One False Step Read Online Free

“Why?”
    Without responding, Bill pulled away from the curb and headed out of the neighborhood.
    When they reached Highway 263, Bill turned the van north.
    â€œAérocirque is performing in a brand new stadium just north of Warminster. It was built for several high schools in the area,” Mario said. “It’s not very far from here.”
    On the way, Mario talked about how hard it was to get tickets to see Aérocirque. “They’re going for two hundred dollars apiece,” he said. “Almost everyone in the metropolitan Philadelphia area wants to see it, but unfortunately only people with lots of money can get the tickets now.”
    â€œThat doesn’t seem fair,” Joe said.
    â€œWhy not?” Bill said, finally breaking his silence. “It’s all about making money.”
    What’s this guy’s problem? Joe thought.
    â€œIt wouldn’t surprise me if tickets were going for a thousand dollars a pop by the time Aérocirque reaches Los Angeles,” Mario said, looking at Bill. “That’s the last city on their tour. You could never pay that kind of money on a cop’s salary. It makes me bitter sometimes.”
    Joe looked over at Frank. He could tell that his brother was also surprised at how much anger they were seeing from Bill, and now Mario, too. It was making him really uncomfortable.
    â€œI wish I could think up something to make that kind of money,” Chet said.
    â€œYou and me both,” Bill said.
    Frank noticed he glanced at Mario before he said it.
    â€œMario, I don’t mean to pry, but right before we left you mentioned something about a burglary in a high-rise apartment building in downtown Philadelphia,” Frank said. “We were talking to a friend of ours at school on Friday, and she was telling us about a high-rise apartment burglary in Manhattan last week. The New York police are stumped too.”
    Mario looked at him. “Really? Well, I guess the same kinds of crimes happen in big cities,” he said. “These crooks got in through the French doors on the balcony.”
    â€œThat’s what happened in Manhattan, too,” Joe said. “The police found some scratches on the railingaround the balcony that they couldn’t explain.”
    â€œNow, that’s strange,” Mario said. “We found some scratches we couldn’t explain either.”
    â€œMario, I don’t think it’s a good idea to . . .” Bill started to say, but Mario waved him off.
    â€œSounds to me like some kind of gang is making its way around the country,” Matt said.
    â€œHave you checked the police reports in other cities to see if they’ve had similar robberies?” Frank asked.
    â€œNo, we haven’t yet, although that’s something we usually do if we can’t find any clues on our own. Since we’re just barely at the beginning of our own investigation, nobody has gotten around to that yet,” Mario said. “It sounds to me that these two crimes are similar enough that it might be a good idea to go ahead and do it.”
    â€œThat must be the stadium up ahead,” Tony said. “I see some really bright lights.”
    â€œIt is,” Bill said. “We’ll be there shortly.”
    Just then Joe heard a loud whirling noise over the van, and within a few seconds two black helicopters flew into view.
    â€œWow! For a minute, I thought they were going to land on top of us,” Chet said. “They look like a couple of birds fighting over their territory.”
    â€œThat’s one of the things they do in the show,” Matt said. “Once or twice when I was watching, I was just sure they were going to hit each other.”
    â€œI think we’re in for a thrilling night,” Joe said. “This is going to beat any action movie I’ve seen lately!”
    â€œI agree,” Frank said.
    Bill drove into the stadium parking lot and