Hostages of Hate by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page A

neighborhood. What do you plan on doing, walking the streets and calling her name?"
    Frank smiled. "I'm hoping to cut it down a little bit," he said. "There were two other things Lonnie said. First, he called Pia a good kid. So I guess she'd be young."
    "Okay. What was the other thing?"
    "Lonnie said it would be an easy contact for us. 'You kids.' Those were his exact words."
    "So?" said Joe.
    "So where in Georgetown would you find a lot of kids?" asked Frank. He grinned at Joe's growing understanding. "Right. The university."
    Joe shook his head. "So we've got to check out a whole school."
    Frank clapped Joe on the back. "And if there's a man who can find one girl in a thousand, it's Joe Hardy," he said.
    They stopped off at a used-book store to buy props so they'd look like students, then walked the rest of the way to the university. Nobody bothered them as they found their way to the cafeteria. A few minutes later, Joe was chatting with a cute blond.
    "Hey, Maddie, I can't believe how lucky I was to meet you," he said. "Think you can help me set up my friend here?" He gestured toward Frank, who sat at the far side of their table, looking off into the crowd.
    "I don't know," Maddie said. "He looks cute enough."
    "He's into causes. Any girls around here like that?"
    Maddie shrugged. "I don't know. That's not really my crowd."
    "He's heard about a girl he really wants to meet. Her name is Pia."
    "Oh, her." Maddie's nose wrinkled. "Crazy Pia." She looked at Frank again. "Funny. He doesn't look weird."
    "Weird?" Joe looked puzzled.
    "Well, why would he be interested in somebody like Pia? I mean, she's really crazy. Always talking like the end of the world is coming. She's the Queen of Weird!"
    "Do you know where he could find her? He really wants to meet her."
    Maddie turned to give Frank a long, disbelieving stare, while Frank concentrated hard on looking as weird as possible.
    Finally, Maddie shrugged. "I never see her in classes. Nobody ever does. But I suppose she's in the Student Union. She's usually there, painting signs for weird causes."
    Joe stood up. "Maybe I'll take my friend to go meet her."
    Maddie shrugged again. "Go ahead. But no way am I going to double with her." She grinned and nodded at Frank. "With him, maybe. But not with her."
    Frank pretended not to hear, but the color rose in his face. Callie was in horrible danger, and this girl was trying to flirt with him.
    He turned to Maddie and gave her his goofiest smile. "Did I just hear you say you'd like to go out with me? They're having a march to ban chrome on cars. It'll help us save precious natural resources. Maybe you'd like — "
    "Um, I don't think I could make it," Maddie said quickly. "But this girl I know, Pia, would probably love to go. I just told your friend here where you could find her."
    "Great!" said Frank. "If you change your mind — "
    "I don't think so," Maddie said. To Joe, she whispered, "You aren't like that, are you?"
    "Oh no," Joe whispered back. "I like chrome on cars. See you later." He waved goodbye to Maddie. All the way out of the cafeteria, he had to fight a wild urge to break into laughter.
    "Chrome on cars?" he muttered as they walked to the Student Union. "You smooth-talking devil, you!"
    The Student Union was a big underground complex, with lots of places for a sign painter to hang out. Joe and Frank spent a lot of time looking but got nowhere.
    While they talked to one kid who was tuning his guitar, a campus security guard walked by. The Hardys tensed for a second, but the guard walked right past them.
    "I'm looking for Olympia Morrison," the guard said in a loud voice. "Anybody know where she is?"
    "Pia?" One girl pushed back her hair and pointed. "She's over in the corner, painting."
    Joe and Frank both followed her arm. There, in the corner, a girl dressed all in black sat with some pieces of posterboard, painting what looked like slogans.
    She stopped as she became aware of people looking at her. Then she saw the guard.