little farther down the alley,” Henry whispered. “We can hide behind those trash cans.”
“This is great,” said Tate. “Just like the movies!”
“Shhh!” said Benny, frowning at him.
As quietly as they could, they all walked down the alley. They crouched down and stayed close to the wall. When they got to the trash cans, they squatted down behind them.
“Pee-eew! It stinks,” said Benny.
“It’s the garbage, Benny,” said Violet. “Pinch your nose together with your fingers.”
“I just did,” said Benny in a muffled voice.
Just then they heard footsteps.
“Shhh,” Henry warned.
A familiar voice said, “Well, we can’t shoot here. It would never work.”
“George Smith,” Violet breathed.
“You’re wrong. This bank is perfect, from every angle,” said the second voice.
“And Harper,” Henry whispered.
“Harper?” said Tate.
“Shhh!” said Benny.
But Tate wasn’t listening. He stood up!
Violet grabbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt. “Tate. Be careful!” she said.
Tate smiled down at Violet. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I know how to handle these bank robbers.”
With that, Tate began to walk down the alley toward the two men, leading Greta with him.
Henry jumped to his feet. So did everyone else. Watch began to pull Benny forward, after Greta.
“Harpo, Stefan, you’ve been caught,” Tate said. “Will you surrender quietly?”
The Aldens watched in amazement as the two men spun around. They were in disguise again today, but Harpo had on his bright silver sneakers.
Harpo’s eyebrows rose. He pushed up his glasses and peered at Tate. Then he said, “Tate! What are you doing here?”
The man that the Aldens knew as George Smith, whom Tate had addressed as Stefan, put his hands on his hips. “A good question, Harpo. Tate, what are you doing here? What if someone sees you and recognizes you?”
By then the Aldens had reached Tate’s side. Benny said, “You know the bank robbers?”
Stefan’s thick brows went up. “Bank robbers? How do you know about the bank robbers? Tate, did you tell them?”
Laughing and shaking his head, Tate said, “No. They don’t know anything about the plot of the movie. They think you and Harpo are bank robbers.”
Harpo said, “I know you kids! We saw you in the woods, when we were scouting a location for the hideout.”
Benny look confused.
Violet said in a faint voice, “Hideout?”
“Stefan, Harpo, allow me to introduce my friends the Aldens. Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Watch,” Tate said.
Hearing his name, Watch wagged his tail.
“And these two gentlemen are Harpo Woo and Stefan Kirk. Harpo is locations director and Stefan is the director of my next movie, Money in the Bank .”
Henry said, “We heard you talking about hiding loot in the woods and then we saw you in disguise watching the bank and we thought you were getting ready to rob it. But you’re not bank robbers.”
Harpo laughed. “No. I’m in charge of finding the best places to shoot scenes from the movie. We’re in disguise because we don’t want anyone to recognize us until we’re finished picking locations.”
“Why?” asked Jessie.
“It’s much harder to get things done when people are crowding around, watching and asking questions,” said Stefan crisply.
“That’s Stefan’s way of telling us to go away so he can get back to work,” Tate said.
Stefan smiled a little, but he didn’t disagree with Tate’s words. Instead he said, “And I might remind you, Tate, that you don’t want to be recognized, either. I thought you were trying to stay out of the spotlight after all the incidents that happened during the filming of your last movie.”
“I am. But I’m in disguise, too,” Tate said.
“As long as no one tells anyone where you are,” Stefan said, giving the Aldens a hard look.
Benny frowned. Then he said, “We won’t tell. We can keep secrets!”
“Good,” said Stefan. He turned back toward the