Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price (30 page)

It didn’t feel like a typical Halloween, even after the way Mr. Stein had decked the place out with Halloween decorations. A Jack-o-lantern sat on the ordering counter, complete with a candle. The walls of the empty dining area had been covered with a stone block mural to look like a dungeon. A life-sized human skeleton hung from chains on one wall. It looked way too real for Cooper’s liking. The jaws of the skull hung aghast, like it recognized Cooper and knew his secret. Cooper imagined it was himself. In a way it was. He’d been a prisoner of this place ever since the robbery.

Black and orange crepe paper twisted together along the borders of the dining area—a hopeless tangle that couldn’t be separated without some major tearing. Webs stretched from the neon signs to the windowsills. Fist-sized plastic spiders clung to them.

The more he saw, the more keyed-up he felt. Taco Bell would have been a much better choice. He kicked himself for not suggesting it to Dad. But if he had, that might have looked suspicious. Taco Bell was okay for a change, but everybody knew Frank ‘n Stein’s was his number one.

“The place looks great, huh?” Dad pointed at the Frank ‘n Stein monster mascot grinning at them from the corner. It seemed to be in its element now. The grin somehow bigger. Creepier. Like it looked right into his jeans pocket and thought the missing house key was an inside joke between the two of them.

Mr. Stein slid a large order of fries and two shakes across the
counter. Dad led the way to a table.
The
table. The one he normally sat at with Gordy and Hiro. The one he sat at last Thursday night before everything changed.

Cooper slid into the booth and did his best to push it out of his mind.

“So tell me what’s going on with my boy.” Dad took the lid off his monster shake and poked a straw deep in the creamy vanilla.

What could he say? Something safe. Trouble was, no safe topics existed in his life right now. Talk about school? Sure. Miss Ferrand is ready to have him psychoanalyzed. He’d just made a graffiti wall out of one of the bathroom stalls. He took a handful of fries. “I can’t think of anything to talk about right now.”

Nothing he
wanted
to talk about anyway. At least it was partially true.

“How’s Gordy doing?”

Cooper took a deep draw from his chocolate shake. “He’ll be jealous you didn’t invite him.”

His dad laughed. “I believe it. He can really pack it in.”

Cooper wished Gordy was here. He’d probably do some goofy thing to get the conversation going in a good direction.

“How about Hiro?”

Bingo. He’d just pressed his finger on a bruise. Like a mental version of the Battleship game, his dad just scored a hit. His eyebrows moved together slightly as if he noticed Cooper’s hesitation. If he didn’t say something quick a lot more questions would follow—and Cooper would be sunk.

“Well, I haven’t seen too much of her this week.” He poked his straw up and down through the plastic lid, making a squeaking sound. “She was sick one day. I was sick another. Today we missed each other all day. Her mom picked her up from school, so we didn’t get to talk on the bus.” All of it true, but intended to misdirect him. So that really made it all a lie, didn’t it?

“That’s too bad.”

Cooper’s tactic worked, but he didn’t exactly feel happy about
it. It only intensified a sense of isolation. Like he was all alone and in a place he shouldn’t be.

“I really like that girl. And she’s a good friend.” His dad leaned back and smiled, staring up at the ceiling like he was playing back a scene from his memory. “Yeah, good friends are a gift from God.”

One he’d underappreciated. “She’s really something,” Cooper said.

“A real sweetheart.” Dad nodded as he spoke the words. Like he’d just realized the truth of what he said. “But she’s tough, too. Doesn’t take guff from anyone.”

Don’t I know it.
Loneliness knifed through him. Next to Gordy, she was his best friend.
Was.
He’d messed that up good.

He’d messed everything up. He’d twisted the truth and lies together like the crepe paper crisscrossing the room. And he didn’t think he could untangle it by himself.

For a moment Cooper felt an urge to spill the whole thing. Just tell Dad and let him help sort this mess out.

Tell
him
. A lump swelled in his throat. Why not?
Tell him now.
Deep down, he knew he needed help. For the first time in a week he cracked open a door he’d never planned to open. The one that he’d hidden the truth behind. Dad would know what to do. He’d understand and forgive him. He’d been fooling himself to think it was
his
job to protect the family—or that he could. Dad was the one who needed to do it. But how could he if he didn’t even know the family was in danger?

The thought gave him a rush of something. Adrenaline? His breathing came in quick, shallow breaths. Not adrenaline. Hope.
TELL HIM.
He gripped the edge of the table as if to steady himself. Okay. He’d do it.

Remember the Code.
The words struck him just as hard as if they’d been delivered with a fist. What was he thinking? How would he even start? His dad would be so disappointed in him. Plus, talking here didn’t seem right.

The side door swung open from the kitchen and Mr. Stein
walked into the dining area. “Well.” He walked toward their table and wiped his hands on a white apron stretched around his waist. “Thanks for coming in.” He swung a chair around from one of the other tables and sat down. “Kind of a quiet day.”

“Carson MacKinnon.” Cooper’s dad extended his hand. “And you know my son, Cooper, I imagine.”

“Cooper.” Stein smacked his forehead with his palm. “The face I know. The names?” he shrugged. “Frank is the great one with names.”

“How is he?” Cooper’s dad settled back in the seat.

Cooper squirmed.

“Better. Stronger every day.”

Yeah, and Mr. Stein was overly optimistic.

Carson MacKinnon raised his eyebrows and glanced at Cooper. “What a relief, huh? Still in a coma?”

Mr. Stein squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

Cooper’s dad hesitated. Like he was giving a moment of silence in honor of the co-owner of Frank ‘n Stein’s. “Police have any more leads?”

“Aw,” Stein slapped at the air. “They’re chasing ghosts. Kids, actually. Got themselves tied up in a legal skirmish at the school so they can interrogate the kids. It’s nuts. I think they’ve spent more time looking for the mystery witness than looking for the robbers themselves. Sometimes I wonder if they think the mystery witness was actually
involved
in some way. Like a gang initiation or something.”

Cooper put the straw in his mouth and sucked hard on it. He needed to look busy so they wouldn’t guess how shaky he felt inside.

“You don’t think kids were involved?”

“Absolutely not. Not in a bad way, anyway. And the police haven’t actually
said
kids were, but the way everything came down … it just made me wonder.”

Cooper’s dad had that look he got sometimes when he was trying to word a question just right. “So what’s your take on it—if you don’t mind me asking?”

Stein leaned forward. “I believe it happened just like the letter in the paper. Some kid witnessed a robbery by professionals. The kid wasn’t part of some gang. If he was he wouldn’t write the letter. And no kid could take Frank down like that.” He looked at the floor. “No kid
would.
” He looked at Cooper. “Everybody loved him. Right?”

Cooper nodded, but no words came.

“The police can’t get that through their heads. They’re so hell-bent on finding that kid—oh, excuse my language,” Mr. Stein put a hand to his mouth. “Truth is, some boy out there is scared to death while some real bad guys are probably halfway across the country, spending Frank’s money.”

“If the witness is innocent, why doesn’t he just turn himself in and prove he didn’t do it?”

“Like the letter said, he thinks at least one of the robbers is a cop. He doesn’t dare go to the police.” Stein shrugged. “How can he? He doesn’t know who to trust.”

Dad swirled his shake with his straw. “I guess I see what you mean.”

“The kid needs some protection. Some help. The police are trying to chase him down like he’s a fugitive or something.” He balanced his chair on the back two legs. “If there is a dirty cop, this kid can’t go to the police by himself. I wouldn’t either if I were him. It could be a trap.” He looked at Cooper again. “Does that make sense?”

“Totally.” Finally someone who really understood.

“Well, I wish the police would understand. They’re going about this all wrong. This kid needs a friend. Not threats. All they’re doing is scaring the kid into hiding.” He waved an arm toward the window. “I’d like to put a banner in my windows. ‘“Come on in, kid. I believe you. Talk to me and I’ll march right into the police station with you and the hard drive and show them myself.”‘ He shrugged. “Well, enjoy the shakes. I’d better get back to work.” He smiled. “Time for me to shake a leg, and all that.”

Cooper smiled back. What he really wanted to do is shake his hand.

A
fter some major begging by Mattie, Cooper’s parents left early for the circus so they could watch the elephants being fed. Personally, Cooper thought the workers running cleanup behind the elephants would be the real show. Swinging the big coal shovels around to keep from being knee-deep in a real mess. Like he was now. More like neck deep.

Now that his dad was gone, all Cooper wanted to do was talk to him. Spill it all. He’d missed the perfect opportunity to do it at Frank ‘n Stein’s. Now it would have to wait, and the guilt he felt seemed heavier than ever.

They left Cooper with a giant bowl of bite-size Snicker bars to hand out to trick-or-treaters. Like he was really going to open the door for strangers wearing latex masks.

For a moment he pictured himself opening the front door and Detective Hammer standing there wearing an Elvis mask with some other cop in a clown mask behind him. Lunk’s dad, Mr. Lucky himself, would be there too—and maybe “Guido” and “Lonnie” or some of the other boys from the underworld.

“Trick-or-Treat,” they’d shout. “Thanks for opening the door, but you didn’t need to bother. We have a key.”

Would the robbers treat him to a trip to the hospital … or the county morgue?

Cooper wasn’t about to take a chance. Lunk had already connected enough dots to know Cooper was the witness his dad was looking for. Halloween night would be a perfect time to lead the robbers to his door.

He grabbed a piece of paper and a marker from his backpack. He wrote
Happy Halloween—take a piece of candy
in big letters and taped the paper to the edge of the bowl. Opening the front door a crack, he looked both ways and set the candy bowl on the porch deck. Fudge lunged at it, but Cooper grabbed her collar and pulled her back inside.

“Not for you, girl.”

Cooper threaded his way through the house turning off lights, locking doors, and checking windows. If anybody stopped by for a visit, he wanted it to look like nobody was home. Fudge kept right on his heels with her tail wagging like this was some new kind of game.

By 6:30 he pulled on a black hooded sweatshirt and slipped out the kitchen door into the backyard. He wanted to get out of the house, and he needed some time to think. He hustled straight to
The Getaway
with Fudge trotting alongside. Climbing the ladder he swung a leg over the rail and crouched on the deck.

“You stay down there, Fudge. You’re on guard duty tonight, okay?”

She didn’t seem to like it any better than he did. She let out a single yip in protest.

“Quiet, girl. I don’t want everybody to know I’m in here.”

He opened the cabin, slipped inside and closed it up again. He needed some light, but wasn’t about to power up the lantern. The cabin windows would glow and tip off somebody he was inside.

He lifted up the bench and pulled his dad’s old duffle bag out from the storage compartment underneath. Rummaging through it quickly, he found the flashlight, pointed it at the floor, and clicked it on. A bright circle illuminated the decking under his feet.
Dad
did get it fixed.
He tucked the duffle away, but left the flashlight on the table. He wondered if even the flashlight might be seen too easily from outside. He eyed a book of matches and a stubby candle on a brass stand.

Sitting on one bench, he struck a match and lit the candle. It wouldn’t create enough light to be noticed outside, but it helped to chase out the shadows inside. He turned off the flashlight and waited.

Looking out the window, he checked to make sure the gate to the front yard was closed. If it wasn’t, Fudge would be in that candy bowl in seconds.

He cupped his hands around the candle to take the chill out and peeked out the window every couple minutes.
The Getaway
made a perfect hideout, and with Fudge prowling around in the backyard, he felt safer here than in the house. But was anyplace really safe?

Not anymore. Not since he’d seen the robbery. Cooper turned that thought around in his mind. No, that wasn’t really true. Was it just the robbery that had him hiding out in the boat on Halloween? Was it the robbery that had him looking over his shoulder at school?

No. It was the lies. The Code of Silence. The thing that was supposed to keep him safe worked like poison on him. Eating away at him. Destroying his friendship with Hiro. The robbery didn’t do all that. It was the decision he made
after
the robbery. The decision to hide the truth in order to live. And every time he lied, he’d been dying a little bit more.

A thump along the side of the boat startled him. He puffed out the candle and stayed perfectly still. Holding his breath, he listened. Why hadn’t Fudge barked?

“Coop,” Gordy hissed from outside the cabin door. “You in there? It’s me.”

Gordy; that’s why Fudge didn’t bark.
Cooper let out a shaky breath. He unlocked the hatch and stepped back. Gordy swung open the door. And he wasn’t alone.

“Trick or treat,” Gordy said. He gave a little wave and a goofy grin spread across his face.