Danger Maze, part V

Templeton Peck lay in the underbush that bordered the Hollywood Freeway. Even at three in the morning there was traffic. Big rigs going both ways, bakery vans and late night revelers roared by. A few feet away were the Ellersons, hood up, Marjii in the seat, Frank looking under the hood. A California Highway Patrol car had stopped, made an inquiry and told them there was an emergency phone three hundred yards along. Frank had grinned and said it happened to the old heap every once in awhile and that he'd have it going in a few moments.

They waited. Face started as a chicken clucked near him, disturbed by a deep-throated honk from a truck. Then he remembered that over ten years before a chicken truck had overturned, and all of the escaped chickens had never been recovered.

A car rolled to a stop behind the Ellerson car and just sat there, lights on, for a moment. "I think it's going down," Face said into his radio.

"Hang in there," Hannibal responded from Murdock's chopper two thousand feet above.

It went down quickly. Ellerson got out the flightbag of money, pretended to stumble, fell to his knees and grabbed the kidnapper's bumper to push himself up.

"Tracer attached," Face reported.

One of the masked men grabbed the bag, both jumped back and the car dug out and left with a squeal of rubber.

In moments, B.A.'s treasured van pulled up and Face was off with a jaunty wave at the Ellersons.

"South on the Harbor Freeway," Hannibal said. A bit later he reported that their quarry had turned west off the Santa Monica Freeway. They went all the way to the end, then south into Marina Del Rey.

"A boat do you think?" Face asked over the radio.

"Hang in there and we'll see," Hannibal said.

Dawn was breaking as their quarry came to a stop. "Uh-oh," Face said to B.A. The sign ahead said Helicopter Landing Area--Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out.

"I see it, Face," Hannibal said from above. "Luckily, I plan for every contingency."

__________________________

Now we've got feral chickens added to the mix. This is turning out to be the best young reader kidnapping story I've ever read. I'm glad I skipped the debates for this. (No, really. No, I don't care that they're in Nashville.)

Totally unrelated: we saw Charlie Bartlett tonight. Great film. If I said anything more I'd ruin it.