G. H. Stone: Fatal Error

Bob stood up and grinned down at her. “Does this mean we have a date?”

“Well, yes,” she said. “If you’re not too busy.”

“I’m not, I’m not!”

Kelly had slipped her arm around Pete’s. She gave it a little squeeze. “You must come see Cosmic Trek tonight, Pete. We can’t spend our whole vacation fighting!”

Pete was about to point out that she was doing the fighting, but he thought better of it. “Let’s go!”

“We’ll go too, Bob,” Elizabeth said, and headed toward the junkyard entrance. “Okay?”

“You bet!” Bob started to follow her.

“Just a sec,” Jupe interrupted. “If you dudes want to catch Norton Rome, tonight’s our last chance!”

Pete groaned, and Bob reluctantly turned to look at Jupiter.

“Last chance how?” Kelly asked suspiciously.

“Haven’t you finished with that Rome man yet ? ” Elizabeth demanded.

“We found out Rome’s behind the virus that trashed our disks,” Jupiter explained. “He’s done some other rotten stuff, but we can’t tell you what until we catch him.”

“Yeah, sure,” Kelly said.

Jupiter shrugged. One of the problems with most girls, he decided, was that they thought dates were more important than catching criminals. Now, Qute den Zom, he was sure, wouldn’t think that way at all. “What do you mean ‘tonight’s our last chance’?” Pete said.

“You got another good plan, Jupe?” asked Bob. “I mean, our plan today to stake out” — he couldn’t say Oracle’s name in front of the girls — “the company was a total waste!”

“What company?” Elizabeth said. “Pete, what’s going on?” demanded Kelly. Jupe ignored the girls. “We know Rome’s going to be doing one thing tonight for sure. He’s going to be collecting his money!”

Branson Barr snapped his fingers. “I get it! All we have to do is find out where Ek’s taking the money and wait for Rome to pick it up!”

“Who is this Ek person?” Kelly asked Pete. But Pete was watching Jupiter. “How do we find that out, Jupe?”

“Another stakeout.”

Branson nodded. “Ek’s supposed to get the call between ten forty-five and eleven forty-five tonight at his house, telling him where to take the money. We’ll follow him to the drop and trap Nort.”

Kelly’s green eyes narrowed. “You don’t all have to do whatever it is you have to do. Jupe, why don’t you and your friend go do it. That way Pete and Bob can come to the movies with us.”

“Good idea, Kelly!” said Elizabeth.

Jupe shook his head. “Someone should also stake out the, er, company again. We still don’t know what Rome was doing there yesterday. And it makes sense to cover all bases because we won’t get another chance.”

“Yeah, this is it,” Branson assured the little group. “After tonight you can count on Nort taking his dough and going where no one’ll ever find him again!”

“Okay,” Pete said. “I want to follow Ek to the stake-out so I can meet Rome up close and personal!”

“Pete!” Kelly wailed. “You’re doing it again!”

“Fine with me, Pete.” Jupiter checked his watch and stood up. “We’d better get a move on. It’s almost ten o’clock.”

Elizabeth flashed a smile at Bob. “I guess we’ll have to go to the movie alone, Bob.”

Bob looked uneasily at Elizabeth.

“Come on, Bob,” Pete said. “You can go with me. We’ll let Jupe and Branson stake out the company, and we’ll grab Rome ourselves!”

“Right!” Bob said enthusiastically.

The girls exchanged looks of disgust.

“We’re through, Pete Crenshaw!” Kelly said, and she stalked away.

“You’re history, Bob Andrews,” Elizabeth announced haughtily, and she followed Kelly out of the junkyard.

Jupiter laughed. “They’ll get over it,” he said. “Come on, let’s go close this case!”

Pete and Bob sat in Pete’s car in front of the address Branson Barr had given them. They glanced up and down the moonlit residential street.

“We’re here!” Bob announced into the walkie-talkie.

“Roger,” came Branson’s voice.

“Let’s go,” Pete commanded.

Pete and Bob slipped out of the Aries, crept up the lawn to the lighted front window of the ranch-style house, and squatted behind bushes there.

“I hear voices,” Bob whispered.

Slowly the two inched up until they could just see in the window.

“It’s Ek all right,” Pete breathed.

With Ek was a blond woman in a black leather pantsuit.

“And Phyllis Hyem,” Bob said.

Pete nodded. “We saw her painting at Oracle.”

The famous founder of Oracle Light & Magic sat on a sofa and nervously smoked a long brown cigarette. Ek paced around the telephone. He wore a business suit and carried a smallish package wrapped in black plastic. Their voices were a low drone. The guys could hear the sound but couldn’t make out the words. “He’s waiting for the call from Rome,” Bob deduced.

Pete nodded. “Let’s get back to the car and tell Jupe and Branson what’s going on.”

As Branson took Bob’s latest report over the walkie-talkie, Jupiter rolled down the van window and slipped Branson’s employee I.D. card into the sentry box slot. Silently the great steel gate to Oracle Light & Magic swung open.

“Home, sweet home,” Branson said as Jupe drove the delivery van slowly onto the eerie grounds.

Moonlight filtered through tall eucalyptus trees. The trees cast long inky shadows across the big complex. Pools of yellow light spilled from outdoor lamps attached to posts and the sides of buildings.

Suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere in front of them. Jupe hit the brakes just as a flashlight beam blinded him.

“Where d’you think you’re goin’?” the man shouted in a nasal voice. With the flashlight still on Jupe, he trotted around to the driver’s side.

“Who wants to know?” Jupe demanded in return.

Branson leaned across Jupe. “Hey, Duane!”

“You again, Branson?” the nasal voice said, and the light beamed onto Branson Barr. “Where’s your pal Nort? I’m supposed to report to Mr. Ek if I spot Nort.” Jupe’s eyes adjusted. He saw that the tall, angular man wore a security guard’s uniform.

“Haven’t seen Nort in a while,” Branson told the guard. “This is a friend of mine. Anybody around tonight?”

“Quiet as a monk’s cell. Everyone’s long gone.”

“As usual,” Branson said. “We’ll be working late. See you when we leave.”

The guard nodded and waved them on. Jupiter drove into the deserted parking lot.

“That guy likes to scare people,” Jupe said.

“Yeah. It’s his hobby. He’s got nothing better to do.” They got out of the van and walked across the grounds. “Nort and I were the only ones who ever worked past nine o’clock. When we’d finally quit, it’d be so quiet we’d have to wake up Duane to tell him we were going home.”

“Wonder why Rome was here yesterday?” Jupe said.

“Maybe to pick something up. I don’t know. But it must’ve been real important to risk Ek’s spotting him.”

“Did you check out Rome’s desk?”

“And his locker,” Branson said as they walked through the grounds. “I’ll show them to you. They were a mess, but there was nothing suspicious in his stuff. But I figure Ek had already been through Nort’s things by then. If there was anything to find, he sure would’ve found it.”

They passed low prefab buildings, a welding shed, high mounds of lumber and props stored beneath tarps, and the new frame of the replacement spaceship.

“I’ll bet Ek trashed Rome’s desk and locker, just like he did Rome’s apartment,” Jupe said.