Free Disaster for Hire by Franklin W. Dixon

still alive," Frank said, slowing the car. "We're about a half mile from that roadblock," he said. "There's a clearing just off the road up ahead. We can leave the car there."
    "Good idea."
    He guided the car off the road and over the ground. Parking near a stand of high pines, he cut the engine. "Your father must have told you more than he told us," he said.
    "Not that much. He had a lot of suspicions, for several weeks—before he died. Yet he didn't want to act without proof."
    "Suspicions about Dr. Winter?"
    "Yes, and at least two other of his colleagues in the biotech department," Jenny answered. "He was convinced that the three of them, with Winter apparently in charge, were running a secret project in the lab. He believed they did most of the work nights and weekends, when he wasn't there."
    "They were making this bacteria that's destroying the Selva timber?"
    "Is that what they're doing with it? I wasn't sure."
    "We've talked to somebody at Selva. A lot of their trees are suddenly dying." Frank eased out of the car, then opened her door. "Whatever it is they've cooked up, it isn't stable. We think Crosscut is shut down because the bacteria is turning out to be harmful to people too."
    Jenny got out of the car and stretched. "That could happen, especially if you don't take all the precautions," she said.
    "By the way," Frank asked, "Are you really friends with Fawcette's daughter?"
    'Yes, we're friends. And Beth is very upset about her father's part in all this."
    "Let's start moving through the woods toward Crosscut," Frank said. "It'll take a while to get there on foot at night."
    They crossed the mossy ground, moving in among the dark trees and the soft cushion of pine needles. "Maybe you could tell me more about Fawcette," he went on.
    "Beth believes her father is deathly afraid of Ray - sort of scandal," Jenny said.
    "You mentioned pressure on him before."
    Jenny nodded. "He's been getting a lot of visits from a rich big-shot on the alumni board, Ray Garner. I think they're all trying to keep it quiet.
    Fawcette's hoping it will eventually be forgotten."
    As the night closed in, the sounds of the forest increased. Birds called and fluttered unseen, animals stirred and prowled. A hunting owl shook the branches high above them. Then it swooped to attack. A small animal shrieked.
    Moments later Frank and Jenny became aware of voices off to their right.
    'We're getting near the roadblock," Frank 'whispered.
    They carefully picked their way through the dark forest.
    "I don't like it all that much myself," Sheriff Yates was saying. "But who's left? Carl's down with it, and so is Johnny."
    "So's my wife. I don't enjoy putting in two shifts out here."
    "I've been here most of the day myself."
    "None of this is right. We ought to get in touch with somebody in Seattle, tell them what's going on—"
    "How could we do that, Ralph? We'd have to admit we let them use the old Wheelan place for their lab. We let them test that awful stuff in the forest."
    "But it's going to kill us all, and that'll be the end of the story. Just because you and that halfwit Mayor O'Malley got so greedy."
    "You all got a share, remember? And they said there wouldn't be any danger."
    Frank tapped Jenny. They started moving on again. When they were safely beyond the roadblock, Frank said, "That explains a few things."
    "And it means things are as bad as you suspected." Jenny shuddered.
    The nighttime town was quiet, with no traffic. It wasn't a large town, less than a dozen square blocks. There were lights showing in many of the small, one-story houses, but all the shops and stores were dark and locked.
    Jenny and Frank had emerged from the forest on a grassy hillside. Cautiously they headed downhill and into Crosscut itself. A chilly wind hit them as they started along a silent street.
    On their left was a two-story wooden building. A weathered sign next to the boarded-up door identified it as the town hall.
    "Things aren't exactly booming in