Case File 13 #3 (19 page)

“Ignore the smell,” Carter told the homunculus, tucking it inside his shirt. “I forgot to shower this morning.”

Nick covered his eyes with his hands and ran after his friends into the hall. As soon as they were past the pepper spray cloud, they turned and raced down the stairs.

“Get the bikes,” Angelo shouted. They charged out the door and ran toward the front yard. Behind them, in the house, Nick could hear furious shouts and pounding footsteps.

“Look out!” Carter yelled.

Nick turned around just in time to see an old woman coming at him with a rake. “What are you boys doing in that house?” the woman shouted, lunging toward him.

A wave of guilt surged through Nick and he nearly stopped before Angelo yelled, “No shadow, she's not real.”

Knowing it wasn't a real woman he was doing it to, but feeling terrible about it anyway, Nick ducked under the swinging rake and stuck out his foot. He caught the doppelgänger right in the ankles. “Whup!” the creature squawked, throwing out its hands and flying forward.

In the brief glimpse he got before he turned back toward his bike, Nick thought it looked sort of like Superman leaping into flight—if Superman was a seventy-year-old woman with a bathrobe for a cape. Based on the thump and gasp behind him, he had to assume the flight hadn't lasted long.

Carter was the first one to his bike. He yanked it up by the handlebars and jumped on without losing a step. Angelo was a few feet behind him as he threw his pack over the handlebars of his bike and kicked off. But with a faster bike, he quickly caught up.

Across the street, a muscular man with a big belly came running out of his house. He was wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of boxers. His hairy legs pumped as his bare feet slapped against the ground, but like the old woman, he had no shadow. “Stop, you punks!” he yelled, running into the street.

Angelo managed to pass the doppelgänger, but Carter wasn't fast enough to make it. Instead he dropped his head, aimed his girl's bike directly at the man, and screamed, “Banzai!”

Nick—who had just reached his bike—watched in horrified fascination. Pedaling like a madman, head lowered, feet a blur, Carter charged. At the last minute, the man realized his danger and tried to turn aside, but it was too late.

Carter and the doppelgänger collided in the dead center of the street. It was like watching a speeding Volkswagen run into a mostly stationary SUV. The girls' bike flipped end over end into the air. With a
woof
of dismay the man fell backward. Carter, his feet still trying to pedal, launched like a skunk-haired rocket. He somersaulted once, ducked his head, and landed directly on the man's belly, before bouncing like a kid on a trampoline and miraculously landing on his feet.

Nick snatched his bike and rode up next to Carter. “Get on!” Carter grabbed his shoulders and jumped onto the back of Nick's bike. “Are you okay?” Nick asked, racing to catch up with Angelo.

“Never better!” Carter grinned. “Who knew bellies were so bouncy?”

“We have to get out of the neighborhood,” Angelo said.

“Which way?” Nick gasped for air. Riding with Carter on the bike was twice as hard as riding by himself, but it was more than that. Although it was still morning, it felt like he'd been going all day.

Behind them, a black sedan raced around the corner, its tires squealing. “Right!” Angelo shouted, nearly colliding with Nick as the two cut around the corner.

The sound of the car's engine grew louder. Nick felt Carter turn to look back. “Faster!” Carter yelled. “It's going to run us over!”

Nick pedaled as hard he could, switching the bike into its highest gear to get all the speed possible. At the next corner, the boys jumped the curb and cut across a lawn. Behind them, the car screeched its brakes, trying to make the turn.

Ahead of them, another car pulled into the street. It was a police car, its blue and red lights flashing. Nick felt a flicker of hope. Maybe someone had seen the kids running and called the cops. The police wouldn't believe their story, but they wouldn't let anyone take them either. He started toward the car, but Angelo shook his head. “He could be a doppelgänger.”

“Where do we go?” Nick said. Behind them the black sedan was coming fast. In front of them, the police car gunned its engine.

“There!” Carter pointed to an opening between two yards. It was a bike path—too narrow for cars, but perfect for the boys. They turned into it just as the cars skidded to a halt behind them.

“We made it!” Carter shouted. But his excitement quickly disappeared as they came out on the other side. The street was filled with men and women—some on foot, others on bikes. Three quick pops sounded and the boys' Evil Twins appeared in front of them.

“Whoa!” Carter gasped as the boys braked their bikes. “How did you do that?”

Evil Angelo clucked his tongue. “I told you your plan was doomed to failure.”

Nick searched for some way out, but there were too many people—all of them closing in. Behind them, the bike path was blocked off by the police car. “Raise your hands and surrender,” the policeman called over his loudspeaker.

Just then, an SUV came screaming around the corner. Nick recognized it at once. The back door flew open and his dad yelled, “Get in!”

Throwing down their bikes, the boys darted away from the crowd and dove into the backseat of the car. Nick's dad punched the gas and smoke billowed from the tires as the SUV shot away.

“How did you find us?” Nick asked, clutching his hand to his chest. His heart felt like it was going to pound straight out of his rib cage.

Dad grinned into the rearview mirror as he turned a corner. “It wasn't easy.”

“You're not going to believe this,” Carter panted. “But those people behind us weren't real. They were doppelgängers.”

“Oh, I believe it,” Dad said. He touched a panel beside his seat, and the back doors locked. “I believe all of it.” He raised his hand and held it toward the windshield, making sure the boys could see.

Nick gasped. There was no shadow.

“You're a doppelgänger,” Nick said.

His father's double nodded. “Guilty as
changed
.”

Carter grabbed the door handle, but the door wouldn't open. He tried the window, but that wouldn't open either. The doppelgänger had turned on the child locks.

“Where's my real dad?” Nick demanded.

Evil Dad drove straight through a red light without stopping and cars swerved to avoid them. “He and your mother are resting peacefully. They've both been feeling a little worn out this morning.”

Below the seat, where the doppelgänger couldn't see, Nick made a spraying motion to Angelo. If they could pepper-spray Evil Dad, they might be able to reach the locks and escape.

Angelo moved to reach for his backpack before looking wildly around. Nick realized he'd left it on the handlebars of his bike. The pepper spray, along with any other gadgets he might have brought, were gone.

They pulled onto the freeway, cutting in front of a truck driver, who blared his horn. Nick looked out the window. “Where are you taking us?”

“Somewhere you three will be out of the way, while we finish becoming you and your neighbors,” Evil Dad said.

Nick felt sick. It was the worst feeling in the world to look into the face of your own father and know that he was planning to destroy you—even if inside you knew that it wasn't really him.

Angelo shook his head. “You doppelgängers keep saying there's nothing we can do to stop you. So why bother chasing us?”

Evil Dad turned on the radio and began to hum. “I think that's enough talking for now.”

Huddled in the backseat, Nick, Angelo, and Carter tried to come up with a plan. “When he gets off the freeway, we smash out the window and make a break for it,” Carter said.

“With what?” Nick asked. “It's not like you can break out a car window with your fist. And even if we could, where would we go? We're on foot and he has a car. Maybe we could attract the attention of another driver.”

Carter shook his head. “What would we tell them? The doppelgänger looks just like your dad. And by now, they've probably copied all our parents. People would think we're wacko. They'd probably send us to a hospital or protective services.”

Angelo pushed his glasses up on his nose. “We're running out of time. If our Evil Twins were telling the truth, we have less than a day to stop them. We can't afford to get caught up in some bureaucratic nightmare.”

“Then what do we do?” Nick asked.

“Our best chance to escape is once we stop,” Angelo said.

Carter took Carter Junior out of his shirt. The homunculus lay limp in his hands, his eyes halfway shut. “The first thing we have to do is get him back where he belongs. Look at the poor little guy. He's barely breathing.”

Nick looked out the window and realized where they were headed. “He's taking us back to where we found Carter Junior. Why would he do that?”

Angelo sighed. “I have no idea. But whatever it is, it can't be good.”

For the rest of the ride, all they could do was sit and worry as the woods got closer and closer. When they turned off Highway 17 and pulled onto the fire road, Carter Junior sat up for a moment before collapsing back onto Carter's lap. Nick understood exactly how the homunculus felt. He'd been getting more and more tired as the trip went on until it was all he could do to keep his eyes open.

“How are you doing?” he asked Carter.

“Okay,” Carter said, jaws cracking in a huge yawn. “I just need to take a little nap.”

Evil Dad glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled.

“Don't go to sleep,” Angelo said. “I think that's what they want.”

At last they got off on the exit Nick's real dad had discovered on their camping trip. But instead of turning onto the gravel road that led to the campground, they continued straight on the fire road until they came to a small cabin.

Evil Dad got out of the car. Nick glanced at the woods beyond the cabin. This was their chance; they couldn't be that far away from the campground. Angelo nodded and mouthed,
Get ready to run
.

But before any of them could make a move, the doppelgänger pulled open Nick's door and wrapped an arm around his neck. “Don't even think about trying to make a run for it,” he said, squeezing until Nick could barely breathe. “You three do exactly what I tell you or you're going to be the two Monsterteers.”

“Don't . . . listen to—” Nick gasped, before his father's doppelgänger squeezed so hard dots appeared in front of his eyes.

“Let go of him,” Carter said. “We'll do what you say.”

“Yes.” Angelo nodded.

“Better,” Evil Dad said, releasing his grip just enough that Nick could gulp a mouthful of air. “Now, into the cabin.” He marched the tree boys up to the cabin door and pushed it open. “Get inside.”

Nick squinted as Evil Dad shoved him through the door of the cabin. It was so dark inside he could barely see anything. As his eyes adjusted, he realized why. All the windows had been boarded over. He could just make out a small kitchen, a fireplace, and a table with a single chair in front of it.

Evil Dad herded them to a door on the other side of the table, unlocked the dead bolt, and motioned them into the next room. “Look,” Carter said. “It's the guy from the campsite.”

Nick peered through the doorway. Mr. Grunwald, the German who had yelled at them before, was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. He looked up wearily as Carter and Angelo entered the room.

A moment later, Evil Dad released his grip on Nick's neck and shoved him in the back, sending Nick stumbling into the room. Angelo caught him before he could fall and Nick spun around as his father's doppelgänger began to close the door. “You're just going to leave us here?” Nick asked. “We'll starve.”

“You'll disappear long before that happens,” the doppelgänger said. “Although you might get a little thirsty. Speaking of food, I have to get home in time for dinner. We're
finally trying that new Italian place.” He closed the door and Nick heard it lock behind him. A minute later he heard a car start and drive away.

Carter ran up to the door and slammed his body against it. He might as well have been throwing himself against a brick wall. The door was built of thick, solid redwood planks. Nick checked the only window in the room, but it was covered with the same thick boards. The only light came through a few spaces between the wood, barely wide enough to slip a finger through. There was no way to get out.

Angelo turned toward Mr. Grunwald, who had put his head back in his hands. “Can you tell us what's going on?”

Nick thought the man would yell at them. Instead, he only shook his head and, without looking up, asked, “
Warum
? Why? Why didn't you tell me you take
Männchen
?”