The Demolition Mission Read Free Page A

doorway, smiling at Frank and Joe.
    â€œI’ve read a lot about you in the newspapers. My name is Katie Bratton,” she said. “I’m Felix’s test driver.”
    â€œAnd she’s one of the best,” Felix Stock added. “When someone wants a new racing car pushed to the limit to see what it’ll do, Katie’s the driver. She’s been with the Saurion project since the beginning. And she’ll be at the wheel on the race Saturday night.”
    â€œDid you drive the Saurion?” Katie asked the Hardys.
    â€œWe ran it around the track a couple of times,” Joe said, smiling at Katie. She was a small woman. Joe guessed that she was about five feet, barely tall enough to see over the steering wheel.
    â€œDid you ever have any trouble with the way it handled?” Frank asked Katie.
    â€œThe Saurion’s absolutely the best tracking car on the road,” she answered. “It doesn’t pull. It won’t even vibrate, and we’re talking at about two hundred miles an hour.” A puzzled expression came over her face. “Why, is it out of alignment or something?”
    Frank told Katie about their experience on the track.
    â€œYou dropped the transmission?” Katie said, frowning at Joe.
    â€œI probably only tore out a gear or two,” Joe admitted sheepishly.
    â€œActually, you tore out all six,” Felix Stock said. “It’ll need a whole new transmission.”
    â€œAre you always that hard on your cars?” Katie asked Joe.
    â€œOf course not,” Joe replied. “Like my brother said, the Saurion was totally out of control.”
    Katie nodded thoughtfully. “It’s never done anything like that.” She paused for a moment, then said, “As Felix has probably told you, there have been some very strange things going on around here.” She handed Joe a folded piece of paper. “I found this in my locker when I got here today.”
    Joe opened the note and saw that it was made up of letters cut from newspapers. “ ‘The faster you drive,’ ” Joe read aloud, “ ‘the sooner you die!’ ”
    â€œSomeone’s idea of a joke,” Katie said with a shrug. Frank noticed that she didn’t sound scared at all.
    â€œThat’s the last straw,” Felix announced, turning to Katie. “You may think these incidents are practical jokes, but I don’t. There’s not going to be any race. I can’t let you risk it.”
    â€œCome on, Felix,” Katie said firmly. “You’re not going to back down now, after all you’ve been through to get the Saurion ready.”
    â€œI am if someone is really trying to sabotage the car,” Stock said stubbornly. “I’m going to call Mr. Ota over at Miyagi Motors and suggest we postpone the race.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what the person who’s behind these threats wants you to do,” Frank pointed out. “Why don’t you let us do a little investigating first. This is only Thursday.”
    â€œIf you cancel now,” Joe added, “whoever is doing these things will stop. The more threats or sabotage attempts, the more likely he’ll be to trip himself up.”
    â€œI’m no detective,” Katie said, “but if I were looking for someone who might want to sabotage the Saurion, I’d choose that project engineer over at Miyagi Motors.”
    â€œWhat makes you think it’s him?” Frank asked.
    â€œI’ve met the guy,” she replied. “His name is Takeo Ota. He sounded to me as if he was against having the race.”
    â€œThat wasn’t my impression,” Felix Stock said. “He told me he was looking forward to the race.”
    â€œI’m convinced Mr. Ota’s afraid his Sata Speedster will lose,” Katie insisted. “And a loss would hurt Miyagi’s sales.”
    â€œWe’ll talk to him,”