“I’m just pointing it out,” she repeated. “I’m just saying that a dog makes a more interesting character in a movie than a cat would.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, tell me this. What about the Cowardly Lion? He’s a cat, isn’t he?”
A security guard approached us, a finger to her lips. “Keep it down, girls,” she warned us.
Oops. Abby and I exchanged angry looks and moved on.
The rest of the afternoon was like that. Abby and I couldn’t agree on a thing, and we brought up the cat-dog issue constantly. Finally, Kai and Melissa and Lucas separated us. They told us we had to stay ten steps away from each other or go back to the hotel.
When we did return to the hotel a couple of hours later, we were in for a surprise. An agent I hadn’t seen before approached us as we walked into the lobby. (How did I know he was an agent? Take a guess. The ear wire is a pretty good tip-off.) “Do you know where David Hawthorne is?” he asked without even introducing himself.
We shook our heads. “Isn’t he here?” I asked.
“He hasn’t been seen for two hours,” said the agent. He looked grim. “He’s missing.”
“Missing? What do you mean, missing? How can he be missing?” Suddenly, my heart was racing. “He has to be here.”
The man shook his head. “He’s not in the hotel,” he said.
“Well, he probably went for a walk or something. I’m sure he and Agent Sanford are just out sightseeing.”
The man stared down at me, still wearing that grim look. He was tall and lanky, with salt-and-pepper hair. “Agent Sanford has been taken off duty,” he told me. “I’m his replacement. Agent Westcott.”
“Off duty? Well, that explains it, then. He left, and David went out for a walk. No big deal.” I couldn’t even think about the other possibility: that the man in dark clothing had returned. Lance Dibdin. The man who wanted to kidnap David.
“You don’t understand,” said Agent Westcott. “Agent Sanford was taken off duty after David Hawthorne disappeared.”
Abby, Kai, Melissa, and Lucas had been listening to this exchange, swiveling their heads back and forth as if they were watching a tennis match. Now Abby gasped. “You mean David disappeared while that guy was supposed to be watching him?”
Agent Westcott gave a tiny nod.
“Whoa.” Lucas raised his eyebrows. “I’ll bet he’s going to get detention.”
“Agents don’t get detention, silly,” Melissa said.
“I know, I was just kidding. But the dude must be in serious trouble.”
“Forget about Sanford. What about David?” I was practically shouting.
“We’ll find him,” Kai said firmly.
“The police have been notified,” said Agent Westcott. “And of course the Secret Service is involved. We’ll take care of it.”
I shook my head. “We want to help. Where should we look first?”
“Please, leave this in the hands of professionals.” Agent Westcott sounded final.
“Forget it, Kristy,” Kai said, grabbing my arm. “Let’s just go up to our rooms and wait. There’s nothing else we can do.”
Agent Westcott looked approvingly at Kai. “Good idea, young man,” he said.
I thought Kai was nuts. But he tugged on my arm and pulled me away.
Melendez paused to talk to Westcott. I realized he must already have known that David was missing. He’d probably heard about it over his ear wire. As soon as we were out of earshot, Kai said in a loud whisper, “We’ll organize our own search. I bet we’ll find him first.”
Melissa, Lucas, and Abby were ready. So was I. “Where should we start?” I asked.
“I’m thinking,” said Kai. “We had a conversation yesterday about his favorite places in the city. I know he mentioned the Lincoln Memorial. I’m trying to remember others.”
“We should check his room,” Melissa said. “Lucas and I can start there and then go over the rest of the hotel. There may be places the agents missed.”
“Good,” said Kai. “Go right now. We’ll figure out some other places to look. Just meet back in the lobby in” — he checked his watch — “forty-five minutes. Okay?”
Melissa gave him a little salute. “Yes, sir,” she said, smiling.
“I think we should help check the hotel again,” said Abby. “Maybe they missed him.”
“How about if we all fan out and do that?” asked Kai. “Then, if we don’t find him, we can figure out where to look next.”
“Good,” Abby said.
They both looked at me. I was still a little in shock, I think. I kept picturing Dibdin’s face. The others didn’t know how scary he’d been. But I did. And it wasn’t at all hard to imagine him grabbing David while Agent Sanford was looking elsewhere. That man had been determined. I wasn’t so sure David was going to be easy to find.
“Kristy?” asked Abby. “Are you okay?”
“Sure,” I said. I glanced behind me and saw Agent Melendez standing nearby. The sight of him made me feel better somehow. If Dibdin was around, I was happier than ever to know I had my own personal guard. “I’m fine,” I said. “Just tell me where to go.” Even though I’m usually the one who organizes things, this time I was glad to let Kai be the leader. I felt as if my brain were working overtime, trying to understand what had happened. How could David have just disappeared?
Suddenly, I realized that David had become a friend. I hadn’t known him long at all — even if you count the time I knew him as Terry Hoyt — but I felt close to him. I cared about what happened to him.
“Why don’t you look in the areas where the convention is taking place? And Abby can check the dining room and the coffee shop.” Kai was taking charge.
“Okay,” said Abby.
“And should we meet in the lobby?” I asked.
Kai nodded. “Right. Same plan as we made with Melissa and Lucas.”
I glanced back at Agent Melendez again. If he knew what we were up to, he didn’t show it. He looked ready to follow me wherever I went, as usual. “Okay,” I said. “See you guys soon.”
We went our separate ways. Melendez tailed me as I headed for Debate Room One, my first stop. It was empty. Debates were over for the day. Debate Room Two was empty also. There were a few people in Debate Room Three. Judges, I think. But no David. I hadn’t really expected to find him there. I wandered around the halls for a while, then decided to head back to the lobby and check the spot where the debate standings had been posted. Melendez followed me. I was in no particular hurry, since I was early for the meeting we’d planned. I thought hard about where David might be. If Dibdin had kidnapped him, where would he have gone? David could be out of the city by now, or even out of the country.
As we entered the lobby, I was imagining David on a plane to Mexico, drugged and blindfolded. My imagination was running away with me, but I couldn’t seem to control it.
The lobby was full of people coming and going. I spotted several Secret Service agents, including Agent Westcott, in the crowd. Then, in a deep armchair by the window, I spotted something else. A familiar-looking head of brown hair.
No. It couldn’t be.
I walked closer and took another look. Sunglasses hid his eyes, but the boy sitting in that chair, calmly reading a newspaper, was definitely David Hawthorne.
“David!” I ran toward him. “You’re safe!”
He looked up and took off the sunglasses. “No kidding,” he said. “See? I don’t need an agent to watch me.”
I saw Melendez gesture toward Westcott. Suddenly, he and four other agents materialized in our corner.
“David Hawthorne?” Westcott asked.
“That’s me,” David said.
Westcott nodded and spoke into his sleeve for a moment. (There must have been a microphone in there.) “Mind telling us where you’ve been?” he asked David.
David shrugged. “Out and about. I just went for a little stroll. Is that a crime?”
“How did you elude Agent Sanford?”
>
“It wasn’t that hard,” David replied. “I told him I was going to take a nap. I checked out in the hall after a few minutes, and he was away from his post for a second. So I took off.”
“Why?” I asked. I was in shock all over again. I had been very relieved to see David, but now I felt another emotion taking over. Anger. I’d been so worried about him. How could he have done this to me?
“I was just sick of being shadowed, that’s all,” he explained. “I didn’t go anywhere dangerous. I was around lots of people all the time. I’m not stupid.”
“I’m beginning to wonder about that,” a voice said. It was Mr. Hawthorne, who had just arrived. He must have heard about David’s reappearance over the radio. His face was red, and he was frowning. “I thought you were intelligent. But this was a bone-headed move. You’re coming home with me. Now.”
“But, Dad!” David protested. “The finals!” He looked at me for support. “Kristy needs me. My team needs me.”
For a second, I felt like turning my back on him. What David had done was no joke. I was as furious as Mr. Hawthorne was. But I saw the plea in David’s eyes and I couldn’t ignore it. “We do need him,” I said. “If he has to leave, our whole team will suffer.”
Mr. Hawthorne nodded slowly. His face was a little less red already. “That’s a good point, Kristy,” he said. “There’s no reason you should miss out on the finals just because David has behaved so irresponsibly.”
I looked at David, and I could tell he was holding his breath. He probably had his fingers and toes crossed too. “I’m really sorry, Dad. I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. I just needed to get away for five minutes.”
“You’re not the first person who has felt that way about being guarded,” Mr. Hawthorne admitted. “But you did make a deal with me.”
“I know.” David looked ashamed. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay, here’s the new deal,” Mr. Hawthorne said, just as Lucas, Melissa, Kai, and Abby showed up. “You can stay. But you have a new agent. Me. I’m off regular duty for the next twenty-four hours, but I’m reassigning myself. I’ll be your guard. And I’m not going to take my eyes off you.”
David let out a breath. “Thanks, Dad,” he said quietly. “Thanks.”
Mr. Hawthorne walked away with the other agents. They stood in a small group, talking and glancing at David.
Abby, Kai, Melissa, Lucas, and I clustered around David. “Where were you?” Abby asked.
“Just — out,” said David. He looked at me and grinned. “Phew! That was close!”
I didn’t smile back. “It’s not funny, David. I thought Dibdin had grabbed you. I was really worried. Your disappearing act made a lot of people worry. And you got Agent Sanford in trouble.”
He lost the grin. “I just — ”
“I know you don’t like being followed,” I told him, “but you’re just going to have to get over that. You almost jeopardized our chance to win the finals.”
David hung his head. “You’re right,” he said. “You’re totally right. And I owe you an apology. I’m sorry, Kristy. Really I am. I apologize to all of you.” He looked at the others. “And I promise to behave from now on.”
What could we say? David was our friend. And friends forgive friends when they mess up. I just hoped he would keep his promise.
David stuck pretty close to our group for the rest of that evening. And Mr. Hawthorne stuck pretty close to David. I noticed that, as promised, he hardly took his eyes off his son. Throughout dinner, Mr. Hawthorne barely took a moment to glance at his plate as he worked through the steak and salad we were served. And afterward, when we went to a really cool dance performance at Kennedy Center, I noticed that Mr. Hawthorne spent a lot more time watching David and scanning the theater than he did watching the stage.
My friend Jessi Ramsey, who’s a ballet dancer, would have loved this performance. It wasn’t ballet, though. In fact, it was kind of the opposite of ballet. It was tap dancing, but not the kind Shirley Temple does in those old movies. This was athletic tap, danced by big, strong guys wearing black boots. It was awesome.
Afterward, we headed back to the hotel. I think we were all exhausted. It had been a long day, between the debates, the museum, and the search for David. When we arrived in the lobby, David said he was going to bed.
“Good,” said Mr. Hawthorne firmly. “So am I. I’ve arranged to have a cot put in your room. It’s okay with Lucas. You don’t mind, do you?”
What could David say? He just gave his dad a weak smile. Then he turned to Kai and me. “Don’t forget,” he told us. “Team DKK rules!” He gave us a double thumbs-up. “See you tomorrow.”
Lucas headed to his room too, with Melissa trailing behind. “I’m just going to say good night to Lucas,” she called to us. “I’ll see you in our room in a few minutes.”
“Whatever,” Abby said tiredly. She and I took the elevator to the fifth floor together. We didn’t talk much during the ride, even though I tried once or twice to start a conversation. I guess neither of us wanted to argue, so it was easier just to stay quiet.
It was weird. I was looking forward to the next day’s debate, but I wasn’t feeling as confident as I had before. Not that I would have ever admitted it to anyone, especially to Abby. But here’s the thing: In my heart, I just didn’t agree with our position. Even after all this time, and even after all the work I’d done to convince other people that cats are better pets than dogs, I still didn’t believe it. A lot of what Abby — and the teams we’d faced so far — said made sense to me. What can I say? I love dogs. Cats are okay, but that’s all.
I was envious of Abby. She was lucky to be on the “dog” side. She must have felt much more confident than I did. Still, if my team had made it this far, maybe we had a chance of winning. I was going to have to work on my attitude. I would have hated for David or Kai to guess how I was feeling.
I was thinking this as we left the elevator and walked to our room, Agent Melendez trailing behind us. Oh, yes, he was still there. I was getting so used to him I hardly even noticed him anymore. But I had a feeling he’d enjoyed the tap performance nearly as much as I had. I had looked at him once and saw him almost smiling.
I was still thinking about the debate as I changed out of my clothes and into my pj’s. I guess Abby was deep in thought too, because neither of us said much besides “The bathroom’s all yours,” or “Have you see my hairbrush?”
Eventually, both of us were stretched out on our beds. I was reading, and Abby was working on some notes for the next day’s debate. There was a knock on the door.
Abby and I looked at each other. Who would be knocking at our door? It was after lights-out, so everybody was expected to be in their rooms. I wondered if it could possibly be Agent Melendez. Maybe he needed to use the bathroom or something. I jumped up and pulled a pair of jeans on over my pajamas. Abby did the same. Then I peeked through the peephole.
Guess who was there. Melissa.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said. “Why did you knock? Did you forget your key?”
Melissa giggled. “No, I have it. But I brought some company, so I thought I’d knock first and make sure you guys were decent.” She stepped back a little so I could see who was standing behind her. Lucas.
“No way,” I said. “It’s after lights-out. Do you want to get us in trouble?”
“Oh, chill.” Melissa made a face at me. “Nothing’s going to happen. Let us in.”
I checked with Abby. She shrugged. “I don’t care, I guess. What’s the big deal, really?”
“Oh, all right,” I said. I unlocked the door, rolled my eyes at Abby, and opened it. Melissa and Lucas squeezed past me into the room. Before I closed the door, I caught Agent Melendez’s eye. I could have sworn he shook his head as if he were disappointed in me. I hated that. I closed the door and tried to forget the look in his eyes.
Inside, Melissa and Lucas were bouncing around the room. Does being in love give you more energy or something? I
mean, I was beat. But the two of them looked all peppy and ready for anything.
“Let’s play Scrabble!” said Melissa, rummaging around in her suitcase for her travel set.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. I was too tired to be able to think of good words.
“Sure, why not?” said Abby. I shot her a Look. She was just encouraging Melissa.
“Excellent!” Melissa cried, setting up the board on our coffee table. “Lucas and I can be one team and you guys can be the other.”
Oh, sure. Abby and I were going to be great teammates. We were barely even speaking to each other.
Lucas saved the day. “No, let’s split up,” he said. “I want the chance to beat you.” He smiled flirtatiously at Melissa. “Practice for tomorrow, you know.”
For once, I drew some decent letters. That was a good thing, because I wasn’t awake enough to be creative with my usual lineup. In fact, I went first, putting down the word judge. That was worth a good number of points.
I started to feel better. After all, Lucas and Melissa were sitting across from each other. It wasn’t as if they were up to any kind of — you know. It was all totally innocent.
Lucas went next, putting down the word quiet.
“Ooh, good one.” Melissa sighed. “It’s so hard to use that Q.”
“That’s why I got rid of it right away,” Lucas confessed. “It may not be good strategy, but at least I don’t have to worry about it.”
Abby didn’t take long to slam down a decent word of her own: taxi.
“Whoa, the X,” Lucas said, grinning.
“What am I going to do with that?” wailed Melissa. Then she sat up straight. “Ooh, I know!” She laid down three tiles to spell oxen.
“Excellent,” said Lucas. “Hey, I have an idea. For the next round, let’s all try to put down slang words or rude words. That’s how my friends and I play sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Like, ‘butt’?”
Melissa giggled. Abby, believe it or not, blushed. But Lucas nodded. “Or ‘snot,’ or ‘fart.’ Words like that.”
Now we were all giggling. And blushing a little. I looked down at my letters. “How about this?” I asked, putting down the word nerd.