Andrew North Blows Up the World Read Online Free Page B

“Spies? No, no spies here. Nobody here but us insurance salesmen!”
    While I worked on a design for the monkey habitat where Dave would live, I thought about all the stuff Danny had said about Storage Room B. Jack had never told me anything about it, so I sort of doubted there was anything
that
secret in there. But it was possible. Anything is possible in a town like Cornersville Trace.
    “Hey,” I said to Ryan. “Did you ever hear any stories about Storage Room B?”
    Ryan spent more time in the school than anybody, since he got detention so often. If anyone knew anything, it would be him.
    “Oh yeah,” he said, nodding. “I’ve heard a lot about thatroom. There’s supposed to be some really valuable stuff in there.”
    “Yeah, I’ve heard that,” I said. “Might be worth a look.”
    “You’ll never get a look in the place,” said Ryan. “Mr. Gormulka is insane about keeping it guarded. Man, I’ve sure heard some scary stuff about
that
guy!”
    “Yeah?” I said.
    “Heck yeah,” Ryan said. “You hear crazy things when you’re stuck in this place, man. Terrible things. I’ve heard things in here that are going to haunt me to the grave.”
    “Like what?” I said.
    He gestured for us to lean in closer. “Well,” he said in a low voice, “you’ve heard how Gormulka became a janitor after fighting in some war, right?”
    “Sure,” I said. “Everyone’s heard that.”
    “Well, that’s partially true. But the thing is, he wasn’t fighting for America. He was fighting for the Russians during the Cold War! And he still works for them, just undercover. Now that the Cold War is over, his spy team works for anybody who can pay.”
    “Really?” I asked.
    Tony leaned over my desk. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
    “For sure,” said Ryan. “You know that scar over his eye that looks like an ‘M’? That’s not just a scar. It’s the mark of the group he works for. From what I’ve heard, he thinks that one of the teachers here, or maybe even one of the students, is actually a spy. And he’s just waiting to find out who it is.As soon as he finds out, that person is as dead as a drain-pipe!”
    “Oh my God!” said Tony.
    He kicked my shin under the desk, like I needed to be reminded that there
was
a spy in the school: me!
    “You can’t be serious,” I said, trying not to freak out.
    “I am,” said Ryan. “So if I were you, Tony, I’d be really careful about the pencil-sharpening thing. If Mr. Gormulka finds out you have skills like that, he might decide
you’re
the spy!”
    The wheels in my head were turning. Maybe defeating evil Mr. Gormulka could be the job I did to prove that I was ready to be a professional spy! But, on the other hand, they don’t send spies in to fight bad guys without a whole bunch of cool gadgets. If Mr. Gormulka was really an evil spy, I wasn’t about to fight him without a special ring that shot out laser beams that could freeze him into a statue or something. Who knew what sort of weapons he might have in Storage Room B? Maybe he even had a shark tank in there!
    Just then, Mr. Summers took off his headphones and stood up. “You guys sit tight,” he said. “I have to go to the teachers’ lounge to get more coffee. I can trust you guys to behave for a minute and a half, right?”
    “Sure thing, Mr. S,” said Ryan.
    “Good,” said Mr. Summers. “You guys are on the honor system. If I see a single dirty word on the marker board, you’re all dead meat!”
    Mr. Summers smiled and walked out of the room. Now, I knew I’d promised not to do anything wrong, but as any spy will tell you, sometimes it’s okay to break the rules. Like when the world might blow up if you don’t. This was one of those times. It was a perfect chance to get the calculator back and save the world!
    I jumped out of my seat and walked up to Mr. Summers’s desk, where the calculator was in a drawer. I opened the drawer, grabbed the calculator, and hopped back to my desk.