The more I thought about trying to find the fellows, the more I realized I how difficult it was going to be. Syd was not letting me out of her sight one bit, and I knew sneaking off would be difficult.

  Although. She did let me go over to the cats by myself. Not sure why she was ok with that, given that the man that kidnapped me owned (and sometimes snuck into?) the mansion. But Stenway was there a lot so maybe she figured it was ok.

  Anyways, if I could get ahold of the fellows maybe I could get them to come over to the mansion. We’d need a fair bit of time to go over everything. I still had Donny’s phone number memorized…

  The next day when I went over to feed the cats, I poked my head down the main hallway. The door to Stenway’s office was cracked open, so I tiptoed down the hallway and stuck my head around the doorframe. No one was inside. I slipped over to the desk and picked up the phone. It rang quite a few times before finally being picked up.

  I FINALLY got Donny’s sister to see if he was in the house. I heard her scream his name, and a few seconds later the phone rattled and Donny was on. “Hey. Who is this?”

  “Donny, hi. I need to meet with the fellows.”

  “We take a break over the summer.”

  “What?”

  “I’m kidding, T.J.”

  “That makes more sense. I really need to talk to you guys.” I pulled a notecard out of my pocket. “Listen up. I’m not allowed out of my sister’s sight, except for when I go to the Left mansion to feed the cats. If I could find a time that no one was going to be in the house, how quickly could you guys be here?”

  “Would probably take over 30 minutes.” Donny sounded thoughtful. “I’d need to get ahold of all the fellows, and then get over there.”

  “That’s fine, I could call from my house. Great.” I blew out a huge breath. “So we can get going quickly once it happens, I want to tell you some things first, so you guys can start thinking about questions.”

  “Ok?”

  “I got kidnapped twice, once to go to the Super’s hideout and once to go to a villain hideout. Lair?”

  “Lair.” Donny didn’t ask for any clarification, which I thought was super nice and calm of him. Kind of professional almost.

  “I talked to a council and saw a girl with some cool powers. I had powers for a few minutes at the second kidnapping. I saw Mr. Left and Mrs. H again at the second one.”

  “That all?”

  “Is that not enough for you?”

  Donny sighed. “Yes, T.J., I have so many questions, but my sister is trying to drill holes through my head with her eyeballs.”

  “Last thing.” I felt like this was maybe a bit dramatic, but it fit the scenario. “When I call to try to set up the meeting, i’ll use a code phrase. So in case I don’t get ahold of you, someone can pass on the message. Something like…”

  “Reckoning Blue.” Donny interrupted me. “It's the book from the library you’re trying to get ahold of. And if it sounds like I won’t be back for a while, see if my sister will get ahold of Clive. He’s got a sister too and they talk sometimes.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. I’ll do it. And Donny, we’ll probably only have one shot at this.”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “I know. I’ll tell the fellows and get them ready. And idea of when it will happen?”

  I sighed. Even though this was my plan, it was probably going to get me a lot more familiar with Sydney’s social schedule than I wanted to be. “Not today. But I’m hoping in the next week?”

  “Okay! Geez! Lay off!! I know, just give me a minute!” Donny sighed. “Sorry, my sister. Good to know. I’ll let the fellows know today and we’ll be ready. Good luck. Geez Louise, I’m hanging up now!” The phone clanked and I yanked it away from my ear.

  I had to let Sydney know when I was leaving for the mansion and when I was getting back. That made things irritating, because she knew it typically only took about 15 minutes to feed the cats, and about 15 to get there and back. Since I walked, there wasn’t a great way to string that out, and I didn’t have a ton of time to come up with a cover.

  Fortunately, one presented itself.

  I heard Sydney talking (for an unreasonably long time) over the phone to one of her friends about a new music album from one of her bands that had just come out. They were looking for the vinyl, and Sydney was bragging about how Stenway had said he may know where to track one down. They were going to listen to it on Saturday (two days from today) when they got back from lunch. As long as he could find it.

  I called Donny’s house and left a message, asking if he could get the copy of “Reckoning Blue” to me by Saturday right after lunch.

  His sister huffed and puffed and complained about kids swapping books and how that was confusing for the librarian… and I kind of tuned her out until she hung up the phone. I ran upstairs to my room to look over my notes again.

  Saturday rolled around and I was too nervous to sleep in. I was afraid I would miss finding out if Stenway actually got that record. If he did, I should be able to get away with about 45 minutes of time at the Left manor. I’d leave before she got back from lunch, letting mom and dad know where I’d gone, and then I’d just need to be back before the record ended, so she didn’t freak out. If he didn’t have the record, I’d only have until 10, maybe 15 minutes after she got back from lunch. Lot less time.

  I was buttering a slice of toast when the phone rang. I looked out the window- mom and dad were working on the bushes out front. I heard feet overhead on my way to the phone, so I stopped. In a moment, the ringing stopped, so I gently picked up the receiver.

  “NO WAY! You found it! That’s so amazing!”

  I could hear the little smile in Stenway’s voice. “No big deal. You just have to know the right people.”

  “We’ll, I’m glad you do. I am so excited to listen to it! Aren’t you?”

  Steinway’s confirmation was less than convincing.

  “So I’ll see you for lunch around noon?” Syndey asked. Stenway confirmed this, and I gently hung the phone back up on the receiver. I didn’t think it clicked, but just to be on the safe side, I shoved half of my toast into my mouth and then slapped some jam on the other half, settling down into my chair right as Sydney bounced down the stairs.

  “What are you so chipper about?” I grunted at her, biting off another piece of toast.

  “Lunch with Stenway, and you’re NOT going to believe it!” She twirled, letting her skirt flow through her hands as it swirled out. “He found my record! And we're going to listen to it later!”

  “Wow, sounds so fun.”

  “You could just be happy for me?” Sydney paused, glancing back over her shoulder.

  “Just not a fan of Stenway,” I mumbled.

  She giggled. “I did know that. He’s a good guy, T.J.” She waved her hands as I took a deep breath. “We don’t need to do this today.”

  “You’re right.” I chewed up the last of my toast. “Sorry.”

  “Okay. Did you leave any bread?”

  “Yeah, but you may be out of luck on the jam.”

  She sighed, but then brightened. “I’m getting lunch soon anyways.”

  I put my plate in the sink and started heading upstairs. “I don’t want to see him while he’s here.”

  “Then don’t come downstairs!” Sydney slid a drawer out to grab a butter knife.

  “I’ll be in my room with my books.”

  Sydney stepped over to the foot of the staircase to holler up at me. “Don’t forget to let mom and dad know before you leave to feed the cats!”

  “I won't, I never do anymore, you won’t let me!” I closed the door to my room and grabbed my backpack. I’d decided to commit to the whole “Reckoning Blue” book bit, and pretend like I was swapping books, which would give me a reason to take my bag (and my notes.) I’d tell mom and dad I was meeting a classmate there to swap the books, so I may be a little bit behind.