Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price (29 page)

With surprising ease he lied to his mom about where he’d been. He convinced her he wanted to go to bed early so he’d be strong enough for school the next day. Now there’d be no chance of his dad confronting him about the hard drive either.

Fudge followed Cooper to his room and curled up on her rug when he shut the door. He sat at his desk and stared at nothing in particular. Clearly he’d avoided another disaster. He’d avoided Hammer’s little trap. But he’d created another problem in the process. How hard would it be for Lunk to suspect they’d been the ones behind the fiasco tonight?

He swiveled in his chair to talk to Fudge, but she was already asleep. Her ears and feet twitched in random spasms. What did dogs dream about anyway?

She gave out several quiet yips like she was having a nightmare.

He sat next to her and stroked her head. Startled, she tensed and tried to get to her feet.

“It’s okay, girl,” Cooper soothed. “It’s me.”

Her tail thumped against the hardwood floor.

Cooper lightly touched the tips of the fur just inside her ear. Her ear danced involuntarily. He did it again until Fudge stood, gave a full body shake and sat down to scratch her ear with her back paw.

He laughed and tussled her ears. “Okay, Fudge, lay down. I won’t mess with you anymore.”

Ears flat to the sides of her head, she lay back down but kept her eyes open and on him.

“Don’t you trust me?” He scratched behind her ears and his mind jumped to Hiro. That’s what happened with her. She stopped trusting him or lost her respect for him. Maybe both.

Which was really crazy when he thought about it. “Everything I did helped protect her and Gordy. Even Mom and Dad. And Mattie. If I talked, all of them could have gotten hurt. Or killed.”

Fudge gave him a doubtful look.

“You don’t believe me?” Cooper eyed her back. Sometimes it seemed she understood everything he said to her. “Then why did I do it?”

Fudge nuzzled his hand and licked it. Like she was trying to comfort him. Like she understood the truth and knew it would be hard for him to accept. Which was a ridiculous thought. Dogs aren’t mind readers. How could she know anything about his motives?

A thought popped into his head. A question, really.
Was the Code of Silence really about protecting your family and friends, or was it all about protecting yourself?

His mind replayed the events of the last week. It had all seemed so simple at first. So logical. Silence is golden. Right? Keep your mouth shut and nobody gets hurt.

Except people
did
get hurt. Hiro, for one. He’d tested their friendship to the breaking point and then some. He’d done it to Gordy, too.

The Code seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But since when did living a lie become the right thing to do? The Code
wasn’t solely built on a vow to stay quiet. It was about living a lie, and doing everything they could to keep anyone from discovering the truth. And that meant more lies. And lots of deception.

Cooper didn’t like the thought of that. He looked around his room. Looked for something to get his mind off this. But all he could think about were the lies.

He told more lies in the last week than he could count. To Mom and Dad. To teachers, police. Anybody and everybody. He hadn’t just broken trust. He’d trampled it. Shattered it into as many pieces as the lies he’d told.

Most of all he’d been lying to himself. How could he have ever figured this would all work out fine … or go away? Lies don’t work that way. They have a way of circling back and showing up just when you don’t want them to.

He started pacing the room. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. It was almost over. They’d stuck to the Code and they were still safe almost a week later. Nobody was breaking into their house at night to shut him up permanently. He was alive, and sometimes that’s what mattered most.

He slumped down on the bed and looked at Fudge. She looked at him with sad eyes. Like Hiro had been talking to her.

“Don’t give me those eyes, Fudge.”

She didn’t blink. And deep in her eyes he sensed the truth. He may be alive, but with all these lies, how could he live with himself?

But he had to. A little longer and things would work out. He was sure of it.

“God, please,” Cooper whispered. “Get me out of this.”

Did God hear the prayers of liars?

He had to shake that kind of thinking. He couldn’t let fear get the best of him. He had to do something. It was obvious now that the robbers would never be picked up. Hammer would see to that. And Cooper’s notes to the police only made the search for him more desperate.

Time was running out. Of that he was certain. If Lunk figured out he’d been the one with the potato gun, it wouldn’t be hard to piece the rest together. Lunk would gladly tell his dad so Mr. Lucky could handle the loose ends and get out of town. His heart kept bringing him back to the same course of action. Something that twisted his gut just to think of it.

“Have I gone too far, girl?” Lying comes with a high price. He was seeing that now.

“It’s never too late to tell the truth, is it?”

Fudge didn’t look convinced.

And deep down … neither was he.

C
old and overcast. A typical Halloween in the Midwest. Cooper headed for the bus stop feeling like he hadn’t slept all night.

“What happened to you?” Gordy jogged over, barely limping at all. “Let me guess. This is your Halloween costume … and you’re a zombie.”

“Didn’t sleep so well.”

“I’m not surprised.” Gordy held up one finger. “Hammer’s looking for you.” Gordy held up a second finger. “Some very nasty goons—who probably work for some underworld kingpin, see you as a loose end.” Third finger. “You’ve got the situation with Hiro.” Fourth finger. “Lunk.” Fifth, “Miss Ferrand acted like she wanted to talk to you.”

“Gee, thanks, Gordy. That makes me feel a whole lot better.”

Not that he hadn’t been thinking of those things all night. Add to that a growing sense of guilt. That’s the only thing Cooper could call it. A feeling that all his lies, all that wrong couldn’t possibly be right. He’d begged God to bring in the robbers so this whole thing would just go away. Then maybe Hiro would forget all about it too, and things would get back to normal.

He looked down the block. “I wonder where Hiro is …” Even if
she showed up now there wouldn’t be enough time to talk things out with her.

“I think she’s getting a ride from her mom.”

Which was a polite way of saying he
knew
she was getting a ride from her mom.

“Wants to avoid me that bad, huh?” Cooper stared down the block. He’d done this to himself. He should have talked it out with her sooner. Giving her space only seemed to be widening the gap between them.

“I wouldn’t put it like
that.
”

The bus turned onto Fremont. “How would you put it?”

Gordy didn’t answer for a moment. “Here comes the bus.”

The morning dragged. At 10:00 Cooper’s mind flashed to Hammer. By now the detective knew the little plan to bait him didn’t work.

When Cooper and Gordy walked into Miss Ferrand’s class, Hiro wouldn’t look at him. Not good. On the other hand, Miss Ferrand couldn’t
stop
looking at him. He sensed her analyzing him. Maybe she was trying to decide whether she should hold him after class for a little one-on-one chat.

When the bell rang, Miss Ferrand watched him leaving class, but never stopped him to talk. Weird. And Hiro didn’t talk to him either. Awkward.

The only one who wanted to talk was Lunk. He sat right across from Cooper and Gordy at the lunch table. Two burgers sat on his tray. Two bags of chips. Three cartons of milk. Just like Gordy.

“So, MacKinnon.” Lunk squeezed ketchup packets onto each burger and leaned forward. “You going to tell me what’s going on, or do you want me to guess?”

“What?” Cooper tried to screw a confused look on his face.

“Tuesday you were real serious about ditching Ferrand. You write
I didn’t do it
all over the bathroom stall. Don’t try to deny it. I know it was you.”

Cooper stared at him and didn’t say a word. He tried to put on
a stone face, not showing any emotion at all. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gordy give him a confused look.

Lunk took a bite of his burger, worked it into one cheek, and kept going. “Wednesday you play sick and don’t even come to school. So don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. You going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

Lunk snickered. “Right. So I’ll guess.” He took a huge bite from his burger and started chewing like he was enjoying putting Cooper on edge. “It’s about last Thursday night.”

Cooper took a bite from his sandwich and pointed at his mouth with a shrug. He made a big act of chewing. His mind raced for an answer. A lie that would come across as believable. With an exaggerated swallow, he cleared his throat.

“What are you talking about?”

A smile swept across Lunk’s face. “I thought Christians weren’t supposed to lie. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Cooper didn’t answer. He couldn’t think of anything to say.

“You’re the one the police are looking for.”

And the one your dad is looking for.

Lunk’s smile disappeared. “You were there.” He leaned in close. “Frank ‘n Stein’s.”

“Me?” Cooper turned to Gordy like he’d just heard something funny. Gordy looked like a kid caught shoplifting.

“You wrote the letter in the paper. I believe you didn’t hurt Frank,” Lunk said.

You know I’m telling the truth about that because your dad hurt him.

Lunk pointed at Cooper’s chest. “But you didn’t exactly help him either.”

Cooper felt his cheeks getting warm. He took a sip of his milk.

Lunk leaned his forearms on the table. “I think you need my help.”

Right.
Cooper reached across the table and lifted the bun off a burger. “What’s in those burgers you’re eating?”

Lunk stood and grabbed his tray. “Wrong time and place for this discussion. I’ll catch you later.”

By the look on his face, Cooper figured he would, too.

Lunk swung a leg over the bench and sauntered away. Cooper sat stunned.

“Now what?” Gordy whispered.

“Not sure,” Cooper said. “We can’t talk here.”

Gordy nodded. “The
Getaway
after school?”

“After my parents leave for the circus. At 7:00.”

“Should I tell Hiro?”

“Why bother? She won’t come anyway. She did a nice job of disappearing for lunch.”

Gordy shook his head. “I’ll talk to her on the bus.”

Cooper didn’t see Lunk at school the rest of the day, but a growing uneasiness made him look over his shoulder almost as often as he looked ahead. He saw Hiro, but she avoided him like he avoided Lunk. Her mom even picked her up at the end of the day.

“I told you Hiro won’t come when we meet tonight.” Cooper pointed at Mrs. Yakimoto’s car. “She won’t even ride on the same bus as me.”

“Her mom is taking her to see Frank.” Gordy hefted his backpack over one shoulder. “She told me about it just after lunch.”

That figures.
Cooper had a clear view of Hiro’s window and watched to see if she’d turn. If she’d even look their way.

Hiro sat there looking straight ahead while her mom pulled out of the lot.

She can’t even look at me.
“Forget it. It doesn’t matter.”

Gordy started up the steps of the bus. “Don’t act like you don’t care. This is Gordy you’re talking to.”

Cooper followed him into the bus and plopped onto a seat next to him. His mind stayed on Hiro. She’d changed somehow. Really changed.

Cooper wished they were riding their bikes. Just to feel the wind in his face. The freedom.

“I’ll talk to Hiro,” Gordy said after they got off at their stop. “The
Getaway
at 7:00. Right?”

“Right.”

Gordy jogged toward his house.

Cooper needed time to think. What would he say to Lunk? If Lunk told his dad his suspicions, it was all over anyway. He pictured Lunk’s dad wearing a latex mask. Imagined him coming to Cooper’s house for a little midnight visit.

The sight of his dad’s truck in the drive helped him shake the thoughts from his head. They’d be leaving for the circus soon. It might have been a good way to forget things, but then there was the issue of the clowns. No thanks.

“Cooper.” Dad stepped out the front door. “Hop in the truck.”

“Where are we going?”

“Frank ‘n Stein’s.”

C
ooper froze.

His dad walked around to the driver’s door and pulled it open. “I feel bad I didn’t have a ticket for you tonight. The least I can do is take you out for a shake.”

Cooper took a deep breath and blew it out. “Aw, don’t worry about it, Dad. I’m fine. Really.”

“Hop in. It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”

Just about the last thing Cooper would like to do. It almost ranked up there with talking to Lunk or Miss Ferrand. He climbed into the cab and buckled up, stealing a quick glance at his dad. If he suspected something, his face didn’t show it. Cooper’s mouth went dry. Maybe this was about the hard drive.

Dad filled the short drive with talk about a couple of photo shoots he’d lined up. Cooper tried to think of something to say if his dad asked what was going on in his life.

When Frank ‘n Stein’s came into view, Cooper noticed the boarded-up window had been replaced. To other people it would look like the place was getting back to normal. Cooper wondered what normal really was.

The moment they swung open Frank ‘n Stein’s front door, the aromas of Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hotdogs
greeted him like old friends. The place still smelled like heaven, but his memories conjured up a scene definitely south of there.

Mr. Stein stood at the counter. His face lit up in recognition when he saw Cooper.

“There he is!” He smiled. “One of our best customers.”

People always say something like that when they can’t remember your name. Mr. Stein tried. He really did. But nobody could remember names like Frank did. Frank’s picture greeted him from the top of the donation jar. And it looked like they needed a bigger one. The jar was packed.