Camp Wacko: The Drones of Summer Read Online Free Page B

headsets and determined expressions, they seemed engrossed in whatever was on the screen.
    “Is that how you’re going to track me?” I asked, nodding in the direction of the computers.
    Without warning, I felt a sharp pain on my arm. Letting out a yelp, I glanced down to find an angry red patch on my upper arm, just below my shoulder.
    “A warning would have been nice,” I muttered, wincing at the pain.
    The man shrugged. “Sorry. There may be some irritation of the area for the first few days.”
    I rolled my sleeve back down. “Great, thanks.”
    “What if this Dr. Wackerson finds out Lily is helping you?” Mom kept a steady accusing gaze on the agent.
    He didn’t seem fazed in the least. “Then we pull her out. When she meets the boy, she will be wearing a hidden camera as well as a wire. We will be with her every step of the way.”
    Agent Cooper turned and opened the side door to the van, revealing an empty parking lot. Dusk had begun to fall, turning the sky into a life-sized canvas painting of orange and purple splashes of color. My time had almost run out.
    “I will be seeing you soon,” he said, stepping out of the van. He held out his hand to help my mom step down.
    She coolly refused his hand, hopping down from the van all on her own. “I should be suing you for blackmail.”
    Agent Cooper’s smile was a tight and humorless one. “That is a case you would lose, Mrs. Mason.”
    The air suddenly felt slightly cooler as my mother fixed him with one of her signature mom stares. You know, the one your mother gives you when you are in a heap of trouble. As the saying goes, if looks could kill…
    “Um, thank you for the help,” I blurted. “We’ll see you in a few hours.”
    I hopped down from the van to land right next to my mom.
    The FBI agent nodded, turning to go back in the vehicle.
    “No matter what you may think, you made the right decision.”
    The van doors closed and it silently slipped away; it was surprisingly smooth for such a chunky-looking vehicle. After watching it disappear into the night, Mom and I made our way back to our own car, arm in arm.

Change of Plans
    AT AROUND FIVE in the morning of the next day, I stood in front of Cameron’s grave. Her gravestone was made of a beautiful mixture of marble and granite, engraved with cursive writing. Silently, I placed fresh flowers on the ground to accompany the bouquet of roses already wilting against the stone.
    There were so many things going on in my head, it was nearly impossible to form a single coherent thought. I kept thinking about my family. Last night, my parents had succeeded in convincing my siblings that I was going on a camping trip with some friends from out of town. They hadn’t completely succeeded. Although my little brothers seemed fine with this answer, my sister, Rose, was a little more skeptical. I couldn’t blame her. I usually told her everything and now I couldn’t tell her a thing. It was more than agonizing. And this morning the goodbye between me and my parents had been the worst. With my mother trying to hold back tears and my dad scooping me up in his arms like he used to when I was little, it all had felt so painfully final.
    “Wish me luck, Cam,” I whispered, placing a hand on my friend’s tombstone. It felt smooth and cold against my skin.
    “I thought you said you wanted me to come get you.”
    Taking a shaky breath, I stood up to face Dustin. I was suddenly highly aware of the wire snaking around my midsection and ending on my lower back, where a small recording device had been taped to my skin. Earlier that morning I had been given a crash course on how to remove and reattach the wire without it being noticeable. I just had to be careful to wear the right clothing. They had told me not to worry. As soon as I had acquired enough information to prove Dr. Wacko’s guilt, they would pull me out. Easy as pie. Ha. Yeah, right. I definitely had my doubts.
    “What, a girl can’t change her mind?