DROP IT, DR. DOOM,” THE GUNMAN commanded Dr. K. “Or should I say Dr. Doomed.”
He let out a fiendish laugh. His voice was unnaturally deep and electronic, like the way people in witness protection sound on true crime shows when the producers change their voices and stick them in the shadows to hide their identities. I had a pretty good hunch it wasn’t the gunman’s real voice either. He or she had to be using one of the small, portable voice changers spy shops sell online.
His voice wasn’t all he was hiding. Once the initial shock at his appearance wore off and I took a closer look at his face, I could tell he was wearing a mask and fake beard. It was like he was a parody of Aleksei’s wild mountain man legend. Only unlike Aleksei, this wild man meant us harm.
I couldn’t tell who the perp behind the fake face and voice was. I just knew it wasn’t the same one who’d broken into Dr. K’s station and chased us through the cave. Because this one didn’t reek of skunk. The question was, were Beard Face and Stinky partners, or was there more than one would-be gem thief on the loose on Black Bear Mountain?
I could tell from how tightly Dr. K was gripping his tranquilizer gun that he was more worried about Beard Face’s revolver than his identity.
“You’ve got one shot of a low-velocity dart that you’ll have to shoot uphill.” It seems Beard Face had noticed the tranquilizer gun as well. “I’ve got the high ground and twelve high-powered slugs to go with it. Think you can hit me with that little pop gun of yours before I put lead into both your friends here?”
I hated to admit it, but he was right. We’d been outmaneuvered.
“He’s got the drop on us, Doc. Better do as he says,” I told Max.
The features of his mask didn’t change, but I could hear the smile in his mechanized voice. “You can call me the Ghost of the Wild Man.”
“Aleksei wasn’t a coward who pointed guns at teenagers,” Max shot back.
“Shut up and throw me the garnets,” Beard Face snapped. “I know you’ve got them.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Max bluffed, his voice shaking.
Beard Face cocked the hammers on both guns. “You can give them to me voluntarily, or I can take them off you.”
There was an earsplitting BANG as his right trigger finger twitched. Splinters of wood erupted from the tree two feet to Max’s left. I didn’t know who the self-proclaimed Ghost of the Wild Man was, but he wasn’t shooting ghost bullets.
Frank looked at me. I didn’t want to, but I nodded. The gems were valuable, but not as valuable as our lives. Frank pulled the bag with the demantoids from his pocket.
“Come and get them,” he said.
My heart pounded inside my chest. If we could lure Beard Face close enough, we might get an opening to disarm him.
“Nice try, kid. You’re gonna toss them on the ground for the raccoon,” commanded the mechanized voice.
Frank gritted his teeth. And then did what the gunman said.
“Fetch, Ricky.”
The raccoon didn’t seem particularly thrown by the voice changer and scurried down the hill. I sneered at the varmint as it snatched the baggie in its teeth. First my trail mix, then my jerky, now Aleksei’s garnets. This furry little masked thief was really getting on my nerves. Ricky must have known what I was thinking, because he hissed in my direction on his way back up the hill. I hissed back.
Ricky’s master holstered one of his pistols, took the bag from Ricky, and held it up to the light. Sparkles of brilliance and color washed over them. “At last! The cannibal’s gems are ours!”
“Aleksei’s not a cannibal. If anyone on this mountain is a monster, it’s you,” Max shouted.
Beard Face took a few steps closer and tossed three double-looped plastic zip ties on the ground. They were the same kind police sometimes use as disposable handcuffs.
“Help each other cuff your hands behind your backs.”
“You’re going to have to make us,” I said.
Beard Face nodded at the fresh bullet hole in the tree next to Max and cocked the hammer on the pistol a second time. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
Max put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Let’s do what he says, boys. I can’t stand the idea of you coming out here to help me and getting badly hurt because of it.”
If looks were laser beams, I would have zapped Beard Face right off the mountain. They’re not, though, so we were stuck doing what he ordered. I intentionally left Frank’s cuffs a little loose to give us a fighting chance at escape, and I had a feeling he’d done the same to Max. Beard Face was a step ahead of us, though, tightening each tie once our hands were zipped behind our backs.
“Now each of you take a seat with your backs to that big tree,” he ordered, jamming a pistol into Dr. K’s side to let us know he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“You can’t just leave us here in the middle of the wilderness cuffed to a tree without food or water,” Frank said as Beard Face tied us to the tree with a length of rope.
“You brought this on yourselves by meddling.” Beard Face gave the knot an extra yank to tighten it, then patted the butt of each pistol. “Glad you didn’t make me use these. I hate violence.”
It sounded so ridiculous coming out of Beard Face’s mouth, I couldn’t help laughing. “You could have fooled us. Since we got here, we’ve been assaulted with a tree, turned into bear bait, chased off a cliff, shot at, and tied up at gunpoint.”
“Necessary evils,” Beard Face replied. “When we found out the famous Hardy boys were coming to help Kroopnik, we had to put contingency plans in motion to stop you from snooping around.”
The “we” confirmed what I already suspected: Beard Face wasn’t acting alone.
“Are you and your stinky partner so scared of a couple of teenagers that you have to hide behind a phony voice and a ridiculous mask?” I snapped.
“This ridiculous disguise of mine is what’s keeping you alive. Being tied to a tree is better than being buried under one, which would have been the alternative if you’d seen my face.”
So much for my plan to bait the perp into giving up his identity. For the time being, it looked like solving the mystery might mean burying the detectives.
“As long as you sit tight and don’t try anything funny while I make my getaway, I’ll even call in a tip that you’re here,” Beard Face said, starting back up the hill.
“How thoughtful of you,” Frank hissed. “You’re practically a hero.”
Beard Face ignored his sarcasm. “Always did have a soft spot for helpless woodland creatures. Come on, Ricky. We’re gonna be rich.” Our perp turned his back to us one last time before disappearing from view. “Just try not to get yourselves eaten by anything while we’re gone.”