The Clue at Black Creek Farm (Nancy Drew Diaries #9)(27)

My stomach sank. If Holly and Julie left, all of George’s hard work reattaching the mic to the outside table would be for naught, and my plan would be shot. Again. There was no way I could follow them and inconspicuously plant a microphone at a new location, which meant I wouldn’t get the full story. Not to mention there was no way Officer Bailey would follow, especially if Julie and Holly went to another town. I’d have to kiss good-bye to the idea of a recording that could stop Julie from hurting Sam.

There was only one thing I could do. And it scared me senseless.

“George!” I hissed at my friend, who was busing some tables in the corner. She looked up and walked over.

“You know,” she said, “some people raise a hand in the air and say, ‘Excuse me, miss.’?”

“I’m not trying to order a cappuccino,” I said, pulling off my headphones and handing them to George. “I need you to listen for a minute.”

George frowned. “Okay, but no more than a minute. Because Nancy, you know if I’m gone any longer, Lydia will freak. She’s probably ready to kill me over this whole thing already.”

We turned back and looked at Lydia. She was wearing headphones of her own and staring at her laptop screen. When she saw us looking, she made a wild gesture for George to get back to the dining room.

“One minute!” George called in a weirdly high voice, holding up one finger. “You have one minute, Nancy.”

“That’s all I need.”

I burst out of the kitchen before I could lose my nerve and walked straight through the dining room and over to Julie and Holly’s table outside.

“Hi Julie. Hi, Holly,” I said loudly. “I think we need to talk.” I lowered my voice. “You know what about.”

Both of them turned to me. Julie’s expression turned murderous when she realized who I was. “What are you doing here?” she asked with a sneer.

“I think you know,” I said, willing myself to stay calm. “The thing is, Julie, I managed to get a photo of you on my phone last night. Blown up on the computer, the photo is clear—it’s pretty easy to identify you.”

Julie turned pale. I looked over at the squad car, hoping to catch Officer Bailey’s attention.

Except the squad car was empty. What the . . . ?

“Is that so?” Julie smiled at me, a sickly sweet grin that made my stomach do a flip. She leaned closer. “That’s very interesting, Nancy, I’m not going to lie. I think you should get into my car so we can go somewhere and discuss this further.”

I snorted. “You think I’m going to get into a car with you?” I asked. “Do I look that crazy?”

Julie leaned back and folded her arms on the table. “No,” she said, “but I think you love your father that much.”

My father? “What does this have to do with my dad?” I asked.

Julie tilted her head. “You’ve probably guessed this already, since you’re such an ace detective,” she said in a sarcastic tone, “but Jack is working with us.” She glanced at Holly. Holly’s mouth dropped open, but her expression gave nothing away. “He has the gun I used outside the chicken coop last night. I had a feeling you might be a problem for me today, so Jack is currently sitting in a rental car outside your house, just waiting for the call from me,” she said. She held out her hand, pistol-style, and mimicked shooting. “Bang, bang! Is your dad home today, Nancy?”

He was. In fact, I’d said good-bye to him less than an hour before.

“I don’t believe you,” I said quietly.

Julie smiled again, a cold smile. “How much do you not believe me?” she asked, pulling a phone from her purse. “Enough to stake your father’s life on it?”

I lost my breath. No—and Julie knew it.

Without thinking, I turned and looked into the café to see if George was watching. She was—in fact, she’d moved out of the kitchen and was standing just inside the dining room, headphones on, holding the tablet. She was looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Your friend had better come too.” Julie’s voice was low, threatening. “I know she’s in on this with you.” I turned back to her to see that she’d seen me look at George. And worse, Holly was glancing between us nervously. I saw something in her eyes that looked like genuine fear. “If either one of you screams, I’ll make that call to Jack. I’m sure he could make a visit to George’s house too. Understand?”

I swallowed hard and gazed desperately at the squad car. It was still empty. George stepped out of the café, and I squinted past her into the dining room, hoping to see Lydia watching—but she must have still been in the kitchen/office. I looked at George, trying to put all the I’m so sorry I looked back I was feeling into my frantic expression. We were about to get into a car with a total maniac, and nobody would know. How did this all go so wrong?

Julie stood, and Holly slowly got to her feet too. “You’re going to walk calmly to the car,” Julie said, “like nothing is wrong.”

George looked at me, her eyes glassy with fear, and gave a slight nod, as if to say, Let’s do what they say. She left the tablet and headphones inside the café and met us outside. Together, we walked slowly to Jack and Julie’s gray sedan. Julie followed, smiling like we were all going on a picnic, and unlocked the doors, encouraging us all to “Climb in—don’t be shy!”