Franklin W Dixon Hardy Boys Case 03 Cult of Crime

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"Maybe I've got business with you," the sheriff replied. "We're looking for
some kids-
two boys and a girl. You seen them?"
"Can't say as I have, Sheriff," Rosie said.
"They're trying to surround us," Frank whispered as the six men fanned out
around the edges of the clearing.
"Mind telling me how you broke your window, Rosie?" Keller called. "You're
usually pretty careful about things like that."
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Rosie spat out the door. "Maybe someone broke it for me, Sheriff. You'd know
more about that than I would."
"There's no way we can make a run for it," Joe whispered. "We're trapped in
here."
"Let's cut the chitchat, Rosie," the sheriff shouted. "We know you've got them
in there.
Send out the girl and we'll let the others go."
"Frank!" Holly pleaded. Rosie looked over at them, waiting for a response.
Frank shook his head.
"Sorry, Sheriff," the giant said.
Keller's eyes bulged with anger. "I've been waiting years for this, Rosie. I
never thought you'd give me an excuse to come down on you as hard as I wanted.
But this time
J got you."
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Keller whipped his hand into the air. Rosie threw himself backward, out of the
door-
way.
A half-dozen explosions burst at once, sending chips of wood flying from the
door frame. Frank pulled Holly to the ground to shield her from the shots, and
Joe slid into the door, knocking it closed.
"Get over there," Rosie barked. He pointed to the trap door. "Start down. I'll
catch up in a minute. "
"You've got thirty seconds to come out," Keller yelled from outside. "Then we
shoot the whole place down around you. We've got enough ammo to do it."
Frank dropped into the dark hole. His foot touched a ladder rung, slipped, and
then he was tumbling. He managed to grab hold of the ladder. It seemed as if
he was dangling over a vast, unending void, broken only by a soft hum.
There's an engine down here, he thought. Maybe Rosie's not so crazy, after
all.
"Frank?" Holly said from somewhere in the darkness above him. "Where ate you?"
"Here." He raised a hand, caught hers, and helped her down the ladder. He was
suddenly conscious of her smooth fingers brushing and tightening against him.
Then she was in his arms, again.
"Watch out!" Joe called softly as his foot
78
kicked Frank's shoulder. "Coming through Step aside.
A light glowed above them. "Take this," Rosie called. He dropped a flashlight
into the shaft, and Joe caught it. "I'll be right-"
His words were cut off by bursts of gunfire followed by a dull thud.
"Rosie!" the three of them cried at once.
No answer came.
"They must have gotten him," Joe said over the gunshots. "All because of us."
He turned sadly, swinging the flashlight up.
He jumped back, nearly knocking over Frank and Holly. A man stood before them,
his long hair matted over his bearded, smiling face.
"I had to jump," Rosie explained. "That's bad. No time to latch the trap door.
They'll find it as soon as they stop shooting." He took the flashlight from
Joe and shone it into the darkness.
They were in a cave. Frank had been right about the motor. A small engine
chugged and purred in a corner, and boxes filled with dried foods were stacked
near it. Nearby were a small cot and a cooking stove. This was Rosie's real
home, he realized. The cabin above was just for show.
Down a long corridor was a big-wheeler Jeep, the kind that was specially made
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for off-
road travel.
Rosie ran for it, and the Hardys and Holly
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followed. "Hop in," Rosie said. They scrambled aboard. It was old, they could
tell, but in perfect shape. The engine started up as soon as Rosie turned the
key.
"Ride out!" the giant cried, and the Jeep shot forward. Joe, Frank, and Holly
screamed, and the Hardys both lunged for the steering wheel.
Rosie laughed wildly, the look of madness creeping back into his face.
The Jeep careened straight at the cave wall.
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Chapter
10
IT WAS TOO late for Frank or Joe to move. The Jeep smashed head-on into the
wall.
To their surprise, it kept moving. The wall had come down, and it was flapping
on the front end of the Jeep.
Rosie chuckled. They had run through a canvas sheet that had covered the mouth
of the cave. "I've had that up for years, to keep people from seeing where I
live. From the outside, it looks just like a moss-covered rock." He laughed
again. "Riding through it gets them every time."
"Them?" Joe said. "You've done this before?"
"Back during the Vietnam War, I'd drive draft dodgers to the Canadian border,"
Rosie replied. He stared wistfully at the sky. "We'd go all the way to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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