Full Moon Attack
A Drake Dallas Adventure
Published by PNC Publishing at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 N.C. Pennington
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Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Cover photos by: Adrian van Leen and Dimitri Castrique, SXC.
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Full Moon Attack
A Drake Dallas Adventure
Chapter 1
On Halloween night, Drake sat with his cousin Alex at his uncle’s pizza shop.
“I can’t eat anymore,” Alex said.
Drake picked up one of the last two pieces. “Then if I eat this, I win.”
Alex just groaned. They were having a contest to see who could eat the most. Drake was eating his eleventh piece.
Uncle Lenny, wearing a white apron with a few smudges of pizza sauce, finished checking on the other customers and walked over to them.
“Can I get you boys some more pizza?” he asked smiling. Neither one got a chance to respond.
The front door opened and the little bell over it tinkled softly. Three people walked in dressed in black. They were too big to be kids trick-or-treating. Black ski masks were pulled over their faces. All were carrying crowbars.
“Out!” the biggest one yelled at the customers. He raised his crowbar over his head, and cracked it down on the nearest table. It split in two.
Uncle Lenny ran over near them. Drake and Alex got to their feet.
“Trick or treat?” Uncle Lenny said as he smiled weakly at them. From the back the two college girls who had been making pizzas screamed. They ran for the back door.
“Happy Halloween,” one of them snarled. With his crowbar, he smashed the cash register. He ripped the drawer open and scooped out the cash. Uncle Lenny reached for the phone. One of the steel bars beat him to it. The phone was smashed to splinters.
“Boys get the police!”
Drake, as if woken from a trance, started for the door.
“Move another step, kids, and I’ll smear your brains.”
“Hey, Junior,” one called to one of the others, “The family that was in here and those girls will go to the police themselves, you know.”
“Right. Let’s make this quick.” He looked at Uncle Lenny and then at Drake and Alex. “You hold still and don’t cause no trouble, okay?”
The three masked men split up. One smashed the front windows in. Glass shards went everywhere, and the noise was deafening. The other two smashed counter tops, the oven, the freezer, and the dough machine.
Three minutes later they were gone. Drake sat stunned, his ears ringing. Alex stared at his dad; his mouth hung open like a fish.
“Why?” Uncle Lenny said to no one. He just buried his face in his hands.
Blue and red pulsing lights filled the area as police cars pulled up. Several police walked in.
“You’re too late,” Uncle Lenny said.
“The ambulance is on its way. Was anyone hurt?” the police asked.
Uncle Lenny shook his head. “Emptied the till. Smashed everything. Left.”
“How many of them were there?”
“Three.”
“Hmm. Halloween prank? We had a little of this last year,” the policeman said. “Did you boys see anything else?”
Drake and Alex shook their heads.
“I can answer any more questions you have. They need to be getting home,” Uncle Lenny said.
The policeman nodded. “If we need you, we can catch you after school.”
Drake and Alex walked out into the cool air outside. The light of the full moon cast an eerie light about. They unchained their bikes from the bike rack.
Drake and Alex didn’t even say goodbye to each other. They were still stunned. Alex got on his bike and moved off. Drake watched his cousin pedal away. Then slowly he moved away from the pulsing red and blue lights too.
What just happened still didn’t seem real. Somehow it didn’t make sense. Throwing eggs was a Halloween prank. Spray painting was a Halloween prank. Total destruction wasn’t. That just didn’t fit. Those three were men, not just teenagers out messing around. They were big, strong men.
No way it was just a prank, and it wasn’t a robbery either. If they had wanted to rob, they would’ve used guns and left right after getting the money. This was something else. Something more sinister, and the policeman didn’t seem interested in really figuring it out. Drake pushed his bike into the garage at home, and went in the side door.
“Hey mom,” he said as he walked by where she sat at the kitchen table.
“Hello,” she said. “Don’t you have homework still?”
“Aw, mom, I had it done hours ago.” He picked up a potato chip from the bowl in the middle of the table. “Has Aunt Ginny called you?”
“No. Why?”
“Nothing really. Some of trick-or-treat action happened at Uncle Lenny’s. I figured she may have called to talk to you about. You know how she is.”
“Action?”
“Just a little.” He didn’t want to worry her too much. As it was, she had enough on her mind at any one time already. “See you in the morning.”
Chapter 2
After school the next day, Drake and Alex were riding their bikes side-by-side. They stopped at Alex’s house. In the driveway was a new-looking maroon sedan with the name of some insurance company written on the front doors in little white letters.
“Looks like the insurance man is here,” Alex said.
“No kidding. How’d you figure that out?” Drake asked. Alex pretended to punch him in the arm. Together they went inside. Uncle Lenny’s home office door was open, so the two stopped outside.
“I’m sorry,” the insurance man said.
“But Gale, you wrote this policy. How could I not be covered for this?”
“I don’t know. Look, I’ll do some more checking around. This doesn’t seem to be right,” Gale, the insurance guy, said. He snapped his leather briefcase shut and stood up. Uncle Lenny and Gale shook hands, and he brushed passed the boys as he left.
Drake and Alex stepped forward.
“What was that about, dad?” Alex asked.
Uncle Lenny shook his head. “Not good news. It seems that my business insurance doesn’t cover what happened last night.”
Drake screwed his face up. “What do you mean? How could you not be covered?”
“Well,” Uncle Lenny said. “It seems that when Gale wrote the insurance policy for me he thought that the man who owned the strip mall where I was located had the property insured against vandalism.”
“And the landlord doesn’t have you insured for that?” Drake asked.
“No.”
“So Gale messed up?” Alex asked.
“No. Gale and I are friends. Recently the strip mall was sold. Probably the new owner didn’t keep the vandalism insurance.”
“So does that mean you’re out of business?” Drake asked.
Uncle Lenny sighed. “No. I have some money saved. I can open again with my own money if I have to.”
“And what if this happens again?” Drake asked.
“Why should it?” Uncle Lenny asked.
“So you think it was just a prank?” Drake asked.
“Well, yes.”
“When was the last time you heard of a prankster that smashed an entire business?” Drake asked.
“What are you getting at?” Alex asked.
“Those three made absolutely sure that they destroyed everything in your shop. Everything. They meant to put you out of business,” Drake said.
“I know,” Uncle Lenny said. “I’ve thought about that, but I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because, who would want to do that to me?”
“You’re saying no one dislikes you in this town.”
Uncle Lenny smiled. “Oh, I get it. I give you a list of my enemies and then you go sleuthing, and then you two thirteen year-old boys find the criminals before the police. Just like Frank and Joe Hardy.”
Drake crossed his arms over his chest. “Seriously, someone disliked you enough to do this.”
“Even if I did have some suspicions, I wouldn’t tell you. You’d go around getting yourselves into trouble.”
“So then you’ll tell your suspicions to the police?” Drake asked.
“No. The police have better leads,” Uncle Lenny said.
“If you won’t tell the police then tell us. We won’t get into trouble.”
Uncle Lenny smiled again. “Promise you won’t pretend you’re the Hardy boys.”
“I promise,” Alex said.
“Well, there’s James Kilbourne. He owns the five Papa’s Pizzas in town and he’s my biggest competitor. I know he wants to own all the restaurants in Middleton. In fact he just gave me an offer to buy Lenny’s Pizza last week. I rejected it.”
Uncle Lenny rubbed his chin. “There’s Danielle Anderson. You remember her; she was a manager at the pizza place until last month. I had to fire her for her . . . uh, drinking problem. She threatened to get back at me.”
There was a pause.
“Anyone else?” Drake asked.
Uncle Lenny stroked his chin thinking. Then he looked up startled.
“What?” Drake asked.
Uncle Lenny looked at him. “Oh, nothing. I just remembered something, but it’s nothing.”
“What?” Drake asked. “Who is it?”
Uncle Lenny looked embarrassed. “Kevin Joslyn. I campaigned hard to get him off the city council. I don’t think he’s ever gotten over it.”
“Anyone else?”
Uncle Lenny shook his head.
Alex shrugged. “I got a new game for my XBox. Want to see?”
“Sure,” Drake said. They walked out of Uncle Lenny’s office. Alex started running up towards his bedroom, but Drake pulled him back by his arm.
“But my game’s up in my room,” Alex protested.
“Never mind your game,” Drake whispered.
Alex’s eyes got wide. “Dad made us promise not to get into trouble. I can see the look in your eyes.”
“Your dad made you promise, but I didn’t say anything,” Drake whispered.
“I don’t want to.” Alex tried to pull away again.
“I haven’t even said what we’re going to do yet.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to do whatever you’re thinking. I’ll get grounded.”
“Come outside where we can talk aloud,” Drake whispered. He dragged Alex out to the driveway.
“You go get in trouble by yourself,” Alex said. Then he plugged his ears and started humming loudly.
“You can be such an idiot!” Drake wrestled him to the ground and pulled his hands off his ears. “Listen to me!”
Alex stopped humming. “Fine. Talk all you want. I’m not paying attention.”
“You know if you don’t help me you’re going to lose your XBox and all your games.”
“Yeah right,” Alex said.
“Someone has it in for your dad. If that someone isn’t caught, he will keep doing what he’s doing until your dad has no money left,” Drake said fiercely.
“How do you know someone has it in for my dad?”
“Think stupid. Last night, were those the actions of someone out to cause a little trouble? Or someone with a violent hatred?”
“So?”
“The police don’t think it’s a big deal. You could tell that last night.”
“So this won’t stop,” Alex said.
“Right. Unless someone catches the bad guys.”
“You mean us two.”
“Are you with me?” Drake asked and held out his hand.
“No,” Alex said.
“Yes you are.” Drake grasped Alex’s hand and pulled him up.
“What do we do now?”
“Your dad mentioned three people that don’t like him. I think the most likely is the owner of the Papa’s Pizzas, Mr. Kilbourne.”
“What a stupid name!” Alex said.
“The restaurant name or the man’s name?”
“Does it matter?”
Drake hopped on his bike. “Nope.”
“Where are you going?”
“Kilborne’s house, of course,” Drake said while pedaling away. Alex jumped on his and pedaled after him.
“Where’s his house?”
“I dunno.”
“Then how are we going to find it?” Alex asked.
Drake skid to a stop in front of a pay phone, one of the few remaining. He pulled the phone book up and flipped it open to the K’s. His finger stopped at Kilbourne.
“There,” he said. “Kilbourne, James - 1411 Manor Way.”
“The rich section,” Alex said.
“What did you expect?” Drake sped away with Alex following.
When they arrived outside the long winding driveway to the Kilbourne house, both were out of breath.
“What do we do if this Kilbourne guy isn’t at home,” Alex asked.
“We shout for joy,” Drake said.
“I thought we wanted—”
Drake interrupted him. “What would we say to him? ‘Uh, excuse me, Mr. Big Shot, did you hire some thugs to smash Lenny’s Pizza?’”
“But aren’t we supposed to be detectives?”
“Get the Hardy boys out of your head. It doesn’t work like that in real life.”
“Okay, so we rode out here for nothing?” Alex asked.
“We could talk to a family member and verify his movements Halloween night,” Drake said.
Alex’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, we could talk to Sarah.”
Drake frowned at his cousin. “She hates you. And she doesn’t like me either. Let’s talk to Tracy.”
“Who’s Tracy?”
Drake pointed at a little girl riding her tricycle down the long blacktopped driving. A miniature license plate was wired to the handlebars, and it read “Tracy.”
“She’s young and innocent. She won’t lie to us.”
“Stupid little girl,” Alex muttered.
“Shut up,” Drake said quietly. Louder to Tracy he said, “Tracy? Is Sarah home?”
Tracy stared at them for a moment, and then shook her head no.
That’s a relief, Drake thought. “Okay, I guess we’ll come back and see her later. Did you have fun trick-or-treating last night?”
Tracy nodded her head.
“Did your dad go with you?”
Again she nodded her head.
“All night long?”
Tracy didn’t answer. She got back on her tricycle and rode back up to the house at a fast pace.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter where he was last night, though,” Drake said.
“Why not?”
“Simple. He wouldn’t have been the one who personally committed the crime. Even if he’s responsible, he could have hired someone a long time ago.”
Tracy had stopped at the top of the driveway near the garage door. From there she just stared at the two boys.
“Wait here,” Drake said. He walked up the driveway. Tracy just stared at him, seeming somewhat frightened, but she didn’t move.
“I told you Sarah’s not here,” she said.
“I know,” Drake said. “Just tell me, where is your dad’s office?”
“Inside,” she said.
“He doesn’t have one somewhere else? Maybe at some office building?”
She shook her head. Then she ran inside leaving the tricycle in the middle of the driveway. Drake quickly walked back to Alex. They got on their bikes and began to pedal away at a leisurely pace.
“Sounds like Mr. Kilbourne’s main office is in his house,” Drake said.
“Why would that matter to you?”
“I have to know where to look.”
Alex stared at him hard. “You’re not going to go in there when your not supposed to, are you?”
“Tonight.”
“Drake! You can’t! It’s not legal.”
“Nor is it legal to smash someone’s pizza shop.”
“You might get caught.”
Drake shrugged. “So what if I do?”
“You’ll be in trouble.”
“Not if I find incriminating evidence before I’m caught.” They stopped in front of the library where some more pay phones were. This time Drake started at the beginning of the book. He found the Andersons.
“There’s no Danielle Anderson listed,” Drake said.
“My dad probably has her phone number,” Alex said.
“No. I don’t want to tip him off to what we’re doing yet. You got fifty cents on you?”
Alex handed him two quarters. Drake put them in the phone. He dialed one of the two “Anderson, D” numbers.
“Hello?” A man’s voice answered.
Taken back by the man’s voice, Drake stammered. “Uh, hi. Uh, Danielle? I mean is Danielle there?”
“Who’s calling?”
“So she is there, right?”
“She can’t come to the phone right now.” The man hung up.
“Bingo,” Drake said. “She’s got a guy with her.”
“What’s the address?”
“6843 N. Hampton.”
Hampton Street was near the library. Alex knew where it was as he used to have a paper route in the area. They pedaled until they came to a big brick building with the number 6843 written on it.
“It’s an apartment building. Now what?” Alex said.
Drake didn’t answer. He walked inside; Alex followed. Next to the elevator were all the little mailboxes. He scanned them until he found the one marked “Anderson.” Above the name the number 411 was written.
“She’s number four eleven. Let’s go,” Drake said. He pushed the button for the elevator. They got on and Drake pushed the button for the fourth floor.
“What are you going to say to her? I don’t think you’re going to find any little girls to talk to.”
“Don’t try to be funny,” Drake said. “I think I’ll scare her.”
“Halloween’s over. And you don’t look scary. You’re just a kid.”
Drake was staring at his shoes. “No,” he said. “If I’ve guessed her type correctly, she’s always scared. Why else wouldn’t she take the phone? I don’t think this will be hard.”
The elevator dinged signaling the fourth floor.
At apartment 411, Drake knocked. From inside a voice came. “Who’s there?”
Drake and Alex looked at each other. “Us,” Drake shouted back. The door opened slightly.
“Who?” It was a middle-aged man with long hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in quite a while.
“I called. Remember?” Drake asked. “I need to talk to Danielle.”
“She’s sleeping.” The door started to close.
Drake thrust his foot in the crack. “Sleeping at this time of day?”
“Hey, look. She’s tired, okay?” The guy said. “Just go away.”
“Away where? The police?”
“What?” The man said. He opened the door a bit more. “We ain’t done nothing.”
“I don’t know anything about you,” Drake said. “But Danielle may have done something. The police are looking for suspects. They don’t know how Danielle ties in yet, but I do. If you don’t let me see her, I’ll explain it all to the police.”
“Talk slower, kid. I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
From the back came a woman’s voice. She sounded like she smoked—a lot. “Who is it baby?”
“Jus’ a couple of young punks. Claim they’ll rat us out to the police if you don’t talk to them,” the guy said over his shoulder.
“We ain’t done nothing,” she said, and then went into a coughing fit.
“I’m also going to tell the police about your marijuana,” Drake said to the guy.
“Huh? I don’t do weed, kid.”
“When the police come over to question Danielle, they’ll probably search the apartment. So you can talk to me now, or start flushing your stash down the toilet while you wait for them,” Drake said.
The guy stared at Drake for a long time with his bleary eyes. Finally he threw the door open, and then he stumbled over to the sofa and slouched on it, leaving the door wide open.
The two now had a clear view of Danielle. She wore a bathrobe that was probably white at one time. Now it was somewhere between yellow and brown. The air in the apartment was hazy with cigarette smoke.
Alex nudged Drake before he entered and said, “I’ll wait here for you. Spend five minutes in there, and you’ll get lung cancer.”
“Whatever,” Drake muttered. Holding his breath for as long as he could, he walked in. Danielle flopped down on a stained easy chair. Drake decided to just stand.
“Danielle,” he started. “You used to work at Lenny’s Pizza, correct?”
“You some kind of cop? You seem kinda young.”
“You used to work at Lenny’s, yes or no?” Drake said ignoring her.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You don’t work there anymore. Why not?”
“What’s it to you kid?”
“Were you fired?” Drake asked impatiently.
“I guess. The slob that owned the place was sexist. Tryin’ to keep women down, you know?”
“You were drunk, or maybe high.”
“No!” she said sitting up straighter.
“Anyway, you threatened your former employer.”
“Who told you all this?”
“You threatened him,” Drake repeated himself.
“I told him I might sue him, but I didn’t.”
“Probably because you didn’t have a case,” Drake said. “Anyway, you have a grudge against Lenny Jones, owner of Lenny’s Pizza.”
“Why don’t you leave, kid?” the guy on the sofa said.
Drake continued. “I know you have a grudge against him because you just called him sexist and implied that he ‘held you down’.”
“Whatever,” she said slouching in the chair again.
“Where was your boyfriend Thursday night around 9pm?” Drake asked.
The guy on the couch sat up. “You tryin’ to pin something on me, kid? Cause I didn’t do it!”
“Prove it,” Drake said turning to him.
“What happened Halloween night?” Danielle asked.
“Lenny’s pizza was vandalized. Everything was smashed,” Drake said.
A half smile played on the lips of Danielle. “Cool,” she said. “But we didn’t have anything to do with it, did we baby?”
The man shook his head. “We were at a movie. You know the horror one that just came out.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? I can still call the police.” To the man he said, “I’m sure you have buddies that would help you bust up a place to get a piece of the change from the till.”
“You got us wrong, kid. Were not like that,” the guy said.
“Yeah, we’re clean living Americans,” she said, and she said it with a straight face.
“Did you go to the movies with anyone?” Drake asked.
“My younger brother went with us,” the man said.
“Call him,” Drake said.
“Now?” the man asked. “He’s probably sleeping or something.”
“What is with you guys sleeping in the middle of the day? Call him now or I go to the police!”
“Fine, fine. I’m calling him,” the guy said. He picked up a grimy cordless phone and punched a speed dial number. Drake pulled it from the guy’s hand.
“I’ll talk to him. What’s his name?” Drake asked.
“Goes by Jake,” the man said.
Someone answered the other line, “Start talking. It’s your nickel.”
“Jake?”
“Yeah.”
“This is detective Drake. Where were you Halloween night around 9pm?”
“Huh? You’re a detective, like police?”
“Answer the question, Jake,” Drake said in his most authoritative voice.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, but you will be if you don’t answer.”
“Okay, okay, lemme think. Halloween night. Oh, yeah. At the movies with my lame brother and that chick he hangs out with.”
“Thanks,” Drake said. He shut the phone off and tossed it to the man. He walked for the door.
“Hey kid! So what’s the scoop?”
“Catch you later,” Drake said. He pulled their door shut and rejoined Alex.
Chapter 3
“Quick, let’s find a bathroom. That phone was disgusting. I have to wash!” Drake said.
“Just the phone? Try the whole apartment,” Alex said.
Back on the street, they found a gas station and Drake scrubbed his hands. When he was done they began to ride down the main street slowly.
“So?” Alex asked.
“They didn’t do it.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. If they were responsible, they would’ve been part of the smashing group, which they weren’t. The only other alternative is to hire three thugs. They haven’t got the money for that.”
“Maybe, they sell drugs. So they have money. So then they could’ve hired the heavies, and they go to the movies to give themselves an alibi,” Alex said.
“I doubt it,” Drake said. “You saw them. They’re brain dead; they wouldn’t have been able to think through the plan you just described.”
The two rode on in meditative silence for a while. They were passing the strip mall where Lenny’s Pizza was, or used to be.
“Look!” Alex said pointing at the strip mall. There was a moving truck in front of Lenny’s Pizza. “My dad’s there.” They crossed the street.
“Uncle Lenny,” Drake said. “What’s going on?”
Uncle Lenny was smiling so big; Drake was concerned he’d stretch his lips out of shape. “Great news, boys. The local restaurant supply house is extending me credit, and the owner of the strip mall here is letting me move into this vacant space next to our old one temporarily. We’re going to be serving pizza tonight!”
Drake looked at his watch. “That’s not much time.”
“These men are unloading the ovens and prep tables right now. In a half-an-hour the tables for eating will be delivered,” Uncle Lenny said.
“Wow. This is great!” Alex said.
“Isn’t it?” Uncle Lenny said. “Listen, would you two like to help me clean everything up and get it ready for tonight?”
“Well . . .” Drake said.
“I’ll pay you.”
“Where’s the broom and dustpan?” Alex asked.
For the next several hours, the three of them straightened tables, set up chairs, cleaned windows, and sanitized equipment. Uncle Lenny called up several radio stations and got free announcements out that he was open again.
All while working, Drake’s mind wasn’t on the cleaning. He was thinking. He knew how he was going to tackle James Kilbourne—sneaking into his office. He knew already that Danielle and her boyfriend were innocent, but that left one person unaccounted for. Kevin Joslyn, the former city council member with a grudge against Uncle Lenny. Drake guessed he wouldn’t be easy to scare. He didn’t even know what exactly had happened between the two men, and he couldn’t ask Uncle Lenny. Then he’d know that he was planning something.
It seemed that the only thing to do would be to just flat out ask Kevin whatever he needed to know. Drake finished cleaning the last table. He set the glass cleaner down next to the cash register and threw the dirty paper towel away. Under the counter was a phone book. He looked Kevin Joslyn up and memorized the number.
“Uncle Lenny, can I borrow your cell phone?” Drake asked.
“Sure. Take it outside for better reception,” Uncle Lenny said handing it to him.
Drake stepped outside and punched the number into its keypad.
“Mr. Joslyn?”
“Yes? Who’s this?” The voice sounded younger than he expected.
“This is Drake Dallas,” he said and then paused.
“Do I know you?”
“Hopefully we can get to know each other in an hour.”
“What is this about?” Kevin asked.
“I want to write an article for my school newspaper about when you were a city council member,” Drake said.
“I don’t want to talk about that. Goodbye.” The phone went dead. Drake hit the redial button.
“Mr. Joslyn, I have an angle that you are unaware of. I think you will want to know about it,” Drake said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Can we meet in an hour? I promise it won’t take long.”
Kevin sighed. “Fine. I’ll meet you in an hour. You know where my house is?”
Drake didn’t, and Kevin gave him directions. After the conversation, Drake snapped the phone shut. For the next forty minutes, he worked with Alex cleaning the chairs. There seemed to be thousands of them.
With twenty minutes to his appointment time, Drake stood up. “Gotta go, Alex. Got some sleuthing to do.” He smiled at his cousin. Alex just shook his head.
“Don’t get caught,” he said.
“Hey, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
Alex laughed. “Try paying attention to the announcements in class. Teacher’s conference tomorrow, so there’s no school.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay, I’ll come to your house. We can check out your new game.”
“Sounds cool,” Alex said. Drake stepped outside.
Kevin Joslyn lived in the older section of town, close to the downtown area. It was the area where all the houses are at least fifty years-old and the houses are spaced tightly together. The front lawns were so small, Drake wondered if a lawn mower would even fit in between the house and chain link fence around the perimeter of the property.
He chained his bike to the fence and knocked on the door. A man, who couldn’t have been older than thirty answered.
“You are Drake?”
“Yeah, you’re Kevin Joslyn?”
“Come in,” Kevin said.
“Do you use a lawnmower?” Drake asked.
“What?”
“On your lawn. It looks too small for a mower.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “No, I just use a weed eater.” He looked at Drake’s hands. “You don’t have anything to write on. You’re going to interview me?”
“I am going to interview you, but not for a newspaper.”
Kevin crossed his arms. “Okay, what’s this about?”
“You don’t like Lenny Jones,” Drake said.
“Who are you working for?”
“Lenny Jones.”
“Get out of here!”
Drake held still. Kevin stepped forward and pushed him backwards a step. Drake said, “You realize that by pushing me out, I will have to go to the police.”
“You can’t construe this as assault. You’re on my property and I don’t want you here,” Kevin said. He pushed Drake back further.
“I’m not talking about that. I mean about my suspicion that you had something to do with the vandalizing of Lenny’s Pizza.”
“What? I didn’t do that.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Why should I? If the police suspect me, let them come.” Kevin pushed him against the door.
Drake had to think fast. As he suspected, the scare tactic wasn’t working. He had only one card left to play.
“I need your help.”
Kevin stopped pushing him for a moment. “You need my help?”
Drake smiled to himself. It never failed to work. Appealing to someone always brought out this primeval instinct to help.
“You don’t like my uncle.”
“Lenny’s your uncle?” Kevin asked incredulously.
“Listen, can we sit down and I’ll give you the whole thing from start to finish, I promise.”
“I have a date coming over,” Kevin said.
“Please, I need your help.”
“Well, okay. If it doesn’t take to long.” Kevin showed him into his living room. From his kitchen he brought a beer and a coke.
Coke in hand, Drake told Kevin everything. He told him about Halloween night. He told him about how he suspected the police were missing it, and how his uncle didn’t know he was investigating. He also told him about his meeting with Danielle.
“So you see, Kevin, what I’m trying to do is to cross you off my suspect list. Can you help me do that?” Drake asked.
“I don’t know,” Kevin said. “I was home alone Halloween night.”
“No one called you, no kids came to the door for candy?”
“Hey! Bunch of kids trick-or-treating.”
“Who were they?”
“I don’t know. Neighborhood kids from around here.”
Drake stood up. “Thanks for your time.”
Kevin led him to the door. “Hey, I hope you figure out whoever did it. You’re a cool kid, you know?”
“Thanks,” Drake said. He unchained his bike and rode away. It was dark out, and he was close to his Uncle’s pizza place, so he decided he’d stop in and see how things were going. He should be open by now.
Sure enough, as Drake rode into the parking lot, he could see the lights on in the shop next to the one that had been smashed. He dropped his bike near the entrance and went in.
Uncle Lenny was just hanging the phone up. As he turned to face Drake, his hands shook. Then he saw his face. Drake had never seen his Uncle look so white. He leaned against the counter and breathed in deeply.
“What is it?” Drake said alarmed.
“Matt,” Uncle Lenny whispered.
“Matt? Oh, your delivery guy. Yeah, what about him?”
“He’s in the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Money was stolen and the police said the car looked like several elephants had sat on it.” He came around from the front and sat in one of the chairs.
A guy walked in. Uncle Lenny tried to get up, but his legs were shaking too much.
“Can you get the customer?” Uncle Lenny asked.
“Sure,” Drake said. He slid behind the counter.
The guy walked up and ordered two large meat-lovers and a two-liter of root beer. Drake rang up the order and passed the order slip to the two working in the back. Then he came around to his uncle again.
“Now, what happened?” Drake said.
“I don’t know. I just got a phone call from the police. Someone found Matt unconscious. Car destroyed. Money gone.”
“Will Matt be alright?”
“I don’t know,” Uncle Lenny said. “But one thing I do know, I need a break.”
“Break from what?”
“This! All this!” He swept his hands around indicating the whole shop.
“You’re going to quit?”
“I think I need to shut down temporarily.”
“Are you sure?”
“Look, Drake, I have to think of people’s safety. How could I send other delivery drivers out knowing what happened to Matt?”
“True,” Drake said. “But—”
“There is no but. Listen, we were already attacked here. Next time someone could be hurt, hurt worse than Matt.”
“You’re letting them win,” Drake said quietly, but firmly.
“It was that ‘never-say-die’ attitude that got your dad . . .” Uncle Lenny let his voice trail off.
Drake stared down at the table.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up. It’s just that I’m under a lot of stress right now.”
“I understand,” Drake said. “But you must stay open. I think it’s the only way to flush the bad guy out. The more you defy him, the more desperate he’ll get. And then he’ll get careless.”
“And when whoever it is gets desperate, what happens to us in the meantime? No, Drake, it won’t work. I’m shutting down.” Uncle Lenny stood and started to walk away.
“You’ll never open again,” Drake said.
Uncle Lenny stopped, held still for a moment, and then turned. For sometime he stared, stared hard, at Drake. Then he swallowed.
“You’re probably right,” he said.
“Have the police drive by every fifteen minutes. Hire a security guard temporarily. Heck, send the drivers out two to a car.” Drake said.
His uncle sighed. “Perhaps,” he said. “Nonetheless, I’m shutting down now for the night.”
Chapter 4
Slowly, Drake stood. “Well, I’ve got to be going. Before I do, can I use your phone to call my mom?”
Quickly on the phone, Drake explained to his mom that he would be a little late getting home. She protested, but Drake insisted and she gave in. Back outside, he jumped on his bike and headed for his Uncle’s house.
Alex’s room was on the second floor. Drake walked around the house until he was looking up at Alex’s darkened bedroom window. On the ground nearby he found a little branch, not too thick, and threw it at the window. It bounced off the windowpane. In a few moments Alex, in striped pajamas, opened the window.
“Alex, come down,” Drake said in a loud whisper.
“Can’t,” Alex said quietly.
“Come on! We don’t have much time. Bring your electronics kit,” Drake hissed. Alex disappeared. Moments later he appeared, fully dressed. He jumped onto the large branch that was near his window. From there he scrambled down the tree trunk. He pulled a black pouch out of the pocket of his sweatshirt.
“Where are we going?”
“James Kilbourne.”
“What?”
“Come on!”
“Oh, no. I’m not going to break into anyone’s house,” Alex said.
“Why do you think I asked you to bring your little kit?” He pointed to the black pouch.
Alex shrugged.
“Because someone like James Kilbounre probably has an alarm in his house, and you would know how to disable it.”
“If you’re caught, you’ll be put in jail.”
“Do you know your dad is ready to give up and quit for good?” Drake said. He told him all about Matt. “You see we have to catch the criminal fast. Things are getting out of hand.”
“And you’re convinced it’s James K?”
“It isn’t Danielle.”
“What about that city council guy?” Alex asked.
“I saw him this afternoon. He didn’t personally do it. Some trick-or-treaters can vouch for that.”
“He could’ve hired the three guys.”
“I doubt it. I’m sure that hiring three thugs like them isn’t cheap. The only guy with that kind of money—”
Alex finished his sentence for him, “James Kilbourne.” He sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Drake asked.
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right.”
“Whatever,” Drake said. “Let’s go.” They got on their bikes. Alex kept muttering to himself the whole way. Drake ignored him. At the base of the driveway, they stopped.
“The whole house is dark,” Alex said.
“Yeah, looks like we might be lucky. They’re not home.”
“That’s worse,” Alex said. “They might return at anytime and trap you in there.”
“Shut up and come on,” Drake said. He pushed his bike into the branches of a pine tree nearby, and Alex followed his example. They circled the house. Drake peered into the garage through the side window. It was quite dark inside, but he saw a little red light by the door into the house.
“Alex, I think I found the alarm box. We have to get into the garage.”
“The garage is going to be wired too.”
“So? We have to get into the garage without setting the alarm off,” Drake said.
“That’s not going to happen. Do you forget this was installed by professionals to keep out criminals more sophisticated than us?”
“We’re not criminals. We’re investigators.”
“Whatever. Let’s go home,” Alex said.
“Wait. An idea is coming to me.”
“I’m getting cold.”
“Get your flashlight out,” Drake said.
Alex handed him a small pen light from inside his black pouch. “Here.”
Drake turned it on and shown the beam on the side garage window. The window was one of those kinds where it isn’t one big piece of glass. Instead it was divided into multiple panes.
“Look at where the glass and window frame meet. This isn’t a modern window.”
Alex squinted at it. “It looks fine to me.”
“No look. Glazing is used to hold the glass in place.”
“Glazing?” Alex said.
“It’s like white putty. Older windows use it to hold the glass in place.”
“Where’d you learn that?”
“Some book,” Drake said.
“You read too much,” Alex said.
“If I chip away the glazing, the glass pane will come out.”
Alex held his hands six inches apart. “You can’t fit through that. What good will it do to remove one window pane?”
“For starters, I don’t think it will set off the alarm. That will only happen if I smash the window or force it open.”
“Yeah, but how will it help us?”
“The wires that connect the window to the alarm system will be reachable. I can stick my hand inside. I disconnect the wires; then open the window; then we’re inside.”
Alex looked doubtful.
“Just give me a screwdriver,” Drake said.
“No. These aren’t for chiseling.”
Drake grabbed the pouch from his cousin and removed a small screwdriver from it. “Thank you,” he said handing the bag back.
“You ruin it, you’re going to replace it.”
Drake didn’t reply. He started chiseling the glazing. A few minutes later he had removed it all. The screwdriver was covered with white powder. Carefully, he extracted the pane of glass. He held the edges gently so as not to cut himself.
In the empty space, Drake stuck his hand through. Feeling around, he felt a smallish metallic object near the inside frame of the window. He could feel wires stretching away from it.
“Found it!” he said.
“Careful, or you’ll set the alarm off.”
“It feels like it’s screwed into the window and into the wall next to the window. So if I could unscrew it from both the wall and the window, the seal won’t be broken and the alarm won’t be triggered!”
“Wonderful,” Alex said sarcastically.
“Give me some tape and that screwdriver again.” Drake wound some tape around the two pieces, the one that was screwed to the window and the one that was screwed to the window frame, first. Then he unscrewed each. The tape held them together, and the connection was maintained. The alarm didn’t go off. He reached upward and undid the window latch. Then he slid it open.
“Success,” Drake said.
“Just give me the screwdriver back.”
“Here, let me boost you in.”
Alex backed away. “Oh, no. You’re going in first.”
“What’s the problem? You expect to find a boogieman in there?” Drake asked.
“Just hurry up.”
Drake pulled himself in. It was very dark inside. “I’m in,” he whispered. “Are you coming?”
Alex responded by sticking his hand through the window for Drake to grab. He did so and helped him in.
“Did you hear that?” Alex asked in a loud whisper.
“No,” Drake said in his normal voice.
“Shh.”
Just then a dog’s bark filled the room.
“Ahhhhhh!” Alex yelled. He jumped backwards and slammed into the garage door with a resounding thud.
Drake dropped to his knees. He put his hands around the dog’s head. “Shh, boy. It’s okay,” he said soothingly. He put his hair in front of the dog’s nose. The dog sniffed him. Drake continued to pat him.
“That’s a good dog,” he said in a low voice. “Good dog. Good dog.”
“How’d you do that?” Alex asked, his voice quivering.
“Instinct,” Drake said. He stood. “You didn’t drop that electronics kit, did you?”
“I got it, but my legs are really shaking.”
“Pull yourself together. We have an alarm to disarm.” Drake turned the penlight on and pointed it at the the alarm box. Alex pulled the cover off. With some gadget from his black bag, he started working on it. In a minute he pulled a small piece from the alarm. The light stayed green.
Alex sighed. “It is disarmed, and it didn’t go off.”
“Good boy!” The door handle was unlocked, and the two of them made their way into the darkened house.
“So where’s his office?”
“Don’t know, down stairs perhaps,” Drake said. The office was indeed downstairs. Drake started looking through the file cabinet. Alex started browsing the files on the computer.
Half an hour later they hadn’t found anything strange, suspicious, or even unusual. Drake was downcast.
“I was sure we’d find something.”
“Let’s just get out of here while we still can.” Alex walked to the office door. “I hear something. Maybe it’s them. Let’s go!”
“It’s nothing,” Drake said still holding still. Talking to himself, he continued, “I guess he might have another office. More likely, he’s too smart to let incriminating papers lay around.” Drake glanced at the shredder. It was overflowing with shredded papers.
“Let’s go,” Alex said with urgency in his voice. Drake got up, and the two of them made their way to the door into the garage. Back in front of the alarm box, Alex pushed the piece he’d removed earlier back into place. The little green light changed to yellow, then red. Alex drew his breath in sharply.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I’d guess the alarm was just activated.”
“You mean the police will be on their way?” Drake asked.
“Yes,” Alex whispered.
“Let’s get out of here!” Drake ran to the open window and in one fluid motion he was out.
“Don’t leave me here,” Alex said from inside.
“Quit panicking. We’ll get out of here in plenty of time.” Drake grabbed Alex’s arms and hauled him out. They ran to their bikes and pedaled away. They weren’t more than two hundred yards from the house when a silent police car rushed by them. A few seconds later another one raced by also without lights or siren going.
“Wow, they respond fast,” Drake said.
“That was close,” Alex said.
“Oh, toughen up.”
They stopped outside Alex’s house. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Alex said. “You want to have breakfast here? We’re having homemade waffles, better than the cornflakes at your house.”
“I’ll be here for breakfast. And don’t make fun of my mom’s cooking. She has to work, you know.”
“I know,” Alex said. The two split up. Drake went home.
Chapter 5
Early the next morning, Drake woke up. His mom was already gone working. She’d left him a note reminding him how much she loved him, as was her habit. Drake stuffed it into his pocket and left for Alex’s house.
Strangely he had to ring their doorbell twice before anyone answered. Finally Aunt Ginny came to the door.
“Oh, it’s just you,” she said when she saw who it was. She looked pale.
“You were expecting someone else?”
“No,” she said uncertainly and led him into the kitchen. Alex and Uncle Lenny were there. Alex had a worried look on his face, and Drake noticed that his uncle’s hands were shaking.
“Something wrong?” he asked. He figured it was still the shock of what had happened to the delivery driver last night.
“This keeps getting worse,” Uncle Lenny said. “I just don’t know.”
Drake looked questioningly at Alex.
“Dad found an envelope when he went to get the paper.”
“Yes?” Drake said.
“Here,” Alex said handing him a piece of notebook paper. Words were handwritten on it in block letters. It said: “YOU JUST DON’T GET IT, DO YOU? WE’RE GOING TO DESTROY YOUR TEMPORARY PIZZERIA IF YOU DON’T SHUT IT DOWN. WE DON’T WANT YOU IN BUSINESS. -XX”
Drake handed the paper back to Alex, who gave it to Uncle Lenny.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Drake said.
“What do you mean? I think it was pretty clear,” Uncle Lenny said.
“Oh, I understood the note. Just it doesn’t make sense. I wonder if it might be a prank.”
“What would make you think that?” Aunt Ginny asked.
“The first attack; were you warned about it with a note first?”
“No.”
“Exactly, so if the same person wanted to smash up the temporary store, why would he change his M.O. and warn you first?”
“Makes sense,” Alex said.
“Or it could be the same person just trying to pull out all the stops and get inside your head.”
“He’s definitely done that,” Uncle Lenny said.
“You know what you could do?” Drake said. “Set up wireless cameras inside and outside your store. Let everyone know about that, and hire some bouncers like I told you last night.”
“Bouncers?” Aunt Ginny asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Uncle Lenny said.
“Anyway, don’t do anymore deliveries. Only take out and dining-in.”
Uncle Lenny rubbed his chin. “I don’t know anything about wireless cameras.”
“We can help on that end,” Drake said pointing to himself and Alex. “You buy them; we’ll set them up.”
Uncle Lenny looked at his watch. “We have several hours before we’re supposed to open.” He looked at Aunt Ginny. “Well, okay. Let’s go to the electronics store.”
By the time Lenny’s Pizza was ready to open, two hidden cameras had been installed inside the store and two more were outside; one was mounted to a telephone pole in the parking lot, pointed towards the front of the store. The other was in the awning, pointing straight downward. The four cameras transmitted their signals to a black box in the rafters above the ceiling tile. Alex using his electronic wizardry, hooked the black box into one of the phone lines (Uncle Lenny had four coming into the store.)
Alex was holding a CD. “When I install this software that came with the cameras onto your computer, dad, you’ll see four live images from here, just like on this laptop.” He pointed to the computer.
“What about recording the video?” Drake asked.
“Well, not on this laptop—not enough memory. But you can record with this software.” Alex looked at his dad. “That shouldn’t be a problem. You have a well over 200 unused gigabytes on your hard drive on your desktop at home.”
“Plenty of space,” Drake said. “If you save the video in low-res.”
“Okay boys. That’s enough techno-jargon for one day. It’s time to open. So you guys run along. Maybe go and watch cartoons like normal kids do.”
A car pulled up, and a man in a suit and tie got out.
“The insurance man,” Drake said quietly. “Wonder what he wants?”
“Gale, how goes it?” Uncle Lenny said.
“Hey, Lenny. Just came by to see this operation of your and to give you an update.” He looked around. “Not bad at all,” he smiled warmly.
“So what’s the insurance update?” Uncle Lenny asked.
“Well, things aren’t looking too good. It seems that there was some gross miscommunication, and that led to you being uninsured for vandalism.”
“Whose fault?” Uncle Lenny asked.
“Not us,” Gale said.
“So then it’s final? I get no money?” Uncle Lenny asked.
“No. I’m not giving up that easy. Right now we’re investigating a lawsuit against your landlord for misinformation per state law. If we do go to court, you would get your money from the landlord,” Gale said.
“That could take a while,” Uncle Lenny said.
“You bet. Honestly, in my opinion you need to shut down for a few weeks while we sort this out. Right now, you’re not covered if the same thing were to happen again.”
“At our last meeting, I signed the papers to be covered.”
“Yes,” Gale said. “But the policy won’t take effect until two weeks from when it was signed. Right now you’re not covered.”
“It won’t happen again,” Drake said.
Gale looked startled to see Drake speak up. “Oh?”
Drake pointed to the laptop. Four live images showed up on the screen. “We got every thing under surveillance. The police do drive-by’s every quarter hour, and Uncle Lenny is going to be bringing on a security guard.”
Even before Drake stopped speaking, the little bell over the shop door tinkled. In walked a guy who was at least 6’6”. He looked to weigh about 300 pounds and mostly muscle. Around his bulging bicep, a crown of thorns was tattooed. He walked up to Uncle Lenny.
“My new pizza cook,” Uncle Lenny said. “Let me introduce Mort.”
“Hiya,” Mort said. Then he turned to the back of the shop and ambled back there.
“Closing would be easier, but it looks like you got it covered,” Gale said. He gave them a thumbs-up and left.
“Well,” Drake said. “Let’s go install that on your dad’s computer.”
Alex packed up the laptop and the two rode to his house. After installing the software and setting it up to record video during the night, the two spent their time playing Alex’s new video games.
* * * * *
Before church the next day, Drake got a call from Alex.
“Drake, you won’t believe this!”
“What? You saw Santa Claus?”
“Be serious! About the cameras. We caught someone on them last night!”
“No kidding! Who?”
“I’m not sure. You’ve got time before church. Come over,” Alex said.
“I couldn’t make it home in time.”
“Then ride with us.”
“That’ll work. I’ll see you in a couple minutes.” He hung up.
“Who’s that?” his mom asked.
“Alex. He wants me to come over. Something important involving some of the cameras we set up yesterday. You saw the note I left for you last night?”
His mom smiled. “Yes, I read it. You don’t think you’re in over your head?”
“Of course. But you will never learn to tread water if your feet can always touch the bottom.”
His mom opened her mouth and then shut it.
Drake smiled at her. “Got you on that one. I’m going to ride to church with them. I’ll see you there.”
“Okay,” she said.
He dashed outside and jumped on his bike. In record time he was over at Uncle Lenny’s house. Alex met him at the door.
“Come on, hurry. It’s almost time to leave.”
Drake hurried inside. Alex led him into the office. Drake sat down in the comfortable chair and stared at the fuzzy screen. Clicking the mouse several times, the video clip started. Someone parked a dark sedan, got out and walked up to the store. The person cupped his hands and peered into the store. Then he tried the door. Finally he walked back to his car and drove off.
“Well,” Alex said.
“It’s way too fuzzy.”
“So what’s the point of the video if we can’t identify anyone on it?”
“You have a fast internet connection, right?” Drake asked.
“Yeah, but the video is coming in over the modem.”
“Never mind that, I need to download something,” Drake said.
“What?”
Drake didn’t answer. He opened a web browser and typed in download.com. Quickly he searched for video enhancers. He found a shareware program and downloaded it. In less than a minute the program was installed and threatened to deactivate in thirty days unless it was registered.
Drake opened the video file in the program. “I’m not concerned about the man.”
“Instead you like the scenery?”
“Oh, shut up. I think the car is important. If this program will make the image of the car clearer, we can identify the guy.”
“By the license plate,” Alex said.
“Exactly!”
Uncle Lenny entered his office with his tie half tied. “Come on, boys. We’ve got to be going.”
“Just a minute, dad,” Alex said.
“Wow,” Drake whispered. He was staring at the screen intently.
“What?”
“Kilbourne,” Drake whispered.
Uncle Lenny jumped backwards a little. “What’d you say?”
“Who’s the only person in town that drives a Maserati?”
“No,” Uncle Lenny said. He leaned over and stared at the monitor. Drake pointed to the three pronged symbol on the back of the car. Then he pointed to the license plate that read “5PIZZA.”
“It was James Kilbourne,” Drake said. “The police will need to see this. So much for their Halloween prankster idea.”
“I don’t believe it,” Uncle Lenny said.
“Somebody really doesn’t want competition,” Drake said.
“I can’t believe it.” He finished tying his tie.
“You better believe it. The evidence is right in front of your face.”
“No,” Uncle Lenny said. “It doesn’t add up. Yes, we’re competitors. But, but . . .” his voice trailed off.
“We’ll be late for church.”
“Right,” Uncle Lenny said coming back to himself.
The four of them, including Aunt Ginny, left the house.
After the service, back at Alex’s house, Drake and Alex sat in Uncle Lenny’s office looking at the video.
“He doesn’t look like he’s doing anything suspicious,” Alex said.
“When was the last time you went to a store at midnight to stare inside?”
“Okay, okay,” Alex said. “But still all he does is look around.”
“Ever hear of scouting. He’s deciding what to tell his thugs to smash next.”
“Or he could be just scouting the competition.”
“He’d send someone else for that,” Drake said.
“He could have sent someone else to decide what to smash next,” Alex responded.
Drake sat up. “Are you defending him? You think he’s innocent?”
Alex sat back. “No, I don’t. It’s got to be him, I guess.
“Of course it does.”
“But we need to be sure.”
“Like how?” Drake asked.
“Force a confession.”
“Like how?”
“I dunno. You’re the idea guy. I just come along for the ride.”
“We can’t force a confession. We’ve got to catch him red-handed.”
“Like how?” Alex repeated.
Drake pointed at the monitor. “We’ll watch.”
“Big problem. None of us stays up all night. We need to force this guy to come clean.”
“Look,” Drake said. “I like to think of myself as something special, but remember we’re thirteen year-old kids. We’re not going to be able to force a successful businessman into confessing major crimes. Life doesn’t work that way.”
“Then we’ll tail him,” Alex said.
“Reality check. We don’t drive, and we have school.”
“Listen, we can’t wait until he strikes again. It will be too late.”
Drake sat silently for a bit. Then he spoke, “The idea man has an idea.”
“Well?”
“These cameras are motion sensitive. They don’t record unless some motion in front of them turns them on.”
“Go on,” Alex said.
“Set an alarm that goes off when the cameras come on because of motion.”
“Good idea, Drake. Let’s wake the house because of every stray cat that walks by at all hours of the night.”
“Then put an alarm in my house instead.”
“But that would require using you’re only telephone line and you don’t have a computer.”
“Work with me here,” Drake said. “What about a wireless connection? What about letting me borrow that laptop that you had at the pizza shop the other day?”
Slowly Alex nodded his head. “Yeah. That might work,” he said doubtfully. “Dad hardly uses the laptop, but your house is too far for just one wireless transmitter.”
“Set up several. Hide several under some neighbors’ bushes between our houses.”
“And what, run an extension cords from our houses to power them?”
“Car battery,” Drake said.
“Okay. So it might work, but wireless transmitters aren’t free. Where to we get the money?”
Drake walked around the desk and opened one of the small drawers. He lifted some junk out and removed an envelope. It was marked “petty cash.”
“How did you know about that?”
Drake smiled. “I make it my business to know things.”
“But this is dad’s money.”
“And it’s for his business.” Drake removed all the cash, one hundred ninety dollars. On a scrape of paper he scribbled, “IOU $190.” This he slipped in the envelope and put it like he’d found it.
“I don’t know—” Alex said.
“We’ll tell him after we catch James Kilbourne red-handed. If we have to, we’ll pay him back, later.”
“I don’t know—” Alex repeated himself.
“Let’s go to the electronics store.”
An hour later, the laptop was in Drake’s bedroom and hooked up to a wireless connector that was receiving a signal from a transmitter hidden in a neighbor’s woodpile. Four twelve-volt batteries and some other current converter thing powered the hidden transmitter. Drake didn’t quite understand it, but Alex did and it worked. So that was all that mattered. The laptop was programmed to sound an alarm for thirty seconds if motion turned the cameras on at night and lasted longer than twenty seconds.
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(Pages 1-41 show above.)