Danger at the Fair by Peg Kehret

what had happened.
    “I have not trusted Tucker Garrenger from the first day I met him,” The Great Sybil said. “When I look at Tucker, I see a black aura and I always sense feelings of guilt.”
    “We need to go in the tunnel after him,” Ellen said. “He tried to push me off the platform; he might try to kill Corey, too.”
    “We must get help,” The Great Sybil said. “This is not a task for us; we need the police. Hurry.” She rushed back down the steps.
    Ellen hesitated, knowing it would be sensible to follow The Great Sybil and then return with police or guards. But how long would that take? Five minutes? Ten? Too long. She couldn’t leave Corey at the mercy of the evil Tucker all that time. She would go after Corey herself.

    OPPOSITE the platform, on the far side of the boats, a maintenance door led to a set of stairs on the back side of the ride. The painted face of the door was part of the huge picture of monsters that served as a sign for the ride.
    Tucker stood behind the maintenance door, with the door slightly ajar. The girl was talking to The Great Sybil. Tucker frowned. How was the fortune-teller involved in this? Was she the girl’s friend?
    The idea of someone being able to see into the future or talk with spirits gave Tucker the creeps. Now, as he saw Sybil hurry away while the girl stayed on the platform, those psychic abilities alarmed him.
    What if the girl had told The Great Sybil how Tucker tried to push her off the platform? For all he knew, Sybil could see into the past, as well as the future. She was probably on her way to get the cops; maybe she would tell them that Tucker was wanted in Oklahoma.
    He knew the girl was going to go inside the ride to find her brother and by the time she came out with him, Sybil would be back here with the cops.
    I can’t stay at the fair, Tucker realized. The girl will accuse me of trying to push her off the platform and the boy will say Mitch and I threw him in the boat and I’ll never be able to explain my way out of it. They’ll run an ID check and I’ll be slapped in jail. I’ll have to leave with Mitch and Joan. They can drive me to Portland and I’ll find another job there.
    Tucker ran down the steps on the back side of The River of Fear and headed toward the parking lot. He hated to leave without collecting his pay from the fair but he’d have his share of the profits from Joan and Mitch. That would be enough to get him by for a few days.
    Tucker ran up and down the rows of cars in the parking lot, his panic increasing until he spotted the Mercedes. The motor was running; Mitch was waiting for a chance to pull into the line of cars leaving the fairgrounds.
    Tucker ran to the car and pounded on the door. “I’m going with you,” he said. “We have to get out of here, fast.”
    “What happened?” Mitch said, as he reached behind him and unlocked the back door.
    “The kid’s big sister showed up and now she’s gone off with a fortune-teller to tell the cops about us.”
    “Big sister?” Mitch said. “Fortune-teller?”
    Tucker got in next to Alan and told them what had happened.
    “You really botched it this time, Tucker,” Joan snapped. “Why didn’t you warn us that the boy was there? If you had done your job, none of this would have happened.”
    “How could I warn you?” Tucker said. “You told me to watch for a kid with a Batman bandage on his face, wearing a T-shirt with elephants on it. That kid didn’t have either one.”
    Joan sniffed. “You never got anything right in your life,” she said. She looked nervously around the parking lot, checking to be sure no one had followed Tucker.
    “That boy can identify me,” Mitch said slowly. “You told him my name.” He sounded astonished, as if he could not believe his own words. He also sounded terrified.
    “It will take them awhile to find the boy,” Tucker said. “We can still get away, if we hurry.”
    “What do you mean, it will take awhile to find him?”