Free Trouble in Paradise by Eric Walters Page B

your cover and resulted in your family having to relocate again.”
    I hadn’t even considered that we could be relocated again. That was an awful thought.
    “I am, however, understandably concerned that it took seven or eight of my agents to subdue the two of you, and despite their numerical superiority, you still managed to inflict significant injuries on two of them,” Little Bill said.
    “That guy was lucky I only had one hand free,” Jack said.
    “That is nothing to brag about!” our mother warned him.
    To be honest, I thought it was pretty good.
    “I can’t decide if it was an impressive show of your determination or of their lack of preparedness for the assignment. Or perhaps it was simply that they were lulled into a false sense of comfort, thinking they were only dealing with two young boys,” Little Bill said. “Regardless, you must wonder about all of this. I imagine I’m the last person you expected to encounter.”
    “Close to the last,” Jack admitted.
    “Now, I must ask, how exactly did this all come to be?” he asked.
    “Well, it wasn’t exactly our idea,” I said. “We’d be at home right now if these guys hadn’t hauled us in. That was your idea, right?”
    “Yes, I did ask them to bring you here, although I would have hoped for a more gentle transit. But I meant, more specifically, what transpired prior to you two being invited to attend here.”
    “If that was your idea of an invitation,” Jack said, “I’d hate to see what happens when you really get rough with somebody.”
    Little Bill got a very serious look. “You did see what happens.”
    The image of that man being shot sent a chill up my spine. Of course we knew what could happen—this wasn’t the first time we’d faced a life-and-death situation.
    “Let me rephrase my question, then. How did you find yourself needing to be brought here? Please tell me, in detail, what transpired.”
    “We really weren’t doing anything wrong,” I said. “We were just waiting outside so our mother wouldn’t have to walk home alone.”
    “You were waiting for me at this time of night? I would have had more than a few words for you when I saw you.”
    “Um … you wouldn’t have seen us,” Jack said.
    She looked confused.
    “We weren’t going to meet you,” I said. “We were going to sort of follow you … you know, stay out of sight but make sure you were okay.”
    “And why would you even think to do such a thing?” she demanded.
    “It’s late at night and Dad’s always worried about you being out alone—”
    “Your father told you to follow me?”
    “Not exactly told us,” Jack replied. “He said to keep an eye on you, and the only way we could do that was to watch out for you when you came home late.”
    She shook her head. “Did you really think that would work?”
    “It has the other times that we’ve—” I stopped myself mid-sentence, but not before the damage had been done.
    “You’ve done this before? ”
    I shrugged, and Jack shot me a dirty look. “A few times.”
    “But tonight you chose not to follow your mother,” Little Bill said.
    “That’s right, sir,” Jack said. “We saw that old man come out of the hotel, and he was carrying that bag, and then we saw somebody start to follow him.”
    “So you thought it would be wise for you to follow them.”
    “We thought that second guy might be up to no good,” Jack said.
    “Is that the only reason?” he asked.
    “Well … I guess we were sort of curious,” I admitted.
    “Thank you for being honest. So you initiated surveillance on the suspect.”
    “If that means following him, then yeah, that’s what we did,” Jack said. “We saw him turn down that alley and we followed him, and that’s when things got all crazy.”
    “Yes, that was when things went in an unexpected direction,” Little Bill said. “As you surmised, he was, in fact, up to no good. Our hope was to capture him … alive.”
    “He’s dead?” I asked, even