Deadfall Read Online Free Page B

cluster of loggers standing next to a battered station wagon,

    THE HARDY BOYS CA5EFILES
    talking in the far corner of the lot. He recognized several of them from the general store that morning. Mike Stavisky was easy to recognize, with his muscular build and heavy black beard. Skinny Freddy Zackarias stood beside him, nodding at everything Mike said.
    *'Let's wander by there," Frank said softly. ''I want to hear what they're saying."
    It didn't take long for Stan's name to come up in the conversation. "There was dynamite in Stan's truck," he heard Mike tell the others. ''He must have heard that the Forest Service was going to let Horizon cut down his precious redwoods after all. Him and his assistant have been causing trouble around here for years. I knew sooner or later one of 'em would pull something Hke this."
    ''But Stan Shaw?" a short, baby-faced logger interrupted. "If it was Galen I'd understand. He's threatened to blow up every mill in the state. But Stan's kinda reasonable for a tree hugger."
    "There's no such thing as a reasonable tree hugger!" Mike boomed. "What's bad for logging is bad for your wallet, Nat, and don't you forget it. Stan lost his patience, that's all, and now he's going to pay for it."
    "What's his problem?" Joe whispered to Frank as the brothers moved away before they got spotted.
    "He probably believes what he's saying, but he's not making things any easier for anybody,"

    Deadfall
    Frank replied grimly. 'The trouble is, the others are listening to him. Let's hurry up and get those packs. I want to get a look at Buster's truck."
    "I'm not up to walking across those logs just now. What do you say we jog down to the bridge," Joe said.
    The packs were right where they had left them. They shouldered theirs, and Frank carried Callie's as they made their way back across the bridge and along the riverbank toward the abandoned truck.
    "There it is," Joe said after a short while, pointing through the trees. Where there was no mud the red paint gleamed in the afternoon sun. It was parked in the same spot where Callie and the boys had spotted it earlier. "It's at kind of a weird angle. Do you think Buster could have been forced off the road?"
    "I don't know, but don't touch anything," Frank reminded him. "If Sheriff Ferris is such a by-the-book cop, we don't want to mess up any evidence for him."
    "Don't worry," Joe replied. "I'll be sure and— Hey, look," he said, stopping abruptly near the driver's side. He pointed to the trampled muddy ground around the driver's door. "It looks like there was some kind of struggle here," he said. "See the tracks?"
    Frank appeared beside him, inspecting the mess of footprints. "Men's feet, definitely. Look how big the prints are," he said. "It looks like they were wearing boots."

    THE HARDY BOYS CA5EFILES
    * Those hobnailed boots the loggers wear?" Joe ventured excitedly.
    Frank nodded. ''Maybe. It sure was good it rained last night."
    As Frank knelt down to inspect the footprints more closely, Joe's gaze swung down the length of the truck. His eyes caught on a flash of bright lime green color a short distance away. ''What's that?" he asked, walking toward the bushes.
    "What?" Frank asked.
    "It's a cap. Buster was wearing a cap just like this." Joe whipped out a handkerchief and picked the duck-billed cap off the bush. It had the orange-and-purple Horizon Lumber insignia on it.
    "Yep, I bet this is it," he called to Frank as he walked back to join his brother. "Oh, wow. It's stained or something—" Joe stopped dead in his tracks.
    "What's the matter?" Frank asked, staring at him.
    Joe held up the cap and slowly turned it to show his brother. "Blood!" was all he said.

    Chapter
    "Let me see that." Frank reached for the cap. He took it, holding on to the handkerchief, and examined it more closely. The entire back of the lime-colored cap was dark with blood.
    "Whoever wore this could have been slugged hard from behind," Frank remarked.
    "There's a black hair here on the