Rock Harbor Search and Rescue (10 page)

Grabbing her hand, Olivia tugged her toward the O’Reilly home. “Come on, forget about Malia as a suspect.”

Emily fell into step with her best friend. “You’re right.”

Olivia slowed as they reached the end of the driveway. “You know, just about everybody in Rock Harbor will be at the championship too.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, what better place to nose around to see if there’s anything new about the missing necklace?”

“That’s in a couple of weeks, Olivia.”

“So?”

Emily shook her head. “That’s too close to my birthday. I want
to find out who really took the necklace before then. Otherwise, I won’t get my puppy!” Saying it out loud made it feel too real. Tears burned her eyes.

Olivia gave her a sideways hug. “Maybe Inetta will find the necklace tomorrow, and this will all be over for you.”

“I hope so.” Emily led the way through the back door into the house.

Because she had to have this mess all cleared up before her birthday.

She just
had
to get her puppy!

SEVEN

“Yeah, it’s cool. We got new team wet suits and board bags and leashes.” Josh’s blue eyes sparkled.

Emily stood on the outskirts of Josh’s group hovering by the student bulletin board in the hall, hanging on his every word.

“I thought you said the team was hard up for funds.” Brandon, the captain of the team, shoved Josh’s shoulder in a playful way. “Have you been holding out on us?”

“Nah, man. These were courtesy of a donor.”

“A donor? Who could afford all that?” Brandon asked.

“Don’t know. Anonymous.” Josh shrugged. “Who cares? We needed the stuff. I’m just glad we got everything before the championship.”

An anonymous donor dropping down hundreds of dollars? Emily pressed her lips together and leaned in closer.

“Yeah, whatever.” Brandon clapped Josh’s shoulder. “We gonna win this year?”

“You know it.” Josh turned and pinned something on the bulletin board.

“What’s that?”

“Just a call-out for team helper volunteers. I promised Coach I’d put it up for him. Let’s go.” Josh led the group down the hall and out of the school.

Emily stared after him. As far as she knew, no school team had ever gotten a large donation from an anonymous donor. Money was tight for all families right now. At least, that’s what Dad said when he and Naomi discussed the hardware store business. Who would have money to give away as a donation? Seemed a little suspicious, considering the surf team had hosted several fund-raisers over the last couple of months. If someone had wanted to make such a donation, wouldn’t they have done so before now?

“What are
you
doing hanging around here, thief?”

Emily spun around. She’d had enough. “What’s your problem, Rachel?”

Rachel’s eyes widened. “I’m fine, Emily. It’s you who is the problem. Everyone knows you stole Mary Dancer’s necklace. You’re a thief, and probably a cheater too. Maybe that’s why you get such good grades. And maybe you cheated your way onto the History Smackdown team.”

“I’m not a cheater, and I’m no thief.” Emily took a step toward Rachel.

Mrs. Moon, the algebra teacher, moved in their direction. “Is there a problem here, girls?”

Rachel smiled her fake, sweet smile at the teacher. “No, ma’am.”

“Then move along.” Mrs. Moon crossed her arms over her chest and monitored the hall’s traffic flow.

Rachel tossed Emily a final sneer, then bounced off with her friends.

“Hey, I waited for you at the locker.” Olivia stepped beside
Emily and nodded toward Rachel’s back. “Was she starting trouble again?”

“Doesn’t she always?”

“Don’t let her get to you.” Olivia smiled. “Why are you here, anyway? Her locker is just down the row.”

“I came over for this.” Emily pointed at the bulletin board. “Did you know an anonymous donor gave the surf team new wet suits and board bags?”

“No. And I should care about this, why?”

Emily filled Olivia in on what she’d overheard from Josh. “I just think that’s really coincidental, don’t you?”

Olivia shrugged. “Could be. But there’s no way you can find out who the donor is. Especially since you aren’t even on the surf team.”

Emily glanced at the bulletin board. “I could be one of the team helper volunteers, though.” Olivia would see through her in half a second.

“Are you serious?” Olivia’s hazel eyes went wide. “You can’t even swim.”

Pointing at the sheet Josh had posted, Emily said, “I don’t think swimming is part of the job. Helping keep track of the team equipment and stuff is what they do.”

Olivia laughed. “Yeah, right. You can’t even stand to be too close to the water, Em.”

True, but the posting said nothing about getting in the water. “I’m going to talk to the coach.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am.” Emily let out a sigh. “It’s the only way I might be able to learn something about this donor.”

“You just want to be close to Josh.”

Heat burned Emily’s face. “Well, that’s a bonus, yeah, but you know it’s not the main reason I’m going to do this.”

“I know. I was just teasing you.” Olivia handed Emily her backpack. “I grabbed your stuff for you.”

“Thanks. You going to come with me to the coach’s office?”

“Sure. Do you really think I’d let you sign up by yourself? Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you.”

Emily smiled and headed toward the gym under the covered walkway. The wind had picked up, and the crash of the waves from Lake Superior washed over the little town. Emily shivered despite the seventy-degree temperature.

Sneakers squeaked on the basketball court as Emily and Olivia made their way to the coach’s office in the back part of the gymnasium. The door sat ajar, and the coach was on the phone with his back to the door.

“I understand that, and we appreciate everything we get, but right now we really need a couple more backup boards. If one of our team’s boards breaks, we’ll be disqualified.” The coach tossed a pencil onto his desk.

Emily chewed her bottom lip. It sure didn’t sound like the team was rolling in money.

The coach hunched in his chair. “Then do whatever you have to do to get another donor on the line. We
will
take the championship this year.” His voice sounded harsh. Cold. Mean.

Olivia stared at Emily, who stared right back. Who was he talking to?

“See that you do.” The coach slammed the phone down.

Emily quickly knocked on the cracked door. “Hello? Coach Larson?” Maybe the coach wouldn’t realize they’d been eavesdropping.

“Yes?” He swiveled in his chair and pierced her with a scowl. He was a big guy with fair, thinning hair and a thin Finnish nose.

“I’m here to sign up to be a surf team helper volunteer.” She smiled as widely as she could.

“A what?” His thoughts were clearly still on the disturbing phone call.

“I saw a notice on the bulletin board. Josh put it up there?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He stared at them. “So you want to be helpers, eh?”

She forced herself to stand tall and smile. “Yes, sir.”

“Okay. Let me get you the permission slips.” He opened a desk drawer and rummaged through papers. “You’ll have to come to all the practices and, of course, the competitions.” He opened another desk and continued rummaging. “Where did I put those things?” He slammed another drawer. “Oh, here they are.” He handed two slips to them. “Fill these out, have a parent sign, then bring them back to me, and we’ll get you signed up.”

Emily took them. “Thank you.”

The coach met her eye and gave a curt nod, clearly dismissing them.

She motioned to Olivia, and they left.

“Wow, that was intense. I’m almost glad I can’t sign up yet.” Olivia hustled down the walkway toward the street.

Emily stopped dead in her tracks. “Why not?” It was one thing to be brave in word, but totally different in deed.

Olivia nodded to the slips in Emily’s hand. “I can’t exactly get a parent’s signature, now, can I? Not until my parents get back from their cruise.”

Rats! Olivia had a point. “But will you? I mean, after your parents get back?” That would still let her help out for the big competition.

“Sure.” Olivia stopped walking and tilted her head. “Are you
kind of not sure about this, Em? You don’t have to do it. I know how much water scares you.”

“No, I just wanted an extra pair of ears.” Which was true, but not the entire truth. Olivia gave her courage. With her friend there, the water wouldn’t be so scary. But now wasn’t the time to admit her fear. “We’d better hurry or Inetta will think we forgot about her.”

They reached the street and turned toward the Suomi Café, walking faster. The gong of the fog bell out in Lake Superior rang, its echoes filling the streets of Rock Harbor. Goose bumps pricked Emily’s arm, and she had no idea why. She shook it off and quickened her pace.

They spotted Inetta as soon as they entered the café and rushed to join her at a corner table. Already waiting on them were a
panukakkua
and two steaming mochas.

“You didn’t have to order us this, Inetta, but thank you.”

“I don’t like eating alone.” Inetta chuckled. “So, how was school today?”

“It was okay.”

Olivia plopped her backpack to the floor for emphasis. “This early in the year it ought to be illegal to give so much homework.”

Inetta shook her head. “But enjoy school while you can. All too soon you grow up and have to face the real world.” Her expression turned almost sad. “Growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it’s hard.” She gave a little shake, then smiled at Emily. “So let me tell you about my trip to the pawnshop today.”

Emily slipped a bite of the Finnish pastry into her mouth while Olivia took a sip of her mocha.

“I met with the owner. Really nice man. He was more than happy to share information with me.”

Emily swallowed and took a sip of mocha.

“Did you find the necklace?” Olivia asked.

Inetta smiled. “No. I’m sorry to say it wasn’t there. And the owner hadn’t seen it. I gave him a copy of the picture we took for the article.”

Emily slouched in her seat. She had really been hoping the necklace would be at the pawnshop.

“But he’s going to keep an eye out for it and promised to call if he saw it.” Inetta ran her finger along the rim of her nearly empty coffee cup. “He did tell me that someone had been selling some jewelry recently, though. Really nice, high-dollar jewelry. Like diamond brooches and earrings.”

Inetta finished off the last bite of her
pulla
. “He said he checked all the reports and these items weren’t reported stolen, but he showed me some of the pieces—they’re nice. Much better than the stuff he usually gets in the shop. I took pictures and am going to do some research.”

Emily’s mouth went dry. “Why would you research that?” She shrugged and pushed her fork around the plate. “I mean, there’s nothing illegal about selling your jewelry, is there?”

“No, but even though it wasn’t reported stolen, I’m suspicious. He said the woman who sold them looked nervous.”

Olivia cleared her throat. “Or maybe she was emotional about having to sell her jewelry.”

Inetta looked from Emily to Olivia. “Okay, girls, what’s going on? I have a feeling you know about these pieces of jewelry.” She snapped her fingers. “Wait a minute . . . The reason you believed
Mary Dancer’s necklace might have been sold to the pawnshop . . . You know who sold this jewelry, don’t you?”

Emily fidgeted in her seat. “We don’t know for sure, but we have a good idea.”

Inetta stared at Emily, then Olivia. Then she sighed. “And you girls don’t trust me enough yet to tell me about it, right?”

“It’s not that, it’s really not,” said Olivia. “It’s just that if this person is selling off her jewelry, it’s because she has no other choice.”

“But you thought maybe she’d stolen Mary Dancer’s necklace and sold it?”

“Well, not necessarily,” Emily began. “She could have been selling it for Mrs. Dancer.”