Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels, Carrie Cross [positive books to read TXT] 📗

first to capture this on film. Just moments ago, excavation expert Vladimir Azarov dug into this mountainside after following the clues that Skylar Robbins figured out, and he retrieved Xandra Collins’s missing jewelry box. So if you are ready, Skylar, let’s see what’s inside!”

Then we heard a gunshot, and Alexa screamed.

 

32

The Skylar Robbins Detective Agency

“CUT!” the director yelled, as booted feet crunched across gravel and harsh shouts sounded from the street. Trina and the cameraman sprinted through the side yard to film the breaking story that was unfolding in front of my house.

My parents ran toward the side yard and I followed them, wobbling on my heels. We all rushed into the street and came to a screeching halt right behind Alexa. “Skylar!” she shouted, pointing.

A buff black cop had Smack pinned to the ground on his stomach—hog-tied with his feet and hands bound together up above his back. Smack’s face was twisted in anger and fear. Alexa grabbed my arm and tried to catch her breath. “He had a gun! He was slipping through your neighbor’s yard. Ready to run into yours. The guy with the bad eye had a knife in his hand! They tried to get away on their Harleys but the cops had them boxed in.”

“Thanks for calling the police.” I smiled, remembering Grandpa’s words: Criminals don’t bother with houses in cul-de-sacs. They don’t want to get trapped with no way out. Unless there’s a zillion dollar’s worth of diamonds at stake, and they think they’re smarter than everyone else. Smack hadn’t thought he’d get trapped at the end of our street with no possible way to escape.

Alexa nodded. “The cops said a group called The Wilkerson Boys, P.I. were watching the house and called them right before I did. Sounds like some of your secret agents?” I nodded. Alexa wiped sweat off her forehead and took another big breath. “So the police got here right when Smack was about to break in.”

“Who fired the gun?” I asked.

“Smack. At one of the cops! He missed.”

“So glad you all had my back,” I said, grabbing Alexa in a quick hug.

Gordon and Trina ran out into the street, right behind my mom. I looked at Smack’s motorcycle. A cop with a brown moustache had Ignado bent over it with his hands cuffed behind his back. Trina rushed up to the officer. “Please give us an update on this breaking news,” she demanded, and then stuck her mike under his nose. He smelled it and winced. Alexa and I moved closer so we could hear him.

“Caught these two jokers just as they were about to run through the side yard. Both were armed and dangerous. Stand back, please,” he said, and then he read Ignado and Smack their Miranda rights. I knew them by heart, and mouthed them along with the cop with a little smile on my face. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do may be held against you in a court of law.”

Moments later they were loaded into the back of a police van. My mom watched them sail down the hill with her mouth open. I followed her back into the yard with Alexa next to me, muttering, “Oh my God, did you see that, Skylar? Oh my God.”

“I knew it,” I said, trying not to look at my mom.

Too late. She grabbed my arm and spun me around so I was facing her. “What do you mean, you knew it? What do you know about this, Skylar?”

“Smack and his gang. I knew they were up to no good,” I finally admitted, taking a deep breath and blowing it out.

“How did you know, and why didn’t you say something?” My mom dragged her hands through her hair and looked like she wanted to strangle me.

Gulp. “I didn’t have any proof, and they hadn’t really done anything yet.”

Except threaten me with a dead rodent. But I knew they were after Xandra’s jewelry box too. And I wasn’t going to let them win.

“So I had to let the cops catch them in the act. And I just did,” I said, waiting nervously for my mom’s reply.

She looked at me angrily, and then she relaxed a little and sighed. “OK. I am glad you let the police handle it,” she said. “But you should have told us that you suspected those men were up to no good much earlier.”

“I know, Mom. And I’m sorry.” This time I really did mean it. I had a feeling some punishment might be in my immediate future. And I probably deserved every bit of it. I planned to tell her all of the details later and accept the consequences.

“And I think the neighbors,” I lowered my voice and pointed with my eyes to the house behind the hedges, “might have been in on it.”

“What? Why?”

“Because they recommended them for one, and I think Ignado has been spying on me from behind their bushes.”

She stared at the tall shrubs separating our yards as if someone might pop out of them at any second. They remained still. My mom looked like she was calculating something. “Well, we can ask the police to investigate that, but that’s some pretty flimsy evidence.”

I nodded, “You’re right. I’m just glad those crooks got busted. And best of all, I found Xandra’s jewels!” Her eyes softened and she folded me into a hug. Then she smiled. It was pretty exciting!

“OK, chop chop, people,” Trina called, snapping her fingers. Back to business.

I really wanted to open Xandra’s jewelry box in private, but with the cameras rolling, I knew I didn’t have a choice. The street was quiet. The cops and Crew Gang were gone. There was nothing standing between Xandra’s fortune and me. My detective agency was about to explode, right on the evening news.

I walked back to where I had stood before, and Mac moved the Litedisc around until Gordon nodded. The director shouted, “Action!” And I slid the little gold key into the lock.

With shaking fingers I turned the key, unhooked the catch, and slowly pried the lid open.

“Wow,” I breathed. Xandra’s jewels were just as incredible as Ms. Knight said they would be. A buzz spread through the crowd as more people leaned in to get a closer look at the diamonds. I heard my mom gasp when she finally saw the jewelry.

The huge diamond necklace that Xandra Collins wore in the photograph glittered in the sunshine. The large stones were dazzling in their brilliance; rainbows of sunlight reflected off them and shot out at every angle. Beside the necklace a diamond bracelet shimmered on red velvet, just as sparkling and impressive. There were matching diamond earrings, and several delicate bracelets and rings.

Scattered around and underneath the diamonds were a black-pearl brooch, a gorgeous pin decorated with rubies and amethysts, an emerald bracelet, and rings covered in shining stones of different colors. One had a diamond on it the size of a large grape. I picked up a charm bracelet with glimmering jewels attached, and saw a set of bangles decorated with precious gems underneath it. There were gold chains with jeweled pendants, and an awesome tennis bracelet with large square diamonds all around it.

There was a shallow drawer below the main box that I saved to open later, in private. I tried to keep my hand in front of it so Trina wouldn’t force me to open it on national TV. She leaned toward me. “Look at these jewels! I understand that Xandra Collins left a note that said whoever is smart enough and brave enough to follow her clues and figure out where the jewelry box was hidden would inherit her fortune in diamonds, and that, my friend, is you. Tell the world how you feel.” She pointed the microphone at my mouth.

My stomach felt like it had a football game raging inside it, but I tried to ignore the feeling. This was my chance to advertise my detective agency, and I was going to make the most of it. I looked right into the camera, took a deep breath, and cleared my throat. “I am happy to announce that the Skylar Robbins Detective Agency has solved its first big case. And I look forward to my next one.”

The director shouted, “Cut!”

Gordon ran up to Trina and said something to her while I looked through the jewels with my parents by my side.

I heard Trina say, “Great idea,” and then she rushed up to me. “Skylar, we’d like to get a shot of you wearing the big diamond necklace, Sweetie, OK?” I looked at my mom and she nodded. My dad held the jewelry box to keep it safe and my mom picked up the heavy diamond necklace and fastened it around my neck. Her fingers felt clammy against my hot skin. Boy was I glad she had made me put on a nice dress, because now I knew what “dripping in diamonds” meant. If I had to wear Xandra’s diamond necklace with the rhinestone top I’d picked out I would have been dripping in stupid.

Then Gordon called for our attention. “Let’s have your parents stand on either side of you,” he suggested. “Skylar, you hold the jewelry box in front of you.” He gestured at my parents. “Move in closer behind Skylar please. Tighter,” he said, and my mom and dad shuffled in until they were standing right next to each other behind me. Gordon picked up an expensive-looking camera with a square flashbulb attached to the top of it. He took lots of pictures of me holding the box and wearing the diamond necklace, and then took shots of the cherry picker and of Vladimir holding the coiled rope and his big pick.

Gordon finally photographed our guardrail and the canyon, and then everyone packed up and left as quickly as they had come. I walked inside wearing the heavy necklace around my neck and a huge smile on my face. Smack and his gang were on their way to jail and I had found the hidden jewels. Another case closed. If Grandpa had still been alive, I know exactly what he would have said, and I heard it in my mind and felt it in my heart.

“I’m proud of you.”

 

33

Fame

Alexa called me Sunday night. I answered my cell and heard her screaming my name on the other end of the line. “Skylar Robbins you’re on the news, right now! You’re about to say my name! Turn on channel—”

“I’m watching it! Call you back.” My parents and I were so excited that we were all watching television standing up. Trina Bradshaw looked much prettier on TV than she did in person.

“Honey, you look gorgeous,” my mom said, touching my hair. “You are one super daughter. I guess this time taking some risks paid off,” she admitted, looking at my dad. Working with Alexa to get the thieves arrested and then locating a fortune in diamonds had taken her mind off the danger I’d put myself in. For now.

My dad smiled at her and then gave us a group hug. “Detective Supermodel,” he complimented me, pointing at the television. I looked way different on TV than I do in the mirror, that’s for sure. I wondered how many people I knew were watching my interview. The next morning I found out.

By the time I got to school Monday I was famous. Not only had they all seen me on the news, but a picture of me wearing the huge diamond necklace already had hundreds of retweets. I was holding the jewelry box, standing in front of my parents who were smiling like crazy. A video of me opening the box and showing the jewels had gone viral. I walked up to English class with a crowd of kids around me, asking questions so fast I didn’t have time to answer.

“When did you start your own detective agency?”

“You’re rich now, right?” Jamal smiled.

“Did Alexa really help you find the jewelry box?” Sharon wondered.

“Definitely,” I answered. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”

“I didn’t know you were that smart. You’re really a detective?” someone asked.

“What are you going to do with the jewels?”

Dustin looked at me. “Where are they now?”

I thought I’d answer his question. “My dad put them in a safe until I figure out if I want to sell them or what.” I sat in my seat and the others crowded around me like I was a celebrity. I didn’t like it, and wondered why people try to get famous. It made me feel very uncomfortable. But there was