Once Upon a Toad (17 page)

“The problem is, we can't alter the schedule and cancel the field trips, or they'll smell a rat,” said Agent Reynolds, and her partner nodded.

“I understand,” said Iz.

“Please don't worry,” Agent Reynolds continued gently. “We'll have agents in place all over, no matter how many people are there. You won't be able to move in that penguin exhibit without bumping into one of ours. I can promise you that your daughter will never for a moment be in harm's way.”

Olivia stood up abruptly. I watched her walk back up the stairs, wondering how I'd feel if I were in her shoes. Not so great, I guessed.

The afternoon wore on. The rain, which had stopped sometime before lunch, started up again. Olivia had discarded her diorama and lay on her bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling. I wandered over to our bedroom window, almost feeling sorry for the reporters outside. They looked pretty miserable huddled in their cars and under their umbrellas. Not too sorry, though. They were the ones who'd fueled this whole fire, after all.

As the last shreds of daylight faded, I heard another knock at the front door, and I tiptoed down to the landing again. Olivia bestirred herself to get up and follow me.

“For heaven's sake, now who?” said Iz, sounding irritated.

“I'll get it, Mrs. Starr,” said Agent Salgado, crossing to the front door. He opened it a crack and peered out into the
gathering darkness. Someone passed him a business card. He looked at it, then turned toward my stepmother. “We'd better let him in,” he said. There was a funny expression on his face.

“Tim!” Iz called anxiously, and my father came out of the dining room, where he'd been talking with the FBI agents. He crossed the front hall to join her. I could have reached down and touched his hair, which was starting to thin on top.

The FBI agent opened the door, and a scrawny, nondescript man in glasses and a dark raincoat hurried inside. Agent Salgado closed the door again as an explosion of blinding flashes erupted from the news cameras at the bottom of the driveway.

“What can we do for you, Mr… . ?” said Iz.

“Dalton. Dr. Seymour Dalton. Special envoy of the United States government.” The man was soft spoken, and there was a twang in his voice that I didn't think was Texas but was probably not too far away. Arkansas, maybe, or Oklahoma.

Wordlessly, Agent Salgado passed the man's business card to my father and Iz. They were standing directly beneath us, and I peered down, just able to make out the address. It was a post office box in Nevada, and below Dr. Dalton's name were printed the words “Senior Scientist, Biological Research Division, Area 51.”

“Area Fifty-one?” My father's voice shot up an octave. “You have got to be kidding me. What is this, some kind of cruel joke?” He marched over to the front door. Opening it wide and ignoring the excited buzz from the news media, he jerked his thumb toward the government envoy. “You. Outside. Now.”

“Mr. Starr,” said Dr. Dalton. “I don't think you understand.”

“You might want to hear him out,” said Agent Salgado quietly, exchanging a glance with Agent Reynolds.

My father sighed and shut the door. “Fine. What exactly is it that you want?”

“We're very interested in your daughter,” said the scientist. His eyes flicked up to where Olivia was kneeling beside me on the landing. Uh-oh, we'd been spotted. “I'm authorized to take her with me back to Nevada.”

“What?” screeched Iz. “Absolutely not! Tim, tell him.”

My father nodded. “My wife is right. There is absolutely no way we're going to agree to that.”

“I'm afraid this isn't a voluntary removal,” said Dr. Dalton. I could see the sweat beads forming on his forehead.

“What do you mean it isn't voluntary?” My dad's eyes narrowed.

“What I mean is that the government has the legal right to remove your daughter, although I'd rather have your permission, of course.”

“Nonsense,” said my father. “I'm calling my lawyer.”

Dr. Dalton snapped open his briefcase and pulled out a thick document. “You do that, Mr. Starr,” he said, handing it to him. “Be sure that your lawyer looks this over. He or she will want to pay close attention to page three hundred twelve, article seventy-six. The one about obstructing an authorized federal envoy.”

My father didn't even bother to look at it, he just threw it down on the hall table. “I don't care what you or any piece of paper says, my daughter isn't going anywhere with you.”

Stepdaughter,
I thought again.

Agent Salgado picked up the document and turned to a
page at the back, then gave a deep sigh. “I'm afraid he's right, Mr. Starr. Dr. Dalton does have the authority to take Olivia into custody.”

“Over my dead body,” said my father flatly.

“I'm sure that won't be necessary,” said the government scientist with an uneasy chuckle. “I promise you she won't come to any harm, and we'll have her back to you safely in a matter of months.”

“Months!” wailed Olivia, suddenly leaping to her feet. “Mom! Don't make me go!”

A handful of zinnias quivered over the banister to the floor of the front hall. Dr. Dalton bent down and scooped them up.

My stepsister looked genuinely frightened, and I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

At least until she opened her mouth again.

“What about Cat?” she said spitefully. A diamond tumbled from her lips to the hall floor as she pushed the messenger bag aside, exposing my hiding place.

“Olivia!” said Iz, shocked.

The government scientist's eyes lit up at the sight of the bright gem. He bent over to pick it up, then pulled out a jeweler's loupe and examined it more closely. “Of course you can bring your cat,” he said absently.

“Not
my
cat—
Cat
!” Olivia said in disgust.

“That's enough!” Iz said sternly, shaking her head in warning.

Dr. Dalton looked up at Olivia and blinked. “Who's Cat?”

My stepsister pointed to me.

The government agent's unblinking gaze shifted in my direction. “Why would we want to bring her, too?” he asked
as I shrank back.

“Because she—” Olivia began.

“Olivia Jean!” thundered her mother in a tone that meant business.

Olivia hesitated, then mumbled, “Nothing. Never mind.”

Dr. Dalton stared up at me, his glasses reflecting the light of the front hall chandelier. A ripple of fear shuddered through me. No way was I going anywhere with him, ever.

It was time to take matters into my own hands.

Reaching into Iz's messenger bag, I felt around for the velvet drawstring pouch that contained Olivia's accumulated gems. My fingers closed on it just as Dr. Dalton started up the stairs.

“Oh, no you don't,” said my father, moving to block him. Iz ran to join the barricade.

I stood up and gave a sharp whistle. All eyes in the house turned toward me as I opened the drawstring, then leaned over the bannister and emptied the pouch.

The diamonds fell in a bright stream, tumbling and glinting in the light of the hallway lamp like a dazzling waterfall. I caught a glimpse of Olivia's silver “Sisters are forever friends” ring among them.

Pandemonium struck. Every FBI agent and police officer present fell to his or her knees, scrambling frantically for the glittering stones, just as I knew they would.

Dr. Dalton turned away from the staircase and joined them. My father and Iz watched, stunned.

Time to go!

I grabbed Olivia by the hand and dragged her down the rest
of the stairs and into the kitchen. My backpack was still on the bench where I'd left it when I got home from school yesterday. I slung it over my shoulder, slipped my father's rain poncho from its hook by the back door, and fled with my stepsister into the darkness.

CHAPTER 16

“What do you think you're doing?” whispered Olivia furiously as she struggled to tug her hand out of my grasp. “It's pouring rain out here!”

I gripped her more tightly as I dragged her across the lawn. My stepsister might be bigger than me, but I was more determined. “Trying to save your life, you moron,” I whispered back, ducking under the rhododendron. “Do you want to end up in some zoo exhibit?”

“What are you talking about?” She glared at me as we squatted in the shrub's branches.

I pulled the poncho over us, hoping it would help conceal us from the searchers who I knew would soon appear. “Area Fifty-one, that's what!”

My stepsister looked at me blankly.

“Are you telling me you've never heard of it?” I said in astonishment, ejecting toads right and left. “Don't you ever watch science fiction movies? It's where the government
keeps aliens and UFOs and stuff. That's why Dad was so worked up.”

Olivia snorted. “Yeah, right. There are no such things as UFOs.”

I pointed silently at the ground in front of us, which was covered with diamonds, toads, and enough flowers to open a florist shop. “There's no such thing as this, either,” I reminded her.

Olivia flapped an edge of the poncho at the toads to scatter them. She snorted again, but it was an uncertain kind of snort.

“Fine then, don't believe me.” I jerked my chin toward the back door, which had just flown open. “Go on, go ahead back inside. I'm sure Dr. Dalton will be delighted to see you.”

Olivia fell silent. The lights by the back door came on, and we watched as the government scientist strode onto the deck. My father and Iz and the two FBI agents were right behind him.

“They can't have gone far,” said Dr. Dalton, scanning the yard. Fortunately, the pool of light by the deck didn't reach as far as the rhododendron bush where we were hiding. “We have to find them!”

“Don't make a sound,” I whispered to Olivia as another pair of toads fell from my lips. “Not unless you want to spend the rest of your life as a biology experiment.”

She hesitated, then nodded.

Agent Salgado stepped out onto the lawn. “We're going to need a flashlight,” he told his colleague, peering into the darkness.

“There's one in the car,” Agent Reynolds replied, and holding her raincoat over her head, she cut around the corner of the house toward the driveway.

Agent Salgado and Dr. Dalton started across the grass. I could hear their shoes squishing into the lawn. I looked over at Olivia and pressed my finger against my lips.

“Awful lot of footprints out here,” grumbled the government scientist as Agent Reynolds reappeared with two flashlights.

“That's because an awful lot of people have been working this case,” she snapped. “Kidnappers, police, our team, and as if that wasn't enough, now you.” Agent Reynolds seemed to hold the same low opinion of Area 51 as my father did. She handed a flashlight to Dr. Dalton. He pointed it across the yard toward the Dixons' house.

“It's hard to see what's what,” he complained.

Thank goodness,
I thought.

Iz watched from the deck as the FBI agents and Dr. Dalton fanned out across the yard. My father trailed behind the government scientist. As they moved closer toward the rhododendron, Olivia squeezed her eyes shut. I held my breath as Dr. Dalton came to a stop right in front of us. I could have reached out and touched his shoe.

Croak
.

I stiffened.

“What was that?” cried Dr. Dalton, swinging his flashlight wildly. “Did you hear something?”

“This is Oregon,” my father replied, sounding disgusted. “We have frogs.”

If anyone knows the difference between a frog and a toad, it's my father. He was sending us a message—he knew we were here!

“Oh, right,” said the government scientist, with another forced chuckle. “All this water. I forgot.”

“I'm going back inside,”
Iz called from the deck. “Someone needs to stay by the phone in case the kidnappers call again.”

“We'll be right there, honey,” my father called back.