Was the intruder really the same boy? Nancy wondered. Then she realized that it didn’t matter, not at the moment. What mattered was that the boy, who had walked all around the room, and had been in and out of the bathroom, was headed for the closet in which Nancy was hiding. His hand was outstretched, reaching for the doorknob.
Chapter Four
Nancy stayed absolutely still, not even daring to breathe. At the last second, the boy shook his head, apparently changing his mind about the closet, and returned to the bathroom.
Nancy exhaled a long, shaky, silent breath. She had gathered one more important piece of information. The intruder was definitely the same handsome boy she had seen after Kim’s accident.
Nancy could hear him rummaging around in the bathroom, picking things up and putting them down again. Were he and the maintenance man working together? Had the maintenance man seen Nancy enter Kim’s room and told the boy to follow her?
Silently Nancy eased back into the darkness of the closet. She couldn’t let herself get caught, and she wished her heart would stop beating so hard.
The boy left the bathroom, dropping a few things into the canvas bag. They clattered against each other as they landed, and Nancy thought they must be jars. Makeup? Lotion? What would he want with Kim’s makeup and hand lotion?
Again the intruder stepped toward the closet. Nancy took her hand off the knob, afraid she might shake the door, and held her breath again. What would he do if he found her? What would she do?
The boy stopped in front of the closet, and Nancy gripped the strap of her beach bag, figuring she could swing it at his face and make a run for it if she had to. Her hand was sweaty and a muscle in her leg started jumping. She wished he’d do whatever he was going to do so she could move. Anything was better than waiting.
Finally he did move. But not to the closet. Nancy heard a strange shuffling sound, and she peered through the opening.
The boy was bending over, grabbing a few pieces of scattered clothing and stuffing them into his bag. As Nancy watched, he straightened up, his back still to her, and then swiftly walked to the door, opened it, and stepped outside.
Nancy forced herself to count slowly to five. She wanted to give him enough time to reach the stairs or the elevator and think he was safe. Then she’d follow him and try to find out who he was and what he was doing in Kim’s room.
At the count of five, she let herself out of the stuffy closet, crossed the room, and opened the door. The hall was empty. The elevator was stopped on the third floor. Nancy raced for the stairs and paused, listening. Two flights below, she heard a door open. Noises from the lobby drifted up to her before it closed again.
That’s him, Nancy thought, rushing down the stairs. He won’t be any farther than the street door by the time I get there. On the ground floor, she shoved open the door, nearly collided with a bellboy, and dashed across the lobby and out to the sidewalk.
The street looked almost the same as it had earlier that day, bright with sunlight and busy with vacationers heading for the ocean. Nancy glanced quickly in both directions, thought she saw the black-suited intruder turn onto the main avenue that ran along the beach, and swiftly made her way through the happy, suntanned crowds.
At the corner, Nancy stopped short, looking wildly in every direction. The main street was packed, the beach was packed. She counted at least fifteen guys in brief black bathing suits and was standing there wondering which one to go after first, when someone called her name.
“Nancy! Nancy, over here!”
Nancy looked across the street and saw Bess and George waving to her from the edge of the beach. Only a few hours had gone by since they’d all been together, changing into their swimsuits, but it seemed like days. She took another look at the crowded beach. Suddenly it seemed as if every boy was wearing a black bathing suit. Shaking her head, Nancy crossed the street and joined her friends.