Chief Malrova looked Ashley in the eye. “Look at all these people, Ashley. Even if we started evacuating now, we won’t get very far. Some of them are going to die, unless you cooperate.”
Ashley peered out at the crowd in disbelief. Her face went pale and her hands were shaking. “I don’t believe it,” she said. “You guys were right. And now it’s too late.”
14
The Awful Truth
“It’s not too late,” I said. “Tell us where it is.”
Ashley’s eyes welled up with tears.
“If you tell us now,” said Chief Malrova, “things will be easier for you later.”
“It’s two thirty-eight,” Joe reminded her. “Twenty-two minutes to go. Are you really willing to live with all these deaths on your hands?”
“She won’t have to live with it,” I said. “She’ll die too. We all will.”
“It’s in the ballroom where Beller and Ella are getting married,” Ashley blurted out. “In the disco ball that’s hanging over the dance floor.”
Chief Malrova grabbed his walkie-talkie and ordered the bomb squad to the ballroom. He left Ashley with some other officers.
Then the three of us ran to the site.
By the time we got to the building, the Complete Catering truck was already parked out front. The same guys who’d checked out Bobo were now on the case.
As I watched them lower the disco ball from the ceiling and crack it open, my stomach got queasy and my knees felt weak. All I could think about was how, just a few hours earlier, I was hanging from that very same disco ball when I went after Jeremy. If it had fallen under my weight, it would have tripped the bomb and we would have died instantly.
Joe put his hand on my shoulder. “Kind of a close call, huh?”
“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one,” I replied. I checked my watch. It was 2:45.
The next fifteen minutes were the slowest fifteen minutes of my life. The wires connecting the explosives were tied in knots and secured with putty. The team had to work very carefully to disassemble everything. Of course, they also had to work quickly. They had no time to spare.
It came down to the last few seconds, but finally the bomb squad succeeded in defusing the bomb.
Once everything was safe, we followed Chief Malrova back to the parking lot so we could question Ashley.
“You have to tell us who you’re working for,” I said. “This was too close of a call. Can you imagine what would have happened if we didn’t find you in time?”
“Yes, I’d be back in college and everything would be fine,” said Ashley.
“Fine for you, but not for the hundreds of guests you murdered,” said Joe.
“No one was supposed to be here,” said Ashley. “This is Beller’s fault.”
“I don’t think the judge is going to see it that way,” said Chief Malrova. “We’ll give you one last chance. You’re going to prison anyway, but trust me. They’re not too kind to terrorists who refuse to cooperate.”
“They promised me no one would get hurt. Everything was supposed to be so simple,” Ashley said.
“Who are ‘they’?” I asked.
After a long pause Ashley sighed deeply and said, “Ecology First.”
“I should have known,” said Chief Malrova. “Ecology First is the most aggressive environmental terrorist group out there.”
He didn’t have to tell me. I knew all about them. They were infamous for using extreme measures to get their statement across. And their leaders were wanted for crimes in at least three states.
“Isn’t that the group that spiked all those trees in Oregon, causing the deaths of five loggers?” asked Joe.
Chief Malrova nodded. “Sure is. They also blew up commercial fishing vessels off the coast of California, killing about twenty.”
“That’s only because the nets they used to capture fish also killed seals,” said Ashley.
“Look,” I said. “I’m all for protecting the environment, but only through legal channels.”
“People need a wake-up call,” said Ashley.
“You may be right,” I said. “But you’re not going to win any supporters like this.”
Chief Malrova loaded Ashley into the back of a police car and sent her away.
As the police sirens faded, he turned to us and said, “Interesting priorities!”
“I’m not agreeing with her methods, but she’s right about this resort being pretty wasteful,” I said.
“Well, you can tell that to Beller yourself,” said the chief. “He’s asked to meet with you boys.”
“We’d better do it fast,” I said. “We have a plane to catch.”
Chief Malrova led us toward Beller’s office at the other end of the resort.
Before we made it through the car auction, though, we heard an angry voice call, “Frank and Joe Hardy—where’ve you been?”
I turned around to find Brian looking at us with daggers in his eyes. “Oh, hi,” I said.
“I saw you guys take off in my dad’s car. You’re gonna pay for that.” He turned to Chief Malrova and said, “These guys are crooks.”
“Actually, these boys are heroes,” the chief replied. “They used the car to track down a vicious terrorist. If it weren’t for them, none of us would be standing here right now.”
We weren’t expecting medals or anything, but it would have been nice if the chief’s explanation had at least stopped Brian from looking like he wanted to strangle us.
“So where’s my dad’s car?” he asked.
“Somewhere north of here, in the desert,” I said. “It overheated.”
“We’ll call a tow truck,” said Chief Malrova. “Don’t worry about the car.”
“But you should really fix that thing before you try and sell it,” Joe added. “It’s kind of a shoddy piece of tin, don’t you think?”
Brian said, “You guys may have fooled the chief, but you haven’t fooled me. You’d better watch your backs.”
“Whatever,” I said. We both kept on walking.
This seemed to upset him more, but what did we care?
Beller’s office was on the third floor above the hotel lobby. It was a large glass box with views of Phoenix and the desert and the mountains beyond.
When we walked in we found Beller sitting behind an enormous desk in a wide leather swivel chair. “Frank and Joe Hardy,” he said. “So we meet again.”
“Sorry about crashing the spa,” I said.
Beller waved his hand as if to brush the idea out of my head. “Oh, that doesn’t matter. I know I was wary of you two, but I want to thank you for saving my resort.”
“We’re just doing our jobs,” I said.
“Well, I appreciate it,” said Beller. “And I’m glad you’re on my side.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “We’re on the side of justice. Ashley’s methods were pretty extreme, but she raises some good points.”
“Yeah,” Joe agreed. “Like, do you really need an orchid garden in the desert? And why did you buy all that empty land? Do you really have to build more houses and malls and parking lots? We heard you outbid that environmental group that wanted to turn the land into a national park. That’s kind of sleazy.”
“That’s also none of your business,” said Beller.
“True,” I said. “But is it really good business sense to destroy all of the existing nature out here? Don’t people come to the desert so they can actually see the desert?”
“Hmm,” said Beller. “You may have a point. I suppose I could at least look into setting aside some of that land for a national park.”
“It would be nice,” I said. “And I think everyone would be better off in the long run.”
“We should really get to the airport,” said Joe. “It was nice meeting you. And I hope you and Ella enjoy the rest of this beautiful weather.”
“We will, I’m sure—but not necessarily together. There’s not going to be a wedding. Ella has left
me,” said Beller.
“Sorry about that, sir,” I said, as if it was new news.
“It’s okay,” said Beller. “Kidnapping her dog was a little extreme—but we had some other unresolvable issues. We were probably rushing into things. Anyway, as a token of my thanks, I’d like to give you boys something.”
“We can’t accept money,” said Joe. “We’re just doing our jobs.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to offer you any money,” said Beller, a slight smile tugging at his lips. He reached under his desk and pulled out two sun visors. Each was blue with bright yellow writing that read, THE BILLINGTON RESORT AND SPA.
Unbelievable.
Joe opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. “Thank you, sir. We sure appreciate this.” I pulled him out of the office before he let Beller know what he was really thinking.
On our way to the airport, we chucked the visors in the trash. It’s not like we weren’t grateful. It’s just that if Mom found them, we’d have a hard time explaining.
Okay, maybe we were a little ungrateful. Joe was right. Sun visors are lame. Plus, the guy’s a billionaire and we just saved his entire resort from being blown away, and after discussing the environmental hazards of his building projects, he offers us something from his gift shop?
I wasn’t going to miss the Billington Resort one bit.
15
Getting Even
We were so tired when we got back to Tahoe. Hard to believe that so much happened in a day. It felt like we’d been away for a week. At the same time, it seemed like time had frozen. Everything was so normal. It was the exact same scene as last night. But this time Dad was in the kitchen making dinner, and Mom was relaxing on the sofa in the living room, watching the news.
“Hi, boys,” said Mom, looking up from the television. “How was the skiing?”
“It was great,” I said.
“You know, I looked for you on the slopes, but I didn’t see you once, all day.”
“That’s strange,” Frank said, flopping down in the easy chair next to her. “We were on the mountain from sunup to sundown.”
As I walked to the kitchen to say hi to Dad, Mom stopped me. “Wait a minute, Joe,” she said. “Why are you limping?”
I had no choice but to roll up my ski pants. I’d changed into them just before entering the house.
Sneaky, huh?
Once Mom saw my bandaged leg, she asked, “Were you showing off again?”
“He was,” Frank cut in, before I could argue. “I tried to stop him too. But there was this girl he was trying to impress, and—well, you know Joe.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and whispered, “I’ll get you for that.”
“Just try,” he whispered back.
“Oh, Joe,” Mom said.
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
Mom sighed and said, “I just wish you’d be more careful. Someday you may really hurt yourself.” She turned back to the TV.
Just then the newscaster announced a breaking news report. It was about a near-catastrophe at the Billington Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mom said, “The Billington? That sounds so familiar. . . . Isn’t that the one owned by Jake Beller?”
“Don’t know,” I replied, grinning at Frank.
“I think I read he’s getting married again,” said Mom.
As I watched the television, my eyes widened in horror. There was a shot of the car auction on-screen, and in the background I saw myself and Frank.
I leaped toward the TV and turned it off before Mom spotted us.
“Hey, I was watching the news,” Mom said. “Do you mind?”
I smiled at her. “Come on, we’re on vacation. Have you seen the mountains outside? How can you think about television when we’re in the middle of such natural beauty?”
“Okay,” said Mom. “Point taken, which reminds me—I know you boys were listening to Beethoven last night, so I got you something.”
Mom rifled through her purse and then handed me some CDs.
I flipped through them. There was some Vivaldi, more Beethoven, and something by this dude named Handel.
“I thought we’d listen to them after dinner. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” she asked.
Frank and I locked eyes. There was no way out of this one.
Or was there?
I handed the CDs back to Mom. “Thanks, I’d love to listen to these, but actually, my leg is hurting a lot. I think I’d be better off crashing right after we eat.”
“Okay, honey,” said Mom. “I guess we can listen some other time.”
“No, I’d hate to deny you and Dad and Frank the pleasure. So please, listen without me.”
“Are you sure?” asked Mom.
“It’s a sacrifice, but hopefully it’ll teach me a valuable lesson about being such a show-off,” I said.
“Wonderful,” Mom said happily.
“Yeah, wonderful,” Frank repeated, although he wasn’t quite so enthused.
Once Mom went into the kitchen to check on Dad, Frank turned to me and said, “Thanks a lot.”
I stretched out on the couch with my hands behind my head and smiled.
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