The Secret of the Hidden Briefcase

Chapter Five: New Mission

The gun had exploded! What once was a part of a beautiful, lush forest, was now demolished. Trees were scattered at least three feet from where they used to be. Everything was destroyed.

Grass was ripped up out of the ground, in big chunks, leaving the pool and trampoline, well, let's just say that they had seen much, much better days. The forest around the stage looked like the site of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, after being bombed!

"It was a bomb!" screamed every one of the teenagers, all in unison.

"Is everyone ok?" yelled the two adults. The response was positive. Everyone was ok. Just really shaken after that explosion. Every single person's ears were ringing like a Sunday morning bell from the 1800's.

Fortunately, they all had run and then ducked for cover. If they hadn't, it was very likely that they would have ended up looking like the rest of the Yard.

"Well, I guess we now know what Ex stands for. Explosives. But it was not a bomb." said Tate, through chattering teeth.

"I just thought of something the note said!" said Ryder. Then he and Alex exclaimed simultaneously, "Today is Friday. And it is 8 o'clock."

All Alex could think about was Isaiah 41:13. It said, "I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; for I will help you." Almost like an angel had come over him, he calmed down and no longer was scared.

"Now this is what I was thinking about when we used to dance to Danger Zone, right Alex? I mean, obviously not this exact situation but close, right?" teased Ryder.

"Yah. But I never expected it to happen," was Alex's response. "But please, Ryder, this is not the time to tease me. A BOMB just exploded in their yard and here you are, cracking jokes. Please stay focused."

"Hey guys, the note also said that there were tubes. I wonder what could be in them and where they are hidden. And why the rifle exploded." Jayden interrupted before Ryder could make a snarky come back or crack anymore jokes.

"Sis, I think that the gun exploded because some chemical compound leaked on the explosive stuff, which was not compatible with the explosive compound, and caused a chain reaction of the chemicals." said Connor, the stiffness in his voice said he was not joking around.

"Actually, that chemical compound was the explosive. It was a small amount of nitrocellulose, and if I had to guess, I would say that the gun was loaded, and one of the bullets came out and cracked. Some of the nitrocellulose probably spilled onto some cotton on one of the cotton and caused a small explosion. The nitrate in the nitrocellulose is highly combustible so it explodes pretty easily." Said Tate.

Everyone looked at him funny. "What, I like learning about explosives and chemicals." he said defensively.
"Also, there was gunpowder loaded in the stock of the rifle so when the gun exploded, the gunpowder exploded as well, causing a larger explosion." added Connor's twin, Cade.

The twins shared a meaningful look. "Um guys, what exactly is going on here?" asked Connor. Everyone just ignored him although the two adults were planning on letting the older boys in on the secret of what was happening soon. Just not quite yet.

"Whatever it was, something very sinister is going on. I don't know what but it is very dangerous. But I have a feeling that if we don't solve this mystery, well, it will get so much more dangerous for all of us." replied Tate, ignoring his brother's comment like Connor had never said anything.

"Yah, I agree with Tate. And trust me, if I agree with Tate you know something is wrong." replied Tate's twin, Tanner. Tanner had a small grin on his face but he was not able to fully smile. The events just minutes before had shocked everyone but Tanner was just now starting to come out of his initial shock.

"Guys, this is kinda dangerous. I don't know if we will be able to do it." said Jayden, nervously.

"You will be able to do it. If you ever doubt that then just try to remember what Philippians 4:13 says. It says 'I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.' We can solve this mystery if we trust that God will take care of us and ask that he will help us figure this out." Mr. Bailey said.

"As of right now, Alex, Ryder and Jayden, y'all are spies. Your mission is to gain as much knowledge about this mystery as possible. You will take turns hiding out in the woods, watching the bushes that we found the briefcase and the gun in. I want you to set up hidden cameras around those bushes, and then set up a camp about 800 feet away from the bush." He continued.

"You will have a monitor, connected to the cameras wirelessly, that you are able to see what is going on around the bush. Tanner, Tate, Connor and Cade will have access to the cameras through an app on their phone." Said Mr. O. He took a deep breath. "Ok." he added, " They will get notified when motion is detected around the bushes. You will all have to do your part and be careful."

"You each will also have a pair of wireless walkie talkies that look like hearing aides. You will not have to press any buttons. All you have to do to talk into them is, say who you want to talk to, or if you want to talk to the whole group, and then it automatically starts sending your words through to the other walkie talkies." Mr. B told them.

"You can wear them all day long and when you are at school you can say 'turn off' and they will turn off and you can tell them to turn on. It is automatic so it is very easy. You will also be able to record conversations and magnify the hearing in your other hearing aid so you can hear conversations from a distance."

"We will try to clean up this mess and report it to our boss, in the meantime, kids, please be careful. We don't want anything to happen to you. You four older boys, you will have a camp in the woods about 800 feet from the trio. Just to help make sure they have back-up if they need it or if they get into trouble." said the two adults, after they exchanged a glance at each other.

The entire trio was thinking that they were like an older version of the Cul-de-sac Kids. The only thing that was different was that they were in real danger and they had to solve real mysteries. It's not like that fact changed anything though. They were still basically the Cul-de-sac Kids.

All of the teenagers were thrilled at the idea of new gadgets. The junior spies had never And being able to watch at night was a bonus for all of them. The only thing bad was that they had no idea what kind of danger they would be getting into by trying to solve this mystery.

All of the teens were thinking about one bible verse and it made them feel stronger. They were thinking about Joshua 1:9.

It says, Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

None of them knew what lay ahead, and they had no idea what danger they could get into but they all knew that they have each other and that God is with them all the time.

And God is good all the time, so they know that he has a plan for them. They just have to trust in him, and he will take care of the rest for them.

Before Mr. B left, he asked each of the teens to do one last, especially important thing. "Go and take a shower and put on new clothes. Y'all stink. Mostly the boys but, Jayden, well, you stink too." Was what Mr. B said. Then he shrugged and said "sorry, but it's true. Now y'all better hurry up, you can't wait all day."