Dead on Target by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

the Assassin had dropped. Inside were plastic-wrapped blocks of what felt like clay - clay with a pungent smell, when he opened one of the packs.
    "What is that stuff?" Callie asked.
    "Plastique," Frank replied. "Plastic explosive." He raised his voice, calling to Al-Rousasa.
    "We know why you're here. And we know that you only have a dart gun. We outnumber you, so why don't you just give up?"
    Tony Prito had reached a place where he could both cover the escalator and get a shot behind the planter. "He's not there!" he shouted. "He got away!"
    Frank threw down the bag of plastique. "Fan out!" he yelled. "We've got to catch this guy."
    "What about Chet?" Callie said.
    "He'll be out for the next couple of hours. We'll have to leave him." Frank stepped forward in a crouch, his gun drawn.
    "We'd have seen if he decided to walk down the escalator." Joe stood beside his brother, his gun reloaded.
    "And we'd have heard if he pulled another of those grille things up," Tony said. "He's probably lying very still, just hoping we'll miss him in the dark," said Callie as she caught up with them.
    "Okay." Frank gestured the others to gather around him. "We spread out," he said quietly. "No lights, no talking unless it's absolutely necessary. Let's go."
    Their skirmish line moved forward quickly but quietly, scanning shadows, peeking around possible hiding places. But there was no trace of Al-Rousasa.
    "He can't have disappeared," Joe muttered. "Where is the guy?" Rattling noises ahead gave them the answer.
    "He's raising the grille at Lacey's!" Joe exclaimed in an urgent whisper. He sprinted forward.
    "Boy, is the security director gonna be in trouble," said Tony, following. "This guy has keys to all the stores."
    Al-Rousasa had raised the gate only a few inches and was scooting under it. They could see his legs disappearing as they arrived.
    "He's pulling it down!" hissed Callie.
    Joe turned his run into a dive, sliding along the polished tile floor. He jammed his flashlight under the gate just as it slammed down. The grille bounced up, failing to lock. Al-Rousasa disappeared into the darkness again.
    Frank stormed over to his brother. "You made yourself a perfect target, lying on the floor like that," he said to Joe. "If he had stayed two more seconds, he could have put a dart right in you.”
    "At least we're not locked out," Joe shouted back.
    "Yeah, but this is bad," said Tony. "Lacey's has its own escalators and service stairs. It even has separate exits."
    "And about a million more places to hide than that walkway out there," Callie said. "He headed down this aisle," said Joe. "Come on."
    It was the main cosmetics aisle, and the Hardys and their friends could smell the various perfumes as they moved forward.
    They were just passing the Makeover Bar when a crash from the left caused everyone to swivel around. Then they heard Tony Prito cursing and thrashing in the darkness. "Who moved that stupid chair out into the middle - "
    "Three guesses," said Joe, moving ahead faster.
    Al-Rousasa popped up from behind the bar to send a dart whizzing toward him. Joe dropped down, and the dart smashed into a display case behind him.
    Before Frank or Callie could get off a shot, the Assassin vaulted over the counter and ran down another aisle.
    Tony untangled himself and charged after him, only to run into another stool.
    "This guy is good," Joe whispered as they set off down the aisle.
    "Shhh," said Frank, listening hard for footsteps.
    Ahead of them, a glass bottle smashed to the floor, knocked over by Al-Rousasa's elbow. They rushed toward the noise. But Al-Rousasa was still ahead.
    They had reached ladies' hats when Joe suddenly stopped, waved the others back, and grabbed a mannequin head from a counter. He poked the head around the corner, and was rewarded with the hiss of a dart. The plastic head rolled down the aisle with a dart in its right eye. "Heard him reloading," Joe explained as he ran in pursuit.
    He was well ahead of the others when