The L.A. Dodger (6 page)

POW!
The ball exploded off of Valens’s bat. It arced high over the first baseman’s head. The right fielder ran for the outfield wall as fast as he could, but he didn’t get there in time. The ball bounced on the red dirt of the warning track and rebounded off the wall. Valens rounded first and kept going. The right fielder grabbed the ball and hurled it to second.

“Run! Run! Run!” Mr. Hopkins shouted. He beat his rolled-up program against the palm of his left hand. “You’ve got it!”

It wasn’t even close. Valens easily made second base before the throw. The fans all around Mike and Kate stood up and cheered. Mike glanced back at the Dodger.

“He’s still there,” Mike whispered to Kate. “Now’s a good time.”

Kate nodded and jumped to her feet. She held her small black notebook up high and clapped her hand against it to make noise. The next Dodgers batter came to the plate. Kate and Mike and the rest of the crowd sat down. Kate rested the black notebook on her leg. Anyone sitting behind her would be able to see it.

Down on the field, the Padres pitcher threw strike after strike. The Dodgers batter swung hard but kept missing. Three strikes. Three outs. There would be no more runs for the Dodgers that inning. Jorge Valens trotted in
from second. A batboy tossed him his glove. Valens turned and headed out to play shortstop. It was the Padres’ turn to bat again.

Mike tapped Kate’s leg. “Let’s go!” he said.

Kate stood up and stretched her arms out wide. She held the notebook in her right hand. When she was done stretching, she leaned over and told her father they were going for a drink. Mr. Hopkins nodded, and Mike and Kate started up the stairs to the food court.

Mike watched the Dodger out of the corner of his eye as they passed his row. The Dodger was just getting out of his seat. Mike skipped a couple of steps to catch up to Kate.

“Bingo!” Mike said. “He’s right behind you! Now we can set the trap.”

Kate tried not to look back. She didn’t want to tip off the Dodger that they were on to him. The two made their way to the food court. The Dodger, in his red shirt and dark blue baseball cap, followed about thirty feet behind them.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kate
whispered to Mike when they reached the landing.

“What could go wrong?” Mike said. “He wants that notebook. He knows we have it. We’re going to leave it where he can take it. Then, when he grabs it, we yell, ‘Stop, thief,’ and we’ve got him! Case closed.”

Kate bit her lip. “I hope you’re right,” she said.

Mike and Kate brushed past a few fans. The hot dog stand stood at a corner. One side opened to the main hallway. The other side opened to a second hallway that led to an exit.

“I was thinking,” Kate said. “Maybe we should look around for a security guard, just in case.”

“Good idea, but there’s no time. The Dodger is coming,” Mike said. He nodded at the other side of the hot dog stand. “I’ll watch him from
there and make sure he doesn’t go down that hallway. You leave the notebook in sight. Remember, when he grabs it, yell, ‘Stop, thief!’ ”

With that, Mike melted into the crowd. Kate stood back and pretended to study the menu. She felt her heart beating fast. The customer in front of her picked up a hot dog and moved over to put mustard and relish on it. Kate spied Mike on the other side of the stand. His baseball cap was pulled down low.

It was now or never.

Kate took a deep breath and stepped forward. When she reached the order window, she rested her hands on the wide counter around the edge of the stand. She ordered a drink and French fries and started rummaging around in her pockets for money. As she searched, Kate placed the notebook on the counter to her left.

She finally pulled out a ten-dollar bill and passed it to the man behind the counter. After getting the change, she stepped to the right to wait for her food. The Dodger was standing in line to buy food. Kate could see him staring at the notebook.

“Here you go, miss.” The man from the hot dog stand handed Kate her drink and fries. “Condiments are to your right.” He pointed to the plastic bottles of ketchup and mustard on a nearby table.

Kate took her food and walked over to the table. As she did, a red blur caught her eye. She turned to look.

Seeing his chance, the Dodger had left the line and snatched Kate’s notebook from the counter! He slipped the notebook inside his backpack.

Kate heard Mike shout, “Now!”

She yelled, “STOP, THIEF!”

The fans standing in line jerked their heads toward Kate. She pointed at the Dodger. “He stole my notebook! Stop him!” she said loudly. “He’s a thief!”

Everyone stared at the Dodger, but nobody
moved. Mike ran up to the condiments table. Slowly the Dodger turned around. He looked bigger and meaner up close.

“Zoe! Stop playing silly games, or we’ll get in trouble with security,” the Dodger said to Kate. He was pretending that he knew her. “I paid good money for these tickets. You’d better not cause any more problems. Now come with me before I tell your mother what you’ve done!”

“W-what?” Kate stammered. What was happening? This wasn’t what they had planned. Kate stared back at the Dodger and spoke up. “My name is Kate, not Zoe. You just stole
my
notebook!”

A few of the nearby fans snickered. The rest just turned around to wait for their chance to order. Kate glanced at Mike. He looked as confused as she felt. Neither of them knew what to do.

“
Now
, Zoe!” the Dodger bellowed. “Stop wasting time!” He swung his black backpack over his shoulder and started walking toward the exit.

Mike could see that nobody was even trying to stop the Dodger. Their plan wasn’t working!

“We can’t just let him get away!” Kate yelled to Mike.

She ran over to the Dodger and pulled hard on the top of his backpack. It slid down his arm, but he grabbed the strap roughly and tugged back. Kate held on to the other strap just as hard. The Dodger pulled her close enough for her to smell the coffee on his breath.

“Let go of the backpack, kid,” the Dodger snarled. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. Let go if you know what’s good for you!”

“No way,” Kate growled back. “That’s my notebook, and I want it now.”

When Mike saw Kate grab the Dodger’s backpack, he ran over to help. Then he stopped and backed up. He had a better idea.

The Dodger was still trying to pull the backpack away from Kate. She tried to stamp on his foot and missed. But it distracted him enough, and she gave the backpack a hard tug. It threw the Dodger off balance.

As the Dodger tried to regain his footing, Kate reached out and unzipped the backpack. She pulled it open just as Mike dashed up to them. In his right hand was a big red plastic bottle of ketchup.

“Not so fast,” Mike said, sliding to a halt.

The Dodger turned to look at Mike. “Huh? Who are you?”

“You took her notebook! Give it back!”
Mike said. He planted his feet firmly and held the ketchup bottle in front of him with both hands. Before the Dodger could answer, Mike squeezed as hard as he could.

Streams of bright red tomato ketchup arced through the air.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

The ketchup hit the Dodger across his face and chest. Streaks of red zigzagged back and forth like strands of red spaghetti.

“HEY! Ugh!” the Dodger yelled. “Stop it!” He tried to brush the ketchup off with his free hand.

Kate gave the backpack a hard tug. Her black notebook fell out. Then her original blue notebook fell out, too. But that wasn’t all. A cascade of notebooks, cell phones, and photographs also dropped to the floor.

Kate dove for her notebooks.

The Dodger swung around to see what happened. By now, other people had gathered around them.

“What have you kids done?” the Dodger screamed when he saw the contents of his backpack dumped on the floor. “Get away from my stuff!”

He reached down to scoop the notebooks, pictures, and cell phones into the backpack, but they slipped through his fingers. His hands were covered with ketchup. He tried to rub them clean on his shirt, but that just made everything worse.

BRRREEEEET! BRRREEEEET!

A shrill police whistle sounded. A security officer stepped into the middle of the crowd. “What’s going on here?”

The Dodger glanced toward the exit and then at the contents of his backpack. He looked
at Mike and Kate, and his eyes narrowed.

“Officer, I’m so glad you’re here,” he said loudly. “Those kids just attacked me and tried to steal my backpack. I demand you arrest them immediately!”

Mike’s and Kate’s jaws dropped.

The officer looked at them suspiciously. Suddenly, Kate’s stomach felt sick.

“You three will have to come with me,” the officer snapped. “Someone has some explaining to do.”

“Well, what do we have here?” Mr. Hopkins asked. He frowned at Kate and Mike. They were sitting on a bench outside the chief of security’s office.

“I know you two like to look for trouble, but who’d guess you’d find it at Dodger Stadium! I never imagined you’d be brought in by security,” Mr. Hopkins went on. “Everyone I work with will find out.”

He shook his head. In the background, a telephone rang.

Kate slumped down on the bench. She crossed her arms and pulled her feet back under the bench. Mike shifted uncomfortably.

Kate scuffed her sneaker on the ground. Mr. Hopkins leaned over and lifted the bill of Mike’s baseball cap. Then he patted Kate’s knee.

“Think about it,” he said. “Everyone I work with will find out that you two caught the person who’s been threatening us and stealing from the team! You’ll be heroes!”

“We will?” Kate asked. She sat up straight and glanced at her father. “I thought you were mad. You aren’t?”

“No, of course not,” Mr. Hopkins said. “I just finished talking to the chief of security. He said you outsmarted a real troublemaker!”