Disaster for Hire by Franklin W. Dixon

meet him.
    "The fortress is just a little bit ahead and to our right," Joe reported. "We heard some firing from that direction."
    "Great. Let's get someplace where we can see how it lays. If we can surprise the guys attacking the tower, maybe we can break through before they know what's going on."
    In front of them the ground sloped gently, but to their right it became steeper. From the echoing gunfire, the fight was going on just on the other side of that hill.
    "Let's get ourselves to the top, and see what we can," Atlas said. They began to climb, slowly and cautiously, not knowing how close they were to the action beyond. At the summit, they looked down into a little valley, beyond which was a somewhat higher hill. "I guess that's your fortress, up on that peak over there."
    "That's it." Joe squinted. "But we're too far away to see what's up."
    Atlas stood, cradling the AK-47. "Let's get moving. We don't want to find ourselves pinned between the border patrol and these guys."
    Fifteen minutes later, they were about a hundred yards from the tower, lying behind a dense thicket of thorny scrub. Joe poked his head up to look around.
    "You can see a little bit of the road, off to the right and beyond the tower. The doorway leading to the top of the tower is over on the left."
    Atlas raised his head and scanned the area. "Looks like there's a bunch grouped around that doorway. I think they're going to try storming the stairs."
    Joe said, "We'd better hurry up. I don't think Prynne and Phil can hold off much longer."
    The remaining members of the attack team were scattered in front of the tower, taking potshots at the top from their places of concealment.
    Atlas frowned. "You see the two over on the left of their line? The ones closest to the entrance? We might just be able to take them without the others realizing it."
    The men in question shared the same cover, a large outcropping of stone. They were separated from the rest of the group.
    Joe nodded. "If we can get their guns, we could charge the ones trying to storm the entrance."
    They dropped on their bellies and crawled around the dense bushes, Atlas cradling the gun against his chest. To Joe, the crawl seemed endless—if any of the enemy just happened to look back for a second, matters could get very unpleasant very fast. But the men behind the rock kept their eyes on the tower.
    When they came close enough to the two heavies, Atlas looked back at Joe, who nodded, scarcely breathing. Then he sprang forward, with Joe and Clea close behind.
    Before the gunmen had time to move, Atlas was on them. He clubbed the first man on the back of the head with the automatic weapon. The other guy spun around, trying to get his gun into position, but Joe launched himself from a crouch to knock him down.
    Joe grabbed his opponent, pulling him forward. Then he brought his right knee up into the man's jaw. The gunman's eyes went glassy, and he rolled onto his side. It was over in a few seconds.
    None of the attackers had seen or heard a thing. Atlas removed the unconscious men's guns and ammunition. Joe took one AK-47 and passed the other to Clea, who took it reluctantly.
    "It's set for automatic fire," instructed Joe. "Just squeeze the trigger to shoot. Remember: fire up in the air. This is just for effect, to scare those guys away from the stairway. Ready?"
    Clea looked pale, but she nodded. "Even if I can't shoot, I can scream."
    They grinned at each other.
    Atlas slapped another magazine into his gun. "Right, here we go. Make a lot of noise. Joe, you sing out and make sure your friends don't mistake us for bad guys."
    At a signal from Atlas, they sprang out from behind their shelter, guns pointed high, racing for the tower.
    Five men knelt near the archway when the chaos exploded. They looked up to see three screaming maniacs practically on top of them, firing automatic weapons. Forgetting that they, too, had guns, they took to their heels in a total panic.
    Joe Hardy fired his AK-47 and