The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

Chapter 10 - The Stakeout

And then it was done. Cassie was now in the man’s house. Binny’s heart jumped. 

As if he could tell that she was nervous over the missed opportunity to rescue their sister, Zach put his hand on her arm to keep her calm. 

Their view from the fence was such that they could see into the man’s living room and kitchen. The man had disappeared for a moment into another room and come out with what looked like a stack of paper and some colored markers. He laid them out on the coffee table and Cassie started coloring dutifully. The man then prepared a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Cassie and placed them next to her. Cassie didn’t miss a beat and started chomping away, not pausing her coloring as she ate.

Zach and Binny both seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but they still weren’t sure they could trust the man. Zach said, “Well, I guess at bad guy school they showed him how to serve up a mean plate of cookies.”

Binny caught herself laughing but interrupted it abruptly with a less charitable thought. “I still think he’s up to no good, no matter how nice he’s being.”

“Let’s just watch for a few minutes. Maybe we’ll get a clue as to what he’s up to.” 

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After a few minutes it became clear that other than entertaining their sister with milk and cookies and coloring materials, the man spent a lot of time talking on the phone in what must have been a home office of sorts. But unlike the last time Binny and Zach had been spying, the man stayed inside, not coming out on his wraparound deck. There would be no eavesdropping this time, but Binny was already sure she knew what the man was doing.

“He’s calling his boss at the government – Sam – and asking him for instructions on what to do next now that he’s lured Cassie here with junk food.”

“Or he’s just being nice.” Zach countered.

“Or, he’s telling the people he works for to come and pick her up and take her to their secret lab.”

Zach tried to reassure her before she spun out of control. “Maybe, but we’re here. We won’t let that happen.”

“Mom and Dad told her not to go anywhere with strangers.”

“How do you know he asked her to go somewhere? Maybe Cassie she just showed up here looking for snacks and some time with the dog.”

Binny thought about how impulsive her sister could be. “I guess.”

“Remember last year at the park playground. Cassie was playing with that little boy she met, and then suddenly he was crying? Cassie had kissed him. Right on the mouth! Dad had to explain to her not to give ‘uninvited kisses’.” Zach did his best impression of Jay being stern. 

The corners of Binny’s mouth turned up temporarily as she remembered one of her sister’s more outrageous acts of impetuousness, but it still didn’t make her feel much better about Cassie’s current predicament. “When can we get her out of there?”

“Now, but…”

Binny rose, about to march towards the house when Zach grabbed her by the arm and brought her back down behind the fence. And then in a low but urgent whisper he continued, “now, but I want to get her out of there without seeing the man. I don’t want him to know we’ve been watching.”

“Why not?”

“If the man is just a nice guy, I don’t want him to know we were spying. And if he’s dangerous, I don’t want to have a confrontation with him. Why not just sneak away and leave him wondering what happened?”