“The blind man!” cried Pete. “He tried to plant a bug in the salvage yard. Do you mean that Shelby . . . ?”
“Possibly,” said Jupe. “We’ll see.”
Jupe than told Pete of the message he and Mr. Bonestell had recorded. “The Denicolas have disappeared, and I’m really concerned about them,” said Jupe. “I hope that after Shelby plays back that recording, he’ll lead us to them.”
It was very dark now. The rain that had been threatening half the afternoon had begun to fall. There was little traffic on Second Street, and none on Dolphin Court–not until well after six. Then Shelby’s car turned the corner. Mr. Bonestell and the boys watched Shelby turn into Bonestell’s drive and park. Shelby got out of the car. A moment later the lights went on in the back of the house, and then in the front rooms.
“He’s looking for me,” said Mr. Bonestell. “I’m always home at this time unless I’m working.”
Soon there were lights upstairs, in the bedroom where Shelby lived.
“It won’t be long now,” said Mr. Bonestell. He fairly cackled with glee. Jupe realized then how much Mr. Bonestell disliked Shelby Tuckerman.
The lights continued to blaze all over Mr. Bonestell’s house, but the front door opened and Shelby came out. He sprinted across the patch of lawn to the drive and got into his car. The engine roared and Shelby shot out into the street. A split second later he passed Mr. Bonestell’s car and sped around the corner on to Second Street.
Mr. Bonestell already had his engine running. He followed Shelby up Second and then out across Ocean Avenue and down to the Coast Highway.
“He’s going to Denicola’s,” Jupe decided.
Mr. Bonestell dropped back and let another car get between himself and Shelby, but he kept Shelby’s car in view. They went steadily north in heavy rain. Shelby drove exactly at the speed limit. He slowed going through Malibu, then picked up the pace again.
“He has to be going to Denicola’s,” said Jupe. “I wonder if . . . if . . . Mr. Bonestell, do you know anyone named Alejandro?”
“No. Shelby’s middle initial is A, but I doubt it stands for Alejandro. That’s Spanish for Alexander, isn’t it? Shelby isn’t Spanish.”
Mr. Bonestell slowed the car. They were approaching Denicola’s. There was very little traffic, and they could see Shelby’s car ahead of them, the tail-lights reflected in the rain-slick surface of the road. They could also dimly see a white truck backed up to the Denicola pier. But before Jupe could wonder about it, Shelby braked abruptly and turned right, away from the ocean. He roared up the driveway of the Oceanview Motel.
“The motel!” exclaimed Pete as Mr. Bonestell quickly pulled off on to the shoulder. “That could be where Mrs. Denicola is–her and the old lady!”
“I should have thought of it,” said Jupe. “Okay. Now we know. Mr. Bonestell, will you wait here for us? If we’re not back in fifteen minutes, get to a phone and call the police.”
“You bet!” said Mr. Bonestell. “Be careful now.”
Jupe and Pete got out and looked up. The motel was no more than a dark shape above the road. There was not a light anywhere. The boys went up the drive without speaking, their shoulders hunched against the driving rain. When they had reached the top and the pavement broadened into the parking area, Pete tugged at Jupe’s sleeve.
“There’s Shelby’s car,” he whispered. “I don’t see Shelby anywhere.”
“Probably inside the motel,” said Jupe.
They stole forward into the pool area behind the motel. As soon as they had the motel building between themselves and the ocean, they had some shelter from the wind. The night was not so intensely black, either, for the slanting raindrops now reflected a hint of light.
Jupe pointed. One window in the motel showed a faint glow around the edges. A lamp was lit behind a heavy curtain.
The boys crept towards the window and leaned forward to listen.
And suddenly Jupe heard something behind him that was not just a part of the wind and the rain. Someone was behind him.
Jupe turned his head.
“Be still!” said Shelby Tuckerman. He was holding his gun. “Don’t make a move.”
Then Shelby shouted.
The door of the motel room opened. Light streamed out. In the doorway stood one of Ernie’s room-mates–the one who had been missing all afternoon. He also had a gun.
“In there, you two!” ordered Shelby.
Jupe and Pete went into a room that was rank with cigarette smoke. Eileen Denicola sat there on a small straight chair, her wrists tied to its arms. She looked furious. Her mother-in-law was tied to an armchair near the bed.
Shelby came dripping into the room, and Ernie’s room-mate shut the door.
“Hi!” said a very familiar voice.
There in the corner behind the door, also tied to a chair, was Bob Andrews!
19
The Nightmare Comes True!
“THAT CONVERSATION YOU HAD with Walter about the police,” said Shelby Tuckerman. “It was a trick, wasn’t it? You staged it.”
“And you led us here,” said Jupiter.
He and Pete were seated now. Ernie’s room-mate, who was called Luis, had put away his gun and brought two more chairs from another motel room. He was tying Jupe and Pete to them with strips torn from sheets, while Shelby covered them with his pistol.
“Much good may it do you,” said Shelby. “Where is Walter? Waiting for you down on the highway?”
Jupe didn’t answer. Shelby smiled angrily. “We’ll see that he doesn’t wait too long,” he said. “I wouldn’t want him to get nervous.”
Luis finished tying the boys. Shelby put away his gun, too, then he spoke to Luis in rapid Spanish. As he spoke there were two quick raps at the door, then two raps again. Ernie opened the door and came in. He stopped in surprise when he saw Pete and Jupe.
“What are these other kids doing here?” he demanded angrily of Shelby. “One was bad enough. Oh, never mind. You take care of them. I came to get Luis. The boat is almost loaded. Strauss is pulling out now, and Rafi is finishing up.”
Bob muttered to Jupe, who sat next to him, “Strauss is a guy who runs a moving company in Oxnard. I watched him load up a truck this afternoon. One of the crates broke open. There were bullets in it.”
“Ammunition!” exclaimed Jupe. “And guns, I bet.” He looked at Shelby Tuckerman. “I thought it might be drugs,” he said. “I thought Ernie and his friends were using the Maria III in some sort of drug-smuggling operation.”
“Over my dead body!” cried Eileen Denicola. “If you think Ernie ever took that boat six inches from the dock without me aboard, you’re sadly mistaken!”
Ernie grinned. “We’re going to take it now, Mrs. Denicola,” he said, “and you won’t be aboard.”
“There will be guns aboard,” said Jupe. “And that, of course, is why you robbed the bank. You needed the money for guns. What could be more natural for a bunch of revolutionaries? You’ll ship the guns to Mesa d’Oro, where they’ll be used to shoot innocent people.”
Ernie drew himself up to his full height and looked righteous. “They’ll be used in the battle for justice,” he said.
“According to some published reports,” said Jupe, “the battle for justice can include sniping at unarmed civilians.”
“If you mean the Civil Guard of Mesa d’Oro, they represent the spoilers who have stolen our land,” said Ernie. His cheeks burned with colour.
“Don’t listen to him, Ernesto,” said Shelby. “It doesn’t matter what the boy thinks.”
“You were the scar-faced beggar,” said Jupe to Shelby. “You used the disguise to watch the bank without being recognized by Mr. Bonestell. You knew about the vault with the time lock, and you knew Mr. Bonestell would be alone in the bank after the cleaning people left. If only you hadn’t been so greedy. You found Mr. Sebastian’s wallet at Denicola’s the day before the robbery. It was a beautiful wallet, and instead of turning it in or dropping it into a mailbox, you put it into your pocket and kept it. But you dropped it at the scene of the robbery, and it led us right back here to the dock.”
“I . . . I was going to drop it in a mailbox,” said Shelby quickly.
Luis looked from Ernie to Shelby, then back again. He said something in Spanish, and Ernie motioned to him to be quiet.
“So the blind man did pick up the wallet,” said Ernie. His face was stern and accusing. “For a wallet, you endangered our cause? Is this true?”
“Certainly not!” snapped Shelby. “I said I was going to drop it in the mail. Let’s not stand here and argue. That old man’s down on the highway and–”
“Why didn’t you give the wallet to me?” cried Ernie. “I would have called Mr. Sebastian and there would have been an end to it. There wouldn’t have been anything to bring these kids down on us!”