The Magician's Secret (Nancy Drew Diaries #8)(24)

“Couldn’t you get in trouble for this?” George asked, following Bess up a ladder in the maintenance closet. “I’d hate for us to get you fired.”

“Ah, it’s okay. It’s an adventure,” he chuckled. “I like adventures.” Sawyer scooted into the crawl space below a heat duct. We climbed in behind him. He was in the lead, with Bess and George in the middle, while I brought up the rear. “When I was a kid,” he continued, “I used to come up here all the time. The owners of this hotel used the highest-rated titanium alloys in construction. Not only are the vents—”

“—strong and light, but they are also incredibly heat resistant,” George finished. There was just enough room to crawl on our knees, but not enough to move comfortably around.

Unable to turn his body, Sawyer looked back, past Bess, to George. He’d brought a flashlight and shone it in her face. “What are you, an astrophysicist?”

George laughed. “Maybe someday.”

“Well, I’m studying to be one,” Sawyer said. “The university here has a great program for students who hope to become astronauts. I can’t imagine a greater adventure than visiting the stars!” He twisted around and continued to lead us down the vents. When the vents split in two directions, we went left.

Our leader stopped so suddenly, Bess ran into him, which meant George bumped Bess and I ran into George. We were a tangled mess of arms and legs.

“Shhh,” Sawyer said. “We’re here.” He spun his flashlight around and this time pointed it at me. “Where do you want to go in? We could drop into the bedroom or the living room.”

“Is there an opening in the bathroom?” That seemed like a safe place. We didn’t have a ladder on this end, so it might be easier to step down to the sink or tub instead of risking broken bones by jumping out onto the cold floor.

“One bathroom, coming right up,” Sawyer said as he moved slightly to the right and removed a panel from the vent. He reached out and took a tile from the ceiling before lowering himself out of the vent.

I heard him land, then say, “Okay, Bess—”

“What on earth?!” A man’s deep voice, low and threatening, came from below. I heard Sawyer squeal.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” The man’s voice rattled the vents.

Smashed up behind Bess and George, and now without the flashlight, I couldn’t see anything. But I knew that voice.

We’d found our jewel thief.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN





All the Answers


SAWYER’S NECK WAS FIRMLY IN Hugo’s grasp.

“Let him go!” I cried from the ceiling. When I’d realized what was happening below, I’d thrown myself over Bess and George, flattening them so I could slither like a snake to the front.

From where I was, I could see that Sawyer was turning blue.

“Please, Hugo.” I wasn’t sure he could even hear me. As a bodyguard, he was trained to act first, think later.

“Hugo!” I raised my voice. “I’m coming down.”

There was no way to turn my body around, so Bess and George each took one of my legs and lowered me to the sink counter. I grabbed the towel bar to slow my decent, but ended up ripping it off the wall as I tumbled into a heap at Hugo’s feet, knocking over the trash can; little bits of wood and used sugar packets tumbled out and littered the floor.

Hugo let go of Sawyer, turning toward me with a surprised expression.

Sawyer coughed and sputtered as the color came back into his face.

“Are you all right?” Bess shouted from the vent.

“He better not have damaged your ability to solve complex mathematic equations!” George yelled. “An astronaut needs math!”

“What’s two plus two?” I asked Sawyer.

“Four,” he choked out.

“He’s fine,” I called to Bess and George. “Come on down.”

“Nancy Drew?” Hugo stepped back as if seeing me for the first time. “I thought I’d caught a thief.”

“We need to talk.” I walked out of the bathroom, hoping Hugo would follow. I wanted to give Sawyer space to help my friends out of the vents, and I hoped that by leaving the room, I could keep everyone safe until the police arrived. We were so in tune with one another that I knew either George or Bess would call the police.

Pretending my heart wasn’t beating wildly, I sat on the couch. I’d have preferred not to confront Hugo like this, but it was too late to back out. It all came down to this moment.

“What are you doing here?” Hugo asked me.

“I came to find you,” I said. “Drake Lonestar has been arrested for the crime you committed. You stole the jewels.”

“What are you talking about?” Hugo’s face was expressionless.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” I said to him. “You’re the one who left the mystery box filled with one million dollars’ worth of gems in Drake’s room and then called the police. After that, you called the press.” I waved my hand toward the door to the hallway. In the quiet lull I could hear the reporters chatting with one another.

“The reporters came here and piled up in the hallway. They don’t know about the arrest yet, and you’ve made sure the timing works on your schedule. You’re using them as part of this massive illusion you’ve created.”