They stopped hearing from Johnny after a few days, and his stalking and phone calls became less frequent. This made the girls even more apprehensive, they wondered if he was preparing to do something major.

So much had happened during that first week at the beach that Trixie’s mind was once again in a whirl. She hoped she could solve the mysteries before they had to leave, hoped she would get the opportunity to carry out her plan and hoped that she was doing the right thing by staying there, she didn’t want to put her friends in any more danger.

Tonight ended their first week there and she, along with Honey and Diana sleepily climbed the stairs to bed, only Trixie impatiently wished she could find out more right now. After tossing and turning all night, she came to at least one conclusion. First, thing in the morning, I’ll go talk more with the Bectons, she told herself. And then, I’ll go back to the library.  And soon she hoped to find time away from Diana and Honey to carry out her plan.

The next morning, she intentionally got out of bed before Honey and Diana. She quickly showered, put on her usual light make-up, pulled her hair into a ponytail and dressed in white jeans and a sleeveless red button up top. She then, went out the front door, locking it behind her and headed down the side trail to the Bectons.

"My, my Trixie, so nice to see you, do come in," greeted Mrs. Becton graciously, when Trixie knocked on the door. "You’re just in time for breakfast."

Trixie, not knowing how to get out of it, though food was the last thing on her mind, sat down at the table with Mr. Becton while Mrs. Becton brought out a delicious meal of scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits with butter and homemade raspberry jam. She and the two elderly people made small talk for a few moments when Mrs. Becton left the room to answer the phone. Trixie then casually brought up the subject of the two girls. "The girl that wasn’t found, do you really think she could possibly still be somewhere on the island?" asked Trixie innocently.

"You sure seem to have a lot of curiosity about those two girls," observed Mr. Becton, a twinkle in his eye as if he knew what Trixie was up to.

"Well, I just want to make sure myself and my friends are safe," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, I’m sure you will be," Mr. Becton assured her. "Unless, of course, it was that Johnny character. I’ve heard that he and those hoodlums he runs with are still hanging around the island."

"Why was he never arrested?" asked Trixie, "I mean, aren’t the cops certain he did it?"

"Oh, they know all right," said Mr. Becton, staring off into space. "They could have stopped it from happening, but they don’t take situations like that seriously. And then, when something finally did happen, there just wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. But little Leslie, she was dating him and hanging out with he and his friends and he had hit her a couple of times. She had even reported him for stalking her and the police didn’t do anything about it. Next thing everyone knew she went missing and turned up dead."

"Where exactly was the body found?" asked Trixie, leaning forward intently.

"A young lady like yourself shouldn’t be so concerned about all this, why are you?" he asked, looking intently into her face.

Trixie didn’t say anything, because she didn’t know how to answer, without giving herself away. She didn’t want the Bectons to know that she was investigating the case because she knew they would worry about her, and might even feel that they should try to contact her parents or the Wheelers or something.

"Actually," the old man told Trixie, after a few seconds, "her body was found on the trail right behind the house where you and your young friends are staying."

"Oh my," said Trixie, thinking about the trail, "I thought your wife said she was found in a wooded area near the beach."

"She just doesn’t remember," said Mr. Becton, "a year’s a long time." A far away look came into in his eyes.

Trixie was deep in thought just then. She thought of the trail, the place of her encounters with the mysterious, but devastatingly handsome man. Her face grew flushed as she thought about him. But then she got back to the subject at hand. Trixie wanted to ask more questions, but she realized that she had to be careful, since Mr. Becton was curious as to why she wanted all this information.

"Did the murdered girl and the one who went missing know one another?" Trixie asked.

"Oh yes," said Mr. Becton, leaning back in his chair, taking another sip of coffee. "The two were inseparable, I think they had been since grade school. If you saw one around the island, you saw them both."

Later, Trixie made a quick trip to the library. She quickly found the article with the picture of the girl who had not been found, and made a copy of it. She then paid her twenty-five cents (for the copy) and left. She wanted to go and search the trail for clues. Clues to convict Johnny, Diana’s former boyfriend, before he murdered someone else, but reluctantly, she knew she had to go to the house and talk to Honey and Diana first. She owed it to them to let them know exactly what was going on, because they could really be in danger and even though they knew some of it, there was a lot they didn’t know.

Diana and Honey hadn’t been out of bed long when she arrived. Diana was putting on make-up and Honey was in the shower. She just hoped that Honey wouldn’t be so freaked out, she would decide they needed to leave for home right away. She had to tell them what she knew.

As Trixie told them all that she had learned and some of the other things that had happened, such as the "peeping tom" story, (leaving out the parts of the story that involved the mysterious stranger) both sets of eyes grew wide.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Honey. "Trixie, I think we’re in over our heads. You know I love mysteries as much as you do, but, I feel concerned about our safety, especially, since the incident Diana had with Johnny and the suspicions we already have about him."

"But, Honey," Trixie reminded her, "we’ve solved mysteries and dealt with hardened criminals before."

"I know," said Honey, feeling like the adult in the situation and hating it. "But before, we had Jim, Brian, Mart and Dan as back-up. Now it’s us three girls in this big old house in an isolated area."

"I know what we can do," suggested Diana. "We can call the guys, if they knew that Trixie was onto a mystery, especially one of this magnitude, they would come."

"That’s not an option," said Trixie.

Honey agreed.

"Why not?" asked Diana.

"Because they have really well paying jobs in New York," replied Trixie. "And they are working this summer to save money for the first semester so they will have more time to study once school resumes. They have already taken their vacation time to come home for our graduation, if they left again, they would lose their jobs. I don’t want them to have to do that. If we stay here, we’re on our own. I want to solve this mystery,  girls, but we have to be honest with ourselves about the fact that we’re in danger.  I’m leaving it up to you." Trixie finished resolutely, "Honey, I’ll be disappointed if you decide we need to pack up and go home today, but I don’t want to risk either of your lives. And Diana, as you know, it looks as if Johnny is the murderer, and he may have set his sights on you. So   it’s up to you two."

"Well, I don’t want to go," said Diana. "I want to solve this mystery, I’m not letting Johnny run me off."

"Well," said Honey. "I love a mystery too. But Trixie we have to consider some things here. This is not like anything we’ve ever dealt with before. We are talking rape and stalking here. We’re also talking about an underworld crowd here, like the bikers. I read an article awhile back about them trafficking in prostitution and drugs. I mean, a murder has even been committed."

"Well, some of the other people we have dealt with in the past would have murdered us if we hadn’t gotten away," Trixie reminded her. "Remember Pierre Lontard?"

"Don’t remind me," said Honey with a shiver, remembering that horrible time, tied up in that old, deserted shack. "But, we’re talking about not only about being killed, but other things that could happen to us as well." She paused. "But," she continued thoughtfully, "I don’t think I could live with myself if we go back home and another girl winds up missing or dead, so I’m in. But Trixie, for your own safety as well as ours, no more secrets. From now on you have to tell us everything. And no more unnecessary chances, like climbing out the window in the middle of the night and chasing down a dark trail after a "peeping tom". We don’t go anywhere alone anymore, we travel in threes or at least twos now, and we keep our cell phones with us all the time. Is that agreed?"

"Agreed," said Diana and Trixie simultaneously. Trixie felt just a little guilty, she still hadn’t told them about her encounters with the mysterious dark stranger or about the plan she had to find out more.

Not long after this discussion, the phone calls started. These were different than Johnny had started originally. These were vile obscenities and threats. The voice didn’t sound like Johnny. He was evidently using some kind of distortion instrument; it was a screaming, screeching voice. Trixie felt like Johnny had gone over the edge finally. These calls were not made on the cell phones, but on the house phone Mr. Wheeler had installed.

The next day, the girls decided to put the mystery and all that came with it out of their minds for awhile and have a picnic at the beach. After packing a lunch of fruit salad and tuna sandwiches, they put on their suits and headed down the short trail that lead to the beach. As they spread their blanket out on the sand, Trixie carefully scanned the area for Johnny. She didn’t see him, but she did recognize one of his long haired friends, standing over among the rocks, watching them with binoculars. When she looked again, he was gone.

As they ate they decided to piece together what had happened so far.

"I guess, Johnny or possibly his friends started watching the house as soon as we came here," said Trixie, taking a long sip of her strawberry soda. "Somehow, they saw us arrive on the island, and maybe it was one of them at the window that first night."

"I just remembered something," said Diana, a shiver going up her spine. "That last night, when Johnny and I had that really bad incident, when he slapped me, he also threatened me. He said, 'you should see what happened to the last girl that left me'."

"But what about the night we were walking home from the party and we heard someone crashing through the bushes?" asked Honey. "Johnny was with Diana, remember. She stayed behind."

"Well, it could have been one of his friends," said Trixie, taking a bite of her sandwich. "If they’re all in this together."

"But we don’t know that they are," Honey reminded her.

Something else was bothering Trixie, though she didn’t mention it to Honey and Diana. The trail Trixie thought, It was very strange that the mysterious man was on the trail right after the peeping tom incident, he was on the trail the next morning, why was he hanging out on the trail behind the house? Could he be the one? Trixie asked herself pensively.

After eating their lunch, they took a round, inflatable raft out into water and all three hung onto it and rode the waves. For awhile they were carefree and not concerned about the mystery. But after getting out of the water, drying off and spreading blankets to lie in the sun, their minds returned to it, Trixie’s in particular.

After sunbathing for awhile, they gathered their belongings and headed back to the beach house.

"It looks like a storm cloud is blowing up" Trixie observed, shielding her eyes with her hand as she looked up at the sky.

They silently entered the house, carefully locking the door behind them. Diana and Honey headed upstairs to the showers to rinse off the beach sand.

Trixie took the downstairs bathroom and had just gotten out of her bathing suit, when she heard Diana’s bloodcurdling scream. She gathered her bathrobe around her and ran up the stairs two at a time. She stepped into Diana’s room right behind Honey and was amazed at what she saw. Diana’s underwear and bras were scattered everywhere, some of them had been written on and some had been cut. Wordlessly, they walked into the bathroom. Scrawled on the bathroom in Diana’s expensive lipstick was a vile obscenity and threat that made all three girls blush.

"That’s it," said Honey, "I’m sorry, but I think we should go home. You saw Johnny’s friend watching us with binoculars at the beach and now this."

"I will not be run off this island by Johnny," said Diana determinedly. "He is not going to get away with this."

"Well," said Honey, "we should at least call the police."

"Mr. Becton told me that the police don’t take things like this seriously," said Trixie.  Mr. Becton had told her that, but she also didn’t want the police involved.

The three girls cleaned up the mess and then it was decided that Honey would drive Diana into the mainland to buy a whole new underwear wardrobe since hers was beyond repair. Trixie insisted on staying home, against Honey and Diana’s protests. She promised she would stay inside with the doors locked, that she would call the Bectons, the police and Honey if there was even the slightest chance of danger.

What she didn’t tell them, was the plan that had been formulating in her mind for several days now, was about to be carried out. The plan was to get to that biker club and see if the missing girl was there. If she was, Trixie wanted to find out what she knew about Johnny and talk her into going to the police, so that he could be behind bars where he belonged.

After Diana and Honey had left, Trixie put the plan into action. The first thing she did was walk downtown to a little novelty store and buy some temporary tattoos. As she walked home, she heard the ominous sound of thunder once again in the distance, although it sounded closer than it had earlier.

In the downstairs bathroom she tattooed herself. She put a rose on her calf, a butterfly on her chest and some weird looking symbol on her arm. Not bad,   she thought, observing her work in the full length mirror. Then she put on a short green flowered skirt (Honey’s), with an olive green tank top which showed a fair amount of skin and black high top boots which belonged to Diana. Next, using Diana’s hot curlers, she curled her hair and put on make up heavily, especially around the eyes.

Mr. Becton had told her where the biker club was. With the threat of a severe thunderstorm looming overhead, she set out walking in the direction of the biker club.

About that time, some guys came along in the old beat up car they always drove. They stopped and asked if she wanted a lift. "Sure," she said, climbing in the back seat, between the two long-haired guys.

"Are you going to the party at the club tonight?" a reasonably nice looking one asked her.

"Uh, yeah, are you?" she asked.

"No, we’re just going to score some weed," he told her, "I don’t think they would let us stay and party, since we’re not part of the club."

"But you," he said, looking her over admiringly, "are you one of their old ladies?"

"Uh, yeah," Trixie said, not sure what he meant by that.

They pulled up at the fence and Trixie climbed out.

There was a group of bikers and ladies going in and Trixie tagged behind, hoping they would not notice she wasn’t one of them. Since she knew little about bikers, she wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into. She followed them inside a large room which looked like any bar, with a bar in the front, several pool tables and some tables and chairs. She tried to remain in the shadows as she looked around for the girl she had seen in the picture.  She didn’t see anyone who even remotely looked like her. Most of the women in here seemed older than that. She was about to give up and try to sneak out, when he came into the room. This was the first time she had seen her mysterious stranger since the kiss and she felt her face grow hot from remembering. About that time a young, not bad-looking biker spotted her and pulled her out on the floor.

"Dance with me," he said, trying to kiss her.

"No," she said, pulling away, wanting to go back into the shadows by the wall before he saw her.

"What!" he said, growing angry. "You don’t say no to me. You’re not somebody’s wife are you?"

"As a matter of fact," said the all too familiar voice of the mysterious stranger, "she’s with me. She’s my old lady."

With that, the young, biker guy let go of her like she was a hot skillet. "Sorry man," he said, getting away from them.

Uh, the nerve of him, she thought irately of the mysterious, dark-haired stranger. How dare he act like he owned her.

When she turned around to look at him and give him a piece of her mind, the dark, foreboding look in his eyes stopped her short. He was very angry as he walked towards her. The other bikers yelled obscenities and egged him on. Trixie was frightened, she knew running would be futile. If he didn’t catch her, his friends would.

He backed her up, all the while looking at her with those angry, intense eyes and finally, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, like she was a bag of potatoes, skirt and all.

Trixie screamed with indignation. "Put me down!" but, he ignored her. She beat on his back with all her might, but it didn’t seem to bother him any more than an annoying mosquito buzzing around someone’s head might. He took her off to a side room which was fixed up similar to a small hotel room and threw her on a bed.

"You’ll never learn, will you?" he said angrily, as he paced back and forth, then he stopped and walked toward her.

"Don’t you touch me!" she yelled.

"Oh, it isn’t me you’re after?" he asked, smiling sarcastically.

"After you?" she asked incredulously. "You’ve got to be kidding."

"Look, you little fool," he told her tersely, that foreboding look back in his eyes. "I have to get you out of here and you better not cause a scene or you may not ever get to leave. Do you comprehend what I’m saying?"

Trixie was so angry with him that she hated to agree with him, but she knew he was right. They glared at each other for a few seconds before she sullenly replied, "Yes."

"So you will cooperate and do as I say?" he stated, more as a statement of fact than a question, as he towered over her.

She glared at him defiantly and said, "Yes," as sharply as she could.

They walked out, him dragging her by the hand. They passed two of his buddies in the hallway. He stopped and promptly kissed her, his hand traveling up her body. She was totally angry by now, but she had no choice but to respond, They couldn’t risk anyone knowing they were just putting on an act. Finally, they made it outside and she climbed on the back of his Harley, cursing the fact that she had worn a short skirt. He revved up the engine and they took off.

She breathed a sigh of relief as they drove away. She had never been on the back of a motorcycle before and in spite of herself, she enjoyed the ride. She felt so free as the wind caressed her hair, she was also conscious of being pressed up against his back, her arms wound tightly around his waist. They pulled up under the small, metal carport at the beach house.  She wondered how he knew she stayed there, but the thought was driven from her mind,because about that time the storm hit.

Honey’s car was not in the driveway so Trixie assumed they were still on the mainland.

The Trixie and the stranger jumped off the motorcycle and ran inside. Trixie remembered where she had seen a couple of kerosene lanterns and some matches; she brought them out and he expertly lit them. Since the air had turned chilly, they built a fire in the fireplace.  She knew he couldn’t leave on a motorcycle in the middle of a storm so as uncomfortable as it was the two sat on the couch side by side staring at the fireplace.

Finally, he broke the silence by asking, "What kind of game are you playing here?"

"Pardon me, I’m not playing a game, you’re the one who seems to be doing that," she told him.

"You are the most stubborn female I have ever met," he replied, looking at her with those dark eyes.

"As if you’re not stubborn," she said in a sarcastic tone. They sat for a few more silent moments, Trixie so vaguely aware of his nearness, wanting to dislike him, but she couldn’t. "You know, we don’t even know each other’s names," she finally said.

"You’re right," he said, "you go first."

"My name’s Trixie Belden," she said.

"My name is Antonio," he told her, offering no last name. "Most people just call me Tonio."

"Nice to meet you," she said and they awkwardly shook hands. For a moment, Trixie considered the absurdity of the situation. They were introducing themselves and shaking hands when they had already shared some very intimate moments.

"Why do you feel the need to go barging into dangerous situations?" he asked her.

She wanted to get mad, but looking into his eyes she realized the question he asked this time was more out of curiosity than to taunt her. "Well, because I want to know something."

"What is it you want to know?"

Before she answered she was vaguely aware that he had his arm around her on the back of the couch. There was never an opportunity to answer. Before she knew what was happening, they were kissing. Once again she was consumed by the feeling of not wanting to stop. This feeling that she had found what she had always been looking for. This feeling of an awakening, something primitive that she had never known before. It was like she lost herself in him, this went on for awhile, Trixie lost all track of time. But all too soon it was over. Through the window, she observed lights coming up the road, the storm had subsided and before Honey’s car got close enough for Honey and Di to see his motorcycle, Tonio was out the door and gone.

Dang!" Trixie thought, why did they have to come back so soon! Then she stopped. Was it me that just said that? Here I am, falling for this guy and I know nothing about him, except he may be a biker, possibly a criminal and seems to show up in some real strange places.

"We were caught in the storm on the mainland," Honey told her excitedly. "They wouldn’t start the ferry till after it was over and we had to stay in a motel. We were so worried about you, the storm made all the phone lines go down."

It was then, that Trixie realized that everything that happened had lasted all night. It was just getting light outside.

Later that morning Trixie broke another promise of not going anywhere alone. While Honey and Diana slept, she went to the trail to search for clues, at least that’s what she told herself. She quietly walked down the trail alone, when he appeared.

"Now what’re you doing?" he asked, this time with a smile.

"Since we’ve agreed to be uh, friends," said Trixie, "anyway, I’m assuming we agreed to be. Why are you always on this trail?"

He didn’t answer her, he just pulled her into his arms and she didn’t bother nor did she want to stop him. They held each other for a few moments and he said, "Let’s go for a ride." He took her back to the road and got his bike out of the bushes and they road down the beach. He took her to a secluded place, where the water was clear and the sand was snow white.

They spent a couple of hours together, he was very secretive, revealing very little about himself, which Trixie found somewhat disturbing, but she told him things about herself. She did not however, tell him she was looking into the mystery of the two girls.

Diana and Honey were just awakening when she returned and she told them she had been down to the beach. Of course, they admonished her because they had agreed on not going anywhere alone.

Trixie met Tonio on the trail almost every day and they shared a few stolen, passionate kisses. Even though she hated to stop, she never allowed things to go any further than that. And more and more she dreaded the moment when it would be time to leave the island.

Trixie didn’t tell the girls about any of her encounters with Tonio; they were private and intimate moments and she just didn’t know how to tell them. Even though the stolen time with him was sweet, Trixie knew she was running out of time and still had to prove that Johnny was somehow responsible for that girl’s death before they left the island. She was certain that if he wasn’t behind bars, he would harm someone else. She had to tear her mind away from Tonio and get focused on the task at hand.

The girls still continued to receive obscene phone calls and the calls became more vile as time went on.

As Trixie walked into town one day, she saw Mr. Becton working in his garden, he stopped and waved, watching her as she walked by. She felt guilty, almost as if she had just used him and his sweet wife. She had not been to see them after she got her information from him. Impulsively, she ran back and gave him a hug. He squeezed her into a grandfatherly bear hug.

"I’m sorry, I haven’t been back to see you," she told him guiltily. "We’ve just been busy, and we only have a few more days left till time to leave."

"Oh, I know you young ladies have probably found some good looking fellows," he said amicably, that youthful gleam in his eyes Trixie had seen before. "I understand, I was young once."

Mrs. Becton came out of the house then. "Trixie, I want you girls to come over for dinner before you leave," she told her.

"Sure," said Trixie hugging her also. "We would love that."

Trixie wondered how she would find time. She had to spend some time with Diana and Honey, she had to solve this mystery and she had to spend all the time with Tonio she could. The thought of not seeing him after she left here gave her an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She feared that she would never again feel the way she felt when she was with him.

She sneaked out to meet him after Diana and Honey went to bed every night and stayed as long as she could. They had various little rendezvous places at certain times during the day. They would talk and kiss and just be.

Meanwhile, the obscene phone calls continued. They never happened when Trixie was with Tonio, they only happened when she wasn’t with him. Trixie wondered if Johnny was watching her and knew she was meeting Tonio. The thought made her feel suddenly vulnerable and afraid.

One day, Trixie awakened and sadly realized that she only had two more days on the island. Trixie sneaked down the trail to meet Tonio in the middle of the night after Honey and Diana went to sleep, but this time he wasn’t there. She waited for awhile, totally uncomfortable on the dark trail, which had been the scene of a murder, but finally after a while she realized he wasn’t coming. She wondered if he had left the area. She sadly walked back down the trail to the house, wondering if it was over. Just as she stepped inside, she heard the phone ring. It was the caller again. He started spewing his vile obscenities and she just hung up the phone. He had never called this late before.

Their final evening on the island the girls went to the Bectons' to have a farewell supper.

Trixie was miserable, but she tried to put on a happy face for Diana, Honey and the Bectons. She still had not found any clues to convict Johnny and she still had not heard from Tonio. She felt like a dark cloud was hanging over her, but she tried not to show it. She could hardly eat the roast beef with potatoes and carrots, homemade bread and apple pie that Mrs. Becton had prepared. She didn’t know if she would ever get to see Tonio again, but she was going to try one last time, to prove that Johnny and/or some of his friends were behind the murder on the island and possibly the other girl’s disappearance.

That night, after being certain that Diana and Honey were asleep, Trixie stealthily climbed out of bed, pulled on her black jeans, Diana’s black boots and a navy blue blouse. She quietly left the house, carefully locking the door behind her and headed down the trail. She wasn’t totally sure what she hoped to find, well, she hoped that Tonio would show up, but she didn’t think he would. He was probably back with his biker buddies.

Trixie went to the general area where Tonio usually came out of the woods. In the woods nearby, she found a tent. She knew then why Tonio was always on the trail, he was camping out here. She looked inside the tent and to her dismay she found something she wished she hadn’t. She found leather cords, the kind you tie somebody up with. The murdered girl had been bound with leather cords. Why would Tonio have these at his campsite unless? Upset, she backed out of the tent. She was vaguely aware of someone walking through the woods toward the camp. She jumped back quickly, preparing to hide in the bushes. And then someone hit her over the head. Everything went black.

Trixie awakened on the floorboard of an old car. For a minute, she wondered what happened. Then she remembered the campsite and what had happened to her. She was bound both hands and feet and gagged. Her head ached from being hit and she felt chilled from the night air. She couldn’t see who was driving the car, she wondered if it was Johnny, if somehow he and Tonio were in this together.

How could I have been so wrong? she asked herself.

Finally the car stopped. The man got out, opened the door and pulled Trixie out. Trixie, bound and gagged looked up in terror. Laughing, he removed her gag.

"Oh, my gosh!" Trixie cried. "I can’t believe it’s you. How can it be you? I trusted you."

He threw back his head and laughed as she cried. "A year is much too long," he said. "When I saw you three girls staying in that old house, I couldn’t wait. But sorry to say you’re not my first choice. My first choice was your little dark-haired friend. But after I finish with you, I may go back and get her. I thought it was her in the bathroom that first night, but it was you." He sounded pleased with himself.

"Please don’t hurt me," Trixie begged.

He just laughed sardonically. "I love it when you beg," he said.

Trixie was in a state of shock. The rapist/murderer was Mr. Becton, the old man she thought of as being grandfatherly. Even with all the kidnappings and criminals Trixie had endured, she had never felt more terrified. He was truly sick. She knew she had to keep him talking, keep him bragging, to buy time. She felt cold and vulnerable, lying there on the ground, her arms and legs tied.

"You’re really clever," she said, looking up at him and trying not to show fear. "But let me ask you this. Did you kill both girls?"

"One I did, the other one got away," he told her, that gleam in his eyes. What Trixie had thought was a youthful gleam, was really a maniacal look. "Your lover boy, that you’ve been meeting on the trail every night, he rescued her. He almost caught me, but I escaped. I’m too slick for them, I may be seventy-five, but in most ways, I’m like a young man. He leered down at her.

"Oh," she replied, trying to fight back the urge to faint from fear. "So you steered the law enforcement to Johnny and made everyone suspicious of him?"

"Of course," he said, obviously proud. "You and even the police picked right up on it. But I could tell that you were snooping, so I had to get rid of you first. If not for that you’re little black haired friend would be the one lying there. But you’ll do for now, after all, I got plans for her later. You almost caught me the first night you were here when I was  at the bathroom window. When you spotted me, I ran down the trail and hid in waiting for you, but then your lover boy showed up and I had to dive into the bushes, I went home very disappointed. You’re going to have to pay for that, you know?" He smiled. "I have a secret trail through the woods. After I finish with you, I will make sure your lover-boy finds your body right near his campsite. Won't he be surprised?"

Trixie looked around for a way of escape. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been to come out here in the dark all alone. But she made up her mind right then that she would fight with all her might. I will see my family again, she told herself. And hopefully, one day, I’ll see Tonio again. It happened sooner than she originally thought.

"All right, put your hands in the air," said a voice from the bushes.

Trixie felt a tremendous thrill when she heard that wonderful, familiar voice. Tonio came out of the woods with a gun in his hand. He held it on Mr. Becton as two of the local police came behind him and read him his rights.

"We got you this time," he told Mr. Becton. "We thought it had to be someone around these parts, a local, but there was no way to be sure. We’ve been watching this area for awhile." Then, as if forgetting him, he ran to Trixie and untied her. He made sure she was alright and then fetched a blanket from the patrol car and put it around her to cover her up. She put her arms around his neck as he picked her up. "Are you alright?" he asked gazing down at her tenderly.

"Now, that you’re here," she said.

He carried her to the police car and climbed in the back, cradling her in his lap.

Tonio brought Trixie home, but Diana and Honey were up. Somehow they had awakened and discovered her missing and had called the police and told them everything. The police were pretty upset that the girls hadn’t involved them from the beginning.

It turned out that Johnny had nothing to do with the murder or the notes or phone calls (other than the ones they knew had been him) or the other things. The reason his stalking had stopped and they had not heard from him was that he was in jail for something totally unrelated.

Mr. Becton had cleverly put suspicion on him from the start. The girl had been seeing Johnny right before her murder and since he had hit her a few times, and stalked her, the police automatically suspected him. Then to Mr. Becton’s satisfaction, Diana had started seeing him too. This made it even easier for Mr. Becton to turn Trixie’s eyes on Johnny for all the trouble, which enabled Mr. Becton to continue with his sick plans.

The mystery of the missing girl was solved. Tonio was working undercover for the F.B.I. One of the guys that hung around with Johnny,  the one with the binoculars at the beach that day, also worked for the F.B.I. Tonio had been watching the bikers, not only for information on the murder, because the F.B.I and local police thought it might be connected to them, but for other illegal activity as well. The girl was still alive and had been put in the witness protection program because she was going to testify against some of the bikers for the illegal activities that were going on on the island.

She didn’t know it was Mr. Becton who attacked her, so even if Trixie had talked to her, she couldn’t have given her any information.  Tonio was camping on the trail some of the time to watch and see if the killer would come back there, because they thought this might be the work of a serial killer and sometimes serial killers do come back to the same place. When the three girls moved in, Trixie made his life and his job much harder.

Today they were loading their car to leave the island. The lump in Trixie’s throat felt as if it were the size of a lump of coal. She hated for this time to end, even though it had only been a few weeks. It had been a magical, romantic time. As the last suitcase was loaded, Tonio rode up on his motorcycle. Along with him came the other undercover officer, the one who had been hanging around with Johnny and who was watching them that day at the beach for their protection. The undercover agent seemed really interested in Honey.

He had long, blonde hair and an earring in one ear. He’s pretty cute, Trixie observed.

Tonio was so incredibly handsome. Looking up at him, Trixie thought about how she hated to leave. "I guess this is goodbye," she said wistfully.

"Not necessarily," said Tonio, "unless you want it to be."

"What do you mean?" she asked, wondering if he was going to ask her to go away with him, and thinking what her family would say if she actually say yes.

"My office is based out of New York City."

"Oh!" said Trixie, "and I will be going to school there in a few weeks."

"When you get moved into the dorms, I would like to take you out on a real date, if you would go with me," he told her.

"Maybe we can go to a biker bar," Trixie teased him. Then she was in his arms delirious with happiness. They kissed and kissed. Trixie forgot that Diana and Honey knew absolutely nothing about her relatioship with Tonio until she realized that they were both staring with their mouths hanging open.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Honey told her, smiling.

Diana went back inside to make certain they weren’t leaving anything and the phone rang. 

It was Johnny. He apologized for everything. He told her he was going into rehab and hopefully would be starting college in the fall. He asked her if he could see her again. She said no, but Johnny was undeterred. "Yes, you will see me again," he said, his voice cold. "I’m going to the same college that you are."

On the way home Diana and Honey playfully berated Trixie for not telling them about her romantic involvement.

"Well, one thing’s for sure, you had better start preparing Brian and Mart, because Tonio is at least thirty-two and you’re only eighteen ," said Honey.

"I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, thank you, but I’m not telling them any time soon." Trixie replied.

Honey happily thought of the phone number of Tonio's handsome young partner which she had in her purse. His name was Dylan and she was to call him when she arrived in New York.   The three girls would be moving there in about three weeks in preparation for college in September.

Trixie could hardly stand the thought of not seeing Tonio for that long!

The End

TBH Main