The Second Adventure by Gordon Korman Read Free Book Online

the time in the world while we focused on the wrong person.”
    From: Melissa
    To: Griffin
    E. J. Smith not dognapper. We blew it.
    Over the years, Melissa Dukakis had sent tens of thousands of texts, e-mails, IMs, tweets, and electronic communications of every possible variety. But this one was the hardest by far.
    She had let down her friends.

    T he banner stretched between two trees high across the dirt drive that led into Ta-da! Campers lined both sides of the road, cheering and calling greetings as the buses roared into the compound.
    Logan could barely raise his head high enough to get a look at the arriving competition. This should have been the greatest day of his life, the day that he’d prove his talent in front of a real Hollywood insider. But now the Showdown was already lost, thanks to him, and he was Public Enemy Number One. How could it be any worse?
    Over the excited shouts, he distinctly heard the muffled sound of a dog howling.
    His head snapped up, and he looked at Melissa. “Was that what I think it was?”
    She nodded gravely. “The counselors were patrolling the compound last night. I couldn’t get Luthor any food or take him for his walk.”
    â€œHe won’t starve up there, will he?”
    â€œI checked some online dog sites this morning,” Melissa replied. “He’s okay for now. The problem is that, the hungrier he gets, the louder he’s going to be. And it’s only a matter of time until someone figures out where all that howling is coming from.”
    The buses unloaded, and the host campers greeted the competition and began to escort them toward the main compound, where burgers and hot dogs already sizzled on charcoal grills.
    One of the drivers approached the Spotlight head counselor. “Hey, lady, we’re done here, right? You don’t need us till it’s time to leave?”
    The woman said something about the drivers being invited for lunch, but Melissa’s whirling mind missed all that.
    â€œLogan!” she hissed. “That bus driver — he doesn’t know the name of his own boss!”
    Logan glared at her. “My career is ruined, and you expect me to care that some total stranger is a little forgetful?”
    â€œThink of the Ta-da! drivers,” she persisted. “Most of them have been working here for years. They not only know all the counselors’ names, they remember most of ours!”
    Logan shrugged. “So the regular driver got sick, and they had to hire a new guy. Happens all the time.”
    The driver brushed past them, and it was all Melissa and Logan could do to keep from crying out. Folded in the man’s shirt pocket was a newspaper clipping they both recognized instantly. Logan had a copy of it taped to his bedroom mirror; Melissa used it as wallpaper for several of her computers and mobile devices. It was an article about the Global Kennel Society Dog Show, and the picture was of Luthor.
    â€œIt’s him!” Melissa breathed. “The dognapper!”
    The fact that the enemy was upon them for real jolted Logan out of his funk. “We’ve got to keep him from finding out Luthor’s here!”
    A mournful canine howl wafted on the air.
    The man stiffened, trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound. The other driver rushed over, and they held a whispered conference, scanning the various buildings.
    â€œI’ll bet
he’s
in on it, too,” Logan concluded. “Swindle couldn’t get Luthor with one dognapper, so he sent two guys this time.”
    â€œWe have to stop them,” Melissa said with determination.
    They joined the barbecue, socking away as many burgers as they ate. Luthor was going to be extra hungry today. But their eyes never left the two bus drivers. On the surface, the men were eating lunch, helping themselves to hot dogs and drinks. But it was obvious that they were scouting out Camp Ta-da!, wandering on the periphery of the party,