He was heading straight toward Nancy, one hand in his pocket and both eyes on her face.
Whirling around, Nancy grabbed the hands of the nearest boy, not caring if he was with anyone else or not, and started dancing with him. When she sensed that the maintenance man was drawing close to her, she spun around again so that her back was to him. By that time, she’d lost her dance partner, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the maintenance man had recognized her. She was sure of it. Just keep dancing, she told herself; at least it’s rock and you can move fast.
With a few quick dance steps, Nancy reached the other side of the Rosita. Only then did she dare look back. She expected to spot the maintenance man somewhere in the crowd, but she found that was impossible. There were too many people bouncing, clapping, and swirling around the deck.
Nancy took a deep breath, tightened the knot in her hair, and headed toward the bow. The water was becoming rougher, and she clung to the rail, bumping into a few romantic couples on the way, but finally she reached the bow.
The deck was narrow there, and in spite of the lights on the rail, it was dark. Nancy stepped into the shadows, expecting to find Bess and George waiting for her.
No one was there. Nancy edged her way around the bow, toward the other side of the boat, but before she reached it, a voice—throaty and sultry—called out, “Looking for someone, Miss Drew?”
Chapter Thirteen
Turning slowly, Nancy found herself face-to-face with Lila Templeton, her silk robe billowing gently in the breeze, her green eyes glittering as brightly as the barrel of the gun she held in her hand.
“I said,” Lila repeated, “are you looking for someone?”
Nancy didn’t bother to answer. “I have a question too,” she said, keeping her eyes on the gun. “Is that the same gun that killed Ricardo?”
Lila laughed softly. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I suggest that you be careful, or it just might kill you. I also suggest that you be cooperative,” she went on. “I want you to turn around and walk slowly and calmly back to the main deck.”
“Then what?” Nancy asked.
“I guess you don’t understand,” Lila told her, stepping so close to Nancy that she felt the gun barrel pressing against her stomach. “I’m in charge. You don’t ask questions, you don’t make comments. You just do what I tell you. Now move!”
Nancy turned, raised her hands above her head and started walking. Behind her, Lila hissed, “Put your hands down!” and when Nancy felt the gun prodding her in the back, she decided not to push Lila any further. She lowered her arms and walked slowly around the bow, heading back to the main deck.
The music and laughter were still going strong, and for a second Nancy was tempted to break away and try to lose herself in the dancing crowd. But then what? she wondered. It wouldn’t get her any closer to Kim and Maria, or to Bess and George, wherever they were. If she let Lila call the shots for a while, she might learn something. Besides, with a gun at her back, she figured she didn’t have much choice.
“The galley,” Lila ordered.
“I thought it would be off limits,” Nancy quipped, figuring that that might be where Kim and Maria were hidden.
Lila laughed again. “Not for you, Miss Drew. Consider the Rosita your home. The last home you’ll ever have.”
With the gun barrel nestled between her shoulder blades, Nancy went down the steps and into the narrow galley. But Lila didn’t stop there. She urged Nancy through it and past some bunk beds. At last Nancy stopped, thinking there was nowhere else to go.
But Lila shoved her roughly aside and, still aiming the gun at Nancy, dropped to her knees, took hold of a brass ring on the floor, and pulled up a section of the floor. Looking down, Nancy saw a steep metal staircase leading to the bottom of the boat.