Bess wasn’t finished speaking, but at that moment a cry burst from the senator’s lips. They all looked at her, but it was to Carson Drew she turned.
“Carson, that man’s one of the most wanted terrorists on Interpol’s list. He has a reputation for eliminating anyone who stumbles on to any clues to his existence, whether his current employers want him to or not. I’m sure he was one of the men who tried to kill George!”
Chapter Twelve
“Nancy, I can’t help worrying about you. I’m your father,” Carson Drew said with a faint smile. Then his face grew serious.
“I’m proud of you for many things, and one of them is the way you never let personal sacrifice or danger deter you from doing what you believe is right. Or from helping someone who is in need. I admit there are times when I want to jump in and protect you from the consequences. And there would probably be more of them if I always knew what you were up to while you were up to it!
“I guess now I rely on my respect for your good sense and judgment. The trouble is, I also know that all the sense and judgment in the world can’t always save us from the consequences of other people’s actions.”
“I know,” Nancy whispered. “That’s the way I’ve felt over Roberto’s death. So helpless. And so—responsible for not having been able to protect him from it.”
The Drews were alone in Nancy’s hotel bedroom. Senator Kilpatrick, outraged that the news of El Morro’s presence in the country had not reached her sooner, had been driven to her office in search of further information. She had left one of her bodyguards on duty. He was outside the door to the suite now. Bess was fussing over George in the other bedroom.
“Don’t feel guilty,” Carson Drew said sternly. “You’re a human being, Nancy, not a computer or a comic-book heroine! Even computers can only act on the data that they have. Can you think now of anything you’d have done differently with Roberto, given what you knew then?” Nancy shook her head. “Then if you gave it your best shot, that’s all anyone has a right to expect of you, even yourself.”
Carson Drew tilted Nancy’s chin up, making her look at him. “I meant what I said about being proud of you. I do understand why you do what you do. And I approve.”
Nancy hugged him.
Just as her father’s arms tightened around her in response, the telephone rang.
“I’ll get it,” Bess called. And then, “Nan, pick the phone up. Quick!”
The voice that came to Nancy was barely distinguishable as Teresa’s. “I must see you alone. Can I come to your room right away?”
“Of course! I’ll unlock the door between—”
“No. Go to your window. Quickly.” The phone went dead.
“What is it?” Carson Drew asked at once.
“It’s Teresa. She’s in trouble, and if she sees you she won’t talk. Dad, go to your own room—fast.” Nancy fairly pushed him out. Then she ran to her window and threw it open wide.
A moment later a figure scrambled down the fire escape. It was Teresa, unrecognizable in a painter’s cap and a maid’s uniform.
Nancy pulled her in. “Teresa, what—”
“Shh!” Teresa slammed the window shut and pulled the drapes. “I sent Señora Ramirez out for souvenirs and postcards so I could get away. I remembered I saw these clothes in the service room yesterday, and I borrowed them. They are a good disguise, yes? No one will recognize me if I go out? I went up to the next floor and came down the fire escape. We must talk quickly. She may be back already.”
“If she’d come back and found you missing, we’d have heard the shouting,” Nancy said frankly. “Teresa, why do you need to go out?”
“I found a note in my locker when I went to change after practice,” Teresa said.
Nancy’s heart sank. If a note could be smuggled in there, so could a bomb!
“The note is from a—a compadre of Roberto’s in the underground. He must see me. I am marked to die, and so are others.” She lapsed into frightened Spanish. “Many others, not just the six—”