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Authors: Carolyn Keene

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BOOK: Club Dread
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CHAPTER
14

NANCY

BESS GUESS

I was in luck. When I reached the concierge desk, Nikitin was standing there alone in front of a large computer, typing away. He looked distracted. I tried to steady my pounding heart and approached him.

“Hi!” I said, with a big plastic smile on my face. “How are you doing?”

“I am quite well, Ms. Drew,” he said. “And yourself? I hope everything is living up to your expectations. Nothing wrong with your new accommodations, is there?”

I had to give it to him—Nikitin showed no sign that I was anything other than an ordinary guest. He was smooth.

“Oh no, the suite is lovely. Thank you so much.”

“I am terribly sorry about what happened in your
old room. I assure you, it won't happen again.”

I tried to think of something to say. The last thing I wanted to do was to get him talking about the break-ins. If he got suspicious, Frank and Joe could be in serious trouble. I wished Bess were here. She could talk to any guy, anywhere, about anything.

“I had dinner with Mr. Thorton earlier.” It was the first thought to pop into my mind, so I went with it. “He told me you were from Russia.”

“Yes. I moved to this country twelve years ago.” He sighed and looked back at his computer screen. “I'm going to be shutting down the desk in a moment—is there anything I can help you with before I do?”

I was losing him. If his shift was ending, he could be heading up to his room at any moment. I had to get his attention and keep him down here. I tried again.

“I studied Russian history in school,” I said quickly. “I've always been so interested in the country.” I leaned over the desk, looking Nikitin directly in the eyes—a trick I'd seen Bess use many times before. He shifted toward me.

“Well, it is true. Russia has a fascinating history.” Nikitin turned away from the computer and faced me directly. He was smiling now. Clearly, this was a topic that was close to his heart.

“Uh-huh,” I said, smiling at him again. That was all the encouragement Nikitin needed.

“For instance, did you know that Empress Yekaterina—Catherine the Great, you might know her as—ruled Russia for thirty-four years? She was one of the most powerful women of her time. There is a reason Russia is known as the ‘motherland.'”

This was going to be easy. I barely had to say anything. So long as I kept nodding my head, Nikitin kept talking. And he was right—it
was
fascinating. Despite what I'd told him, I didn't know anything about Russian history. When I got back home, I'd have to get some books from the library. Any place with a history of strong women was a place I wanted to read about!

I figured another fifteen minutes and Frank and Joe would be safely out of Nikitin's room. There was a large clock on the wall behind him, and I watched the minutes tick down. It was after nine, and the lobby was nearly empty. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noticed two pairs of footsteps running toward me, but I didn't think anything of them until a hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Nancy!” I spun around. Bess and George were standing behind me. “We've been trying to call you!”

It wasn't like Bess to interrupt a conversation. She looked upset and flustered. Her cheeks were red, and both she and George were sweating. If I hadn't known any better, I would have guessed that they ran all the way from the beach to the hotel.

“I'm sorry, Bess. I must have put my phone in my purse and not noticed it because I was
talking to Andrew
.” I tried to emphasize those last words. I couldn't afford to lose Nikitin's attention right now.

“I'm sorry,” Bess said, leaning over my shoulder to talk to Nikitin. “Do you mind if we borrow Nancy for a minute?”

Before Nikitin had a chance to say anything, Bess and George had literally pulled me away from the desk. I'd never seen them act like this before! Something must be going on. Still, I was working with Frank and Joe, and I couldn't let them down.

“Guys, I can't. I have to keep Nikitin occupied.” I pulled free of their hands, but when I looked back, Nikitin had already left the desk and the computer was shut off. I looked around the lobby and spotted him heading for the elevators. I was too late.

“Nancy.” George looked me dead in the eye. “We need to talk to you. It's important.”

I knew from the way she said it that it was true. They needed me now. They were my friends, and I trusted their intuition. If Bess and George thought that something was important, so did I. Besides, there was nothing I could do about Nikitin now.

“Okay. Let me just warn Frank and Joe.”

I called Joe, but it rang twice and went to his voice mail. I just hoped they were out of the room already.
If not…I couldn't think about what would happen if Nikitin caught them in his room. He was huge, bigger than Frank and Joe combined, and if he surprised them, they'd be in trouble. I left Joe a message saying Nikitin was on his way, and to call me if they needed backup.

“What's going on?” I asked Bess and George.

“It'll be easier to show you than to explain. Let's go to the room.”

We headed upstairs in silence. I couldn't help worrying about Frank and Joe, even though I knew they could take care of themselves. Still, I felt like I had let them down.

When we got to the room, Bess went straight for the listening device we'd found in the couch. She tore it out of the fabric and tossed it out the window.

“There, now we can really talk,” she said. She sat down on the couch, obviously waiting for something. I joined her.

George went to her room and brought out a small black bag I hadn't seen before. It looked heavy. Where had it come from? What was going on? I waited.

“Remember when I went out to the swamp with Matthias?” George asked.

I nodded.

“Well, he gave me more than just a tour. He gave me a necklace. I didn't think much about it at the time. I
thought it was a silly piece of costume jewelry. I should have said something sooner, but I didn't want you guys to make too much of it.”

George looked embarrassed. She handed the bag to Bess.

“Oh, George,” I said. “We wouldn't make fun of you! It's great that Matthias likes you.”

Even if he is a creep,
I thought.

“No, Nancy. That's not it,” she said.

Bess opened the bag and poured the contents out into her hands. The necklace was made of three thick strands of golden metal braided together, with cut red glass studded all around. It glittered in the light. For a piece of plastic, it looked beautiful. But I still didn't understand why they needed to talk to me right now.

Bess looked at me expectantly. I shrugged. What did she want me to say?

“Don't you recognize it?” she asked.

I shook my head no.

“Argh! The two of you. George didn't either. This is Jasmina's necklace—it's worth millions!”

Speechless, I took the necklace from Bess's hands. It was heavy, the way real gold should be. And if it was real gold, then it wasn't studded with cut glass. They were rubies, a dozen huge rubies.

“Are you sure it's the same one, not a replica?” I asked.

“Let's check,” said George. She grabbed her laptop off the coffee table and started it up. Within a few seconds, she had pulled up a picture of Jasmina. We compared the necklace in my hands with the one she was wearing in the photo. There was no question. It was the same one!

“But…how did
Matthias
get this?” I asked out loud, already knowing the answer. Matthias was behind the break-ins.

“I should have known it wasn't just plastic! I'm sorry, Nancy, this is all my fault.” George was nearly crying. I hugged her.

“This isn't your fault, George. Matthias had us all fooled. Including Frank and Joe. If you hadn't gotten to know him, we probably never would have caught on.”

I tried to comfort her, but George was pretty upset at herself. I hugged her close. Things started falling into place in my mind. Matthias must have known that Frank and Joe were in ATAC. That's why he'd been trying to kill them when I first saw them in the swamp. And he must have been the one who searched our suite. He probably thought that
we
were in ATAC as well, since we knew Frank and Joe. When he couldn't find anything that tied us to ATAC, he bugged our new room to make sure. He had rigged the balcony to collapse, knowing that Frank and Joe
would be looking for evidence. I bet he had been listening in on them as well. He probably knew everything.

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Frank and Joe were in terrible danger, and they had no idea. Frantically, I called Joe.

No answer.

CHAPTER
15

FRANK

BETRAYED!

I don't know how long we stood in the dark, waiting for Nikitin to show up. The minutes before a fight always seem to stretch on forever. I could hear Joe and Matthias breathing near me. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I was glad we were finally nearing the end of this case.

I heard the front door of the apartment open. My heart started beating harder, and I crouched down, getting ready to cut off Nikitin's exit as soon as he walked into the bedroom.

“Matthias?” He called out.

“In here!”

Matthias looked at me and Joe. We nodded.

Everyone was in position. In a moment, this would all be over.

Nikitin opened the door and went in a few steps before he noticed Matthias. He stopped dead in his tracks, and I slipped behind him to cut off his escape. We had him trapped now. Nikitin swung his head wildly, noticing me and Joe.

“What's going on?” he yelled. “Matthias?”

Joe was approaching him slowly from the left.

“Give yourself up now, Nikitin. We have all the evidence we need. We know you're the one behind the break-ins.” Joe was talking quietly, trying to calm Nikitin down and keep his attention.

“I thought we had a deal,” Nikitin said, looking at Matthias.

Matthias said nothing, but he stepped toward Nikitin with his hands in fists, moving away from the bed. Nikitin started to take a step back, when suddenly he caught sight of Petrovitch, still tied up.

“Petrovitch!” he yelled and surged forward, knocking Matthias out of the way with one arm. He tossed him aside like he was made out of tissue paper. Matthias landed hard, all the air leaving his lungs in a sharp
whoof!

Everything was moving too fast for me to follow. What did Nikitin mean by “a deal”? Something was wrong, but I didn't have the time to figure it out.

Nikitin leaned over the bed and started trying to
untie Petrovitch. Joe leaped onto his back and grabbed Nikitin by the head. Nikitin reared up and shook. I tried to find a safe way to tackle him, but Joe was flying every which way and I was afraid I was just as likely to hurt him as Nikitin. Joe held on for a second, but Nikitin broke his hold and sent him flying across the room too. He landed in a heap, but he seemed to be okay. He was on his feet again a second later.

Matthias was getting up, and Joe wasn't out of the fight either. Nikitin looked around the room and realized there was no way he was going to win. Then he looked at me, the only thing standing between him and the door. I braced myself as he charged.

It was like trying to stop a train. He ran right through me as though I wasn't there. I blasted into the air, my entire chest filled with pain. I was going to be one big bruise in the morning. But our ATAC training had served me well. Even as I was tumbling through the air, I managed to snag one arm around Nikitin's throat. With the other one, I grabbed the door frame.

Nikitin went down like a tree, falling backward. My arm was nearly ripped out of its socket, but I managed to hold on. I leapt on top of him, hoping to pin him down for the crucial moment it would take Joe and Matthias to get out here and help me.

We rolled over and over, knocking into tables and chairs. We were so close, it was hard to hit each other.
Nikitin managed to get his arms around me, and I could feel him squeezing the air out of my lungs. I flipped around wildly, trying to break free, but his arms were like two steel coils.

I spotted the horse statue Joe had picked up earlier on the floor near us. I grabbed it and hit Nikitin as hard as I could across the head. It was a bad angle, so it was only a slight blow, but it was enough to take him by surprise and make him let go momentarily. I slipped out of his grasp and struggled to my feet.

Nikitin was on all fours, shaking his head and trying to get up. I put him in a sleeper hold, cutting off the blood to his brain. He tried to fight me, but soon he sank to the floor and fell unconscious.

“Matthias! Joe! Call hotel security—Nikitin's going to need an ambulance!” I checked his pulse. It was strong. He was out, but not in any danger, though he was bleeding from where I hit him. I wasn't surprised. He was built like an ox. Hopefully he'd be out long enough for the police to get him in handcuffs.

Where were Matthias and Joe? I hoped they hadn't been hit harder than I thought. I ran back into the bedroom.

Joe was on the floor, unconscious.
That's strange,
I thought. He was getting to his feet when I last saw him. Nikitin must have given him a concussion. We'd need to get him to the hospital as well. But where was Matthias?

I felt a sharp prick at the back of my neck. I turned around and Matthias was standing there holding a needle.

“What the heck?” I said. Or at least, that's what I tried to say. My tongue was heavy and I couldn't move my mouth properly. I tried to walk, but my legs gave out beneath me. I landed in a heap on top of Joe.

I heard Matthias laughing above me. I tried to get the cell phone out of Joe's pocket to call Nancy for help, but I could barely move.

“Look at the perfect Hardys now. The golden boys of ATAC. Hope you're ready for an early retirement.”

Everything went black.

BOOK: Club Dread
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