103-The Million-Dollar Nightmare by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:13:37+00:00

CHAPTER 9

In Deep Water

The first thing Frank heard when he woke up was water gently slapping against a shore. In his half-dream, Frank almost thought he could feel the water licking at his toes. It felt icy cold for just a second, and then it was gone.

That's strange, Frank thought. Water ... and a dull ache in the back of my head. How long has it been there, that dull ache?

Then he remembered. Ever since he was hit from behind!

Frank's eyes popped open. Slowly he began to piece together what had happened. He and Joe had walked into their hotel room, and - blam! - they had been hit on the head. Frank reached for the lump on his head, but he couldn't move - his arms. His hands were tied at the wrists, stretched above his head. His feet were also tied to something, but it was too dark to see what it was.

The cold water touched his feet again-and Frank realized that he was outside and it was night. The air was damp and chilly. He was tied with his feet near water.

"Joe!" Frank cried, struggling against the ropes.

Frank heard a grumble and gurgle in the darkness very nearby. Joe was waking up, too.

"Hub? Wha - ? What's going on? Where are we?"

A foghorn interrupted them, blasting its eerie voice through the night. Then a half-moon burst from behind thick black velvet clouds.

In the sudden moonlight, Frank could at last see that they were on a craggy shore. And he could see what they were tied to-opposite arms of a heavy iron anchor that stretched at least four feet across.

Frank craned his neck to look around and behind him. The tight ropes chewed into his wrists and ankles as he twisted, but he had to see where they were. Behind and beyond them was a building-an ominous, cold, deserted building with towers and turrets encircled by barbed-wire fences and barricades.

"Joe!" Frank gasped. "I know where we are! Look out at the water. See the lights? That's San Francisco. We're on Alcatraz Island!"

“Frank, the water," Joe said. His voice came in short stabs because he was so cold. "The tide's coming in."

"I know," Frank said. "If we don't get loose, we're going to drown!"

"Oh, no," Joe moaned. "I should have known. This is all my fault."

"Give me a break," Frank said. "It's not your fault."

"No, listen. I just remembered. Before I called you at the Glasses'," Joe said, "I called our hotel room. Someone answered and said I had the wrong room. But I had the right room-and two guys were waiting there for us for hours! They socked us the minute we walked in."

Frank didn't want to think about who had knocked them out or, worse, who had sent them to do it. Not now. There were more important problems to deal with-and fast.

"The water's rising quickly," Joe said.

"I know." Frank tried to rub his hands against the metal anchor. But the water was so cold he almost couldn't feel his hands.

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