Never Say Die (9 page)

Two blocks north. Cross the interstate. Cross lot. Next note tucked under windshield wiper.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Nancy said out loud, catching her breath.

She especially didn't want to cross the interstate. It was a major limited-access highway, and although
she
could get across it fine, for her backups it would be a wall. In order to follow her, they would have to take a long detour. They would definitely lose sight of her.

Still, there was no choice. Time was quickly running out. Shifting the gym bag to her other hand, Nancy sprinted on.

• • •

A few minutes later Nancy read the final note. She was standing in a huge, empty parking lot. Ahead of her loomed the tall, blank rear wall of a building. It was the River Heights aquarium, Oceanworld!

The note said that she should pull open the metal security door at the back of the building. There was only one, so she had no trouble finding it. She went inside.

It was 10:23. She was late.

Inside, Nancy paused to get her bearings. A hall stretched ahead of her. Jogging down it, she turned a corner and found herself in a room full of thick glass windows. Behind them, illuminated by soft green lights, were tanks of exotic fish.

“I don't believe this,” she whispered.

Glancing down, she checked the note in her hand:

Door marked private. Upstairs. Leave money on catwalk.

Suddenly Nancy was nervous. She was very aware that she was alone—and vulnerable. True, the extortionist probably wouldn't hurt her— not until he got the money, anyway—but she would have felt better if she knew her father was nearby. But he was probably miles away. Should she go on?

Nancy decided to continue. She had the money, after all. If the extortionist showed up, she would simply drop it and run. He'd choose the money over chasing her.

The door marked Private was across the room. Nancy walked over and pulled it open, then tiptoed up the stairs.

At the top was another door. Pulling it open, Nancy stepped through and found herself on a narrow catwalk, just as the note had promised. What the note had not told her, however, was that the catwalk was suspended over the exhibit tanks. Below her a killer shark was swimming in circles!

Nancy shuddered. She had seen sharks before, but always from the
other
side of the glass. Being less than four feet from one was definitely not her idea of fun.

Nancy quickly dropped the gym bag onto the metal grating at her feet. Then she reached back with her hand for the doorknob.

As she was groping, she suddenly felt a hand on her back!

She screamed, but there was no one to hear. There was nothing to grab onto. She was falling, clawing wildly at the air as she fell into the tank.

T
HE WATER WAS
cold, and she gasped as she surfaced and blinked the drops from her eyes. The catwalk was empty. The gym bag was gone. All she saw was the back of a figure disappearing through the door, which banged shut immediately.

Then she remembered. Somewhere below her, swimming around in circles, was a shark, capable of killing her with one snap of its jaws. She had to get out of there!

Looking around frantically, she noticed that a two-foot-wide lip ran around the top of the tank. If she could get to that, she'd be okay. She could
walk around it, then haul herself back up to the catwalk.

Just then, something nudged her leg and moved past her in the water. Nancy wanted desperately to scream, but she kept herself under control. Stay calm, she told herself. Just stay calm.

All at once Nancy remembered something she'd read in a book—sharks were attracted by erratic motion. If that was true, she reasoned, then maybe she could make the shark ignore her by swimming evenly through the water, with smooth, regular strokes.

It worked. Seconds later, Nancy pulled herself up onto the lip of the tank and stood. Stepping carefully, she picked her way around the tank until she reached the catwalk. Then she hauled herself up.

Two minutes later she was back outside in the parking lot. No one was there. For a moment Nancy stood absolutely still, breathing in the warm, sweet night air.

Then, as loudly as she could, she screamed.

• • •

An hour later Nancy had changed into dry clothes and was sitting in her father's study. Both her father and Steven Lloyd were there, and they were furious about what had happened.

Steven had balled his hands into fists. “If I ever get my hands on that guy—”

“You!” Nancy said, interrupting him. “Forget
it. Wait until I get
my
hands on him! He didn't even leave your program.”

“I expected that,” Steven said. “When I mentioned it on the phone earlier, he said he couldn't make any promises. That made me suspicious.”

“Do you think he'll try to extort more money?”

“No, but I think he'll try to get the full amount that he asked for originally.”

Carson Drew rose from his chair in anger. “Steven, are you saying that Nancy was carrying less than a million dollars?”

Steven nodded. “Half a million. I kept the other half.”

“But why? And what if he'd held her prisoner while he counted the money? When he found out, she could have been—”

Steven held up a hand. “I knew he wouldn't hold Nancy, Carson. He couldn't. Counting a million bucks takes time, and he had only minutes. He must have figured we were tailing her.”

“Yes, I guess you're right.” Calmed, her father sat down again. “That means you'll be getting an angry call pretty soon.”

“I hope so.”

“I think you will,” Nancy said, shifting in her chair. She was shaken too, but she was also glad about the news. “My guess is that this guy is greedy. Half a million won't be enough for him.”

Nancy was right. Fifteen minutes later the phone rang. It was the extortionist. When her
father put the call through the speakerphone on his desk, the voice that filled the room was electronically distorted. But there was no mistaking his anger.

“This isn't enough money, you idiot. I'll have to sell your program.”

“I don't think you will,” Steven said, pressing the talk button. “If you were planning to do that, why did you call?”

There was a pause.

“I want the other half-million,” the voice finally said.

“Fine. But next time we make an exchange. You have to produce the program.”

A burst of static came over the line. Then, “You'll hear from me.”

Click. Buzzzzzz.

That was it. Nancy sat back in her chair and slowly let out her breath. How had he known to phone her father? she wondered again. Had he tried Steven's home first?

There was no way to know. For now, the extortionist still had the upper hand. At least there was one positive side to the situation, though—a second payoff meant a second chance to catch the guy.

• • •

The next morning Nancy returned to the velodrome to try to protect George. After her midnight swim with the shark, it was almost a relief. Almost.

As she parked her car, Nancy mulled over the suspects. There were only two people who had reasons to want George out of the way. Of the two, Monique Vandervoort was the stronger possibility. The KGB was ruthless, of course, but Nancy doubted they would resort to murder just to keep George and Tatyana from talking.

Inside the velodrome, it was relatively quiet. There were no spectators in the stands that day because the track portion of the Classic was over. The remaining races would all be held on the Summitville roads.

There were still plenty of cyclists training on the track, however—including George. Coming off the track for a break, she handed her bike to Nancy and wiped her forehead.

“Whew, it's hot. I'm going to the tent for a drink. Want one?”

“No,” Nancy said. “But I do want to go with you. Remember what happened the last time you went to the tent by yourself?”

George laughed. “Relax. There are plenty of people hanging around outside. I won't get into any trouble, honest.”

Reluctantly, Nancy let her go. She didn't want to, but she also didn't want to treat George like a baby.

A minute later Jon approached Nancy. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

“Sure, what's up?”

“It's George. Or, rather, George and me. She
won't talk to me, Nancy. I mean, we discuss her training just as always, but when it comes to discussing us, it's like I suddenly grew a second head.”

Nancy felt sorry for him. From the look in his eyes, he was really suffering. But what could she tell him?

“Look, George is hurt,” she said finally, shading her eyes with her hand. “She thinks you've betrayed her.”

Jon groaned. “I know. I've tried to tell her that there was nothing to it, but—”

“Was there? Nothing to it, I mean?”

“Of course. As I said, Debbi and I just talked.”

“Then why do you look so guilty whenever Debbi's name comes up?”

“I—” He stopped. “I guess it shows, doesn't it?”

“Um-hmm,” Nancy said.

He laughed hollowly. “You're right. I do feel guilty.” He paused, but then finally the confession tumbled out of him in a rush. “The truth is, I didn't go out with Debbi just to get rid of her.”

“Oh?”

“I went out with her—well, there was a time when I found her very attractive, and I wanted to see if there was still something there. You know, if maybe I had made a mistake by leaving her behind the way I did.”

“And had you?”

He laughed. “No way! That's the thing. That
night I remembered all the reasons why I never wanted to get back together with her. Debbi's pretty, all right, but she's too possessive. In fact, we had only been together half an hour when she started in on all that junk about us getting married.”

“Hmm—” Running her hand through her hair, Nancy gave Jon the only advice she could think of. “Why not tell George exactly what you just told me?”

“You mean tell her the truth about that night with Debbi? She'll never even
look
at me again if I do that!”

Nancy shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. But things couldn't get much worse, could they?”

“Well, no,” Jon said. “The way things are, I'm miserable. I love George. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion near the exit tunnel. People were running toward it.

“I wonder what's going on,” Jon said, squinting.

Nancy's heart began to race. “I'm not sure, but I have an awful feeling that George is involved. I'll check it out.”

Handing George's bike to Jon, Nancy started to run.

O
UTSIDE,
N
ANCY SAW
that she was right. Someone had let the guard dogs out of their cages—and they had George backed up against a chain-link fence!

“Nancy, help! Call them off!” George called.

Nancy bit her lip. She couldn't call them off. She didn't know how.

The two dogs weren't going to back off on their own, either, that much was clear. The second George moved even an inch, they growled ferociously and bared their teeth. They were ready to attack her at any moment.

What was she going to do? Turning, Nancy
looked at the small crowd of cyclists and coaches that had gathered behind her, but no one spoke up.

Just then, Debbi Howe showed up. “Ooh, poor George. What a shame.”

“Debbi, this is no time to gloat. George could be mauled,” Nancy said. “Call them off.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” Suddenly, Debbi stepped forward and clapped her hands twice. “Ho! Back!” she shouted.

The dogs didn't move.

“Ho! Back!” she commanded again, clapping her hands once more.