"Really?" I asked. "I wasn't even trying." He nodded.
"Either way, it's true. I can't rescue Pete. You'll have to do it," he said.
"Me?" I asked. "But how? I mean, how am I supposed to rescue him? And Micky, too?"
"I guess. I was trying to avoid discussing that. " His face regained its pensive look. I let him think and forcibly restrained myself from thinking. I couldn't be sure if what I thought of was my own idea. "Here's an idea. I'll distract them," he said, suddenly emerging from his pensive state.
"Distract them? How?"
"I'm not sure. I guess I could just walk around outside the building conspicuously for awhile until they notice me. Then, I'll get them into an argument. While we're having the argument, I'll make sure to make enough of a scene to draw all of the guys out of the building. Then, when they're all out, you go in and rescue Peter. And Micky," he added tentatively. "If this works, then we'll have all of us home. If not, then we're in a bit of trouble."
"I guess it'll work," I said. "I mean I really hope it will. It's our best plan so far."
"It better work," Mike said, and I nodded in agreement.
The next morning, Mike and I put the plan into action. We left the house at around ten in the morning and arrived at the library at ten-fifteen. When there, I closed my eyes and checked carefully to make sure that they were in there. They were. This time, I avoided the trouble I'd had the last time. Mike waited a full two minutes while I checked it out, and then brought me out of it. I had no confidence in my limited ability to come back from these probes. It went reasonably well. Peter seemed to be as healthy as he'd been last night, Micky was still the same, and all of the Russians were in the place. When the two minutes were up, I had seen all I'd needed to see, and Mike was able to get me out quickly.
The next phase went a little slower. The plan was for Mike to just hang out in front of the library for as long as necessary and acting as conspicuous as possible while I went across the street and mingled with the townspeople in the stores. I went in and out of shops, window shopped, and made myself very inconspicuous. I blended in. I stayed over there for a long time. The early morning sun eventually gave way to the incredible heat of mid afternoon, and I was getting uncomfortable. How much longer could I remain inconspicuous? Mike wasn't having much luck. He tried very hard. He started an argument with nearly every passer-by on the street. Once, he even saw Boris on the street, as he was leaving to get some supplies, but Boris merely ignored him. After we'd been out there for two hours, I decided to give up. I bought a couple of ice-cream cones and walked across the street and offered one to Mike.
"Mike, this isn't accomplishing anything," I said, handing him the ice-cream cone. "Do you think we should give up?"
"Absolutely not," he said. He took the ice-cream cone and gave me a stern look. "We can't give up yet."
"But Mike, this isn't accomplishing anything. We've been here for two hours, and I'm beginning to look conspicuous," I pleaded.
"We can't give up," Mike said. He threw the ice cream cone on the ground angrily and walked away a few steps. "It's too soon." Unfortunately, what Mike didn't see was that at that moment, Boris was returning with the supplies. He was carrying a large bag of groceries. Mike's ice-cream cone went on the ground in front of where Boris was about to step. Boris walked right to it, tripped over the ice-cream on the ground, and the grocery bag went up in the air. Boris yelled as he fell on the ground. Mike turned around to see what was happening. At that same moment, the bag of groceries came down again-on Boris' head. Contained in the bag of groceries was a box of eggs, which opened in mid-air and landed, half on Mike's head, and half on Boris' head.
I slipped out of there, realizing that this was the distraction I'd been waiting for. As I ran off, I passed the two short men and the man in the pinstriped suit running out. I heard Boris and Mike both yelling incoherently.
I ran into the back of the library. I found the door quickly, since the men had left it wide open. I ran down the winding staircase, tripping a few times in the total darkness. When I reached the room, I saw that Peter was already trying to take advantage of the distraction. He was trying desperately to open the door. When he saw me run into the room, his eyes lit up.
"Davy," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" I asked. "Trying to get you out of here. Where are the keys?"
"Over there," said, pointing to the keys, which were hanging on the other side of the room, on a nail. I went over to them. "How'd you do it?" he asked.
"No time to explain now," I said, as I opened the door. "Get out of here. I'm going to get Micky. Just run home, okay? And don't stop till you get there. " Peter hesitated. "Just go!" I yelled at him. " I'm gonna get Micky." He finally listened, and ran out of there. I looked for that invisible door on the other side of the room, and went to the wall, looking for it. Finally, I found it, when it collapsed under me. But before I could do anything, I felt someone grab me by the arms, and yank me up off the ground. Before I could say or see anything, two hands grabbed my face, and I found that I was unable to do either. I heard voices, however. The voices all merged and I couldn't understand what they were saying. Also, they had heavy Russian accents. Then, I felt something sharp in my arm, and they all merged into one incoherent bubble. Then, they faded.
