[Janitors 01] Janitors by Tyler Whitesides Page B

wall.
    Spencer ran so hard he felt sick. His legs pumped across the field till they were numb. He didn’t look back to see if the janitors were pursuing him. He didn’t want to imagine his family—his mom—so disappointed and upset. She wouldn’t understand what he was doing, why he had ruined the ice cream social and fled the premises.

    The blue Toyota was idling at the rendezvous corner. As Spencer got close, Daisy threw open the door and he dove into the car. Garth Hadley was at the wheel. Even before the door was shut, the car was speeding down the street.
    “Well?” Mr. Hadley asked. His clean, square face was anxious for the report.
    Spencer held up the bronze hammer. It was one solid piece of metal, very plain, with no special designs or jewel-encrusted handle.
    “We got the hammer,” he said. “And here’s the soap we borrowed.” Spencer dug the little bottle from his pocket and handed it over.
    “What about the nail?” Garth Hadley asked. “Did you get it?”
    “Nope,” said Spencer. “The bouncy castle did.”

Chapter 20
    “You’re just like your father sometimes.”
    It was a quarter to midnight when the blue Toyota pulled into Hillside Estates and came to a gentle stop in front of Aunt Avril’s house.
    After their escape from the ice cream social, Garth Hadley had driven the kids out of Welcher to a small neighboring town. There, he bought them a late dinner at a twenty-four-hour dive. The bathroom was as dingy as they come, and Spencer held his breath the whole time as he washed his hands. The food was greasy, but as the adrenaline of the evening wore off, Spencer and Daisy found they were hungry.
    Garth Hadley was pleased with their work and assured them that Walter Jamison had been stopped—at least momentarily. He still had the nail, but without the hammer there was no way for Walter to set up a link with the school again.
    Hadley explained that the BEM would stay in town until they found a way to get the bronze nail, leaving Walter Jamison totally powerless.
    “We could really use your help,” Garth invited. “You two were great at the ice cream social.”
    “No, thanks,” Spencer said quietly, poking at his last bite of country-fried steak. Daisy just shook her head.
    “That’s all right, kids,” Hadley said. “The BEM is in your debt. You’ve been instrumental in crippling a criminal. Just let me know if you change your mind.”
    The drive back to Welcher was quiet and awkward. Daisy dozed in the backseat. Garth Hadley said nothing, his broad face studying the road ahead. Spencer watched the black night go by, wondering what kind of trouble he would be in with his mother, with the janitors, with the principal, with the angry, root-beer-stained parents . . . the list went on.
    Had it been a mistake to help the BEM? It had gotten him in serious trouble, and he’d dragged Daisy down with him. Part of Spencer wished that he’d never spoken to Garth Hadley. But the world of the janitors was also fascinating and enticing: magical creatures roaming the halls, a latex glove that made the wearer slip through enemy fingers. . . . What other awesome tricks might exist that Spencer was completely unaware of?
    Hadley dropped Daisy off first, the Gates’s savage dog greeting them with a chorus of barking. Daisy, ashen-faced at the prospect of meeting her parents, jumped quickly out of the car. Light illuminated the windows of the little house. Daisy’s parents were undoubtedly waiting up.
    Aunt Avril’s house, however, looked pitch-black from the street. For a hopeful minute, Spencer thought he might be able to slip upstairs to his bedroom and pretend like nothing had happened.
    Spencer opened the car door and put his feet out.
    “Hey.” Garth Hadley reached over. “You’ve got a career in the Bureau of Educational Maintenance if you want one, kid.”
    Spencer looked back at Mr. Hadley, BEM regional representative. Spencer wanted to smile, but the things he’d done at the