Strategic Moves Read online

  Frank and Ziggy joined them.

  "Ziggy!"' Petra cried out when she saw the blood on Ziggy's shirt. She ran to her twin brother.

  "It is okay, only a scratch," Ziggy said with a weak smile.

  "We've got to find that guard," Frank said. "I can't believe he didn't hear that accident."

  "He did," growled a voice from behind the foursome.

  They spun around. Fitzhugh and Aleksandr stood twenty yards from them. Fitzhugh's 9-mm Beretta and Aleksandr's Uzi covered the teenagers.

  "And now it's time to arrange another little accident," Fitzhugh said through clenched teeth.

  Chapter 17

  Fitzhugh and Aleksandr were scratched and bloodied, their suits soiled and ripped. They glared at the group, waving their weapons between the teenagers.

  An old man wearing a dark blue security guard's uniform joined them, a Beretta in his left hand.

  "The old man from the antique store!" Joe exclaimed.

  "Right," Fitzhugh said. "He just happened to be on duty."

  "I heard the accident and came in from the opposite direction," the old man explained.

  "What about Markham and St. Armand?" Frank asked.

  "Dead," the old man said calmly.

  "Don't you think Her Majesty will be upset when she learns that one of her trusted BCI agents was involved in a plot to kill two young Soviet nationals?" Frank asked Fitzhugh.

  "Correction, Mr. Hardy of Bayport, USA," Fitzhugh said nonchalantly. "I, my Russian colleague, and Mr. Hampton here" - he nodded toward the old man - "will be rewarded for killing the two Americans who murdered Pyotr and Petra Zigonev."

  "You plan on blaming their murder on us?" Joe blurted.

  "Correct," Aleksandr said.

  "And how do you propose to do that?" Joe asked.

  "We do not have time to explain anything to you, nor do we wish to do so," Fitzhugh said. He took a white handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his smudged and bloody face with it.

  "I do not understand why this is happening," Ziggy said, his voice weak.

  "It is necessary if we are to achieve our goal," Aleksandr answered.

  "What goal?" Petra asked.

  "You are too young to understand," Aleksandr said. "The reforms implemented in our country are evil. It is not right for our country to abandon the old ways."

  "Is that what you believe?" Frank asked Fitzhugh.

  "I believe in what pays the most," Fitzhugh replied calmly. "Aleksandr and those he represents have paid me well for my participation in this little escapade, and I don't intend to disappoint them."

  "What about Katrina?" Petra asked, tears welling in her eyes.

  "She thinks the reforms are good, that the Soviet Union ought to be more like the West," Aleksandr fired back. "She should have died in the blast."

  "No!" Petra cried out.

  "You will not get away with this," Ziggy stated.

  Aleksandr jabbed Ziggy's wounded shoulder with the barrel of the Uzi. Ziggy yelled and fell to the ground in pain.

  "You creep!" Joe shouted at Aleksandr. He knelt down beside Ziggy.

  "We're walking out of here," Frank announced.

  "You're what?" Fitzhugh was stunned.

  "You've got two choices," Frank said. "You can kill us in cold blood here and now, or you can shoot us in the back as we walk away. How would you explain that to Her Majesty?"

  "You're bluffing," Fitzhugh scoffed.

  "Think so? Look into my eyes and tell me what you see." Frank squared off against the taller man. He was hoping to take advantage of Fitzhugh's confusion and weak condition.

  Fitzhugh matched hard stares with Frank. "I see a dead American."

  "Then you need glasses." With lightning speed, Frank planted a bone-crushing fist in Fitzhugh's sternum. Fitzhugh staggered backward, his Beretta firing into the dirt. Frank twisted and landed a spinning karate kick on the British agent's head. Fitzhugh hit the ground like a felled tree. Frank wrested the Beretta from him and threw it as far as he could.

  Joe lunged at Aleksandr and grabbed him in a bear hug, pinning the Uzi in a vertical position between them above shoulder height. The Uzi exploded with gunfire as Aleksandr squeezed the trigger. The bullets whizzed into the air. The spent shells expelled from the chamber bounced off Joe's and Aleksandr's chests.

  Joe continued his bear hug, squeezing Aleksandr and at the same time forcing him backward. He slammed the Soviet agent into one of the large upright stones. Aleksandr groaned above the thunderous roar of the Uzi. Joe slammed him into the stone again. He felt Aleksandr weaken. He was about to slam Aleksandr into the stone a third time when the Uzi suddenly went silent, empty of bullets.

  Joe stepped back. Aleksandr stood limp, his arms at his side. He dropped the Uzi to the ground.

  Joe turned around to check on Petra.

  Petra had the old man in a choke hold, one arm pinned behind his back. His gun was lying on the ground.

  "You are full of surprises," Joe said to Petra with a smile. He picked up the old man's Beretta and told Petra, "I'll take care of him now."

  Petra returned Joe's smile, let go of the old man, and then knelt to help her brother.

  ***

  "They've been at it for two hours," Petra complained as she frowned at her brother and Frank hovering over a chessboard in the waiting lounge at Heathrow Airport.

  "It's a good thing we got here early," Joe replied, "or you'd miss your flight."

  "I regret missing the rest of the International Classroom." Petra sighed. "But Father feels it's necessary that we return."

  "And without you here, it just won't be the same." Joe looked deep into Petra's light blue eyes.

  "You are so charming, Joe Hardy," Petra said with a laugh. "I'll bet you say that to all the girls you meet."

  "Only the pretty ones from the Soviet Union," Joe countered.

  Petra laughed.

  Joe and Petra were distracted by a yell from Frank.

  "What kind of move is that?" Frank shouted as Ziggy moved his queen diagonally across from one of Frank's pawns.

  "It's called strategy. Haven't you Americans learned the proper way to play chess?" Ziggy fired back.

  "You're going to lose your queen," Frank announced.

  "Go ahead, take her," Ziggy replied with a shrug. "I can beat you one-handed." Ziggy raised his right arm and displayed the sling that was supposed to keep it immobile while his shoulder healed.

  Frank began to move his pawn, changed his mind, and set it back down. He knew that Ziggy was trying out his Stonehenge Strategy, and Frank was doing everything he could to ruin Ziggy's game.

  "You must take the queen!" Ziggy shouted.

  Frank smiled and moved his king bishop instead.

  "You scoundrel!"

  Joe rolled his eyes. Then he turned back to Petra. "What will happen to Aleksandr?"

  "I hope they toss him in jail and throw away the key," Ziggy said from the table. "Check."

  "Check?" Frank's eyes were wide with confusion. He studied the board intently.

  "Why would anybody want to ruin the peace that has taken so long to achieve?" Petra asked.

  "Because the world is full of crazies," the Gray Man answered as he joined the group, carrying a tray with a steaming pot of tea and five cups. "Then you have mercenaries like Markham, St. Armand, and Fitzhugh, who sell their loyalty to the highest bidder."

  Petra began pouring the tea.

  "One thing you kids have done for us," the Gray Man said, "is help us clean house. There's going to be a clean sweep from top to bottom in the Network, the KGB, and BCI."

  "Some people just can't stand to see things change," Joe said to Petra. "They think that the only way to maintain peace is through armed tensions."

  "You're a philosopher," Frank replied. He moved his rook in line with Ziggy's king. "Check."

  "That's an improper move!" Ziggy protested. "You are supposed to take the queen."

  "So sue me," Frank said calmly.

&nb
sp; "You would think that someone with Frank's brains would act more mature when playing such a sophisticated game," Joe said.

  They all looked at Joe, surprised at his statement, except Ziggy, who kept his eyes glued to the board.

  Frank was the most astonished. "Why, Joe, I didn't realize you could say a complete sentence without mentioning food, sports, or girls."

  "That is a cruel thing to say," Petra protested, teasing Frank.

  "Yes," Joe said with a haughty air. "He is so unrefined."

  "And," Ziggy said loudly, a wide grin on his face, "he does not know how to play chess." Ziggy moved a pawn diagonally across from Frank's king.

  Frank's eyes widened to circles of astonishment. His king was trapped by Ziggy's pawn on one side, a rook on another, a knight to the side, and a bishop.

  "Checkmate, you desperado!" Ziggy yelled.

  Frank was shocked. "What? Not again!"

  The End.

  Frank and Joe's next case:

  Jed Shannon, a young American movie star on location in England, has received a threat against his life. When the Hardys set out to investigate, they are drawn into a case worthy of Sherlock Holmes - and into a conspiracy as thick as the London fog.

  Jillian Seabright, a beautiful British actress befriended by Jed, has vanished. The key to the mystery lies in her resemblance to missing emerald heiress Emily Cornwall. Frank and Joe trace the damsels in distress to a medieval mansion on the moors - Castle Fear. Dodging bullets and battle-axes, the boys are out to prove that chivalry is not dead - but one wrong move and they will be ... in Castle Fear, Case #44 in The Hardy Boys Casefiles®.