Authors: Carolyn Keene

Portrait in Crime (15 page)

“His shoulder!” she gasped, remembering Sasha's spill when they had gone waterskiing. He must have reinjured it. Bob, seeing his advantage, ran for the gun.

“Sasha, be careful!” Nancy screamed. She scrambled onto the dock and launched herself at Tercero. Her body hit his, and then they were airborne, flying off the dock. Nancy stubbornly held on to Bob's waist as they hit the water.

Keep him off balance, Nancy told herself. She grabbed his head, trying to force him underwater. His hands reached up for her, pulling her under with him. She gulped air quickly, struggling to get free.

Nancy held her breath. Tercero was stronger, but she had caught him off guard, and he hadn't taken a deep breath before going under. Now she had to keep that advantage. She grabbed his arm
firmly and dove for the bottom. She had to keep him under until his air ran out.

Bob dropped his hold on Nancy, the air from his lungs bubbling toward the surface in a cloud. She had him! Nancy tightened her hold. She counted to ten and then let him go, kicking quickly up behind him. She dragged his choking body back to the dock and turned him over to Tommy, who hoisted him up.

Nancy dropped down on the dock next to Sasha. “I didn't know you knew karate,” she said weakly. She could hear police sirens in the distance.

“I don'tâI just picked that move up from watching American TV,” Sasha confessed.

Nancy stared at him. He had taken an awful risk. “Good thing it worked,” she said at last.

“Good thing you can hold your breath for so long,” he countered, hugging her tightly.

â¢Â â¢Â â¢

Nancy spent the rest of the night with Diana at the police station, and they made their statements. The next day she slept late, and in the afternoon Nancy accompanied Sergeant Jones to the site of Nicholas's accident. If she was right, the other old wreck she'd seen down there held some crucial answers. But this time, she stayed in the boat when the divers went down.

By the time Nancy got back to her aunt Eloise's house, she was exhausted.

“Thank goodness you're home,” Eloise said as Nancy walked in the door. She was sitting in the living room with Bess and George. “Bess was worried. She kept saying, âBut Nancy's going to miss the bonfire.'â”

“A bonfire!” Nancy's eyes lit up.

“The guys are waiting,” George said with a smile.

“And so's the food!” Bess added.

“What took you so long?” George asked as the girls headed down the beach.

Nancy wrinkled her nose. “I'll tell you after dinner,” she said. “You don't want to hear it now, believe me.”

“What a day,” Bess said, kicking the sand as she walked.

“You mean today?” Nancy asked, surprised.

George burst out laughing. “She sure does! Go ahead and ask her what happened to
her
today.”

“I'm never going to model again!” Bess wailed.

“Oh, no,” Nancy said. “You saw Doug's painting?”

“You bet I did!” Bess said grimly. “And I almost hit him over the head with it, too! When I think of all those hours I spent posing for that little twerp!”

“I'm sorry, Bess,” Nancy said kindly, throwing her arm around her friend. But she couldn't suppress a smile as she glanced over at George.

“I wanted to have a beautiful portrait, like
Diana's,” Bess complained, pouting. “He could have used boxes for that painting instead of me.”

“There they are,” George cried, pointing to three figures on the beach. Nancy felt a tingle of excitement as she saw that Sasha was there, too. She hadn't been sure he would be, and she hadn't felt comfortable asking Bess or George.

“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 wasâwell, 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 floorâit was not much fun.”

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

“Well, it was not âjust 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.