The Island of Dangerous Dreams (18 page)

“I don’t sign blank checks,” she said. “Suppose you tell me what you have in mind.”

Pete looked at me. “I wish we could,” he said, “but we haven’t thought it all out yet.”

“Young man,” Madelyn said, “I have no idea what you’re planning to do, or even who you are.” She turned to me. “Do you have a good, solid reason for trusting this young man?”

“Yes,” I said. “Pete makes me feel good about myself, and I haven’t felt that way for a long time.” Madelyn raised one questioning eyebrow, so I went on. “Everything seemed to be crashing in on me at once, Aunt Madelyn, and I felt like a little kid who wanted to hide until everything was back to the way it should be. I didn’t want to admit that life keeps going forward, and situations change. I guess I didn’t think I could handle my problems. But now I know that I can. I’m not a little kid, and whatever happens in my life—even whatever Mom and Dad decide to do with their lives—I’ll be able to work it out. Now, do you understand?”

She didn’t look convinced as she said, “You want me to trust this young man simply on the basis of your feelings about yourself? You haven’t told me anything tangible about him.”

I tried to think of something that would help. “Pete lives in Miami, Aunt Madelyn. Maybe you know his parents. His father is an attorney.”

“Michaels?” A computer key clicked on in her
brain and she said to Pete, “Hamilton Michaels? Is he your father?”

“Yeah,” Pete said.

Her features immediately softened. “Hamilton and Marion Michaels. They gave the Sartington Museum a generous loan of three fine Rembrandt sketches. Well. So, you’re their son.”

“Now will you trust him?” I asked.

“Perhaps,” she said. “I admit I’m a little more inclined to do so.”

“Pete,” I said, “maybe we should tell her about—”

I didn’t finish the sentence, because a panicky voice shouted down the beach, “Madelyn! Where are you?”

“It’s Benita,” I said. Pete ducked into the trees and I added to Madelyn, “Will you take her back to the house? Please? There’s something I have to talk over with Pete.”

Madelyn immediately turned and walked toward Benita. I heard them greet each other, then turn as though they were going toward the house. Their voices drifted away, and again the beach was silent.

“Come out. It’s safe,” I said to Pete.

He joined me on the sand. For a change, he was serious. “I think we’re going to have to get off this island pretty quickly, Andy. The bad guys are going to start closing in.”

I dropped cross-legged to the sand. Pete sat down beside me. “Aunt Madelyn said something about Kurt,” I told him.

“She doesn’t like him either?”

“Listen to me. It may be important. After I told her about Aldo she blamed Kurt for not doing the thorough job of investigating he was hired to do.”

“That’s important?”

Other things I remembered began to crowd into my mind. It was like opening a spigot. As the idea began to pour out it moved so quickly that it scared me. I took hold of Pete’s hand. I needed to hang on to someone. “What if Kurt knew about Aldo’s criminal affiliations? What if they worked this out together?”

Pete’s eyes grew wide. “He’d be up to doing something like that.”

“I remember that Madelyn, Benita, and Mr. Granakee were upset that others had been invited, but Aldo wasn’t. What if he knew the others would be there, because Kurt had told him?”

“Do you think they planned to kill the judge?”

“I’m afraid so. Maybe Kurt stripped the covering from the wires on the cord. Maybe Aldo did. But once the judge was dead, they’d grab the artifact and leave the island. That’s why the powerboat was hidden in the cove.”

Pete nodded. “It’s a pretty good guess.”

“It’s not a guess,” I said. “I’m sure of it. Aldo was upset because he was going to miss his daughter’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon. He told me he’d promised her he’d be there, so he knew he’d be leaving Friday night. If Aldo had been an innocent guest, enjoying the judge’s weekend invitation, there was no way he could get to a birthday party in New Jersey on Sunday.”

The rest of it spilled out. “When I told Kurt I was
suspicious that Aldo was mixed up with organized crime, he answered that if that were the case, Aldo could have just taken the artifact by force and left the island.”

Pete whistled. “And to do that he’d have to know about the boat. Kurt really gave that one away.”

I climbed to my feet. Pete got up, too, and said, “We’ve got to think fast. We’re running out of time. What are we going to do?”

“There seems to be only one thing to do,” I said. “I’m going to tell Kurt that I’ve got the artifact.”

Pete groaned and kicked at a tree root that curled up and into the sand. “You’re going to give it to Kurt? That’s crazy! That’s dumb!”

“Pete, listen to me.” I put my hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “I’m going to tell you where I put the artifact. I hid it in a cave west of the house,” I said, and went on to give him a complete description of the limestone promontory and how to find it.

For a moment he was silent. Then “Thanks, Andy,” he said. The words were so soft I could hardly hear them, but the crinkle lines deepened around his eyes. I reached out and hugged him.

Pete hugged back, enthusiastically, then suddenly broke away. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go back to your plan A, B, or whatever.”

“You mean my plan to tell Kurt I’ve got the artifact?”

“You can’t. What do you think he’ll do to you then?”

“He’ll wait for me, because that’s what I’ll tell
him to do. I’ll tell him that I’ve hidden the artifact, but I won’t tell him where. And I’ll tell him to wait for me in the living room. That will keep him out of the way and give you the chance to do what you have to do.”

“Which is what?”

“Hot-wire the boat.”

His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open.

“You once hot-wired a car to start it,” I said. “And you said a powerboat ran sort of like a car. So couldn’t you do the same thing with the motorboat?”

He thought a minute. “Yeah,” he said. “With a little luck I ought to be able to.”

“Then bring it around to the promontory near the cave. Were my directions enough? Do you think you can find it?”

“I can find it.”

“Watch the house, Pete. I’ll send Aunt Madelyn and Benita and Eliison to meet you before I talk to Kurt. As soon as they reach the woods, take them to the boat.”

“That would leave you alone with Kurt and Aldo,” he said.

“Only for a couple of minutes.” My hands were getting clammy again. I hoped Pete wouldn’t see how frightened I was.

But maybe he did, because he frowned. “I ought to stick around.”

“There won’t be time.”

“I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you, Andy.”

“It won’t.” My voice sounded a lot more positive
than I felt. We looked at each other without speaking for a moment. Then I said, “That’s it. Are you ready?”

“Ready,” he said.

I kissed him quickly, turned, and ran down the beach toward the house.

Madelyn and Benita were seated once again on the veranda. I motioned to Madelyn to join me, and she hurried down the steps. She wasn’t the calm, collected person I was used to, and I hoped the others hadn’t noticed her trembling hands.

I made a show of hugging her, wondering who might be watching, and whispered, “Where’s Ellison?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Where are Kurt and Aldo?”

“In the living room. After what you told me about Aldo, I’m so thankful that Kurt is here to keep an eye on him.”

She had more to say, but I didn’t let her. “Take Benita with you right now,” I said. “Go around the house to the kitchen, get Ellison, and head straight toward the woods. Pete will take over then. Do what he tells you.”

“I’ll need more explanation than that,” she said.

“No. That’s it. There isn’t time. You’re going to have to trust Pete and me and cooperate, Aunt Madelyn. This may be the only chance we’ve got.”

Her eyes narrowed as she thought, and I could almost see her thoughts whirling behind them. Finally she looked up at me. “Is there something else you’re not telling me?”

“Yes,” I said. “And we’re talking about trust again.”

She took a deep breath and with it seemed to grow taller and straighter. “Very well,” she said. “I’ll do as you say.” She motioned to Benita, calling, “Come, dear. We must not sit and stagnate. We’re off for a stroll.”

Benita slowly joined her, grumbling about not wanting so much exercise, and I ran up the veranda steps and into the living room, where Kurt was slouched in an armchair, reading a magazine.

I looked around before I spoke. “Where’s Aldo?”

“In his room getting some aspirin. He has another headache.”

It took three long strides to reach his chair. I squatted next to it, gripping the arm, and tried to keep my voice from trembling. “I don’t want Aldo to overhear us, so keep your voice low. I know where the artifact is.”

For an instant I thought he was going to jump out of his chair. He poked his face almost into mine and hissed, “You found it? You’ve got it?”

“I know where it is,” I said, “and in a few minutes I’m going to get it and bring it to you.”

His gaze darted toward the stairs and back to me, then back and forth again. I glanced at the stairs, too, but Aldo wasn’t in sight. “Why don’t you just tell me where it is and I’ll get it?” he asked.

“Because you need to stay here with Aldo. You’re protecting us, and besides, we can’t take the chance that he’ll get his hands on it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Right.” Then he squinted suspiciously at me. “How’d you find it?”

“Do you want me to get it or not?” I asked.

“You’re going to bring it to me?”

“That’s what you told me to do, isn’t it?”

“How long is this going to take?”

“Maybe twenty minutes.”

He scowled. “Come on. No one could have taken it out of the house.”

“Someone did,” I said.

“Do you know who that person was?”

I nodded. “Yes, I do. I’ll tell you later. Will you wait here? Shall I get it?” By this time I hoped that Pete had the others in tow and they were making their way through the woods toward the motorboat.

It was obvious that Kurt was trying out every option that came to his mind. He could force me to take him to where the artifact was hidden, but he wasn’t sure what Madelyn or Benita would do. He could call to Aldo, but that would give their connection away. As far as he knew, I had believed the story he’d given me. Here I was, offering to bring him the artifact. He suddenly shrugged and said, “Go ahead. Get it I’ll wait here for you.”

I raced out of the house and down to the pier, where I kicked off my sandals and dived into the water. There was no time to change into a bathing suit, but my shorts and T-shirt were easy to swim in.

I was glad for the swimming lessons, glad for the practice over the summers at the Y pool and at Galveston beach. I kept a strong, steady stroke
until I reached the promontory. The tide was coming in, just as it had been before, so I dived deeply through the arch and twisted to enter the cave before I surfaced. I scrambled onto the ledge, scraping my knees and one elbow, and hopped over the rough limestone to the niche where the towel was still wedged.

With shaking fingers I unfolded the towel and removed the topaz, which was even more spectacular than I had remembered. Even in the dim light of the cave it glowed with a blue fire. The golden monkey hovered over it, his eyes reflecting sparks from the stone. I felt as though he were staring directly at me.

It took only a minute to slip the ribbon over my head and tuck the topaz down inside my T-shirt, wedging it under my bra. But the monkey’s sharp little paws dug painfully into my skin.

I picked up the towel. Maybe I should replace it, just to mark the spot. The police would come to investigate the murders and, even though the artifact would be well on its way to Peru, I’d need to show them where it had been hidden. I folded the towel and tucked it back into the niche.

I walked to the edge of the ledge, ready to slide back into the water, hoping with all my heart that Pete and the motorboat would show up soon.

But the water beneath me exploded as Kurt shot through, his big hands grabbing the ledge. He pulled himself up, grinning, shouting at me, as I stumbled back.

“Give it to me!” he yelled. “Give me the artifact!”

14

It was like trying to wake from a bad dream when you want to scream but you can’t. I opened my mouth but only some croaking noises came out.

“Where is it?” he demanded.

I pointed at the towel.

Greedily, Kurt stumbled over the ledge and shoved a fist into the niche, grabbing for the towel. He was no longer between me and the entrance to the cave.

I ran and jumped, blindly. A sharp pain stabbed up my leg as my ankle scraped the rock, but I didn’t let it stop me. Down I went, swooping through the arch as though I were as fast and sleek as a fish. I didn’t look back. I didn’t dare to. I surfaced, swimming with all my might. I could hear Kurt splashing behind me. He wasn’t far away.

No boat. Not even the sound of the boat. Pete hadn’t been able to start it. He wouldn’t come. I
was out here with Kurt, who was bigger and stronger than I was. There’d be no contest.