Secret of the Red Arrow (15 page)

“B-list?” Chet muttered.

Sanford looked at Joe and me and said, “Well? Don’t you want your job instructions?”

I glanced over at Chet, who looked like he’d just been kicked in the stomach.

“No, thank you, sir,” I said, standing up. “It’s either all of us or none of us.”

Joe stared at me before jumping up from his seat too. “Yeah,” he said. “Come on, Chet, let’s go.”

“Are you guys crazy?” Lindsay cried as the three of us headed for the door. “Do you realize how amazing this party will be? You never know who you might meet!”

“If the kids are anything like you,” Joe mumbled, “that’s what we’re afraid of.”

I wasn’t sure whether Sierra or the Peytons had heard Joe, and I didn’t want to find out. All I wanted to do was get out of that house ASAP!

“B-list,” Chet kept repeating once we were outside. “Why do you think Lindsay put me on the B-list?”

“
B
for ‘bodacious,’ dude,” Joe said, laughing. “That’s you!”

Chet cracked a smile.

“Forget about Princess Lindsay, Chet,” I said. “I heard Bay Academy kids can be snooty—but that one takes the cake.”

“Wrong!” Chet declared. He pulled a squished iced pastry from his jacket pocket. “I took the cake—on our way out!”

“Oh, snap!” Joe laughed.

As we walked to my car, I had no trouble forgetting about Lindsay, but Sierra kept popping into my head. Then, as if Joe had read my mind . . .

“I saw you watching that Sierra, Frank,” he said with a grin.

“You never miss a beat, do you?” I smirked.

Joe shrugged and said, “Just saying!”

Leaving the sprawling Peyton mansion behind us, we walked down the flagstone path toward the private parking lot. I could see my car in the distance right where I’d parked it. But before we could get to my secondhand fuel-efficient sedan, we had to pass a parking lot full of luxury SUVs and sports cars.

“Boats and cars,” I sighed. “How many fancy toys can one family have?”

“Not enough if you’re a Peyton,” Chet said. “Which ride do you think is Empress Lindsay’s?”

Joe pointed to a red sports convertible whose vanity plate read
LUV2SHOP
. “I’ll take a wild guess and say that one!” he chuckled.

Chet whistled through his teeth as we went to check out the shiny car. The top was down, so we got a good look.

“Black leather seating,” I observed as the three of us walked slowly around the car. “MP3 output . . .”

“Yeah, and I’ll bet that’s a heated steering wheel,” Chet added.

“That’s not all it has, you guys,” Joe called.

Glancing up, I saw my brother staring at the car door. He didn’t look impressed. Just dead serious.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Without saying a word, Joe pointed to the door. I turned to see what he was pointing at. That’s when my jaw practically hit the ground—because scratched across the gleaming red door were the angry words:

RICH WITCH!

READ ALL THE MYSTERIES IN THE

HARDY BOYS ADVENTURES:

#1
SECRET OF THE RED ARROW

#2
MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM HEIST

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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First Aladdin hardcover edition February 2013

Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.

Library of Congress Control Number 2012953643

ISBN 978-1-4424-6585-5 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4424-4615-1 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-4424-4619-9 (eBook)