Free Disaster for Hire by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

them.

Chapter 13
    THEO SHOVED THE small pot with the four tiles inside at Chet Morton, saying, "We'll begin with you, fat boy. Put your hand inside and pick out a tile. Quickly!"
    Glaring at the man, jaws clenched tight, Chet reached in and pulled out a tile. It sat in his large fist as he swallowed, then opened his hand. The tile was white!
    Theo was clearly enjoying the game and the fear it caused his prisoners. He moved over to Aleko, who scowled sullenly. "Now you, make your choice. Don't be afraid, boy, the odds are still in your favor."
    "I am not afraid," muttered Aleko as he pulled out a tile. It, too, was white.
    "It is the turn of the young lady," Theo said, offering her the pot. Alma stared at him, eyes wide, frozen, like a bird hypnotized by a snake. She couldn't move.
    "Come, now," Theo went on, shaking the pot so that the two remaining tiles rattled. "Get it done with, girl. You are making me angry, and that is a very bad idea. Take the tile, or I will make your brother my first victim."
    "No! Please!" cried Alma, groping inside the pot with a trembling hand. Looking at what she had chosen, she let out a soft moaning sound. Her hand fell to her side, and the black tile dropped to the cellar floor.
    Theo grabbed Alma by the wrist. He pulled her forward, away from the others, drawing the big automatic with his other hand.
    "Let her go," roared Aleko, springing for Theo's throat. The henchman with the long flashlight clubbed the brawny young Greek on the back of the head, dropping him in a crumpled heap on the ground. Alma screamed, but Theo silenced her abruptly, pointing the ugly gun at her nostrils. The room grew quiet.
    "Now then! There will be no more heroics, I hope," Theo said, looking over at Frank.
    "If you wish this girl to live, you will tell me all you know about where the meeting has been set with the criminal spy—now!" Frank gauged the distance that separated him from Theo—but with three other armed men facing him, the odds were too long. Theo held Alma by the wrist, and now, deliberately, he cocked his gun with a dry click that echoed through the room. Then the door at the head of the steps opened.
    "Theo!" called out a voice, and Nicholas Kaliotis stormed the cellar. Theo sullenly lowered his weapon. The two men shouted angrily at each other in Greek. Kaliotis turned to Frank, giving him a grim look.
    "We do not wish to hurt anyone. You will all be released unharmed, if you are cooperative."
    "Traitor!" Alma shrieked. "How can anything you say be believed?"
    Kaliotis bit his lower lip but did not look at her.
    "I tell you, we are not here to shed blood. You must tell us what you know, and you and your friends will be safe. I swear it."
    Frank studied Kaliotis for a few seconds. "Maybe you actually believe what you're saying," he answered. "I wish that I could. We've seen too much, we know too much, and your buddy Theo seems like a guy who would shoot because he doesn't like the way we cut our hair. I don't think it matters if I say anything or not."
    "No! You are wrong, I tell you!" Kaliotis grabbed Frank's shoulders with both hands. "I would not have done this — do you think I would have brought you here to be shot?"
    Theo stepped forward between Kaliotis and Frank and shoved the Greek back and out of the way. He gave Kaliotis a look of contempt.
    "We have tried your method, and you see where it has gotten us. Now we are short of time, and we will use my way. I will shoot a prisoner now, and one for each additional minute that this stubborn American refuses to talk."
    Kaliotis started to protest, but Theo grabbed Alma once again, saying, "You are weak, my brother."
    He aimed the pistol at Alma, and once more looked over at Frank. "Well? What will it be? Nothing? Very well, then. Her death is on your head, Yankee."
    "Theo! No!" Just before Theo pulled the trigger, Kaliotis hurled himself at Theo. The pistol roared, and Kaliotis was flung back against the wall.
    Seeing his chance, Frank drove a