Amos's Killer Concert Caper Read Online Free PDF Page B

think we’re locked in.”
    â€œWhat? We can’t be locked in. I have a date with Melissa in”—Amos looked at his watch—“exactly thirteen minutes.” He tried the door. It wouldn’t budge. His shoulders drooped. “I knew it,” he said. “It never fails. Every time I go along with one of your stupid plans, something goes wrong.”
    Dunc was studying the ceiling.
    â€œAre you listening to me? The girl of my dreams is out there, and I can’t get to her. My life is ruined.”
    Dunc stood on the chair. He pulled on the air-conditioner vent. It came loose in his hands.
    â€œI hope you don’t think I’m going to climb up there.” Amos backed away from him. “You can just include me out. This is a rented outfit.”
    â€œSuit yourself.” Dunc jumped and grabbed the edge where the vent used to be. He pulled himself up and in. He turned and looked down. “Plenty of room in here for two.”
    Amos sat in the chair. He looked at his flowers, thought about Melissa, and sighed. “She’ll wait outside for a while and then realize she’s been stood up. It’ll break her heart. She’ll probably go straight home and cry her eyes out. It’ll scar her for life.” He stood on the chair and pulled himself up into the shaft.
    â€œI thought you weren’t coming.” Dunc was already a few feet down the shaft.
    Amos scrambled over the top of him. “Do you think I’d let Melissa wind up a total wreck over this?”
    â€œWait up, Amos. How do you know which direction to take?”
    â€œI can hear talking. They must be letting people in now. We’ll head in this direction until we find another vent, drop out, and find Melissa.”
    They crawled in the dark passage for what seemed to Amos like years.
    â€œMaybe we should have turned left at that last side shaft,” Dunc said.
    Amos sat down. “It’s no use. We’ll never get out of here in time for the concert.”
    â€œWait.” Dunc started moving. “I hear music.”
    â€œThat’s just great. They’ve already started without us.”
    â€œCome on, Amos. We’ll move toward the music. The louder it gets, the closer we are to the auditorium. There are bound to be vents there somewhere.”
    They crawled until the music was so loud, they could hardly hear each other talk.
    Dunc stopped and yelled, “I found a vent, but I can’t get the cover off.”
    Amos helped, but they couldn’t budge it. Dunc studied the situation. He knew this might be their last chance.
    â€œWait, Amos. Is that Melissa I see down there?”
    Amos pressed his face to the vent. “Where? I don’t see anything.”
    â€œRight there. In the front row with Biff Fastrack.”
    That’s all it took. Amos dived at the vent. His face crashed through it, and he found himself looking down at the stage. He would have landed on his head right in the center of the stage, except his luck cut in and the tails of his tuxedo caught the sharp edge of the air-conditioner shaft. He hung there, suspended in midair, swinging back and forth like a chandelier in front of a packed house.

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    â€œThanks for getting me down. I was starting to get dizzy up there.”
    â€œNo problem.” Roy grinned. “Luckily the song we were playing was called ‘Don’t Keep Me Hanging.’ The audience thought you were part of the show. I’m just sorry you had to wait until intermission so we could close the curtain. What were you two doing up there, anyway?”
    Dunc pulled the insurance papers out of his shirt. “We know who’s behind all the mysterious things that have been happening to your band.”
    â€œYou do?”
    Dunc nodded and held out Mange’s policy. “Take a look at this. Mange gets a pile of insurance money each time you guys don’t play.”
    Roy stared at the policy in