Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price

by Tim Shoemaker

  Cowboy boots. Cooper froze. He’d seen them before. With the gator skin toe piece. Standing in almost exactly the same spot as he’d seen them the first time.

  God, no. No, please. Cooper felt dizzy. Lightheaded. His stomach swirled like the stitching on Stein’s boots. Lunk had been telling the truth. His dad wasn’t the third man in the robbery. It was Mr. Stein. And now he had the hard drive. He had a gun. And he had them.

  CHAPTER 56

  Gordy checked the driveway from his bedroom window again. He couldn’t remember a time he was more anxious to see his parents’ car pull up.

  He wished he’d stayed with Coop. But then, it was pretty clear Coop wanted to be alone. Which hurt just a little. Maybe Coop felt the same way when he heard that he’d been making plans with Hiro. He recognized the look on his cousin’s face.

  Since when did they start keeping secrets from each other? He thought about that for a minute. It was when they started keeping secrets from everybody else. When they agreed to leading a secret life with the Code of Silence. Never again.

  But Coop was back now. They were together again. Tonight they’d break the lousy Code for good. Things were going to be okay with the three of them. And Frank would be safe. But still, his stomach felt knotted again.

  Maybe it was the thought of going to the police. Sure, that still scared him. But the thought of trying to keep what they’d seen a secret any longer scared him more.

  He looked down the street at Coop’s house. The lights were still off. He checked his watch. Over an hour to go. He stood and paced. This waiting was driving him crazy. He stared through the window again—and saw a vehicle cruising the block. Slow. With one headlight out.

  NO. He dropped to the floor and peeked through the corner of the window. It was an SUV. It passed Cooper’s house, then sped up and suddenly turned off Fremont and disappeared around the corner. They were looking for Coop!

  Gordy’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He saw Hiro’s name flash onto the screen just as he picked it up. Her mom must be home.

  “Hiro?”

  “Have you talked to Coop?”

  She sounded out of breath. And scared.

  “No … you?”

  “Just tried. He’s not picking up.”

  Gordy’s stomach twisted. “Maybe he’s-”

  “I’m getting a bad feeling about this. Real bad. And dark.”

  Gordy pressed the phone closer to his ear and bolted from his room, taking the stairs to the first floor two at a time. “Meet me at Coop’s—now.”

  “Already on my way.”

  He stopped at the front door, checking the street in both directions before racing across the front yard. “Be careful. I just saw an SUV cruise by the house … with only one headlight.”

  “Dear God, no,” Hiro cried.

  “The feeling.” Gordy’s mouth went dry. “Is it getting worse, or darker?”

  Hiro let out what sounded like a sob. “By the second!”

  CHAPTER 57

  Cooper’s mind whirled back to the robbery. Suddenly it all made sense. The moment the guy in the Elvis mask mentioned the safe, Frank realized it was an inside job. Knew it was his partner. Someone aware of his personal safe and that he kept a lot of money inside. No wonder Mr. Lucky stayed in the car during that part of the robbery. He couldn’t take the chance that his partner might recognize him.

  Stein started pacing back and forth along the kitchen side of the counter. “So your parents are out at the circus?”

  “Yeah, but I left him a message on his cell.” He said it too fast. Did it sound panicky? Slow down, Cooper. “I told him I was coming here to talk to you.”

  Stein clenched his jaw. Like this was bad news.

  Cooper looked past him toward the front door. He had to get out of here. Now. And he had to bring the hard drive with him. If Stein looked at it he’d see Gordy and Hiro were there too.

  Cooper still had the keys in his pocket. But how could he get past Stein? Maybe if Lunk helped, but he didn’t have a clue as to who Stein really was or the danger they were in.

  What if I’m wrong? What if Mr. Stein just happened to have the same type of boots as the robber? Cooper wanted to believe that but he knew it was a stretch. Still, Cooper had to be sure.

  He dug in his pocket and pulled out his cell. Cooper tried to sound casual, but his voice didn’t even sound normal to himself. “I think I should try my dad again.”

  “Let’s hold on that call,” Stein said.

  The hair prickled on his arms. Stein has no intention of letting me make a call.

  “My lawyer will be here any minute. Let’s just sit tight.”

  Lawyer? Did he really call a lawyer? Maybe. He certainly was going to need one now. Cooper checked the parking lot. But what if Stein called them? What if he called Elvis or Mr. Clown? He had to get out of this place. Get out or die.

  Cooper stood. “I think I’ll park my bike better while we’re waiting.”

  “Sit down.” Stein plastered on a smile. “We wait for the lawyer.”

  Every bit of doubt dissolved. Stein was the man.

  Stein walked to the front window. He peered down Kirchoff Road and checked his watch.

  He could run for the back door, but what if it was locked? Stein would pick him off like a target in a shooting gallery. The gun was the problem. Cooper stared at the handle of the revolver sticking out from Stein’s belt. Could he get it? Bolt off the stool and grab it? He had to try something before whoever Stein called showed up. God help me. God help me.

  He motioned to Lunk so stay quiet with a finger to his lips. Lunk definitely looked confused. Cooper stood silently and slipped through the pass-thru in the ordering counter. Stein’s back was still to him—only five feet away.

  “Mr. Stein!” Lunk shouted.

  Cooper lunged for the gun—felt the grip in his hand.

  Stein whirled around and swung a backhand at Cooper’s face. The blow blinded him for an instant, but he managed to tug the gun free.

  Lunk plowed into him and took him down in a rough tackle. Cooper slammed down hard, the gun skittering out of his grip. He clawed for the gun, but Stein’s boot came down on his hand hard.

  Stein scooped up the revolver and pointed it at Cooper. “Easy, boy.” Sweat trickled down his forehead. “Move back into the kitchen. Both of you.”

  Lunk rolled off. “What?”

  “Move.” Stein motioned toward the stools with the gun.

  Lunk looked totally confused. “I was helping you.”

  “Noted,” Stein said. “Now get on the other side of the counter. Quickly.”

  Lunk shuffled around the counter and sat. Cooper followed.

  Stein waved his gun at Cooper. “Put your cell on the counter.”

  Cooper obeyed, but left the phone from Walmart where it was.

  “Mr. Lunquist, do you have a phone too?”

  Lunk shook his head.

  “Turn out your pockets.”

  Lunk stood slowly, pulled out his pockets. Empty. “What’s going on?” Lunk looked at Stein, then at Cooper.

  “He’s the inside man,” Cooper said. “Aren’t you, Mr. Stein?”

  “What?” Lunk whispered.

  If Lunk was afraid, his face didn’t show it. Only disbelief.

  “I was wrong about your dad, Lunk. Mr. Stein is ‘Mr. Lucky.’“

  “Now I know you’re crazy, MacKinnon.” Lunk stood.

  Stein leveled the revolver directly at Lunk. “Sit down, Mr. Lunquist.”

  Lunk’s jaw opened slightly and he sat back down.

  “Sorry, guys.” Stein looked like he really meant it. Like this whole thing had gotten a lot bigger than he ever figured it would. Just like Cooper’s lies. “How did you know?”

  “Cowboy boots.”

  Stein shook his head and gave a half smile. “What are the odds of that?” He opened the register and pulled the bills from the tray. Twenty’s, ten’s, five’s, one’s. He stacked the currency, folded them in half,
and jammed them in his pocket.

  He was robbing his own store. Again.

  “Thanks to you,” he looked directly at Cooper, “it looks like I’m going to need a little traveling money.”

  “The guy you called isn’t a lawyer, is he?” Lunk looked like the energy had just been drained out of him.

  “No,” Stein glanced at Cooper, “and not a cop either. Hammer was on your side. Lucky for me, you didn’t figure that out sooner.” He reached into Frank’s hospital fund jar and pulled out the bills.

  Not a cop. He’d been wrong the whole time. About so many things. Hiro had misjudged Lunk but she pegged the cop part right. At least Hiro and Gordy weren’t tangled up in this. But if Stein looked at the hard drive, they were doomed.

  “Why?” The question came out before Cooper could stop it.

  Stein slid the hard drive in a paper sack. “I’ve had a streak of bad luck lately. I borrowed from some people who don’t like late payments. Big money. They don’t mess around when it comes to money—not with that many zeroes behind it.”

  Hiro’s brother was right. The robbery was connected to organized crime. Whoever he’d called wasn’t coming to help. They were going to clean up Stein’s mess.

  “Gambling?” Lunk’s voice was so quiet Cooper could hardly hear it.

  Stein nodded. “When the debts piled up, I knew Frank’s safe was the answer. He never trusted banks, you know.”

  “He shouldn’t have trusted you either,” Cooper said.

  “Nobody was supposed to get hurt. If Frank had kept his mouth shut everything would have been okay.” Stein shrugged. “Guess a little of my bad luck rubbed off on him.”

  “What will happen to Frank?” Lunk’s voice shook.

  Mr. Stein slid the sack next to the register and sighed. “I really don’t know. Nothing, I hope. But it’s out of my hands now.”

  Out of his hands? What did that mean?

  Lunk clenched his jaw. And his fists.

  “Lunk,” Cooper said. “I’m sorry I suspected your dad in this. I messed up.”

  Lunk waved him off and shook his head. “I had it wrong too.” Lunk studied Cooper’s face. He seemed to be doing a bit of damage assessment. “Sorry about your face.”

  Stein’s phone rang. He shifted the gun to the other hand and fished his cell from his pocket. He listened for a moment. “The back door is open.” He looked out the front window. “But there’s a bike out front, too. Make that two bikes. Listen, can’t we—.” He paused for a moment, shoulders slumping. “I’ll unlock the front door.”

  Stein clearly wasn’t calling the shots here.

  He snapped the phone shut and pocketed it while moving through the opening in the counter backwards. “You boys sit tight.” Backing all the way to the front door, he kept his eyes on the boys and after digging in his pocket, pulled out a small ring of keys.

  Run. Was it his voice or someone else’s? Cooper couldn’t tell. But this was his chance. Cooper glanced at Lunk. Eyes bright, Lunk seemed to be thinking the same thing.

  “Back door.” Cooper whispered so only Lunk could hear him.

  Lunk answered with his eyes.

  Cooper heard the lock in the front door slide open.

  He bolted from his chair and ran through the kitchen, Lunk right behind him.

  “Stop!” Stein roared. “I’ll shoot!”

  “Keep going,” Lunk shouted.

  Suddenly the back door burst open. A man stepped inside wearing an Elvis mask and holding a gun.

  CHAPTER 58

  Hiro saw Gordy pounding on Cooper’s front door when she rode up. She dumped her bike on the grass and ran up to the front porch. Fudge barked like crazy from the other side of the door.

  “Coop? It’s me. Gordy. You in there?” He looked at her and shrugged.

  Hiro read Cooper’s note to potential trick-or-treaters and instantly knew where to find him.

  “The Getaway.” She bolted off the front porch and ran for the gate in the cedar fence with Gordy right behind her. The gate hung wide open … and the dark feelings closed in a little more.

  “Coop!” She called for him even as she climbed over the transom of the Getaway. “It’s us.” She knocked on the wooden hatch. “Coop?”

  Gordy reached around her and opened it.

  Hiro squeezed past him and stood inside. The flashlights illuminated a note on the table. Snatching a light, she began to read.

  Gordy looked over her shoulder. “What does it say?”

  Her eyes flew over the words. “No, no, no, Coop. NO!”

  “What!?” Gordy reached for the note.

  Hiro pulled it away and kept reading. “He’s doing this without us. And he’s in trouble. I know it.”

  She could feel it. Stronger than what she’d felt a week ago at Frank’s. More like the suffocating darkness she’d felt just before the police officers showed up at their door with the news about her dad. “God, no. Not Coop. Please, Father, not him, too.” The words blurred on the page, and she crumpled the note and threw it to the cabin floor.

  Gordy picked it up and tried to read it by the moonlight streaming in from the porthole. “Where did he go—does it say?”

  She nodded, already dialing 9–1–1. “Frank ‘n Stein’s.”

  Gordy looked ghostly pale in the light of the flashlight. “I’ll get my bike.”

  CHAPTER 59

  Both boys stood with their hands above their heads in the back of Frank ‘n Stein’s kitchen.

  “Told you I’d find you.” Elvis fished a key out of his pocket and held it up. Cooper’s key. “Guess we won’t be needing this anymore.” He tossed it at Cooper’s feet. “But then again you won’t either.”

  Elvis kept a wide stance with the gun trained on the boys. He clapped Stein on the back. “Well, Mr. Lucky. Maybe your luck is changing.”

  Gun still in hand, Stein gave a little nod.

  “Either of them have cell phones?”

  Stein nodded. “Already got ‘em.”

  A third man hustled through the front door and made his way through the kitchen. He held a gun in his hand, with a second one stuck in his belt.

  “Both bikes are in the creek. We’re all set.” He didn’t wear a mask, but his hoarse voice worked like a vocal ID. Mr. Clown.

  Elvis stepped forward. “Into the cooler.” He nodded toward the walk-in freezer.

  Freezer. Brown’s Chicken. No. Not there. God, help us.

  “Please …” Cooper pleaded with Mr. Stein.

  Stein looked away like there was nothing he could do. Elvis was clearly King.

  Elvis took a step closer. “Get inside and sit tight. We need to explain to Mr. Lucky how he’s going to tie up some loose ends.”

  “We’ll keep our mouths shut.” Lunk looked at Cooper. “Right?”

  Cooper nodded.

  “Like you planned when you came here tonight?” Elvis snickered. “Move.” He raised the gun.

  We’re the loose ends. Cooper pulled the heavy latch and swung open the insulated metal door. A blast of frigid air met his swollen face. A single light bulb illuminated the small room. Dozens of boxes filled the metal racks lining both sides of the freezer. He stepped inside with Lunk right behind him. Please, God. Please, God. He hiked his shoulders up, cringing at the thought of a bullet ripping through him at any moment.

  The door slammed behind them like a vault. Or maybe a crypt.

  “I thought they were going to shoot us,” Lunk said over the noise of the high-powered fan whirring inside. “Think they’ll leave us here to freeze?”

  Cooper shook his head. In his gut he knew Elvis wasn’t going to leave anything to chance. Not this time. “They’ll make sure we’re dead before they leave. He’s going to make Mr. Stein do it.” He feared the door might swing open at any moment. He and Lunk would face a firing squad.

  Lunk nodded, eyes wide—like he knew. These guys weren’t about to leave any witnesses around to identify them. He looked around the freezer and pointed at the
ceiling. “What about crawling out the vent?”

  The duct was big enough, and they could stack boxes to make a stairway up, but the vent cover was a problem. About twenty screws held it in place. “We’d need a screwdriver. Got a pocketknife?”

  Lunk shook his head. He climbed up the rack and pulled on the vent cover. It didn’t budge. Jumping back to the floor he stood there, wrapping his arms around himself against the cold.

  Even if they had the tools, Cooper doubted they’d have time. He dropped to his knees. “God, forgive me, I’ve been wrong about everything. Save us. Show me what to do. Keep Hiro and Gordy safe. And Frank.”

  “You praying?” Lunk squatted down beside him.

  “Yeah.”

  “Good.”

  Cooper stood, scanning the freezer, but kept an eye on the door. An emergency handle and latch assembly provided a sure escape for someone accidentally stuck inside, but they had the opposite problem. How to keep the robbers outside from getting in? He looked at the handle and back at the metal racks. An idea flashed through his mind.

  “Thank you, God.” Instantly he unbuckled his belt and whipped it through the loops on his pants. “We need to be sure they can’t open the door.”

  Cooper threaded his leather belt through the door handle, wrapped it several times around the one of the metal uprights for the shelves, and buckled it.

  Lunk pulled on the belt to test it. “That’ll slow them down.” He took off his belt and did the same, testing it with a hard pull. It held fast. His breath chugged out in little white puffs of steam. “This metal door.” He looked at Cooper. “Think a bullet could get through?”

  The door was thick, but probably filled with insulation, not solid metal. Cooper looked around. Boxes and boxes of frozen hotdogs, beef, and buns were neatly stacked on the racks. He lugged a box of hotdogs off the shelf.

  “Let’s stack ‘em in front of the door. Make a shield.”

  Lunk and Cooper stacked boxes like madmen.