*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *caclick*

Huey turned the car alarm off. "Dewey, was that you?"

Dewey puffed his chest out, his hands on his sides. "You locked me inside. What was I supposed to do?"

Louie shook out of his daze as Huey pushed him into the RV. "Dude, we literally thought you ran inside already."

Dewey grabbed Huey by the shirt and yanked him back. "Nerp! I'm driving since you guys left me. I'm not about to be left at our next stop." He held his hand out. "Come on, give 'em here, oh fearless leader."

Heaving a sigh, Huey dropped the keys into his palm.

Dewey pounded his chest with the fisted keys before hopping into the driver seat. "Hey, if Dewman is driving, we'll get there in record time!"

Huey folded his arms and set them on the back of the seat. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Louie settled into the passenger seat and pulled out his phone. His skin went cold. "Deeweyyy… how long was the RV sitting out here unlocked?"

"Louie, I think we established this. I broke out of the van that you LOCKED me in and then met you guys in the bank. Why?"

Crap! Louie ran into the back, turning over every cushion and digging through each of the cabinets. What'd Mr. Devil-May-Care Guts get us into?"

"What's wrong, Lou? Nobody stole anything. Even if they did, banks have cameras, and it's not like anything we have is worth anything. It's all Uncle D's stuff." His brother laughed from the front.

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Then what's wrong, Lou Lou?" Huey leaned against the wall.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Louie rifled through Dewey's backpack before digging through his own. He froze. No. At the bottom of his bag sat a picture of him and his brothers from when they were kids. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach and then beat so hard that his belly hurt.

The RV went silent.

"What is it?" Huey started to come his way. "Louie?"

He zipped his bag up and climbed into the bench seat, hugging it to his chest. "It's nothing. Everything is here. We can go."

Huey narrowed his gaze and looked him over. Out of his whole family, Huey was the one who could read him the best. He always knows when I'm lying. It's dumb.

Louie smirked. "It's fine, Huey. I was just worried that someone might have gotten in and taken my tablet. Whew! They didn't." He picked up his tablet and waved it around.

Luckily, that answer seemed to suffice. Huey tipped his head and went back to the front with Dewey.

The RV shook and rumbled out of the parking lot. Louie held his breath. Wait… wait for it.

"Sweet Caroline! Bum, bum, bum! Dew times never seemed so DEWWWW…" Dewey belted his version of Sweet Caroline loud enough that Louie was sure other cars could hear him.

Right on cue. Louie ripped his bag open and fished around until he found the picture again. Taken eight years ago, the picture felt like a whole other universe. A simpler time. Huey still wore his hat and carried his junior woodchuck guidebook around like a lifeline. Dewey's signature hair style from Miss Glamour's "It List" looked bouncier than ever in the picture. When he looked at the little version of himself, nothing seemed that different. Besides puberty hitting me like a train, making my hair not wanting to lay the same again.

But the hair was the least of his worries. Louie bit his lip as he stared down at the picture. Slashes broke through the photo paper across his brother's necks. They found me. He swallowed hard and flipped the picture over.

Red words were scrawled across the back.

"You have 24 hours. We're coming."

They'll kill me… kill them. No, no, no, no… this can't be happening. He groaned and yanked his hood over his head. "24 hours? I can't make that!" He stuffed the picture in his pocket and ran up to the front. "Dewey, Dewey!" He shook his brother's shoulder. "You need to head for the interstate. Turn right onto route 67. Now. Now. NOW!"

Louie yanked the wheel, forcing Dewey to swerve across the road.

"Hey! What gives?!" He pulled it back onto the road just in time to miss the median. "You almost got us into a wreck, Captain Lost! Get your head in the game." Dewey shoved him off the wheel.

That was it. Louie lost all composure. "Where do you think you're going? The interstate is back that way!"

"Huey said to head downtown, so that's what I'm doing." Dewey focused back on the road, yanking his shoulder away from him.

Huey shoved Louie back behind the curtain. "What was that about?"

Louie swallowed and tried to get a hold of his head. What AM I doing? I'm losing my cool. They're going to catch on if I don't think of something. "I thought we were going to see Uncle Gladstone. You know how easily he moves from one place to another. I don't want to miss him."

"But we have tickets to the Isabella Finch museum, remember?"

Louie cringed at the sight of Huey's sad eyes. Oh boiy. I'm sorry I have to do this. "We don't have time for that now! We have to get to Uncle Gladstone. He could lead us to Dad."

Huey pushed him aside and went to join Dewey.

"Huey, pleeeease. W-we can come back to the museum after we've found Dad. We actually have a lead. We can't risk losing him." Louie swiped the curtain away and found Huey deep in the passenger seat, looking out the window with his head in his hand.

"Museum? Is that where I'm taking this boat? No one told me we were going to a museum. When were you planning on telling? Back when you left me in the RV?" Dewey's motor mouth went off like a rocket.

Huey threw his hands up. "Fine! Take us to LA. If neither one of you want to go to the museum, I don't either."

"What kind of museum? Because if it's a space museum or full of movie stars, Dewey's there."

Louie dragged his hand down his face. "No, Dew, it's the Isabella Finch museum."

"Whaaat? No! You were tricking me into taking us to a junior woodchuck museum? I'm not walking through exhibits on how to weave baskets and figure out which type of moss is which." Dewey made a U-turn and headed back towards the interstate.

A weight lifted off of Louie's chest and he sank to the ground, his body like jello.

"Whatever," Huey muttered, stepping over him.

Louie groaned. "Huey…wait." Ugh, if only I could tell him why we can't go. He rubbed his forehead. "Huey, we'll go after. I promise." He scrambled through the curtain and looked around. "Huey?"

He spotted Huey in the bunk. "I didn't realize you had your heart set on it." Louie got up and sat on the counter across from him.

"I care more about the fact that you just flipped on me, Lou. This isn't just a trip to find our dad. It's a trip for all three of us to bond and do stuff together like we did when we were kids. But if you two really don't want to go, I don't need to."

UGHHHHHHH. Just once can't he pretend to be selfish so I can blame him for it? "Huey, I do want to go and I know Dewey would enjoy it. There's plenty of old adventure relics there for him to geek out over."

Huey raised an eyebrow.

"Buuuut, it's not really a priority."

"Right. According to you, Dad is the priority." His brother rolled over, turning his back to him.

Louie shook his head. Curse him and his mushy feelings. He doesn't know what's at stake. He's going to be mad at me the whole time if we continue on to LA. But if we stick around too long, we won't make it to Uncle G in time and they'll catch up to us. Sweat broke out on his forehead. He touched the slashed photo in his pocket. If they're following us… I won't have a minute over 24 hours. After doing a little more math in his head, he hopped off the countertop.

"Dew, turn back around. We're going to the 's right, we need to remember that this trip isn't for him. It's for us. Dad can wait. " Just as long as we get on the road within a few hours. I'll drive all night if I have to.

He gripped the walls as Dewey spun the RV back around. "All past rulers of well crafted schemes don't fail me now."