“Ronan. Are you sure they need to know that?” Fiona asked.
He ignored her and said, “We call him Maker Larkin. He approached…a previous Mr. Trouble and gave him information about the Makers we couldn’t have gotten otherwise. We’re not sure why he talked to us, but what we do know is that so far most of what he told us has been true. He’s as close as we’ve ever gotten to knowing the real Makers.”
Maggie snorted. “Oh, you guys are really good at this.”
Fiona turned to face her, her face hard and serious. “Our first and most important job is to protect the client. It’s not to capture a Maker.” As she sat back, she added, “But my brother’s wrong. If we’re going to be completely open, someone has seen what a Maker actually looks like.”
“Who?” Eric asked.
She paused for a moment then said, “Our father.”
There was an awkward moment of nothing.
“We don’t know that for sure,” Keira said, breaking the silence.
“Of course we do,” Fiona argued. “Just before he…finished the job, he told the client to tell us Uncle Colin’s goggles had worked.” She turned to Eric. “Those goggles were designed to see Makers. Dad couldn’t have meant anything else.”
“He didn’t tell you later what he saw?” Eric asked.
More silence, then–
“Stop!” Uncle Carl yelled.
Mr. Trouble hit the brakes. Even before the car stopped rolling, Uncle Carl had detached the cylinder from the wires and jumped out.
“Don’t go anywhere without me,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
With the increase in room, Eric scooted off Maggie and Fiona’s laps and into Uncle Carl’s empty spot.
“What’s he doing?” Eric asked, looking out the window.
“Makers leave traces of measureable energy wherever they spend a lot of time,” Mr. Trouble explained. “Usually you have to be very close to detect it, but when they get upset, that area expands and you can get a reading from two or three blocks away sometimes. What we’re looking for is their hideout. They usually rent a house in a nice neighborhood, someplace expensive.”
Maggie forced out a deep, loud breath. “Are you really believing this? Makers? Mind-controlling people? Seriously. This is crazy. And tell me this — how could something that’s not human rent a house? Or do one of these surrogates do it for them?”
“That’s not what they use surrogates for,” Mr. Trouble said, shaking his head.
“She does have a point, though, doesn’t she?” Eric said. “How do they rent a house?”
“I never said the form they take wasn’t human.”
“Oh, wow. That’s easy, isn’t it?” Maggie said. “So basically I could be a Maker. Or Eric, or you, or any of us. But even if we were, and you were looking right at us, you wouldn’t know what a Maker really looks like? Makes complete sense to me.”
For the first time, Mr. Trouble looked like he might lose his temper. “I understand that this might be difficult for you to believe. That’s fine. But this is our life, not some game of pretend. No, Maggie, I couldn’t be a Maker. Not you, either. Not Fiona or Keira or even Uncle Carl. Eric, on the other hand, is a perfect Maker candidate.”
Outside, Uncle Carl walked around the corner of a house and out of sight.
“Keira, go with him,” Mr. Trouble said.
“Why me?” she said. “Why not Fiona?”
“Because I told you to go.”
“You sound like Mom,” she said, then opened the door and got out. “You’re not Mom. And you’re not Dad, either.”
“Keira!” Fiona said. But it was too late. Her sister had already slammed the door shut. She looked over at her brother. “She didn’t mean it.”
“Of course she did,” Ronan said. “And she’s right. I’m not Dad. But I am Mr. Trouble now. She needs to remember that.” He paused for a second. “And so do you.”
Fiona looked away suddenly, part of her lower lip slipping into her mouth.
“Are you trying to say I’m a Maker?” Eric asked.
“Of course not,” Mr. Trouble replied. “And if I have anything to do with it, you never will be. The thing you need to remember, Eric — they can’t take you if you don’t let them.”
“But I won’t let—”
“This is ridiculous,” Maggie said. “Eric, let’s go home. It’s getting late.”
“No one’s going anywhere until I’m sure it’s safe,” Mr. Trouble announced. “But I promise we’ll drop you all off at Maggie’s house in plenty of time for dinner.”
“What do you mean ‘you all’?” Maggie asked suspiciously.
“You and Eric and Fiona and Keira.”
“Whoa. Why would you drop your sisters off at my house?”
“Because they’re spending the night,” he said.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”
“He’s not joking,” Fiona said. “Your mom’s already expecting us.”
“No way. You’re lying.”
Fiona shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s true. Mom set it up while you were all in the lab letting the Makers know where we were. Eric’s staying overnight, too.”
“Me?”
“But he’s…he’s a boy,” Maggie said.
“Homework slumber party,” Fiona said. “For that big test we’re having next week.”
“What big test?” Eric asked.
“The one that’s not really happening,” Fiona replied. “But Maggie’s mom and your dad were very impressed with the idea and were more than okay with it.”
Just then, Uncle Carl and Keira rushed across the yard and climbed back into the car. This time Maggie ended up on Eric’s lap.
“What happened?” Mr. Trouble asked.
“They were definitely here,” Uncle Carl said. “Up until probably thirty minutes ago.”
“About the time we abandoned base camp,” Fiona said.
Uncle Carl nodded. “I think they must have thought their surrogates were going to succeed so they went someplace else to wait for the package to be delivered.”
“What package?” Eric asked. “I thought they wanted—”
The four members of the Trouble family were now staring at him.
“Oh,” he said. “I’m the package.”
“Think of it this way,” Keira said. “You’ve never been so popular in your life.”
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Mr. Trouble announced. “Uncle Carl, I’m going to leave you here to keep an eye on the house while I drop everyone else off at Maggie’s. Then I’ll come back and maybe we can catch them returning.”
Uncle Carl sucked at the inside of his cheek but didn’t get out of the car. “There’s something else.”
Mr. Trouble looked both curious and annoyed. “What?”
“I think it’s better if you see for yourself.”
16
No one wanted to wait in the car so they all got out and followed Uncle Carl to the house.
As they were walking, Eric noticed that Fiona looked like she wanted to say something to her brother, but she stopped herself and moved over to whisper something to Keira instead. Keira frowned at her then picked up her pace so they weren’t walking together any more.
He was about to walk up and ask what was going on when Maggie tugged at his shirt. He slowed and joined her at the back of the pack.
“We should get out of here,” she whispered. “These people are insane.”
“They just want to help,” he said.
“Help with what? You’re having some bad luck, that’s all. There’s not some make-believe force doing this to you. That kind of thing doesn’t really happen. This isn’t one of those stupid comic books you read.”
“They’re not comic books,” he said quickly. “They’re manga. And they’re not stupid.”