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“But that wasn’t your biggest mistake, Lisa,” a man said as he joined the children in the road. He was wearing a tuxedo and using a cane. It was him—the man she dreamed about! But he wasn’t supposed to be real … “Your biggest mistake was pretending to be someone that we could care about, because now you’re surrounded by people who aren’t ready to give up on you.”
All of a sudden she couldn’t stand. Her face felt like it was on fire, scorching her mind and cooking her memories, stirring them into some confusing stew. The name Alexander boomed in her thoughts. Alexander! She looked at her scarecrow boyfriend and then back at the stranger, trying to tell the two of them apart.
The man approached and tried to help her up, but she slashed his face with her fingernails, drawing blood. He fell back in surprise.
“Get away from me,” she cried. “Whatever you think you’ve stopped, you’re wrong. You’re outnumbered. BULLIES!”
Her team circled her, ready to attack.
Five more children joined the trio. She had never seen any of them before, in dreams or in real life. They were a collection of ru
“Kill them!” Miss Information commanded.
Tessa raised her hands. “No!” she cried. “You didn’t tell me I’d have to hurt anyone. I just wanted my dad’s attention and I’ve made things worse. I can’t get my dad back like this.”
“Oh, Code Name to Be Decided, you disappoint me,” Miss Information growled. “BULLIES, break some heads, starting with your leader.”
The BULLIES assaulted everything that wasn’t nailed down. Thor threw an uprooted tree at the NERDS, which missed and crashed into a building. The losers had to leap out of the way of Snot Rocket’s mucus missiles, which blew up a parked car. Tammy’s voice knocked over a phone booth that landed within a foot of Ruby Peet. Funk unleashed a dark cloud of body odor over the entire battle that caused everyone to double over, gagging.
Miss Information watched all the destruction admiringly. These kids were like artists who used violence instead of paint. They were incredible!
Tessa was heartbroken. All this fighting and destruction, and for what? So her daddy would give her a hug? What had she been thinking? Now, here she was, a human target in the middle of an enormous battle. She had to escape. But how?
She sca
If that were the case, she wanted a chance to say good-bye to her family.
She entered an address and a date, and with all her strength she turned the wheel to start the machine. It barely moved. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough, but she had to be. Slowly but surely, with straining muscles and tears streaming down her cheeks, she turned the wheel faster and faster. Tessa Lipton vanished from the year 1987.
When the machine stopped, she stood outside Arlington Memorial Hospital. The readout said July 29, 2001. She pressed the button that shrank the time machine and shoved it in her pocket.
“Hi, I’m looking for someone who just had a baby,” she told the receptionist.
“Are you family?”
Tessa smiled. “I am.”
Moments later, she stood outside room 408, peering through the doorway at her mother and father. They looked so young. Her mom held a newborn girl in her arms. She looked exhausted. Her father was talking on a cell phone.
She checked the hall for prying eyes then transformed her face until it was a match for the receptionist’s.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lipton,” she said when she slipped into their room. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Her father waved her off, busy with his phone call. Her mother smiled. “This is my baby girl—meet Tessa.”
Tessa smiled at herself. Darn, I was cute, she thought.
“You must be very proud.”
“Oh, we are.”
“Seems like your husband is a very busy man,” she said.
“He is,” her mother said. “He’s ru
Her father held the phone to his chest and flashed his best smile. “I hope I can count on your vote.”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that,” Tessa said.
“Oh?”
“I hardly think I could vote for someone who puts his business before his family.”
Her father’s face turned pink with embarrassment. He looked at the phone and flipped it closed. “I feel like I’m going to get a lecture,” he said sheepishly.
It was Tessa’s turn to blush. She had to be careful. She didn’t want to make her parents so mad they would ask to have her removed, especially since this might be the last time she ever saw them.
“What I mean is, a leader has to have time for his family.”
“She’s right!” her mother cried. “You have a brand-new baby girl and you’re on the phone.”
Tessa turned to her mother. “And don’t you make excuses for him missing out on things, Mom—I mean, Mrs. Lipton—you have to put your foot down. This man is going to be the president some day and—”
“President?” her father said.
“Don’t give him any big ideas,” her mother said with a laugh, then turned to her husband. “She’s right, you know. This little girl is going to need you. I don’t want you to run for any office if the family has to suffer.”
Her father thought for a long moment and then smiled. “All right. It’s a deal,” he said, taking the baby into his arms. “Now let me take a look at my little girl. She’s a beauty. Just like her mom.”
“She’s going to love you like crazy,” Tessa said as she opened the door.
“And the feeling will be mutual,” her dad replied.
She congratulated them again, and closed the door behind her. When the coast was clear, she shifted her features back to her own. She smiled, happy that if she were to suddenly not exist that at least she would go knowing that once upon a time, the Liptons were a real family.
Despite the chaos around them, Alexander approached Miss Information with open arms. “Lisa, I can help you.”
“My name is not Lisa,” Miss Information said.
“Fine, Viktoriya. But I know you as Lisa Holiday,” he said.
Viktoriya. Why did that name seem familiar? And Lisa Holiday? Where had she heard that name before? Wait—Lisa was a librarian. She wore cardigan sweaters and baked cookies. She took care of some very special kids and she was in love with a spy. She was Lisa.
NO! SHE WAS MISS INFORMATION.
The NERDS charged. One of the kids shot Thor with a lightning bolt, another built an enormous net out of macramé and tangled Loudmouth inside it. A small, frail girl vanished right before her eyes, and seconds later a floating piece of lumber hit Snot Rocket in the nose. Another kid fired lasers from his eyes, and yet another snatched Funk by the collar and rose on stilts four stories into the air.
The strange man continued toward her. “I know about your past. I know about the spying and the villain virus. I also know that you’ve gone through something that no person could handle. You’re not well, but I can help.”
“I don’t need your help,” she shouted. “And you don’t know me!”
The headache came back, and without warning she reeled back like a cobra protecting her nest. With a sudden, forceful punch, she hit the man on the side of his head. He fell to the ground and lay still.