In Plane Sight by Franklin W. Dixon Page B

no fresh meat to circle.”
    â€œCops and investigators need sleep too, I guess,” Joe commented.
    â€œI’m sure they’ll be back in force tomorrow morning,” Frank said. They cut around the building and headed toward the Cessna; Jamal wanted to check it one more time before they turned in.
    As they passed by the old control tower, Joe stopped suddenly. “Look!” he said.
    A shadowy figure was moving around in the darkened room at the top of the tower.

11 Tower of Peril
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    â€œLet’s check it out,” Frank said. The three friends tried the door at the base of the control tower. It was open.
    â€œTaped, just like the door to Flaubert’s office,” Joe said.
    â€œThese guys need to get some new tricks,” Jamal whispered.
    â€œSometimes the old tricks are the best,” Frank said.
    They crept into the base of the tower, which appeared to be mostly storage space for spare parts and other items connected to the maintenance of the tower and its equipment.
    Finding the stairs, they moved quickly up to the second floor, which housed the electronic guts ofthe control tower operations. The stairs from the second floor wound up one wall of the tower to the third-floor control deck. As silently as they could the teens ran up into the control room.
    As they topped the stairs, they saw a black-garbed figure bent over one of the radar control panels at the far side of the room. The computer beside the panel was on, and the intruder seemed to be working at the keyboard. The black ski mask pulled over his head was proof—as if the taped door weren’t enough—that he was not part of the regular air traffic crew.
    When he heard the boys’ footsteps, the surprised opponent rose quickly and flicked the computer’s off switch. He turned as the teens ran at him. By the time Frank got to him, the burglar was ready.
    The masked man kicked the chair he had been sitting on at the group. It shot across the floor on its metal wheels and caught Frank and Joe in the legs.
    As they staggered, the criminal grabbed a folding chair stacked against the wall nearby. He swung the chair into Frank’s back, and the elder Hardy crashed to the floor. The burglar tried to catch Joe on the backswing, but the younger Hardy seized the chair and shoved hard.
    The burglar stumbled back across the room. Joe tried to pin the intruder against the wall with the chair. The burglar dropped suddenly and swept hisleft leg into Joe’s knees. Joe fell back, hard, but Jamal rushed in to take his place.
    Jamal jabbed with his left, then aimed for the burglar’s chin with a right uppercut. The intruder countered the first blow, but couldn’t entirely deflect the second. Jamal’s fist caught him on the jaw. The burglar staggered back into the glass door leading onto the balcony.
    As the Hardys got to their feet, Jamal bore in on their enemy. The burglar opened the door behind him and stepped out onto the mesh floor of the balcony. Jamal rushed onto the narrow walkway after him.
    The burglar kept backing up, drawing Jamal farther around the balcony.
    â€œKeep him pinned, Jamal!” Joe called as he and Frank rushed through the door after him. “We’ll circle behind!”
    â€œGot it,” Jamal said, aiming another punch at the intruder’s head. The felon blocked the blow. Frank and Joe ran to the other side of the balcony to take him from the back.
    When Jamal threw his next punch, the burglar blocked it and surged forward. He snapped his forehead into Jamal’s face, head-butting him. Jamal staggered back, and the intruder shoved him hard.
    Jamal toppled over the balcony railing, barely grabbing hold of the steel rail as he went. He hung over the edge, his feet dangling in the air.
    The intruder dashed past Jamal and back into the control tower.
    â€œJamal!” Joe cried as he and Frank raced to his rescue.
    The brothers grabbed hold of their friend’s