Chapter 4
"Don't look now…"
"I think we're being followed," Alvin said, glancing into the rearview mirror.
They had done interviews with various shopkeepers up and down the street, but tracing out the path of the thief had gone cold. Some of them said they saw somebody in a mask run past, but could not give more information than Jeanette had. It almost felt like the thief had just disappeared into thin air.
But now it seemed like something was off, because a car had been following them for a few blocks now.
"Who?" Simon asked from the passenger seat.
"The red car behind us."
Simon glanced backwards. There was only one red car among the traffic. The two men in the front seats were looking directly at them.
"Any ideas?" Simon asked.
"I want to know why they're interested in us," Alvin answered.
"I think it would be smarter to shake them off."
"Si, this could be our chance to get some answers."
"They don't look like they want to talk, Alvin."
"Well too bad, because I'm the one driving."
Alvin slowed down and gave them a chance to catch up, then pulled over. Just like he thought, the red car pulled to the curb about half a block behind. Not exactly a coincidence.
"Alvin, don't you think we should call for backup?"
But Alvin waved a hand at him and got out of the car. There was a trash-filled alleyway just next to him. He turned to Simon and motioned him out of the car. His brother rolled his eyes behind his round-framed glasses and got out of the car, too.
"Is your gun loaded?" Alvin asked.
"I'd be a bad detective if it wasn't," Simon replied.
They stood at the mouth of the alley. The guys in the red car both climbed out and pretended to be conversing about something, but they kept glancing in Alvin and Simon's direction, making sure they didn't go anywhere.
"After you," Alvin said, motioning his brother towards the alley.
Simon grunted and walked right in, Alvin following close behind.
# # #
The two men from the red car saw the detectives enter the alleyway. One of them took a pair of brass knuckles out of his pocket.
"Ready?" one of them asked the other.
"You first," said the second man.
Together they entered the alley, the man with the brass knuckles pounding the palm of his own hand like a baseball glove. But they found… nothing? It was as though the two chipmunk detectives had seemingly vanished into thin air.
"Man, this place smells."
"Didn't smell until you got here," said the squeaky voice of a chipmunk.
The two men turned around to see one detective with a red-tie emblazoned with gold As, and another wearing glasses and holding a pistol (a .38 snub-nose) trained directly at them.
"Good morning, gentlemen," the one with the red-tied one said with a grin. "We've got some questions for y—"
But before he could finish, one of the men moved like lightning, swatting Simon's gun out of the way. It went off, everybody's ears started ringing. The second man — still wearing his brass knuckles — sent a punch towards red-tie's jaw…
There you have it! It's a shorter chapter, but why not have some suspense? Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Seriously, thank you! Just a reminder, I do NOT own Alvin and the Chipmunks and make NO money off of this story. It's all for fun and the original owners and creators reserve ALL rights to this story.
Here's another mystery book recommendation if you're looking for a good book: the 39 Clues: Maze of Bones. It's a mixture of mystery and treasure hunting that takes a brother and sister all over the world! Have an awesome start to your weekend everybody!