Read Online The Curse of the Ancient Emerald by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online Page B

ahead, a police car pulled out of a gas station and passed us, heading in the opposite direction. It disappeared into the darkness.
    A second later I heard the squeal of tires and Trethaway’s car skidded into view, sliding onto the main street from a side alley. His car sped off into the distance, then skidded around yet another corner, vanishing from sight.
    â€œAfter him!” shouted Joe.
    I stomped on the gas and gunned the engine. I could see his taillights up ahead, swerving from side to side as he fought to keep control of his car.
    â€œYou think he spotted us?” I shouted.
    â€œI think the cops spooked him,” said Joe. “Looks like I might owe you that twenty bucks after all.”
    Trethaway took us on a chase away from the city’s center, moving through smaller suburban streets. Our cars skidded around corners, spinning along the asphalt as we played cat and mouse through the narrow streets.
    I managed to keep him in sight, but I didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t ram him off the road. And this was getting dangerous.
    Finally Trethaway screeched around a corner and mounted the sidewalk, ramping his car over the curb and into somebody’s garden. He kept going, pulling up the grass as he shot out the other side and back onto the street. Sparks flew as his undercarriage scraped the road, but he didn’t slow down. In fact, he put on another burst of speed, zigzagging across the road as he tried to lose us.
    I sighed and slowed down, pulling over to the side of the street.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” shouted Joe. “He’s getting away!”
    â€œIt’s too dangerous,” I said. “What if someone had been out walking their dog? Trethaway could have hit them!”
    Joe punched the dashboard in frustration. I held up a calming hand.
    â€œRelax. We lost him, but if he is the Phantom, then we know where he’s going to be in an hour, remember?”
    Joe’s frown turned into a grin. “Oh yeah! I forgot about that.”
    I headed back toward the center of Bayport. We hadn’t quite reached the town hall when our radio crackled to life.
    â€œDelta Two, this is Delta One. The worm has flown the coop. Repeat, the worm has flown the coop.”
    Joe lifted the radio. “What does that even mean?”
    Amber’s voice came from the speaker. “It means he was not at his house. Repeat, he’s not there. We looked in all the windows. The house is deserted.”
    Joe and I glanced at each other in amazement.
    â€œThere’s more,” said Amber. “We’re outside the town hall. I think we just saw movement inside.”
    Chet’s excited voice came from the speaker. “Looks like he’s early!”

RADIO SILENCE
10
JOE
    W E PARKED TWO BLOCKS AWAY from the town hall. Best not to have our car on any surveillance cameras, just in case anything went wrong.
    I pulled out a face mask and handed it to Frank. He held it up and examined it.
    â€œFreddy Krueger?” he asked.
    â€œI thought it suited you.”
    â€œWhat did you pick for yourself?” he asked.
    I held up a clown mask. But no ordinary clown mask; this one had demonic eyes and sharp yellow teeth.
    â€œI think I’ll stick with Freddy.”
    Frank started to pull on the mask as I looked at him in amazement.
    â€œWhat?” he said.
    â€œSeriously? We’re going to walk two whole blocks with these masks on? It’s not Halloween. It will look suspicious.”
    Frank flushed slightly and stuffed the mask in his pocket. “Good point. Let’s go!”
    The streets were damp from an early evening shower. The streetlights reflected in the puddles as we headed toward the gabled roof of the town hall, easily visible over the surrounding buildings.
    My two-way radio crackled to life.
    â€œDelta Two, come in.”
    I glanced around to make sure no one was watching. “Delta Two. Where are you?”
    â€œRear entrance.