025 Rich and Dangerous Read Free Page B

dear—any more would be dangerous . . .” Sarah moaned. Nancy put a tablet in the woman’s fingers and rushed to the bathroom for water.
    When Nancy came out, Sarah Amberly was already sitting up on the edge of the bed. She grabbed the water and eagerly drank it down.
    “Thank goodness you came,” she murmured, and leaned back against a pillow. For one long terrifying moment, her eyes closed. But when she opened them again, she seemed to be feeling much better. “Pardon my appearance, dear—”
    “Oh, please,” Nancy replied, holding up the ivory container. “Where should I put these?”
    “I don’t know who keeps moving them! Unless it’s me, of course—my memory does fail me. Let’s see, why don’t you put them here, on my night table where I can reach them when I need one. They’re the only things standing between me and eternity, dear, the only things.”
    With a smile, Sarah twisted up the ends of her pale hair and tucked a pin into it. “I knew you’d be coming, but I wasn’t sure when.”
    Nancy’s face must have shown her confusion, but Sarah just laughed. “If you don’t believe me, go to the table in the living room and you’ll see what I mean.”
    Sarah followed Nancy into the main room. There on the oak table were a number of tarot cards arranged in a circle. In the center was asingle card, lying facedown. “Turn it over, dear. You’ll see,” said Sarah.
    Nancy gently lifted the card and turned it over. On its face was a picture of three young girls dressed in what looked like clothes from the Middle Ages. They were smiling and dancing around a maypole.
    “It is the Three of Cups, the card of friendship,” Sarah explained. “You see, the cards never lie. My last reading indicated I would make a new friend—a young girl, someone pretty and lighthearted and good. And here you are!” The woman chuckled, obviously pleased with herself.
    “Not only did you arrive as predicted,” she continued with a laugh, “you also saved my life. My dear, I am terribly grateful. When my strength returns, I will certainly shake your hand. Come help me to the couch, and tell me your name.”
    “It’s Nancy, ma’am. Nancy Drew,” she said.
    “Now, now, you must call me Sarah, since we’re fated to be friends,” said the fragile woman taking her seat. “Soon I’ll be feeling fit. It won’t be long. My medicine has remarkable powers.”
    The color was already returning to Sarah’s face, replacing the ashen gray. And for the first time, she seemed to relax.
    “What kind of tablets are they?” Nancy asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
    “Oh, oxytomicin or some such name. It’s madefrom a flower grown in the mountains in Mexico. It’s not yet approved by our government, but fortunately, I’m able to get it as part of a research project. I suppose with my condition they feel there’s nothing to lose! So—I may look like a woman, but I’m really just a guinea pig.”
    Nancy felt herself relaxing as Sarah Amberly talked to her. Here in her own suite, Sarah wasn’t the dominating personality she seemed to be when Nancy had first seen her.
    “Now, sit down, Nancy. After a rescue like that, we both deserve a treat. I’ll call room service. What will you have? Our waiter at dinner tonight told us the fresh strawberries were excellent.”
    “Oh—thank you—with tea, please.” Nancy wasn’t hungry in the least, but she was finding Sarah Amberly’s company fascinating. She’d been intrigued by her interpretation of the tarot cards.
    “Make yourself at home while I order,” Sarah told Nancy with a sweeping gesture that seemed to say, “What’s mine is yours.” Then she picked up the phone.
    Nancy wandered over to a series of photos in antique silver frames that stood on the marble fireplace. She recognized Sarah Amberly as a bride, her arm linked with that of a dashing young man in a Panama hat and white suit.
    “That’s my Joshua,” Sarah called from thephone, while she