The Clue of the Gold Doubloons
Page 12
Harborside Hotel.”
“No wonder he was able to get a master key card.
Selena was his accomplice?”
“No. Selena was the cat burglar.”
Weller looked surprised for only a second. Then he
shook his head.
Nancy grabbed the railing as the police boat sped
up. Two officers wearing baseball caps balanced on the
bow. Siren blaring, light flashing, the boat quickly drew
alongside My Treasure. The two officers threw
grappling hooks onto the deck, hooking the police boat
to the yacht.
Nancy caught sight of Chance, hunched over the
steering wheel in the small cabin. Selena stood in the
stern, legs straddled for balance, the gun pointed at the
police boat.
“Drop the gun, Ms. Ramirez,” Weller shouted
through a bullhorn. The police officers had drawn their
guns and aimed them at her.
“Stop the boat, Curran!” Weller hollered.
Chance cut the engine, and both boats slowed to a
stop. Hands raised, he came out of the cabin. “I'm
unarmed,” he shouted.
Selena stood firm. “Stay behind me,” she snapped at
him. “We're not giving up.”
“Selena,” Nancy called. “This isn't a movie. If you
shoot someone, you'll go to jail—forever.”
Selena didn't budge. Then suddenly, with an eerie
wail, she dropped her arms. The gun fell to the deck.
Using the grappling hook, Weller pulled My Treasure
alongside the whaler. One officer jumped in and
picked up the gun while the other kept his weapon on
Selena.
“I give up!” she cried, huge tears rolling down her
cheeks. “I'm so sorry. But he forced me to do
everything!” Turning, she pointed a trembling finger at
Chance.
Nancy thought she'd seen Selena's best perfor-
mance, but this topped them all.
“He's the mastermind!” she continued to sob. “He
told me if I didn't help him with the thefts, he'd ruin
my acting career.”
Chance was so astounded that for a second he didn't
react. Then he gave a low growl and lunged for her,
grabbing her around the neck.
Weller jumped into the boat and helped the officer
pull the two apart. “Cuff 'em,” he barked. “Then read
them their rights. I'll radio for a transport car to meet
us at the dock.”
Nancy pulled the coat tighter around her chest.
“Nice acting, Selena,” she said after the officer had
handcuffed her. “Only this time, no one's clapping.”
Tossing her hair behind her shoulders, Selena gave
her a haughty look. “My award-winning performance is
just beginning, Drew.”
“I don't think a judge will be too impressed.” Nancy
glanced at Chance just as the officer pulled his hands
behind him and snapped on the cuffs.
He gave her a lopsided smile, and for a second he
looked so much like the guy she thought she knew that
Nancy almost smiled back.
“You were right,” he said with a resigned shrug.
“After this last heist, Selena was going to throw me to
the wolves to save her own skin. I'm sorry, Nancy,” he
added before the officer led him into the cabin.
“I'm sorry, too . . . Scott,” Nancy whispered.
Selena and Chance had been as daring, cunning, and
greedy as pirates, and just like the pirates of old, they'd
lost in the end.
“Wow, what a story!” Harold exclaimed the next day
on the Swift Adventure.
“Really,” Andrew chimed in. “We should make it
into a movie.”
“I second that.” Daniel waved one hand in the air. “I
can see it on the marquee now—Andrew Wagner's The
City of Pirates starring the famous actor Daniel
Wagner.”
“Just don't make me play Selena,” George said, and
everyone started laughing.
The cast and crew had gathered on the ship for a
buffet breakfast before Friday morning's shoot. Nancy
hadn't told anyone the details of Chance and Selena's
arrest. She didn't have to.
The night before George, Daniel, and Andrew had
met her at the police station. Joseph Mascelli was
already there along with WCBN. The story had made
the morning headlines and the morning news.
“Nancy, you didn't really suspect I was the cat
burglar?” Eli asked for the third time.
Nancy laughed at his expectant expression. “I sure
did,” she told him, and everybody clapped him on the
back.
She turned to Karl and Janie. “I even suspected you
two when I spotted Janie after she told me she was
going back to the hotel. You were following her, Karl,
and both of you were traveling fast. The next instant I
heard the police sirens coming from the hotel.”
“Whoa.” Karl rocked back on his heels. “That must
have looked suspicious.”
“Really suspicious after I lied to you when you asked
me about it,” Janie said. “But I was too embarrassed to
tell you what happened. After I met you for dinner,
Nancy, Karl called me at the hotel. We met on the
wharf.”
Karl hung his head. “I begged her to lend me
money,” he said. “She told me no. I was so desperate, I
got a little . . . uh, insistent.”
“You mean rough,” Janie clarified. “I told him he'd
been playing Blackbeard too long.”
“I'm just glad you told the police about My
Treasure,” Nancy told Karl. “It saved me from a long
night tied up in the cabin.”
“The cops are going to go after that gambling racket,
too,” Karl said. “Though as long as I'm in Baltimore,
I'm going to be checking over my shoulder for those
goons.”
Andrew threw him a pretend punch. “And we're
going to be here a week longer than we thought.”
Everybody turned to face him. “Why?” Lian asked.
“We don't have Selena to slow us down with her
million requests.”
“Yes, but we do have extra footage to shoot.”
Andrew was grinning happily.
Nancy glanced at Daniel, who looked just as smug.
“With all the publicity,” Daniel explained, “we have
heard from networks from all over, each wanting to buy
the rights to the film. One of them, Broadcast Times,
called us this morning and made us an offer. But if we
go with them, they want to expand the film from a half-
hour to an hour. I think Seeing Double Productions
has its first hit!”
Everybody cheered, but the cheers quickly died
down, and Nancy heard grumblings among the cast
and crew. She couldn't blame them. Most were staying
in budget hotel rooms that they were paying for out of
their own pockets.
Andrew chuckled. “Oh, did we forget to tell you the
best news? We've accepted Broadcast Times's offer,
and it's such a good deal, you're all going to get paid!”
Hearty cheers broke out this time. Linking
arms,
Janie and Lian swung each other around. Harold and
Eli shouted, “Better props! A new microphone!”
“What's going to happen to Selena?” Janie asked
Nancy.
“Are you hoping she'll get life?” George asked.
“In a cell with no shower and makeup,” Janie added
while everybody laughed.
“I'm not sure what will happen,” Nancy admitted.
“The police are gathering evidence to build a strong
case. Of course, kidnapping me will be added to her list
of crimes. Plus, the two are wanted in several other
cities.”
“Did you ever figure out who—or what—they were
planning to rob last night?” George asked. “You know,
the big heist.”
Nancy shook her head. “Detective Weller thinks it
has something to do with the convention group that
had just come into the hotel Thursday for the weekend.
A lot of wealthy businesspeople and their spouses. The
group is known to bring lots of jewelry and cash.”
“But how did Chance and Selena know which rooms
to burglarize?” Janie asked.
Harold laughed. “Really. If they'd gone into my
motel room, they would've found day-old french fries.”
“Chance used his job as a waiter to get friendly with
the customers.” Nancy sighed for a minute, realizing
how good he was at duping people. “He'd chat them
up, all the while finding out what their plans for the
night were as well as checking out the size of their
wallets. Most of them would sign the bill with their
room number. Once he'd stolen the master key card, it
was easy as pie.”
“What I can't figure out is why Selena used the
doubloons to cast suspicion on the ship,” Daniel asked.
“It seems so risky.”
“My guess is she wanted to point the police in the
direction of the ship so when the hotel got Anne Bonny
and Jack Rackham on tape, they'd arrest Daniel and
George. Once the police had two suspects in custody,
Selena and Chance would be free to make their last
heist and get out of town.”
“What a smooth operation,” Janie said. “And who
would have thought that Selena was the mastermind.”
“Not me!” Harold, Eli, and Karl chorused. “We were
too busy being starstruck,” Eli said.
“Speak for yourself,” Daniel cut in. “I was too busy
being annoyed with her acting.”
George shook her head. “And to think she was
actually the best actor of us all.”
Andrew put his arm around Nancy's shoulder. “She
fooled everybody but Nancy.”
Nancy shook her head. “Wrong. She had me fooled,
too. I just hope she doesn't pull the wool over the
judge's and jury's eyes.”
“Speaking of acting,” Daniel straightened. “Who's
going to play Mary Read now that Selena's in jail?”
“Nancy, of course,” Karl Kidd boomed. “Anyone
who can foil two real pirates can handle the role of
Mary Read.” Pulling a pistol from the waistband of his
pants, he held it out to Nancy.
Nancy grinned. Now that the mystery had been
solved, she was ready to throw herself back into the
film.
Taking the pistol, she brandished it in the air. “All
right, mates,” she said in her best pirate's voice. “Let's
get this film rolling. Before I make everybody walk the
plank!”