After Mr. Kleinman left in his government-issue sedan, Riley’s mom and Tony Peroni were the only judges still available to award the first-place trophy to the winner of the talent show.
“We’re giving it to songbird Briana Bloomfield,” the wedding singer announced. “The Rockin’ Rollers come in second, and Jamal the Magnificent, third. Both of those acts will be receiving a fabulous consolation prize: a complete collection of my greatest hits.”
“Wow,” Jamal whispered to Briana. “That’s even sweeter than your ten-thousand-dollar scholarship!”
Before they left the country club, Riley heard a man say to a group gathered in the 19th Hole Lounge, “We need Stuart Sowicky back on the job, first thing tomorrow! He can dig up the rest of whatever that nincompoop Paxton buried under the fairways and give us back our ‘green’ greens!”
A lot of people in tuxedos and evening gowns said, “Hear, hear!” to that, so Riley felt pretty confident that Mr. Sowicky would be officially unfired first thing Sunday morning.
When Riley and his mom finally got home, they linked up once again with Afghanistan for a family chat with Riley’s dad (who, in under an hour, had already ID’d the local Xylodyne Dynamics contractor, a guy named Crumpler, who had started spreading the false rumors against him as part of the Protein-Power cover-up).
“You two did an awesome job,” he said proudly.
“Thank you, hon,” said Riley’s mom.
“So how come you guys were hot-wiring backhoes in Indiana?” asked Riley.
“They were tractors,” said his dad. “And, I’m sorry, Riley—you do not yet have clearance for that information.”
“And you probably never will,” added his mom. Then she leaned in closer to the computer. “Mack, I know there was a lot going on tonight, but did you happen to notice my earrings?”
Riley’s dad grinned. “Roger that, Mrs. Mack. They looked almost as amazingly beautiful as you did in that dress.”
Riley rolled his eyes while his mom and dad said a bunch more mushy junk. (This was why he and his mom usually had separate chats with his dad: Riley preferred operating in a no-cooties zone.)
Finally, the conversation turned to Riley and his upcoming vacation.
“So,” said his dad, “now that school’s out, what else do you guys have planned for the summer?”
“Hard to say, Dad. It’s kind of like pancake powder under a putting green. You just never know what might pop up.”
THANK YOU . . .
TO ANDREW HARWELL, BARBARA LALICKI, and everyone at Harper who make writing these Riley Mack stories so much fun.
To J.J., my extremely talented (not to mention gorgeous) wife, who is the world’s best first editor.
To my agent, Eric Myers.
To the city of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department, Sara Heilman, and the middle school earth science teachers in Austin, Texas, who put together the Country Club Creek Ichthycide curriculum that taught me so much about investigating water pollution.
And to all the Known Troublemakers out there who stand up for what’s right and defend those who cannot defend themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is a New York Times bestselling author and the winner of multiple awards for his Haunted Mystery series. He lives in New York City with his wife, JJ, two cats, and a dog named Fred, who starred on Broadway in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
You can visit Chris (and Fred) online at www.chrisgrabenstein.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.
COPYRIGHT
Cover art © 2013 by Ben Huen
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
RILEY MACK STIRS UP MORE TROUBLE. Copyright © 2013 by Chris Grabenstein.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grabenstein, Chris.
Riley Mack stirs up more trouble / Chris Grabenstein.
p. cm.
Summary: “Riley Mack and his friends are back in action—making trouble in the name of justice—this time to stop a pollution cover-up and protect one of their own from talent-show sabotage”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-202622-4 (hardback)
EPub Edition February ISBN 9780062202970
[1. Heroes—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Pollution—Fiction. 5. Talent shows—Fiction. 6. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.G7487Ris 2013
2012022148
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
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13 14 15 16 17 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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