Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels - Carrie Cross (most popular novels of all time TXT) 📗

I was embarrassed for her until Brendan pointed at the spill and said something that made Alexa laugh.

Dustin asked a question that I didn’t hear and I set my glass down on the table so I wouldn’t spill punch on him. He put his hand on my shoulder and repeated, “Want to dance?”

The band started a fast song and I knew if I tried to dance to it I’d look like a total dork. Kids started bouncing around near us. I leaned in and cupped Dustin’s ear, smelling the clean scent of his shampoo. “We just got here, can we wait a little bit?” I asked, and he nodded and smiled. I think he was relieved.

“Your interview on the news was great,” he said. “Can’t believe you figured out what all those clues meant.”

“Well, I had help.”

“Still. That was pretty awesome.”

Colored spotlights circled around the floor. I waited for our area to light up and then showed him my ring. “This is from the jewelry box.”

He glanced at it and smiled. Then he looked me in the eye. “Nice.” A shiver ran down my spine as I stared back at him in the sparkling lights thrown off by the disco ball.

The band started to play a slow song and Dustin held out his hand. I hoped mine wasn’t sweaty. I looked over at Alexa and she grinned at me. She was still joking around with Brendan and I could tell they weren’t ready to dance yet, so I handed her my purse to hold, then let Dustin lead me onto the dance floor.

We turned toward each other with couples moving all around us. Dustin opened his arms and looked at me with a question in his eyes. I stepped forward and put my arms around his neck, and our bodies slowly pressed together. Between the mirror ball’s spinning lights and the feeling of leaning against Dustin Coles, I felt deliciously dizzy.

Remembering the security guard leading Pat and Emelyn off campus, I was so glad I had Dustin to myself, and that I was safe and sound in his arms for the rest of the dance.

Unfortunately, almost all of the band’s songs were fast ones, and I only got to slow-dance with Dustin twice. On the second slow song I rested my head on his shoulder. His hair smelled awesome and I think he’d even put on a little cologne for me. We weren’t really dancing, just kind of swaying back and forth to the music. I knew I’d never forget the feeling of his arms around my waist, pulling me against his body. It felt so good I wished the song would never end.

Before we knew it the band announced their last song, which was a fast one, and then the lights came up and the chaperones announced that the dance was over. Alexa and I walked toward the door, and Brendan and Dustin followed us out into the dark night.

I had a sudden fear that Emelyn would be out there waiting for us with Pat, but we got to the sidewalk without any drama. Rows of cars with parents in them were double-parked up and down the street, so I felt pretty safe. Alexa’s mom wasn’t there yet, but Dustin’s brother was, and we spotted the black Porsche right away. “I gotta go, Skylar, see you Monday.”

“See you Monday.” I thought he would just walk away, but then he turned around and my heart stopped. He walked up to me and it felt like I was watching him in slow motion. I saw Alexa out of the corner of my eye and her jaw dropped open. My mouth went dry and I was so glad I had popped a breath mint before the end of the dance.

Was Dustin about to kiss me? Was my first real kiss about to happen on the sidewalk in front of a traffic jam? I looked at his cute face and waited for him to make the next move with my heart pounding.

Dustin reached up and touched my hair, then pulled my face gently toward his. He closed his eyes and his smile disappeared. I put one hand on his chest and the other on his shoulder. Dustin wrapped his arm around my back and stepped a little closer to me. I smelled the fresh scent of his hair. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against mine. My first kiss made me feel like I was floating and falling all at the same time. Moments later he pulled back and I could breathe again.

“Bye, Skylar,” he whispered into my ear. He turned away and then he was gone, leaving me tingling on the sidewalk waiting for my ride.

 

36

Skylar Robbins: Teen Detective

Saturday morning I woke up in a sleeping bag in Alexa’s room with a smile on my face. The backwards dance had been the most exciting night of my whole life, and I had the rest of the semester left to enjoy with Dustin Coles in two of my classes. Best of all, now I knew for sure that he liked me.

I turned over and looked at Alexa as she sat up and yawned. “The dance was great, wasn’t it?” I asked her, anxious to talk about Dustin.

“It was so fun.”

“Do you think Brendan likes you?” I sat up and hugged my knees, pushing messy hair over my shoulders.

“Not as much as Dustin obviously likes you,” she said, grinning at me. I could tell she wasn’t jealous and I was glad.

“How do you know he likes me?” I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

“I saw him kiss you when we were standing on the sidewalk,” Alexa said, pointing at me.

“It was like for two seconds,” I protested. “That doesn’t necessarily—”

Alexa cut me off. “It sure does. It means he likes you!” she argued, and I got the tingling feeling back.

Alexa’s mom drove me home after breakfast. The sunshine sparkling on the ocean reminded me of the disco ball throwing off dots of light at the dance. I smiled as we passed the pier. The big Ferris wheel spun slowly around and I imagined the excited laughter of the kids who were riding it. It was a beautiful day and the parking lot was full.

Soon we were headed up the steep wooded hill toward my house. I didn’t know how I’d be able to get through the weekend waiting for Monday when I’d see Dustin again.

After I unpacked my overnight case, I realized that I felt a little disappointed. The dance was over and so was the mystery of the hidden jewels. Our neighbors had been questioned and cleared of any involvement with the attempted robbery. I didn’t have a new case to investigate, and it would be a long time before I was old enough to fly to foreign countries doing undercover detective work.

I walked downstairs looking for my dad, and found him puttering in his gadget room. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hi, Skylar.” He turned away from a table full of treasures and looked at me. “How was the dance?”

“Excellent.” I knew I had a goofy look on my face from the way my dad smiled at me.

“Have a nice time with your date?” Then he actually winked.

“Yeah I did. But I wanted to ask you something.”

He looked at me seriously. “Yes?”

“After you put Xandra Collins’s jewels in the safe, what happened to the jewelry box? There was a little drawer in the bottom that I wanted to look in.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Thinking about the dance had distracted me, and I had forgotten to see what was in there. I hoped my dad had kept the empty jewelry box!

He smiled and walked over to the train table, taking Xandra’s box out from a deep drawer underneath it. “Here you go. It’s yours, just like her jewels. Don’t forget, we need to make a decision about them.”

As part of a follow-up story for AFX, Trina Bradshaw and her investigative reporters located a copy of Xandra Collins’s mysterious note, willing her jewelry to the person who found it. A handwriting expert confirmed that it came from Xandra, my dad had it notarized, and the jewels were really mine. I knew we would end up selling most of the jewelry and investing the money in stocks and bonds. My dad said the biggest diamond necklace would pay for my college education. That thing was huge.

My life was definitely changed forever. After I turned eighteen I could control my own money and basically afford to buy anything I wanted. My mom was already lecturing me on the dangers of careless spending and encouraging me to keep the money invested until after I finished college. I also planned to donate some money to charity. Maybe one that worked on a cure for dyslexia.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, looking at the dirty jewelry box. “First thing I think I’ll do is clean this thing up.” I ran up the stairs to my room and climbed the spiral stairs to my office. The hand-lettered sign on my door looked tacky. I could afford to get a real sign made now.

I sat at my desk, put the jewelry box down, and opened the lid. It was empty. I felt the soft red velvet in the bottom of the box, thinking about Xandra Collins. Pulling her picture out of my clue box, I stared at her beautiful face, her tilting eyes, and her mischievous smile. I wondered for the hundredth time what had happened to her.

What an amazingly cool thing to do, hiding her jewelry box and leaving clues for someone to find, and then letting that person keep the jewelry. I remembered the note written on the inside of the packet of seeds: At the end of the rope you will find the beginning of new adventure. Could it top the adventure I’d just had? Enlisting the help of a smart group of secret agents, putting my life in danger, taking risks and challenging my BFF while she pushed me right back, stretching my detective skills to new limits?

I had accomplished a lot. And I was proud of myself. I couldn’t wait for my next adventure to begin. Taking a look around my cozy office, I savored this moment, knowing that there might be another secret waiting for me. I slowly slid open the narrow drawer in the bottom of the jewelry box. It was empty.

But when I ran my fingertips over the soft velvet, I felt a long flat bump underneath. I took out my magnifying glass and examined the edge of the drawer until I found a little slit on one side where the red velvet was stapled to the wood. Wiggling my pinky in between the material and the wood, I loosened the fabric until I’d made a two-inch gap.

I reached inside, touched the flat bump, and felt a folded piece of paper. I pulled it out and carefully opened it.

Congratulations. You were smart and brave enough to follow my clues and locate my jewelry box. If you found it in the mountainside, I have either been kidnapped, killed, or I have been forced to go into hiding. Now the jewels are yours, and I need your help.

Find out who has been stalking me and help me bring them to justice!

You will find clues that will help your search when you locate my hidden diary.

GL URMW NB WR@+B, BLF NFHG TL Y@XP GL GS% SRWW%M U&LL+

Another secret code! What did it mean? Where did I start? The first thing I needed to do was to find the entrance to the secret staircase and get back to the hidden floor. I couldn’t wait to ask Alexa to be my permanent assistant detective so we could figure out more clues together. The excitement I’d felt while I was trying to solve the mystery of Xandra Collins’s hidden jewelry box was back.

I slipped the ring off my finger and set it down on the red velvet. I wasn’t selling this piece of Xandra Collins’s jewelry. No way. The sapphire ring was proof that the Skylar Robbins Detective Agency had solved its first big case.

I unlocked my clue box and tucked in the coded note next to the labeled sets of fingerprints, my picture of Xandra Collins, the symbol on the tattered yellow paper, the photocopied footprint map, the nasturtium seed packet, and the original bird’s nest papers. I stashed the clue box in my bottom desk drawer, then slid the panel behind the main drawer sideways and opened the secret compartment.

I took out the flat white