The Alias Men Read Online Free

next to me waved back, but the guard didn’t seem to notice or care.
    â€œWelcome to Sterling Studios,” the guide told us from his spot next to the driver of the tram. “My name is Greg, and I’ll be divulging all of Hollywood’s sss ecrets to you today.” He spoke very close to the microphone, so the speakers overhead made him sound like a hissing snake. “We’ll sss tart our tour on the west sss ide of the lot, and go clockwise until we’re back where we sss tarted. Oh, and watch out for ccc elebrities!” he added with a fake happy tone to his voice. “I hear they’re running loose around the studio lot.”
    Someone laughed at his lame joke. We drove between a warehouse-type building and a small parking lot. There were only four cars there, which made me wonder if this studio was operational at all, or if it was all just fake, like Greg the tour guide.
    We drove down a street that looked like a cute little town—the kind of place that sells fudge and antiques. But it wasn’t real: You could see the plywood fronts from our angle on the train.
    â€œThis is Ssss terlingville,” Greg hissed overhead. “Many movies and TV sss eries have been sss hot here—if you look clo sss ely, you might sss ee one of the sss tars of our hugely popular TV sss eries You Only Live Once .”
    I’d never heard of the show, but okay.
    To the left of me, a fake cameraman was setting up a tripod. He waved. The lady next to me waved back. But I could see the dust on the camera lens as we passed—obviously, this dude wasn’t filming anything, except maybe us tourists.
    â€œHey, Jim,” Greg called from in front, waving to the fake camera guy. “To the right, you can see the general store of Sterlingville. This town has been in existence since the studio was first established in 1935.” He droned on about all the movies that were shot there, but I tuned the guy out. I had a mission to accomplish.
    While the rest of the tourists were hanging out the right side of the tram, I took a minute to pull out my studio map. I followed the dotted line of the tour, past the gate guard and the parking lot, and through this fake little town. Up ahead were more buildings, then we would slowly move eastward to make that clockwise route the guide was talking about. In a few minutes I would have to break away from the tour to get to the costume department building at the far back of the lot.
    The lady next to me had her head turned to the general store, where some couple was pretending to set up for a scene. Greg the tour guide was droning on about this oh-so-popular television series, holding the attention of the rest of the tour. The tram was moving, but very slowly.
    Now might be the only chance I had to sneak off.
    I inched closer to the edge of my seat. Leaned forward.
    I took a step, but then heard the hiss over the tram’s intercom behind me.
    â€œWhere i sss it you think you’re going, young man?”

5
    THURSDAY, 2:41 P.M.
    I FROZE. THEN I RAISED MY HAND, WAVING the folded map. “Dropped my paper,” I said as I slipped back in my seat. The lady next to me gave me a confused look.
    â€œIt appears our young passenger thought he might make a cameo in You Only Live Once .” Greg the guide fake-laughed at his sad joke, and the group joined him.
    I felt my stomach drop as I pretended to laugh, too. I’d just lost my best chance to leave undetected. And we were minutes away from my ideal exit point from the tram.
    This was not good.
    The tram started moving again, and panic spread through my chest. I had to come up with a plan to get off the tourist tram undetected, or this mission would be a bust.
    â€œNext up, we’ll get a glimpse of the departments that make the magic work virtually—our sss pecial-effects crew,” Greg droned over the intercom. He kept his eyes on me. I needed him to look somewhere else, and for the other