The Hardy Boys Casefiles : Dead on Target

Chapter 10

THE BLAST OF the demolition charges threw Joe Hardy and Perkins to the floor. Immediately, they scrambled to their feet and ran to the two still figures lying by the wrecked trapdoor. "Frank," Joe managed to choke out, "Not Frank, too."

But as he reached his brother, Frank began to stir, pushing himself up on one arm. "The door shielded me from the worst of the blast. But him-" he mumbled, looking toward the Gray Man. "Was I able to push him far enough away?"

Perkins knelt by the fallen agent, looking very different from the aristocratic pilot Frank and Joe had met at the airfield. His face was covered with dirt, and the beginnings of a bruise showed on his cheek. His expression was serious as he checked for a pulse. "He's still breathing," he said. "Which he wouldn't be if you hadn't pushed him away. But ... " He shook his head. "He's very bad."

"Mr. Perkins'" Sergeant Morris and a private came down the stairs. "Are you all right? The whole house feels like it's going to go!"

From the ceiling overhead came ominous creaking and groaning sounds. The foundation of the century-old house had been severely shaken.

"We've got to get out," Joe's voice cut over the noises. "Give us a hand here."

He helped Frank to his feet as the two soldiers helped Perkins gently pick up the Gray Man. "Up the stairs - hurry'" Perkins shouted.

The creaking in the ceiling became a horrible grinding noise. "Some of the beams must have cracked," Frank muttered as they stumbled up the stairs. Just as they reached the doorway a big section of the first floor sagged, then crashed into the basement, right onto the spot where they'd been standing seconds before.

The entire house then began to sway and to crumple inward. Dozens of hands grabbed Frank and Joe, hustling them away. More helped to move the injured Gray Man.

Frank and Joe stood at the entrance to the dead-end street, watching as the old brick building collapsed completely.

"I'll tell you one thing," Joe said quietly as the roof fell in. "What?" asked Frank. "They'll never call that a safe house again."

By then, fire engines and emergency personnel were arriving. Tender hands bundled the Gray Man aboard an ambulance. "You're coming along, too," said Perkins, leading Frank and Joe to the medical people.

Doctors at the-hospital declared that Frank was merely shaken up. They were much more grim about the Gray Man's condition and immediately wheeled him into surgery. "Come on," said Perkins when he found the Hardys pacing around the waiting room. "What now?" asked Frank.

"I'd say it was time for you two to wash up and get some fresh clothes and maybe some rest. Then perhaps we should get you in to talk with the Chief."

"The Chief" turned out to be Sir Nigel Folliott, head of British Intelligence. Hollywood couldn't have gotten a better actor for the part. Folliott was a man with a mane of ginger hair going silver, and large, handsome features. As Perkins ushered the Hardys into his huge wood paneled, book-lined office, Sir Nigel rose from his old-fashioned teak desk.

"I've been getting regular reports from the hospital on our friend," he said after introductions had been made. "He's remarkably fit for such a nondescript-looking sort. The doctors say he'll pull through." Joe and Frank smiled at that. "However," Sir Nigel went on, "he'll be in hospital for some time. And he's still not conscious. I understand you joined his investigation," - he coughed - "rather informally. So the question is, what do I do with you?"

"When, Sir Nigel, we have some questions," Frank said. "We came here after the Assassins. Have any more been caught?"

"Frankly, no," Sir Nigel said. "We found the tunnel they used. hard to miss, actually. They used too much explosive to seal off the digging and blew out one of the nearby roads. Blasted thing went three blocks to an abandoned building. Well outside the cordon we'd drawn up."