Strategic Moves by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online Page B

shadowy figures stepped in front of the spotlight and approached the van.
    Joe was set to leap from the van and attack when he saw the silhouettes of the small Uzis the two men held at waist level. Their snub-nosed barrels were aimed at Joe and Frank.

Chapter 8
    "Are these the two young Americans you wanted?" Commander Collins asked as he stepped between the men with the Uzis and into the spotlight.
    "Yes. These are the two," replied a familiar voice.
    "The Gray Man!" Frank shouted, and he and Joe hopped from the van.
    "Frank, Joe," Ziggy called out as he ran up to his friends. He was still dressed in his sculling outfit.
    "Ziggy!" Joe replied. "Are you okay?"
    "Yes." Ziggy broke into a wide smile, as though he were greeting long-lost friends. "Petra is here, too."
    Petra joined the young men. "Mr. Gray brought me here," she explained. She looked tired but no longer as pale and scared as when Frank had last seen her.
    "Speaking of Mr. Gray," Frank said. He looked past the two men with the Uzis and into the darkness behind the spotlight. "You want to explain what's going on?"
    The Gray Man walked slowly up to the teenagers. "I suppose I owe you an explanation."
    "That would help," Joe said, sarcasm etched in his voice.
    "Perhaps I should." Fitzhugh, Frank's fencing instructor, stepped into the spotlight.
    Frank could see another man standing behind the spotlight but did not recognize him.
    "You're a part of this?" Frank asked Fitzhugh, watching as the unidentified man moved toward the group.
    "Worse than that," Fitzhugh answered. "I'm the agent in charge."
    "Agent in charge?" Frank didn't like the sound of that.
    "Let me reintroduce myself," Fitzhugh said to Frank. "David Fitzhugh, vice-commander, Her Majesty's Counterintelligence, retired."
    "Britain's version of the Network," the Gray Man said.
    "As well as dean of continuing and special education, Oxford University," Fitzhugh added.
    The unidentified man stood next to Fitzhugh. The bright light bounced off his white hair and created a halo effect around the man's head. He was as tall as Frank, and his suit was expensive.
    Frank stared at the third man. "And you are ... ?"
    "Nikolai Krylov, Soviet embassy, London," the man said without hesitation in near-perfect English.
    "We met earlier," Joe said with a frown. Krylov had been the third man in the blue sedan.
    "KGB?" Frank said.
    "Very perceptive, Mr. Hardy," Krylov said with a smile.
    "You think we could shut off that light?" Joe asked, raising his hands in front of his eyes.
    "Yes," Fitzhugh said. "I suggest we move this meeting into the house."
    Fitzhugh nodded. The two men with the Uzis walked to the barn doors and pushed them open. One man flipped off the spotlight.
    "This way, please," Fitzhugh said, motioning to the teenagers.
    They walked out into a well-kept barnyard. Frank could now see that they were about half a mile from the main road. Although the place gave the appearance of a farm, Frank noticed that it lacked farm equipment and animals.
    They walked silently toward a small house, whose white paint looked fresh. The lawn in front of the house was also well-maintained.
    The front room into which they walked was unfurnished, and with the four teenagers and three agents, it was crowded. They all remained standing. Commander Collins and the others remained outside.
    "Now that the introductions are out of the way," Joe said, "would someone mind explaining what this is all about?"
    Krylov thrust his hands into his pockets. "This is about the safety and security of the world, my young American friend."
    "We haven't established the fact that we're friends," Joe replied evenly.
    Krylov chuckled. "No. We haven't. And perhaps we could have handled this a little better, but we," - he nodded at the Gray Man and Fitzhugh - "felt it necessary to keep you, all four of you, uninformed as long as possible."
    "What makes it necessary to tell us the truth now?" Frank asked.
    "The attempted kidnapping last night and the attempt