Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price

by Tim Shoemaker

  “They came quickly,” Gordy said.

  Too quickly. And two of them from the direction of the library. They were scoping the place out. If he’d dropped the letter at the library, they’d both be sitting in the back of a squad car right now.

  “We got out of there just in time,” Cooper said.

  Four more cars pulled up with blue and red lights flashing madly. The parking lot looked like some crazed light show gone bad. Two officers ran down the embankment where the creek passed the diner.

  “Weird.” Gordy crouched down on the bridge. “Here we are watching them while they’re looking for us. It’s like attending your own funeral.”

  “Which is exactly what we’ll have if we don’t get out of here,” Cooper said. “We’ll forget picking up the phone tonight. They’ll widen the search zone quick.”

  After a quick scan in all directions, the boys crept out of the cover of darkness and mounted their bikes. In a moment they crossed the footbridge and sailed along the creek path toward Campbell Street at the other end of the park.

  Fifty yards from Campbell Street a police car cruised into view. The boys pulled into the cover of some trees, dropped their bikes, and waited. The cruiser combed the sides of the road with its searchlight.

  It looked like something out of an old science fiction movie. The beam reached far into the park, exposing every bench and rock in its path. It was an alien, searching for them. Sniffing them out.

  Cooper and Gordy hid their bikes behind some brush and pressed themselves against the trunk of an ancient oak. The light inched their way. Cooper looked back toward Frank ‘n Stein’s. Several cars peeled out of the lot, joining the search. “Here they come.”

  “We gotta get out of here,” Gordy said.

  “Right.” Cooper watched the cop car inching down Campbell. “As soon as he’s out of sight, we’re gone.” The police had a net in place, and they intended to pull Cooper in. He couldn’t let that happen.

  “When is this going to end?” Gordy muttered.

  Cooper knew the feeling. It all seemed so crazy. They were hiding from the police like any other criminal.

  The searchlight crept across the brush. Cooper held his breath, praying the police wouldn’t see the bikes in the shadow behind it. One reflection off the metal and they were nailed. Game over. The light splashed against the oak casting a pillar of darkness behind them. Neither of them moved. Cooper didn’t breath. Light bleached the ground on either side of the tree and stopped. He expected it to keep going, but the beam stayed locked in place.

  “What’s he doing?” Gordy whispered. “Think he sees us?”

  Both of them were in the dark. The cop couldn’t possibly see them. But did he suspect something? Was he getting out of his car, walking this way to investigate? It made sense, and Cooper fought the urge to bolt.

  Gordy leaned his forehead against the tree. “Please make him go, God.”

  He said something else, but Cooper couldn’t make it out. He listened for a car door, or some sign the policeman was coming their way. He wished he could peek around the edge of the tree, but to him the searchlight was like a giant laser beam. If it touched him, even for an instant, he’d be toast.

  The light started moving again. It crossed the tree, surging full strength on the other side, and kept burning its way across the park away from them.

  Cooper let out a shaky breath. Thank you, God. Thank you, God.

  They waited no more than thirty seconds before going for the bikes. Cooper didn’t want to risk another police car using a searchlight on the park.

  “We’re not still going to take a roundabout route, are we?”

  Cooper shook his head. “Too risky now.” Before heading to Frank’s they’d mapped out a return route with lots of turns to be sure they weren’t followed. “We’ll keep our eyes open, but let’s go straight home.” All he wanted was to get back and stay there. For about a month.

  They watched the police car weave its way around parked cars lining Campbell. The searchlight probing for its quarry. It was past them now, and creeping farther away by the second.

  “Let’s make a run for it,” Cooper said, swinging a leg over his bike. Gordy nodded and did the same.

  Cooper took off, building up as much speed as he could. The two of them zipped across Campbell Drive, crossed through several yards, and into the maze of winding roads in the residential area.

  In record time he made it to the house and rode through the gate to the backyard. Gordy followed and both of them leaned their bikes along the shed.

  “I’ll pick mine up tomorrow,” he panted, heading back toward the gate.

  Cooper wanted his own breathing to even out before he went in the house. He opened the shed, wheeled his bike inside, and tossed the keys to Frank ‘n Stein’s in the plastic barrel.

  He hustled over to Gordy so he could lock the gate behind him. Cooper didn’t need to remind him to make sure the coast was clear. He didn’t think either of them would ever stop looking over their shoulders.

  Gordy stopped and peered toward the street. “No more letters. Right?”

  “Not a chance.”

  Gordy nodded once. “Good.” He leaned out the gate, glanced both ways and then looked back at Cooper. “You think Frank ‘n Stein’s got a new hard drive for their security cameras?”

  Cooper added up the days. “Maybe. Why?”

  “You had your face up against the window, and um …”

  Gordy didn’t finish his thought. He didn’t have to. If the cameras were up and running, they’d just captured a view of him pressing his face up to the window. As clear as the picture of the owners hanging on the wall.

  CHAPTER 36

  Cooper’s stomach felt almost as bad as when he’d flipped off the bike at Dunkin Donuts. Like there was an entire gymnastics team inside his gut practicing their floor exercises. Fudge bounded over to greet him the moment he walked into the house.

  “Hey, Fudge.” Cooper reached for her.

  She plowed right into him, nearly bowling him over as she did. Tail swinging, she nuzzled and poked him with her nose.

  “Easy girl.” He reached for the back of a kitchen chair to steady himself. Sweat trickled through his hairline. His stomach felt full of lava. He pulled the hoodie over his head, and a wave of dizziness swept over him.

  Mattie skipped into the kitchen, then stopped and stared at him. “Cooper’s home,” she called. “And he looks sick.”

  His breath came in short pants. Too weak to run, he plodded for the bathroom and dropped on all fours in front of the toilet. Fudge walked beside him, ears plastered flat to the sides of her head.

  He gagged once, and the volcano erupted.

  “Cooper’s hurling!” Mattie shrieked and ran out of sight.

  He coughed, and his stomach squeezed out the last of it.

  “Cooper, honey!”

  Mom’s voice. She knelt beside him and stroked his back.

  Cooper’s throat burned. He cleared it several times, then spit in the toilet and leaned his elbows on the seat.

  “Feeling a little better?” Mom stroked his back.

  Cooper nodded. His stomach still felt shaky, but better.

  “When you’re ready, I want you to march right up to bed. Looks like you’ve got the flu.”

  Cooper knew it wasn’t the flu, but he didn’t argue. He flushed the toilet and sat back on the floor. Fudge sat beside him with sad eyes. The close call. The police. The fear of the security camera picking him up at the window. Trying to stay alive was killing him.

  An hour later he stared at the ceiling above his bed. His stomach better, except for the dread that stomped around inside. Kicking at him in an uncontrolled tantrum. Reminding him of everything that went wrong—and things that still could.

  Two good things came out of his little rush to the toilet. First, everyone stayed clear of him. He was quarantined to his room. Only Fudge was allowed visiting rights. That meant nobody would be asking him questions,
and he wouldn’t be telling any lies. It was something.

  But the best thing was that this would be his ticket out of school tomorrow. He wouldn’t have to worry about Miss Ferrand getting suspicious, or Lunk cornering him with more questions. If nobody could get to him, this would practically guarantee the Code of Silence wouldn’t be broken as long as he was home “sick.” Hopefully long enough for the police to catch Elvis and the Clown. And Mr. Lucky, the one with the cowboy boots.

  If he played it right, maybe he could milk this for a couple days. He calmed himself with that thought. He’d spend the time trying to figure out his next move. Maybe he’d call Hiro. Patch things up. Somehow.

  Cooper scratched Fudge behind the ears. Her presence was comforting. He wasn’t completely alone in this. Poor Gordy would be on his own tomorrow at school.

  He should call Gordy. Tell him he wouldn’t be there. But talking to Gordy over the phone about any of this seemed risky. What if someone overheard on Gordy’s end? By now he’d be in bed. Calling at this hour would generate a bunch of unwelcome questions. Maybe he could call him in the morning before school.

  He felt guilty he wouldn’t be there for Gordy, especially because of how he’d felt when Hiro bailed. Would Gordy face questions from Miss Ferrand? From Lunk? And he couldn’t count on Hiro to help. She’d probably love to see Gordy spill his guts. Gordy would be alone. Maybe the Code wasn’t so secure after all.

  CHAPTER 37

  Hiro sat on the edge of her bed with all the lights off except the desk light with the green glass shade. She set her phone in its circle of light, and checked just to make sure she hadn’t missed a text.

  Did the police take Coop and Gordy in for questioning? She shouldn’t have left them there. There were a lot of things she shouldn’t have done. Like agree to the Code in the first place. And deliberately deceive her mom.

  When Coop rode off angry the night before, she’d felt so incredibly lonely afterwards. He didn’t come back. She’d dosed him with his own medicine tonight. And somehow she’d poisoned herself at the same time.

  Hiro stood and walked silently to the closet, opened the door, and reached for her dad’s Chicago Police jacket. Sliding it off the hanger, she buried her face in it, drawing in the smell of the leather.

  She slipped it on and stood for a moment, feeling its weight. Its strength. The sleeves hung below her hands, and she pushed up the cuffs.

  “I messed up, Dad,” she whispered. “And I don’t know what to do.”

  She sat on the floor next to her bed and hugged herself. “If you were here I wouldn’t have done this. We’d have worked this out together.”

  She opened the jacket and studied the star hanging from her neck. Dad’s star. The circular seal of the city of Chicago sat in its center. The words Chicago Police wrapped around it. SGT. KENJI YAKIMOTO was engraved in a banner that wrapped around the top of the star. Surrounding the seal on the bottom were a series of letters and numbers. EOW 2–22–2009. EOW. End of watch. The day he died in the line of duty.

  “I still need you, Dad. Your watch wasn’t over with me.” She hugged herself again. “I’m in trouble here.”

  Her mind played back events over the last five days. All they’d wanted to do is keep the horror of what they’d seen a secret. Locked up tight so it couldn’t escape. Now the secret had them. And no plan of escape seemed to come without a high risk. A price.

  Break the Code, and I’ll lose a friend. If there was anything left of their friendship to lose. But if she didn’t break the Code, she might lose him to the robbers.

  Could Dad see her now? Could he hear her? She wanted to think so. But she knew her Heavenly Father saw. He heard. And He cared.

  “Help me know what to do,” she whispered. “I want to stop the lies.” She wiped her eyes with her dad’s sleeves. Like he might have done if he were there. The feel of leather against her cheek made her heart ache even more. “Protect us, Father. Bring Coop back.

  And Frank.”

  She reached for her phone and checked for missed calls, even though she knew better. No call from Coop. She could be waiting for one all night. As she stared at her phone, an idea formed.

  She should call Coop. She really wanted to. But he wasn’t ready for what she had to say. She dialed Gordy instead. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Hiro!” he said. “I’m glad you called. We delivered the second letter—but to Frank’s this time because we were afraid the cops might have the library staked out and Coop used the key at Frank’s but the alarm rang and we had to hightail out of there and we almost got caught because the cops were waiting by the library and swept the park with searchlights.” Gordy paused for a breath.

  “Gordy,” she said and sat down on her bed. “Slow down. I want to hear everything.”

  Hiro rocked herself. He filled her in on the night’s events.

  She listened silently, her idea taking shape. “Gordy,” she said when he stopped talking. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me earlier. About what Miss Ferrand said to the class today. I need you to give me her phone number.”

  CHAPTER 38

  Hiro woke up early Wednesday morning, still wearing her dad’s leather jacket. Her stomach cramped as she remembered the message she left last night. If Miss Ferrand checked her messages before she went to bed like she said she’d do, the tip about Lunk and his dad would already be in police hands. Lunk’s dad may already be in custody. That thought eased her stomach a bit.

  They should have done it days ago. Why couldn’t Coop see that?

  And now she needed to do something else that was long overdue. She dialed her brother. She took a couple of deep breaths while the phone rang.

  “Officer Yakimoto.”

  “Kenny? I need to talk to you.” Just get out there and say it. Get it done.

  “How’s my little sister?”

  “What if I think I know someone who might be involved in the Frank ‘n Stein’s robbery?”

  Ken didn’t answer.

  “Kenny?”

  “I’m here.”

  Another pause.

  “You know this for a fact, or are you playing junior detective again?”

  She stood and paced. “Well, I have a pretty good hunch.”

  Ken laughed, and Hiro could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

  “Neal Lunquist works there. His dad is in town. Looks like an ex-con to me. And I think they were involved.”

  “Old news,” Ken said. “RMPD got a tip last night and they checked it out.”

  “I hope ‘checked it out’ means they have him in custody. The night of the robbery I heard them arguing in the parking lot.”

  “The parking lot? As in the crime scene lot?”

  She didn’t like his tone. “Yes, I went there because-”

  “Because you think you’re a cop,” he interrupted, “but you aren’t.”

  Hiro reached up and touched the necklace. She would have her own star one day. Not a miniature one hanging from a necklace, but full size—the real deal.

  “You made that call,” her brother said. “Am I right?”

  “Actually, I did.” She wasn’t ashamed of it one bit.

  Ken was silent for a long moment. “I have a buddy with Rolling Meadows. We went through the Academy together. The way I heard it, the tip went straight to Hammer. He’s one tough dude. Now drop it.”

  “What?”

  “Hammer will run down that lead. If there’s something there, he’ll find it—but you stay out of it.”

  She let that sink in. Actually, what he said made sense.

  “Hiroko. You still there?”

  “Yeah. Just thinking about what you said.”

  “Good. And remember it.” He paused. “But if you tipped off the RMPD already, why are you calling me?”

  She’d struggled with that same question through the night.

  “Hiroko, what is it you aren’t telling me?”

  There it was. A direct question. And deep dow
n, what she was hoping to get. A question that would force her to tell the truth.

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Hypothetically speaking, what if I know the student who witnessed the robbery?”

  “Know? Or are we talking about hunches again.”

  She felt small. Weak. Her stomach cramped so hard she sat on the edge of the bed and hunkered over. “Know.”

  “You’re telling me you know Golden Boy?”

  “Golden Boy?’

  “Yeah, that’s what the guys at RMPD call the one who wrote the letters. They got a second one last night.”

  Hiro felt a twinge of guilt about the second letter. She didn’t even know what it said. “Okay, hypothetically, let’s say I know Golden Boy.”

  “Tell him to go to the RMPD. Straight to the man in charge of this investigation. Detective Hammer.”

  “But what if he thinks Hammer is part of the gang that did it.”

  “Ridiculous.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Hiro said.

  Ken didn’t answer for a moment. “Hypothetically, of course.”

  “Of course. Right.” That was sloppy. Technically, she didn’t want to be the one to break the Code. She just wanted to start things rolling. “What if you talked to him?”

  “To Golden Boy?” Ken laughed. “Trying to ruin my career?”

  “Ruin it? This would help it.”

  “Right,” Ken said. “Arlington Heights rookie cop finds key witness in Rolling Meadows robbery. That makes a great headline, but it would be political suicide.”

  “You’re a policeman, not a politician.”

  Ken laughed again. “Same thing.”

  This wasn’t going the way she’d hoped.

  “Listen,” Ken sounded serious now. “Anything I learn from a witness is going to go according to protocol. Right up the chain of command here in Arlington Heights—and then to Rolling Meadows. If there’s a dirty cop in the mix he’s likely to hear about it.”

  “Dirty cop?” Hiro pressed the phone to her ear. “You don’t honestly think any police are involved, do you?”