The End of the Trail by Franklin W. Dixon

idea where that truck came from. Looked to me like you boys had it hidden away in my barn.”
    â€œWe had it hidden away?” Joe shouted. “Boy, you’ve got a lot of nerve! Not only did you steal an armored truck full of millions of dollars in cash, but now you’re blaming it on us? We were taking it to the authorities!”
    â€œSave it for the jailhouse,” Sheriff McSavage said. “Now, I hear you have some more folks with you. Are they hiding in the back?”
    â€œNot hiding,” Frank said. “Just going along for the ride.”
    Quentin walked to the back of the truck and opened the door. Phil Cohen came stumbling out on wobbly legs.
    â€œGee, do you think you guys could drive any worse?” he asked shakily. “I feel like I’ve been inside a blender for the last fifteen minutes.” He noticed Quentin standing there with a rifle in his hands. “Wait a minute, what’s this guy doing here? I thought we were getting out of town.”
    Jack Mason climbed out after Phil. “You again, Quentin?” he said. “I dislike you more every time I see you.”
    â€œThe feeling is mutual,” the man said with a smile.
    Jack helped Loraleigh out of the truck. “Oh, no. We’re still here,” she said.
    Biff pushed a crutch over the edge and used it toleverage his way back to the ground. “At least we tried,” he said.
    â€œThere’s a jail right up the street. It’s old but it does the trick,” Sheriff Brickfield said. “I think we can all walk there. Even the kid on the crutches.”
    â€œBut we didn’t do anything,” Joe said. “You must know something about what’s going on in this town!”
    â€œOh, I’m sure he knows something about it,” Frank said. “I bet you’ve been involved in this crime all along, haven’t you, Sheriff?”
    Sheriff Brickfield frowned. “Are you accusing me of being derelict in my duties as an officer of the law?” he asked.
    â€œYou bet I am!” Frank said.
    â€œRemind me to throw away the key after I lock you up,” the sheriff said, but he didn’t seem particularly upset.
    â€œYou don’t have to be shy, Paul,” Bill McSavage said to Brickfield. “These boys already know so much that we might as well tell them the rest. Everybody in town that we could trust was part of the plan, and we’re all splitting the cash from the robbery. Of course, there were a few people that we couldn’t trust.” He gave a meaningful glance at Jack and Rhonda.
    â€œSo what are you going to do with us now?” Jack asked. “Keep us locked up in jail forever? That jail isn’t even big enough for all of us.”
    â€œIt is if we cram you into the cells tight enough,” Sheriff Brickfield growled.
    â€œBesides,” Bill said, “that’s not really where we intend to keep you. We had planned to bury the truck after we had moved all the cash out of it. There’s no reason we have to bury it empty.”
    â€œDoes he mean what I think he means?” Biff asked.
    â€œYeah, I think he does,” Frank said.
    â€œYou’ll never get away with it,” Joe proclaimed.
    â€œIf there’s any justice in the universe,” Jack Mason said, “I’ll come back to haunt you for the rest of your life.”
    Bill snorted. “You’ve already haunted me since you left the casino. Trying to be my conscience.”
    â€œIt was a dirty job,” Jack said, “but somebody had to do it. Guess I didn’t do it well enough.”
    â€œInsulting me to the last, Jack?” Bill said.
    Joe noticed something out of the side of his eye while everyone else was watching the confrontation between Bill and Jack. Sheriff Brickfield had left the front door of his police car open, and there was an open pair of handcuffs on the floor in front of the driver’s seat. Joe carefully edged