Hot Pursuit by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Chapter

Nine

AS RICKY’S HANDS closed in on the singer, Courtney managed to push her chair to the side and jump up to avoid him. “What are you doing?” she screamed, her hand flying protectively to her throat.

Woody and Tucker jumped up and rushed over, grabbing Ricky and holding him back. “Take it easy!” Woody shouted. At the same time, Gibbs stood abruptly and tossed his napkin onto the table. “What’s happening here?”

“He’s crazy!” Courtney screamed. “Get him away from me.”

“Let me go!” Ricky struggled in Woody’s and Tucker’s arms, but they managed to hold him back and away from Courtney.

“Where did you get those earrings?” Ricky hissed at her.

Her brown eyes were wide with confusion, and she touched the white stones in her earlobes. “They’re new,” she answered. “I just bought them at the hotel gift shop this morning.”

Nancy had to admit she shared Courtney’s confusion. Why was Ricky so uptight about a simple pair of earrings?

“I don’t believe you!” Ricky snapped. He glanced back at his friends. “She’s lying.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Bess cut in. “I was with her when she bought them.”

His eyes still glued to the earrings, Ricky refused to back down. Woody and Tucker did manage to calm him enough to lead him to an empty table on the other side of the terrace from Courtney and Gibbs. Nancy, Bess, and George followed.

Sinking down into a chair, Ricky hung his head in his hands. After a long moment he lifted his eyes, and the helpless look in them tugged at Nancy’s heart. “I know you think I’m out of line,” he said, “but I’d recognize those earrings anywhere. They were hand-carved in the Philippines, made of rare white jade. They’ve been in my family for years.”

“How can you be sure?” Woody asked, touching Ricky’s arm sympathetically. “There could be hundreds of pairs just like them.”

“No,” Ricky insisted, shaking his head somberly. “That design is very unusual. Courtney Brooks is wearing one of my family’s heirlooms. They belong to my twin sister, Maria. Just before my mother died, she gave the earrings to Maria.”

Nancy had gotten the impression from Courtney that Ricky didn’t have any relatives, and she was surprised to hear about his sister. Turning to him, she asked, “Where’s your sister now?”

“She still lives in the Philippines. When I saw Courtney wearing those earrings, I knew—” Letting out a deep sigh, he looked anxiously around at them. “I knew that Maria must be in trouble.”

Nancy was more confused than ever. What was he talking about? And how could he possibly identify a pair of earrings when he probably hadn’t seen them for years?

Apparently Tucker shared her doubts. “I don’t know, man. You left the Philippines when you were, what—eight years old, right? That means you haven’t seen those earrings for twelve years, and you think you’d still recognize them?”

“Yes,” Ricky said firmly. “I emigrated with my grandfather when I was eight, but I went back to visit my sister last year. She was wearing the earrings when she saw me off at the airport.

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