Read Online The Madman of Black Bear Mountain by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online Page B

bears.
    â€œSomebody broke in looking for something,” I said quietly.
    Practically every drawer and cabinet in the place had been dumped out. Expensive scientific instruments lay brokenamid the debris, along with framed pictures of a middle-aged scientist who might have been Max’s father.
    â€œThe radio!” Joe cried, running to the counter at the back of the cabin. “It’s still in one piece!”
    Joe had just picked up the receiver when a silhouette appeared in the station doorway. I braced myself for a second confrontation with the hermit—and breathed a big sigh of relief when Max stepped through the door instead. I didn’t know if we could trust her, but she was a lot better than the crazy ax-wielding alternative!
    â€œI’m so glad you guys are okay,” she said, rushing through the doorway. “The hermit found me before I could come back for you. There’s no time to explain, but you have to follow me now. He could be back for us any second!”
    Max grabbed us and started pulling us toward the door.
    â€œWe have to call for help first,” Joe insisted.
    â€œI already did. There’s a plane on the way,” she said. “Now let’s go. We don’t have much time!”
    She ran for the door with Joe and me right behind. Or at least I was right behind until I snagged a shoelace on a piece of equipment, yanking my hiking boot halfway off and sending me sprawling.
    â€œShoot! I’ll be there in a second!” I called as I tried to cram my foot back into the snug high-top boot.
    â€œHurry!” Max yelled, dashing toward the bridge.
    I’d just managed to get my shoe back on and laced up when I noticed a large, heavy-duty cabinet marked RARE SPECIMENS . It was the only one that hadn’t been ransacked, and despite the imminent danger, I couldn’t resist taking a quick peek at Max’s research discoveries.
    My mouth dropped open as soon as I opened the door. I’d found a rare specimen indeed—the middle-aged man from the photographs, gagged and duct-taped!
    I yanked the gag out of his mouth. The man coughed and gasped for breath. “Thank you. Thank you. I thought I was never going to get out of there.”
    â€œWho are you?” I asked as I cut through the duct tape. The answer was just as shocking.
    â€œDr. Max Kroopnik,” he said. “This is my research station.”
    It was my turn to sputter for breath. “But—but—”
    I looked from the Max Kroopnik climbing out of the cabinet to the Max Kroopnik running across the bridge with my brother.
    â€œBut if you’re Dr. Kroopnik”—I pointed out the door—“then who is she?”

13
THE GIRL WITH THE BEAR TATTOO
JOE
    J OE!”
    I was already halfway across the wobbly plank bridge when I heard my brother scream my name. Unfortunately, Max heard him first.
    â€œWatch out!” Frank shouted.
    I pivoted back toward the research station, but Max already had hold of the rucksack slung over my right shoulder. With me turning one way, Max yanking the other, and the shaky suspension bridge swaying in yet another, my body did a complete one-eighty. Next thing I knew, the bag was sliding off my arm and I was teetering against the rope rail, my arms spinning as I tried to regain my balance.
    I grasped for the bag, but at that point I couldn’t have cared less about the gleaming demantoid gems inside it. Ineeded something to grab onto or I was going to fall off the bridge!
    As the shoulder strap slipped away from me, I caught a glimpse of Max’s wrist where her sleeve had come undone. A bear paw with a squiggly line running through it seemed to be waving good-bye to me from the skin on her forearm.
    Right before I went sailing over the rail, it occurred to me that I’d seen another arm with the same tattoo just the day before. On Casey—her sister.
    Unfortunately, the family crest on Max’s arm was the last