Free The Mystery of the Russian Ransom by Roy Macgregor Page A

let Muck and Mr. D know. The rest of them would head around the building to the back.
    They waited patiently for the garage door to rise and didn’t move until the Zamboni driver had headed out to dump his load of snow. They knew the ropes now, and were soon inside and hidden from sight underneath the stands.
    They duck-waddled and dog-walked below the stands until they reached the place where they had previously gathered. Nish was first to climb up the back of the stands and stare out onto the ice surface.
    “She’s on,” he said.
    “Huh?” said Sam.
    “Sarah,” he said. “She’s on the ice.”
    They all carefully climbed up and peered out. There was Sarah, all decked out in her Russian hockey equipment, showing one of the girls how to scoop a puck off the wet ice. She was laughing. She looked great.
    “Maybe she’s a traitor now,” Nish suggested. “Gone over to the other side.”
    Dmitri hissed angrily. “Russia isn’t
the other side
. It’s not a communist country anymore. That’s ancient history. We have criminals in Russia just the same as North America. Get real.”
    Nish burned red. “I was just joking.”
    “Okay,” said Dmitri. “But don’t forget that you and I are on the same team, right?”
    Nish nodded, not sure what to say. He’d never seen Dmitri so angry.
    “What are we going to do?” Sam asked.
    They sat down and kicked around ideas. They could try and grab Sarah before she reached the room where they kept her, but there would be people around. Lots of people. The girl players. The twocoaches. The men and women who ran the machines and the computers.
    “We will have to wait until she’s in her room,” said Travis. “We’ll wait for practice to end, and then, when the Zamboni is out, we’ll make our way to the back. I’m pretty sure I know where her room is.”
    “How will we get in?”
    “We have to hope there’s a lock or a latch we can open on the outside.”
    “How long do we wait?” Lars asked.
    “Long as it takes, I guess,” Travis said.
    “I have to go pee,” said Nish.
    The others turned and stared daggers at him.

    “That’s it,” Travis said as he ducked back down under the stands. “They’re headed off.”
    Hidden in the dark behind the stands, the Owls peered into the bright arena in front of them.
    “The phone,” Travis said. He took Jenny’s phone and sent a text message to Sarah: “We are in the building. Be ready to go. Trav.”
    Sarah and the players left the ice, and shortly after, the Owls heard the Zamboni burp as it was started up. The driver opened up the doors onto the ice and soon came out on the Zamboni. The big machine chugged down the boards closest to where the Owls were hidden. Once it passed and the driver’s back was to them, Travis moved into action.
    He led them down, crouching and scrambling, until they reached the exit door he had found the last time. He waited, then moved quickly to slip through it. The others followed.
    They waited briefly until the last of the Russian hockey players had cleared out of the locker area. Sarah was already gone. She had always been the fastest of the Owls to dress or change. Travis just hoped she was back in her room.
    Once the way was clear, Travis told Sam, Lars, and Nish to wait where they were while he and Dmitri headed toward the back of the building.He knew the way; Dmitri knew the language. They just hoped Dmitri wouldn’t have to use it.
    Travis and Dmitri bent low to get past the windows looking into the room with the machines and computers. There didn’t seem to be anyone there. It was late afternoon. Perhaps they had all gone for the day.
    Soon Travis was in an area he didn’t know. He let himself be guided by instinct. He came to one corridor, passed by it, and moved on to the next. It was as far back in the building as they could go.
    He peered down the corridor and saw several doors. One had light leaking out from below it.
    Without saying a word, Travis pointed and indicated