Howard Wallace, P.I. by Casey Lyall

Author:Casey Lyall [Lyall, Casey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The bell rang, and Ivy and I snuck down the hallway to our stakeout spot. Ivy had her own ideas about how the plan should play out.

“It’ll be fine, Howard,” she said. “Let me run this one by myself, and you’ll have more time to work on other stuff.”

“No way,” I said. “You’ve never done a stakeout before. I’m not leaving you on your own.”

“Uh, excuse me.” Ivy stopped in her tracks and set her hands on her hips. “I was on a stakeout three days ago.”

“Crashing one doesn’t count. No more buts,” I said. “Either we do the stakeout together or you don’t do it at all.” I was still in charge, and letting a junior partner run a major operation like this just didn’t fly.

Ivy scrunched her nose as she thought about it. “Fine.”

The best spot to see Meredith’s locker was from Pete’s supply closet. Earlier, I’d promised him an extra pack of jellies so he’d leave it unlocked for us. I held open the door for Ivy, and we slipped inside.

The closet was poorly lit and stank of industrial-strength cleaner. Ivy looked around at the mops and brooms hanging from the wall and scowled. “I can’t decide if this is a step up or a step down from the girls’ bathroom.”

I scrubbed at a mysterious substance on the floor with my foot. “It’s a lateral move.” Kneeling down, I checked the sight line from the grate to Meredith’s locker. A bit of an angle, but it would work. The hallway was deserted since most kids didn’t stick around after school. No blackmailer was going to sneak past us.

Ivy flipped over a garbage bin and sat down, legs splayed out in front of her. “So, exactly how much of your time would you say is spent lurking behind doors, spying on people?”

“Paid or unpaid?” I asked.

Her laughter trailed off when she realized it was a serious question. “Um, I guess both. Although that’s—”

“Shh.” I waved a hand at her and held a finger to my lips. “I hear someone.”

She jumped up and started toward the door when I stopped her with my foot. “No, stay back,” I whispered. “They’re coming this way.” I rolled to the side and flattened myself against the wall. Ivy and I held our breath as the footsteps approached

the closet.

The steps stopped right in front of the door, and for a moment nobody moved.

A key rattled in the lock.

I had seconds to come up with a plan. Whoever was coming through that door could ruin everything. Ivy was staring, waiting for me to make a move. There was nowhere to hide. I needed a reasonable explanation for why we were in the closet. Panic began to crawl up my chest.

The key turned, and I dove at the door.

Apparently, holding it shut was my best plan. I braced my hands against the sturdy wood, prepared for the worst, when the lock clicked into place. I may have underestimated what the worst could be. Yanking on the handle told me what I already knew.

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