The Fugitive Read Free Page B

was already on the train.”
    â€œHow many cars on the train?”
    â€œUh, just guessing, I would say seven or eight.”
    â€œAnd which car did you get in?”
    â€œDon’t know, but somewhere close to the middle.”
    â€œWhat time was it?”
    â€œSomewhere between four thirty and five. He stayed on the Red Line and got off at the Tenleytown Station. I followed him for about three blocks before I lost him. I didn’t want to get too far from the station; not exactly my neck of the woods, you know.”
    â€œOkay, that’s all I need. I’ll be there tomorrow. I’m assuming you’re tied up all day.”
    â€œAll day and all night. We’re doing the Smithsonian tomorrow.”
    â€œHave fun. I’ll text you tomorrow night.”
    Theo was relieved to have an adult involved, even if the adult was Uncle Ike. He was worried, though, about the old guy’s appearance. Ike was in his mid-sixties and not aging that well. He wore his white hair long and tied in a ponytail. He had a scraggly gray beard, and usually wore funky T-shirts, battered old jeans, weird eyeglasses, and sandals, even in cold weather. All in all, Ike Boone was the kind of person who attracts more attention than deflects it. He tended to keep to himself, but he was still known around town. If Pete Duffy had ever met Ike, or seen him, there was a good chance he would remember him. Surely Ike would go heavy on the disguises.
    In the darkness, and long after the other three had sacked out, Theo stared at the ceiling and thought of Pete Duffy and the murder he committed. On the one hand, he was thrilled to be involved in his capture. But, on the other, he was terrified over what it could mean. Pete Duffy had some dangerous friends, and they were still hanging around Strattenburg.
    If it was indeed Pete Duffy, and if they caught him and hauled him back for another trial, Theo would not want his name mentioned.
    Ike? He wouldn’t care. Ike had survived three years in prison. He feared nothing.

Chapter 4
    A t nine a.m. Friday, the four buses from Strattenburg pulled up to the east entrance of the Smithsonian Institution and all the eighth graders spilled out. The Smithsonian is the largest museum in the world, and a person could spend a week there and not see everything. In planning the day, Mr. Mount had explained to his class that the Smithsonian is actually a group of nineteen different museums and a zoo, along with a bunch of collections and galleries, and eleven of the nineteen are located on the Mall. It is home to about 138 million items, everything imaginable, and is nicknamed the “nation’s attic.” Thirty million people each year visit the Smithsonian.
    The students divided into groups. Theo and about forty others headed for the National Air and Space Museum. They spent two hours there, then regrouped and headed for the National Museum of American History.
    At two thirty, Theo received a text from Ike that read:
In town, about to check out the Metro system.
Theo was tired of museums and wished he could sneak away and do detective work with Ike. By five p.m., he felt as though he had seen at least 100 million items and needed a break. They boarded the buses and returned to the hotel for dinner.
    At six forty-five, while Theo was resting in his room and watching television, he received another text from Ike:
Downstairs in lobby. Can u come down?
    Theo replied:
Sure.
He told Chase, Woody, and Aaron that his uncle had stopped by the hotel and wanted to say hello. Minutes later, he was walking through the lobby and couldn’t find Ike. Finally, a man sitting in a coffee bar waved at him, and Theo realized it was his uncle. Dark suit, brown leather shoes, white shirt, no tie, and some type of beret on his head that covered most of his white hair. The rest, the long part, was stuffed under his collar. Theo would never have recognized him.
    Ike was sipping coffee and smiling at his