“Did what fall off of me?” Eric asked.
“You were frozen, weren’t you? You couldn’t move?”
“Well, yeah.” Then he remembered. “You mean this?”
He pried open the fingers on his right hand. In his palm was a gold ball, not much bigger than a bearing for a bicycle wheel. As he tossed it to her, he was suddenly able to move his fingers again.
“Watch out!” Keira shouted, scrambling backwards.
Fiona swung her arm out in an attempt to bat the sphere away, but missed.
It fell to the floor, bounced once, and then—
“This is just—”
— landed on her shoe.
Instantly, her voice was cut off and she froze in position.
“What is that?” Eric asked.
Instead of answering, Keira walked over to her sister and smiled. “I kind of like her like this, don’t you?”
“Don’t get too close!” Eric warned.
“Relax. It only works on one person at a time.”
In the distance, Eric could hear someone walking slowly down one of the hallways.
“We’ve got company,” he said.
Keira studied her sister for a moment longer then said, “Well, it was great while it lasted.”
She pulled a pair of tongs out of her bag and carefully used them to pick the gold ball off her sister’s foot.
“—great,” Fiona finished saying, glaring at her sister.
“Don’t look at me,” Keira said. “He’s the one who threw it at you.”
Fiona shivered like she’d just tasted something horrible and then stood up.
“At least it didn’t touch your skin,” Keira said, looking back at Eric. “There’s a sandwich bag in my backpack. Grab it for me.” When he didn’t move right away, she said, “Now would be good. Before whoever’s coming shows up.”
Eric shook himself, then found a bag with a half-eaten sandwich still inside. He held it out to her.
“Just the bag. Not the sandwich.”
He dumped the sandwich into Peter Garr’s lap and then handed the bag over.
In one smooth motion, Keira moved the tongs over the bag and dropped the ball inside. Once she sealed it, she smiled. “All done.”
Fiona frowned at Eric. “Why didn’t you use your emergency beacon?”
“I…I left it at home,” Eric said.
“You left it at home?” She was not happy.
“It was a unicorn necklace,” he pleaded. “I can’t carry around a unicorn necklace.”
She covered her eyes with her hand.
“Hey, Eric,” Keira said. “Catch.” She tossed him the bag.
Unable to jump out of the way, he reached out, caught the bag by the upper edge, and then held it out at arm’s length.
“Relax,” Keira told him. “It can’t hurt you now.”
“But this bag is just thin plastic,” he countered.
“That’s all it takes.”
Whoever was walking toward them was getting closer.
“Time to leave,” Fiona whispered. She grabbed the dart Eric had poked Peter with, then moved over to the open window and climbed through.
Eric grabbed his bag from where Tommy had dropped it, stuffed the sealed gold ball inside, and went to the window. But before he could go through, Keira pushed past him.
“Girls first,” she said.
He glanced back at the other end of the corridor, knowing someone was going to come around the corner at any second.
“Come on, come on, come on,” he whispered to Keira.
The moment she was clear, he threw his leg over the windowsill, rolled through the opening, and dropped to the ground outside.
Just as he got to his knees, he heard Ms. Lindgren’s voice from inside. “What in the world is going on here? Vice Principal Rose? Is that you?”
Fiona tapped Eric on the arm and mouthed, “Let’s go.”
TROUBLE FAMILY SERVICES
TFS HISTORY
JEREMY TROUBLE (Mr. Trouble 1982–2010)
While taking an advanced flying class in Florida, Jeremy Trouble (b. 1959, St. Louis, MO) met instructor and Ireland native Deirdre Owens. They married a year later and six months after that Jeremy’s father William died, making Jeremy the new Mr. Trouble.
Jeremy continued the high level of service TFS had been known for, while also being a loving father to his three children: son Ronan, and daughters Fiona and Keira.
He was the first to give non-blood relatives active roles in the family business — his wife’s brothers, Colin and Carl Owens.
His life was tragically taken in 2010.
RONAN TROUBLE (Mr. Trouble 2010—present)
The current Mr. Trouble, Ronan Trouble (b. 1987, Santa Monica, CA), trained for many years under his father and has already completed many successful jobs. In addition to Ronan, the current Trouble Team includes: his sisters, Fiona and Keira; his mother and her brothers; and various other family members as needed.
11
The same dinged-up sedan from the night before was waiting at the curb in front of the school. Mother Trouble was sitting behind the wheel this time and, much to Eric’s surprise, Maggie was sitting in the back.
Fiona got in up front while Eric and Keira squeezed into the rear seat with Maggie. As soon as the doors were shut, Mother Trouble hit the gas and they raced away from the school.
“What are you doing here?” Eric asked Maggie.
Fiona answered before Maggie could speak. “My brother was worried she might be targeted if you suddenly disappeared from school by coming with us. They know she’s your best friend so she’d be an obvious way to get to you. Like it or not, you’ve involved her in your troubles. Now we have to keep an eye on both of you.”
Maggie looked like she was doing everything she could to hold back her anger. “I was just going to the bathroom and they kidnapped me! Eric, we’re supposed to be in history right now, turning in our report. I swear, if we get an F, I’m going to…” The next sound out of her mouth was a frustrated growl.
“What?” Keira asked. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d love to hear what you’d do.”
“Ugh!” Maggie said, then turned to the window and crossed her arms.
After a few moments of silence, Mother Trouble asked, “Problems getting him out?”
“You could say that,” Fiona said.
“Maker attack,” Keira said.
Fiona shot her a look.
“What?” Keira said. “That’s what it was, and it’s not like these two don’t already know.”
Their mother pressed her lips tightly together.
Fiona glanced at her mom. “Ronan already told them about the Makers. He shouldn’t have done that.”
Her mother glanced over and then back at the road. “He’s under a lot of stress. It’s always hard when a new Mr. Trouble takes over.”
“He’s been in charge for over a year now,” Fiona argued.
“And it may take him another year before he feels completely comfortable. Your job is to support him, not give him a hard time. And we all know this particular case is turning out to be a little more involved than we expected.”
Fiona frowned.
“So,” Eric said after a few moments of silence, “are you saying that Peter and Tommy and Kyle are Makers?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Fiona said.
Maggie turned back from the window and looked at Eric. “What happened?”
He took a deep breath, then told her about Peter and his friends, the gold ball, and their escape.
As soon as he finished, Maggie leaned back against the seat, her eyes staring at an invisible point somewhere in the distance. He had seen the look before. She was in major think mode. Based on past experience, it could easily go on for several minutes. He asked Fiona, “What did you mean when you said ‘a little more complicated than that’?”