Flesh and Blood Read Online Free

3
    Frank's eyes widened in horror as he watched the board with the nails arcing down toward him. At the last possible second he rolled to his right, pain shooting through his left side like tiny needles. The board slammed down inches from his chest, the nails sinking into the floor.
    "Aaargh!" the man screamed as the broken board splintered in his hands.
    Joe dropped his flashlight and lunged at the gaunt figure. The two hurtled backward and crashed on top of a desk. A sickening gasp erupted from the stranger, and Joe knew that the breath had been knocked out of him. The room was as silent then as it was dark.
    "Joe? You okay?" Frank asked in a forced, strained whisper.
    "Yes." Joe stood. "I dropped my flashlight."
    "I've got mine." A light flickered on. Frank stood and trained the beam on his attacker.
    The man groaned and threw his arms over his face as the beam hit his eyes.
    Joe reached down and pulled the man to his feet. He was surprised at how light the man was.
    "Let's get him outside," Frank said.
    Joe gave the man a slight nudge forward.
    "Easy," the man said with a groan.
    Guided by the beam of Frank's flashlight, Joe forced the man ahead of him.
    Outside, he spun the man around. "All right, mister. Why did you attack - " Joe's sentence ended in a gasp. The man's appearance startled him, and he took a step backward.
    The man was as tall as Joe, but he was too thin for his height. Can't be more than one hundred thirty-five pounds, Joe thought.
    What stunned Joe the most was the man's face. His skin was tight against his skull and cheekbones, and small red sores stood out in contrast to the sickly yellow-white of his skin. The man's light blue eyes, which seemed to be covered with a milky substance, stared out at Joe from deep, dark sockets.
    Joe had seen the look before, but only on dead men.
    The man sucked in a deep breath through yellow clenched teeth.
    "Ssssooo, Hardyssss," the man hissed. Then he coughed, deep hacking explosions that reminded Joe of metal being twisted and torn.
    "Who are you?" Frank asked. "Why did you attack us?"
    The man smiled, his thin blue lips pulling across his face in triumph. He opened his mouth to speak but doubled over in another coughing spasm. This time he fell to his knees. Frank reached down to help the man.
    "Get - away - from - me," the man forced out through dry coughs.
    "He was probably just looking for someplace to stay. Maybe he doesn't have a home," Joe said. "I'll call an ambulance on the CB." Joe ran to the van.
    Why would a homeless person be hanging around the rehab center? Frank asked himself. Better yet, how would some stranger know our last name?
    The man's coughing increased, and he fell flat on the ground.
    Frank knelt beside him. "How can I help you?" he pleaded. "Joe, hurry!"
    The man must have some ID, Frank thought. He reached into the man's front shirt pocket, but his hand was instantly smacked away.
    "You - want - to - help - me?" the man wheezed. '"Then - die, Frank Hardy!"
    "What?" Frank wasn't sure he had heard the man correctly.
    "An ambulance is on its way," Joe said, rejoining Frank. He stared down at the man. "How is he?"
    "Delirious. I think he just told me to die."
    "That'ssss - right." The man's coughing had stopped, and he was now breathing sporadically in screeching gasps.
    Joe knelt on one knee. "Who are you?"
    "Leonard Mock." The man swallowed hard.
    "Mock?" Joe glanced at his brother and then back down at the pale figure of Leonard Mock. "What are you doing here? The police - "
    "Came by the rehab center and went," Mock interrupted. "They couldn't find me, just like before."
    "Before?" Frank was puzzled. "Before what?"
    "Just like before. The first time. The first ti - " Again Mock succumbed to a fit of dry, hacking coughs.
    "What are you doing here in Bayport?" Joe asked once Mock had stopped.
    "Waiting for Fenton Hardy." Mock's hollow, dead eyes flicked from Frank to Joe. "But you two will do. You'll do just fine."
    Frank knew they had very