Cover

Title Page

Becca

Becca Zamolo stood in the corner of the treehouse with her arms crossed, looking over her group of friends as they passed around a bag of chips. Their meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago, but they were still missing one person—Miguel, who was the least likely of them all to show up late. Something about it made Becca feel weird.

“Where is he?” Becca wondered out loud, biting her lip. “Miguel is always on time, like, to everything.”

“Chill out, Becks,” Matt said through a mouthful, spitting bits of chips over the front of his shirt as he spoke. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Totally,” Kylie agreed. “I talked to him yesterday about the meeting and he said he’d definitely be here.”

But something still didn’t sit right in Becca’s stomach. Maybe it was because ever since she and her group of friends were summer schooled by the mysterious Game Master two months ago, Becca felt paranoid about everything: windows that she didn’t remember opening, unexpected knocks on the front door, even the innocent little notes her mother would leave her in her lunchbox. None of these things ended up actually being caused by the Game Master, but they still always left Becca with a lump in her throat and a racing heart.

“You’re right.” Becca finally gave in, taking a seat between Kylie and Danny, who was messing around with his camera like always, zooming in on Matt and his sharklike chomping of the chips. “I think I just need to relax.”

“You’ve got that right,” Matt answered, winking so Becca would know that he was kidding, as if ninety percent of the things that came out of his mouth weren’t a joke. “Make like a cucumber and chill, Becks.”

Before the summer school incident, Becca could hardly stand her longtime neighbor Matt, whose mother was best friends with Becca’s mother. But something about that wild day where they were locked in their school together with Kylie, Danny, Frankie, and Miguel, all at the mercy of the elusive Game Master, changed how Becca and Matt looked at each other. They were becoming something closer to best friends themselves.

“So, interview time while we wait for Miguel,” Danny said, pointing the camera at Frankie this time. “Frankie, how do you feel about the fact that we still haven’t been able to find Elephant?”

Elephant belonged to Miguel’s little brother, Angel. The day the group beat the Game Master and figured out all the clues necessary to break out of the locked school, they came home to find that the game was far from over. Elephant had been kidnapped, and the Game Master had left a note in his place:

You may have won the first round, my friends. But stay alert. Because the games have just begun.

—GM

Frankie swallowed their chips and looked into the camera with sad eyes. “Terrible,” they said after a dramatic pause. “I can only take solace in the fact that whoever this twisted Game Master is, they at least seem to be taking care of Elephant, you know, despite the whole hamster-napped thing.”

It was true. Even though the group of newly bonded pals hadn’t received any other clues that might help them locate the missing hamster, the Game Master had been sending them all photos of Elephant in different outfits, looking fed and well taken care of. Still, knowing that Elephant was okay hadn’t made any of this easier for Miguel. He had to stop sharing the photos with Angel after the third or fourth one because it would always make him cry out of worry for his beloved pet.

“Seriously,” Kylie piped in, and Danny swooped his camera over to get her in the shot. “Who kidnaps a hamster? For two months? If this was intended to be a game, it’s gone way too far.”

“I think we already passed the ‘too far’ point when we caught Mr. Verdi at the school last time,” Matt added, and Danny expertly moved the camera from Kylie’s face to Matt’s. “Remember how he started sobbing when we confronted him?”

“But Mr. Verdi wasn’t the Game Master,” Becca pointed out, raising her chin just the slightest bit. When the camera moved to her face, she straightened her back and cleared her throat. “He was just somebody who got caught in the game. Remember what he told us? The Game Master made him do all that stuff.”

“Nobody makes grownups do anything they don’t want to do,” Frankie scoffed. “I still think Mr. Verdi is suspicious as heck.”

Becca couldn’t exactly deny it. Ever since the new school year started, Mr. Verdi had been missing from campus, which wasn’t exactly innocent behavior. Could it be true that Mr. Verdi had known more than he let on that day?

The entire thing was so confusing. The Game Master was calculating enough to have planned the summer school incident without issue, from clues hidden with glow-in-the-dark stickers to puzzles that honed in on each kid’s special interest in one way or another. And a flyer had been left behind describing each one of them to a T. It was almost as if the Game Master had wanted to be their friends, but what kind of friend would put a group of kids through such wild challenges?

“Well, whoever it is, we’re going to find out,” Becca finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had come over them all at the mention of Mr. Verdi. “Trust me when I say that. We killed it last time around, so whenever the Game Master decides to throw us a bone in helping us find Elephant, we’ll be ready.”

“Agreed,” Kylie and Frankie said simultaneously, which caused them to crack up at each other.

“I think things are getting a little too serious at this particular meeting,” Matt said, shoving another handful of chips into his mouth. “Hey, Danny, wanna see me finish off these chips while I’m doing a headstand?”

“Don’t,” Becca said, knowing deep down that Matt was probably joking, but she couldn’t help but say something. “You’ll choke if you do that.”

“You’re no fun,” Matt said, a small smile creeping up the side of his mouth in a way that told Becca he was never really planning to attempt the headstand. “How am I supposed to get into the circus when you won’t even let me practice?”

“The circus will let you in automatically because you’re a clown,” Becca said, which made everyone burst out laughing.

“Hey, good one,” Matt replied, impressed. “I’m rubbing off on you, I see.”

“Whatever.” Becca rolled her eyes but still smiled.

Despite the strange way they were brought together, Becca found that she was thankful for her new group of friends. It was good to know they all had each other’s backs, no matter what.

“Hey,” Kylie said suddenly, the smile fading from her face. “Do you guys hear that?”

Everybody fell quiet, and Becca strained to hear what Kylie was talking about. Sure enough, from somewhere far below the treehouse, there came a voice, strained and desperate.

“Guys,” the voice said, getting louder. “I’m here. Open up. I said open up!”

“That’s Miguel,” Frankie whispered as they leaned over to open the door on the floor of the treehouse. “He sounds so upset!”

“What’s wrong, Miguel?” Matt called down through the opening, just a few seconds before Miguel climbed into the treehouse, collapsing on the floor once the door was closed again and wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Nacho.” Miguel panted, still struggling to catch his breath. “He . . . he . . . sorry, I ran the entire way here, my legs feel like Jell-O . . .”

“It’s okay, Miguel,” Kylie said, looking at her friend in concern. “Slow down. Tell us what happened to Nacho.”

Becca realized for the first time that Nacho wasn’t with Miguel, which was extremely unusual—usually, the snake could be found with Miguel wherever he went. Of all the friends, Miguel was the one who was the most interested in animals, and his pet snake was no exception. Nacho had braved the heart-pounding summer school incident along with the rest of them, and in turn, he had sort of become a part of the group in his own right.

“The Game Master stole him,” Miguel finally said, his voice wavering with emotion. “I went outside to take the trash can to the curb. I swear I could have only been gone for a minute, well, maybe three minutes, since I stopped for a snack before going back upstairs . . .” He took a deep breath. “But when I got back to my room, Nacho was gone from his terrarium.”

“Maybe he escaped,” Becca suggested, but she realized as soon as she said it how unlikely that was. Nacho never hid from Miguel. He loved swirling up his arm or around his neck to hang out. “Or maybe it really was the Game Master.”

“It was,” Miguel insisted. “I know for sure because there was a note in the tank. Here, I brought it.”

The others waited in anticipation while Miguel dug through his pockets, finally producing a piece of paper that had been folded over several times. “Sorry,” Miguel mumbled as he opened the note and spread it over the floor. “It got kind of sweaty from all the running.”

Everyone leaned over the note at once, turning their heads and craning their necks in order to read it.

Nap time’s over, the note said, the handwriting hauntingly identical to the notes that had been left for them to find in the school two months ago. It’s time for more games, so keep an eye out for your first clue. Are you ready to do whatever it takes to get back what has been lost?

“This is horrible!” Miguel said, nearing tears again. “Nacho is probably so scared and wondering where I am!”

Matt put his hand on Miguel’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said gently. “Don’t you worry. We’re going to find him.”

“That’s a promise,” Becca added, her voice firm. “We’ve got this, guys. We’re going to smoke the Game Master just like we did last time.”

Everyone in the group nodded in unison, and just like that, they were back in action, working together in the wonderful way that only they could, determined to do whatever it took to rescue Elephant the hamster and Nacho the snake.

Matt

Matt watched nervously as Kylie scanned the note as though it were a puzzle. Out of the group, Kylie was the one with a knack for solving puzzles. If there was a clue hidden in the note, she’d certainly be the most likely to discover it first.

“If Nacho is being treated the same as Elephant,” Frankie said, offering Miguel an encouraging grin, “the only thing you have to worry about is that he might get his picture taken in a hat or something.”

“You’re right,” Miguel said with a nod, taking another deep breath to calm himself. “At least we know they’re being cared for well enough until we can find them.”

“Still, though,” Kylie mumbled under her breath as she continued to analyze the note. “It’s not right. It’s pet-napping, and we need to crack this thing.”

“Do you see anything in there that could be a potential clue?” Becca asked, crossing her arms as she peered at the note from over Kylie’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure,” Kylie said. She tucked a length of her jet-black hair behind her ear and chewed on her lower lip, thinking it over. “I guess it’s technically possible, but it mostly just looks like a warning that the first clue is on its way. Keep an eye out could mean something more specific, or maybe even nap time’s over, but what? They’re too broad to be good clues, and it wouldn’t really be the Game Master’s style.”

Matt stepped back from the rest of the group, pushing his glasses up his nose as he took a moment to think it through on his own. He saw that across the room, Becca appeared to be doing the same thing. Danny walked slowly in a circle around Kylie as she handed the note back to Miguel, who reluctantly shoved it back into his pocket.

“So, what are we supposed to do now?” Miguel asked. “Just sit around and wait? We’ve been doing that for the last two months with Elephant, and I’m sorry, but I don’t trust the Game Master to take care of Nacho for that long.”

“Before we didn’t have a note like this,” Frankie reminded him. “I don’t think the Game Master plans on waiting another two months. . . .”

“There has to be something we can do,” Miguel said, lifting his hand to block the view of Danny’s camera. “Anything.”

“I can make new flyers,” Danny offered. He lowered his camera. “Just like the ones I made for Elephant. Maybe we can spread them out even farther this time. Post them outside the neighborhood.”

“That’s a good start.” Becca nodded. “Thanks, Danny.”

“Of course.” Danny turned back to Miguel. “Hey, would it be cool with you if I filmed a documentary on Nacho’s disappearance? The footage could be useful down the road if we need to review anything, and plus, I could submit it to this film program for kids that’s happening over winter break.”

“For sure,” Miguel said. “Anything if it’ll help us find Nacho.”

“Awesome.” Danny raised the camera again with a grin. “I’m going to capture everything.”

Matt’s stomach turned—maybe because he was nervous for Nacho, but maybe because of all those chips he’d inhaled earlier. He took another step back and accidentally bumped into his robot, Ralphie, who he’d totally forgotten was even there. The realization made Matt sad—at one point, he and Ralphie were as inseparable as Miguel and Nacho, but ever since they got summer schooled by the Game Master, Ralphie just hadn’t been the same. The Game Master had done something to Ralphie that day, and no matter how hard he tried, Matt hadn’t been able to figure it out or fix it. The robot now had a habit of randomly spewing off nonsensical letters and numbers.

“You wanna bring Ralphie along?” Becca was suddenly standing beside Matt, staring at him as though she knew what he was thinking about. “Maybe he’ll like helping.”

“Sure,” Matt said, frowning. “Or maybe he’ll break down or start acting weird again.”

“Ralphie is still just as cool as the day you put him together,” Frankie added, walking over to kneel down and give the robot a gentle pat on the head. The lights of the robot’s eyes lit up, and Ralphie raised his arms toward Frankie.

“Blee-blop-bloop,” the warped robotic voice whirred, and Matt sighed. “Five, four, three, two, one.”

“Come on, Ralphie,” Matt said, picking the robot up and shuffling toward the treehouse ladder. “Time to try to find Nacho and Elephant.”

They took turns heading down the ladder of Becca’s treehouse, which had been deemed their official clubhouse shortly after the summer school incident.

“If we’re going to be walking all over the place, I’m gonna need to change my shoes,” Frankie said, looking down at their flip-flops and wiggling toes.

“Same,” Kylie said. “Should we meet up at the park in an hour?”

“Perfect,” Danny answered with a nod. “That’ll give me time to go print some flyers.”

“Let’s do it,” Becca said with a gentle clap.

An hour later, Matt arrived at the park on his scooter, Ralphie secured in the harness that he wore on his back. Everybody else was already there, with Danny making the rounds with his video camera, interviewing his friends about Nacho, having everybody talk about their favorite things about the snake. When Matt rolled up, Danny lowered the camera just long enough to pass out thick stacks of the flyers he’d made for Nacho and Elephant.

“Let’s make our way to the edge of the neighborhood and then start spreading out from there,” Becca said, and the group moved along. Matt trailed in front of them on his scooter, deep in thought about the Game Master.

“Whoever is doing all of this is really sick,” he called over his shoulder to his friends. “I still think it could be Vice Principal Pinter. That guy has always hated me.”

“Then why didn’t he kidnap Ralphie instead of Elephant and Nacho?” Miguel asked. “Also, Vice Principal Pinter hasn’t really been acting suspicious since school started. He even came up to us that one day and asked if we were all right after everything, remember?”

“Exactly,” Matt said. “Maybe he was trying to get a peek into the state of the group.”

“My money is still on Mrs. Richards,” Kylie added. “She’s the one who’s technically in charge of all the supplies Mr. Verdi needed access to in order to help the Game Master execute their plan. Who else could have handed over the keys to the maintenance closet?”

“Keys can be stolen,” Becca reminded Kylie. “To be honest, I’ve started to doubt that it was any of our teachers. Mr. Verdi might know more than he was originally letting on, but we should be open to considering that the Game Master is a kid, just like us.”

“What kind of kid is capable of coming up with a plan so complex?” Matt asked with a laugh, but as soon as he asked the question he realized that the idea wasn’t so wild. After all, their group alone had shown itself to be capable of some pretty amazing feats. What if the Game Master was a kid?

“But why us?” Frankie wondered out loud, shuffling their feet and kicking little rocks across the street as they walked. “There has to be a reason why we were chosen out of everyone else. Before we were summer schooled, none of us really hung out, except for Becca and Matt.”

“And that wasn’t exactly by choice,” Becca said, making Matt laugh. She wasn’t wrong. “I’m just hoping that the first clue shows up sooner rather than later.”

Before long, the group reached the edge of the neighborhood, and the weight of Ralphie in the harness was causing Matt’s back to hurt. “I’m gonna let Ralphie walk around,” he announced to nobody in particular, removing the robot from the harness and setting it in a nearby patch of grass. “Maybe he’ll be able to help in some way.”

“That’s the spirit,” Danny said, kneeling behind Ralphie to get a good shot with his camera. “Go forth and search, my metal-tastic friend!”

Ralphie replied by toddling clumsily straight ahead, his arms waving around as he took a sudden sharp turn into a tree, which knocked him on his back, his arms and legs pumping like an overturned beetle.

“Whoops,” Matt said, rushing forward to help set the robot upright. When he did, Ralphie put his arms down and turned his head straight toward Matt. “Listen,” the robot said, the first time it’d spoken something that wasn’t complete nonsense in two months. “Listen carefully.”

“Did you hear that?” Matt demanded, and Danny nodded excitedly, making sure to come close enough to record everything. The others gathered around also, waiting in anticipation for what might come next.

“Listen carefully,” Ralphie the robot repeated, before going off on a ramble of numbers. “N thirty-four, three, thirteen point two eight seven. W one hundred eighteen, fourteen, thirty-three point nine five seven.”

“What in the world?” Matt said, confused, but Kylie sprang into action, shushing everybody as she retrieved a small notepad from her pocket. Ralphie repeated the same numbers over and over, Kylie scribbling them in her book furiously.

“Is that an address?” Frankie asked.

“That’s too long to be an address,” Becca said, peering down at the robot curiously. “But it certainly sounds like something.”

“This definitely isn’t random,” Matt confirmed. “Ralphie’s been saying weird stuff ever since summer, but nothing like this. This is different.”

“Listen,” Ralphie said, then went on to repeat the sequence yet again. Was it possible they’d found their first clue?

“Everybody,” Matt said as Danny moved the camera from the robot to everybody’s faces one by one, “I think this is the doing of the Game Master.”

“The first official clue!” Becca squealed, jumping up in excitement. “Finally! Something we can work with. We’re on our way, Miguel.”

The group cheered, surrounding Kylie to look at the numbers written in the notepad. Ralphie continued to repeat the sequence, his eyes blinking. Matt felt relieved to know that whatever was going on, the group was sure to figure it out before too long. Maybe they’d even be able to get Nacho and Elephant back by the end of the weekend!

Becca

“So it begins,” Becca said, biting her lip as she thought about everything the numbers could possibly mean. Maybe they represented important dates? Or maybe the sequence was in code, something they’d need to find a way to translate into words.

“Something about this is familiar,” Kylie said, staring at the sequence of numbers in her notepad. “I swear I’m this close to cracking it . . .”

“Maybe the rest of us should split up and hang some flyers while we wait,” Becca suggested, the promise of a new clue making her eyes shine. “There’s no harm in putting them up before we get started on whatever this code turns out to be.”

With new hope putting a skip in everyone’s step, the group was able to post the flyers far and wide around the front edge of the neighborhood. Whoever the Game Master was, Becca thought, they had to have friends and family in their life—maybe someone would recognize Elephant and Nacho as someone’s recent additions and turn them in. She smiled at the colorful flyer Danny had designed; the word STOLEN! was emblazoned across the top in bright-yellow letters outlined in black, and the photos he’d chosen to use of Elephant and Nacho were perfectly adorable.

The Story Continues on BooksBarbecue!

Enjoyed this preview? ❤️ Do not stop here!

Read the complete book free online → 🔗

Continue reading now on BooksBarbecue and discover every page!

Love reading? Bookmark BooksBarbecue.com for more amazing books!

Happy Reading!