Home Alone 3 Read Free

dragged the mutt into the alley.
    The blue van rolled down the alley and came to a stop beside Unger. With a sigh of disgust, he slid open the door and shoved the mutt inside. "Last week I was in Monaco stealing the Espaniol diamond," Unger grumbled. "This week I'm in Mayberry stealing Opie's dog. I can't wait for next week."

7
    By the time everyone else on his block had left for school or work the next morning, Alex was already bored of being in his room. He reached for the antique silver bell his mom had placed beside his bed and gave it a firm shake.
    Downstairs, his mother put down the phone with a sigh. "Alex! I'm on with the office!"
    So what else was new? Alex thought, turning his attention to the TV set at the foot of his bed. An exercise program was airing. With a grin, Alex fired his dart gun at the set and nailed one of the exercisers right in the butt. Just then, Mrs. Pruitt appeared in the doorway of Alex's room. She was breathing heavily. Quickly, Alex grabbed the remote for his new toy car. It was a model of one of those off-road vehicles, complete with the roll bar and miniature rubber knobby tires. Alex had discovered that it was excellent for transporting stuff. He thumbed the remote and sent the car zooming toward his mother. An empty, used water glass was affixed to its top. Mrs. Pruitt sighed as she bent down to retrieve the glass. Alex just smiled sweetly at her.
    Later that day, Alex decided he was too bored to obey his mother's orders to stay in bed. He got up and dressed himself in a makeshift explorer's outfit, which consisted of a bathrobe, rubber boots, his Darth Vader helmet, and a toy ammo belt. Last but not least, he placed Doris the rat in a camera case and slung it around his neck.
    Looking for something to do, Alex aimed his telescope across the street and into old Mrs. Hess's living room. There was Mrs. Hess, walking through her living room with a glass of iced tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Alex could even see what was playing on the old lady's TV—at the moment, a commercial that starred a fat, yellow tabby cat.
    "Look," Alex told Doris. She poked her head out the lens opening of the camera case. Alex held her up to the eyepiece for a view of the cat. Doris squeaked and retreated into the case.
    Alex had an inspiration. Peeking into the camera case, he grinned at his rat. "You think that was amusing, wait 'til you see what I do next."
    He sneaked out of his room and into his brother Stan's. Except for the dumb posters of girls in bikinis, Stan's room was pretty cool, especially his collection of air rifles.
    "Awk! What's that flunky smell?" Stan's green parrot squawked when Alex tiptoed in.
    "Shut up, bird," Alex whispered, and gently removed the rifle scope from one of the air rifles.
    Back in his own room, Alex taped the remote from the TV to the rifle scope. His TV was the same brand as Mrs. Hess's.
    Alex went to his window. He took careful aim with the rifle scope. He could see right into Mrs. Hess's living room again. Now the old lady was standing in front of a cabinet, splashing a clear liquid into her iced tea. Alex smiled to himself.
    Alex held his aim steady and pressed the power button on the TV remote. Across the street in Mrs. Hess's living room, the TV went off.
    With a start, Mrs. Hess looked over her shoulder at the TV. She wore a puzzled frown on her face.
    Alex clicked the TV back on. Chuckling to himself, he hit the channel changer. Mrs. Hess's talk show disappeared and was replaced by a music video.
    Poor Mrs. Hess was now staring at her TV with a look of total bewilderment on her face.
    Alex felt deeply satisfied.

8
    The living room of the ranch house was filled with surveillance equipment. There were cameras, scopes, transmitters, cell phones, scanners, dishes. On a long metal rack were a series of disguises. In a case on the floor was a set of untraceable handguns with all serial numbers filed off.
    Peter Beaupre sat at his laptop computer, going over