Bait for a Burglar
Page 4
“On the sidewalk! Quick!” Brian yelled.
He and Sean jumped the curb and cut across the yard of the house on the corner. They heard the smack of tires as the van leaped the curb and came after them.
“The trees!” Brian called to Sean. “Make for the trees!”
As they shot between two trees they heard the screech of the van’s brakes. Its wheels ground up chunks of lawn and mud as it backed up.
A woman ran out of the house, screaming at the driver of the van. Someone in a big station wagon drove up and honked at him. A couple of neighbors appeared.
The van bounced onto the street, did a U-turn, and sped away.
“Are you boys all right?” the woman called to Brian and Sean. “He could have killed you!”
“We’re okay, thanks,” Brian said.
“But awfully scared,” Sean whispered.
“I got his license number,” the woman said, “and the name of the house painting company on the side of his van. I’ll call the police.”
The driver of the station wagon held up a cellular phone. “I already called them.”
A police car arrived within a few minutes, and Brian and Sean told the officer that the van had sped up, heading for them, and they had escaped by riding through a cluster of trees.
The neighbors verified the story and added information of their own. After writing down names and addresses and taking some photos of the torn-up lawn, the police officer left.
“Should we go home?” Sean asked Brian as they headed down the street.
“No,” Brian said. “The High-Tech Burglar will try to stay out of sight to avoid the police who’ll come looking for him. What we need to do most is catch him. That’s why we have to visit the travel agency.”
As they entered the agency Brian and Sean could see that both Mrs. Martinez and Miss Garrett were busy with customers. Mrs. Martinez looked up and gave them a smile, but Miss Garrett was giggling with her customer about something funny that had happened in a restaurant in Mexico City.
Brian and Sean began looking through a stack of travel brochures near Miss Garrett’s desk. But gradually and quietly, Brian began moving behind the desk. Suddenly he said loudly, “Barbara Cunningham?”
Miss Garrett half turned and answered, “Yes?”
Her mouth dropped open. She managed to pull herself together and said, “I’m not—”
“Yes, you are,” Brian told her. “You’re Zeke Cunningham’s sister. You’ve been helping him to steal from empty homes in Redoaks by letting him know who is going out of town and how long they’ll be away from home.”
“What?” Mrs. Martinez dropped her pencil and stood up.
Miss Garrett’s customer gave a little shriek. “That can’t be true!” she said. “Dana’s the most helpful, most friendly travel agent I’ve ever met.”
“Is it friendliness or nosiness?” Brian asked. “I’ve heard Miss Garrett with her customers. She finds out all sorts of things, like if they have an alarm system, if they own a dog, and if it will be boarded. She gets all the information she needs to pass on to her brother, Zeke Cunningham.”
Brian motioned to Sean. “Use one of those phones over there to call Detective Kerry.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Miss Garrett said. She tried to rise, but Mrs. Martinez stepped up behind her and firmly pushed her back into her chair.
“Please stay here until the police come, Dana,” Mrs. Martinez said.
Miss Cunningham squirmed, trying to break loose from Mrs. Martinez’s grip. “Are you going to pay any attention to these boys?” Miss Cunningham complained. “They’re nothing but a couple of kids.”
“Correction,” Sean said. “We’re a couple of kids who help our dad and the police solve crimes. We’re the Casebusters.”
“And TV reporters, too,” Brian added. He thought about Estella and how happy she’d be with his story. He couldn’t help grinning with relief.
“As soon as Detective Kerry gets here, I’ll call the news desk at Channel Two,” Brian said. “There’s plenty of time for the story about the capture of the High-Tech Burglars to make the evening news.”
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text © 1997 by Joan Lowery Nixon
cover design by Omar Olivera & Andrea C. Uva
978-1-4532-8284-7
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
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