056 Height of Danger by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: hbfiles
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“What are you doing here?” Joe demanded, helping the Gray Man to his feet.

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you,” the Gray Man replied, brushing the snow off his gray-andblack nylon ski outfit. “But this time you got me. To be perfectly honest, I’d been counting on your activities to flush out the crooks who tried to kill my operative.”

“What!” Frank and Joe shouted in unison.

Frank recovered from his surprise first. “Wait a minute,” he said quickly. “Would your operative happen to be Ken Gibson?”

The Gray Man hesitated, then answered. “Yes. Ken is one of my men.”

As Joe stared at the very ordinary-looking man before him, the Hardys’ previous encounters with the Network and the Gray Man came flooding back into Joe’s mind. Hard to believe that this balding, middle-aged man was, in reality, a tough and shrewd secret agent who coordinated the worldwide activities of the Network, a top-secret intelligence agency.

The Gray Man had the eerie ability to blend in perfectly wherever he went, using only a few costume details for disguise. The Hardys hadn’t seen him in many months, but Joe wasn’t at all surprised to encounter him here in Austria. They never knew where he might turn up.

Joe fixed the older man with a hard stare. “Okay, level with us. What’s going on? Our lives have been in danger here.”

“This is neither the time nor the place to discuss that,” the Gray Man replied sharply. “I’ll meet you in your hotel room in half an hour. For now, I have things to do.”

As Joe and Frank stared, the Gray Man used his ski poles to push off and zoom down the mountain. “Well, this sure puts everything in a different light,” Joe said to Frank.

“Let’s get down to the lodge,” Frank said impatiently. “I want to see how much information we can squeeze out of that guy this time around.”

Half an hour later Joe heard a quiet knock from inside his hotel room. As soon as the door was opened, the Gray Man checked the hall behind him and then closed and locked the door.

“As cautious as ever,” Frank commented.

Joe noticed that the Gray Man had a snub-nosed .44 in his hand, which he quickly returned to a holster inside his gray suitcoat. He had changed from his ski clothes into a conservative gray suit and black turtleneck.

“Caution is how I’ve managed to live to a ripe old age,” the Gray Man retorted as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“So what’s happening?” Joe said. “Fill us in.”

“Very simply, the Network has been tracking a gang of counterfeiters,” the Gray Man replied.

With a quick glance at Joe, Frank fished out the twenty-franc note they’d found hidden in Gibson’s shaving kit. “Is this a counterfeit bill?” he asked, showing it to the secret agent.

The Gray Man took the note and examined it. “Yes, this is excellent quality, but worthless. Where did you get it?”

“What brought the Network to Graz?” Joe countered stubbornly.

The Gray Man looked at Joe for a long moment before answering.

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