Make No Mistake (13 page)

Matt roared with laughter. “Poor Bess,” he said.

Nancy had to suppress her own laughter as she listened to the wild stories Bess was inventing about terrible gifts she had given. She sounded completely natural, and Matt was laughing and egging her on.

“Still,” Bess said, her voice dreamy now, “the best party ever was your eighteenth, Matt. It wasn't just that gorgeous car your father gave you, it was—everything!”

“It was a spectacular party,” he agreed.

“I was only in junior high back then,” Bess went on, “and I remember my friends and I were completely amazed that you invited us. It was the high point of our entire year! I don't think I've ever seen a cake as big as the one you had, not even at weddings.”

Nancy caught her breath. This was it.

There had been two cakes, one in the shape of the number one and the other, number eight. Both had been iced in mocha fudge, Matt's favorite at the time.

“Was it your father who thought of having a cake the shape of a giant football, or was it you?” Bess was asking.

“It was me,” Matt said, without missing a beat. “I guess I wanted everyone to remember my shining career on the varsity team. Not very modest of me, was it?”

Nancy's breath caught in her throat. He'd fallen for it! Now Bess would know for sure that the guy in there with her
wasn't
Matt Glover.

Nancy knew she had to be devastated by the realization. Now Nancy listened even more attentively, hoping Bess wouldn't give herself away.

“And iced in purple and white,” Bess said. Her voice was trembling now, but Matt didn't seem to notice.

“The colors of River Heights High,” he said, chuckling.

Nancy silently urged Bess to make some kind of excuse and get out of there. She was sure Bess wouldn't be able to keep up her facade much longer.

Suddenly a loud
crack
rang out from the library. Every muscle in Nancy's body tensed. What was going on? Was Bess in trouble? She heard Matt give a grunt of surprise, then Bess said, “Who's that?” Nancy heard panic in her friend's voice.

A split second later, Bess let out a cry of alarm. Nancy gasped as she heard the sound of something metal clattering onto stone. The flagstone hearth?

The tape recorder! Matt must have found it—and that meant Bess was in danger!

N
ANCY SPRANG
for the doorway, her heart pounding. But just inside the room, she stopped short as her gaze fell on a second man. Jake Loomis!

Nancy realized with dismay that her plan had gotten totally fouled up. Loomis wasn't supposed to arrive for about another hour. But there he was, holding both of Bess's arms behind her in one of his huge hands. In his other hand he held the minirecorder. His face was twisted with fury, and just the sight of it made Nancy shiver.

He glanced at her, his eyes narrowing with recognition. “You!” he spat out. Turning to Matt, he muttered, “She's the one who came snooping around my office. There was another girl with her
but not this one.” He indicated Bess with his head.

Matt whirled around to face Nancy. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Ignoring Matt, Nancy said to Jake Loomis, “Let Bess go.”

Bess's eyes were wide with fear, and she was trembling. Her arm was twisted painfully behind her, but Loomis didn't release his grip.

“Let her go,” Nancy said again, using as firm a voice as she could muster. “What are you afraid of? Do you really have to use all your strength to terrorize someone who's one-third your size?”

Loomis dropped Bess's arms and took a threatening step toward Nancy. “You're a troublemaker,” he said. “I should have known—all that nonsense about
Who's Who.”

“What are you doing here?” Matt directed his curt question to Loomis, biting off each word.

Loomis glared at him. “You should know, you sent me a message to come.”

Matt looked surprised. “A message? I didn't send any—” He broke off, staring at Nancy. “She tricked you, Jake.”

“Look who's talking about being tricked,” Loomis said. “You've let these kids make a fool of you.”

“It wasn't easy,” Nancy cut in. “He was very good, Mr. Loomis. Almost too good. You have great skills as a coach.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,”
Matt said. “Nothing's changed. Bess and I were just talking about parties—nothing heavy—and all of a sudden Jake comes in like a lunatic.”

“Come off it,” Nancy told him. “You don't think we'll still fall for your charade, do you?”

Unperturbed, Matt turned toward Bess and gave her one of his dazzling smiles. “You believe me, don't you, Bess?”

Nancy watched Bess turn brick red with anger and humiliation. “No, I don't! It so happens, Matt Glover, or whoever you
really
are,” Bess fumed, “that your birthday cake was nothing like the one I invented. A cake shaped like a football! A purple and white cake, for the high-school colors? I don't think so.”

She gave a scornful laugh, but it turned into a cry of pain as Loomis grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back again.

“Okay, girls,” he said in a cold voice. “I didn't want anything to happen to anyone, but you've brought it on yourselves. You”—he gestured to Nancy—”get over here with your friend. I think we're going for a drive.”

Nancy stayed where she was, playing for time. “If Bess and I disappear, don't you think it will make it harder for Matt to claim his legacy? After all, my father
is
the lawyer in question.”

“I don't care if your father is the president,” Loomis snarled. “Get over here, you little—” He checked himself. “It must have been fun for you to come to my Chicago office and pass yourself
off as a researcher for
Who's Who in Business.
You really thought you were putting one over on me.”

“Not at all,” said Nancy. “I knew right away that you were a smart criminal, even if you are slimy. I'll bet you've always been looking for the chance to pull off this kind of scam.”

Loomis smiled. “And my chance came, didn't it? It came in the form of a reporter named Gary Page.” He turned toward Matt and said, “The second I saw you, you reminded me so much of Matt Glover I knew my time had come.”

“I'm warning you, Jake,” Matt barked. “Shut up.

“You're
warning
me?”
Loomis laughed. “Who do you think you are? Without me, you'd be nothing, a two-bit hack, a nobody!” He gave Matt a smug look. “I created you, and you're throwing it all away over these—” He threw a look of loathing at Nancy and Bess.

“Stop running your mouth, Jake,” Matt said harshly.

As the two men argued, Nancy frantically looked around for a way to escape. There was no way she and Bess were a match for the two men, physically. If they ran, Matt and Loomis were sure to overpower them. She could only hope that Mrs. Adams had heard and called the police —if Loomis hadn't already gotten to her. Nancy shuddered at the thought. For the moment, Nancy
decided, all she could do was keep distracting them.

“How did you give yourself that scar on your wrist?” she asked Matt.

Matt glared at her but said nothing.

“Give the girl some credit,” Loomis said. “She's on to you.”

“And I'm on to
you,
too,” she said, turning to Jake Loomis. “It wasn't enough for you to succeed in the landscape gardening business, was it?” she asked Loomis. “When the
Clarion
sent Gary Page to interview you, it seemed like a perfect chance. He looks like Matt would have looked—he's athletic and charming like Matt, and he's even left-handed!”

Loomis shrugged. “Page was a natural. Had a memory like an elephant, too. I knew he could pull off acting like Matt.”

Nancy turned to Matt. “Tell me something,” she said. “What made you decide to go along with it? Did it take lots of persuasion, or did you agree immediately?”

He glared at her for a moment, before grumbling, “Oh, who cares if we tell you. Where you're going, it won't make any difference.” The grin on his face was smug. “It was the money, of course. I'd have been a fool to turn down a chance like this.”

“It must have been easy meeting every day,” Nancy said. “The
Clarion
is so close to Loomis
Landscaping. You must have been awfully busy, Gary. Working full time as a reporter and then taking lessons from Loomis in your spare time. He must have drawn you a map of Glover's Corners. But you had to memorize all sorts of other details, too. You had to remember to call Mrs. Adams 'Addie,' and to plaster mustard on your sandwiches. You had to learn all the little customs of life at Glover's Corners, like bringing pies and cakes to Mrs. Adams so she wouldn't spend her whole life baking.”

Nancy took a deep breath, then pressed on. “You made a terrible mistake with that chocolate cake. You didn't know Mrs. Adams has a violent allergy to chocolate. The real Matt saw her nearly die from eating some by mistake. It's not something he would have forgotten.”

Matt grimaced. “I think I can still finesse that one,” he said to Loomis.

“It was a class act, Gary,” Nancy said, “but you were bound to mess it up. Nobody could have learned all the little details that make up a person's life.”

“Like two cakes in the shape of the number 18,” Bess piped up.

“I don't see why you're making such a big deal of this.” It was Gary Page speaking. “Who would have been hurt? I make a wonderful Matt.”

“Oh, brother, I've had enough of this,” said Loomis. “Get over here!” he shouted at Nancy.
For emphasis, he twisted Bess's arm viciously, making her shriek again.

Nancy had no choice but to do as he ordered. Her heart was beating hard as she went to stand next to Bess, but she was determined not to show either of the men that she was afraid.

“This is what we're going to do. We're going to drive out into the countryside. It's a deep freeze out there.”

Bess started to cry, and Nancy saw that her whole body shook. Ignoring her, Loomis went on in an eerily calm voice. “I'm going to let you out of the car in a field somewhere, twenty miles from any town.”

Bess moaned and bit her lip.

“Mother Nature will do the rest,” Loomis said. “I won't have to lay a hand on either of you.”

“No one will believe we died by accident,” Nancy said. “They'll connect it to Gary, and he won't go down without taking you. You played your game, and you lost. Why not just admit it?”

“I'm not a loser, kid.” Loomis sneered.

“Wait a minute,” Gary cut in. “Maybe we can talk this over. If you girls could keep a secret, we still have a way out of this. There might even be some money in it for you. I'd be willing to share—there's more than enough to go around.”

He looked beseechingly at Bess and shot her that same flirtatious look, but she just glared at him.

“Shut up,” Loomis said harshly. “If you think these girls could keep a secret, you're crazier than I thought.” He shoved Nancy. “Let's get going,” he said, “and don't bother to scream. Nobody will hear you. I've already tied up your gray-haired friend in the kitchen. She'll have to go with you girls, of course.

“Now move it!”

Before she could do anything, Nancy heard a crashing noise come from the hallway.

“What the—?” Loomis turned toward the doorway as the crashing noises came closer. Suddenly his face went slack with shock.

Following his gaze, Nancy saw two enormous dogs come hurtling into the room, growling and baring their huge teeth. Grabbing Bess's arm, Nancy tore her friend away from Loomis just as the dogs made a flying leap toward them.

N
ANCY AND
B
ESS BARELY
managed to jump out of the dogs' way. Loomis, too, leapt back, but the enormous dogs kept after him, cornering him on the couch.