Г. Х. Стоун: Fatal Error

“He’s got all the delicacy of a sledge hammer. But how do you know Ek wrecked the apartment?” Branson said as they went inside the big warehouse.

“Because the first thing you’d do if you were searching Rome’s apartment would be to check out his computer,” Jupe explained. “But the computer was cold when I tried it. You never had time to turn it on, which means you didn’t have time to trash the place either. I figure you must’ve talked to the manager, gone home and thought about it, then decided to search the apartment. You probably got there five minutes before I did.”

“Exactly.” Shaking his head with amazement at Jupe’s deduction, Branson led the way through the wood-paneled office corridor. The place was eerily quiet. As they walked Jupe smelled the faint odor of pizza. It made his stomach rumble, but he sternly reminded himself that he had delicious peanut butter and bananas waiting for him at home.

As Branson opened the storage room door Jupe said, “Hey, Club Dead!” It made him think of beautiful Qute. He patted the jeans pocket where he carried the little replica she’d given him.

They stepped inside the gigantic room and paused next to the menacing chrome robot.

“This is my favorite place,” Branson told Jupe. “Sometimes when Nort and I worked late, we’d try out the costumes, watch the videos, and turn on the toys.”

He flipped a switch. Yellow, pink, and blue strobe lights streaked and swirled around the vast room. He flipped another switch, and lively calliope music danced in the air.

“It’s like a carnival,” Jupe said.

Just then there was a horrendous roar. Jupe spun on his heel, and a huge metal face shooting red sparks from its fiery eyes blasted straight at him. He dodged.

Branson Barr laughed.

Jupe looked up.

Laughing still, Branson touched a switch near a Grim Speaker costume. The metal mask whooshed back up into a black box mounted above Jupe’s head.

“You guys save weird stuff!” Jupe said grumpily, and straightened his Friends of the Earth T-shirt.

“Weird’s what made us popular.”

The two searched through Club Dead, but found nothing that indicated Norton Rome had been there recently. Branson turned off the lights and sound. Next he led Jupe to the glass-enclosed computer center where he and Rome worked. They went through Rome’s chaotic drawers and the papers on his desk.

“Same old junk,” Branson decided.

Jupiter nodded. “Where’s the locker?”

Branson showed Jupe the locker room next door. He opened one in the middle. “This is Nort’s.”

Frayed sneakers, candy wrappers, a broken Thermos, and science fiction paperbacks littered the tall, narrow locker.

“Nothing here either,” Jupe decided. “Wonder what he was doing today?”

Branson shrugged. “Let’s go. I’ve got a place we can watch from.”

Outdoors the cool night wind carried the pungent fragrance of the swaying eucalyptus trees. Branson led Jupe up a wooden staircase attached to a potting shed. At the top was a narrow deck.

“This is great.” Jupe leaned out over the railing. If Norton Rome appeared, they should spot him easily.

From here they could see the warehouse, the front gates, many of the buildings, and the back fence. Unlike the concrete block wall in front and along the sides, the back fence was thick redwood planks, also topped with barbed wire. Beyond the fence was an empty field.

“A bunch of us eat lunch up here sometimes.” Branson opened two lawn chairs, and they sat down. “I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a long, dull night.”

“Yeah,” Jupe agreed ruefully. “When Pete and Bob corner Rome, they’ll go in for the capture!” This was a mistake, he decided. They should’ve gone where the action was — with the other guys.

As Pete and Bob sat in the car waiting, Ek’s front door suddenly burst open. The security chief ran out. He tossed the package wrapped in black plastic onto the front seat of his silver Subaru and jumped behind the wheel.

Pete started his car.

“That package has got to have the five mil in it,” Bob said.

Pete nodded. As Bob radioed in to Jupe and Branson, the Subaru zoomed out of the driveway. Pete waited until the car was half a block ahead before following it. The Subaru headed downtown. Pete let other cars feed in between so that Ek wouldn’t spot the tail.

Suddenly the Subaru whipped into the nearly full parking lot of Rocky Beach High School. Ek jumped out of the car and hurried toward the auditorium.

Pete zipped into a parking slot between an RV and a long Cadillac. The guys hit the pavement running. But just as they neared the auditorium, the double doors opened wide and people swarmed out.

“The spring play!” Bob remembered as the throng milled around them, laughing, talking, and blocking their view of Silas Ek.

“Hey, there’s Bob,” shouted a little redhead.

“Hi, Jennifer,” Bob called, then he turned anxiously to Pete. “Do you see Ek? Where’d he go?”

“I’ve lost him!” Pete said, craning to look over all the heads. “We’d better split up.”

Pete moved off among the crowd. Bob worked his way around the edges. Where had Ek disappeared?

Pete hopped up on one of the school bike racks. Balancing precariously, he spotted Ek. The security chief was reaching up beneath a big U.S. mailbox. He pulled out an envelope, ripped it open, and quickly read the paper inside.

Pete jumped down. Time to get back to the car pronto. But where was Bob? Just then he saw his pal backing away while a foxy blonde followed him, talking. To the rescue, he told himself, and jogged to Bob’s side.

“Hi, Alicia,” Pete told the blonde while he grabbed Bob’s arm. “Bob’ll call you in a few days. Sorry, we’ve gotta go.”

“But… but… ” she said, her lavender eyes wide with disappointment.

The Investigators piled into the Aries and shot over to where they could see Ek’s car. As Ek backed out, Pete told Bob about the envelope taped to the bottom of the mailbox. Bob turned on the walkie-talkie to report to Jupiter and Branson.

“Silas should drop the money someplace now for Nort to pick up,” Branson told Bob and Pete.

“Ten-four,” Bob said as they joined the stream of cars exiting the parking lot!

“Man, the traffic’s too heavy,” Pete worried.

There were four cars between the Aries and Ek’s Subaru. When the Subaru reached the head of the line, it darted out into the street’s traffic.

“Move it, Pete!” Bob said.

But the Aries was wedged among the crawling cars. Pete shook his head. “We’re stuck!”

“Never.” Bob jumped out of the car. He raced to the street, and with waving arms directed the cars. The traffic was so thick that the drivers appreciated his help. He was able to move Pete’s line quickly into the street.

For a minute Pete thought they’d lost Ek. Then far ahead he spotted a pair of red taillights disappearing around a corner in a flash of silver. “It’s the Subaru,” he crowed. “We’ve got him!”

Elated, Pete and Bob followed Ek’s car at a distance as it wound among the Rocky Beach streets.

“He’s trying to make sure he isn’t followed,” Bob decided.

Pete kept the Aries back, allowing other cars to come and go between. At last the silver Subaru turned down a broad avenue rimmed with olive trees on the left side and a high hedge on the right. Theirs were the only two cars on the avenue, so Pete killed his headlights.

“On the other side of that is the Mount Loretta School,” Bob said, indicating the hedge. “For Young Ladies.”

“Only you would know that!”

As the Subaru approached the middle of the block, it slowed. Ek’s arm appeared out his window, and with a powerful hook shot he flung something up over the hedge.