Attack of the Tagger by Wendelin Van Draanen Read Free Book Online Page A

‘”Why run from a bully? He’s got the Bub-onic plague!’” I laughed again. “That’s funny!”
    Dad laughed, too, but Mom said, “But, Nolan, this site must belong to someone at your school—don’t you think?”
    I shrugged again. “I’ve heard some kids say they think it’s one of the teachers.”
    Dad was clicking on the
What’s big and fat and smells all over?
link.
    I closed my eyes.
    I held my breath.
    He busted up. “Bubba’s Big Butt? I don’t think a
teacher
would have the nerve to put this on his Web site, do you?”
    “No,” Mom said. “It’s got to be a student. A pretty funny one, too.” She turned to me. “Do you know any sixth graders who are really good at computers?”
    I tried to look innocent. “A lot of kids have their own Web site.”
    Dad snapped his fingers. “Hey! I’ll bet Sarge can find out who this site is registered to.”
    “Good idea,” Mom said.
    Uh-triple-oh!
    I escaped to my room and just sat on my bed, trying to catch my breath.
    How long would it be before Mom and Dad found out who
shredderman.com
was registered to?
    And what would happen to me when they found out it was registered to
them
?

CHAPTER 13
Dirty Disguise
    Shredderman.com
wasn’t actually registered to my mom and dad. It was registered to Shredderman. But Shredderman had used Eve Byrd’s credit card number. And even though I’d taken all the privacy options, I didn’t know how much information a reporter like my dad—or a police friend like Sarge—could dig up.
    If Shredderman was going to catch the Tagger, I had to act fast. The first part of my plan had backfired, and now that a lot of people thought Shredderman
was
the Tagger, I didn’t have much to lose.
    But to pull off the rest of my plan, I was goingto need bionic hearing
and
X-ray vision
and
an invisibility cloak.
    Or
I was going to have to ditch school.
    Ditch school?
    I’d never even thought such a thought!
    But boy oh boy, I was thinking it now.
    It was the only way.
    I had a lot to do before morning, though. A lot!
    First step—write an e-mail. One that I’d send to only one address.
    [email protected].
    I couldn’t send it to everyone—that would blow everything! And since I didn’t know the Tagger’s e-mail address, the next best thing was Bubba’s. He would tell the Tagger. He had to!
    I got to work on my message. It had to be just right!
    So I wrote it.
    And rewrote it.
    And rewrote it again!
    And when I was all done, I sat back and read it.
    The
Tagger’s not cool. He’s not sly. He’s not
funny. He’s not smart.
    What he is, is a coward. Totally chicken. If he wasn’t chicken, he’d do something real. Something dangerous. Anyone can tag the side of a building. Big deal. Anyone can spray the inside of a kiddie slide. Whoop-de-do! But here’s something the Tagger would never spray:
    Ivana Voss’s car. Why? Because that would take guts. Brawk-
    brawk-brawk,Tagger\You’re lame!
    Would the Tagger take the bait? If it was Ryan, would he really spray-paint his own mother’s car? He’d know it was a trap, but with Bubba and his friends teasing him about the challenge, he’d be pressured into it.
    At least that’s what I was counting on!
    I saved the e-mail to my draft folder—I couldn’t send it yet! Timing was everything! Then I did myhomework and went to bed. And even though it was late, I wasn’t sleepy. Not one bit! I just lay there in bed, running my plan through my head over and over again.
    When I was sure Mom and Dad were finally asleep, I got up.
    I pulled dark sweats over my pajamas.
    I put my safety scissors in a sweatshirt pocket and wiggled into my shoes.
    Then I did something I’d never done before—I opened my window, pulled out the screen, climbed through, and jumped.
    The ground was only about a four-foot drop, but for a second there it felt like I was flying. I landed like a real superhero, too—feet steady, hands out.

    Oh, yeah!
    I skulked across the street, looking all around. I was