by Ryan Decaria
Anika struggled to quiet her fingers.
No one spoke. They just stared at the map.
Anika turned away, wiping tears on her sleeves. She wanted to run up the stairs and into Dagmar’s room, slam the door, and throw herself onto the bed. Instead, she took a deep breath. She wasn’t a child. She wasn’t sure who she was, but a whiney snot-nosed coward was not it.
She turned around and faced them. “The alligator will come for me. We need to set these traps and any other safeguards you can think of. We have to use misdirection and disguise everything. Drop into several parks and riverside clearings. Drop hints of my true location.”
“Honey,” the woman said, “we don’t believe this animal can understand speech. Those scientist types can screw with nature all they want, but a gator’s brain ain’t big enough to do that.”
The other boys nodded. Darwin furrowed his forehead while he stroked his chin.
Anika gawked at her friends. Even knowing what they knew about this town and the laboratory at its center, they were still skeptical.
“It doesn’t matter if he can understand or not. If I’m standing out in the open, he’ll come for me. I know it.”
“The reason we’re even here,” the old man said, “is because the gators ain’t behavin’ right. They moving around all odd, so I ain’t puttin’ it past ‘em, but we needs some guarantees.”
“In this place,” Billie said, “the only guarantee is that things are gonna get weird.”
He nodded.
Misty stood. “You can’t stand out there unprotected. He could bring a dozen or more alligators.”
“Boulsour and Sasha will be beside me. For some reason, the alligators ignore them and won’t bite.” Anika knew why, but she didn’t need to share everything. “If things go south, Boulsour can toss me on his back and run for it.”
She didn’t look at Boulsour. His job was to protect her, so he shouldn’t go along with this plan, shouldn’t let her anywhere near the gators, but somehow she knew that he understood this was the best way, that he couldn’t be everywhere, and the threat was real. Still, looking into his face was the last thing she wanted to do at that moment.
“We’ll be here in the back of the trucks.” Agatha pointed to the map. “We’ll have our rifles in case any try sneaking up on ya.”
“Great.” Anika put a hand on Hawking’s shoulder. “Now work out the details. We need every entrance and exit in that clearing planned for. We need backup plans to the backup plans. Got it?”
Hawking grabbed a Sharpie and drew another circle on the paper. “We could add a cage around this whole area. We lay it flat on the ground and pull it up once the gators are inside. We can add another cage to protect you. We’ll trap them.”
Anika nodded. “Make it happen.”
Anika stepped back as the others gathered around the map, pointing and talking at once. Hawking got everyone under control, and each person spoke in turn. Linh’s fingers clicked across her keyboard, writing everything down.
They had one day to prepare, and Anika would be stuck at school. Couldn’t play sick now. Margery would insist she came into the lab. Couldn’t sluff. Someone would report it to Dravovitch. He might think she ran for it. He’d send people out looking for her, which was the last thing she wanted.
A tear slid down her cheek.
Billie slunk away from the others. “What happened?”
Anika hated crying. “Guess I’m human after all.”
“I’ll be there,” Billie said. “I’ll stay in the back of the truck with Darwin, but I won’t let you do this alone.”
“No.” Anika pulled Billie’s chin up, so she could see into her eyes. “No way. It’s too dangerous.”
“Nonsense. Darwin’s amazeballs. He won’t let anything happen to me. And it’s non-negotiable. We’re in this together. I’m not leaving you.”
Anika put a hand on Billie’s cheek. She needed a reason to send her away that would actually stick, but she couldn’t think of anything. “Promise you’ll stay in the truck no matter what happens, okay?”
Billie grinned. “Cross my heart.”
In a lonely corner of the lunchroom, Anika huddled with Misty and Jackie around Linh’s laptop watching a video feed from the tiny camera the girls managed to plant in an ornate bone button on Principal Pankina’s wool sweater.
Billie sat at the next table playing pattycake with Linh, who, from the gleeful smile on her face, was enjoying the experience. Anika hadn’t discussed her hypothesis about Linh’s brain with anyone. Whatever experiment Billie was doing seemed to engage Linh completely.
Yoko snarled from across the table and Anika agreed. Billie could have played a dozen different playground clapping games, but pattycake was a game for babies.
“It was simple misdirection.” Billie nodded toward Misty. “Girl’s quite proficient if you hadn’t noticed.”
Misty tapped the table without pattern. “Don’t forget Billie’s lightning sewing skills.”
“My one life-skill actually paid off,” Billie said. “Thanks, Mom.”
Linh stopped focusing on the hand movements and locked eyes with Billie. Yoko’s eyes narrowed and her teeth ground together. Anika put a hand on Yoko’s shoulder, hoping to keep her from leaping out of her seat and tackling Billie.
Billie wasn’t making fun of Linh, though. She rattled her mouth about the rest of Anika’s friends, but would never make fun of Linh, or well anyone who was special. Especially not with a game of pattycake. This was something else. Billie was searching for a connection to her. To find out who the real girl was inside. One of Billie’s many talents.
Anika grabbed Misty’s hands to stop the rhythmless tapping. “It was too risky.”
Jackie snorted. “You’re one to talk. You never let up on the close calls.”
“I know.” Anika stared at the laptop. So far, Pankina had donned the sweater but still hadn’t left her office. Eventually, she’d have to do something incriminating and they’d send the recording to Dravovitch and the police.
“Can we at least talk about the other thing?” Misty put her hands in her lap. “We need to get a look at Bolton’s notebook.”
Billie added a new movement to the pattern of patting hands. It took a moment for Linh to adjust.
Anika put her elbows on the table and propped her cheeks on them. “I can’t right now.”
“What do you mean you can’t?” Misty asked. “You’re not the only one with your life on the line. We have to figure out who Bolton is and what she’s up to.”
“We will.” Anika was so worried about the gator, she was ignoring all the other problems she had to deal with. Still, after tonight, she’d have one less monster trying to kill her.
“Let’s do it now.” Misty rubbed her hands together. “We split up again.”
Anika pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. “I haven’t had a chance to even think about it.”
“I have,” Jackie said. “What you’re going to do is plan another heist. Today. After lunch.”
Billie stopped the pattycake with Linh. “Why don’t you do it?”
“Because Anika is the mastermind.” Jackie pushed her tray away. “We all have our jobs on this team, and hers is to come up with the plan.”
Billie stood up, pointing at Jackie. “And what’s your job again?”
Linh stared at her hands like she was unsure what to do with them.
“What’s yours?” Jackie asked. “Sewing?”
“Stop it,” Anika shouted. Her friends all stared at her, their nerves frazzled. Since the Swampazazi boys were taking care of the other stuff, maybe another heist was just the thing to distract them from alligator hunting. “We’re going to need a diversion.”
Jackie cracked her knuckles. “Now we’re talking.”
Yoko slid Billie over and resumed playing pattycake with Linh. “Do we pull the fire alarm?”
Whatever experiment was going on with Linh and playing pattycake would have bee
n a fantastic science fair project. Well, that was only if Anika ever got unbanned from participating. If she could stop monsters, the little pink-suited administrator shouldn’t be too hard to tackle. No. Anika’s life was a science project. She didn’t need any more trophies.
“Nah, that’s a little low brow.” Anika pulled out her notebook; checked her notes. “Ms. Bolton eats lunch during her prep period next hour. Does anyone know what she eats for lunch?”
“I’ll find out.” Billie bounced out of the lunchroom.
“Misty,” Anika said. “I know lock picking isn’t your specialty, but I think you need to come in case she locks her desk.”
Misty smiled. “I think I can manage a desk drawer.”
Anika put her arm around Jackie. “Post girls in the halls as lookouts. Come up with signals. We don’t want any teachers walking in on us.”
“You’re not going anywhere near Bolton’s room,” Jackie said. “Everyone needs to see you. You’re going to run the operation from the lobby right in front of the office.”
Misty pulled a tiny microphone and an earpiece out of her bag. “The spy kit Jackie bought came with a bunch of these.”
Anika turned. “Spy kit?”
“What?” Jackie said. “I have a lot of disposable income, and I don’t sleep anymore.”
Anika examined the earpiece. “Thanks.”
Jackie took out another and handed it to Misty. “Linh can help coordinate on the bench near you. We can’t give anyone a reason to suspect you were in on it, if we get caught.”
Anika fit the device into her ear. “Sounds like you already had a plan.”
“It was Hawking’s idea.” Jackie flashed her perfect teeth. “I’m the moneybags.”
“You’re the fixer,” Anika said. “You called me the mastermind which makes Linh the hacker, Misty the thief, Billie the con artist, Sasha the muscle, Hawking the gadget guy, and you’re the fixer.”
Yoko frowned, putting her hands in her lap. “And what am I?”
Again, Linh didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands.
“You’re air support.” Anika needed Yoko around to keep Linh engaged, but her drones were always handy. “I need you to fly a drone through a tiny window and use it to pour a chemical into a test tube. Don’t worry. You’re as important as anyone.”
Yoko’s eyes lit up. Linh’s hands fell to her sides.
Billie ran back into the lunchroom and hustled over. “She’s got leftover meatloaf and potatoes. And she’s got a bottle of ketchup with her name taped on it. Ketchup is easy to work with, no?”
“What did you do?” Misty asked. “Barge into the break room?”
“I mumbled some Norwegian-like gibberish and acted weird. They didn’t say a thing.”
Anika held another two ear pieces. “Where’s Sasha and Hawking?”
“Sasha is on the roof,” Yoko said. “Something about finding a sword.”
Misty picked up an earpiece. “Is Sasha’s cell phone-wiggin’ power gonna mess with the signal?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Anika said. “She’s not going to need one.”
Linh’s face twitched. “Hawking is at home.”
“Tell him to get over here and to bring some baking soda.”
“Hey.” Jackie pointed to the laptop. “Pankina’s moving.”
Pankina left her office and shuffled down the hall. Everyone gathered around to see the screen.
“We still need a way to clear the hall during the heist,” Misty said. “No one can see us going in and out Bolton’s room.”
Anika tapped her nose. “What’s the worst smell you can imagine?”
Pankina headed to the furnace room.
“Buckle up.” Billie squeezed in between Anika and Jackie. “Here we go.”
Anika held her breath as Pankina unlocked the door and descended the steps into the dark basement. She rounded a corner into a dimly lit room. Someone sat in a chair facing away from her. His arms were bound behind the chair.
Pankina walked around him.
Principal Esposito stared into the camera, his face bruised and bloody.
Anika gasped.
His eyes drooped as he struggled to breathe. Pankina slapped him, splattering blood on the tiny camera in her button.
Misty covered her mouth. “Oh, crap.”
“You need to start using harsher words,” Jackie said. “This is actually bad.”
“Who’s that?” Billie asked.
Yoko backed into the wall. “It’s Principal Esposito. He disappeared the day you got here.”
“So that’s where he’s been hiding,” Linh said.
“But why?” Anika got up and paced around the table. That was weeks ago. He’d likely been held captive that whole time. “Why would she kidnap him?”
“He must have stumbled onto her operation,” Jackie said.
“What operation?” Misty asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” Anika said. “We have to rescue him.”
The camera showed Pankina grabbing a piece of meat off a plate. She turned toward a steel cage, bent down, and lowered the meat inside.
An alligator stared back at her.
Linh screamed.
Anika scrutinized the rest of the lunchroom. A couple of heads turned toward them, but no one seemed to care what they were watching or doing.
As Pankina moved, three other cages came into view, each holding an alligator.
“So that’s what they were doing when you almost got eaten,” Billie said. “They probably caught them after you left.”
“But why?” Misty asked. “What could they possibly use alligators for?”
Anika stared at the screen. Pankina turned toward a workbench where the skinny thug worked on a leather harness of some kind. She patted him on the back as she moved farther in. The camera panned across the workbench to what looked like bricks of off-white clay laid out in rows. The thick thug was molding one of the bricks into an oblong shape, a shape that could easily fit in the harness the other thug was making.
“Is that…?”
“I think…”
“Can’t be…”
“It is…”
Everyone spoke at once.
“What is it?” Anika asked.
Linh answered. “Plastic explosives.”
Jackie set her elbow on the table and put her cheeks in her hands. “That’s a lot of explosives.”
“No.” Anika shook her head. This was bad. “Can’t be.”
Pankina moved farther down revealing a pile of metal tubes with red wires.
“Blasting caps.” Linh said.
Anika turned toward her friends. “How do you know?”
“They ain’t making sculptures.” Jackie tapped the table.
Anika put her hand over Jackie’s fingers.
“She’s going to blow up the lab.” Yoko said.
Misty nodded vigorously. Billie covered her mouth. Linh’s face twitched again.
They hadn’t stumbled onto an operation. They had stumbled onto a war. Anika doubted that it was just regular old plastic explosives. Pankina was a part of all the madness.
“We have to tell someone,” Yoko said. “Someone at the lab or the police.”
“If we do that,” Anika said. “School will go into lockdown. The entire town will be on lockdown. We’ll be held up the rest of the day. We’ll miss our window to catch the alligator.”
Misty put her hands on her hips. “The alligator can wait.”
“Hey,” Billie said. “How do we know she’s not on our side?”
“Side?” Misty asked. “This isn’t about sides.”
Anika scratched through her hair. “Pankina is not looking out for us.”
Whatever Pankina was plotting, Esposito didn’t look like he’d survive to see it played out. Was it even safe to call in Dravovitch? He wasn’t exactly hostage negotiating material, and the entire school could be in danger if there was an altercation.
Jackie slammed the laptop closed. �
�We have to steal the blasting caps.”
“Right,” Misty said. “And rescue Esposito.”
Yoko paced back and forth. “But how? These people are dangerous.”
Jackie grabbed Yoko’s shoulder. “Anika’s going to pull off two heists today instead of one.”
“What?” Anika grabbed her notebook. She didn’t have time to plan another heist.
“We stole a monster,” Billie said. “A notebook and an incarcerated principal should be no problem.”
Getting the book from Ms. Bolton’s drawer wasn’t complicated. The door to the boiler room wasn’t far from Ms. Bolton’s room. They were clearing the hall anyway. And she had Sasha back in the mix.
“There it is.” Jackie pointed two fingers at Anika’s eyes. “She’s got a plan. I knew she could make it happen.”
“Someone find Sasha.” Anika opened her notebook and pulled out her good pen. “Here’s how we’re going to pull it off.”
For the first time since she’d left the lab last night, Anika’s stomach didn’t ache.
Anika sat next to Linh on the bench opposite the office doors. She hated being so close to Pankina, but so far, the principal hadn’t made another move to capture her, which made Anika more nervous. If Pankina walked out during the operation, Anika couldn’t make eye contact. She even left her phone in her locker, which was also distressing. All she had was a copy of Romeo and Juliet.
Sena had agreed to play lookout by rolling her longboard under her feet if Pankina came out of the office. She sat alone on the other bench, fidgeting with her nails. They told Sena little, but the giantess was so eager to re-join the team she didn’t ask any questions.
Out of the corner of her eye, Anika peeked at Linh’s laptop. She had several windows open, including two K-pop videos, the camera footage from the button on Pankina’s sweater and from Lihn’s drone as it glided effortlessly through the tiny window into Vanderbleek’s chemistry classroom.
Anika spoke quietly, but the mic easily picked up her voice. “Is everyone in position?”
