“I think I see it.”
“That looks like it, but I’m not sure.”
“We’d better go check it out, anyway. It looks close enough.”
Johnny put the boat in full throttle and headed in the direction Mollie was pointing.
“If we weren’t hunting down a killer, this would be a fun cruise,” Sherman said, looking around. “Maybe we should just keep this boat. We can move the Truth Club here.”
Mollie’s hair was whipping all around her face. She had to agree with Sherman—being out on the bay was wonderful. Having spent most of her life in the Midwest, Mollie had been out on the ocean only once or twice in her life. She just wished she was doing it under better circumstances.
“That’s definitely it,” Mollie cried when they were close enough to read the name on the yacht’s bow. “Floor it!”
Johnny glanced over at her for a second. “You want to go faster?”
“I like my face the way it is,” Roberta yelled above the noise of the boat’s prow crashing on the waves. “Any faster and it’s going to come off!”
Minutes later they caught up to the Golden State. Johnny slowed the motor, and they drifted up beside the boat. Mollie yanked the life preserver from around her neck.
“Bitsy?”
Mollie smiled at Jackie, Rahel’s sister, who was sitting on the deck. The rest of the boat seemed deserted. “Hi! Are you the only one here?”
“No, everyone’s inside drinking. I wanted to catch some rays,” Jackie said. “Who are all your friends?”
Jackie took the ropes Mollie tossed to her and knotted them around the boat’s railing. “Hey, you’re pretty good at that,” Sherman commented, climbing aboard the Golden State.
Jackie shrugged. “Girl Scouts.”
“Be prepared,” Sherman said. “I’m Sherman, by the way.”
“I’m Jackie. So, Bitsy, do you always show up at parties fashionably late?”
“Actually, my name’s Mollie. It’s a long story, but have you seen Meredith on this boat, or her sister, Hilary?”
“No, they’re not here,” Jackie said.
“What about Moeller and T.C.?” Mollie asked.
Jackie nodded. “And as obnoxious as always. Actually, they seemed kind of uptight when they got on board.”
“I bet,” Johnny said under his breath.
“I see we have more guests.” Dayton Hughes strolled out of the main cabin, holding a martini glass. “Come out, everyone, and meet our new guests,” he said in a phony, cheerful voice.
Eleanor Whistler, Moeller, and Rahel walked out, followed by Derek Hughes. Mollie was surprised to see him on board. She hoped he was just along for the ride to check out his brother’s activities—or perhaps he was just escorting Rahel. DeDario came out of the cabin, carrying a can of beer, and T.C. was right behind him.
“What a lovely crew,” Johnny muttered.
He pulled Sherman aside. “Have you ever driven a boat?”
Sherman nodded.
“I think you’d better circle us in the speedboat and be ready to collect everyone for a quick getaway. If anything goes wrong, call the coast guard,” Johnny said. “I left the motor running.”
Sherman hopped into the boat, and Johnny quickly untied the ropes, setting him free.
“Hey—that’s my boat!” DeDario cried. “You stole my boat!”
“We needed a lift,” Mollie said.
“And the rest of the boats were all tied up,” Roberta said, rubbing her wrists. “You understand.”
“We didn’t want to miss the party,” Mollie said. “Before it gets started, though, I was wondering if I could have a few words with you in private, Mr. Hughes—Dayton, that is.”
Dayton sat down in a deck chair. “There’s nothing you can’t say to me in front of my friends.”
Mollie glanced around at the other people. If those were his friends, he was in some serious trouble. Jackie was looking at Mollie with a confused expression. Rahel was staring out at sea.
“Bring that back!” DeDario shouted at Sherman as he circled the boat. Sherman waved to him.
“Okay, have it your way,” Mollie said. “Why did you all leave the convention so soon?”
“We needed to talk about some business in private.” Dayton made a sweeping gesture with his arm. “What could be more private than the middle of the Pacific Ocean?”
Mollie knew what he was trying to say: out on the water, Hughes could do whatever he wanted and get away with it.
“You see, I’m considering buying the Whistler Agency,” Dayton continued. “Eleanor and I were trying to hammer out a partnership deal.”
Eleanor looked nervous, and Mollie wondered if she had any choice in the matter. “Eleanor, I’d watch it if I were you. Ask Dayton what happened to his last partner, Martin Longherin.”
Dayton cleared his throat. “He died in a tragic boating accident. Very tragic. He’d had too much to drink, and he fell overboard.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Mollie saw Eleanor set her drink down on the deck table.
“Now, what are you doing here?” Dayton asked. “Not only are you crashing this party, but you’ve stolen my friend’s boat. I find your behavior reprehensible.”
“We’re looking for your nieces, actually,” Johnny said, stepping toward Hughes. “We heard they were on this boat.”
“Meredith and Hilary?” Derek asked, looking concerned. “No, they’re not here.”
“No one has come aboard since we left—except you.” Moeller sneered at Mollie.
“They weren’t on the boat when we left the pier,” Dayton said calmly.
“You might not have recognized them. I think they were in a steamer trunk,” Mollie said.
“What?” Derek cried.
“Stowaways?” said Eleanor. “How charming.”
“Yeah, something like that.” Jaime walked toward the cabin.
“Young man, if you go any farther, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.” Dayton stood up and straightened his jacket. “I am perfectly capable of searching this boat myself.”
“Are you sure?” Roberta asked. “It’s a big boat.”
“Moeller and I can take care of it.”
“I’d like to help. After all, they are my daughters,” Derek said, heading back to the cabin.
While they were gone, Jackie came up to Mollie. “Is Meredith in danger?”
Mollie nodded.
“Can I do anything?”
“No, but you might want to leave with us,” Mollie said.
Mollie looked over at DeDario and T.C. They were tossing their drinks down, apparently in anticipation of something bad happening to them. They’d blown it—Mollie, Johnny, and Roberta had escaped—and Moeller was not going to take their mistake lightly.
“I’m going to find that trunk,” Jaime said. “I still have the saw. I think I can manage to avoid them.”
Johnny nodded. “I’ll come after you if you’re not back in five minutes.”
As Jaime slipped into the cabin, Derek, Dayton, and Moeller came out the other side. “There are no steamer trunks on this yacht,” Dayton declared. “I suppose that was just a ruse to get rid of us.”
“No, not at all,” Johnny said. “If we wanted to get rid of you, we could just shove you overboard. You’ve heard of that tactic, haven’t you?”
“Accidental drownings happen like that all the time,” Roberta added.
Dayton held his hand up in the air and snapped his fingers twice.
“I thought we only had one magician on board,” Roberta said, glancing at DeDario.
A man in a tall chefs hat came out of the cabin, carrying a tray of appetizers. “Alain, see if our guests would like some hors d’oeuvres.”
Mollie stared at Alain as he approached her. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach—and it wasn’t hunger. The Chinese cook, Han Wu, was gone.
“Voulez-vous un canapé de …”
Mollie hesitated. She wouldn’t be surprised if Dayton tried to poison them.
“Miss Fox, please help yourself. Alain does wonderful things with canapés. I always say, when you’re out in international waters, it’s best to eat international foods.” Dayton looked around at everyone and smiled. “Don’t you agree?”
Mollie knew what he was really saying. If they were in international waters, the law had no jurisdiction. Not only could he do whatever he wanted, but he could just stay out there, floating, and never be arrested.
“What happened to your old cook, the Chinese man?” Roberta asked. “He was so nice.”
“It’s very interesting, actually.” Dayton shook his head and laughed. “Immigration and Naturalization Services came to pick him up yesterday. All those years he’d been working for me, I never knew he was an illegal alien. I think he’ll be on his way back to China after a short detainment.”
“If he’s not lying on the bottom of the ocean with concrete blocks around his feet,” Mollie murmured to Roberta.