Feeding Frenzy

by Michael P. Spradlin

  Dr. Catalyst stepped through the door and into the darkness. This was only a setback. It would be time-consuming to track the dog down and retrieve both it and his computer. But he would have the dog back and inside his cage, suspended over the tank, in time for his next broadcast.

  EMMET GOT OFF THE BUS AT THE STOP CLOSEST TO DR. Newton’s address. According to his Internet search, the teacher lived on a cul-de-sac on the south side of the city. It made Emmet wonder for a moment. There was only one listing for a Dr. Peter Newton in Florida City in any of the online directories. But if Dr. Newton was so wealthy, why did he live in a tiny little house in a nondescript neighborhood? Wouldn’t he have a ginormous mansion somewhere?

  Emmet thought about this as he followed the map on his cell phone’s screen. Newton was a fairly common name. Maybe there was another Peter Newton and the Newt’s address just wasn’t listed. Perhaps he didn’t live here at all. As he continued, Emmet tried to talk himself back into it. Dr. Newton lived in a tiny house because it saved space. Stopping habitat destruction was a big part of the environmental movement.

  It was about a ten-minute walk from the bus stop to the cul-de-sac. When he saw the house from the street, doubt crept in again. The place was pretty drab. If Dr. Newton was living here, he was really sacrificing for his various causes.

  Emmet stuffed his cell phone away. He stopped on the sidewalk for a moment. For the first time, he felt a little nervous. This was the ideal hideout for a supervillain. Dark street. Not a lot of activity. Nothing behind the house but an empty field.

  As he walked cautiously closer down the sidewalk, his eyes straining to see in the dark, he realized he’d made a mistake. It was eerily quiet in this neighborhood. If Dr. Newton really was Dr. Catalyst, he certainly wouldn’t be storing his Muraecudas in a tiny three-bedroom house. And it was unlikely he’d brought Apollo here, either.

  He stood on the sidewalk next to a large cypress tree, considering his options. Finally, he decided he’d come this far. There were no lights on in or outside the house. It was nearly pitch-black, and he hadn’t thought to bring a flashlight. After a couple seconds he remembered his cell phone. It should give him enough light from the screen to see the ground in front of him, at least! As he pulled it out of his pocket, a hand reached out from behind him and touched him on the shoulder.

  Despite himself Emmet gave out a bloodcurdling scream.

  DR. CATALYST ZOOMED IN ON THE MAP ON HIS PHONE’S screen. It didn’t show the surrounding area in great detail, but the little red dot was moving in the northwest corner of the park. That would place Apollo somewhere near the merry-go-round.

  Once he retrieved the dog he would place it back in the cage. He still had enough time to take another group of hatchlings out to the sound and release them, returning before sunrise. Releasing them at night reduced his chances of getting caught.

  By taking Apollo, he was forcing Dr. Geaux’s hand. She had become close to the Doyles. Indeed he watched her on the surveillance tapes at the park, and it was clear she had become attached to the mutt. Dr. Catalyst looked at his bleeding hand, the red blood still visible in the darkness, and laughed. Apparently they were unaware Apollo had a dark side.

  “Apollo!” he called. There was no response. In the engine room at the aquarium there was a small access closet, and that was where he intended to keep Apollo between filming sessions. He had grabbed some treats on his way out, and now he waved them about, hoping the dog would catch their scent. He slowed to a walk, and then stopped completely, concentrating on listening. The merry-go-round was up ahead, and he could faintly see the outlines of the plastic whales and dolphins on the now-decrepit contraption. The red dot on his screen was only going to give him a general location. Right now it was just a blip near the machine.

  Up ahead he thought he heard something. A rustling sound, and maybe the slight jingling clink of a collar.

  “Apollo?” he called, trying to make his voice sound as appealing as possible.

  All was quiet. Slowly he advanced toward the merry-go-round, just a few more paces. Then he paused again, listening.

  “Apollo?”

  It was silent for a few seconds. He heard something behind the merry-go-round clunk onto the ground, then heard a scraping sound and a scurrying noise. He turned the corner, and there was Apollo, barely visible in the darkness. The dog dropped the tablet for a moment to rest, panting, but right as Dr. Catalyst extended his hand, the dog picked it up again and scurried away.

  Checking his phone, Dr. Catalyst watch as the red dot moved on the screen, heading away from his current spot. He hurried along after the dog, cursing silently to himself.

  This could take all night.

  “WHOTHEHOLYGAHMCNARYIOUSWAHHH!” EMMET shouted. He couldn’t help it. It was pitch-black on the street and someone had just reached out and grabbed him.

  When his feet landed back on the ground, he remembered his karate lessons and took a defensive posture with his legs spread and his hands up. Now recovered from his shameful display, he was determined that Dr. Newton was not going to take him down without a fight.

  A small flashlight clicked on, revealing Calvin.

  “Did someone order a ninja?” Calvin said.

  “Dude! Why do you keep trying to give me a heart attack?!” Emmet complained. Though he relaxed his posture, a small part of him was disappointed it was Calvin and not Dr. Newton. If it had been Dr. Newton, he at least could have demanded answers.

  “What are you doing?” Emmet said. “Does your mom know you’re here?”

  “Does your dad?” Calvin countered.

  “No fair. And I asked first.”

  “So we’re back to being six again? No, my mom does not know I’m here. She told me what happened and called Mrs. Clawson to come over while I supposedly slept. Mrs. Clawson is nearly deaf. She had the TV volume up so loud there was no way she was ever going to hear me climb out my window. I hopped on the bus, and here I am,” Calvin said.

  “How did you know I’d come here?”

  “Because you are so obvious.”

  “I’m not obvious.”

  “Emmet, you can’t do this. What do you think is going to happen? Knock on the door, unmask Dr. Newton, and get Apollo back? It’s dumb. You’re not dumb.”

  “What would you do? I can’t just sit there and wait. He’s got Apollo….” Emmet couldn’t say the words.

  Calvin didn’t say anything. Not for several moments.

  “Did I ever tell you about my ancestors? About the Seminole Way?”

  “No.”

  “Back in the 1800s we fought the U.S. Army to a standstill for forty years. Made them spend millions of dollars. The tribal leaders did it by making the soldiers come to them, and by never fighting when or where or how the U.S. military expected.”

  “Calvin, I know this is important to you, but right now —”

  “You didn’t let me finish,” Calvin said, holding up his hand. “There were only a few thousand Seminoles all together. And they fought a bigger, stronger foe to a draw. You did the same thing when you went and got your dad.”

  “What? I’m sorry. You lost me,” Emmet said.

  “Do you think Dr. Catalyst ever thought a couple of kids in a canoe would come and rescue Dr. Doyle? Did he think for even one minute you’d figure out where he was hiding or how he was doing it? Not in a million years. But you did it. So do it again.”

  “What? I just got lucky. He’s not in the swamp this time….”

  “So figure out where he is. Tomorrow is Saturday. There’s no school, so we can find him. You come up with something, and of course no one will listen to us, therefore we’ll just skip the part where we try and convince anyone, and go right to saving Apollo.”

  “But this was my something. Dr. Newton is my only lead.”

  “We’re going to go home. Get your dad to drop you off at my house in the morning. Then we’ll figure out where Dr. Catalyst is and go get Apollo,” Calvin said. He put his arm on Emmet
’s elbow and steered him down the street. A few minutes later they were back at the bus stop.

  “Calvin?”

  “Huh?”

  “Why are you helping me this time? Last time you were all ‘There’s no way’ and ‘What if you’re wrong?’ and now you actually want to jump in with both feet. Why?”

  Calvin shrugged. “I really don’t like people who pick on dogs.”

  As Calvin and Emmet waited for the bus, they did not see the Lexus that had been shadowing them with its lights off ever since they left Dr. Newton’s house. It pulled over to the curb and stopped. Inside the car, Dr. Newton punched a button on his steering wheel, and the phone connected after two rings.

  “We’ve definitely got a problem,” he said.

  WHEN EMMET ARRIVED HOME, THE POLICE CAR WAS still in the street and Dr. Geaux was sitting in the kitchen talking to his dad. Lieutenant Stukaczowski must have left. Emmet went back in through the window, hoping and praying that they hadn’t come in to check on him. He would be toast.

  He changed into his pajamas, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the hallway leading to the kitchen. When he entered, both of them stopped talking and looked at him expectantly.

  “Are you okay, hon?” Dr. Geaux asked. Emmet would never say anything, but he liked the way she called him “hon.”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t sleep and came out to say I’m sorry. It’s just …” He let his words trail off.

  “It’s okay, son,” Dr. Doyle said. “But Rosalita has everyone out looking. We’re going to get him back.” Emmet could tell he was trying to sound confident.

  “I know,” Emmet said. “Dr. Geaux, if you don’t find him tonight, in the morning would it be okay if Dad took me to your house, so I could hang out with Calvin? I like the tree house. It’s relaxing up there.”

  “Of course,” she said, standing. “Benton, I’m going to leave. Try and get some sleep, and then you can join the search teams tomorrow. You can bring Emmet by early. Mrs. Clawson will be there to keep an eye on them.”

  Hah! Emmet thought to himself. An entire column of tanks could drive down the road in front of Mrs. Clawson’s house and if her game shows were on, she wouldn’t notice. Best not to let them know that, though.

  While his dad was busy saying good-bye to Dr. Geaux at the front door, Emmet went digging in the junk drawer by the phone in the kitchen. When they’d moved in a few months ago, they got a welcome packet from the Florida City Chamber of Commerce. Inside was a big folding road map of the entire area. He dug under all the other junk and grabbed the map, stuffing it in the waistband of his pajamas.

  “You sure you’re okay?” his dad asked when he came back into the kitchen.

  “Yeah. I mean, I’m upset, but there isn’t anything I can do. Dr. Geaux has her best people out searching….”

  His dad gave him a big, bone-crushing hug. Emmet had to admit it felt pretty great.

  “I’m okay. Good night, Dad.”

  “Good night, Emmet.”

  As he reached his bedroom door, his dad called out, “Emmet?”

  “Yeah?” Emmet said.

  “I’ll take you to Calvin’s in the morning. But … I know what you did last time, and I know why you did it. You came and got me. It was brave. Dangerous, but brave. Sit this out, Emmet. This guy, whoever he is, is getting desperate. And that makes him unstable. Promise me you won’t try to do anything.”

  Emmet thought hard for a way to answer without potentially breaking a promise to his dad. Unfortunately, he came up blank.

  “Okay, Dad. Good night.”

  Emmet slipped into his room and shut the door. He took a red marker and his laptop from the desk, and sat cross-legged on the bed. Unfolding the map before him, he studied it long into the night.

  IT WAS SEVEN A.M., AND EMMET AND CALVIN WERE IN the tree house. Emmet had brought the map, and he showed Calvin what his long night of research had revealed. He had narrowed Dr. Catalyst’s base down to twelve possible locations. He figured that Dr. Catalyst was likely to have his lair on the mainland, and not one of the Keys or tiny islands dotting the coast.

  “Why?” Calvin asked, when Emmet explained his idea. “Why wouldn’t he go somewhere more remote? Like he did in the Everglades?”

  “I thought about it a lot. There are plenty of reasons, but the most important are power and electricity. And salt water. He needs it for these creatures. If he’s hatching them like he did the Pterogators, he’d need big aquarium tanks or a place right on the coast with a fenced-in pen full of salt water to keep them alive. He could have his own generators on an island, but what if they run out of gas or something? Say he’s on the mainland doing Dr. Catalyst stuff and then a storm comes up. There are high waves. He can’t get back, they run out of gas, and his creatures die. He’s bold, but he wouldn’t take a risk like that with his critters.”

  Calvin conceded the point. They didn’t really have much choice. They couldn’t get a boat out to the Keys, anyway.

  “Second reason is, we found him last time and he had to escape. An island only gives you one way off. Unless he knows how to fly a helicopter or has a jet pack or something. Suppose someone else stumbles upon him this time? Then what? If he’s on the mainland, he could have a boat or a car. Heck, he could even hide in the bushes, run back to the Everglades. There are a million places he could go.”

  “Good thinking,” Calvin muttered as he peered over the map. But he said it in the Calvin way, so it sounded like he was praising a little kid for coloring inside the lines.

  Calvin turned up the police scanner he’d brought up with them. Because of her job, Dr. Geaux had a home unit in case of storms or emergencies. Calvin had listened to it all morning. He set it on the floor beside them. All kinds of chatter came over the speaker from police and fire vehicles out on the road.

  “These places here on the coast have already been searched,” he said, running his fingers along the map. Two were abandoned fisheries and the other was a closed frozen-seafood warehouse. Calvin put an X over the circle Emmet had drawn around each one.

  They both studied the map intently. There were now nine spots. Working together, they eliminated four more because of their locations. They were all close to busy streets or highways, which made it too easy to be spotted. Dr. Catalyst would have to move the creatures either by truck or by boat. Two of the places were on the river, so a boat was possible, but there were a lot of still-active businesses around them. Again, it was more likely someone behaving clandestinely would be discovered there.

  “What about this place?” Emmet said, pointing to Undersea Land.

  Calvin shook his head. “It’s deserted enough, but there’s no power. Been abandoned for years. It used to be a really cheesy amusement park. My mom took me there a couple of times, but it closed when I was, like, seven.”

  Emmet flopped back on the beanbag and put his hands over his eyes. He was exhausted. They’d already spent an hour trying to figure it out. The realization that he was going to lose his dog was starting to settle over him.

  “Unless …” he heard Calvin say.

  He sat up. “Unless what?”

  Calvin was using his laptop. “A while ago, some rich developer bought it. He was going to upgrade and reopen the park. They started working on it, but I remember people saying the economy went bad and the guy lost all his funding or something.”

  “Why would it be an option for Dr. Catalyst if it’s all old and moldy now?” Emmet asked.

  “Well, I just thought of it when I saw it on the map. It had an aquarium for the dolphin-and-seal show. They weren’t very well trained. But the tanks …”

  Emmet sat up and snatched the computer from Calvin’s hands. He searched and found a news article: “Undersea Land Redevelopment Loses Funding.” He read it quickly, then looked at the park’s location on the map. It was right by the river. It was very remote, which probably explained why it had failed the first time. The article said the “expected residential development nearby”
never occurred.

  Handing the map back to Calvin, he pulled up a website that let you look at a satellite image of any location in the world. Calvin read off the street number, and Emmet entered the address. A grainy image of Undersea Land slowly appeared. Then the image cleared, and Emmet could see a roughly oval-shaped fence. Inside there were some paved walkways and a lot of roofs and buildings. At the southern edge of the park was a large rectangular structure, and there was a faded image of a dolphin painted on the roof. Emmet navigated in for a closer look. It must be the aquarium, he thought

  It looked completely deserted, almost ghostly. Calvin scooted around so he could look.

  “That’s the place. Even the food was horrible. Nothing but seafood. How many kids like seafood? And if you were a kid visiting Undersea Land and you just saw Lucy the Lobster, Cubby the Clownfish — who was really creepy, as I recall — and Sammy the Shrimp on the midway, why would you go to one of the restaurants and order fish sticks and popcorn shrimp? No wonder the place failed. What’s that?” Calvin pointed to the screen. “Right here. Outside this gate. Looks like tire tracks.”

  Emmet clicked the touch pad on the laptop and made the image larger. There were definitely tire tracks in the mud outside the fence.

  “Doesn’t mean anything,” Emmet said, dejected. “They could have been there a long time.”

  “We haven’t had any rain in a week or so. And look here,” Calvin said, pointing.

  In the upper right-hand corner was a box that revealed all kinds of information about the image. The latitude and longitude, and most importantly the date and time the image was photographed.

  Two days ago.

  INSIDE THE HOUSE, THEY EXPLAINED TO MRS. CLAWSON they were going to ride their bikes to the library to work on a school project. It was only a few blocks away, and they’d be back at lunchtime.