Operation: Survival Read online

  “It doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Joe asked. “Maybe we do need to think about two different murderers.”

  “Or one with zero logic,” I said. “I was thinking today that a lot of killing comes out of emotions getting out of control. Maybe the lack of logic just means we have a murderer who is hyper-emotional.”

  “Ken is definitely that,” Joe said. “I mean, he clearly got all obsessive over Janet without any encouragement from her.”

  I nodded. “But there’s obsessive, and then there’s obsessive.”

  “We’ll know for sure soon enough. James is about to put me on the hook,” Joe said.

  “All I can say to that is—huh?”

  “Worm. Bait,” Joe told me. As if that explained everything. “James is going to tell Ken that he found out I’m meeting up with Janet at that bench in the woods. Tonight. At midnight. If Ken comes after me and tries to—”

  I didn’t let Joe finish. “I’ll be there to see it,” I promised. “And to stop it.”

  15 GO TIME

  “You will do your best tomorrow,” Smiley said.

  “You will find your core of steel.”

  I flashed on James’s little notebook The words “I will not go to prison” written over and over again.

  Smiley was doing sort of the same thing. He seemed to think if he told us that we would win enough times it would happen.

  “I’m gonna call lights out in a minute,” Smiley continued. “And here’s what I want you to do. I want you to picture the river course in your mind. The Minefield. The Pinball. The Humpty-Dumpty. The Elephant’s Foot.”

  Smiley walked down the row of beds, taking a moment to speak directly to each of us. Except me. He didn’t even glance at me. I guess I was a lost cause to him. Hopeless.

  “I want you to picture every boulder, every haystack, every wave. And I want you to picture yourself triumphing over every single obstacle.”

  Smiley sat down on Russell’s empty bed. “You might think that I don’t know anything about your lives. You might think I don’t know anything about real obstacles. Things besides boulders in a river. Or a steep hill.”

  He stared down at his clasped hands. “But I do. For starters, I never even knew my dad.” He gave a bark of laughter. “My mom wasn’t even sure who he was. That was an obstacle.”

  Smiley’s head jerked back Like someone had given him a light punch in the chin. He blinked. And he seemed to realized he’d just been talking to us like an actual person. Not a counselor zombie.

  “Five to lights out.” He stood up and positioned himself by the light switch, clearly planning to stay there until he had to flick it. A good zombie.

  I changed into pajamas, making sure my pants, sweatshirt, and shoes were all within easy reach at the top of my footlocker. I’d be going out again soon.

  Smiley called lights out. My go time was eleven forty-five. I had a few hours to think. The camp was definitely in early-to-bed-early-to-rise land.

  I used the time to do some visualizing. But not of the river ride. I pictured myself sneaking out of the cabin without waking anybody up. I pictured myself creeping out to that bench in the woods.

  I pictured Ken leaping out of the trees. I pictured a knife in his hand. Coming down at me.

  I pictured Frank grabbing Ken’s hand. I pictured the knife stopped inches away from my chest. Make that a foot, I told my brain. I readjusted the image.

  I pictured Frank and myself testifying against Ken. I pictured our dad smiling. Seeing, that we had closed the case—even though we hadn’t discussed it with him.

  When I reached that moment, I rewound and replayed. I knew some professional athletes did a lot of visualizing. Seeing themselves crossing a finish line or performing a superior slam dunk.

  I figured it couldn’t hurt. And I didn’t have anything else to do.

  I definitely couldn’t sleep.

  So I played director with my little head movie. Improving the colors. The sound effects. The acting. Making myself even more of a hero!

  Finally, I allowed myself to take a glance at the illuminated dial of my watch. Fifteen minutes to go time.

  I closed my eyes. I’d run through Joe the Hero a few more times. I pictured myself sneaking out of the—

  Then a hand closed over my mouth.

  (Not part of the movie.)

  16 THE TRUTH COMES OUT

  The vibrator on my watch went off. Go time.

  I opened my eyes and looked over at Joe. Make that Joe’s bed. He wasn’t in it.

  I jerked my head toward Ken. He was there. Snoring away. Long, wet-sounding snores that would be very hard to fake.

  I did a James bed check Present.

  Everyone in the bunk was present. Except Smiley.

  You ever get one of those thoughts that are like a lightning bolt to your brain? Well, I got one of those babies the moment I saw Smiley’s empty bed.

  I knew Smiley had taken Joe. And I knew why.

  Joe needed me for backup. I had to figure out where Smiley had taken him. I threw on clothes and shoes, grabbed the flashlight used for late-night latrine visits, and crept out of the cabin.

  There were lots of tracks around the cabin. But I was able to spot fresh ones. Two sets. I followed them.

  Even with the flashlight it was slow going. Then I heard a bunch of birds hit the air. That helped as much as any partial footprint or snapped twig.

  An animal could have frightened those birds. But so could a couple of humans invading their territory. I hurried toward the sound.

  And from there the trail was nice and clear. Two people had stood in this section of the woods. Not too long ago.

  The tracks were heading toward the trail we took up the mountain. My gut told me I would find Joe up there. In the spot where Zack died.

  I wanted to reach my brother immediately. The trail was wide enough to drive a jeep on. At least partway.

  And I knew where I could find a jeep. I turned around and raced to Saunders’s office. His jeep was parked outside.

  I checked the ignition. Just in case this was my lucky night.

  No. The keys weren’t in it. Weren’t in the glove compartment. Or in one of those little metal storage boxes you can hide under your car.

  Not a problem. The jeep was old. Old and kind of cheap—which meant no armoring around the steering column.

  I could hot-wire this baby and be gone in sixty seconds. All part of my ATAC training. Joe and I had gone undercover in a gang of teen car thieves on one of our missions.

  There was a toolbox on the floor of the backseat. Nice. I grabbed a screwdriver and pried off the cover under the steering wheel, exposing a tangle of wires.

  Beautiful sight. I touched the matching red wires together. The dash lit up. Another beautiful sight.

  Now I just had to power up the starter motor. This time I mixed and matched the wires. I crossed the red wires with the brown lead. The engine kicked over. Ah, beautiful, beautiful sound.

  Beautiful, beautiful sound that I hoped no one else had heard…. But if anyone had, they’d have to catch me to do anything about it.

  I eased the Jeep away from the office. Then I floored it. I used the path that ran alongside the lake to take me to the base of the mountain. Then I ran the jeep straight up, until the trail got too narrow.

  I put the jeep in park and jerked the wires apart. Then I leaped out and started to run. Man, the mountain was steep. I knew that from hiking it. But running—when you’re running,, the trail felt like it went straight up.

  When I figured I was getting close to the spot where Zack had fallen to his death, I slowed down. I crept forward, staying close to the tree line, where I would be harder to see.

  Smiley wasn’t worried about anyone seeing him. I spotted him and Joe standing right in the spot where Saunders had asked us to observe a minute of silence for Zack.

  I moved in closer, praying the shadows of the trees would keep me hidden. I was close enough to hear Smiley talking now.


  I pulled a micro tape recorder out of my pocket and clicked it on. Joe and I were both hoping we’d get the killer saying something incriminating.

  It’s just that when we made the plan, we were thinking the killer was going to turn out to be Ken.

  “Nobody will believe I’m a jumper,” I heard Joe protest.

  “Of course they will. Who would doubt that a loser like you would want to kill himself?” Smiley asked.

  I wanted to hurl myself out of the shadows and yank Joe away from the edge of the path. But I forced myself to wait.

  “I would kill myself if I was as weak and pathetic as you. If I was going to keep my teammates from achieving victory,” Smiley continued.

  “You’re crazy, Smiley,” Joe said.

  Nice. He got Smiley’s name on the tape.

  “No, nobody’s gonna doubt for a second that you were a jumper,” Smiley answered. “Especially because you decided to take the leap right where Zack bought it. Everyone will think you were feeling like a big loser. Just the way Zack was.”

  “Get your hands off me,” Joe ordered. His voice was low and hard.

  I’d heard enough. And I’d definitely seen enough. By the light of the stars and the half moon, I could see that Smiley had grabbed Joe by the shoulders.

  I stepped out into the middle of the trail. “Yeah, take your hands off him.”

  Smiley turned his head toward me. But he kept his hands on Joe. “Neemy. What are you doing out here? This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Oh, yes, it does,” I answered. I wanted to move in closer. But I thought that might make Smiley try to push Joe off the edge of the path. I kept talking instead.

  “Brian’s one of my teammates. That makes him my concern, right?” I asked. “And how do you think your father is going to feel about you killing one of the men on your team?” I was taking a chance—but I was ninety-nine percent sure I was right.

  “His father?” Joe exclaimed.

  Another voice echoed him.

  Saunders stepped out onto the path. The guy was good. He’d clearly followed me after I stole the jeep. And I hadn’t heard a sound out of him.

  “I don’t have a son,” Saunders said.

  Smiley’s attention was totally on Saunders. Joe took that moment to twist out of Smiley’s grasp and head over to me. Smiley hardly seemed to notice.

  “You have quite a few genetic similarities,” I said, mentally thanking my biology teacher. “You both have hairy knuckles. The code for that is located on gene one. You both have attached earlobes. That’s a recessive trait. That means both of Smiley’s parents had to have it.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything,” Saunders protested. His eyes were locked on Smiley.

  “No, it doesn’t. But it makes you think, doesn’t it?” I asked. “You both have dimples. A dominant trait. You—”

  “You were born in Montana. I remember that from your file,” Saunders said to Smiley.

  “Montana, where you went to college,” Joe jumped in. “You sure you didn’t get friendly with someone there? You started college about twenty-five years ago. Maybe you met somebody in, say, your junior year. That would make the timing about right.”

  “What’s your mother’s name?” Saunders’s voice came out hoarse. “Before she married Joe Smiley?”

  “Her name was Annabeth Shapiro.”

  Saunders closed his eyes for a long moment. I was sure his brain had to be short-circuiting. “So you really are my son?”

  Smiley nodded.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? And how did you find me?” Saunders asked.

  The first question was like lighting the fuse to a bomb.

  “I wanted to show you what I was made of first,” Smiley exploded. “I wanted to prove that you could be proud of me. But the boys you put on my team were all such losers. Zack especially. And this one.” Smiley jerked his chin toward Joe.

  “Zack? You didn’t. You couldn’t have—” Saunders couldn’t make himself actually say the words.

  But Smiley answered anyway. “I eliminated him. For you. For the good of your reputation. I knew that’s what you’d want: It’s how you took care of the problem at Camp Character. You eliminated—”

  “No!” Saunders cried. “You’re talking about Samantha Previn. The canoeing accident. It was an accident. How can you have listened to my words and understood nothing?”

  “This isn’t the way you were supposed to find out.” Smiley’s voice turned high and whiny. “My team was going to win the race tomorrow. Because I was willing to eliminate the weakling.” Again he nodded toward Joe.

  Even in the starlight, I could see that Saunders’s face had drained of blood.

  “When we won, I was going to tell you,” Smiley continued. “But now Neemy has ruined everything.” He shot me a look filled with rage. Rage and despair. “You should be dead right now.”

  “Because you locked him in the boathouse and set it on fire,” Joe said.

  “You were furious that I’d made you look bad in front of your father, weren’t you?” I asked. “He yelled at you because I told him that the guys on our team had given Brian a beating.”

  Saunders let out a cry that sounded like an animal with its foot caught in a trap. “This is true? It’s all true?”

  Smiley didn’t deny it. He took a step toward his father. Saunders backed away, as if Smiley was rabid.

  Then Saunders pulled out his cell and dialed. A moment later he spoke into the phone. “This is Line Saunders. I’m going to need the police over at my camp. I—”

  He choked. Like he’d swallowed a bone. But he managed to go on. “I have Zack Maguire’s killer.”

  Smiley sank down on the path. He looked like a puppet after the hand comes out of it.

  I walked over to Saunders and handed him the micro recorder. “The police are going to want to hear what’s on this.”

  The next day Joe and I were home. Being ATAC is surreal like that. You’re on a mission. Hunting a murderer or something like that. Then it’s over. And bam! Your biggest problem is getting your homework in on time. Or beating your little brother at basketball.

  “I’m coming for you,” Joe told me. “That’s Joe Hardy. Not Mr. Spuddy. So watch out.”

  I dribbled my way toward the driveway hoop. Aunt Trudy came out of the house with some letters to mail. When she saw us playing, she dropped them.

  And joined the game. She managed to snag the ball from me. She’s surprisingly fast.

  “Way to go, Aunt T,” Joe yelled. She passed him the ball. He threw it at the hoop. Swish.

  “I need teammates over here,” I called. Mom and Dad were working in the garden. Well, Mom was working. Dad was reading the paper—over a break that had lasted all afternoon.

  But even Dad couldn’t resist a good b-ball game. He dropped the Times and took a position guarding Joe. I covered Aunt Trudy.

  “Whose team am I on?” Mom asked as she stripped off her gardening gloves.

  “Our team,” Joe answered. “We need the handicap.”

  “Very funny,” Mom muttered. She took a position on the tiny court.

  Actually Mom’s not a bad player. Maybe she’s where Joe and I got our b-ball skill. Or maybe we got it from Dad.

  Aunt Trudy let out a teenage girl kind, of squeal as she made a basket. The ball sailed through the net, without touching the rim.

  “Score!” Joe called. “Nice teamwork, Aunt T.” He winked at me.

  The talent was definitely in the gene pool someplace.

  CLUE IN TO THE CLASSIC MYSTERIES OF THE HARDY BOYS®

  FROM GROSSET & DUNLAP

  The Hardy Boys #1: The Tower Treasure

  The Hardy Boys #2: The House on the Cliff

  The Hardy Boys #3: The Secret of the Old Mill

  The Hardy Boys #4: The Missing Chums

  The Hardy Boys #5: Hunting for Hidden Gold

  The Hardy Boys #6: The Shore Road Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #7: The Secret of the Caves<
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  The Hardy Boys #8: The Mystery of Cabin Island

  The Hardy Boys #9: The Great Airport Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #10: What Happened at Midnight

  The Hardy Boys #11: While the Clock Ticked

  The Hardy Boys #12: Footprints Under the Window

  The Hardy Boys #13: The Mark on the Door

  The Hardy Boys #14: The Hidden Harbor Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #15: The Sinister Signpost

  The Hardy Boys #16: A Figure in Hiding

  The Hardy Boys #17: The Secret Warning

  The Hardy Boys #18: The Twisted Claw

  The Hardy Boys #19: The Disappearing Floor

  The Hardy Boys #20: Mystery of the Flying Express

  The Hardy Boys #21: The Clue of the Broken Blade

  The Hardy Boys #22: The Flickering Torch Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #23: The Melted Coins

  The Hardy Boys #24: The Short-Wave Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #25: The Secret Panel

  The Hardy Boys #26: The Phantom Freighter

  The Hardy Boys #27: The Secret of Skull Mountain

  The Hardy Boys #28: The Sign of the Crooked Arrow

  The Hardy Boys #29: The Secret of the Lost Tunnel

  The Hardy Boys #30: The Wailing Siren Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #31: The Secret of Wildcat Swamp

  The Hardy Boys #32: The Crisscross Shadow

  The Hardy Boys #33: The Yellow Feather Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #34: The Hooded Hawk Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #35: The Clue in the Embers

  The Hardy Boys #36: The Secret of Pirates’ Hill

  Hardy Boys #37: The Ghost at Skeleton Rock

  The Hardy Boys #38: Mystery at Devil’s Paw

  The Hardy Boys #39: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk

  The Hardy Boys #40: Mystery of the Desert Giant

  The Hardy Boys #41: The Clue of the Screeching Owl

  The Hardy Boys #42: The Viking Symbol Mystery

  The Hardy Boys #43: The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior

  The Hardy Boys #44: The Haunted Fort

  The Hardy Boys #45: The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge

  The Hardy Boys #46: The Secret Agent on Flight 101