Seizing the moment, Ben placed Ferret Face onto the grass, and the two new friends scurried off together. Ben stared after them for a long moment.
“They grow up so fast,” he commented, only half joking.
Griffin was speaking to Melissa over the walkie-talkie once more. “Team One — all done here. Next stop, Rodent World.”
They let themselves out of the building and were almost instantly pinpointed in approaching headlights. Desperately, Griffin grabbed Ben around the shoulders and hurled the two of them off the doorstep and into the bushes. They huddled there, watching in trepidation as a golf cart rattled slowly up, a uniformed security guard at the wheel. When he stopped his cart, the front tire was barely a yard from their hiding place.
Griffin switched off his walkie-talkie. If one of the others tried to make contact now, the jig would be up.
A shiny black boot stepped right in front of his nose.
Oh, please, don’t look down!
The guard walked over to the Small Mammal House and tried the door. In that heart-stopping instant, Griffin realized he had no idea if the electronic lock had reset itself. If the building was open, the guard would know something was wrong.
Locked! He and Ben exchanged a very quiet high five.
The guard got back in his golf cart and drove off.
Savannah and Pitch lurked in the shadows, waiting for the familiar click that would tell them Melissa had released the aviary door. They entered the structure, a huge open area, landscaped and treed, enclosed by mesh fencing. It was a boisterous place by day, but now the birds were merely dozens of dark shapes perched on the branches, asleep.
“This makes no sense at all,” complained Pitch. “Why would you leave a chicken that can’t even fly in an aviary?”
“Because they don’t have a henhouse,” Savannah replied. “At least here there’s birdseed and no predators.”
“Unless you’re a worm,” Pitch agreed. She opened a laundry bag, and the hen emerged in a ponderous chicken-gait. The bird let out a slow, squawking cluck, as if testing to see if her vocal cords still worked in these strange surroundings.
The sound provoked an instant response from another bag. The fabric began to undulate in Savannah’s arms. A split second later, the piglet exploded out of the drawstring opening. He hit the ground scrambling and rushed over to cuddle up to the hen.
“I guess Melissa’s closet was their first date,” Pitch commented.
“I was going to let him loose in the butterfly exhibit,” said Savannah, “but he’d have no one to talk to.”
“You should seek help,” Pitch advised, matter-of-factly.
“He’ll be fine here till morning,” Savannah concluded. She took out her walkie-talkie. “Team Two. We’re all done. How are you making out, Griffin?”
“We’re finishing in Rodent World,” Griffin replied. “We’re a little behind schedule. We got hung up by a security guard.”
“We saw one, too,” Savannah confirmed. “He was heading out toward the Monkey House.”
“We’ll be done after the Reptile Center,” Griffin promised. “Meet you back at Base.”
In Dr. Alford’s office in Administration, Melissa set down her walkie-talkie and scrolled through screens until she found the controls for the Reptile/Amphibian Center. This would be the last drop-off. Operation Zoobreak II was almost complete.
Logan put a hand on her shoulder. “If one guard is out by the monkeys, and the other is circling in a golf cart, who are those two guys?”
Melissa followed his pointing finger. A pair of dark silhouettes moved across the central path, flashlights bobbing.
Logan snatched up the walkie-talkie. “Watch it, you guys. There may be two extra security guards out there.”
They didn’t look like security guards to Melissa. They looked like trouble.
29
The design of the Reptile/Amphibian Center was similar to that of the Small Mammal House. The same night-mode bulbs cast a reddish glow over the main corridor of glassed-in displays and the narrow access halls behind them.
But the task was nowhere near as simple. After a brief scan of the habitats, Griffin went straight to the walkie-talkie.
“Team One to Savannah — where are you?”
“On our way back to Base,” came the reply. “What’s up?”
“The exhibits don’t match what we’ve got,” Griffin explained, worried. “There are no garter snakes, and there must be six different frog cases. Plus, the zoo turtles’ heads are bigger than our whole turtles!”
“And no chuckwalla,” Ben added urgently. “I think Mr. Nasty made him up.”
Savannah was all business. “You’re going to have to improvise — find combinations that aren’t perfect but are at least safe until the zookeepers get here tomorrow. Tell me about some of the displays near you.”
“This big one’s got plenty of room for everybody,” Ben called. “Let me check — American Alligator.”
“No!” Savannah barked. “They’ll snap up everything that moves, including you guys if you’re not fast enough!”
They did a survey of the corridor, providing her with a list of their options. The garter snakes went in with the Chiapas Highland ribbon snake. They were cousins, Savannah explained. A forest marshlands habitat became home to the turtles, frogs, and salamanders. There were several small species there that could coexist without harming one another. And the chuckwalla they placed in a desert diorama with a Gila monster.
“You’ll like it here,” Ben assured his former houseguest. “It’s just like our sauna, only my dad doesn’t have to pay the heating bill.”
Griffin shut the access panel and set the latch in place. The flood of emotion that washed over him was like nothing he had ever experienced before. In his long and storied career as The Man With The Plan, he had known triumph, dismay, betrayal, anger, and joy. But the feeling that overwhelmed him at that moment was pure relief. The last week had piled disaster on top of disaster, but finally there was light at the end of the tunnel.
“I can’t believe we did it,” he marveled. “The way things have been going, I figured we’d be trampled by wildebeests, eaten by lions, or at least arrested. I guess we finally caught a break.”
“Yeah,” Ben mumbled in a hollow tone. “Lucky us.”
Griffin frowned at his best friend. “You look like you’re at a funeral. We’re animal free! All we have to do is get the Rollo-Bushels home, and we’re in the clear! What are you moping about?”
“The plan,” Ben said unhappily. “It’s over.”
“Then you should be twice as happy, considering you complained louder than anybody, except maybe Logan.”
“Yeah,” Ben mourned. “But this wasn’t just a plan. It was the last plan — for me, anyway.”
“What are you talking about? There’s always another —” Griffin stopped short. “The academy?”
Ben nodded in misery. “I didn’t want to distract you in the middle of Zoobreak Two. A spot opened up for me. I leave in nine days.”
Griffin was struck dumb, the taste of victory turning to ashes in his mouth. His skill as a planner had become so advanced that he felt he could accomplish anything. But now he had to face the fact that he was powerless to save his best friend. It was no longer a matter of possibly or someday. It was a done deal, a tragedy waiting at the end of a nine-day ticking clock. He couldn’t even bring himself to say, “It won’t be so bad,” because it was so bad already.
Their sad silence was interrupted when the door from the main hallway burst open. The two red-haloed figures that were suddenly upon them were tall and menacing in their dark clothing.
“You!” shouted Griffin and Mr. Nastase at the same time.
The shadow behind the zookeeper was enormous, and for a wild instant, Griffin thought it might be an escapee from the bear exhibit next door. But Ben knew better. It was far scarier than a bear.
Klaus.
Griffin was astounded. He’d always k
nown that a hundred things could go wrong with the second zoobreak — their parents, zoo security, the police, the unpredictable animals. Yet never had he imagined that Mr. Nasty might be dogging their steps.
The zookeeper regarded Griffin and Ben with something approaching admiration. “You’re quite a resourceful pair, aren’t you? Not a zoo you can’t get into, not an animal you can’t steal. Well, you’ve come to the end of the road, my young friends. All Aboard Animals will be back up and running within a week.”
“You’re too late,” Griffin shot back. “Your whole collection is stashed around the zoo. It’ll take days to go through every cage and habitat.”
Mr. Nastase laughed dryly. “I don’t need those animals. I just need animals. In fact, this might be an excellent chance to upgrade my stock.”
Ben was horrified. “What do you mean, upgrade?”
“It’s all the same to me, so long as the cash box stays full,” the zookeeper said cheerfully. “More variety means happier customers. They have an excellent selection here.”
“Boss!” Klaus exclaimed in shock. “You’re not thinking of stealing animals from this place!”
“Your problem, Klaus, is that you don’t recognize a business opportunity when you see one.” From a pocket of his long black coat, Mr. Nastase removed a compact tranquilizer gun with the first dart loaded and ready.
Unobserved, Griffin reached into his pocket and pressed the transmit button on his walkie-talkie.
Savannah and Pitch raced into the main building and arrived breathless at Dr. Alford’s office.
“We’re done,” Savannah reported. “Where are Griffin and Ben?”
“Shhhh!”
Melissa and Logan sat paralyzed around their walkie-talkie, listening to the drama unfolding in the Reptile/Amphibian Center. The new arrivals crouched beside them.
“What is it?” Pitch whispered.
Melissa’s eyes were wide with terror. “Mr. Nasty and Klaus! They’ve caught Griffin and Ben. And now they’re going to steal animals to restock their zoo!”
“No!” Savannah cried.
Klaus’s deep voice rattled the tinny speaker. “So that’s the way it is, huh, boss? You lied to me. You’ve been boosting animals all along. That girl was telling the truth about Eleanor?”
“If you’re asking if I broke into the Drysdale girl’s yard and took the monkey, the answer is no,” the zookeeper replied. “But I like a bargain, so I didn’t ask the people who sold it to me where they got it.”
“Buying a stolen monkey is just as bad as stealing it yourself!” Griffin piped up, outraged.
“The kid’s right, boss,” Klaus rumbled.
Mr. Nastase’s reply was full of scorn. “I’d expect it from the brat — but you, Klaus? Since when are you such a Boy Scout? Make sure these two don’t get away. I’m going shopping.”
Savannah was full of fury. “We can’t let them kidnap any more animals!”
“Hold on,” Pitch said seriously. “Saving animals is fine, but our first job is to save Griffin and Ben.”
“We have to do both,” Savannah insisted. “To Mr. Nasty, this is like being a kid in a candy shop. He could take half the zoo. Who knows how many animals could end up on that awful boat of his?”
Logan was panicky. “But how can we stop them? That’s Klaus over there. He could kill us all with his little finger.”
Fearful glances passed among the four. It made no sense to fight over who they should rescue when the real issue was whether they could rescue anybody, including themselves. How could mere kids overpower Mr. Nastase and his giant of a security man?
The answer came from, of all people, shy Melissa. “What would Griffin do?” she said, her beady eyes open and alert. “We need a plan.”
30
In the reddish glow, Griffin and Ben watched in horror as Mr. Nastase unlatched an access door that led to the corner habitat, the largest and most elaborate in the Reptile/Amphibian Center.
Even Klaus was uneasy. “American alligator? Boss — they’ll eat you!”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” The zookeeper hefted his tranquilizer pistol and ducked through the low doorway.
Griffin took a stab at reasoning with the burly security man. “You can’t let him do this! This is a public zoo!”
“Quiet, kid!” Klaus looked torn, his eyes darting back and forth from his young captives to his boss, tiptoeing inside the alligator habitat. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what happened on the paddleboat.” His threatening gaze fell on Ben. “And you I remember all too well.”
Ben let out a whimper.
The two friends peered anxiously into the enclosure, not sure what to hope for. At any moment, one of the large reptiles could spring, snapping lethal jaws at the zookeeper. But the gators seemed content to watch, still as statues, as Mr. Nastase steered around them. All at once, he bent low, and when he straightened up again, he was holding a baby alligator, about three feet long. His fist was clamped tight on the animal’s snout, immobilizing the jaws.
“He’s crazy,” murmured Ben as the zookeeper picked his way back through the habitat, splashing up to his ankles in the artificial swamp.
“This isn’t what we’re about, boss,” Klaus pleaded. “A few chipmunks to look cute for the kiddies. We had a good thing going.”
The baby’s short reptilian legs undulated slowly as Mr. Nastase stepped out of the exhibit with his prize. “That’s small thinking from someone as big as you. Better animals mean higher prices and more tickets sold. Get some twine to tie the mouth shut. Now, where to next? I hear they’ve got a Komodo dragon. Or lemurs — they’re all the rage since that movie….”
As scared as he was, Griffin could not remain silent. “You’ll never get away with this. Don’t you think the cops will notice when your boat has exactly the same species that are missing from this place?”
The zookeeper nodded approvingly. “That’s exactly why I’ll have to throw open some of the cages. No one will notice a handful of absences in a mass escape. The police will allow for a few disappearances, the odd animal run over by a car —”
Klaus was alarmed. “A lot of them will get run over by cars!”
“Tragic,” Mr. Nastase agreed. “But it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
“We’ll rat you out,” Griffin threatened.
“Who will believe you?” the zookeeper challenged. “A bunch of rotten kids in the middle of empty cages, zoo animals running wild — who do you think will get the blame?”
“That’s not fair!” Ben blurted.
“Fair?” Mr. Nastase’s mustache became positively alpine. “You break into my business, ruin my livelihood, make away with my valuable property, and leave my employee floundering in the ceiling like a man buried alive. And now you have the nerve to try to put my animals forever outside my reach. If you got what was fair, I’d throw you in with those alligators and lock the door. As it is, I’ll enjoy following this in the news, watching you squirm. You’ll have a lot of explaining to do, which is going to be hard” — without relaxing his grip on the baby alligator, he raised the tranquilizer pistol and pointed it at Griffin’s chest — “considering you won’t remember a thing.”
Klaus regarded him with alarm. “Boss, no —!”
He jumped in front of the boys just as the zookeeper squeezed the trigger.
The sharp pop! was muffled outside the walls of the Reptile/Amphibian Center. But to Savannah, Pitch, and Logan, there was no question what the sound might be.
“A gunshot!” Logan rasped.
Savannah was horrified. “They’re shooting the animals!”
“Never mind the animals!” Pitch hissed. “Griffin and Ben are in there!” She spoke urgently into the walkie-talkie. “Melissa — kill the lights.”
At Base in Dr. Alford’s office, Melissa had heard the shot via the walkie-talkie in Griffin’s pocket. “What’s going on?”
“Now!” Pitch insisted.
Melissa reached for the computer.
Griffin gaped at the tranquilizer dart that was now lodged in the fabric of Klaus’s black jacket.
The security man seemed more confused than hurt. He regarded his employer in utter bewilderment. “Boss —?” Then he stumbled and collapsed to the floor at Griffin’s feet.
Mr. Nastase’s eyes blazed with anger, as if he couldn’t believe his security man was lying down on the job. “You big oaf —”
And then everything went black.
31
There was a gasp of shock from the zookeeper, followed by a skittering clunk that could only be the sound of a three-foot-long reptile hitting the terrazzo floor. With terrifying clarity, Griffin understood that the game had changed in a fundamental way. Even a baby alligator had a huge mouth filled with large, razor-sharp teeth. Desperately, he peered into the darkness. It was no use. He could make out nothing in the windowless corridor.
All at once, the door from the main hall was thrown open, and he was blinded by a flashlight beam. He squinted against the overpowering brightness, trying in vain to see behind it.
When he felt the tug, he cried out. But no, it was on his elbow — too high for the young gator to bite.
“Shhh — it’s me.”
“Pitch?” he whispered urgently. “What are you doing?”
“Rescuing you. Come on!” She grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the back corridor. Soon he was able to make out Savannah and Logan running beside them.
“Wait —” he began.
“No time!” They blasted through the double doors of the Reptile/Amphibian Center and into the cool night air.
Griffin was finally able to complete his sentence. “Where’s Ben?”
Savannah and Logan exchanged accusing glances. “I thought you were getting Ben!” they chorused.
As one, they wheeled and headed back for the building. An earsplitting blurp cut the air, and an amplified voice commanded, “Freeze!”
Flashers blazing, a police cruiser swung up the zoo’s main drive and screeched to a halt in front of the Reptile/Amphibian Center. Two uniformed officers leaped out.