Skin and Bones Read online

  Frank believed her. “I don’t know of anything right now,” he said. “Except report the stolen vampire costume and get the police here to interview everyone before they leave. Maybe someone knows the thief or saw him and can give a description. If you come up with anything, let us know or call Sergeant Thomas Chang, Cody’s dad.” He rushed out the back door with Cody and Deb close behind.

  They raced through the parking lot, up the passageway between the buildings, around to the front, and into Skin & Bones.

  Frank led them straight up to Cody’s flat. He peeled off his jumpsuit and skullcap and washed off the alien makeup. Cody went into his bedroom to change. Deb stayed by the phone in the office, still dressed as a ghost.

  “One of us has to stay here from now on,” Frank said, joining her. “If Joe can call, he’ll call here.” He took out the triangular scrap of paper with b2g printed on it. He knew it held the answer, but he couldn’t figure out how to break the code.

  “Couldn’t we call the bureau of public records and find out who owns that property with the boat shack on it?” Deb suggested.

  “I thought of that,” Frank said. “We’ve done it before in other cases. But in a metropolitan area of this size, it would take days to get the job done. They’re always backed up with requests. We can have Cody’s dad get the information for us much quicker. I wish he’d call—or better yet, Joe.”

  Like magic, the phone rang. But it wasn’t Joe or Sergeant Chang. Dressed in a red sweater and jeans, Cody came out of the bedroom to take the call. When he hung up, he turned to Frank and Deb. “That was the dry cleaners,” he said with a puzzled expression. “Joe’s sweatshirt is ruined, and they can’t fix it. But get this—it wasn’t blood. It was a red paint glaze!”

  “Why would Dave have red paint all over his jacket?” Deb wondered.

  “The real question is why did he tell us it was blood?” Frank asked. He felt as if his mind was zooming around a track, circling and circling the clues. Then one of them jumped out at him. “Did Dave have a set of keys to your car?” he asked Cody.

  “Sure. We both used the SUV for pickups, so I got him a set of his own.”

  “Did he ever return them to you?”

  Cody thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Does Dave have a boat?” Frank asked as he turned to Cody’s computer.

  “Yes, he does,” Cody answered. “I’ve never seen it though. Why all the questions?”

  “You said Dave started an online auction site for computer equipment, right?” Frank asked. “What’s his company’s name?”

  “ComputerCloud-dot-com,” Cody said.

  Frank typed in the name. Nothing came up. Then he typed b2g. Nothing. “Okay,” he muttered. “Let’s start with this.” He typed 2g. An alphabetical list of 2g names started running down the screen: ads2getresults.com, ask2getanswers.com, attorneys2go.com, avocados2go.com.

  When he got to the last two, Frank stopped the search immediately and refined his search. He typed 2go.

  Again, a long list of names started cascading down the screen. The names starting with a tumbled off the bottom of the screen, and then the b’s started. He felt a quickness in his breath that matched the rapid pumping in his temples. There it was: bonz2go.com.

  Frank read aloud. The website explained that this site was owned by Dave Cloud, also owner of ComputerCloud. Bonz2go auctioned hard-to-find animal, fish, bird, and human bones and other body parts.

  “It’s Dave,” Frank told the others. “He’s been sabotaging you, Cody. Taking your merchandise, intercepting deliveries, and selling them on the Internet.”

  “Deb, keep beeping Sergeant Chang until he calls,” Frank said, grabbing his jacket. “Tell him we’ve gone to Dave’s.”

  Frank and Cody raced to Cody’s car. Cody was in shock but didn’t doubt Frank’s deduction. “It’s a perfect setup for him,” Cody said. “He’s got all my contacts, all my network available to him.”

  “That’s why we couldn’t find him at the party tonight. He’d stolen the vampire costume to kidnap Joe.”

  “But why?” Cody said. “I’m the one he’s trying to ruin.” He drove the car up onto the Golden Gate Bridge toward Sausalito, where Dave lived. It was dark, and a thick fog was rolling in through the arches of the bridge.

  “To get us off the case,” Frank guessed. “Also, Brando was the perfect dupe. Dave could throw suspicion on him. Now that Mike’s back in prison, Dave has to keep the idea alive that Brando has an accomplice on the outside.”

  Cody pulled into Dave’s long driveway up a hill. “Turn off your lights,” Frank said.

  They drove up to the house, but it was dark and Dave’s car wasn’t there. “Where’s his boat?” Frank asked.

  They drove back down the hill to the marina. Cody parked a block away, and they ran quickly to Dave’s pier and his boat. It looked like the one they’d seen that morning near the boat shack.

  One light was on belowdecks, but there was no sign of anyone. His ears straining for a sound, Frank led Cody aboard. They circled the deck, then crept down into the cabin.

  In the dim light Frank saw a dreaded sight. “Joe,” he whispered, running to the corner of the cabin. Joe was tied and gagged, his horror makeup still intact. But they could hear his celebration “Yesssss” from behind the gag and werewolf hair hanging off his face.

  A sudden dip to one side told Frank that someone had boarded. He pushed Cody into the head, and Frank jumped into the bedroom closet.

  “Okay, we’re ready now for our little jaunt,” Frank heard Dave Cloud say. “I take care of you and that’s one less person trying to figure out my profitable little scheme. Plus, the others will be scared off the scent once and for all. Sort of like killing two wolves with one stone—or should I say, rock.”

  Frank heard footsteps going back up to the deck. In minutes the cruiser moved out.

  Cautiously Frank left the closet and motioned Cody to come out of the head. They freed Joe. “We can take him,” Cody said in a hushed voice. “There are three of us.”

  “I agree,” Frank whispered. “But we have to be cautious. He might be armed.”

  “I didn’t see a gun,” Joe said, his voice low. “But that’s no guarantee.”

  “Okay, let’s go on up,” Frank said.

  “Let’s wait until we get out farther,” Joe warned. “There’s a lot of traffic here. We don’t want an accident with other craft.”

  They waited until they could feel Dave increase speed. From the porthole they saw that they were farther out into the bay and cruising parallel to the Golden Gate. As they started up the companionway, the boat swerved.

  Then it lurched and swerved again. For an instant, Frank thought they were going to ditch. They hurried up the companionway.

  It was nearly impossible to see in the thick cloudy air. From their left they could hear the loud intonation of a foghorn.

  Ahead, Frank finally made out Dave’s form. “He’s in trouble,” Frank murmured. Dave was grunting and seemed to be frantically trying to get control of the wheel.

  “He’s trying to turn,” Joe said. “We’ve got to help.”

  A large dark shadow seemed to be racing straight toward them. Joe pushed Dave to the deck and grabbed the wheel, but it was too late.

  With a gut-grinding boom, the boat smashed into the huge black mass rising out of the fog.

  15 Rock On!

  * * *

  Frank woke up first. He was sore and tired but okay. His right wrist was twisted under him, but it didn’t seem to be broken. His clothes were wet, and he was shaking with cold.

  “Joe! Cody!” he called. As his eyes adjusted to the foggy night, he realized he was lying in a cave. Waves crashed against the rock wall below. Sea water washed into the cave, dribbling foam around the edges.

  He scrambled to his feet and stumbled around in the dark. At last he found the others. Cody was lying on the ledge close to the cave entrance. Joe was outside
the cave on a rocky outcropping above the entrance.

  “Joe! Come on, wake up.” Frank walked to where Joe was lying and gently shook his shoulder.

  “Ummmph,” Joe said, twisting his body as he woke. “The last thing I remember I was turning the wheel of Dave’s boat. We were barreling toward this big—”

  He stopped talking and looked up the rocky wall above him. Through the fog he saw lights in the distance, forming the pattern of a long bridge. “Whoa, we crashed into Alcatraz!” He sat up quickly and rubbed his hairy face. “I thought when werewolves wake up, they’re back to normal.”

  “Ooooohhh,” Cody called from inside the cave. “My leg’s numb. How long have we been here? What happened?” He sat up and looked around. “Hey, are we on the Rock? In one of the caves? A prisoner tried to escape once and didn’t get any farther than one of the caves. He finally gave up and climbed back up to the prison.”

  “Yes, that’s where we are.” Frank leaned back and looked up. “I can see the water tower and the top of the cell-block wall and the building itself. I can see the road winding up from the dock.”

  “You’re right, Frank,” Joe said, following his brother’s gaze. The Hardys had been on a tour of Alcatraz on a previous trip. “It looks so small from the city,” Joe said. “But it’s big when you’re on it.”

  “Is everybody okay?” Frank asked. “No broken bones, no bloody cuts?”

  “Not that I can tell,” Joe said. “Any cuts have been sealed by all this salt water,” he added with a lopsided smile.

  “I wonder how Dave is—where he is,” Cody said.

  Frank and Joe shook their heads. “I thought I saw a piece of the boat drift by, but it’s so dark, I couldn’t really tell,” Frank said.

  “It’s so cold,” Cody said, shivering. Another wave splashed at them as it hit the island’s rocky wall.

  “It’s time to strip down for business,” Joe said. He peeled the werewolf hair off his face and arms. “Okay, let’s go,” he said.

  “We’ve got to get up on top,” Frank agreed, looking for a place to start climbing. He began his ascent, gripping the rocky wall and hoisting himself up. “Come on, guys, find something to hold on to and someplace to put your toes. It’s just like any other rock climbing you’ve done.”

  “Except for having no equipment and a wet wall covered with slimy seaweed,” Joe muttered.

  It took them about twenty minutes, but they finally made it onto solid ground. The dock was about forty yards away, and the cell block about a quarter of a mile up the winding road.

  Frank checked his watch. “The night tour should be landing in about an hour,” he said. “We can get a ride back with them. Let’s go check in with the rangers.”

  “I want to find Dave Cloud first,” Joe said. “I have a few words for him about dragging me away from a party.”

  “Okay,” Frank said. “Let’s look around a little. Now, if you were Dave Cloud, where would you go?”

  “Well, he can’t go to the rangers,” Joe said, “because if I made it through the accident and can identify him as my kidnapper, he’s busted.”

  “He probably can’t escape,” Cody said. “In the twenty-nine years this was a federal prison, practically no one made a successful escape.”

  “If he can’t escape on his own and he can’t ask for help, there’s only one other choice,” Frank said.

  “What?” Cody asked.

  “He’s got to hang out near the dock and try to stow away on the evening tour boat to hitch a ride back to the city.”

  Frank, Joe, and Cody crept along the dark rock at the base of Alcatraz toward the dock. “Let’s split up,” Joe suggested. “The first one to find him, force him onto the dock. Then the other two will close off his escape routes, and he’ll be trapped there.”

  Joe was the first to spot Dave. He was huddling in the bushes between the road and the dock. “Hey, pal, how about finishing the fight we started at Reflections,” Joe said. Startled, Dave jumped up. Joe pressed forward, and within minutes Dave had backed up onto the dock. Joe and Cody joined Frank, blocking Dave from leaving. He was trapped.

  “It’s either us or the water,” Joe said. “And you sure don’t want to join the rest of those prisoners who tried to escape from the Rock.”

  “I can’t believe it’s been you all along,” Cody said.

  “Hey, one way to handle competition is to get rid of it altogether, right?” Dave said, with a half-smile. “I wasn’t just going to beat you,” he told Cody, “I decided to bury you and put you out of business permanently. Then the market would be pretty much mine to rule.”

  “So you did it all?” Cody asked. “You trashed my office Monday night, knocked me out?”

  “I did it,” Dave said with a shrug. “Actually, I was just looking for some paper files. I have no trouble hacking into your computer files, but some of the first customers and dealers we worked with never got put into the computer. So I was after those.”

  Dave shrugged again. “You surprised me, so I had to drop you. The zoo packages were a nice bonus. I sold the ostrich skeleton and three anteater claws in an hour on bonz2go. I saved one anteater claw for your present,” he added, nodding toward the Hardys.

  “I got pretty sick of you two butting in, trying to track me down. Thought you’d get the message, but you didn’t. That’s why I kidnapped you.” His eyes narrowed to snakelike slits when he looked at Joe. “I figured if you disappeared for good, your brother here would get the message and back off.”

  “You don’t know the Hardys very well,” Cody said with a snort.

  “You intercepted Cody’s overseas orders and left him the computer threats?” Joe asked.

  “Sure,” Dave said. “Actually, that was the easiest part. It was a great scam until you two came along. I thought I’d been busted for sure yesterday at the windmill.”

  “You called to lure Cody to the Polo Field,” Frank said. “Why?”

  “I was pretty well disguised, if you’ll recall,” Dave said to Joe. “I was going to threaten him, maybe beat him up a little and dump him. When I saw Deb show up, I grabbed her instead.”

  Dave looked out across the bay. “I knew you’d been following me earlier.”

  “You’d followed us first,” Frank reminded him, “from Sergeant Chang’s.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve been keeping pretty tight surveillance on you all,” Dave replied. “Like I said, with all the extra help from out of town—you two—I’ve had to increase my guard a little, make sure I know where everyone is.”

  “So you grabbed Deb,” Joe prompted.

  “Right. When I saw Cody’s car, I knew either you or Cody had tracked me to the Polo Field,” Dave said to Joe. “I knew you had seen me in the green car, and Cody’s was just sitting there, empty. I still had my old keys on my ring, so I took it. I figured Deb had blabbed about the meeting, and for all I knew, there were a lot of people out there looking for me.”

  “So you hadn’t planned to go to the windmill?” Frank said.

  “No.” Dave chuckled. “At that point, I was playing it by ear, you know? I was mad at Deb, so I took her out to the windmill. I was going to tie her up and gag her, then lock her up in there and just let her sweat it out till someone found her. The whole point of the afternoon was to warn the three of you off. I figured that would do the trick.”

  “She wasn’t so easy to handle,” Cody reminded him proudly.

  “She sure wasn’t,” Dave said. “When she broke free and went out to the deck, I really got mad. Then when you showed up,” he said to Joe, “I thought I’d had it. But fortunately, you were more interested in saving her life than nailing me.”

  “And you never had a fight last night with Brando, did you?” Frank asked.

  “So you found out about the red paint, hmm?” Dave said, shaking his head. “Actually, I did scrape my arm. I was coming over to meet you guys for dinner, so I thought I’d capitalize on it and throw some more suspicion Brando’s way. I had you bel
ieving it for a while, I could tell. Why didn’t you just throw that sweatshirt away like a normal person, instead of having it analyzed?” he added, shaking his head.

  As Dave talked, the sound of a Coast Guard siren wailed through the fog.

  “You know, I can forgive you for almost everything but devastating Bug Central,” Cody said. “Letting all the beetles loose was the lowest.”

  “Not all of them,” Dave said with a grin. “I kept the colony in the second refrigerator for myself. After all I need the little munchers, too.”

  “Not anymore you don’t,” Frank said. “You’re going to be out of business for a long time.”

  “Was it your human skull that we found in Muir Woods?” Joe asked as the Coast Guard boat came nearer.

  The look on Dave’s face was one of real shock. “Muir Woods? You mean you know about the boat shack? You found the skull in Muir Woods?”

  “We did,” Frank said. “Did it belong to you?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know for sure where I’d lost it.”

  Frank could see the Coast Guard boat shooting through the fog toward the dock.

  “I got stuck once at the boat shack when my cruiser wouldn’t start,” Dave continued. “My only choice was to hike out to the highway to try to hitch to Sausalito. I put two skulls and some other bones in a bag and started through the forest. It was late at night, pitch-black, no flashlight. I got all turned around, lost, fell a few times. With one fall, all the bones emptied out of the bag. The skulls rolled around, and I never found one of them.”

  “You just left it there?” Frank said, astonished.

  “Hey, I just wanted out of that black woods,” Dave admitted. “I get claustrophobic in that place. Besides,” he said jauntily, “there were plenty more where that came from. I just had to hack into Cody’s computer files.”

  The Coast Guard siren stopped, and within minutes they heard Sergeant Chang’s voice calling Cody’s name.

  “Yo, Dad!” Cody yelled.

  “Boy, am I glad to see you guys,” Sergeant Chang said. “Dave, I understand you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”