Read Online Riley Mack Stirs Up More Trouble by Chris Grabenstein - Free Book Online Page B

was mixed up in this fish-killing mess. He had to be.
    Everything Chief Brown touched usually ended up smelling worse than three-week-old bologna sandwiches stuffed in the bottom of a gym locker.
    Riley’s dad had once told him, “All the bad guys aren’t over here in Afghanistan, son. Keep your eyes open while I’m gone. Protect your mother, defend your friends, and stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.”
    True, his dad had never mentioned brook trout or sunfish, but you can’t get much more defenseless than fish swimming around in a crystal-clear stream that suddenly turns into liquid poison.
    Riley reached the gate, tossed his backpack up and over.
    â€œCareful—”
    Mongo caught it.
    â€œIt’s got fish gunk all over it.”
    â€œGreat,” said Mongo, as slimy fish juice sloshed down the front of his T-shirt. “ Now you tell me.”
    â€œSorry.”
    Riley scaled the fence and repeated his barbed-wire–clearing moves in reverse order.
    â€œThere’re No Trespassing signs posted all over the place back there,” he said as he climbed. “Chief Brown posted them.”
    â€œBrown?” said Jamal. “That poor excuse for a public servant? That crook, that pilferer and purloiner, that racketeer, rogue, and reprobate?”
    Riley touched down on the ground. “Yeah. Him.”
    â€œDag,” was all Jamal had left to say.
    â€œYour hunch, then, was most likely correct,” said Jake. “If Chief Brown is involved with whatever’s going on in the creek, bad people are undoubtedly responsible for killing the fish. The kind of bad people who could quite easily compromise a legitimate investigation.”
    Riley nodded. “So we forget the EPA until we know more. For now, we only work with people we trust.”
    â€œSuch as?” said Briana.
    Riley grabbed the backpack from Mongo. “First stop: Mister Guy’s Pet Supplies on Main Street.”
    â€œMs. Grabowski?”
    â€œRight.”
    Ms. Jenny Grabowski worked at the Main Street pet store. Just out of college, she had a soft spot for animals, which Riley hoped extended to fish as well as cats and dogs.
    Ms. Grabowski had helped Riley and his friends pull off what Mongo now called Operation Doggy Duty (because it made him giggle whenever he said Doggy Duty). She was also studying to become a vet tech and might have access to fish autopsy equipment, if such equipment even existed.
    â€œBriana?” said Riley. “You’re with me. We’ll ask Ms. Grabowski to help us.”
    â€œOkay. But we need to cook up a good story for why we’re bringing her a bunch of dead fish.”
    â€œMaybe you bought a bad aquarium!” suggested Mongo. “They sell aquariums at Mister Guy’s Pet Supplies.”
    â€œNot an aquarium,” said Riley with a mischievous glint in his eye. “A pond.”
    â€œYes!” The story started to sweep Briana away. “My mom and dad built a pond in our backyard and stocked it with all sorts of fish and shrimp and scallops.”
    Jake raised a finger to offer a suggestion.
    â€œWhat?” said Briana, who hated interruptions when she was on a roll.
    â€œYou might want to skip the shrimp and scallops. They live in the ocean, not freshwater ponds.”
    â€œOkay. Fine. Whatever. I’m improvising here. Work with me.”
    Jake shrugged.
    â€œSo,” said Briana, “they stocked it with all sorts of freshwater fish. Trout. Bass. Other stuff. And then, all of a sudden . . .”
    Now Briana was really into it. She held her hand to her heart. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.
    â€œI went out back to play fetch with Binky, my favorite fish.”
    Jake raised another finger.
    â€œOkay, fine,” said Briana. “Rewrite: I went out back to bask in the beauty of Binky, my silvery, shimmery fishy friend and . . . and . . . she was dead, Ms.