One False Step (11 page)

Frank stopped walking within seconds after Joe had. He also looked down to see what was happening. The vehicles were now close enough that he recognized two fire engines, three ambulances, and five squad cars.
This doesn't look good
, he thought. When the vehicles stopped in front of the building they were heading toward, Frank decided it looked even worse.

Joe made a quick decision. Even though they were closer to the building they had just come from, they had to do what they could to stop the Aérocirque crime spree. He resumed walking toward where he hoped Serge and Piet were waiting. Joe could only hope that the confusion on the street wouldn't delay Mario and his officers. If he and Frank hurried, they might get to the acrobats in time, mime their story, and trust that Mario would get it on film.

Way to go, Joe
, Frank thought as he watched Joe
pick up his pace across the rope. If they were going to bring everyone associated with this crime spree to justice, there was no turning back.

Just then a police helicopter swooped dangerously close to the Hardy boys, causing enough air turbulence that both Frank and Joe lost their balance.

Joe managed to fall on his seat, where he balanced for a couple of seconds, then straddled the rope—but Frank was frantically hanging on by his hands.

“Frank!” Joe called when he saw the precarious situation his brother was in. “Let me help!”

“No, no! I'm okay!” Frank shouted. “If you can't stand up, then just slide along to the edge of the building. I've got enough grip with these gloves that I can manage to swing my way there.”

Quickly, Joe pulled himself toward the other building. It was actually not as difficult to balance this way as it was walking.

Frank's only concern was that when he started swinging toward the building, it would unbalance his brother—so he just hung by his hands until he decided Joe was far enough along that there would be no problem. Frank was thankful for all of the hours of gymnastics practice. His arms were strong, so he knew he could make it. When he looked up once, he saw that Joe had reached the edge of the building. And he was happy to see that Serge was there to lend him a helping hand.

Just a few more feet
, Frank thought,
and then we'll go into our act. We'll make sure that whatever Serge mimes, it'll be easy to tell that we were all here tonight to rob that apartment
.

Now Joe could see Serge and Piet. It was as if they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Both of them were standing together at the edge of the roof with their hands outstretched. Below him, the activity in the street seemed to be picking up. Joe wasn't sure if it was that or if something else was making him nervous, but he was glad that he only had a few more feet to go before he was safely across the rope.

Something's not right
, Frank thought as he watched Joe nearing the end of the rope. It was just a feeling, but he had had this feeling before, and he knew to trust his instincts.

Just then another helicopter swooped by. It all happened so fast that Frank didn't get a good look
at it; it was all he could do to hang on to the rope. Still, he had seen enough of it in his peripheral vision to know that it wasn't a police helicopter. Frank felt a prickling on his skin. If it was the Aérocirque helicopter, he and Joe would really have to work fast to make sure they gave Mario and his officers what they needed before they swooped in and arrested the two acrobats.

Up ahead, Joe had reached the end of the rope and was taking Serge's hand, but then Frank saw something he couldn't quite understand. Serge seemed to jerk Joe off the rope, and within seconds all three had disappeared from sight.
Did something happen on the roof?
Frank wondered. Had one of the acrobats spotted Mario and his officers? Had they pulled Joe down for his protection?

Slowly, Frank slid his hands along the rope. Now another helicopter swooped overhead—or was it the one he had just seen? Frank had always prided himself on being able to stay focused, but now, with the wind disturbance the helicopter had created, the confusion on the street below, and his wondering what was actually happening on the roof, Frank felt himself starting to spiral out of control. He stopped for a split second, just long enough to take two quick deep breaths to calm himself, then he began sliding his hands along the rope again. Unlike their first walk, on their way to the apartment, the trip back seemed endless. If the rope had
been covered in tar, Frank decided, it would have been easier to maneuver.

Soon Frank was only inches from the end of the rope. Suddenly, Serge rose before him. His hand was stretched out toward Frank.

“Hurry, Frank,” Serge said. “We don't have much time.”

Frank grabbed Serge's hand. “I'm hurrying. It's kind of—”

Two things happened simultaneously. Frank realized that Serge was talking just as Serge yanked him off the rope. He landed with a thud on the graveled roof of the building. When Frank tried to move, Serge's powerful foot kept him pinned down.

“You can talk,” Frank managed to say.

“Of course we can talk,” Piet said. Frank hadn't seen the man, but he knew from the direction of his voice that he was just a few feet away. “You don't really think the baron went around Europe looking for acrobats who were hearing and speech impaired, do you? It was just part of the act—and it worked, too.”

“Where's my brother?” Frank demanded.

“I'm here, Frank,” Joe said.

“Yes, yes, we're all here now,” Serge said, “and in a few minutes, we're all going to be gone once again.”

Frank was sure Serge was talking about the helicopter. Somehow he had to find out from Joe if
Mario and his officers were anywhere nearby

“Okay, okay, so we didn't fool you,” Frank said. He tried to sit up, but once again, Serge's powerful foot shoved him back to the roof. The tiny pieces of gravel felt sharp against his skin. “We just wanted to be a part of the circus. We didn't mean any harm. At school, we're members of the gymnastics team, and we thought we'd be big men on campus if we actually walked the ropes with you guys. We had no idea you were into this. If you'll just let us go, we won't talk.”

“Oh, so the great Hardy boys won't talk if we let them go,” Serge said with a snarl. “We're not stupid.”

“They know all about us, Frank,” Joe said.

“Your brother's right, Frank,” Piet said. “We know all about you.”

“What do you know?” Frank said.

Serge grinned menacingly. “Oh, you'll find out soon enough,” he said, “and I think you'll be really surprised, too.”

“You'll never get away with this,” Joe said. “The Philadelphia police know where you are.”

“Of course they do,” Serge said, “but they'll never make it to the roof in time. The baron's friends won't let them. We're masters at creating diversions, and you're witnessing one of the biggest diversions we've ever pulled off.”

Who are the baron's ‘friends'?
Joe thought.

“What do you mean?” Frank asked.

“When the baron and his friends found out that things hadn't gone according to plan, he told us to put a few smoke bombs in strategic places while you were in the apartment across the street,” Serge said. “This entire building has been shut down. If you're expecting the Philadelphia police department to rescue you in time, then you're out of luck.”

“Serge is right,” Piet said. He gave a laugh that chilled Joe to the bone. “We've got big plans for the Hardy boys.”

A noise across the roof made Serge take his foot off Frank's back.

“Do you see the helicopter, Piet?” Serge called.

“No,” Piet said.

“Well, it was here once, but the police helicopters must have radioed the pilot to stay clear of the building,” Serge said. “He's probably waiting until he can slip in unnoticed from a different direction.”

“I wish he'd hurry up,” Piet said. “This is taking too long.” He quickly wiped his brow.

Suddenly Joe had hope. He had seen a crack in Piet's act. Underneath, the man was scared. Joe could use that against him.

“You'll never get off this roof alive, Piet,” Joe whispered to him.

“Stop talking now,” Piet whispered back. “You're the one who needs to worry.”

“What's going on over there?” Serge called from the edge of the roof.

“Nothing,” Piet shouted back.

Good—it's working
, Joe thought. Piet could just as easily have told Serge what he had said, but the fact that he chose not to meant he was leaving his options open. He was keeping secrets. If Joe could put more chinks in the man's armor, he might be able to save himself and Frank.

Frank suddenly heard the noise of banging on metal. It sounded as though it was coming from the door that allowed access to the roof. He needed to signal Joe that it was time for action. “Well, Joe, I guess these guys have beaten us after all,” he shouted. “We should have been smarter than to think we could outwit them.”

Across the roof, Joe heard Frank's words loud and clear, and he knew exactly what they meant. They had used them many times before to disarm their captors and to take them off guard for just enough time so the Hardy boys could act.

“You're right, Frank,” Joe shouted back. “What were we thinking?”

“You weren't thinking,” Serge said. “That's the problem.”

“No, here's the problem,” Frank said as he grabbed hold of Serge's legs and pulled him down to the roof.

At the same time, Joe grabbed Piet from behind and pinned him against one of the air conditioning ducts. Piet was initially taken by surprise, so Joe
had the upper hand for the first few minutes of the struggle, but soon Piet's superior strength began to make the difference. Still, Joe thought, if he could just keep Piet down long enough for Mario and his men to break down the door to the roof, he'd win.

Frank had Serge in a headlock, and the two of them were rolling around on the roof. Frank tried to keep his face free of the sharp rocks, but he felt as though all of the skin was being scraped off his hands and his arms.

Joe had his back pressed against Piet to pin him to the air conditioning duct. His heels were anchored against a metal pipe, and he was pushing with all his might, but he was quickly losing the battle. The banging against the roof door was getting louder, and Joe was just sure that Mario and his officers would break through any minute. If he could just hold on a little longer. . . .

Suddenly Frank saw the helicopter slowly descending toward the roof. As the wind from the blades began whipping up the small rocks on the roof, one struck him in the eye, causing a natural reflex to cover it with his hand. Just as he did, Serge took advantage to gain the upper hand. He managed to yank Frank up and get one of his powerful arms around Frank's neck. Frank tried to struggle, but it was useless, and his left eye was gushing tears.

The pilot lowered a rope from the hovering craft, and Serge tied it under Frank's arms. He gave the
pilot the signal to pull Frank into the craft.

Joe watched as his brother was slowly pulled into the hovering helicopter. With Serge now free to help Piet, Joe knew that all was lost. “Okay, okay,” he said. He quickly stood up and raised his hands. Joe could still hear the banging on the roof door, but he knew now that he and Frank would be long gone when Mario and his officers finally broke through.

Joe was right. As he was being pulled into the helicopter, the metal door to the roof burst open, and Mario and his officers charged through. But they were too late. The pilot of the helicopter banked sharply, and they were instantly heading away.

Serge shoved Joe down between the rear seats where Frank was already lying. “Don't try anything else,” he said. “If you do, I'm going to push you out.”

“Just a couple of minutes more, and Mario would have made it,” Frank managed to whisper to his brother. “We had them, Joe, but when the wind from the helicopter blades whipped up those pebbles, it was like buckshot on my skin.”

“I know,” Joe whispered back. “I wonder where they're taking us.”

“I hope it's back to the stadium,” Frank said. “At least we might have a chance if they do.”

“I don't think that's going to happen, Frank,” Joe whispered. “I'm glad they didn't have time to do that to me,” he said, looking at the way Frank was tied. “They had to get me into the helicopter and get off the roof.”

That might be the only advantage they had, Joe thought. If there were some way he could shift his weight enough, then he could untie Frank. Serge and Piet were having a heated conversation with the pilot. They weren't paying attention to Frank and Joe.

Perfect
, Joe thought. Before he would be able to do anything, though, he needed to shift his body so he could get some circulation back into his arms. He brought his legs up against his stomach until he was able to use them as a lever to turn his torso. He could feel the blood slowly returning to his extremities.

“What's going on back there?” Serge demanded. He was leaning over his seat, looking at the Hardy boys.

“Nothing. One of my feet was asleep. I just moved it, that's all,” Joe said. He suddenly decided he'd try something. “I want to sit up.”

“Then sit up,” Serge said.

Frank thought he detected disgust in the man's voice. Something had happened in the last few minutes, he was sure. He wondered if it had to do with
the conversation that he and the pilot had just had.

Joe struggled to right himself, and was finally able to grab the back of his seat and pull himself into it. The rope used to pull him into the helicopter was still around his waist, so he undid it and tossed it behind his seat. He hadn't expected any help from either Serge or Piet, but he had to admit that he was puzzled when he realized they weren't watching him. It was almost as if they didn't care about the Hardy boys any longer.