. got me,” gasped Gruener. “Shoot. Save me.”
The girl ignored him. She left the shelter of the tree, went running to the pier.
“Wait a moment, Miss Dennim,” the Avenger said. He was there again, standing on the edge of the pier.
She said nothing. She didn’t even slow. She simply pulled the trigger.
Benson dodged to one side. He hung for several long seconds on the edge of the pier, then tumbled down into the chill water.
The girl ran out onto the pier, cast off one of the launches and jumped into it. She got the engine going, went roaring away from there.
White foam spewed up in her wake. Emmy Lou had no clear idea where she was going. Her only objective was to get away from there. Away from all this.
She became aware, after a moment, of a new sound behind her. It was another motorboat engine.
“Could that be Gruener?” she asked herself. “No, that guy had him pinned down. Then it has to be someone who wants me.”
She increased the speed of the launch.
The sound of pursuit did not diminish.
Finally she took a look back. Yes, there were the lights of another launch. And it seemed to be closing the distance between the two of them.
She fired a shot at her pursuer.
The Avenger kept his head low behind the windscreen of the motorboat. A bullet went spinning high overhead, doing no harm.
He’d swum under the pier after his unexpected plunge and come up beside the two remaining launches just as Emmy Lou had gone speeding away. He picked himself a boat and gave chase.
“That is one very self-sufficient young lady,” he told himself.
He was closing the gap between them.
This apparently annoyed the girl. She was looking back over her shoulder more and more, the lights of the Avenger’s boat showed him that.
Now, holding the wheel with one hand, she turned and stood up in the seat. She took more careful aim with her gun.
There was something looming up ahead in the fog-smeared water. Something big, drifting with no lights. An old wreck of a scow which had apparently drifted free of its moorings somewhere.
“Look out!” shouted Benson. “Look out right in front of you!”
She didn’t hear him above the roar of the two engines. Very deliberately she took aim.
But she never fired.
Her launch hit the derelict scow.
The boat seemed to climb up into the night. Straight up on a geyser of spray. Then it began to wobble and spin. The girl, blond hair streaming, was thrown from the craft.
She came plummeting down and smashed onto the scow.
Then the boat landed. It chewed the wooden scow to pieces.
Jagged pieces of wood tumbled upward, foam shot up.
There was an explosion next. Gas had spilled out of the motorboat tank and there’d been a spark. Just one spark, but it set the whole boat exploding. The water shook. The foam seemed to catch fire.
The Avenger turned his launch back toward the shore. There was no need to wait for the girl. He’d seen, in a final flash of fire, what the explosion had done to her.
Smitty was sitting on the pier, dangling his feet over the edge. “Geeze, that was something awful,” he said as Benson tied up the launch. “How about the girl?”
The Avenger shook his head.
“Too bad.” Smitty cleared his throat. “Well, anyhow, I got the monkey who was running this little factory here. He’s trussed up over there.”
“This looks to be the place where they manufactured the death machines.”
“Yeah, and I recognize this guy. Name’s Otto Gruener.”
“Certainly, I know who he is,” said Benson. “Very key man in our government’s project.”
“So they thought. Now it seems he’s got another government he’s fonder of.” Smitty glanced out at the Bay. The last of the flames were dying away.
CHAPTER XXIII
Touchdown
Cole shoved Nellie to the floor an instant before the window glass smashed.
He was heading there himself when the slug hit him in the side.
“What the hell!” Plaut flipped himself over behind his desk.
There was only that one
The girl ignored him. She left the shelter of the tree, went running to the pier.
“Wait a moment, Miss Dennim,” the Avenger said. He was there again, standing on the edge of the pier.
She said nothing. She didn’t even slow. She simply pulled the trigger.
Benson dodged to one side. He hung for several long seconds on the edge of the pier, then tumbled down into the chill water.
The girl ran out onto the pier, cast off one of the launches and jumped into it. She got the engine going, went roaring away from there.
White foam spewed up in her wake. Emmy Lou had no clear idea where she was going. Her only objective was to get away from there. Away from all this.
She became aware, after a moment, of a new sound behind her. It was another motorboat engine.
“Could that be Gruener?” she asked herself. “No, that guy had him pinned down. Then it has to be someone who wants me.”
She increased the speed of the launch.
The sound of pursuit did not diminish.
Finally she took a look back. Yes, there were the lights of another launch. And it seemed to be closing the distance between the two of them.
She fired a shot at her pursuer.
The Avenger kept his head low behind the windscreen of the motorboat. A bullet went spinning high overhead, doing no harm.
He’d swum under the pier after his unexpected plunge and come up beside the two remaining launches just as Emmy Lou had gone speeding away. He picked himself a boat and gave chase.
“That is one very self-sufficient young lady,” he told himself.
He was closing the gap between them.
This apparently annoyed the girl. She was looking back over her shoulder more and more, the lights of the Avenger’s boat showed him that.
Now, holding the wheel with one hand, she turned and stood up in the seat. She took more careful aim with her gun.
There was something looming up ahead in the fog-smeared water. Something big, drifting with no lights. An old wreck of a scow which had apparently drifted free of its moorings somewhere.
“Look out!” shouted Benson. “Look out right in front of you!”
She didn’t hear him above the roar of the two engines. Very deliberately she took aim.
But she never fired.
Her launch hit the derelict scow.
The boat seemed to climb up into the night. Straight up on a geyser of spray. Then it began to wobble and spin. The girl, blond hair streaming, was thrown from the craft.
She came plummeting down and smashed onto the scow.
Then the boat landed. It chewed the wooden scow to pieces.
Jagged pieces of wood tumbled upward, foam shot up.
There was an explosion next. Gas had spilled out of the motorboat tank and there’d been a spark. Just one spark, but it set the whole boat exploding. The water shook. The foam seemed to catch fire.
The Avenger turned his launch back toward the shore. There was no need to wait for the girl. He’d seen, in a final flash of fire, what the explosion had done to her.
Smitty was sitting on the pier, dangling his feet over the edge. “Geeze, that was something awful,” he said as Benson tied up the launch. “How about the girl?”
The Avenger shook his head.
“Too bad.” Smitty cleared his throat. “Well, anyhow, I got the monkey who was running this little factory here. He’s trussed up over there.”
“This looks to be the place where they manufactured the death machines.”
“Yeah, and I recognize this guy. Name’s Otto Gruener.”
“Certainly, I know who he is,” said Benson. “Very key man in our government’s project.”
“So they thought. Now it seems he’s got another government he’s fonder of.” Smitty glanced out at the Bay. The last of the flames were dying away.
CHAPTER XXIII
Touchdown
Cole shoved Nellie to the floor an instant before the window glass smashed.
He was heading there himself when the slug hit him in the side.
“What the hell!” Plaut flipped himself over behind his desk.
There was only that one
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