Spencer held tight to Aldo as the bear ran through the dark, putting space between them and whatever was happening to B.D. and Uncle Mark right now. Spencer strained to see over Aldo’s shoulder, hoping to recognize something from the old Hidden Rock Zoo map. But Pam had lit only the courtyard where his party was being held, creating an eerie, glowing pocket of evil in the middle of the garden, and leaving the rest of the zoo a pitch-black mystery.

Thank goodness bears can see better in the dark than humans, Spencer thought.

“Aldo,” he whispered, hoping Aldo would be able to hear him over the sound of his paws hitting the ground. “What’s going to happen to them? Will B.D. and Uncle Mark be okay?” The second the words left his lips, he felt Aldo slow down.

“I don’t know … But I don’t feel right about leaving them behind.”

Spencer hesitated. Uncle Mark had ordered them to stay together and hide, but he hadn’t said where. “Let’s go back.”

“Not all the way,” Aldo said, immediately understanding what Spencer meant. “But we should know what happens to them. Where they’re taken.” Aldo turned around. He sprinted back the way they’d come. A few minutes later, the dim glow of the parking lot came into view. “Hold on,” Aldo whispered. Spencer didn’t think he could hold on any more tightly than he already was. Aldo rose onto his hind legs and climbed into a tree. He moved silently up into the branches. “Okay,” he said as soon as he’d settled himself. Spencer wrapped his arms around a nearby branch and carefully pulled himself off Aldo, quickly finding footing.

“The bear’s hurt!” Uncle Mark’s voice rose up out of the parking lot. He was yelling. “You don’t need to handle him like that.”

“You be quiet, or Ivan will make you be quiet,” another voice hissed. It was Margo.

Spencer peered through the leafy branches of the tree. In the dark, and with the catering trucks blocking his view, he could only make out a sliver of the scene below, but that was enough to make him understand all the fury he had just heard in Uncle Mark’s voice.

Three guards were restraining B.D., working together to chain him up. B.D.’s whole left shoulder glistened with blood where Dora had torn it open. She looked on from several paces away. Spencer couldn’t read her expression, but he didn’t care to. Right now, Spencer hated Dora. She had tried to kill B.D.

“Get your hands off me. I know how to walk.” It was Uncle Mark’s voice again, coming from an area of the parking lot Spencer couldn’t see.

“Keep your mouth shut, or these could be the last steps you ever take,” Margo threatened. “Let’s go,” she ordered.

“They’re coming this way,” Aldo whispered.

B.D.’s chains rattled as the guards dragged him forward. Spencer clenched his fists. B.D. wasn’t resisting the guards. He wasn’t pulling against the chains on purpose, but every time he stepped forward on his left leg, he stumbled. Finally, Uncle Mark came into view. He was no longer wearing his wig, and he was flanked by Margo and Ivan. Ivan had a shiny black football helmet on his head—Spencer had never seen the hulking thug without one—and his huge hand was gripping Uncle Mark’s arm. Margo strode out ahead of the group. Her straggly hair had started to fall out of the bun on top of her head, and she looked even more haggard and mean than before. Ivan pushed Uncle Mark forward behind Margo, and the guards brought up the rear, dragging the wounded B.D. behind them.

Aldo tensed, and Spencer held his breath. The group was moving toward them, following the very same route Aldo and Spencer had taken to escape before. They passed right below the branches of the tree where Aldo and Spencer were perched together.

Don’t look up … Don’t look up …

Nobody looked up. The group disappeared into the dark. When Uncle Mark, B.D., and their captors were out of sight, Spencer started to move out of the tree. He and Aldo had to follow the group! They had to know where Uncle Mark and B.D. were being taken! Maybe Margo and Ivan would even lead them right to Mom and Dad and this mission wouldn’t have to be a disaster. Aldo reached out a paw, stopping Spencer from jumping down.

“What’s—” Spencer started, but the bear jerked his head in the direction of the parking lot, and Spencer swallowed his words. Dora. She was still there. The bear sat back on her haunches. They couldn’t climb down now. She would see them. Dora wasn’t happy to see them like they’d thought she would be—she was vicious. There was no telling what she would do if she discovered them hiding in the tree. But they couldn’t lose track of B.D. and Uncle Mark! “What do we do?” Spencer whispered.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Aldo answered. “We can’t go anywhere until she moves.”

Spencer glared down at the bear in the parking lot. She bent her head to the pavement and sniffed at a splatter of her brother’s blood. It’s your blood, too! Spencer wanted to yell at her. But he didn’t. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the tree to wait.