I stared at him, feeling completely betrayed. And confused. What the heck was going on? He ducked into the tent and made it seem all that much smaller. “You? Why?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What are you doing here?” He stared at all of us, including Petal. “This isn’t some game. You’re going to blow everything.” His voice was low and harsh.

I glanced at Frank and saw his eyes widen. He shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

Mondo heaved a sigh, glanced out the entry flap and then dropped it down completely, plunging us into a dim hot tent. “You answer first.”

I narrowed my eyes. Thought about the almost military buzz cut, the way he could sneak around like a cat despite his size. “Military?”

“Former.”

Frank frowned. “Who are you?”

“Michael Callihan.” The man cleared his throat. “My younger brother got sucked into a cult several years ago. A doomsday cult. It was connected to a cult run by Arthur Stench and I was determined to bring him down.”

“So...you’re investigating him?” asked Frank, quietly. “Just to satisfy your curiosity or something more?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” I asked, still unsure if we could trust him.

Petal snorted. “So you’re not the cavalry either.”

Callihan looked over at her. “What are you babbling about?”

Petal threw up her hands in exasperation. “I ask for cavalry and what does he send?” She shook her head and sighed. “Three weeks ago, I heard rumors of a alt-energy compound in the desert. Since I’m pro-environment, I thought it would be a good place for a meeting of the minds. I told Dad that I’d gotten into something interesting and not to expect me home for awhile. But if I was gone longer than three weeks to bring in the cavalry.”

I shared a look with Frank and he looked as shocked as I felt. I swallowed hard. “So...you’re...” I shook my head, suddenly distracted. “Your name is not Petal.”

She gave me a surprised look. “What? The name bothers you? No, I’m not Petal. I’m Paula Northrum.”

I looked over at Frank. “Told you.”

He didn’t even look my way, an odd look on his face. “So your father called our dad. And Dad...” Frank finally looked over at me. “It was a setup.”

“What?” asked Callihan.

“Can’t tell you,” I said, trying not to smirk.

Callihan didn’t look too happy. “This is no situation for kids. Stay out of my way. Stench is mine.” He spun around and left the tent, letting the flap fall back down.

I started forward, ready to go after him when something fell against the side of the tent, nearly collapsing it. A moment later, the flap was lifted up, letting air and light to swirl inside. Stench stood there, wiping his sword on the canvas of the tent.

Stench sheathed the sword and looked at each of us. “So...my secret is out.”

“You’re sick.”

Stench shook his head. “No, I finally found something I was good at. I thought at one time that I’d be a preacher like my father. He could control his congregation with just his words. But I never made it to that. There was always a disgruntled member who blew the whistle.”

He shrugged. “And since the last time, my doomsday prediction didn’t come true...well, I wasn’t going to stay in the same rut so it could land me in prison.” He gestured around him. “Then Petrol International landed in my lap.” He rubbed his hands together and smiled. “It was my lucky day.”

Paula was staring out the tent flap, her face so pale that her freckles looked black against her skin. “You killed him,” she whispered.

“He betrayed me. I do not tolerate betrayers.” He glared at each of us. “Or spies.”

I frowned. “The people from town...you hired them to do property damage last night.”

“Yes, I did.” Stench sounded smug. “It made perfect sense. Of course the townspeople thought the compound was dangerous. By tossing the paint on people, making the town believe this compound was a breeding ground for crazies, it made for a perfect conflict.”

“So what now?” asked Frank.

Stench smiled at him. “Now? Why I speed things up. I wasn’t going to do this for another month or so but now.... Well, with a few people’s ingenious help, I’m going to blow up the Diablo Power Plant. It’s about twelve miles from San Luis Obispo. I’m going to crash the drone into it.”

I blinked. The helicopter. Of course with no stick, it was remote-controlled.

Stench’s smile widened. “And you three will get an up-close look. Since you’ll be in the drone.” He gestured to the compound outside the tent. “They’re fools, following wherever the wind lists. They may be brilliant in their science but they couldn’t fight their way out a paper bag with a hole at both ends.” His tone grew more contemptuous.

I thought I saw a shadow pass by the tent but Stench didn’t seem to notice. He shook his head. “No common sense. Samuel Fisk is the worst. And Janet Simkins, the prize I was after. Her model to generate water would be well-received both here and many other water-poor countries but does she have the sense to go about promoting it? No, she locks herself in her lab, puttering away.”

In the silence in the tent, I realized there were voices outside. Low and angry. Stench noticed them too. He turned on his heel and walked out. Not wanting to miss what would happen next I followed right behind him, with Frank and Paula on my heels.

Willow was trying to help Callihan but I could see he was already gone. Tears streaked the girl’s face even after Solar Man finally pulled her away. Janet Simkins looked downright furious. “How dare you?”

Stench didn’t look that concerned. “Dare? Me? You’re the fools that followed me here, you’re the fools that listened to me. Seems I can make anyone do whatever I want. Mondo betrayed me by allowing people in the compound to compromise my ultimate plan—”

“Blowing up the power plant.” Solar Man’s voice was low and filled with scorn. “We heard you. You’ll have to do it yourself. We won’t help.”

“You can’t go into Landers or anyone else,” said Stench, not sounding the least bit worried. “Everyone thinks you’re crazy. You’d be arrested for assault for starters.”

At that, Janet shared a worried look with her husband and son. Samuel Fisk stepped forward. “You lured us here with the promises...”

Stench shrugged and started walking toward his windowless sanctuary but stopped and cocked his head. Slowly, he looked up, a frown on his face.

Wait a minute. That sounded like...a helicopter. Had someone started up the drone? I turned to Frank. “I thought you said there was a no-fly zone.”

“For private and commercial craft. Not military.” Frank scanned the pale blue cloudless sky. In the distance was a tiny dot. It must have been moving fast since the dot was growing faster.

I wondered if it was Dad. “Did you say how long to wait before coming after us?”

Frank shook his head. “Not specifically. I just said a few days.”

Paula looked over at us. “You mean, you did bring the cavalry?”

I grinned over at her. “We aim to please.”

Paula rolled her eyes but grinned back. “You’re a pain, aren’t you?”

I shrugged. “I try.” Sudden movement made me turn. I saw Stench running back to us. He was heading straight for Paula. I blinked and grabbed her arm, pulling toward me. Of course Stench would see the advantage of holding a senator’s daughter hostage.

She swung around behind me as Stench pulled his sword and veered toward us. I tried to back up but with Paula right behind me, I had to settle for moving to one side but my foot hit the stake holding that section of the tent and I fell, knocking Paula on her back and me half on top of her. A second later, Stench was there, holding the sword.

“Joe!” Frank ran a few steps but Stench just shook his head, aiming the sword straight at me. “No!” shouted Frank.

“Maybe the first explosion should be the compound. Wipe the slate clean.” Stench took a step closer, lowered the sword until it nearly met with my throat. “Get rid of you all and start over elsewhere.”

Someone collided with Stench, knocking him onto the hard desert floor. The sword flew from his hand and ripped through the canvas of the tent just above my head. The momentum made the hilt bounce once and then swing down right at my skull. I grabbed Paula and we rolled away from the sword just as the tent collapsed completely.

I sat up and took a breath. “Paula, you okay?”

She nodded, looking dazed. I got to my feet and turned to see Frank struggling with Stench. Suddenly I remembered the dagger. Did the man have it with him. “Frank, look out! He may have the dagger!”

I shouted.

And then I saw Frank fall. “No!”

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.