The Adventures of Jack Lime Read Online Free

bike, maybe something with a banana seat and streamers. Everything was hunky-dory until I was ambushed halfway down the path.
    â€œFreeze, buster! I got you covered!” someone shouted.
    I whipped off the glasses and spun around, looking to see where the voice was coming from.
    â€œI said freeze, bozo!”
    â€œI’m just heading down to do a little shopping,” I said. Was this some kind of security checkpoint the Riverside Boys had cooked up so they wouldn’t be taken by surprise?
    â€œState your name, soldier,” the voice demanded. I thought I caught a glimpse of movement off to my right.
    â€œRoger Daltry,” I said. “I’m just looking for a bike for my kid brother.”
    â€œJust an innocent shopping trip, eh, Roger? Well, let me tell you something, the plan just changed.”
    Now I was sure the voice was coming from my right. I thought I could see a figure in the trees, and unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, that somebody was wearing an army helmet and his face was covered in green paint. The rest of his body was concealed behind a bush. I considered jumping into action, but didn’t want to blow my shot at finding the bike if Sergeant Wingnut actually was a watchdog for Bucky’s gang.
    â€œNow listen carefully, soldier,” he said. “You’re going to march down that path and ask about a pair of night vision goggles. If they have them, you ask how much, and when they tell you, you act like you forgot your money. Then march back up here. Don’t bother looking for me, just keep walking. I’ll find you. And don’t try to bail on me, bug-bait, because I’ll be watching your every move. You got that?”
    This wasn’t a lookout from the Riverside Boys. This was a lone wolf cooking up some hare-brained scheme that would probably get me killed if I went along with it. I considered my options and decided to play along. I wanted to avoid any loud and messy confrontations.
    â€œAll right, boss,” I said, in my best Nervous-Nellie voice. “I’ll do what you want, just don’t hurt me.”
    â€œSmart choice, soldier,” he said. I could see him smiling beneath all that green paint. “Now hop to it!”
    I left Private Nutso squatting in the woods and turned my attention back to the case. I had more important (and sane) things to do, so I straightened my wig, pulled down my hat and put on the glasses. It was showtime.
    The path led me straight down to the clearing I’d been watching from the trees. I spotted three goons standing at the edge of the river and decided to see if they had the dope on this crooked operation.
    â€œWhat’s up, what’s up, what’s up, fellas?” I said, getting into character.
    â€œWhat’s up,” the tallest one said. He had a sneer permanently frozen on his face. “You got any beer?”
    â€œAfraid not, my man,” I said. “I’m driving.”
    â€œSo what?” Sneer said, and all three of them snickered like hyenas.
    â€œYou’re not from Iona, are you?” another one of them asked. I recognized him from my geography class. He wasn’t hard to ID because he had a head as big as a hot air balloon. But from what I’d seen in class, there wasn’t much filling up all that space.
    â€œNo, I’m from out of town, but word is this is the place to go if you want a sweet deal on some high-end merchandise.”
    â€œSo, how’d you get in?” Sneer asked.
    FYI — Iona is a gated community, or an “insulated living environment,” as the bigwigs at Luxemcorp like to say. There’s an iron gate across the only road into town, and you need a security code to get it open. If you don’t have the code, you have to get past the Luxemcorp guards who are posted in a little white house just inside the gate. Sneer was clearly testing my alibi, but I passed “Going Undercover 101” a long time