“Stop her!” Lila screamed. “She’s got a boat! Stop her!”
Nancy spun around to face the crowd of partiers. They were still milling around at the water’s edge. All but one. That one—the maintenance man—had broken away from the group and was loping across the sand toward Nancy.
Nancy knew there was no longer any sense in trying to get the boat in the water. She’d never make it. She’d been caught, and as she watched the maintenance man closing the gap between them, she wondered if she’d been caught for good.
For a split second, Nancy stood rooted to the spot and ready to give up. But when she actually heard the sharp, steady breathing of the man, she snapped to attention. Come on, she told herself. You can probably outrun that creep. And if not, you can certainly outthink him!
In a flash, Nancy was off, her heels sending out sprays of sand as she headed away from the boats and the bonfires toward the dark center of the island. She had no idea what she’d find there, but it couldn’t be any more dangerous than what she was leaving behind.
Nancy kept running, plunging through the sand until finally the broad, empty stretch of beach gave way to palm trees and undergrowth. It was suddenly very dark, which was good, but she couldn’t see a thing, and the tangled vines and bushes made it impossible to run quietly, which wasn’t so good. She knew she sounded like a scared deer crashing through a forest. She also knew that if Mr. Friendly couldn’t see her, he could hear her, since she could certainly hear him, crashing along right behind her, and he was much too close for comfort.
After a few minutes, the clumps of trees started to thin out, and Nancy realized she was heading uphill. She forced herself to keep going, thinking that at least Lila wouldn’t take off. She couldn’t take that chance, not as long as Nancy was on the run.
Nancy ran until she was no longer under the safe cover of the trees. She burst out into an open space, under a bright moon, and looked around wildly. If she didn’t find someplace to hide soon, the maintenance man could just bide his time until she collapsed.
He might already be doing that, Nancy thought. She couldn’t hear him anymore, but she knew he couldn’t be far behind.
Struggling to keep her balance, Nancy scrambled up a steep incline, and then she stopped, gasping more from fear than from exhaustion. She was on some kind of cliff, and below her—in a sheer, thirty-foot drop—was a smooth stretch of sand, sparkling in the moonlight. Unless she managed to turn herself into a mountain goat, there was no way she could get down.
And at that moment, Nancy heard heavy gasping sounds. The maintenance man. He was closing in fast, and she knew she was too tired to go through another chase scene with him. She would have to face him. Glancing frantically around,” she saw three large rocks grouped together. As the breathing grew louder, Nancy rushed over and hid herself behind them.
In seconds, the maintenance man was on the cliff. As Nancy watched, peering between two of the rocks, he stopped to get his breath, then turned and began walking slowly in Nancy’s direction, looking everywhere for signs of the girl he’d been chasing.
Her heart pounding, Nancy made herself wait until he was so close to her hiding place that she could reach out and touch him. Then, in one swift move, her leg shot out, sweeping his feet out from under him, sending him sprawling on the ground.
The maintenance man was caught completely by surprise, and Nancy was just trying to decide what to do with him when she heard a shout. She looked up, and there, on the edge of the cliff in the bright moonlight, stood Dirk Bowman.
Chapter Sixteen
The moment Nancy paused, the maintenance man took action, throwing her aside in one strong movement. Nancy was outnumbered, but she wasn’t about to give up.
She and the maintenance man faced each other, squaring off like boxers in the ring. Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy saw Dirk Bowman rushing toward them. Lashing out at the maintenance man with a kick, she spun around to face Dirk.