Dad nodded. “Oh, very!”
A remote-controlled gecko? Computer-animated? So what if the gecko Chase had wasn't orange. It was still Sticky! I'd just seen him in action! What more proof did people need?
Sticky was real!
I tried to tune my parents out and watched the people who were scurrying around to set up the next scene. Damien Black would be coming down the rest of the stairs. The Gecko would click in the wall-walker ingot at the last minute.
He'd climb up the wall!
He'd…
“How do they make it look like he's climbing walls?” Mom asked Dad.
“Shhhh!” I told her. “He'll have the wall-walker ingot in!”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at Mom.
They both raised their eyebrows.
“Picture's up!” the director called. Then he said, “Quiet on the set. …And… action!”
Boom! Crash! Clank!
Everyone froze.
I looked around. Was this sound effects?
Thump!
The saloon doors burst open, then closed, then burst open again. But no one came through!
“Let go!” a voice inside the saloon cried. “I just wanna meet The Gecko!”
I couldn't believe my ears. I whispered, “That sounds like—” but before I could say his name, Bubba Bixby crashed through the door.
“CUT!” the director shouted. “Who's that clown? Get him out of here!”
Bubba tried to touch Chase, but before he could, men in black T-shirts were all over him. And as they hauled Bubba away, Bubba reached for The Gecko, saying, “Hey, I just want to shake your hand! I just wanna…” The men muscled Bubba along as he shouted over his shoulder, “Man, I'm your number one fan!”
Everyone was scowling.
The director looked mad!
Bubba's head swept around as he turned to face forward, but then, like in slow motion, his head turned back.
And his eyes stopped.
And locked!
Right on me.
CHAPTER 10
Hot off the Press!
“Wow,” my mom whispered. “That boy's gotten big.”
“Oh, yeah,” I choked out, thinking about how Bubba'd find some way to pound me at school the next day.
“How'd he get in here?” Dad said.
“He's Bubba, Dad. He has ways.”
Everyone was just starting to settle down when Chase said, “Has anyone seen Sticky?” He was patting himself all over, looking around.
After a minute of Sticky not showing up, some woman announced, “We've got a gecko on the loose. Come on, people, let's find it.”
Everyone looked around.
On the floor.
All around the furniture.
I looked up. Geckos love to climb. They can hang upside down, no problem!
Geckos are way, way cool.
And seeing how this gecko was Sticky, well, he could be anywhere! “They should check the cash register!” I whispered to Dad. “Or the safe!” I grinned and asked him, “You still got your watch?”
Sticky is such a kleptomaniac!
Dad laughed and put his arm on my shoulder. “You are just kidding, right?”
I shrugged and smiled, but part of me really wanted to check the cash register.
Just in case.
Someone probably should have, too, because Sticky didn't show up. Finally the director called, “Get the gecko wrangler! Everyone else, lunch, half hour! We've got miles to go before we sleep.”
Most people filed into the tan green room. Some people ran upstairs. I was dying to go over and thank The Gecko for inviting me to watch, but I didn't have to.
He came over to me!
“Hey, Nolan,” he said. “Glad you could make it.”
“Thanks for inviting me!” I told him.
He turned to Mom and Dad. “Cool kid you got here.”
Mom was smiling big. She put out her hand and said, “I'm Eve Byrd, Nolan's mother.”
He nodded. “And I'm Chase Morton”—he wiggled his eyebrows my way—“The Gecko!”
Just then Henna Blockwell came over with a paper in her hand and a grin on her face. A grin that didn't seem to really go with her face.
It was… goofy.
“Chase,” she said, then looked around at the rest of us. “Sorry for interrupting, but…” She handed Chase the paper. “This came via fax. Maggie sent it from L.A. You're not going to believe it.”
I saw the paper as Henna passed it to Chase.
So did Dad.
And Mom.
Our eyes got big.
We tried to make them stay small.
Tried to act cool.
But our mouths and shoulders and heads were twitching all around. Even as a murky fax copy, there was no mistaking my Slug-Mole!
The Gecko read the article. He was grinning so big I thought his ears would push right off the back of his head! Finally he looked at Henna and said, “Who wrote this?”
“Well, it's David Egbert's column, but obviously his source is a mystery man.”
“Yeah,” Chase said. “Shredderman.”
Henna was still grinning. “It's hilarious. And even funnier when you realize that Egbert's column is syndicated—this piece will be in papers all around the country!”
Chase laughed and kind of danced in place. “This is so cool! This is…brilliant!”
Slick as a semiconductor, my dad asked, “What's this all about?”
Chase handed over the paper, saying, “Remember the Mole? The guy you warned me about yesterday?”
Dad nodded. “Mr. Bowl?”
Chase snickered. “Yeah. Well, some guy named Shredderman is giving him a dose of his own medicine.”
Dad was skimming the article, nodding. “I've heard of this Shredderman character.”
“Really?”
Dad passed the paper to me, saying, “He's something of a local hero.”
Chase seemed very interested. “Any idea who he is?”
Uh-triple-oh! I hadn't thought about it until now, but who else knew the Mole was in town? Who else would try to expose him?
Bullets started shooting out my sweat glands.
Dad stayed totally cool, though. He shrugged and said, “I'm actually investigating that for the Gazette.”
“Well, when you find out, would you let me know? You have no idea how many people would want to thank him.”
My heart was pounding double-speed as I read the article. It was everything I'd sent in my e-mail, plus the writer's own stories about the Mole.
Henna eased the paper out of my hands and said, “I'm going to make copies and pass them around. This is just too good!”
Chase said, “Great idea!” then grinned at me and said, “We've probably got time for a quick game of Tekken 3. You up for it?”
Henna grabbed him by the arm. “No way! Absolutely no way.” She dragged him along, saying, “As a matter of fact, they need you in wardrobe. No more disappearing acts.”
Chase pointed to his magic wristband as he grinned at me and wiggled his eyebrows. “See ya later, Nolan!”
I laughed and waved, and when he was gone I followed Mom and Dad to the side so we'd be out of the way. And while they were debating how long we could stay without wearing out our welcome, a man with a bushy brown goatee went by, pushing a cart of food.
He was wearing a white waiter coat.
A black bow tie.
A chef hat.
Glasses.
He looked like a waiter, doing his job.
But behind his glasses, his eyes were shifty.
Beady.
Darting back and forth.
I blinked. He looked sort of … familiar.
Then his nose twitched and I knew why.
It was the Mole!
CHAPTER 11
The Mole Returns
I tugged on Dad's arm and whispered, “Look!”
“Huh?” Dad said.
I twitched my nos
e and pointed again.
“What is—”
“Shhhhh!” I held up a finger, telling him to wait, then started trailing the Mole.
My mom said, “What is Nolan doing?” but my dad held on to her and kept her quiet.
Inside, my dad's got the heart of a superhero.
I followed the Mole into the green room. There were a bunch of people inside! The tables had tons of stuff on them. Big steel dishes with lids. Stacks of plates. Pyramids of cheese!
Before anyone noticed me, I ducked under the closest table and hid behind the long white table-cloth. I could see the wheels of the Mole's cart moving across the room. I crawled along, watching that I didn't bang the table's cross braces with my backpack.
It wasn't easy!
At the end of the first table, I peeked out the back side.
Nobody there!
I crawled out and around table legs until I was hidden under the second table.
My heart was banging. My legs felt shaky! What was the Mole up to?
The wheels of his cart twisted and turned. I could see the Mole's feet moving back and forth around the cart. I pulled up a corner of the table-cloth so I could see better, but I was afraid to pull it up too high. All I could really see were legs!
Then I remembered—my periscope!
I slipped off my backpack. I unzipped it, quiiiiiiiet as could be. I pulled out my newest spy tool and pushed it up through the space between the tables. Careful… careful… inch by inch!
I saw the back of a steel dish.
Plates.
A black vase.
Pine needles.
And then…people!
Oh, yeah!
I turned the periscope around slowly… slowly….
Sudden movements are easily detected by the human eye!
And then there he was! In my sights! The Mole!
He was looking shifty, all right. Putting food from the rolling tray onto a table. He was doing it slow. Looking around. Looking up.
Up? Had he spotted Sticky? I turned the periscope, but didn't see Sticky anywhere.
The Mole was up to something, I knew that. But what? And when he made his move, what was I going to do? How was I going to catch him in the act?
Hmmmm.
I pulled the periscope down and took my digital camera out of its spy compartment. I held the camera lens up to the eyepiece of the periscope.
Could you take a picture that way?
I decided to try it. I turned the periscope-camera sideways and slipped the eye of the periscope under the tablecloth. I looked through the camera's viewfinder. I spotted someone's shoes, then clicked a picture.
I put the periscope down and looked at the shot.
It worked! I had a picture of feet! Sharp, in-focus feet!
Then someone called, “Let's hit it!” and pretty soon everyone cleared out of the room.
Everyone except me.
And the Mole!
I put the periscope and the camera together, and at the last minute I switched into movie mode. Then up, up, up went the periscope until I found the Mole.
He was moving around fast! I was having trouble tracking him!
He grabbed a chair.
He yanked it across the room.
He whipped his camera from under a metal serving dome on the rolling tray and slung it around his neck!
He went back to the chair and stood on it!
What was I waiting for? Time to start recording!
I caught him looking around. Pulling something out of his waiter coat.
A lighter!
He flicked the lighter wheel and started a flame.
He held it up to the ceiling!
Up to an automatic sprinkler!
Oh, no! He was trying to make them come on!
The sprinklers would ruin everything! They would soak the green room! The lobby! The cam-eras! The actors! Everything!
I almost shouted, “Stop, villain!” but I didn't. It was more important to get proof!
The ceiling sprinklers sputtered.
They burst on!
Water sprayed everywhere!
I could hear people in the lobby shouting. Squealing! Screaming!
The Mole jumped off the chair and charged into the lobby. Wreeenga-wreeenga-wreeenga! I could hear the Mole's camera shoot and wind through the spray.
“Fire!” somebody shouted. “There must be a fire!”
Wreeenga-wreeenga-wreeenga!
“Cover the cameras!”
Wreeenga-wreeenga-wreeenga!
“Shut off the sprinklers!”
Wreeenga-wreeenga-wreeenga!
The place was going crazy!
My dad charged into the green room. “Nolan?” he called.
“Here, Dad!”
He dived under the table with me. “What are you doing?”
I was collapsing the periscope, stuffing every-thing back in my backpack. “The Mole! He started the sprinklers with a lighter! He's out there getting pictures! You've got to stop him!”
“But—”
“Stop him! Get his camera!”
But by the time Dad scrambled out of the room, it was too late.
The Mole had already disappeared.
CHAPTER 12
Back to the Motherboard
We had an argument on the way home. Mom thought I should turn my movie clip over to the police right away. “No way!” I told her. “It'll give away who Shredderman is!”
Dad, who had now spent some time in the superhero trenches, didn't know whose side to be on. “But, Nolan,” he said as we drove away from Old Town. “The whole point of being a superhero is to help people.”
“But, Dad,” I said back, “if they know I'm Shredderman, it's all over! I can't help anyone anymore, ever again!”
“He does have a point, Eve,” my dad said to my mom.
“But, Steven, that man ruined… who knows what all he ruined! And he's probably on his way back to… wherever he came from. Right now!”
“I know, I know. But I do think we should give it a little more thought, okay?”
Mom frowned.
Dad drove.
I held on tight to my backpack.
When we got home, Mom and Dad went to the kitchen to make dinner. What they were really doing, though, was still arguing about what to do.
I slammed a few plates around the table, scattered some forks and cups, and charged down to my room.
No way was I going to let them unmask me!
I booted up my computer.
I logged on to the Internet.
I clicked on my Web and mail icons.
But in the middle of getting my camera ready, I stopped.
E-mails were being delivered. Flick, flick, flick, flick, flick! They were flying in. Pouring in. When the screen finally stopped scrolling up new e-mails, the status bar said: You have 102 new messages.
Wow!
The subject line of some was RE: MOLE ALERT!
Some were replies to forwarded Mole Alerts!
Some were replies to Mole Alerts that had been forwarded three, five, seventeen times!
My Mole Alert had been to New York!
Maine!
Illinois!
North Dakota, Alabama, Oregon!
Mississippi, Texas, Ohio!
Massachusetts, Missouri, Timbuk… tu?
I did a quick search and learned something new: There really is a Timbuktu. It's in West Africa!
Wow. You know you're a bad guy if people hate you in Timbuktu!
And they did. I blazed through enough replies to know that they all said pretty much the same thing: You rock, Shredderman! Keep it up!
Oh, yeah!
I could smell dinner cooking. Was that chicken? No time to lose! I downloaded the fire sprinkler clip. I attached it to a new e-mail—one that would go to everyone! I typed Mole caught in the act in the subject line, then wrote a short message:
The attached clip is raw footage. There has been no image manipulation. W
hat you see is what Joel “the Mole” Bowl did at a location shoot for The Gecko and Sticky in Cedar Valley today. Damage and expense are still being assessed, and the Mole is still on the loose. Help stop him! Forward this to every journalist you know. Let's put this menace out of business!
Yours in truth and justice,
Shredderman
I was just finishing up when there was a knock-knock-knock at my door.
“No!” I called. The door opened anyway. “I said no!”
The room went dead quiet. And cold. Mom and Dad were both standing in the doorway.
They crossed their arms. They frowned.
Finally my dad said, “We don't appreciate that tone of voice, Nolan.”
“But—”
“We'd already decided to let you do what you thought was right,” my mom said.
“After all, it is your clip,” Dad added.
“But—”
“But,” my mom interrupted, “we don't ever want to hear you talk to us in that tone of voice again, you hear me? If being Shredderman means you think you can shred on us, well, we'll put a stop to this right here and now.”
“I… I'm sorry, Mom,” I said. And I was about to say, I thought you were going to try and stop me, only right then something thumped on my knee.
Wiggled up my thigh.
Crossed over my chest!
And faster than you can say Charles Babbage, he was gripping on to my shoulder, looking around the room.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was nose to nose with Sticky!
CHAPTER 13
Stowaway Gecko
My mother screamed!
My father held her shoulders and said, “Take it easy, Eve. It's just a gecko.”
I grinned at Sticky and said, “Hiya, Sticky. What'cha doin' here?”
“Sticky?” my mom gasped. “That's Sticky ?”
I looked her way. “Who'd you think it was, Mom?”
“But—”
“He must've stowed away in my backpack!” I was petting him with my index finger. Softly, slowly, back along the top part of his head. I smiled at him, careful not to show my teeth.
“Didn't'cha, boy?”
He looked right at me, and I swear…
He smiled back!
“Uh, Nolan?” my dad whispered. “Don't you think you should catch him?”
“Did you see that, Dad? Did you see that?”