Free Fright Wave by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

shoulders. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Any food in the refrigerator would be pretty rank by now, anyway. So I'll just have to jump in the old station wagon and drive down to the Food 'n' Fuel."
    "You want any company?" Frank asked.
    The pilot waved him off as he headed out the door toward the helicopter. "Nah. You just hang loose for a while. I'll be back before you know it."
    ***
    For the next few hours, while Joe and Jade sat in the cabin, talking, Frank stared out into the forest and reviewed the case. He glanced at his watch finally and started to get worried. Doyle hadn't returned and the sun was getting low in the sky. He doubted that even Skydog could find the cabin in the middle of the jungle in the dark.
    Joe didn't notice the time go by - he was too busy talking to Jade. Eventually he did notice that something was bothering his brother. He walked up behind him and put his hand on Frank's shoulder. "What's up?" he asked.
    "Doyle should have been back," Frank answered.
    Joe shrugged. "Maybe he had too many items for the express check-out lane. Besides, it's given me a chance to find out some interesting things."
    "Like what?" Frank replied. "Jade's favorite rock band? Her shoe size?"
    Joe put his hand over his heart. "You wound me." He glanced over at the girl and then turned back to his brother. "Let's go outside and get some fresh air." He held the door open for Frank and then followed him out.
    "So what'd you find out?" Frank asked.
    "Do you know why Jade's father doesn't like her surfing?" Joe answered Frank with another question.
    "Because it's dangerous?"
    "No. Because of the publicity."
    Frank frowned. "Replay that for me."
    "When Jade first started to get known in competition, some dinky surfing magazine did a feature on her. She gave them this old picture of herself with her first surfboard. It was a present from her father - and he was in the picture, too. When her old man saw the article, he almost grounded her for life."
    Frank pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "You mean this picture?"
    Joe looked at it. "Where did you get that?"
    "Off one of those thugs that took you and Jade for a joyride," Frank replied.
    "It all starts to fit together, doesn't it?" Joe said.
    "Yeah," Frank agreed. "No family, no past, no publicity - sounds like Kevin Roberts has been on the run for the past fifteen years."
    "And whoever he was running from finally caught up with him," Joe added.
    Frank looked at his brother. "There's something else bothering me."
    "What's that?"
    "How did those hoods back on Maui know where to find us?"
    The whup-whup-whup of a helicopter cut through the air.
    "Doyle's back," Joe said.
    Frank looked up and spotted the helicopter close by. Something was wrong! It was weaving through the air, its tail swinging from side to side. Then it just dropped.

Chapter 11
    Frank could tell the helicopter was coming down too fast. It hit the ground hard. The landing skid on the left side smashed down first. The struts groaned and buckled. Then the machine rocked the other way. The right skid smacked the ground, bounced up, and finally settled down.
    The whine of the engine died down. Frank and Joe bolted toward the cockpit. Frank yanked open the door. Hank Doyle grinned out at him. "Sorry I'm late," he said. The smile wavered. "But the traffic was murder."
    Frank poked his head into the cockpit. "Are you okay?" he asked the pilot.
    Doyle nodded. "Yeah, but I think I've dodged enough artillery for one day."
    Joe peered in over his brother's shoulder and saw a single bullet hole in the windshield. "Something tells me this isn't the work of a disgruntled customer," he said. "So maybe you should tell us exactly what happened."
    "I flew back to Maui to pick up some gear. A guy showed up at the hangar just as I was getting ready to head back here," Doyle replied. "He wanted to know where you were. I made a break for it, but he managed to shoot off a couple rounds before I got the chopper off the ground."
    "Why'd