“No, we don’t.” I grabbed Max’s arm. “It’s too dangerous. Cooper will make the phone call, and then we wait until the police come.”
“I’m on it.” Cooper started down the trail. “I’ll untie the boats if I can.”
“Be careful,” I warned. “Those guys don’t want to leave any witnesses behind.”
“I don’t think we should let Coop go down there alone.” Max scowled.
“Max, look.” Two people disembarked the boat, and one of them was Sunny Dougherty.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
U“Um—I could be wrong, but I don’t think she’s too happy about being here.”
“Jess, Sunny isn’t happy about being anywhere.”
“Seriously. Look at how that guy is holding her arm. She’s trying to get away from him.”
“We’ve got to get closer. I want to hear what they’re saying.”
“We can’t take the chance. If we start down that trail, they’ll see us.” When I turned toward Max, she was already heading down the hill. I didn’t have much choice but to follow her.
I told Callista and Maela to stay inside the cave and that we’d be back as soon as we could.
How we made it all the way down the hill without being detected, I’ll never know. Max was waiting for me when I got to the bottom. We stayed close to the rock wall and reached the clearing in a few minutes. Apparently, Josh and Kevin had gone down to meet the boat, as they were all coming back when Max and I took cover behind the vine maple.
“That guy is Sunny’s brother, Jason,” I whispered.
Jason pushed his sister ahead of him. “Sit down over there and shut up. I’m tired of your whining.”
“You’ll be sorry.”
“I already am.” To Josh and Kevin, he said, “I can’t believe you guys couldn’t take care of a couple bratty kids. And then to let them set your boats adrift.”
“What about you, bringing your little sister?”
“I told you before—she was snooping around and figured out what I was doing.”
“What are we going to do now?” Kevin asked. “We can’t let all these kids stay here on the island, and we can’t take them with us. I sure don’t want to shoot them. We don’t have time to go looking for them.”
Sunny folded her arms. “I could cover for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re getting a lot of money out of this, aren’t you? Give me a share and I’ll make sure you get away.”
I wondered how Sunny planned on doing that. These guys were crazy to think they’d get away with their crimes.
“I’ll tell the police it was Enrique. You’ll still be the innocent archeology students from the U. You’ll still have the perfect scam.”
“What makes you think they’ll believe you over your friends?”
“They are not my friends.” Sunny stood up taller. “Think about it. Cooper is Enrique’s best friend. Jessie and Max are going to go along with whatever Cooper says. No one will believe them. The police already have Enrique in custody. They think his aunt gave him the keys. Trust me, I’m not going to say anything about how you duplicated Mom’s keys.”
Max stiffened. “I’m going to get that lying, backstabbing maggot.”
“Max.” I grabbed her arm. “Stay down.”
She clenched her fists, but stayed put.
Sunny started laughing and pointing toward the water. “Don’t look now, guys, but your boats are leaving without you.”
Sure enough, Cooper had untied both vessels. One must have had a key in it because he started it up, put it in gear, and took off.
The three men raced for the boat dock. Jason took off his shoes and dove in.
Sunny turned toward us, her smile gone. “You might be able to fool those dorks, Max, but you can’t fool me. I can smell you a mile away.” She walked right into the bushes where we were hiding.
Max stood up, hands on her hips. “What are you gonna do, sic your big brother on us?”
“Max …” I put a restraining hand on her arm. I could tell by the look of fear on Sunny’s face and the tears in her eyes that she was terrified.
“Help me.” All the fight seemed to have drained out her. “They aren’t going to let me just stay here. I know too much, and you do too.”
“Come on.” Max and I led Sunny to the cave. We had no idea what Josh and his friends would do if they caught us. Cooper must have gotten hold of the police by now, if not with the cell phone, then definitely with the radio on the boat. I just didn’t know how long it would take for them to get here. From the ledge, we couldn’t see anything except the camp and the boat dock. The guys were gone and I had no idea where. If they had taken time to explore the island, they might know about the cave and suspect that we’d be here.
“Thanks.” Sunny sat down on the ledge with her back against the stone wall. “I didn’t really plan to take their money. I had to think of some way to keep them from killing me.”
“Do you seriously think Jason would hurt you?”
She closed her eyes. “He wouldn’t have before, but he’s been doing drugs. These thefts were to make money for his habit. I didn’t think Jason would ever hurt me, but when he made me go with him on the boat …” She swallowed. “I was so scared.”
“There are too many of us now,” Max said. “And the cops should be here any minute. We’ll testify and it will be all over.”
“My mother didn’t have anything to do with this.” Sunny frowned.
“I know. We heard what you said about your brother making keys.”
“It was stupid.” Sunny put a finger through a small hole in her jeans and ripped it even more.
We heard the sirens before we saw the patrol boat pull into the dock. I looked around for the three men, but still saw no sign of them. I just hoped they wouldn’t be running in our direction.
When everything that can go wrong does go wrong, my mother says it’s Murphy’s Law. We were starting to feel safe when we heard the rocks skittering down the hill just outside the cave.
“Up here,” one of the guys yelled. “There’s a cave.” They were on the trail below us. I wasn’t about to give up without a fight. Max and I looked at each other and at the rocks and started picking up the larger ones. Sunny caught on right away. We signaled for Callista and Maela to stay inside the cave.
The moment Kevin’s head appeared over the rock promontory we started pitching the rocks.
“Head for cover!” He ducked.
“Ouch.”
“Go back down.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“The mountain lion is blocking our way.”
I never did figure out who said what, but I’ll never forget that moment or the minutes that followed.
“So are the police!” a woman yelled. “Hands on your heads.” Bam! The deafening gunshot silenced the men, the cougar, and all of us.
We could hear the police leading the thieves down the hill. Less than a minute later, two deputies came up to get us. We reached the camp just in time to see the three cuffed fugitives being boarded onto the sheriff’s cabin cruiser. Cooper was waiting on the dock with another officer.
Cooper had told them where to find us, and they’d arrived just in time. Max and Sunny both insisted that we could have fought the guys off, but I wasn’t so sure. Thanks to a few well-placed rocks, the cougar, and the cops, we were safely heading back to Chenoa Lake.
On the way, the sheriff called our parents and told them we’d be at the police station. It took a while for all of us to tell our versions of what had happened. My parents took me home, and I didn’t even get a lecture. Mom and Dad were just happy that we’d escaped safely. As it turned out, they didn’t even know we were missing until that morning when Cooper’s dad, Amelia, and my parents compared notes and realized we had been gone all night.
The next day, Max and Cooper came over to debrief. Of course, we had to go to the Alpine
Tea and Candy Shoppe for strawberries and scones. The minute we walked in, Ivy seated us and apologized over and over for what Sunny had done at the swimming pool. “I had no idea she was going to take your clothes. I just want you to know that I no longer consider her a friend. No way.”
I was glad to hear that and also pleased that Ivy would side herself with Max, Cooper, and me.
The debriefing took several twists and turns. Just like this case had. First came Cooper’s tirade over Sunny taking credit for capturing the thieves. “Just look at this article. Front page. Sunny got an interview with a reporter and makes it sound like she called the police and she uncovered the real story. We aren’t mentioned in the article at all except that she helped the police rescue the five children being held captive on Ghost Island by the phony archeologists.”
“Why would she do that?” Max studied the article and turned away in disgust. “I was just beginning to think she was okay.”
“I wouldn’t let it get to me.” I broke off a small piece of lavender blueberry scone. “We know what really happened out there. So do the people that really matter. Besides, Sunny did figure out what her brother was up to. And she did tell the police the truth about him. Maybe Sunny needs to feel important. She must be feeling embarrassed about her brother.”
“That makes sense,” Cooper said. “But what really worries me is that …” He looked away.
“What?” Max elbowed him. “Coop, you look like you just lost your hard drive.”
“Worse.” He sighed. “My dad is taking Sunny’s mother to the concert tonight. Do you realize what that means? If he really likes her and she really likes him, they might get married, and Sunny would be my … my … I can’t say it.”
“Sister.” Max pretended to gag.
“Poor Cooper.” I patted his shoulder.
“Look at it this way,” Ivy said. “Sunny will be going off to college in another—” she gulped “—six years. Well, at least Mrs. Dougherty is a really nice lady.”
Just so you don’t think this story ends on a totally depressing note, I should tell you the good news. Enrique and his sisters won’t be deported after all. It seems that the immigration department found that Carlos had never been an illegal. His killer had apparently destroyed his green card and papers and spread the rumor that he had left the area. Leah had been right about him, but the authorities took forever to find Carlos in the system. He had applied for U.S. citizenship before he had died. He just hadn’t told anyone. The papers granting him and his underage children U.S. citizenship had been processed and were still in the system, waiting. Enrique and his sisters would be staying with Leah Estrada for good.
As for the cougar, a team from the Fish & Wildlife Department shot him with a tranquilizing gun and took him to the mainland on the opposite side of the lake. There he’d have plenty of deer and rabbits to eat.
When I got back home, Dad was waiting for me. With the fishing poles all set up and a lunch packed, I had a feeling this was going to be a l-o-n-g day with one of those l-o-n-g talks about the subjects parents feel they need to talk about.
I smiled as I climbed into the boat and waved at Mom and Sam. “What’s the topic for today, Dad?” I reached for the oars and he raised an eyebrow.
“I think I’ll let you choose.” He leaned back, with his hands behind his neck and legs stretched out.
At that moment, I loved my dad more than all the chocolate-dipped strawberries in the world. And I hoped God would give me lots more time to spend with him, my mom, Sam, and my friends.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TThanks to my writer friends for their critique, support, and encouragement. And to Jan Bono and Birdie Etchison who helped me brainstorm Ghost Island and all its secrets.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
IInternationally known author and speaker Patricia H. Rushford has book sales totaling over a million copies. She has written numerous articles and authored over forty books, including What Kids Need Most in a Mom, Have You Hugged Your Teenager Today?, and It Shouldn’t Hurt to be a Kid. She also writes a number of mystery series: The Jennie McGrady Mysteries for kids and the Helen Bradley Mysteries for adults. Her latest releases include: The McAllister Files, She Who Watches, The Angel Delaney Mysteries with As Good as Dead and a romantic suspense, Sins of the Mother. Her newest series for children is The Max & Me Mysteries.
One of her mysteries, Silent Witness, was nominated for an Edgar by Mystery Writers of America and won the Silver Angel for excellence in media. Betrayed was selected as best mystery for young adults The Oregonian (1997) and won the Phantom Friends Award. Morningsong, a romantic suspense, won the Golden Quill for Inspirational Romance award.
Patricia is a registered nurse and holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling. In addition, she conducts writers workshops for adults and children and is codirector of Writer’s Weekend at the Beach. She is the current director of the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference. Pat has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows across the U.S. and Canada. She lives in the Portland, Oregon, area with her husband.
www.patriciarushford.com
Author/Speaker
What Kids Need Most in a Mom
The Jennie Mcgrady Mysteries
The McAllister Files
The Angel Delaney Mysteries
The Helen Bradley Mysteries
The Max & Me Mysteries (New!)
THE MAX & ME MYSTERIES SERIES
From award-winning mystery writer Patricia Rushford comes a new youth mystery series set in Washington state.
The Trouble with Max
Max Hunter and Jessie Miller, two sixth-grade girls living near the Cascade mountains, make an unlikely pair: Jessie has leukemia and is bald. Max dresses like a punk and acts tough in school. But their friendship holds life together when everything else falls apart. Then one day Jessie discovers Max’s best-kept secret. Jessie wants to help her, but doing so means risking their friendship.
Danger at Lakeside Farm
Jessie is thin and frail, Max is brave and adventurous, but together they’re a great team. Following their first adventure in book one, Max has moved in with an elderly neighbor, Amelia, at Lakeside Farm. Soon strange things start happening at the farm, and Max and Jess wonder if someone wants Amelia out.
Secrets of Ghost Island
Max and Jess discover a family of orphans living on nearby Ghost Island, trying to avoid deportation. The girls decide to help them, when suddenly the town is hit by a rash of burglaries.
by Patricia Rushford
Find them now at your favorite local or online bookstore.
www.MoodyPublishers.com
THE VIKING QUEST SERIES
Bree and her brother Devin are kidnapped from 10th century Ireland by Viking raiders. What follows is their dangerous quest to return home as their faith and courage are continually challenged.
by Lois Walfrid Johnson
Find these books now at your favorite local or online bookstore.
www.MoodyPublishers.com
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE FAITH SERIES
Do you love real-life adventure stories? Then you’ll love Daughters of the Faith, true stories of young girls and the actual events they experienced. Read about Olive Oatman, who was kidnapped by a band of outlaw Yavapais. Anita Dittman, who survived the Holocaust. Mary Chilton, who came to America on the Mayflower. Harriet Tubman, a former slave, who grew up to lead other slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
by Wendy Lawton
Find these books now at your favorite local or online bookstore.
www.MoodyPublishers.com
THE SEVEN SLEEPERS SERIES
Join the adventure with Josh and friends as they are sent by their spiritual leader, Goel, on dangerous and challenging voyages to conquer the forces of darkness in the new world.
by Gilbert Morris
Find these books now at your favorite local or online bookstore.
www.MoodyPublishers.com
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Max & Me Mysteries Set Page 28
