Mystery Of The Sea Horse by Lee Falk Read Free Book Online Page B

Phantom. "He'll let me know who to contact here in Santa Barbara."
Diana watched him for a few silent seconds. "Then youH be able to stop for a while, Kit? Stay here, a few days anyway."
"Yes." The Phantom smiled, but the smile slowly faded. "But first, I want to make sure Chris Danton is caught. I don't like what he tried to do to you on that island."
Her hand pressed tighter on his. "Let the authorities take care of him. I don't want you to—"
"I have to," he said.
"Yes, I understand."
The Phantom parked a half block away from the house of Diana's uncle. After the engine died, he sat looking out at the misty street. There were only two cars parked on this quiet residential avenue. And no cars showing in any of the driveways.
"Stay here a moment," he said to the girl as he stepped out onto the night street. Standing next to the car, he surveyed the area with narrowed eyes. The fog had thinned somewhat. A brief frown touched his forehead.
"What is it?" asked Diana, leaning across the car toward him.
He shook his head. "Nothing. It seems to be safe." He came around and opened her door.
Uncle Dave met them on his porch. "Di, you're okay!" He put his arms round her.
"Yes, I'm fine, though a bit soggy still."
"I noticed, I noticed," said Uncle Dave. "What happened?"
"We'll talk inside." The Phantom urged them into the house.
In the living room, Uncle Dave walked to the big windows facing the patio. "Let me close these darn drapes," he said. "I've been thinking about you two and forgot all about it."
As the old man's hand reached for, the draw cord, a bullet came shattering through the glass.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The shot passed within inches of the Phantom's head. He shoved Diana to the floor. "Stay down!"
"You all right?" said Uncle Dave, who had thrown himself back away from the wide windows.
The Phantom turned on his heel, ran from the room, and into the hallway.
Another bullet smashed its way through the patio window.
Quietly, the Phantom eased his way through the dark kitchen. He took hold of the knob of the door leading outside, silently turned it, and pushed the door open an inch.
The fog was even thinner now and he could see nearly twenty feet into the large patio area through the slit of an opening.
There was no one near this part of the house.
The Phantom moved out into the night, crouched, staying in the shadows. He slid his right-hand automatic out of its holster.
Then he spotted a figure moving near the stucco wall which fenced the far side of the patio. A small slim figure, half-hidden by giant ferns and big-leaved bushes.
The Phantom began to run, out of the shadows and along the pool edge.
The figure turned and sent a rifle shot in his direction. -
He was already diving through the air. The bullet whizzed through the mist above him.
Landing in a bed of red flowers, the Phantom fired at the figure. That one went wide. Before he could fire again, the Phantom realized he was facing a girl.
She was on the move again, lost for a moment among the tangled growth.
Next he saw her poised on the tile top of the
wall.
"Stop right there!" he ordered.
The girl, red hair fluttering out behind her like a streamer, leaped from the wall.
In an instant, the Phantom was scaling the wall. From the top, he saw the small girl, her rifle held out at the end of her straight right arm, running along the sidewalk.
He jumped to the ground and took off after her.
She sped around a corner, narrowly missing bumping into an oak tree growing near the curb.
When the Phantom rounded the same corner, I he girl was half a block ahead of him. As he passed the big oak, he heard, a shuffling sound.
Before he could look around, something hit him incredibly hard across the back of the neck. He look three more wavering steps before toppling down to lie still on the gray concrete.
Agent Marcus was sitting in the middle of the swayback couch in his small inland apartment. It was a shade after 2 :00 A.M., and he was smoking a menthol cigarette while he watched a