Alexander, Spy Catcher

by Diane Stormer

  I sighed. “Oh well—so much for being a super sleuth.”

  Charlie looked at me questioningly, but said nothing.

  “Before I start, how well do you know Major Davis?”

  Charlie shrugged slightly. “I hardly know him. I was surprised when he dropped in tonight. I can’t think of why he would be here in our town at all. He must have family or someone he’s close to nearby.”

  While we were talking, Ben wandered into the study. He seemed anxious to talk to me, but he knew he should wait. He had picked up the remote control and was driving his car around and under the furniture.

  “Oh no! Not again! My car is not steering right!”

  Uncle Charlie instantly looked alert. “Let me see that, Ben,” he said urgently.

  Ben handed over the controls without a word. The car was moving with no relationship to what he was doing with the steering device. Charlie fiddled with it for a moment and then switched the control off with a decisive click.

  Turning to us, he said, “Well, guys, that settles it. I’m sure I’m being spied upon!” With that, he went to the closet and took out his jacket. “I’m going out on the property to have a look around. There is something very near to here with a transmission that is causing this car to go awry. You both stay here.”

  “Charlie, wait!” I said. “I need to tell you what I discovered this evening!”

  My uncle stopped, his hand still on the doorknob, “What is it, Alex?”

  “There were two men in our woods tonight before dinner!”

  “Alex, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

  “I couldn’t. One of them was Major Davis. That was what I was going to say just now.”

  Charlie’s eyes met mine and he shook his head. “I guess we don’t know who we can trust, do we?”

  With that, he turned and stepped into the night.

  Chapter 10

  As the door closed behind Charlie, Ben said, “Alex, I came up to show you this!”

  He thrust a business card into my hand. It was printed with the name of an auto body repair shop. I flipped the card over.

  Scrawled across the back in pencil was a quote stating the estimated repair coast of fixing the tailgate of a 2001 Ford pickup. The license number was the same as the truck that I’d hidden in earlier.

  “I found it down in the basement,” Ben said. “It was on the floor right where the telephone cable comes into the house. What do you think, Alex? I looked at the telephone wires, but I didn’t know what to look for. Do you think the major dropped it while he was bugging our phone line? What does a wiretap look like anyway?”

  I didn’t have any answers to Ben’s question, so I said we should wait and show the card to Charlie when he returned.

  Without giving it much thought, I picked up Charlie’s cell phone off of the desktop to check the time. I stared at it in my hand and then looked over at Ben. “Charlie left his phone behind,” I said.

  “Yeah, I thought of that,” Ben responded, “There’s no way to reach him. It doesn’t work out back anyway.”

  The grandfather clock in the hall ticked loudly as the minutes crept by. Fifteen, twenty minutes, thirty, and still there was no sign of our uncle.

  I stood up, unable to sit and do nothing. “Charlie said for us to stay here, but he didn’t say for how long. I’m going looking for him.”

  “If you go, I go,” Ben replied in a resolute voice.

  We grabbed our coats and flashlights and hurried into the woods.

  It was a starless night. The wind blew the fallen leaves so that there were rustling sounds all around us. Somewhere an owl hooted. It was only half past eight, but it was as black as midnight.

  I don’t mind admitting that I was nervous! With every little noise, I felt like someone was going to jump out at me.

  “Which way now?” Ben whispered.

  “Let’s go up where the train tracks and creek come together. That’s where the pickup truck was parked.”

  As we drew close to the edge of the stream, the clouds parted for a few moments—and there in the moonlight we saw the truck! It was parked up on the tracks at the same place as before. The clouds swiftly gathered, concealing the moon, and we stood once again in darkness.

  My teeth were chattering—and it wasn’t just from the cold! “Let’s wait a while and see what happens.” Ben gave me a quick nod and moved a little closer to me.

  We waited and waited. Nothing happened. No one came near to the truck. All we succeeded in accomplishing was becoming progressively more scared and colder.

  “You stay here,” I said in a barely audible whisper. “I’m going to have a closer look.”

  I climbed up to the railroad tracks and looked all around the outside of the pickup. There wasn’t anything to see. All I could tell was that it was an ordinary—and equally empty—pickup truck.

  Holding my breath, I tentatively pulled up on the handle of the passenger side door. The door opened without a sound. My hands were shaking as I pulled myself up onto the seat. Leaning over, I fumbled with the latch on the glove compartment. It was securely locked. Next I looked in the ashtray. It was dirty with old ash residue, but otherwise empty. There were some loose coins in the cup holder, and that was it.

  I ran my hand along the floor in front of the seats. On the driver’s side, I felt a small box. It was a pack of cigarettes. I switched my flashlight on, cupping my hand over it to keep the light from being visible from outside of the truck. The cigarette box was a silver color, and it had a black stripe. The brand was not one I recognized. I jammed it back under the edge of the seat where I’d found it.

  Remembering the look on Ben’s face when I left him, I decided to go back with him to the house. Maybe Charlie had already returned.

  Our trek back through the woods was uneventful, and I felt a rush of relief as I came into the bright warmth of the kitchen. Then, my heart sank again. Charlie wasn’t there.

  Chapter 11

  As I hung my jacket over a chair in the kitchen, my uncle’s words echoed within me. He’d said that he didn’t know who we could trust. If he didn’t, it was certain that Ben and I couldn’t know.

  Ben’s dark eyes mirrored my concern. “We’d better not let on to Savannah that anything is wrong—not until we have to.”

  “Yeah, or Lillie either. You know how she clings to Charlie,” I replied.

  As if on cue, Lillie’s pajama-clad figure shuffled into the kitchen.

  “Where’s Charlie?” she demanded. “I thought you and Ben were with him.”

  “Isn’t it time you were in bed?” I countered, ignoring her question.

  “I am in bed. I am just getting another drink of water.”

  She made a show of getting some water from the refrigerator dispenser, and then scooped up Cosmo from the radiator —which most likely was her true mission all along— and scurried up the stairs with him.

  I looked over at the clock above the sink. It was a quarter to ten. Where was Charlie!

  Savannah came into the room and filled the kettle. “I’m having a cup of tea and a snack before I turn in, Do you guys want some?”

  “Sure,” Ben replied.

  I nodded in affirmative.

  Savannah busied herself while waiting for the kettle to boil. After slicing some banana bread (had Charlie made that too?), she reached into the tea canister and found only two teabags.

  “Alex, would you get me the new box of teabags from the pantry?

  “Sure, I’ll go look for them now,” I replied. I was glad to have something to do.

  After a few minutes, the kettle let out a shriek and Savannah poured the boiling water into the teapot. “Where’s my dad?” she asked. “I thought you guys were with him.”

  I was deciding how to best answer her when we h
eard a car pull into the drive.

  “That must be Mom,” I said, pushing back my chair. “I’ll get a cup for her too.”

  When Mom came in, her cheeks were reddened and her hair had been tousled by the strong wind. She called out a hello to everyone as she went to put her things away.

  Mom came back into the kitchen. She’d changed into a warm robe and thick socks. With a comfortable sigh, she sat down at the table with us.

  “Here, Anna.” Savannah slid the mug toward Mom. “There’s banana bread too—what’s left of it, that is.”

  While Savannah and Ben talked to Mom, I tried to decide the best way to tackle the subject I knew sooner or later was going to come up. I wanted to delay the question as long as possible because I didn’t want to upset Savannah if I didn’t have to. Besides, for all I knew, it could turn out to be nothing. Charlie might walk in at any moment.

  Mom stood and reached over to close the drapes. “There, that helps close out the dark. It feels like it’s blowing up a storm out there.

  “Say, where are Lillie and Charlie? Is he putting her to bed? It’s awful late for her to be up. It’s going on ten o’clock.”

  I said, “Lillie went to bed a little while ago, Mom. Hopefully she’s asleep by now. She wanted you to come up and give her a kiss when you got home.”

  Mom said, “I’ll go check on her after we have our tea.”

  Savannah got up from the table and announced that she was going to read in bed.

  “My eiderdown comforter is going to feel good tonight,” she called back down to us as she went up the stairs.

  After she left, we sat a while in silence. Mom finished her tea and began loading the stray cups and plates into the dishwasher. “Where did you say Charlie was?”

  “Oh, he went out a little while ago,” Ben answered, staring into his teacup.

  “Out? But his car was in the garage. I had to park in the driveway. Did he go somewhere with that Davis guy?”

  “No, actually we don’t know where Charlie is. Mom, you’d better sit down. I think Charlie is in trouble.”

  “Trouble?” Mom set the plate she was holding down abruptly. “What kind of trouble?”

  I told her about the two mysterious men and my truck ride into town.

  This was the story that only a few hours before, I’d wanted—childishly perhaps—to keep my very own secret. I’d wanted to solve the mystery and apprehend the spies singlehandedly. I’d wanted to emerge as a hero.

  Chapter 12

  That night seemed endless. First Mom called the police, and then she called her sister (our Aunt Rose). Afterwards, she went up to break the news to Savannah.

  A few minutes later, Savannah came back downstairs with her, and sat forlornly in a chair at the kitchen table, waiting for the police to arrive.

  The officers tried to be kind, but they pointed out that a person could not legally be declared missing until forty-eight hours had passed. They promised to check on the license plate, but cautioned us again that there was not much that could be done.

  When they learned that Charlie was a scientist employed at the Pentagon, they suggested that Mom call Washington right away. The FBI would not have to wait to start an investigation.

  The officers said they would check to see if the truck was still there. I offered to show them the way. But, they told me to stay inside with Mom and Savannah.

  “We’ll come back and tell you if we find anything.” And with that, they left.

  Soon our Aunt Rose pulled up in the driveway, and came in the back door. She looked outwardly calm, but her eyes betrayed how worried she was.

  The special agents from the FBI arrived around midnight. They reassured us that five hours was not really very long for someone to be gone. However, because of the type of work Charlie did, they would start looking into his disappearance immediately.

  We gave them all of the information that we had, which did not seem like much. I told him about the cigarette pack I’d seen in the truck, and handed over my one big clue—the business card Ben had found. The agents said they’d be back first thing in the morning. As they made their way to leave, one of them clasped my shoulder. He told me to look after my mom and Savannah.

  I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, but Mom reminded me that we would all need to be alert. I went reluctantly up the stairs.

  “Ben, you want to sleep in my room tonight?” I whispered.

  Ben followed me into my room, bringing his pillow and comforter. I pulled the foam mattress out from under the bed, and he lay down, pulled the covers up to his chin.

  Outside, the wind began to howl; it rattled the window panes. I hated thinking that Charlie could be out there in the cold. The jacket he’d put on before leaving wasn’t a heavy one.

  Ben sighed and said, “I can’t help thinking that first Dad goes missing all those years ago … and now Uncle Charlie.”

  “Yeah, I know, it feels like it’s happening all over again.”

  “I don’t remember him very well anymore, Alex.”

  “It’s okay, Ben. You were so little. You weren’t quite four when it happened.”

  I didn’t want to admit that my memory was fading too. It was just so hard to keep something like that in the front part of my memory.

  I thought Ben had fallen asleep—and then he laughed.

  “Remember when we used to share a room? I kind of miss the old days. Remember playing flashlight? You’d shine the light on the wall and I’d jump and try to catch the beam?”

  “Then there was the time I made it shine way up at the ceiling, and you were so sure that you could jump that high, but the bed collapsed and you ended up under the headboard somehow!”

  “Wasn’t that the same summer you set the front lawn on fire by experimenting with your magnifying glass in the sun? I never could understand why you didn’t really get in trouble for that!”

  “Hey, that was a scientific experiment, Ben. Sometimes things like that happen for the sake of research.”

  Ben raised himself up on one elbow and said, “I hope this business with Charlie gets cleared up right away. I don’t want it to be like it was with Dad.”

  “I know Ben, me too. The police and FBI may not think that Charlie’s been gone very long, but it’s hard to think of anything good that could be keeping him from coming back.”

  We both grew silent, and soon I heard the even breaths of Ben sleeping.

  Chapter 13

  I awoke to a blustery, unseasonably cold Saturday. I was vaguely aware that something was wrong—and then I remembered with a jolt.

  I stumbled into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and took a very hot shower. I pulled on my favorite pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and went downstairs to see who else was up.

  It looked like I had been the only person who wasn’t up. The downstairs was crawling with people—some I knew, and some I’d never seen before.

  Aunt Rose was helping Lillie into her jacket. She was going to bring Lillie back with her to her place, and have her stay for a bit. My aunt seemed distraught, but Lillie didn’t seem to notice. She was excited to go for a visit, as Aunt Rose had told her of a tame deer family that had been coming up to their back porch.

  Lillie said eagerly, “I’m going to Auntie’s to feed the deer!”

  I knew my aunt was taking Lillie in hopes of keeping her from being too upset. Lillie was very attached to Charlie.

  Mom and Savannah had been up all night. Now, they were closeted in the parlor with two men from the Pentagon.

  Ben was in the study, playing chess with an FBI agent. The man introduced himself as Steve and said he would be launching a command center here at the house.

  Other than Steve, and Aunt Rose who had since left with Lillie, no one seemed all that interested in my presence. The smell
of coffee wafted in from the kitchen and I decided to have some coffee and a bagel.

  Through the kitchen window, I saw six cars parked in the driveway. I wondered if Charlie had anticipated the uproar it would cause when he had walked out into the woods last night.

  As I was finishing my breakfast, a darkly tanned, tall man with a nice smile came into the room. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat across the table from me. He glanced into my coffee mug and laughingly asked if nothing was sacred for adults anymore. He was an FBI agent—and said to call him Dave. He had read the report, but he wanted me to tell him firsthand what I knew.

  I plunged into my account one more time. Dave took some notes as I spoke, but he did not interrupt me at all. When I finished, he asked if I knew what language it was that I heard them joking in.

  “I wish I did, but it didn’t sound familiar at all.” I got up to refill our mugs. “What about the FBI? Have you come up with anything yet?”

  Dave snapped his notes shut and pocketed his pen. “Well, it’s like this. No one has heard from your uncle. We have searched all over your property, and the surrounding neighborhood, and have not come across any sign of foul play. His credit cards have not been used, and his vehicle and cell phone are here at the house. There has been no trace of him since he left last night.

  “Our men had the search dogs out first thing this morning. They weren’t able to follow your uncle’s scent in any specific direction. We found a couple of cigarette butts on the ground in the same area as you’d described the truck being parked. They are the same brand as the pack you saw. They are British, and not sold here in the United States.

  “There are tire tracks going to and from the railroad tracks in the location that you described, but we have not yet been successful in locating the truck. As you know, it was gone by the time the local police searched up there last evening.