Here Comes Mr. Trouble

4

“Eric, what’s wrong?” Maggie asked.

They were sitting at her dining room table, books and printouts about China spread out before them.

“Nothing,” Eric said, then glanced at his watch.

“You did it again.”

“Did what again?”

“Checked the time.”

“I…I was…just…wondering…”

“Something’s up. I can see it in your eyes. Why are you hiding it from me? You’ve always told me when something’s bothered you before.”

“Nothing’s bothering me.” He looked at his watch.

“See. Again!”

“I just wanted to know what time it was, okay?”

She groaned. “Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, then don’t tell me.” She pulled her dark hair into a ponytail and wrapped a band around it. “I don’t want to spend all night finishing this report so let’s concentrate and get this done.”

She started typing on her father’s laptop again, while Eric returned his attention to the sack of travel magazines he was supposed to be looking through for pictures they could scan and use in the report.

As he finished thumbing through an old travel magazine, he sneaked another peek at his watch. Seven twenty-eight.

“I, uh, need to go check on my bike.”

Maggie looked over at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You walked here.”

“I mean, get some air. I just need to get some air.” He stood up.

“What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

Wanting to avoid any more questions, he made a beeline for the front door.

It was 7:29 by the time he stepped onto Maggie’s front lawn and 7:30 on the dot when a beat-up black sedan pulled to the curb.

Mr. Trouble jumped out of the car and hustled over to the sidewalk. He was taller than Eric had assumed earlier, at least six feet, and looked like he was in pretty good shape. The only thing a little odd about him was his hair. Though it was cut short and neat on the sides, it was longer on top and flopped down over his forehead, stopping just short of his eyes.

“Good, you made it,” Mr. Trouble said. “Any problems?”

Eric glanced at the house, then shook his head. “No.”

A small dimple appeared on Mr. Trouble’s right cheek as he smiled. “Excellent. Excellent.”

“So…you said you could help me?”

“That we can.”

“I don’t understand how.”

Mr. Trouble shot a look down Maggie’s street. “Right. Okay. Here’s the deal. Slight change of plans. Hop in. I’ll drive.” He turned back to the car.

Eric didn’t move. “Whoa. Wait a minute. I can’t just get in your car and have you drive off. I thought we were going to talk here.”

“We will talk but that change-of-plan thing I just mentioned, that’s the not-meeting-here part. Now, come on, come on. We don’t have a lot of time.” He glanced once more down the street. “Oh, scratch that. We don’t have any time.”

Eric followed Mr. Trouble’s gaze, then his blood went cold. About a block away, Peter Garr and two of his large buddies were walking slowly down the sidewalk toward Maggie’s house.

“Friends of yours, I take it,” Mr. Trouble said.

“No. Not my friends. Never.”

“Well, that’s good, because I don’t think they care much for you, either.” Mr. Trouble opened the driver’s door and motioned to the other side. “Please, get in. Better to go before they actually get here.”

Eric had yet to move a muscle when Maggie called out from behind him, “Go where?”

As he glanced back at the house, Maggie stepped off the small front porch and onto the lawn.

“Nowhere,” he said.

“Somewhere,” Mr. Trouble said.

Seeming to notice Mr. Trouble for the first time, Maggie said, “Who are you?”

Mr. Trouble pointed at Eric. “I work for him. And I hate to say this, but they are getting closer.”

Maggie pressed her lips together in a frown. “What’s he talking about?”

Eric shrugged. “Well, um, you see, he…uh…he—”

“Unbelievable!” a girl’s voice exclaimed from inside the car.

As Eric and Maggie leaned down to look through the window, the back door flew open and a girl hopped out.

She was short like Maggie and had the same dark hair. But where Maggie’s skin was brown in tone, this girl’s was almost pale white, as if she never spent any time in the sun. As for her age, at first Eric thought she might be the same age as he and Maggie, but as she stepped onto the curb and put both her hands on her hips, he realized she was probably a few years older. There was something else about her, too. Something—

“Why are we still here?” she asked, looking over at Mr. Trouble. “Do you not see the surrogates coming down the street? You can’t possibly think they’d let us talk to him here, can you?”

“Get back in the car,” Mr. Trouble said. “I’ve got this.”

“You so don’t have this,” she said.

Mr. Trouble took a deep breath. “Fiona, just get in the car.”

Eric looked at the girl, surprised. “Fiona?”

The girl turned. “Yes?”

“You’re the—”

“—one you talked to on the phone yesterday,” Fiona finished for him. “Of course. How many Fionas do you think we have?”

“One is more than enough,” Mr. Trouble muttered.

Fiona took a step toward Eric. “My brother and I are here to talk to you about what we can do for you. But…” she pointed down the street toward Peter and his friends, “as we can all plainly see, we have some company on the way that would rather we didn’t. So if we’re going to talk, and I really think we should, we’re going to have to do it someplace else. That means you need to come with us.”

Maggie put a hand on Eric’s arm. “You can’t possibly be considering going anywhere with them! I’ve never seen these people before and I bet you haven’t, either.”

But he was doing more than consider; he’d decided he was going to get in the car with them. The moment he realized the girl was Fiona, he had a strong sense that she and this Mr. Trouble guy were really here to help him.

“How long will we be gone?” he asked.

“An hour. Hour and a half, max,” Fiona said, then glanced at her brother as if she was looking for his confirmation. But his attention was focused down the street.

“They’re, um, picking up their pace,” he said.

Eric, Maggie, and Fiona turned to look for themselves. Peter and the others weren’t slow-walking any more. With each step, they seemed to be gaining speed.

“Love to stay here and chat but we really should go now,” Mr. Trouble said.

Eric took a step toward the car, then stopped. “I need to get my backpack first.”

“Not enough time,” Mr. Trouble said.

“I’ll be quick.”

“Hold on. You’re not going to—”

“It’s fine,” Fiona said, cutting her brother off. “We’ll distract them.”

“Hey, I’m the one in charge here,” Mr. Trouble said.

“Go,” Fiona told Eric.

Eric spun around and ran toward the house, with Maggie following right behind.

“What are you thinking?” she asked. “You don’t even know them and you’re going to get in their car?”

He jumped onto the porch and pulled the door open. “They’re okay. I hired them. They’re…they’re here to help me.”

“Help you? Help you what?”

He hesitated a second, then shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Back inside, he went straight to the dinning room, shoved his stuff into his backpack, and pulled his bag over his shoulder. As he turned to leave, he found Maggie standing in his way.

“What if they kidnap you?” she whispered so that her parents, who were in the nearby living room watching TV, couldn’t hear.

“They’re not going to kidnap me.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know, okay?”

“Well, then…” She paused for a moment, thinking. “What about our report? It’s due tomorrow, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry. I’ll talk to Mr. Walker and see if we can get an extension until Monday.” He tried to walk past her but she blocked him again.

“I don’t want an extension. I want to finish it now!”

“Honey, is everything all right?” Mrs. Ortega called out from the other room.

Maggie hesitated, then said, “Everything’s fine, Mom.”

“I owe you big for this,” Eric told her.

She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Eric, if you get in that car with them, I’ll call your dad and tell him what you’re doing.”

His shook his head. “You can’t do that.”

“I can, and I will.”

“Please, you can’t tell anyone.”

“Why?”

“I…I can’t explain it.”

“Then I’m going to call your dad,” she said.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Fine. Call him,” he said, pushing past her.

When he reached the front door, he cracked it open and peeked outside. The sedan was still parked at the curb, but neither Mr. Trouble nor Fiona was in sight. He moved quietly out onto the porch and looked down the street. It was empty. Not only were Mr. Trouble and his sister not there, Peter and his friends seemed to have disappeared, too.

He took one more look around then stepped off the porch.

“There you are.” It was the unmistakable voice of Peter Garr, in that strange monotone he’d used at the library the day before.

Eric spun to his left, sure that Peter was standing just a few feet away. But there was no one.

“Eric! Get in the car!” Fiona yelled.

He looked back at the street and saw her way down at the other end of the block, running toward him in the middle of the road.

“Stay where you are,” the voice of Peter Garr said.

Eric took a step then stopped, not sure what to do.

“Now!” Fiona yelled.

That was the spark he needed. He raced to the car, half expecting Peter to grab him from behind, but he made it untouched then looked back down the street. There was a whole parade of people running in his direction. Mr. Trouble had just pulled ahead of his sister and seemed to be in a foot race with Peter Garr’s two friends. Fiona was closer to Eric’s side of the street, staying about a dozen feet in front of Peter himself.

Eric stared at them, confused. But I just heard Peter right here.

“Get in!” Fiona yelled.

Eric pulled open the front passenger door, but as he threw his bag inside, he heard a thud and a quick yelp of pain. Looking back, he saw Fiona sprawled on the street and knew Peter would reach her in seconds. Eric glanced at Mr. Trouble, but Fiona’s brother was in no position to help.

Without further thought, Eric sprinted toward her.

But Peter got there first. The moment Fiona stood up, he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to him.

“Let go of me!” she yelled, twisting every way she could, trying to break free.

“Who are you?” Peter asked.

“Let go!”

Eric skidded to a stop a few feet away. “Give me your hand,” he said, reaching out.

His intent was to help pull her out of Peter’s grasp, but when she saw him, her eyes went wide.

“Don’t get near him!” she yelled. “Go back to the car! Go back!”

“I can help you. Just give me your hand.”

She purposely tucked her free hand against her body so that he couldn’t grab it. “Just get in the car!”

Peter gave Fiona a hard tug then asked again, “Who are you?”

Fiona might not have wanted Eric’s help, but there was no way he was going to go back to the car. He knew Peter was going to hurt her and he couldn’t let that happen. All she had done was come here to help him.

Almost without thinking, he took two quick steps forward and shoved Peter in the shoulder. “Let her go!”

What he’d been hoping was that the push would cause Peter to turn his attention to him, and in that moment of confusion both he and Fiona could get away. What happened instead was something else entirely.

In one fluid motion, Peter released Fiona and flew through the air a good dozen feet before slamming into the asphalt. He lay on his back, a low groan escaping his lips.

Both Eric and Fiona stared at him in surprise.

“Thanks,” she said in a hushed, astonished voice.

“I didn’t…I mean…”

“Are we staying here or are we going?” Mr. Trouble called out.

They turned and saw him standing by the car.

Fiona smiled at Eric. “Come on.”

As soon as they got back to the car, Fiona climbed in the back while Eric got into the front. Just as Mr. Trouble turned the ignition key, the front passenger door popped open. Eric reached over to grab it, thinking Peter had pulled himself off the ground and was coming after them again, but it wasn’t Peter at all.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” Maggie said.

She climbed in beside him, squeezing him halfway onto the center console.

“Are you crazy?” Eric said. “Your parents are going to wonder where you went.”

“I told them we were going to the library.”

Eric looked to Mr. Trouble for help. “Is she allowed to come along?”

“Allowed or not, she’s coming,” Mr. Trouble said, punching the accelerator.

As the sedan shot out from the curb, Eric frowned at Maggie for a moment, then twisted around and looked out the back window, expecting to see Peter still lying on his back in the road. But Peter was nowhere to be seen.

“So,” Mr. Trouble said. “It would help me a lot if one of you two lovebirds got in the backseat.”