“Let goooo!” I managed to cry.
I twisted free. Spun around—and stared at Spencer.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me coming. I—”
“Spencer—on the bed!” I choked out. “Mr. Crowell—he’s … he’s …”
Spencer moved quickly to the bed. He reached down with both hands—and lifted the body easily.
And held it up to me.
“Huh?” I gasped. It took me a few seconds to realize that I hadn’t been staring at a body after all.
“Pajamas,” Spencer murmured. He balled them up and tossed them back on the bedspread. “Crowell wears black pajamas.”
“And he spreads them out on the bed?” I cried breathlessly. I felt like such a jerk. I grabbed Spencer’s arm. I needed something to hold on to for a moment. Something solid.
I held on to his arm as he led the way back to the front room. “Where are Cassie and Jordan and Lenny?” I asked.
Spencer didn’t answer. He moved to the bookshelf against the wall.
Headlights filled the front window, then rolled over the wall. I glimpsed Spencer’s face glowing white in the stark light.
A loud crash from the back made me jump. Jordan and Cassie hurtled down the hall toward us.
“It’s Mr. Crowell!” Jordan called shrilly. “He’s back. His car is in the driveway!”
“We have to get out of here!” Cassie squealed. “Now!”
I started toward the doorway. Cassie and Jordan were already running down the back hall. I reached for Spencer’s hand, but my fingers brushed against something hard and cold. I squinted at him in the darkness.
He was carrying Mr. Crowell’s CD player!
“Spencer—no!” I gasped. “That wasn’t the plan! We weren’t going to steal—remember?”
A car door slammed outside. In a second, Mr. Crowell would burst in and find us.
We hurtled in the dark to the side window where we had entered.
“It—it’s shut!” I cried.
I grabbed it with both hands. Pushed hard. It didn’t budge.
The front door slammed shut.
Lenny and I both pushed the window frame with all our might.
But the window was stuck.
I heard Mr. Crowell’s light footsteps in the hall.