5 Unexpected Guests

Chapter 5 UNEXPECTED GUESTS It wasn't until the next morning, when the twins woke up in their motel room, that they were able to fully comprehend the seriousness of their situation. Getting rid of Dr. Warsaw at The House on the Rock had not solved their problem, as they had thought. No, their problem had just begun. People were still after them. Coke and Pep would have to live with that fact, maybe until they themselves were dead, or the people who were trying to kill them were dead. Maybe it was just Archie Clone who was after them now. Or maybe Mrs. Higgins and the bowler dudes were still out there somewhere too. Maybe there were others as well. It makes it kind of hard to get through your everyday life, knowing that at any moment somebody might try to throw you off a cliff, dip you

into boiling oil, drown you in a vat of SPAM, or bury you alive in a sand dune. That's no way to live. "We gotta tell Mom and Dad," Coke said to his sister as they brushed their teeth that morning. "This isn't some game. The game is over. Mom and Dad will know what to do." "Agreed." After showering and getting dressed, Coke and Pep knocked on the door of their parents' room. Dr. and Mrs. McDonald were already dressed and ready to go downstairs to the little breakfast room next to the motel lobby. They were in the middle of a discussion about Dr. McDonald's next book. His last one, The Impact of Coal on the Industrial Revolution, had not sold very well. "Honey, maybe you should write about something a little more… commercial next time," Mrs. McDonald suggested delicately. "What, like Britney Spears?" Dr. McDonald replied with sarcasm in his voice. "Maybe I should write a book about Lindsay Lohan's love life. Lots of people would buy that."

"No, Ben, I mean—" "We need to talk to you about something," Coke told his parents. "What is it, sweetie?" Mrs. McDonald said with concern as they made their way to the breakfast room. Coke took a deep breath. "You may find this a little hard to believe," he began, "but Pep and I are part of a secret government program. It's called The Genius Files." Silence. They continued up to the buffet line to get their food. "Go on," urged Dr. McDonald. "Ever since we left California," Pep told them, "there have been these crazy people who have been trying to kill us. They forced us to jump off a cliff back home…" "…and they blew up a building we were in right next to our favorite Chinese restaurant…," Coke said. "…and they left us to die at the singing sand dune…," Pep added.

"…and they tried to drown us at the SPAM Museum…" "…and they tried to boil us in oil yesterday—" Dr. McDonald held up his hand to stop them. "So, you're telling us that these people are still out there," he said, "and that your lives are in danger." "Right," Pep said. "We would have told you about all this earlier, but we had been sworn to secrecy." They sat down at a table. "We have GPS devices implanted in our heads," Coke added, "so the bad guys who are trying to kill us know where we are at all times." Dr. and Mrs. McDonald stared at the twins for a long time. Then they burst out in hysterical laughter. "Hooo! Hooo!" Dr. McDonald said through the tears that were streaming down his face. "That's a good one! GPS devices in your heads!" "It's not even April Fools' Day!" said Mrs. McDonald as she wiped her face with a napkin.

"How do you kids come up with this stuff? You two are so imaginative!" "No, we mean it!" Coke protested. "We're totally serious!" "You guys crack me up," Dr. McDonald said, unable to stop laughing. "Bridge, I'm so glad we changed our minds and decided to have children after all. Our kids never cease to amaze me." "They do say the darndest things," said Mrs. McDonald. So much for that idea. It didn't look like their parents were going to be any help at all. Coke and Pep would have to live …or die …on their own. As their parents chuckled and lingered over their coffee, the twins went outside to talk things over privately. "What are we gonna do now?" Pep asked. "How should I know?" "Maybe we should call the police." "Are you out of your mind? They'll never believe us," Coke told her. "Mom and Dad didn't

even believe us. You think the cops will?" Ever since they were little, Coke had been the "big brother," even though he was only a few minutes older. Pep had come to rely on him to get them out of jams using his mouth, his fists, a deck of cards, a Cheesehead, or whatever happened to be lying around. Now, though, Coke worried about what was going to happen next. That Archie Clone who'd tried to french fry them could be anywhere. He could be watching them right now, or listening in on their conversations. They would have to track him down. They might have to kill him, before he killed them. And what about Mrs. Higgins? What about those crazy bowler dudes? What about the other Genius Files kids who might be gunning for them so they could claim the million dollars? And what about Dr. Warsaw? Maybe he had survived the fall and was out there somewhere, concocting more intricate secret messages and plans to kill them.