The Crowning Terror (12 page)

The cycles roared around Starkey's agents, the riders swinging tire chains into the startled gunmen, who fired without taking aim. Frank swung his elbow up and brought it back hard into Mickey's stomach. Stunned, Mickey flailed out, and Frank stepped into the swing and grabbed Mickey's hand and elbow.

Continuing the spin, Frank brought his shoulder up into Mickey's chest and jerked forward. Mickey flew over Frank and crashed to a halt on Oleg. Frank took a karate stance and prepared for a counterattack, but neither man stirred.

"Frank!" Joe shouted over the din. "Where did the cycle hoods come from?"

"I took a moment to call Charity," Frank shouted back. "Remember when I threatened to call the police? I noticed her number on the phone then. I thought she might want to know where the real crown might be. Just a little bit of insurance I cooked up." He gazed at the melee. In the midst of it, Hugh was curled up on the floor, breathing hard and clutching at his stomach. Starkey was nowhere to be seen. In the chaos he had slipped away.

Joe gazed around as he knocked aside a man who charged at him. "I get the feeling someone's missing here, Frank. You seen Starkey around in the last couple minutes?"

"There he is!" Frank pointed at a figure sprinting to the back of the warehouse. Starkey came to a door, threw open a bolt, and dashed out.

The Hardys followed him outside. Behind the warehouse was a small pier, and at the end of the pier a motorboat was moored. Starkey was halfway down the pier.

"Freeze, Starkey!" Frank called out. To his surprise, Starkey stopped dead in his tracks. Turning to face Frank and Joe, Starkey spread his arms all the way out to the sides.

"You got me," he said. "And I've got you." In his right hand was the antidote, and he held it out over the water.

"Either I get in that boat and you let me get away," Starkey said, "or the antidote goes into the bay, and you never find it." He smirked confidently. "Well? Me or your uncle's life, which is it going to be?"

"I'll take that bottle," said Charity. She rose up the ladder from the boat and stepped onto the pier behind Starkey.

Shrieking, Starkey stepped back and spun around, striking Charity with his fist, knocking her off balance before she could get her footing. Her feet twisted beneath her, and she toppled off the pier.

"I've had enough," Joe grumbled and hurled himself at Starkey.

"No!" shouted Frank, but it was too late. Joe smashed into Starkey with a flying body tackle. Starkey kicked out, shoving Joe aside. But Joe grabbed his leg as he tried to crawl to his feet. Starkey hammered at Joe's head and shoulders.

Joe slammed his fist into Starkey's stomach. Gasping for breath, Starkey fell away, and Joe flipped forward, pinning Starkey to the pier.

Though Starkey bucked, Joe held him down. Slowly Joe's fingers crawled along his arm, reaching for the vial in Starkey's hand.

"We've got him," said Frank, standing over them. He reached for the vial. Too late he saw the malice in Starkey's eyes.

Starkey dropped the vial and tapped it hard with his finger before Joe or Frank could stop him. The vial rolled down the pier. Frank leaped to grab it.

Before his fingers could close around it, the vial vanished off the end of the pier and plunged into the water.

Angrily, Joe socked Starkey on the jaw to knock him out. The secret agent went limp and still. Under other circumstances, Starkey's defeat would have cheered Joe, but now he only felt despair as he rolled off Starkey and sat on the pier.

"He beat us," he said. "We'll never save Uncle Hugh now."

Frank sat next to him and searched for something to say, but there was nothing to be said. The antidote was gone, and they had lost.

"What am I bid for this?" said a woman's voice from below, and the Hardys' mouths fell open in astonishment as Charity came back up the ladder. In her hand was the vial. "Some fool threw it in the water. It's just lucky I happened to be down there to grab it."

"I'll take that now," said Frank. He reached out, but Charity snatched the vial from his grasp.

"Not so fast," she said. "I want the crown."

Frank shrugged and waved a thumb at Starkey. "It's in his pocket, but it won't do you any good. I don't think even you could get it to his customers, and there's no other way to make money from it."

"And I don't want to," Charity said. "I've got too much good taste to take part in spying." She motioned for them to move back. "That doesn't mean I plan to work with you. Away from him, or the vial goes overboard for real." They backed off. She stooped over Starkey and pulled his wallet from his pocket. "This ought to take care of my expenses. May I?"

"We need the antidote," Joe said. "Please."

"Tell you what. I'll trade you for the real crown. Where is it?"

"He had it," Frank said, nodding in Starkey's direction. "We don't know where it is."

Charity shrugged. "Too bad."

"Please," Joe pleaded. "You like scaring people, but I don't think you're a killer. There's a dying man in that warehouse, and what you hold in your hand is the only thing that can save his life. You've got to help."

"You're not conning me, are you?" she said. For a moment she seemed to soften. "Can I have the boat? I don't want to be around when Kwan and Tony find out I can't pay them."

"Take anything you want," Joe said. "Just give us the vial."

Charity stepped forward and pressed the vial into Joe's hand. As she brushed by him, she kissed him lightly on the cheek and whispered in his ear, "If you ever need a partner in crime..."

Joe blushed. "I'D let you know," he said as she climbed in the boat and sped off across San Francisco Bay.

The next morning Frank and Joe entered the San Francisco offices of Transmutual Indemnity. Though it was still early, a team of government agents was clearing out the files and removing the furniture. The offices were being closed down, as was Espionage Resources. All that remained was for their uncle Hugh to clear out Starkey's private safe.

"Come in here, boys," he called from the inner office. He looked healthy again, though his hands still twitched and would until he was fully recovered from the poison. "I figured you'd want to be in on this. You did good work last night."

"Thanks," Frank said. "We're just glad you're okay."

"Thanks to you. That was some stunt you pulled, dragging in a street gang for a rumble. Just the sort of thinking we like to see in the business. Sure you don't want a job?"

Frank and Joe both shook their heads. Joe asked, "You're not going to tell our mom and dad about all this, are you?"

"You know I can't, Joe. This is a top-security operation. Strictly hush-hush stuff." His uncle flashed him a conspiratorial wink. "So you'd better not tell them, either."

"You can count on that," Joe said. "What's going to happen to Starkey?" he asked.

At the sound of Starkey's name, Hugh became grim. "I'm not sure. If I had gotten his confession on tape, his fate would be a lot more certain. As it is, we may have to settle for shutting down his operation."

"Speaking of which, in all the excitement last night, I forgot to give this back to you," Joe said. He pulled his hand from his pocket and opened it to reveal his uncle's tiny tape recorder. "If the built-in microphone is any good, you should find it quite interesting. I had it on the whole time Starkey was taunting us last night."

Hugh Hunt's eyes brightened. "Joe, you're beautiful. Between that and his files, we've got enough to put Starkey away for a long time. You'll never guess who he was selling to."

"I thought it was the Russians," Frank said. "Or the Chinese."

"Not according to his records," his uncle revealed. "His clients were electronics manufacturers in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. We develop the technology, they steal it, manufacture it cheaply, and sell the products here at prices we can't match. A neat little racket."

They moved across the room to a framed Rembrandt print, and Hugh moved it aside. A safe was imbedded in the wall behind it. "Starkey slipped up a little during questioning and told us where the art he stole was. We'll have the real crown back as soon as I get this wall safe open."

He spun the dial on the safe to the right, then to the left, then to the right again. "My hands are still a little shaky," he said. "Would one of you like to do the honors?"

Joe stepped forward and pressed down the safe handle. Dreaming of riches, he pulled open the door and stared inside.

He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Frank asked. He pushed past his brother and reached into the safe. The only contents were Starkey's wallet and a printed card.

"It's for us," Joe said. He took the card from Frank and held it up for his uncle to read: Better Luck Next Time Love and Kisses, Charity "The woman?" Hugh asked.

"You got it," Joe said. With reluctant admiration, he sighed. "She pulled one last fast one on us. I hope we never run into her again."

But he had the feeling they would.

The End.