I pulled the token out from under my T-shirt. It was sparking all right. And gold glitter shot out toward Zoe’s mouth. Loopy jumped on her lap.

I chuckled. “Nice lip gloss.”

Zoe waved a finger at Loopy. “Don’t you dare lick the glitter.” She wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Just how specific do you intend to be? It could be a path to disaster, Arcade.”

“Every trip through the doors has been fine so far.”

“Fine? Three words.” Zoe held up three fingers and counted them out. “Golden. Gate. Bridge.”

“Okay, that one wasn’t so great. But maybe that was the token’s way of protecting us from the Badger brothers. They can’t do us any harm from San Francisco, can they?” Right then, the token began to flame up around the edges. “Whoa! I think I’m on to something, here! Zoe, maybe the token is trying to protect me from Wiley Overton too!”

Zoe didn’t say anything, but she was squirming there on top of those steps.

The token sputtered and pulsed and sparked and flamed. Loopy barked and wagged his tail. “Loopy’s game. Are you?” I stood up and golden elevator doors appeared at the bottom of the steps.

Zoe jumped up on her feet. “This never ceases to ANNOY me, Arcade. Can’t we have a peaceful Sunday afternoon? Seriously!”

I shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe this will be peaceful.” I pulled the token off the gold chain and was about to throw it in the slot but held back instead. “I guess I better ask for something specific.” I trapped the token between my palms. It was hot but, for some reason, this time it didn’t burn.

Zoe adjusted her glasses and crossed her arms. “Be VERY specific, Arcade. Do you even know what specific means?”

“Of course I do. It means I need to tell it exactly what I want.”

Zoe pulled a hair tie from her shorts pocket and put her hair in a ponytail. “That’s what scares me.”

“Aw, trust me, Zoe. Here we goooooo . . .” I squeezed the token in my palms. “Take us someplace . . . safe . . . where we can learn all about Wiley Overton. But—”

Zoe looked over at me. “But what? I see that twinkle in your eye, Arcade. You’re about to make a big mista—”

“BUT don’t make it boring!” I yelled. Zoe reached out to try to stop me, but she was too late. I opened my palms and the token zoomed into the coin slot. I put my hands together again, pulled them apart, and the doors opened!

*  *  *

Inside the elevator was a box labeled EXCITING STUFF. I reached in and discovered three cameras with head straps.