In Plane Sight Read Online Free Page B

other way,” Joe said. He moved to the door while Frank kept watch behind them.
    â€œIt’s unlocked,” Joe said, “and I hear someone outside.”
    He and Frank burst through the door into the alley behind. As they exited, they nearly plowed into a swarthy man with a dark bandanna, who was pushing a trash cart and toting a broom. Letteringabove the pocket on the man’s jumpsuit read “Jose.” The man looked startled to see the teens, but didn’t appear to be in any hurry to leave.
    â€œDid you see someone come this way?” Joe asked.
    Jose shook his head. “No,” he replied. “No one has come this way.”
    Frank’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? What are you doing here?”
    â€œI’m doing my job,” Jose said. “I clean the hangars at night. What are you doing here?”
    â€œWe were chasing someone who broke into the administration building,” Joe said.
    Jose’s eyes widened. “That’s very bad,” he said. “You have contacted security, yes?”
    â€œWe sent for them,” Frank replied. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone?”
    â€œI am sure.”
    The brothers looked around but saw no sign of anyone else behind the hangar. There were several smaller maintenance buildings nearby, but no trace of the intruder.
    Frank scratched his head. “We’ve lost him,” the elder Hardy said. He and Joe took a final look through the deserted hangar, then headed back toward the administration building.
    â€œI’d have suspected that janitor,” Joe said as they walked, “but he wasn’t sweating or breathing hard.”
    â€œThere must have been some other way out of the hangar that we didn’t spot,” Frank said.
    They saw a light on in the administrator’s office when they arrived. Having gone up the back stairs once again, they found Elise Flaubert and Jamal standing in the center of the office, amid the scattered papers. With them was a middle-aged, droopy-faced security guard whose badge read “Mitchum.”
    â€œSo, you didn’t get a good look at who did this?” Mitchum asked Jamal.
    â€œSorry,” Jamal replied. “He knocked me down before I could recognize him. My friends, Frank and Joe, went after him, though.”
    â€œBut we didn’t catch him,” Frank said, entering the room.
    â€œSorry,” Joe added. “He lost us in one of the hangars.”
    â€œWell,” Ms. Flaubert said, “it doesn’t look as if anything’s been taken. These show registration papers are in a real mess, though.”
    â€œWhy would someone break in, then not take anything?” Frank asked.
    â€œI’ll ask the questions here,” Mitchum said. “You think you’re a detective or something? Maybe you boys interrupted this thief before he could take anything.”
    â€œWhy mess up the place then?” Joe asked.
    â€œMaybe he couldn’t find what he was looking for,” Mitchum replied. “Is the safe okay, Elise?”
    Elise Flaubert opened a closet in one wall toreveal a bulky old safe about the size of a minifridge. “Looks fine,” she said.
    â€œThe cops will want to talk to you boys,” Mitchum said, noticing the flashing red-and-blue lights appearing outside the frosted windows. “You all wait here. I’m going to check the grounds and see if I can find any clues.”
    â€œGood luck,” Frank said.
    Mitchum scowled at him.
    â€œHas the welcoming dinner finished?” Joe asked Ms. Flaubert.
    â€œNo,” she replied. “I had stepped out to attend to some business when I ran into Jamal. I hope this doesn’t turn into a big incident; I don’t want anything to disrupt the show.”
    â€œI think that’s probably up to the police,” Frank said, looking at the stern-faced officer coming through the office door.

    It took the three friends about an hour