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securely tied together. He tested his bonds again but found no flexibility at
all.
Beside him, Joe strained wildly against the wire around his wrists, grunting
in exertion.
Frank turned to him. "Can you loosen that wire?"
"Not a bit," Joe responded. "I think I'm cutting my hands off."
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"Anyone else tied a little looser?" Frank asked.
From out of his field of vision came Tony Prito's voice. "That guy tied me so
tight my hands have gone to sleep." They heard him struggle some more. "I've
tried pulling, and
I've tried twisting, and neither is doing a thing." He paused for a second.
"And Chet's still in dreamland. I don't think we can hope for any help from
him."
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"Frank, I-I think I've got a little slack," Callie said. "When he started
tying us up, I
remembered something you had told me about trying to keep my hands as far
apart as possible." Callie grimaced. "It hurt like anything, but I tried to
keep the pressure up.
What do I do now?"
"Press your wrists as close together as you can. Try to make one of those
loops big enough to work your hand free," Frank said.
Callie twisted in her bonds as she strained to
I
get loose.
"Ugh," whispered Joe. "I cut myself that time." He worked against the wires on
his wrists some more. "Hmm. I thought bleeding might help-might get my hand
slippery. But it's just making things sticky."
Frank was still rubbing his sweat-soaked wrists together when he felt Callie
resting her face against his shoulder. Her brown hair tickled the side of his
face, but she didn't say anything. Then he felt the first spot of wetness hit
his shirt. She was trying hard to hide it, but she was crying.
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"C'mon, Callie," Frank whispered. "You've got to keep trying. You're our best
shot."
"I've rubbed my wrists raw, and it's no good." Her voice broke. "I was wrong,
Frank. I
can't get loose."
"Callie, you can," Frank said quietly. "Now, give it another shot."
He could feel her blinking the tears away.
"Okay."
"Relax. Just let your hands hang there for a second." Frank could feel her
shoulder loosen up.
"Good. Press your wrists together. Don't bunch them up." Frank felt her move
beside him.
"Now, keep your right hand -limp, and see if you can move one of those wire
loops down. Come on," he breathed into her ear. "Just slow and easy."
Callie's breath came in little sobs of effort. "Frank? Frank? I think I felt
something slip!"
"Guys," said Frank, "I want you to give Callie as much slack as possible. Lean
in toward her. Tony? Can you keep Chet from lolling over on her?"
"Okay," Tony said. "Come here, Chet, old man. "
"I-I've got one of the loops," Callie said breathlessly. "It's coming down,
it's coming . .
. it's off!"
"Way to go, Callie!" said Tony.
"I don't believe it," said Joe, mortified. "All us
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guys working our tails off to get loose, and we've got to depend on a girl to
get us out of this mess!" Callie laughed shakily. "Hey, you should be glad you
agreed to let me come along!"
"That's right, Joe," Prank said with a grin. "Watch how you talk to Callie.
She may just decide to leave you here." He turned to Callie. "Ready for the
next one?"
Even though she'd loosened one loop, Callie still had a long struggle against
Al-
Rousasa's ex pert knot job. No one was sure how long it took, but by the time
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she was almost done, Chet Morton had come groggily back to life. At last,
after a couple of setbacks, Callie finally pulled one shaking hand free.
The job went much faster after that. Soon Callie had freed her other hand and
frantically loosened the bonds that held her to the pillar. She staggered
away, rubbing her wrists, then turned to Frank. She tore at the tape on his
wrists. It didn't give. "I can't get to your hands," she said, her voice going
high.
"There's a Swiss army knife in my pocket,"
Frank said. "Use that."
She dug out the knife and began slicing and sawing at his bonds. Soon he was
free, too.
"Anybody else have a knife?" he asked.
Callie was already at work on Joe. Prank got a pocket knife from Chet and set
him and
Tony free.
"Great!" exclaimed Joe softly, rubbing his
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wrists. "Now let's get out of here and over to Chief Collig. When he sees this
setup, he'll hang Butler's hide out to dry."
Joe rushed to the door, grabbed the handle . . . and swore. "I'm getting tired
of this," he said, twisting the knob with both hands. He turned around. "Guys,
you're not gonna believe it. He locked the door."
"Find the light," Frank ordered. Joe fumbled around until he hit the switch.
His brother examined the lock. Frank's face was grim as he looked up. "Tony,
what did they expect to store in here? Bars of gold? This door is built more
solidly than some vaults I've seen."
"Can't you take the lock apart from the inside?" Callie asked.
"Oh, sure," Frank said. "All I'd need is a cold chisel, or maybe a power drill
to ream out these bolts. All we've got is a Swiss army knife." He glanced
upward. "Of course, there will be a big hole in the ceiling in a few hours."
They all stared up at the bomb. "He didn't even leave the ladder in here."
"It's getting late now," Chet pointed out. "Our folks will start missing us.
Maybe people will come looking."
"Sure," Joe snorted. "And the first place they'll look is the third
subbasement of the mall after hours."
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, keeping this search a secret," Callie said
quietly.
"My
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folks won't suspect anything till morning, when they find the pillows I stuck
under my bed covers. "
"There's got to be a way out of this," Joe said, stalking back and forth. "If
only we could knock that door down."
"Actually, there is a way." Frank stared at the top of the pillar. "We could
blow the door down."
The others followed his gaze to the bomb. "Use that?"
Chet said. "How will we get to it? What if it goes 0ff?"
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