Home Alone 3 Read Online Free PDF Page B

the rifle scope. A moment earlier, he had aimed it at the Alcotts' living room, turned on the TV and cranked up the volume.
    In the Alcotts' house, Beaupre had jumped at the sudden sound.
    Alex had managed to hide the toy car under the laundry spilled on the kitchen floor. Now he had to hurry and keep Beaupre distracted. He grabbed the portable phone and dialed the Alcotts' phone number while running down the attic steps.
    The answering machine picked up: "Hello, you've reached the Alcotts'. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can."
    At the bottom of the attic stairs, Alex pushed through the door to the second floor and raced toward Stan's room. The parrot was asleep with its head tucked down under its wing.
    Alex opened the cage and put the phone in. Then he got nose-to-nose with the parrot.
    "Boo!" he yelled.
    "Awk!" the parrot woke with a start and started screaming, "Emergency! Calling all cops! Intruder! Intruder!"
    Alex left the phone and raced back up to the attic.
    On the TV in Alex's attic, Beaupre in the Alcott's kitchen was looking around for the source of all the yelling.
    Alex grabbed the toy car remote and jammed the control forward. The toy car sped out from under the spilled laundry and toward the doggy door.
    Sproing! The toy car sailed through the doggy door.
    Beaupre saw the car go through.
    Thwump! He threw his body against the door, but it wouldn't open.
    Through the telescope, Alex watched Beaupre in the Alcotts' kitchen, struggling to open the
    door, and barking orders into his lapel mike.
    He must have been alerting the rest of the gang.
    Alex knew he had to act fast and get the toy car and its tape home before the rest of the burglars showed up. He looked back at the TV.
    The picture was sideways.
    Oh, no! The toy car had tipped over!

23
    In the Alcotts' kitchen, Peter Beaupre couldn't believe what was going on. First the TV had flashed on. Next, the toy car had gotten out through the doggy door. Now someone somewhere in the house was singing that old song, "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown."
    And they were singing it horribly .
    Beaupre turned to his lapel mike. "The toy car's outside! I got a woman in the house! Get over here!"
    Crack! He broke through the kitchen door and got out. There was the toy car, on its side in the driveway. He picked it up and stared at the video camera taped onto it.
    Unbelievable! he thought.
    Now Unger, Jernigan, and Alice all arrived at the driveway from different directions. They all looked at the car and the camera.
    "Someone's onto us," Jernigan said.
    "What does it matter?" Unger asked. "We've got the chip. We can be at the airport in forty-five minutes."
    Beaupre handed the car to Alice. "You get the chip out of the car. There's a woman in the house. I'll go back in and deal with her."
    He left them in the driveway and went back into the kitchen, screwing a silencer onto his gun. He was going to silence that singer.
    He stopped in the kitchen. It was silent.
    "Ma'am?" Beaupre called. "May I have a word with you?"
    "I'm up here, you moron," came the reply.
    Beaupre grimaced. Moron? He squeezed the grip of the gun. Just wait, lady. We'll see who the real moron is . He climbed the stairs to the second floor of the Alcotts' house.
    "Don't come in," the voice called from behind a closed door. "I'm naked."
    Oh, sure , Beaupre thought. He pushed open the door and jumped into the room with both hands on the pistol, ready to shoot the first thing that moved.
    Only, nothing moved. He was in a bedroom, and it was empty.
    "What's that funky smell?" a voice asked. Beaupre stared down at the phone answering machine. That's who had been talking?

24
    Through the telescope Alex had watched the blue van turn the corner and speed up Washington Street. He'd seen the old guy drop his cane and run as fast as he could toward the house. The lady with the jogging stroller had come running, too.
    Keeping one eye in the telescope and the other on the TV screen, Alex had