell you the truth, I don't think one of them did it. I think the killer is also responsible for Marcy's disappearance."

  "And that person is. . . ?" George prompted her.

  Nancy shook her head and shrugged. "It looks like there's someone new in this game. Someone we didn't know about before. Maybe this person was after the disks, too, and killed Julio Aguerra to get them."

  "How awful." George shivered a little.

  "Anyway, someone put a note on the crew bulletin board saying the disks were still available and to leave a message in Cabin A forty-three if anyone was interested."

  "And?" George said. 'Was anyone interested?"

  "Yes," Nancy said, yawning. "Someone wants to make a deal. The message said to go to the ruins in Cozumel tomorrow at noon."

  "Wow! So all you have to do is show up and nab them!"

  "Not so fast"—Nancy waved her off— "there's always the chance that no one will show up."

  A Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  "Why not?" George asked, confused.

  "Because if the message came from Julio, he can't show up. But my real guess is the message came from the person who murdered Julio," Nancy explained. "I think someone will probably be there—I just don't know who, "

  "I wonder if Marcy's still alive," George whispered. "I mean, what do you think, Nancy?"

  Nancy was silent for a long time. "I don't want to think about it," she said.

  Early the next morning Frank, Nancy, and George met for breakfast. Joe also attended the meeting but on the run because he had to bus their table and the tables around them.

  "Morning, guys. How're you doing?" Joe asked.

  "Two on a scale of one to ten," Nancy said.

  "We didn't have such a great night either," Joe said. "The vampire thief struck again. He got two thousand dollars from the cabin of a passenger who had just hit it big in the casino."

  "How'd the thief get in?" Nancy asked.

  "He used a passkey after the guy went to sleep," Joe said.

  "Well, have faith in Maxwell Schweidt," Nancy said, trying to sound encouraging. "The thief has to fall for your trap sooner or later."

  Double Crossing

  "I hope so," Frank said.

  "Hey, look who's up early," said Joe.

  The four looked over to a table on the other side of the room. Demetrios, Connor, David, and Gail were just sitting down. The three guys were talking and laughing, and only Gail looked as if something was bothering her.

  "She's going to come over here as soon as she sees me," Joe said with a confident smile.

  "How can you be so sure?" asked George.

  "We got to know each other a little last night," said Joe, smiling at the memory of their kiss.

  "Just pretend you're working, brother," Frank said. "Because you were right. Here she comes."

  Gail walked over. "Hi," she said to Joe.

  "Hi. Are you okay?" Joe asked.

  "Yeah," Gail said. Then, to Joe's surprise, she turned away from him to talk to Nancy.

  "Listen, I'm sorry I was so rotten yesterday, Nancy. Can I have breakfast with you? I've got to ask you something."

  "Well, I'm on duty—" said Joe, making a graceful exit but looking and feeling a little hurt.

  "What did you want to ask me?" Nancy asked.

  "We've heard rumors that a body was found last night," Gail said. "Was it Marcy's?"

  A Nancy Drew &> Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  Nancy shook her head, and Gail's face brightened immediately. "Someone drowned last night in one of the pools," Nancy explained.

  "Is it awful of me to feel relieved?" Gail asked.

  Just then Joe brought their breakfast, including a Belgian waffle for Gail.

  "I can't eat this. It's a thousand calories," Gail said, pushing the plate away.

  "You have to," Joe said, pushing it back. "It's got your name on it."

  And it did, written in maple syrup and powdered sugar. It brought a surprisingly open smile to Gail's face.

  During breakfast Nancy was amazed at how unguarded Gail seemed. It was such a complete turnaround from her usual superior manner. Gail talked on and on about her college and about her friends, although Nancy noticed she was very careful not to say anything about her parents or her friends' families. It must be tough, always having to watch what you say, Nancy thought.

  "So, what are you guys going to do today?" Gail finally asked.

  "Me?" George said. "I have to stay on board to work. What are you doing, Nancy?" George asked very carefully.

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  "I'm getting off in Cozumel," Nancy said. "Just like ninety percent of the passengers."

  "Are you going to the ruins?" Gail asked.

  "Probably," Nancy said casually. Probably? Definitely! Exactly at high noon—if not earlier. But she didn't give Gail the details.

  "Oh, great!" Gail said. "I am too. Maybe we can go together." She looked expectantly at Nancy.

  "Gee, Fd love to, but I've got a lot of other errands to do in town," Nancy said. Like reporting Marcy's disappearance to the police. "But maybe I'll run into you somewhere. I'll keep my eyes open."

  At nine o'clock that morning the ship finally docked at the island of Cozumel. Passengers eagerly lined the decks with their cameras, waiting to visit the Mexican shops, walk the sandy beaches, and ride the buses out to the ancient ruins of the Mayan civilization.

  Nancy stood near the gangway, waiting to accompany Joe and the captain to police headquarters. Afterward, she and Joe would go to the ruins and try to find out who wanted to buy the CIA secrets.

  But before Joe and the captain arrived, Gail came running toward Nancy. "I'm glad I found you," she said. "I can't believe it, but I

  A Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  think I just saw Marcy in a corridor downstairs! She started running the minute I tried to follow her. What should I do?"

  "Show me," Nancy said.

  Gail led the way—down stairs, through doors, down more stairs. Altogether they descended five levels, to an area of the ship where there were no cabins, only storage and equipment rooms.

  "Where was she?" Nancy asked, annoyed that a lot of time had passed and Marcy was getting away.

  "She went through that door!" Gail pointed.

  Nancy opened the door. It was dark inside —not like a hall but like a closet. Almost immediately Nancy's internal radar went off, and she started to back away.

  But it was too late. Oof. Pushed from behind, she stumbled forward, falling against some sort of machinery.

  Then she heard the door behind her bang closed—and a dead bolt being slammed into place. She was locked in.

  Chapter Ten

  X he large equipment closet was dark, and the bitter smell of oil stung Nancy's nose. Carefully she ran her hands over the smooth metal door, searching for the doorknob.

  A thousand angry questions went through her mind. And they all began with the word why. Why would Gail do this? Why had she trusted her? And most of all, why did she fall for such a stupid, childish trick?

  When her fingers found the place where a doorknob should have been, Nancy kicked the door in frustration. The knob had been removed! Perfect, Nancy thought. She started

  A Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  pounding on the door with the sides of her fists.

  But why was she bothering to pound? No one could possibly be around since this wasn't a passenger area. Someone had very carefully planned this.

  "Help! Somebody! Open this door!" she yelled. But she couldn't hear her own screams —just the drone of what sounded like the large exhaust fans inside the closet. Even if someone were standing right outside, they probably wouldn't hear her.

  Nancy had never felt more angry with herself in h
er life. She knew not to trust Gail or her friends. So why had she walked into the trap?

  Because she had decided to trust her instincts, and her instincts told her that Gail wasn't so bad.

  So much for instincts, Nancy thought. She kicked the door again, just to test it. Could she karate-kick it open, breaking the lock?

  "Hiiiiyahhhh!"

  Ouch—that hurt. No way. The door was heavy metal, and the lock was a solid dead bolt.

  Nancy sat down on the floor in the pitch-blackness and tried to figure out what to do next. She could fish out some paper from her purse, write a note, and slip it under the door

  Double Crossing

  into the hallway. But it might be hours before anyone came by.

  The closet was too dark for Nancy to see her watch, but she figured at least fifteen minutes had passed. The captain and Joe had probably given up waiting for her and had already gone ashore.

  Just then she heard a key in the lock, and the door swung open. She blinked at the bright light and then jumped up. It was Joe!

  "Joe! How did you know I was here?" Nancy asked, throwing her arms around him out of sheer surprise and relief.

  "I was watching you, out of sight, up on the gangway, and I saw Gail lead you away," Joe explained. "I said to myself, something's going on. So I followed."

  "Thanks," Nancy said. "Thanks a million. I owe you one."

  "No problem," Joe said as they hurried up the stairs. Joe told Nancy that he couldn't believe he'd been so wrong about Gail. How could she have been so sweet and vulnerable the night before and so evil now?

  "Sorry it took so long," Joe called down the stairs behind him as they went, "but I had to wait until Gail left. After she pushed you in, she hung around for a while. I guess she thought you'd get out by magic or something."

  "Or something," Nancy said, laughing.

  A Nancy Drew 6» Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  "Come on—let's find the captain. I want to get to the police."

  The police were good listeners. In fact, they turned out to be better at listening than at anything else. They gave the captain their official promise to do everything they could to investigate the matter. But other than keeping an eye out for Marcy, there wasn't much they could do. More than likely, the police said, American federal agents would take charge when the ship returned to the United States.

  Captain Helgesen left police headquarters looking less than satisfied. "I'll be back on board if you need me," he said. "And good luck out there. I have a feeling you'll need it."

  Joe checked his watch. "Eleven o'clock," he said to Nancy. "We'd better make tracks or we'll miss the bus."

  It was a bumpy, dusty ride to the ruins, and Joe and Nancy sat in silence. By the time they arrived, the sun was almost directly overhead. A visible wall of heat confronted Joe and Nancy when they stepped off the bus. The sun baked the stones and the sandy land and made shimmering images in the distance. Everything looked slightly unreal

  They took a minute to orient themselves to the plan of the crumbling walls of the Mayan

  Double Crossing

  buildings, which had stood there for hundreds of years.

  Even with sunglasses the two detectives had to shield their eyes to look around. The first person they recognized among the other tourists was Demetrios.

  He was photographing the ruins. Was this another diversion? Nancy and Joe ducked behind a portion of a stone wall and watched him from a safe distance.

  After a few moments Gail appeared out of nowhere and talked with Demetrios for a minute. Then she and Demetrios went off in different directions.

  "We'd better split up too," Nancy said. "I'll take Demetrios, and you take Gail. I want to keep out of her sight. If she sees me, she might get nervous and run."

  "Yeah, she locked you in that closet for a reason," Joe said. "Now we're going to see what it was."

  "Be careful," Nancy said as she ducked behind a stone pillar. "And remember—we're here just to watch."

  For the next several minutes Nancy followed Demetrios, who spent the entire time photographing the ruins from every angle. She never would have guessed that he'd be so interested in the ancient architecture.

  A Nancy Drew 6= Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  When was something going to happen, Nancy wondered. Or was it happening with Joe and Gail right then?

  The sun was straight above, its heat pounding down like a hammer. Nancy took off her hat and wiped her forehead. Even wearing a cotton khaki blouse and wide-legged cotton shorts, she felt as if she were in an oven. She turned and saw another face she recognized among the twenty or so tourists climbing over the crumbling steps of an ancient temple.

  It was Connor, walking down a slight incline about fifty feet away. He was wearing a baseball cap, Bermuda shorts, and a white shirt. But it was the shopping bag he was carrying that grabbed Nancy's attention. It was from Plummer's!

  They're using that for the signal again, Nancy thought, stepping out of sight to make sure Connor wouldn't spot her.

  So it was Connor who had put the note on the bulletin board. He had the disks in that bag, and he was waiting. "Noon. Alone. I'll find you."

  But when Nancy stepped out again to double-check, Connor had disappeared in the shimmering heat. Had he been just a mirage? She quickly started walking down the incline, trying to spot him.

  Double Crossing

  Suddenly she was cut off by a large group. Nancy dodged, cutting through the crowd. There he was! He was moving very quickly just ahead of her. She kept catching glimpses of him as he walked, looking expectantly at every face he passed.

  "Noon. Alone. I'll find you. "

  He's trying to pretend he's got everything under control, Nancy thought. But he doesn't know who he's waiting for, and he's a sitting duck out here.

  "Take your picture, senorita?"

  Nancy looked down at a Mexican boy with an instant camera. He was about ten years old, the same age as his battered camera. He had a small sombrero, a red bandanna around his neck, and he was wearing a Bruce Springsteen T-shirt.

  Nancy shook her head and tried to keep her eyes on Connor.

  "But you are so beautiful, and the ruins are so beautiful," said the boy. "Only two dollars."

  Nancy said, "Not today," and kept walking.

  "Maybe a map? Also two dollars. Very good map—"

  "Map?" The word triggered an idea. All along, Nancy had assumed that after the transaction, whoever bought the disks would

  A Nancy Drew &> Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  reboard the Duchess —and that the authorities would be waiting on the dock in Miami to arrest him.

  But now her heart began beating faster as she considered a different scenario. What would stop the buyer from taking the disks and forgetting about the ship? He could run anywhere. That would be the worst possible scenario, because then there would be no way for Nancy to prove anything. And they'd never find Marcy!

  Nancy hurried toward Connor, but he kept getting farther away. The two of them were circling the ruins, she realized. She felt as if she were moving in slow motion through the thick heat.

  Forget catching the buyer, Nancy decided. Forget watching the deal go down. All she wanted to do now was to stop Connor and destroy the disks before the American secrets were traded away.

  "You can take a picture of me for a dollar," said the little boy, running in front of Nancy.

  "No. Please stop following me," she said. Connor was outpacing her. She had to get to him. But there were too many walls in front of her, walls of rock and walls of heat. Nancy was feeling faint from the extreme temperature. Her face was beaded with moisture. Why didn't Connor have enough sense to stand in

  Double Crossing

  one place? She lost him and found him again. Where was Joe?

  Suddenly there were sirens and clouds of dust in the air as two police cars drove up to the ruins and stopped abruptly. Uniformed officers and a man in a suit got out of the cars. They were running in Nancy's
direction!

  She stood stock-still as they passed her and ran up the path straight to Connor. Then they took him by the arm and led him back to their cars, past the stunned tourists now gathering around. Nancy tried to run after them, but the crowds got in her way. And just as she finally got to the cars, they were driven off.

  "What happened?" she asked the people who were standing nearest the spot where the cars had been. "What did the police want?"

  A gray-haired woman with red sunglasses said, "You should have seen it. It was pretty exciting. Just like on television."

  "What did they say?" Nancy asked.

  "They said they needed him to come with them immediately," the old woman said.

  "But why?" Nancy asked.

  "To identify a body!" the woman announced. "They said the body of a young girl washed ashore and they think he might know who it is. Never a dull moment, eh?"

  Nancy's heart sank. The body had to be Marcy's.

  A Nancy Drew 6» Hardy Boys SuperMystery

  In her mind Nancy pictured the other four when they heard the news. And they thought they could handle everything themselves— now they were really going to have to show what they could handle.

  "Senorita! Senorita!" The boy was back. "He wants to see you."

  "Who?"

  "Follow me. Hurry!" the boy said, already in motion up the hill.

  "Is it Joe? Is something wrong?" Nancy called to the short figure leading her toward the remains of an ancient building.

  "Follow me! I will take you!"

  Nancy was even hotter and more out of breath when she caught up with the boy. She leaned a hand against the rough stone of the wall of what used to be a room in a temple. The walls were all that was left in most places, and they formed a sort of maze, or labyrinth. Between the walls were dusty and empty spaces.

  "There's no one here," she panted.

  The boy looked at her and ran around the corner and back down the hill.

  "Hey!" Nancy called. But she didn't have the energy to follow him. "Joe. Are you in there?" she asked. She wiped her forehead and took a couple of deep breaths. "Come on, Joe. This is a bad time for playing games." She was