Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price

by Tim Shoemaker

  And if Hammer was involved in the robbery somehow, with enough people knowing, Hammer couldn’t touch them. What would be the point? It would be too late to stop Cooper’s eyewitness testimony, and the surveillance hard drive would be turned in as evidence. In a sense, Cooper would handcuff the cop.

  But if Lunk’s dad wasn’t in jail, Hammer was dirty. What else could it mean? He’d probably have to talk to his parents anyway, but at least he’d know who the enemy really was. An idea started forming.

  “We need to know if Lunk’s dad is in jail.”

  Gordy grinned. “Sure. We just go to Lunk’s house and ask if his dad can come out and play. Sounds easy.”

  Cooper shook his head. “We check Lunk’s shed. See if he’s inside.”

  “Great idea,” Gordy said. “We just bang on the shed door. He’ll come out and pound both of us.”

  “Not if we don’t get close to the shed.”

  Gordy looked confused. “How you going to do that?”

  Cooper checked over his shoulder. “With the potato gun.”

  CHAPTER 44

  Gordy’s eyes brightened. “We could shoot from far enough away where he’d never see us.”

  “And if he did, we’d have such a lead on him that he’d never catch us,” Cooper said.

  “After dinner?”

  Cooper nodded. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was something. The best part was that Gordy seemed to have forgotten all about being mad at him. If only it would be that simple with Hiro.

  “I’ll bring the potatoes,” Gordy said. “Think you can meet at seven?”

  “I’ll have the Spud-zooka ready.”

  Gordy met him at exactly seven wearing a dark hoodie. The side pockets sagged under the weight of a pair of the biggest Idaho potatoes Cooper had ever seen.

  “Where did your mom get those?”

  Gordy handed one to Cooper. “The farm must be near some nuclear energy plant or something. Maybe they’re radioactive.”

  Cooper tested the weight and handed it back. “Let’s go.” He grabbed the homemade potato gun, hairspray, and ramrod. “Good news about the hard drive,” he said. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  They stuck with the shadows, weaving their way from tree to tree. He waited until they were several houses away. “My dad called. The photo shoot he’s on is running long. He told us to eat without him. He won’t be home until late.”

  “Which means,” Gordy said, “you’re off the hook for tonight.”

  Cooper checked both ways and hustled across the street. “Tomorrow too.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “My parents and Mattie are going to the circus tomorrow night. So I don’t think it will come up until Friday.”

  “Which will give you another day to figure out how to explain things.”

  Cooper didn’t answer. He knew he didn’t stand a chance if his dad got the least bit suspicious. His only hope was that the police find the robbers before that happened. Which brought him back to tonight. He intended to find out if the police had hauled Lunk’s dad in, or if the police cooked up the story as bait.

  Brittle leaves huddled along the edges of the street as high as the curbs. Cooper and Gordy shuffled through them, every step crunching as they went. Cooper held the Spud-zooka low at his side. To someone passing in a car it might look like he was carrying a five foot length of PVC pipe, with one end a little bigger than the other. To someone who had ever used a potato gun, they’d recognize it right off. In the darkness of the night, Cooper figured nobody would even notice.

  “I called Hiro,” Gordy said. “Asked if she wanted to come with us.”

  “I bet that went over big.”

  “Yeah. She pretty much said we were crazy. If it was up to her, the Spud-zooka should have been permanently retired after the last time.”

  Cooper smiled, picturing her giving a lecture on the topic. “I wish …” He couldn’t finish the thought. How would he say he wished things weren’t messed up between them?

  Gordy eyed him. “Wish what?”

  “Nothing,” Cooper said. “We’re getting close.”

  The single story house Lunk’s mom rented was almost perfectly square. One of blocks and blocks of tiny two-bedroom homes that put Rolling Meadows on the map over fifty years ago. A narrow asphalt drive ran along one side of the house.

  Cooper and Gordy circled around the back of a home several doors down. They hunkered down for several minutes to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the backyard. A shallow strip of trees bordered the back end of the lot and continued well past Lunk’s. It would have been better in the summer when the trees still had their leaves, but the trees would still give them some cover.

  Sticking to the tree line, they worked their way through the next couple of yards and stopped a lot and a half away. The metal shed was easily visible in the moonlight.

  “Looks like somebody is home.” Gordy pointed toward the light streaming out from under the sliding door.

  “We’ll find out soon enough.” Cooper jammed a potato into the open end of the PVC pipe. The sharpened edges of the pipe peeled off the excess potato, leaving a solid two-inch spud-slug in the pipe.

  Gordy unscrewed the cap to the four-inch wide PVC section attached to the other end. “Ready?”

  Cooper gave him a nod.

  Gordy sprayed a four-second count of hairspray into the combustion chamber and screwed the cap in place. Cooper used the ramrod to push the potato down the barrel to the chamber loaded with hairspray fumes, compressing the mixture in the process.

  Dropping to one knee, he shouldered the potato gun and aimed it toward the shed.

  “Here we go,” Gordy whispered. He reached over and flicked the igniter mounted on the bottom of the combustion chamber.

  WOOOOMPH!

  The bazooka gave a little kick and launched the potato.

  “Too high,” Gordy said. “Cleared the roof of the shed by a good three feet.”

  A dog started barking somewhere beyond the shed. Cooper watched the door of the shed, hoping it would open. Nothing.

  “Let’s reload.”

  Within thirty seconds Cooper was aiming at the shed again, but a little lower this time. “Okay.”

  WOOOOMPH!

  The potato rocketed out the barrel. BANG! It disintegrated against the side of the corrugated steel shed with the sound of a brick crashing into a metal garbage can. The dog barked furiously.

  “Direct hit.” Gordy slapped him on the back and crouched down beside him.

  The shed door flew open. A man stood silhouetted against the opening. Shoulders hunched, fists raised, ready for a fight.

  “Bingo,” Cooper whispered. Hammer said he’d be holding him until 10:00 a.m.

  The back door of the house opened and Lunk ran out. The two talked for a moment. Cooper couldn’t hear anything they said, but Lunk’s dad acted pretty upset. He circled around the shed, apparently looking for whatever made the sound. Stopping near the point of impact, he picked something off the ground and smelled it.

  “Mashed potatoes,” Cooper whispered.

  The man threw it to the ground and brushed off his hands. He looked at the side of the shed and the shrapnel pattern on the ground. He held his arm out straight, as if trying to determine where the shot came from. Lunk’s dad pointed directly at them.

  Lunk stopped and looked too, but apparently their vision hadn’t totally adjusted to the darkness.

  Cooper’s heart thumped out a warning.

  “Run or stay?” Gordy whispered.

  “Wait.” Cooper watched to see if they made any move toward them.

  Lunk jammed his hands in his pockets and shuffled back into the house.

  “Think he’s going in for a flashlight?”

  Cooper didn’t answer him. He kept his eyes on Lunk’s dad.

  The man stepped back inside the shed and an instant later the light went out.

  Cooper strained to see. The shed door was still open, bu
t without the light it was impossible to see the man in the shadows.

  “Let’s run for it,” Gordy hissed.

  Could the man see them? Cooper wished for more leaves on the trees. Stay still. Sometimes that was the best cover a guy could get. If they took off now, Lunk’s dad would spot them and probably give chase. But even if he did, they’d have a yard and a half lead on him.

  When in doubt, don’t. Don’t what, though. Don’t stay or don’t leave? Probably don’t go out and shoot the gun in the first place.

  Cooper saw something move. Lunk’s dad crept out of the shadows and took a step their way. This guy wasn’t letting it go.

  “Okay, nice and easy, back the way we came.” Cooper barely whispered.

  A twig snapped somewhere behind them, maybe a house or two away. Cooper grabbed Gordy’s arm and scanned the tree line. The faint sound of leaves rustling helped him zero in on the spot. Someone was there. He could see him hunched over trying to use a tree as cover. Lunk! He hadn’t just casually gone into the house. He’d gone out the front door and circled around. They were trapped!

  CHAPTER 45

  Did Lunk see them? Cooper tightened his grip on the Spud-zooka and ramrod.

  Gordy must have seen Lunk too. They couldn’t go forward toward the shed, and Lunk blocked the way they came. That meant cutting through the neighbor’s yard right between the two.

  Cooper pointed the direction. Gordy nodded.

  Springing to his feet, Cooper bolted from the woods with Gordy right beside him. Lunk’s dad came crashing toward them from the right. Lunk hotfooted in from the other side.

  Cooper vaulted over a sandbox and dodged a bicycle just barely visible in the moonlight.

  “STOP!”

  Lunk’s dad. It had to be. But it fueled Cooper’s sprint between the houses and toward the street. Gordy raced right alongside him, legs pumping at a speed only raw fear produces.

  “STOP NOW!”

  The man’s voice wasn’t as close, but sounded just as angry. They were stretching the distance between them. Across the street and between another set of houses. Cooper didn’t let up. Outrunning Lunk’s dad was one thing, but Lunk could be a different story. Not that Lunk was quick—he was determined, though. And if he got his hands on one of them, he’d slow them down in a hurry.

  Fence. The cedar planks had to be six feet high.

  Cooper paced his strides to give a leap at the right moment. Grabbing the top of the wood, he swung a leg up and jumped to the other side. He landed on his feet, narrowly missing a patio chair.

  Gordy wasn’t as lucky. One foot got tangled up on lawn furniture and he came down hard, slamming against a grill.

  Keeping one eye on the fence, Cooper grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.

  “Hurry!”

  Gordy hobbled next to him, favoring one leg. “Slow down, Coop,” he said. “My ankle.”

  Slow down? Grabbing him by the arm, Cooper yanked him ahead. “You’re going to get us caught.” Run, Cooper. Leave Gordy behind or you’ll both be dead. He can hide. He’ll be okay. The thought flashed in his head. It made sense—but he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. He pulled harder.

  Wincing with every step, Gordy built up to a rocky gallop.

  Cooper led them through the backyard and alongside the house. As they rounded the corner he glanced back to see someone struggling to get over the fence. Streetlights illuminated the front yard. They’d be sitting ducks out here.

  He grabbed Gordy’s sweatshirt and pulled him toward an overgrown set of bushes lining the front of the house. The lights from inside spilled out the front windows, leaving the shrubs in heavy shadows. A lap dog hopped onto the back of the couch and yapped out a warning.

  “Shhhhhh.” Gordy held his hands up as if to show the dog he meant no harm.

  “Hide!”

  Cooper dove to the ground and army-crawled his way to the back of the bushes, pushing the spud-zooka ahead of him. He could smell the dirt and leaves as Gordy wriggled beside him. When they reached the brick of the house they stopped.

  Seconds later heavy footsteps rustled through the leaves on the side of the house. Lunk passed them and stopped no more than twenty feet in front of the bushes.

  The dog kept yapping from inside the house. What if the owner came out to see what was wrong?

  Lunk glanced toward the house and barked back at the dog. The dog went crazy. Breathing heavily, Lunk bent over, rested his hands on his knees, and scanned the street in both directions.

  Cooper willed Lunk to leave. Just go. Give it up. He hated the helpless feeling of hiding, but at the same time realized if they hadn’t gone for cover, Lunk would probably be wailing on one of them right now.

  The sound of more footsteps came from around the side of the house.

  “Where’d they go?” Lunk’s dad jogged up beside his son.

  “Lost ‘em.”

  The man swore. “I’d like to have gotten my hands on them.”

  Cooper could imagine that. Lunk and his dad tag-team wrestling him and Gordy. Cooper prayed. Told God how stupid he was and promised he’d be smarter in the future, even with the potato gun. A desperate prayer for sure. But he prayed anyway. He heard Gordy’s heavy breathing beside him. Was he praying too? Cooper hoped so.

  One thing was for sure. Hammer had been trying to bait him. Lunk’s dad obviously wasn’t being held. This bit of information changed everything.

  “Split up,” the man said, pointing to his left. “I’ll go the other way. Whistle if you see something.”

  Lunk jogged off in one direction, his dad in the other.

  “How’s your ankle?” Cooper whispered.

  “Throbbing.” He hiked up his knee and massaged his ankle. “I hit a nerve or a funny bone or something. I don’t think I twisted it bad.”

  “We’ll stay put until we’re sure it’s clear.”

  “Think he recognized us?”

  Cooper thought for a moment. “It’s too dark.” He hoped he was right.

  “Thanks for waiting for me,” Gordy said. “For a minute there I thought you were going to ditch me again.”

  Again. That stung. Cooper already lost Hiro. He couldn’t lose another best friend. But a few minutes ago he’d almost done it. He’d actually considered leaving him behind. Ditching him. “We stick together. Right?”

  He saw the faint glow of Gordy’s teeth form a smile.

  “Yeah, we stick together.”

  Cooper shifted his position to keep watch on Lunk and his dad. We stick together. And it felt good. He was the one who always tried to look out for Gordy and Hiro. When did he start looking out for himself? What was wrong with him?

  The dog still barked, but it didn’t sound like his heart was in it.

  “It was a good shot,” Gordy said.

  “What?”

  “The Spud-zooka. Nice hit.”

  Cooper imagined how it must have startled old man Lunquist. He laughed quietly. “Does that mean you’re glad we did it?”

  “Definitely. As long as we don’t get pounded into mashed potatoes ourselves.”

  Cooper kept a close watch on the street. “Hiro would have wet her pants if she were here.”

  “You got that right.” Gordy repositioned himself. “And good thing you didn’t just turn yourself in.”

  He had Hiro to thank for that. He didn’t want to think about what might have happened if he walked into the Police Department with the surveillance stuff. And if organized crime was in the mix, Hammer wouldn’t have to touch him. He’d just let the wrong people know his identity.

  Something moving caught his attention. “They’re coming back.”

  The boys lay completely still. Lunk and his dad met back at nearly the same spot. The lap dog had another fit.

  “Long gone,” the man said. “Probably a couple of your friends from school.”

  “I don’t have any friends.”

  Lunk’s dad didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Well, whoever they are, I’ll be
ready for them if they come back tonight.”

  Fat chance. Cooper wasn’t going to come back tonight or any other night. Get home. That was the big goal now. To his room. His bed. Hide out there for a couple of days. Or weeks.

  “You need to leave.”

  Lunk’s voice. Cooper held his breath.

  “You still worried about the little visit from the cops?” A deep voice. Strong. Like a DJ.

  “Mom is.”

  “They asked some questions and left. They’ve got nothing on me.”

  So they did stop by. But they didn’t haul him in. What was going on here? How could Hammer not arrest him—unless he was covering for him somehow?

  “Mom’s got a good job. Since you’ve come back so have her migraines.”

  The man spit. “Women.”

  “You’ve got money now. You got what you came for.”

  The senior Lunquist swore. “I need a couple more days. I’ve got a loose end to tie up. Could use your help.”

  Gordy squeezed his arm. Like he was thinking the same thing Cooper was. Cooper was the loose end. He had to do something before Lunk’s dad got to him. And if the cops didn’t arrest him before he left town, they might never catch him.

  “I’m going back,” Lunk said.

  “Any idea who’d throw a potato at the shed?” Mr. Lunquist shuffled through the leaves alongside him.

  Lunk rounded the corner of the house. “I intend to find out.”

  CHAPTER 46

  Cooper had been right from the beginning. Police were part of this. And not just any cop, but the detective in charge of the investigation himself. How else could you explain why they let Lunk’s dad off? And Hiro was right, too. Lunk’s dad was part of it. He was Mr. Lucky. He and Hammer were both in this. And likely some organized crime connection was the common denominator that tied them together.

  Cooper didn’t move after Lunk and his dad disappeared around the corner of the house. The yapping inside the house died down.

  What if Lunk hid in some shadows nearby. Watching. Waiting. Cooper kept still another few minutes, then inched out and crawled to the side of the house. The backyard looked clear. He motioned for Gordy, and minutes later the two hustled down the street. Gordy had an arm around Cooper’s shoulders like they were in a three-legged race.