Ghost of a Chance Read Online Free Page B

accident,” Carmen muttered.
    â€œThat’s enough,” Cleo said, her eyes wide. She twisted around to stare at Carmen.
    â€œWhat do you mean, Carmen?” Joe asked.
    â€œI mean what I mean,” Carmen said. “She’s gotten threats, notes, phone calls. Now there’s a so-called accident. What do
you
think it means?”
    â€œCarmen,” Cleo said, “I said that’s enough—”
    â€œOkay, honey,” Dustin interrupted as he and the doctor rejoined them. “Doc’s going to take you to the hospital in Crosscook. It’s small, but he knows the guy who runs it and trusts him. They can do the X ray and if you need any major treatment, we’ll fly you to a city tonight.”
    Before Frank or Joe could question Cleo further, she was carried away by the doctor. Carmen bustled along behind them.
    â€œSo what do you think?” Joe asked his brother as they walked back to Terry. “Do you suppose this is something more than an accident?”
    â€œI’m not sure,” Frank answered. “I thought I saw something when Cleo looked at Carmen. It was like she was trying to shut her up before she said any more.”
    â€œWe need to talk to Cleo again,” Joe decided.
    Terry was still examining the flying harness rig when the Hardys joined him. Huge lights flooded the area with intense brightness. Joe handed over the harness Cleo had worn, and Terry checked it out. “I don’t know, guys,” he said. “It all looks okay so far. But something went wrong. I won’t know what until I take everything apart and go over every inch of the assembly.”
    Frank helped the stunt master dismantle the rig while Joe gave the crane motor and transmission a thorough once-over. “Hey, look at this.” Frank and Terry joined Joe at the front of the crane cab. A tiny rock was jammed into the gear assembly. One of the gears was bent into a flap over the stone.
    â€œThat’s it!” Terry said. “Someone wedged that rock in there, and—”
    â€œNot so fast,” Joe interrupted. “That really couldbe an accident. This rig was brought up the mountain in a semi, right?”
    â€œYeah,” Terry said, nodding. “That one.” He pointed to a tractor trailer parked in the vehicle area not far from where they stood.
    â€œWell, this isn’t exactly a nice asphalt highway up here,” Joe pointed out. “You could have picked up that rock just driving it out of the semi and over here.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Terry agreed. “It was probably some sort of mechanical failure.” His shoulders slumped in a dejected posture. “All those dry runs—so perfect, not a hitch.”
    â€œThis might be something,” Frank said. He held the two pieces of the harness connection that he’d just taken apart. It was a small gear assembly that looked as if a couple of the gear teeth were missing.
    â€œThis is a brand-new rig,” Terry said, examining the piece that Frank handed him. “I assembled it myself. I checked it before every rehearsal and just before the stunt.”
    â€œAnd you never left the rig alone after your final check?” Frank asked.
    â€œTwo or three minutes, maybe,” Terry said. “A quick phone call—something about doing a publicity appearance tomorrow. I blew them off because I didn’t want to leave the rig.”
    â€œIt would take longer than that to tamper with this,” Joe concluded.
    â€œUnless someone knew exactly what to do,” Frank said. “And where.”
    â€œYou mean someone who knows the flying stunt?” Terry said. “That’s not possible. This is my rig. I created it. I guess if someone knew stunts, they might be able to figure it out.” He looked anywhere but at Frank. It was as if he didn’t want to meet Frank’s gaze. Was he hiding something or just embarrassed because the stunt had