Hardy Boys Casefiles 11 Brother Against Brother (ORIGINAL)

Chapter 10

It was late afternoon when Frank headed off toward Corralville, speeding along a steep and curving mountain road.

The sheriff was the nearest local law, and Joe would probably go there to report the blast at the cabin. It might be a slim hope, but it was the best one that Frank had.

As Frank drove, he weighed his evidence again. He was certain he had seen Joe going into the cabin. After the blast, he had found no traces of Joe in the rubble and debris. And the Jeep had disappeared.

Therefore, Joe couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be! Frank tried to shake that possibility from his mind, but it lingered like a bitter aftertaste. .

Frank pushed on a little faster into the now deepening twilight. The mountain road was unlit â€" a series of unending, twisting curves. Still, Frank kept his foot on the gas. When he finally hit a short stretch of straight road, he pushed the accelerator to the floor.

That was when his headlights caught something dead ahead in the road. Frank stared. A Jeep! It looked like the Jeep from the cabin!

He slammed on his brakes too late â€" surprise had slowed his reflexes. His car rammed into the rear of the Jeep, and Frank went bouncing against the steering wheel. Only his seat belt kept him from sailing through the windshield.

Frank tore loose from his belt and tried to open his door as the Jeep slowly rolled off the road, tumbling into a dry canyon floor below!

"No!" Frank shouted, struggling with his door to get out. He shouldered the door again and again, throwing himself at it until it finally gave way.

Frank slid out of the car and dashed to the trunk. Unlocking the lid, he rummaged for a flashlight. Badly shaken and aching from the crash, he limped to where the Jeep had rolled off.

"Hey! Anybody down there?" he shouted.

There was no response.

Frank flashed the flashlight beam down at the Jeep, which was turned over on its side. He played the light around, looking for any movement. But he saw nothing except the wreck itself.

Finding a sketchy path, he started down the steep hillside. The slope was slippery with gravel and bits of rock, and Frank nearly lost his footing more than once. For one horrible moment, his feet started sliding, and he had to grab a boulder to break his fall. The flashlight nearly went flying.

Finally hitting bottom, he found himself in a sandy ravine, perhaps a dried riverbed. Flashing the light back up at the road he inspected the steep, treacherous hill he had come down.

Then he limped toward the Jeep. "Joe?" He looked hard where the flashlight cast its beam, but saw nothing move.

He was almost afraid of what he'd find at the half-overturned jeep. But when he reached it, he found the Jeep empty. "This is weird," he said to himself. "If he's not here, where is he?" Frank swept the area with the flashlight again, but saw nothing but sand and brush.

The hood of the Jeep was loose, and Frank peeked in. "What's going on?" he muttered, staring at the place where the ignition wires had been torn out. That had to have been done by hand â€" the rest of the engine hadn't been damaged by the fall.

Leaning over the engine, Frank heard some noise from the road above. He turned the flashlight upwardâ€"but again saw nothing.

He turned back to the Jeep. Nothing.

***

On the road above Frank, two figures moved out from behind the large boulder where they'd been hiding.

"I still don't understand how we ran out of gas," Rita said to Joe.

"Ask him." Joe pointed to the dark-haired scavenger below in the ravine.

"We could've driven over a rock or something that punctured the tank," Rita suggested.

"Up to a couple of minutes ago, I would have agreed," Joe whispered. "Now I think we're dealing with a professional killer â€" a guy who wanted us dead back at the cabin. But he couldn't stop us because his car was up on the road. So he punctured our gas tank, so we would be stranded in the middle of nowhere. Then he just drives up and finishes us off. You saw the way he hit the Jeep at a perfect angle, so it would roll into the canyon. And now he's down there, searching for our bodies!"

Rita crouched very still, watching the man climbing over the Jeep. "You mean that's the guy who murdered my father?" she asked.

Joe nodded. "He's a real pro. Look how easily he found us! He knew we'd run out of gas. What he didn't count on was our leaving the Jeep." Joe waved the ignition wires at Rita. "I took these out just so no one could steal the car. But he moved it right off the road."

"What should we do?" Rita asked. "He probably has a gun."

"You can bet on that," Joe said grimly. "I've been trying to figure some way to capture him. But I'm not going to get myself shot trying it."

Rita motioned toward the "killer's" car, resting against the rocky wall. "We could hide in the back and ambush him when he returns."

"We could," Joe agreed. "But we'd have to move pretty fast to nail him before he got a shot off."

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"I don't knowâ€"and we don't have much time to come up with anything. I figure he'll look around for a few minutes more. Then he'll decide that we got away somehow and come after us again." Joe looked at her desperately. "It's a case of him or us, Rita!"

"But if we can't capture him, how can we," â€" she faltered on the word â€" "kill him?" "Look," Joe said, pointing just up the road.

"What am I supposed to see?" Rita asked. "That big boulder right on the lip of the canyon," Joe told her. "I bet I can start it down the hill."

"You mean a rock slide?" Rita asked. Joe nodded. "Granted, a rock slide may not be fair, but it is effective."

Rita stared up at the night sky, struggling with the idea. "My father always tried to play by the rules, and look where it got him. Chased down and hounded into the wilderness. His wife and finally himself killed," she said quietly.

"You said this wouldn't be very fair. Well, neither was throwing a bomb in our cabin." She looked Joe in the eye. "Let's do it!"

Rita and Joe rested against the big boulder and dug in with their feet. Then with all their strength they leaned back into it. It started to wobble.

Below, Frank stopped his search when he heard a low grinding noise. He looked up at the noise. It grew louder and louder, until a deafening rumble filled the air.

Frank lifted his flashlightâ€"and shrank back. The gigantic boulder rolling down the side of the ravine was picking up speed and loosening other rocks. He was in a direct path with it.

He jumped back. A shower of gravel and pebbles pelted him on the head and chest. One rock struck his arm with stunning force and his hand went numb, forcing him to drop the flashlight. It hit against the ground with a thud, and the beam died.

Frank turned around and ran. How could he escape this trap?

Rita hid her head against Joe's chest as the deafening noise increased.

Joe rubbed her back, trying to calm her. He could feel her heaving with fear. "That should take care of him!" he said.

His words were nearly drowned out by the sound of boulders crashing against the canyon floor.

Joe and Rita followed the boulder as it tumbledtoward the Jeep.