“We heard about Ricardo when we got in,” Bess told her. “That’s all anybody’s talking about on the beach.”
“It looks like he wasn’t a bad guy after all,” George said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he was an illegal himself.”
Hmm, thought Nancy. Just like Maria.
“Yeah,” Bess said, “the police tried to check up on him and found out he’d been working with a fake green card ever since he reached Florida. And it seems that a lot of people around here knew about it.”
George nodded. “One of the other lifeguards told me that Ricardo tried to help other illegals—you know, get them cards and find them work, stuff like that.”
“So he must have been helping Maria all along,” Nancy said. That explained why he’d smiled when Kim got hit, she thought. It was a smile of anger—he’d been challenged and he was ready to fight. “But why did he have it in for me?” she wondered aloud, remembering the satisfied look on his face when she’d stepped on the man-of-war.
“Why shouldn’t he? He didn’t know who you were,” Bess pointed out. “Kim didn’t know you were coming down, and she probably never even mentioned you. He probably thought you were going to turn him over to the authorities or something.”
“Right,” Nancy agreed. “He didn’t trust anyone.” She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Boy, I’m really stuck now. I don’t have the vaguest idea what to do next.”
Bess took Nancy’s hand and pulled her off the bed. “Take a shower and then put something in your stomach besides soda and crackers,” she told her. “Once you feel human again, you’ll be able to think.”
Nancy couldn’t help noticing that Bess was back to her old friendly self. Dirk must have made all the right moves, she thought. Then she thought of something else. “Kim!” she cried. “I completely forgot!” She quickly told Bess and George about Kim’s condition while she dialed the hospital room. The line was busy.
Ten minutes and three calls later, it was still busy.
“Look,” George said, “go shower. We’ll keep trying the hospital. Anyway, who knows? Kim might have recovered. She could be running up a long distance phone bill right now.”
“Let’s hope so,” Nancy said, and headed for the shower. Even though the sharp spray stung every cut and scratch, the water felt wonderful, and Nancy thought she might never come out. She was soaping her hair for the second time when Bess walked in.
“Nan?” she called. “I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted about Dirk. I was really mad at him, not at you. I hope you know that.”
“It’s okay,” Nancy called back, over the hiss of the water. Then she poked her head out of the shower curtain and grinned. “I take it you two got together again last night?”
“We sure did!” Bess ran a brush through her hair and laughed. “He’s absolutely incredible!”
“Well, I’m glad somebody had fun,” Nancy joked. “Did you meet Lila Templeton?”
Bess nodded. “She was really nice. She asked why you weren’t there, but I just said something had come up.”
“That’s for sure!” Nancy ducked back in the shower and started rinsing her hair.
“I wouldn’t mind being in Lila’s shoes,” Bess went on with a giggle. “Everybody who works for her is tan, male, and gorgeous! And when they drop the partiers off at the island, she gets to take off in that boat with ten beautiful men!”
Nancy laughed and poured some conditioner on her hair. “Sounds great!”
“It is,” Bess agreed, “but I’m starting to feel a little guilty.”
“Guilty? What for?”
“Well, I mean, there we were, cruising along in the Rosita, having a terrific time, while you were tied to that piling, fighting for your life, and—”
“The what?” Nancy turned the water off and stuck her head out again. “What did you say?”
“I said I was feeling a little guilty about having such a good time when—”
“I heard that part,” Nancy interrupted. “You said you were cruising along in the . . . the what?”
“The boat,” Bess said, looking confused. “Lila Templeton’s boat—the Rosita.”