Free Enemy Spy by Wendelin Van Draanen Page A

shoulders.
    He stuck his chin forward a little.

    Then he cleared his throat and said, “I was only involved
peripherally
with what
transpired
—a fact I didn't want to
disclose
in this
bucolic
setting— but it's true.”He made a muscleman pose with his arms and cried, “I
am
the Bouncer!”
    The kids from school all dropped their jaws. They were in total shock over everything!
    Except for Trinity. She was bouncing up and down, clapping like crazy. She saw me looking her way and blew me a kiss.
    A
kiss.
    Do superheroes blush?
    This one sure did!
    How embarrassing!
    Then the questions started flying at us: “What's the kid's name?”“How old are you, son?”“Where do you go to school?”“What gave you the idea for Shredderman?”“Did your parents have any idea you were breaking up a spy ring?”“What if they don't catch the other spy?”“Are you afraid for your life?”
    The chief was studying one of the images on my camera. “Look here!”he said to Sarge. “I think we can pull a license plate off of this one!”He headed back to the station house with my cam-era, calling, “Get the kid inside! We've got work to do!”
    Sarge stepped up to the podium and said, “I'm sorry, but obviously things are developing at a very rapid rate. We'll keep you apprised as things unfold, and I'm sure Nolan will be happy to tell you more about his escapades as Shredderman when the dust settles.”He turned to me and grinned, “Isn't that right, Shredderman?”
    I said, “Sure,”then stepped closer to the micro-phones and pointed to Chatty Adams. “Except for her. I'm not going to talk to her.”
    Some people in the crowd snickered. I heard one say, “He's smart, all right.”
    I fished the two battery packs out of my backpack and looked right at Chatty. “Missing these?”
    She let out a gargly scream, and Roy and her cameraman had to hold her back.
    I tossed the batteries on the ground and said, “Next time you think you can call someone a nerd, a geek, a fatso, a brat, or a wannabe Barbie and get away with it, remember the kids from Cedar Valley.”

    “I didn't call them those names!”she cried, looking around. “I swear, I didn't!”
    Sarge led me away from the microphones, but we'd only gone a few steps toward the station door when I heard something amazing.
    It started with one voice. A voice I'd recognize anywhere.
    Bubba Bixby's.
    Then other kids chimed in.
    Then adults!
    It was getting louder… and louder… and louder!
    By the time Sarge and I hit the station door, the whole crowd seemed to be chanting it.
    “Shred-der-man! Shred-der-man! Shred-der-man!”
    I stood there for a second and just listened.
    It was the sweetest sound I'd ever heard.

Chapter 21
Shredderman Lives!
    They set my mom and dad and Mr. Green free, and boy, were they relieved! And when I told Mr. Green about Bubba and Dr. Voss, he about died laughing. “So she doesn't know?”he finally asked.
    “Nope. And we're not telling.”
    “You and Bubba.”He chuckled. “Who'd have guessed.”
    I laughed, too. “Not me, that's for sure!”
    When we were finally done answering ques-tions for the police and the FBI, all the reporters wanted to ask me questions. Dad told me I should give Harry Kane first shot at an interview, so that's what I did.
    After all, he'd been pretty nice to us kids.
    Of course, my secret identity was shot, but with the news stations talking about the spy ring and Shredderman, I figured I could still put my site to
some
use.
    First I posted all the pictures I had of the spy guy, with a caption:
    IF YOU SEE THIS MAN, CALL THE FBI. HE'S AN
    ENEMY SPY!
    I also put up the movie clip I'd taken of Chatty Adams calling us names.
    Thought she could deny it, huh?
    Ha!
    I sent an e-mail with the
Shredderman
link to an executive at her network, and wrote:
    This is why your station didn't get the story.
    Yours in Truth and Justice,
    Shredderman
    We haven't seen Chatty Adams on the air since.
    But even though I still had the