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I’M GOING TOstart by telling you about my friend Gabe Qualls. He’s a part-time middle school student and a full-time genius. Because he’s a genius, he’s always inventing things. And because we’re such good friends, he’s always sharing the inventions with me.
Just last week he perfected one of his best inventions ever. It arrived at the best possible time. You see, I haven’t had a decent real adventure in what feels like a hundred years. I’ve been hurting for something exciting to happen. And Gabe’s new invention is practically a guarantee that something big will happen.
Here’s what it is. A cell phone that lets me intercept police calls.
Wait. Wait. Wait. It’s nothing bad. Nothing illegal. I mean, come on. My father is Detective Alex Cross. With him as a dad, I’ve got to be extra careful.
Here’s the deal. Gabe figured out how to make an app that actually transcribes and summarizes local police radio chatter in real time. (Don’t ask me how he did it.He’sthe total computer genius. Not me.)
But here’s the coolest part. Gabe secretly hooked it up to the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police scanner. And he set it so if the cops say certain key words, or if they’re headed somewhere in our neighborhood, it sends a ridiculously loud text alert to both our phones. So whenever there’s an emergency call in Southeast—the part of the city where me and my family live—we’re the first two to hear about it.
Which means we can get to the crime scene fast.
Oh, it works well—really well. In fact, I’m in a deep cozy sleep this morning and… there it is now. Loud. Blaring.
I look at my phone. 3:35 a.m. The screen simply says:
Stanton Houses. Emergency situ. Group.
Group? What does that mean? Gabe really needs to work on an in-app translator for the police lingo.
Moaning just a little, I stumble out of bed and slip into my jeans and a ratty gray T-shirt. I’ve chased after three police calls so far this past week. A stolen car, an attempted robbery, and a boring noise complaint. Each one had potential, but they all turned out to be duds.
I’m hoping this new call is an exciting one.
Chasing police calls is kind of a weird hobby, right? Most of my friends play video games. Or sports. Or make goofball TikTok videos.
Me? I like to check out crime scenes. Let me rephrase that. Checking out crime scenes, looking into police cases, well, that’s about the coolest thing I can imagine.
Why do I do it? I guess you could say it’s in my DNA. Yeah. That’s it. But even if that’s the reason, I don’t think the guy responsible for that DNA, my dad, would be cool with me following in his footsteps, especially since I’m still in middle school. Crime, guns, bad guys. It can be a dangerous job.
Which is why I’m forced to sneak out of the house.Shhhh.
Holding my dirty Puma Clydes in my hand, I soft-step down the stairs and tiptoe out the door. If I wake him or my stepmom, Bree, I’m dead. My family, you see, is pretty good at hearing stuff, seeing stuff, and, like me, gently nosing into one another’s stuff.
Luckily, this time, they all seem to be sleeping like a bunch of babies.
I wait till I’m a whole block from my own house before I call Gabe.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask.
I can tell from his grumpy voice that Gabe hasn’t moved sincehisown police scanner alert went off.
“It’s like three o’clock in the morning, Ali,” he says.
I fight his grumpy with the best friend card.
“C’mon, man. You wouldn’t let me go alone, would you?” There’s an address on the screen now. I read the message to him. “Group disturbance at 1916 18th SE.”
Then I tease him a little. I can’t help it.
“Come on, Gabe. It’s your favorite part of town.”
“Public housing? The Stanton Houses? My favorite part?”
“Yeah,” I answer. “It’s right across the street from thelibrary.”
“Funny stuff, Ali. Nothing like a nerd-genius joke at three in the morning.”
