“That doesn’t mean anything,” Nancy whispered back. “The windows are boarded up, see?”
“What do we do now?”
“Split up, I guess. Look for a way in.”
Bess stole away quietly. Inching along, Nancy went the other way. The cottage was rectangular, she saw. There was probably only one door.
Suddenly she heard crashing in the trees.
“Nancy!” a voice called behind her. It was Bess, her voice high and frightened.
Nancy whirled to tell Bess to be quiet.
“Don’t move, Nancy,” a man’s voice warned. With a sinking feeling, Nancy realized that Bess was not alone. Peter Hoffs was with her—and he was holding a gun to her head!
Bess’s face was drained and white. “Sorry,” she said in a small voice. “He jumped me.”
“Put your hands where I can see them, Nancy,” Hoffs warned, jerking Bess’s arm. “Turn around and move slowly toward the cabin.”
Nancy did as she was told.
“Hands on your head,” he called from behind her as Nancy stepped into the small clearing around the cottage. “And no heroics or I’ll shoot your friend.”
Nancy reached the door of the cabin. There was a large iron bar on the outside of the door. Nancy waited for Hoffs and Bess.
Raising his voice, Peter called, “Maia, it’s me!” Then he turned to Nancy and ordered her to lift the bolt.
Nancy grasped the heavy bar and shoved it out of the latch. A moment later Maia flung the door open. “Peter!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been worried sick. . . .” Her voice trailed off as she saw Nancy and Bess. “Oh, no,” she moaned.
Peter shoved Nancy hard into the cabin. She stumbled, half falling against a table near the door. A kerosene lantern stood on the floor in the center of the room, sending a dim light flickering along the log walls.
In one corner Nancy saw a girl gagged and bound to a chair. She was covered with blankets, but Nancy could see a pair of dress pumps sticking out on the floor. Her blond hair was stringy, and her eyes were half closed. Ava Woods! Nancy thought, relief surging through her. Thank goodness she’s still alive! But how do I get us out of here?
Peter Hoffs was talking to Maia behind her. “I saw these two girls racing down the hill as if they thought a ghost was chasing them,” Nancy heard him say. “So I waited outside and welcomed them personally.” He pushed Bess, and Nancy saw her friend hit the rough pine floor beside her. “Tie them up, Maia.”
Maia obeyed slowly. “Peter,” she said in a low voice as she put Bess in a chair and looped a rope around her wrists, “did you have to bring them here?”
“They were on their way with no help from me,” Peter said, waving his gun at Nancy. “Our friend Nancy obviously wasn’t interested in the warning note you left in her room, Maia.” He waved his gun at Nancy. “Too bad I didn’t get rid of you when I eliminated Jefferies,” he sneered.
Nodding toward the gun Peter held, Nancy said, “That’s the gun you used to kill him, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” Peter answered with a smug smile. “But Maia and I will be long gone by the time the police trace anything to me.”
Nancy turned as Maia approached her. “Where am I going to put her?” Maia asked. “There aren’t any other chairs.”
“Tie her to the bed,” Peter said offhandedly.
Nancy scooted over to the bed, watching Maia. Her fairy-tale persona was gone, Nancy saw. She looked more than a little frightened.
Nancy sat on the floor with her feet in front of her as Maia jerked her hands up to the bed frame.
“You’re hurting me,” Nancy protested.
“Sorry,” Maia muttered, but didn’t let go of Nancy’s hands. Following Peter’s instructions, she lashed Nancy’s wrists to the springs and brought the rope down to tie her ankles together.
Hoffs leaned against the wall, looking at Nancy with satisfaction. “You thought you were smart,” he said. “But look where it got you.”
Nancy decided to take a gamble. “Where did it get you?” she challenged. “You still don’t have the necklace and the ring.” Seeing his expression change, she continued, “It’s too bad, really. They would have looked beautiful on Maia.”
Maia opened her mouth but closed it when she saw Peter’s glare.
“We have everything else of value,” he said. “I cleaned out all the other boxes. And if it hadn’t been for Ava, we’d have the ring and necklace, too.” He turned to Maia. “Come on, darling, I think it’s time to make our grand exit.”
“It’s too bad you don’t have more time,” Nancy commented as Peter and Maia reached the door. “I mean, if I could find the jewelry . . .” She let the rest of the sentence dangle.
“You found the necklace and the ring?” Maia asked, greed in her voice. “Where are they?”
Nancy forced herself to laugh. “Do you think I’d tell you? Look at us, Maia. You’re leaving us to freeze. In a couple of hours we’re all going to be icicles.” She could see the conflict in Maia’s face. “Go on,” she urged the blond woman, “it’s a clean getaway. Don’t blow it now.”
Hoffs strode over to Nancy. He grabbed her jacket, tearing it. “If you’re so anxious to freeze, let me help you,” he said. Roughly he searched her pockets.
Nancy felt Hoffs’s fingers strike the safe-deposit box key in her pocket. Astonishment crossed his face as he pulled it out.
“Maia, I think you have your jewelry,” he said with a smirk.
“No, Peter, it’s too late,” Maia said. “All the banks are closed.”
“We could wait,” he offered. “There wasn’t much in the rest of those boxes. This was going to be our prize.”
Maia shook her head. “Someone will be looking for these two,” she said, gesturing to Nancy and Bess. “The police would be after us before Monday.”
Peter turned to Nancy, fury dancing across his face. “Tell me which bank,” he demanded.
Nancy shook her head, putting on a smile.
Enraged, Peter was on her, grabbing her by the throat. “Tell me which bank or you won’t have time to become an icicle!” he screamed.
Blackness crept into the edges of Nancy’s vision. “Middletown,” she gasped. “Middletown Savings Bank.”
From the corner, Nancy could hear Ava moan. The sound confirmed Peter’s suspicions.
“I’m going down there,” he said. “Some banks are open late on Fridays. I’ll be back soon.”
“You’re going to leave me?” Maia asked, dismayed. “Alone?”
“Not alone,” he corrected, heading over to Ava. Nancy watched as he untied her. “Stretch your legs, Ava,” he invited sarcastically. “You’re going to take me to the bank. But remember your friends here. If you try to escape, or even say one wrong word, Maia will kill them.”
Nancy looked at Ava standing before her. Tears were slipping silently down the girl’s face. Nancy smiled encouragingly at her, hoping Ava would be strong. What is she going to do when Peter finds out I moved the necklace? she thought.
“Watch our little sleuth, Maia,” Peter said, handing his fiancée a second gun. “If Ava blows it, she’ll see her friends die before her, I promise you that!” Peter shoved Ava out the door, his gun pointed at her back.
The sound of the slamming door echoed in the small cabin. Nancy could hear a scraping noise as Peter threw the bolt and locked the four of them in. She looked over at Bess, who gave her a lopsided smile. Poor Bess, she was trying so hard to be brave!
Carefully Nancy twisted her wrists, testing the bonds that held her to the bed. The springs creaked softly in the silence of the room, and Maia heard the sound and looked over.
“Just trying to get comfortable,” Nancy said.
But the springs had stretched! Nancy thought, a kernel of hope growing in her. If only they didn’t squeak, she thought, she might be able to get her hands free.
“Maia,” Nancy began, hoping her voice would cover the noise of the uncoiling springs, “does he always lock you in?”
&
nbsp; Maia gave Nancy an angry stare. “He does it for my own protection,” she explained. “You won’t try to attack me if you can’t get out.”
Nancy sighed. “Why are you doing this? Three murders will be an awful burden for someone so young.”
“It wouldn’t have been three if you hadn’t come poking around,” Maia answered in a tight voice. “It wouldn’t have been any. We never planned to hurt anyone.”
“But you are hurting people,” Nancy commented.
“And what do you suggest? Should we just let you waltz out the door?”
“Is the jewelry worth it?” Nancy asked.
“As a matter of fact, it is,” Maia said angrily. “Maybe you don’t know what it’s like to be poor, but I do. Those old people lock their stuff up in boxes and don’t even know what’s in them. I could put it to better use.”
“Maia—” Nancy began, but Maia cut her off.
“Just shut up, okay?” she said furiously. “This is your fault. You deserve it!”
“Okay,” Nancy said, trying to jerk her wrists free. The ropes were looser, but she needed more time to work on them. She decided to let Maia cool off before she tried to talk again.
Minutes ticked by. Maia began picking at her fingernails nervously, trying not to look at the captive girls. Finally Nancy tried again.
“If I’m going to die anyway,” she said, breaking the silence, “at least satisfy my curiosity. Mr. Taggert says Peter never came down to the bank. How did you get into the boxes?”
“I did it,” Maia said, boasting. “Taggert thought I was an EA employee. There’s a signature on file for me.”
“I see. And why return Ava’s car?” Nancy asked. “I assume you did that as well.”
“We had to get rid of it. And I thought if the police found it on the campus, maybe they would guess Ava had returned after the date.”
“You did a lot,” Nancy commented. “You must have ransacked Ava’s room looking for that key.”
Maia nodded. “Everyone thinks I’m a student. No one looks at me twice.”
Every time Maia spoke, Nancy twisted her wrists, loosening the ropes and gaining a little more slack. Then suddenly she slipped one wrist out of the bonds. Her hands were free!
“How did you know Ava had discovered your plan?” Nancy asked nonchalantly, letting the blood rush back into her hands. She had to lure Maia over to her somehow so she could grab the gun.
“She called from the bank when she saw the bracelet was missing,” Maia replied. “At first she thought the bank was responsible for the theft. Peter told her to bring him the key right away, and I guess that made her suspicious. She refused. He told her he was on his way to the bank to deal with the problem, but by the time he got there, Ava and the jewels were gone.
“Ava hid them in another box somewhere else and wouldn’t tell us where they were. Peter even called Mrs. Reeves—the one who owns the jewels—to see if she knew anything. But she played dumb, and he couldn’t afford to say too much.”
“So when Mrs. Reeves left a message for Ava and said she’d just received a call, she must have meant Peter’s call,” Nancy said.
Maia’s eyes widened. “Mrs. Reeves knows?”
“I don’t know how much, but she knows something,” Nancy said. “So Peter arranged to replace Ava’s date because she suspected him?”
“That’s right,” Maia said. “We were afraid she’d go to the police. We had to get her fast.”
“So he called Luke Jefferies and paid him to switch Ava’s date. But how did he know about the blind date in the first place?”
“She told me about it.”
Nancy’s mind was working furiously. She needed to fake a medical emergency, she decided. One so quick that no one would have time to think.
“But why did Luke . . .” She stopped in midsentence. Closing her eyes, she stiffened her body suddenly and began to shake, hitting her feet on the floor in a frenzy.
Nancy heard Bess scream. “Help her! Don’t just stand there!” She could hear Bess’s chair scraping along the floor as she scooted over to Nancy.
“What’s going on?” Maia cried, coming toward Nancy. She knelt next to the thrashing girl, trying to hold her steady with one hand. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked Bess anxiously.
“She’s having a seizure. Do something!” Bess screamed. “Quick!”
Nancy opened her eyes a crack. Maia was frozen in indecision, the gun still in her hand.
She wasn’t going to drop it, Nancy realized. It was now or never. In a flash, Nancy exploded toward Maia and dived for the gun!
Chapter
Fifteen
NANCY SLAPPED the gun out of Maia’s hand, knocking her over with the force of her charge. Holding the woman facedown on the floor, she warned, “Don’t move and I won’t hurt you.”
The gun had fallen on the bed, and Nancy was still hampered by the bonds on her ankles, but Maia couldn’t see that from her position on the floor. “Don’t turn around,” Nancy said, twisting Maia’s arm behind her back. “Get up slowly and untie Bess.”
“You’re locked in!” Maia protested. “You’ll never escape.”
Nancy pulled Maia to her knees. “Let me worry about that,” she said, pushing Maia toward Bess. “Untie her.”
Maia obeyed and freed Bess, who had managed to scoot herself close to Nancy. Nancy kept the pressure on Maia’s arm as she directed Bess to untie her feet.
When she was free, Nancy forced Maia into Ava’s chair and lashed her hands behind her. She piled the blankets over her but left Maia’s mouth free. Then Nancy gestured to the gun on the bed and looked at Maia. “If you try anything, I’ll shoot you,” she lied. The truth was, Nancy hated the idea of even touching a gun, but Maia didn’t have to know that.
Nancy turned to Bess and explained her plan in low tones. “The door swings both ways,” she explained. “When he lifts the latch, I’m going to hit him with the door. It should knock him off balance long enough for us to get by.”
“Then what?” Bess’s voice was hoarse.
“We run like crazy!” Nancy told her. “And hope Ava runs, too. It’s not the best plan we’ve ever had, but at least we have a chance.”
The girls didn’t have long to wait. When they heard Peter’s footsteps, Nancy pretended to reach for the gun, her eyes on Maia. They heard the latch being lifted.
Racing to the door, Nancy shoved it with all her might. The door hit Peter in the face, and he rolled backward into the snow.
“Run!” Nancy yelled as she and Bess flew out of the house. “Ava, follow us!”
Bess raced around the pond, with Nancy behind her. They could hear Maia yelling in the cabin.
Nancy turned. Peter was just getting to his feet. Where was Ava? she thought suddenly. Then, in the gloom of the early evening, she spotted a shadow racing across the ice-covered pond.
“Bess,” she called. “Ava’s on the pond!”
The two girls watched Ava with dread. She was stumbling, unaccustomed to running after being tied up for so long. Peter Hoffs was on his feet, looking in Ava’s direction. Suddenly he took off across the pond after her.
“She can barely run,” Bess said desperately. “He’s going to catch her.”
“Not if we catch him first,” Nancy said, sprinting toward the pond.
Bess came after her. “What if we fall through the ice?” she wailed.
“Just don’t go near the dark parts where the ice is thin,” Nancy puffed. “Stay with me.”
Nancy and Bess were gaining on Hoffs, but he was closing in faster on Ava. Ava turned to see where he was and gave a little screech. Stumbling, she kept going for the house.
They were in the middle of the pond. Peter was almost on Ava, and Nancy could see that she’d never make it to the other side.
Hoffs suddenly launched himself at Ava. To Nancy’s horror, the two of them went crashing down on the ice. A black hole spread under them, and then Peter and Ava were in the water!
When Nancy and Bess neared the center of the pond, they stopped running and got down on their hands and knees. Nancy crawled toward the middle, Bess behind her. When Nancy got close to the hole in the ice she lay down and inched her way to the edge. Bess lay down behind her and grabbed her legs.
“Ava, quick, grab my hands!” Nancy called, reaching out for her. “You don’t have much time.”
Nancy thought she could hear sirens in the distance. Not daring to look up, she grabbed one of Ava’s hands while Bess held the other. “Back, Bess,” she yelled. The two girls inched backward. “Don’t struggle,” she advised Ava. “We’re going to pull you over the lip.”
The sound of voices whipped by Nancy as she and Bess pulled Ava slowly out of the water. She grabbed the sobbing girl, trying to warm her with her own body, and looked back toward Hoffs.
The ice was now crowded with people, Nancy saw to her amazement. Two police officers were pulling Peter Hoffs out of the water. And incredibly, Nancy heard a familiar voice. It was Darien!
• • •
Nancy looked around at all her new friends. She was seated in front of a roaring fire in the living room of the Woodses’ house. Thinking about the events of the night before, she shivered, grateful that everything had turned out all right.
Ava was sitting in an easy chair, drinking hot chocolate, her legs tucked under her like a cat’s. Nancy’s eyes moved to Darien and Betsy, curled comfortably together on the rug by the hearth. Bess was stretched out near them, waving a marshmallow on a stick near the heat.
“It keeps burning,” she complained, glaring at the marshmallow as it turned black.
Ava shivered. “I would have given anything for a nice warm fire last night,” she recalled.
Nancy nodded. “It was freezing. I remember looking up and seeing someone bundle you in a blanket and carry you away.”
“I would have frozen to death,” Ava agreed.
“Well, we might have been able to save you,” Nancy said, watching Darien poke the flames. “But Hoffs would have died in that water if it hadn’t been for Darien and Betsy.”
Betsy made a face. “That man is evil!”
“Well, he and Maia are in custody now,” Nancy said. “The police have identified Peter’s gun as the one that was used to kill Luke Jefferies. That means that Peter and Maia will be in jail for a long time to come.”