086 Virtual Villainy 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 10

“Hey, what are you guys whispering about?” Joe asked, still working the joystick and buttons.

Frank looked past him at the video screen. Joe’s hero was down two lives and was now battling a trio of thugs with baseball bats. The game was definitely getting tricky.

“Joe,” Frank said quietly. “Don’t panic, but this game is going to blow as soon as you lose.”

“What!” Joe gasped, his hands flying. “Unplug it!”

“We can’t,” Amanda said. “It’s wired directly into the wall.”

“Then get out of here!” Joe shouted.

“No way. We’re not going to leave you here,” Frank told him.

Amanda added, “If I can get to the back, maybe I can reset the switches for easier play.”

“No, get out, quick!” Joe repeated. “I know this game. It pauses between levels. While the next screen is coming up, I’ll follow you out.”

Frank grabbed Amanda’s arm and headed for the door at a flat-out run. As they were leaving the building, Joe caught up with them.

“Faster,” he shouted.

As they ran out toward the street, Frank saw Dan Bennett walking casually toward the building. Frank lunged at him, forcing him backward into the shelter of a parked delivery van. “Hey, what’s going—” Bennett yelled.

At that instant the building exploded. Chunks of cinder block and shards of glass rained down around them.

Frank raised his head to check on Joe and Amanda. They looked okay. The building didn’t. The front wall was entirely gone, and so was a good deal of the roof.

“That was close,” Joe said breathlessly. “Another few seconds …”

Frank clapped his shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re a good Back Alley Brawler,” he said.

The Hardys and Amanda spent the next hour answering questions from the local police, the fire inspector, and the lieutenant who commanded the bomb squad. By the time they were done, the fire engines had finished their work and left.

Joe was moodily examining a large dent made in the roof of their rented car by a chunk of flying concrete. Dan Bennett came over to join them.

“I tracked down the owner of the building,” he reported.

“Did he tell you anything about Next Wave Video?” Frank asked eagerly.

“Not exactly,” Dan replied. “According to him, the building’s been vacant for months. In the last six weeks only one possible tenant has even looked at it. The guy who set that trap for you must have broken in.”

Joe frowned. As far as he could recall, the lock on the front door had been okay when they arrived. But maybe the guy they were after was an expert at picking locks as well as at hacking computer security systems. There was no way to check, now—the door lock had probably been blown all the way to Mendocino.

“The bomb squad found the ID plate from one of the video machines,” Dan continued. “Is there any way we can run down the serial number today, Amanda? Or do we have to wait till Monday?”

Amanda considered for a moment, “The workstation at our VidCon booth is tied into the company’s mainframe. I’ll get that serial number checked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.