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The younger man pulled a sheaf of notepaper from his pocket and thumbed through it.
"Yeah, it was. . . Joe something or other. . "He
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searched the last sheet of paper without luck. "I must've left it back at the station."
He rose from the booth and ran out the door. Frank breathed a sigh of relief when he
saw the policeman heading away from the filling station and the van parked there. He
was about to leave the bar himself when Keller glanced at him and barked, "You're a little
young to be in here, aren't you? Let's see a card."
"I just came in for information," Frank said.
"Card!" Keller barked, and held out his hand.
Frank dug his identification from his wallet and dropped it in Keller's palm. "Frank
Hardy, huh? Had some private dick named Hardy nosing around here a couple weeks
ago. He just wanted information, too. Know him?"
"Nope," Frank lied. He stepped around the booth so he could look out the door of the
bar at the gas station. Joe was just pulling the van away. "Just a coincidence, I
guess."
"Uh-huh," the policeman said, and gave Frank's identification back. "Just what kind of
information do you want?"
"Some friends of mine told me there was a shortcut to Albany around here, but I got
lost. Do you have any idea where I'd pick it up?"
Keller cracked his knuckles. "Quickest way to Albany is the Interstate. You're quite a
ways off the track."
"I guess they were pulling my leg," Frank said.
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"I guess they were," Keller sneered. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have seen a
black van in your travels, would you?"
Frank chewed on his lip as if he were deep in thought. After a couple of seconds, he
replied, "Nope. Sorry." The policeman just stared at him and tried to crack his knuckles
again, but no sound came.
"Well, I'd better be going," Frank said. The policeman nodded solemnly. "Thanks for
your help," Frank called back as he reached the door of the bar. Keller still watched and
absentmindedly picked up the coffee cup again.
The black van was parked outside, and Joe stood alongside it, leaning against the
driver's door. When he saw Frank, he called, "So where's the help?"
Frank clamped a hand over his brother's mouth. "Keep your voice down," he said.
 You're in a lot of trouble."
Joe stared in amazement as Frank pulled his hand away. "Me? What did I do?" he
whispered.
"Someone got killed at the commune tonight," Frank growled. "The Rajah must have
called the cops, because they're looking for a guy named Joe who's driving a black van.
"By now, every cop in the state will be looking for us. We've got to dump the van."
"I'll wake Holly," Joe said. "You heard what she said. If it wasn't for you, she'd be back
with
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the Rajah right now. We can't get caught before we get her home."
Behind them, there was the sharp click of a revolver being cocked. The Hardys turned
slowly to see Keller leveling a gun at them.
"Consider yourselves caught, boys," the policeman said. "Justice may be blind, but I
ain't."
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Chapter 8
.'YOU'VE GOT THE situation all wrong, Sheriff," Frank began. "We didn't-"
"Shut up," Keller barked. "Don't matter to me what the situation is. All I know is that
the fellow up the hill pays me a lot of money to keep trouble away from him." His lip
curled, exposing nicotine-stained teeth. 'And you boys are trouble."
Joe clenched his fists. He took a step toward Keller. Keller aimed his gun at Joe's nose.
"Tough guy, huh?" Keller said. "Come on. I dare you. Come on!"
"No, Joe," Frank said calmly. Joe shook with anger for a moment, then his hands fell
open. He backed away.
Keller waved them to the back of the van with his gun. "This where you've got the girl?
Did you
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really think you could get her down this hill without getting caught?"
"Listen," Joe said, "you've got to see that she gets back to her father. It's important."
Keller snickered. "She's going back up the hill, boys. Where she belongs. If her daddy
wants her, he'd better go up there and ask real nice." He grabbed the back door handle
and turned it, releasing the catch.
The door slammed open, smashing into Keller. He toppled backward, spinning
clumsily and trying to aim his revolver. Joe lunged at him, grabbing his wrist. The gun
went off, spitting a bullet harmlessly into the ground.
Joe socked Keller. The sheriff toppled. He lay still on the ground.
"That awful man! Holly cried, terror .in her voice.  I ve seen him at the commune.
You can't let him take me back. You can't." Her voice disintegrated into choked sobs.
In houses and buildings all around, lights came on.
"Let's go," Frank said. "That shot must ve woken the whole town. We'll never be able
to explain beating up a cop, at least not in time to do Holly any good."
"Right," Joe replied. He jumped into the van past Holly, who was trying to catch her
breath. As his fingers tapped the van's walls, paneling fell open to reveal hidden
chambers.
From one, Joe snatched three insulated jack
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ets, and from another a pair of survival knives.
Finally, from the van's front panel, he "disconnected the shortwave transmitter-receiver.
"What's going on?" Holly asked.
"Hey!" cried a voice from down the street. It was the deputy. "Hey!"
"We're going the rest of the way on foot,"Frank said. He helped Holly out of the van, but
warily kept his eye on the deputy, who was running toward them, drawing his gun as he
neared.
"The Rajah pulled a fast one," Joe added.
"We've got to ditch the van or it's allover." He tossed a jacket to Holly. "Put this on. It'll
be a little big, but it's better than freezing to death."
He handed Frank a jacket and a knife. The deputy had almost reached them when his
eyes fell on the prone form of the sheriff. With a gasp, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Sheriff Keller?" he said dumbly, as if awaiting a response.
Frank and Joe each grabbed one of Holly's arms and hurried her into the darkness.
Alerted by the motion, the deputy raised his gun. He was too late. By then Frank, Joe, and
Holly were fading into the shadows. The deputy leaped over the sheriff and ran around
the van, then stared into the night.
The fugitives were gone, their trail marked only by a faint rustling of leaves that
seemed to come from all around.
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Joe pushed aside a tree branch, holding it so that Holly could pass. Frank stayed
several paces behind them, watching for signs of pursuit. The lights of Pickwee could be
seen above them on the mountain, and more lights were turned on there by the minute.
But so far no one was on their trail. Frank was grateful for that much, at least, but he
knew it was only a matter of time before Keller came to. Then the hunt for them would
be on.
They had to find help.
But where? he wondered. He was sure they could make it down the mountain if luck
stayed with them, but how could they get back to Bayport once they got to the highway?
It would take days to get home on foot, and every minute they spent in the open increased
their chances of getting caught. The highway patrol would certainly be looking for them. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]