Summer Stakeout

By Mary Elizabeth Luck

What would you do if you found out that your next-door neighbor carried a gun? Chelsea thinks she can't tell anybody because of a false 9-1-1 call that she made a month ago. But things get more complicated after she and her new friend TD learn about a young boy's kidnapping and then see a strange boy at that same neighbor's house! Of course, they decide to investigate-and discover that things are rarely what they seem. Sometimes they are much worse...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644713457

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Summer Stakeout

Mary Elizabeth Luck

ISBN 978-1-64471-344-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64471-345-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Mary Elizabeth Luck

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

The Marks Mystery

The Fall of a Spy

Spies on a Mission

The Chase

A Rash of Clues

Deluge of Deduction

Over the River and through the Woods

Little Cabin in the Woods

On the Run

The Takedown

Hot Chocolate

Winkie’s Wisdom

Bibliography

About the Author

For David, my encourager,

And

For Joshua and Jonathan,

Who inspired this story

A special thanks to Josh Luck for the amazing chapter illustrations and to Special Agent J Suzanne Nash with the FBI for her insight into the agency and a glimpse into the life of a real hero.

Chapter 1

The Marks Mystery

T

he door slammed, and

Chelsea hunkered down into the sofa, pulling her baseball cap tightly over her short blonde curls and squeezing her baby browns shut. She grabbed the remote and lowered the volume, so maybe they’d walk on by.

Oh, look, Matthew—it’s Nancy Drew in a boy suit! cried Chelsea’s sister, Stefanie.

Her sister’s boyfriend was such a jerk. Shut up, Chelsea growled.

Ooooh, we’re scared. Watch out, or she’ll call the police on us! Stefanie gave Chelsea a not-so-playful bop on the head.

Chelsea thought she might throw up. She felt hot and cold at the same time remembering the biggest mistake of her life; 9-1-1 was supposed to help people, not ruin people’s lives. Why did Stefanie have to remind her?

She had thought that her teacher’s baby was being stolen. How was she to know that the nervous-looking man was Mrs. Jenks’s brother? Maybe if the police hadn’t tried to arrest him it wouldn’t have been so bad. Then the stupid reporters would have found something else for the front page of the local paper.

The worst part was the grown-ups trying to sound grateful for her concern while lecturing her on finding out the facts. She’d had to do a paper on the cost of emergency services, and her parents made her go to the police station and the fire department to apologize for the inconvenience. So much for saving a baby’s life.

Chelsea flipped channels until Stefanie and Matthew got bored and left. She was about to turn off the set when the Breaking News screen came on, followed by black letters on an orange background: Amber Alert!

She watched as the reporter spoke and a boy’s picture filled the screen. A ten-year-old boy named Billy Marks had disappeared just across the state line. He was believed to have been kidnapped and to be traveling in a car headed toward Nashville—just thirty minutes away from Chelsea’s hometown.

The public is urged to call the local authorities if you have any information…

Yeah, right…if you want to get in trouble.

"Chels! Get out of