Quickly the wheels which had been unloaded were stacked back into the truck. Brunner turned sharply upon Jerry Barrows.
"There's your load!" he snapped. "Get going with it!"
"I heard," Jerry Barrows retorted coldly, "but I'm not driving that truck out of here tonight. I'm through!"
"We'll see about that!" Brunner came toward him menacingly.
The boy cringed in terror but stood his ground.
"I've been thinking it over," he said determinedly. "I'd rather go to jail than keep on as I have. I've driven my last truck load of stolen wheels!"
Brunner caught him roughly by the shoulder.
"You're yellow!" he sneered. "But I know how to handle your kind. I'll just let your father hear that his son has become a thief! How will you like that?"
All color had drained from the boy's face. In the light from the workmen's torches, it appeared almost ghostly.
"You know it will just about kill my father if he learns the truth!"
The boy hesitated, seemingly almost on the verge of giving in. Then he threw back his head defiantly.
"No, I've made up my mind! I'm through for good!"
Without warning, Brunner's fist shot out. He struck the boy squarely under the chin. Jerry Barrows' knees crumpled beneath him and he sagged to the floor.
Brunner turned to the others who stood watching.
"Then back to your work!" Brunner commanded. "Clear the building of every scrap of evidence."
Penny was horrified at the scene she had witnessed. Jerry Barrows lay so motionless upon the floor that she was afraid he had been seriously injured. She longed to go to his aid, yet dared not make a move lest she betray her presence.
"If only I could get word to the police or to Father!" she thought tensely. "By the time I drive back to Belton City for help it will be too late."
The telephone! If she could but reach the antechamber it might be possible to notify the authorities.
Watching her chance, she tiptoed across the open space to the little room. The men were so occupied with their work that they did not glance in her direction. No sound betrayed her.
Penny reached the chamber in safety, and quietly closed the door. It was dark inside and at first she could not locate the telephone. But after groping about, she found it on the wall.