3
CATCH THAT BIKER!
“Give those plans back!” Pops yelled.
“You won’t get away with them!” shouted Speed.
Pops turned to Speed. “How can we stop them?”
Speed thought quickly. He didn’t want to slam the Mach 5 into the bikers. There had to be another way.
Speed stepped on the gas. He pulled the Mach 5 right up next to the biker with the briefcase.
“Pops, take the wheel!” Speed said. He stood up in the seat.
“No, Speed!” Pops cried. But it was too late to try and stop his son.
Speed jumped out of the Mach 5. He landed on the seat behind the biker. He grabbed the biker around the neck.
“Now give me those plans! ” Speed said.
The bike began to swerve crazily along the road.
“Let me go! We’ll crash! What are you doing?” shrieked the biker.
Speed didn’t loosen his grip. “I want those plans back! ”
The biker threw the briefcase to another member of the gang riding next to him.
“You take them!” he said.
The other biker laughed. “Bye-bye and thanks! ”
“Come back here! ” Speed yelled. “Those plans don’t belong to you. Stop—or I’ll stop you!”
The biker looked nervously over his shoulder. Speed jumped through the air and landed on the back of the second bike. He wrapped his arms around the biker’s helmet.
“Hey, I can’t see! Let go!” the biker yelled. Another biker rode up next to him. “Take it! ”
The third biker zoomed ahead into a tunnel. Speed hung on to the second biker’s back. The biker could barely keep the motorcycle under control.
When they came through the tunnel, the road took a sharp curve. The biker careened toward a metal guardrail. Speed jumped off the bike just in time.
Crash! The bike slammed into the metal rail. Speed was glad he wasn’t on it. But he was frustrated, too. The biker with the plans was escaping.
Then Speed heard a sound overhead. He ran out of the tunnel and saw a small gray helicopter in the sky.
“It’s Trixie! ” Speed cried.
Speed’s girlfriend, Trixie, was full of surprises. Some people might see her pretty face and stylish clothes and think she was a fashion model. But Trixie had more skills than a secret agent, and flying a helicopter was one of them.
Another one of her skills was being able to sense when Speed needed help. He was glad to see her now. He waved his arms in the air. Then he remembered his radio. He and Trixie were always tuned to the same frequency so they could contact each other in emergencies.
“Hey, Trixie! I’m down here!” he yelled into the radio transceiver he held in his hand. “Some motorcycles are driving down the road. See if you can catch them. They stole Pops’s plans for the Mach 5!”
“I’m going. I’ll find them,” Trixie promised.
Trixie flew off in the helicopter.
Then Speed heard shouts from inside the tunnel.
“Pops!” he cried. He quickly ran back into the tunnel.
Pops had steered the Mach 5 across the road, blocking the tunnel exit. Some of the bikers had stayed by Pops and the Mach 5, trying to prevent Pops from helping Speed. But Pops had turned the tables on them. The bikers were trapped in the tunnel now. They stopped their bikes and jumped off to face Pops.
That’s when Pops’s wrestling moves came in handy.
Slam! Pops threw one biker to the ground.
Bam! Pops caught another biker in a headlock.
Wham! Pops hoisted another biker onto his shoulders. Then he hurled him to the ground!
The bikers groaned and struggled to their feet. Pops laughed. But he let down his guard too soon. Speed ran in just in time to see one of the bikers conk Pops over the head with a wrench. Pops moaned and fell to the ground.
The bikers surrounded Pops, ready to get their revenge. Speed tapped one of them on the shoulder.
“Hi,” Speed said cheerfully.
The biker lunged for him, but Speed dodged out of the way.
“Ow!” The biker collided with the concrete wall of the tunnel.
Another biker ran toward Speed. Speed jumped up, then wrapped his legs around the goon’s neck. They landed on the floor.
Pops opened his eyes and tried to sit up. “That’s the way, Speed. You’re a chip off the old block! ” he cheered. “Show them they can’t fool with the Racers! ”
Speed ran to Pops’s side and helped him up. They both jumped in the Mach 5.
“Let’s see if Trixie found those guys,” Speed said as he tried to catch his breath.
They zoomed down the highway. They spotted Trixie’s helicopter just down the road. She was chasing one of the bikers—the one who held the briefcase!
Trixie flew the copter right over the biker’s head. The startled goon lost control of the bike. He veered off the side of the road and broke through the guardrail. The briefcase flew out of his hands.
The Mach 5 squealed to a stop. Speed reached down and picked up the briefcase. As he bent down, he saw that the guardrail had ripped the goon’s motorcycle in half. He was riding down the mountain on one wheel, looking like a clown on a unicycle.
Trixie contacted Speed on the walkie-talkie.
“Tell Pops next time he shouldn’t give away his plans so easily,” she teased.
“Don’t worry, Trixie,” Pops replied. “These plans for the Mach 5 are the most valuable thing we’ve got.”
“To me, Speed’s more valuable,” Trixie answered.
Pops laughed. Speed revved the engine once more, and they sped toward home.
