Back Before Dark (18 page)

C
ooper pedaled, but his heart wasn’t in it. The agony on Uncle Jim’s face haunted him. Cooper wished Uncle Jim hadn’t seen the shirt. Cooper had made it worse. Way worse.

And there was only one way to make his uncle feel better. He had to find Gordy. Had to. He couldn’t stop until he did.

You have nothing to feel guilty about.
Isn’t that what Dr. McElhinney said? The doctor might change his opinion if he heard about Cooper’s latest mess.

“So what’s the plan?” Lunk said from behind him.

“Working on it.” It was the best Cooper could do for the moment. The reality was, he couldn’t think past what he’d just seen. Dad and Uncle Jim. The effect of Gordy’s T-shirt. “Let’s ride to Frank’n Stein’s and sort it out there.” Not that he was hungry again, but they needed a place to talk. And pedaling there would give him a little time to come up with an idea.

Lunk held back a length or two. Maybe he wanted to give Cooper a little space. More likely he felt the need to keep some space between him and Hiro.

Cooper glanced at Hiro riding beside him.

It was like she’d been waiting for that. “I’m sorry I ever told you
about the sex offenders website.” she said. “What you did made no sense.”

No
sense was a bit of an exaggeration, but she had a point. If one of the guys on the predator list
did
take Gordy, would they have him at their house?

“We had to do something,” he said. Only when Cooper was busy doing something to find Gordy did he feel any kind of escape from the pain.

Cooper expected Hiro to be hopping mad. The bogus tip to 9-1-1. Planting the T-shirt at VanHorton’s. She could probably make a list.

“So what now?” Hiro’s voice sounder softer.

Cooper shook his head. “No idea.” The police would interview Mrs. Aiello. She would describe them the best she could, and it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who made the call. Not with Lunk’s camo shorts and black T-shirt. And if the police picked them up, the woman could identify them on a lineup. That would be the end of their search for Gordy. He’d be quarantined. Stuck babysitting Mattie or waiting for the phone to ring with Mom and Aunt Cris. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Cooper?”

He looked at Hiro. Her eyes weren’t angry. Something else.

“Promise me,” she said. “No calls to the police or 9-1-1. Not unless we’re really, really sure we’ve found our man. And no more planting evidence.”

“I promise,” he said. But deep down he was still glad they did it—except for Dad and Uncle Jim finding the T-shirt.

Lunk pulled closer. “You think VanHorton figured out we were behind the call and the T-shirt?”

Actually, Cooper wished Lunk would drop the topic.

Hiro looked like she was waiting to hear his answer.

“I hope not,” Cooper said.

“I almost wish he would,” Lunk said.

Hiro looked like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You
want
him to figure it out?”

“Why not?” Lunk shrugged. “After the way he treated us I don’t mind him knowing we outsmarted him.”

“Really?” Hiro sounded annoyed. “And how much searching for Gordy are you two going to get done if the police pick you up?”

Cooper pedaled in silence. It would come out. The truth always did. And their search for Gordy would come to a complete halt. They’d be spectators—not players anymore.

The police could be looking for Cooper and Lunk right now.
Terrific
.

By the time they got to Frank’n Stein’s, Cooper was checking over his shoulder for police cars every fifteen seconds. They sat in their usual booth without ordering a thing. Cooper sat with a view out the window and kept on the alert for cops.

“We’ve handed out flyers,” Hiro said. “So that’s done. And we’ve ruled out everyone from the registered offenders website.”

It was true. Raymond Proctor looked like the best prospect at first—but the fact that he’d moved and his house was empty killed that possibility.

“I was so sure about VanHorton,” Lunk said. He looked disappointed. Like the truth was just setting in.

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” Cooper said, “Michael VanHorton was probably guilty of a lot of bad stuff.”

Lunk shrugged. “But kidnapping Gordy wasn’t one of them.”

“We can always go back to my idea,” Hiro said.

“Door-to-door—asking if they’ve seen Gordy or the minivan? Seems like a real longshot,” Coop said.

“No more than everything else we’ve tried,” Hiro said.

A flash of annoyance passed through him, but Cooper let it go. She was right. “I better text my mom,” he said.

Hiro stood and disappeared through the door to the ladies room. Lunk sat across from Cooper cracking his knuckles. He methodically worked every finger with a restless energy that Cooper totally understood. Lunk needed to
do
something, too.

Frank Mustacci pushed through the kitchen door and set a
tray with bags of fries in front of them. “I noticed you didn’t order anything. Fuel up, guys.”

He waved off their thanks and stepped back into the kitchen. He never asked how the search was going. He didn’t need to. It was probably written all over their faces. Cooper couldn’t eat anything right now. He picked up a fry and tapped it against the side of the tray.

Lunk nodded toward the window. “Raining again.”

They were breaking records now. They had way more rain this week than in the last two months combined. It was unreal. But it matched Cooper’s mood.

“Coop,” Hiro stood frozen outside the ladies room, staring at the picture on the wall of Frank Mustacci and his former co-owner, Joseph Stein. She looked pale, a bit woozy, and then she grabbed the edge of the closest table to steady herself.

Cooper stood quickly and grasped her arm. “You okay?”

She nodded, and looked right at him. “I think I know who took Gordy.”

S
he was right. She was right.
Hiro was sure of it.

“Who?” Cooper stood.

Hiro felt her whole body shaking. “I can’t believe it. Why didn’t I figure this out sooner?”

“Hiro,” Cooper said. “Who is it?”

She pointed at the picture on the wall. “Joseph Stein.”

Cooper’s mouth opened slightly like he wanted to say something—but suddenly lost his voice. He stared at the picture on the wall.

“Think about it.” Hiro rushed over to their table and sat next to Lunk. “He’s got motive. He blames us for messing up his life.”

“We didn’t mess it up,” Cooper sat across from her. “He did that to himself.”

“Right,” Lunk said. “He robbed his own diner because of his gambling debts.”

Obviously Hiro would need to convince both of them. “And if we hadn’t witnessed it, he’d have gotten away with it.”

Lunk nodded. “Payback.”

Hiro leaned in. “Makes a strong motive, don’t you think?” Cooper didn’t look so sure.

Hiro reached across the table and squeezed his arm. “Joseph
Stein disappeared after the police rescued you two from the freezer. He’s a felon. A fugitive. He could be anywhere.”

Lunk narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Even here in Rolling Meadows.”

“Why not?” Hiro said. She was on to something. She knew it. “Who would expect it?”

“Okay,” Cooper held up one hand. “I get it. Stein had motive. But is it really strong enough for him to come back to a town where so many people would recognize him?”

Hiro watched his eyes. “Revenge is a powerful motivator, Coop. He’s eluded capture this long. Maybe he figured his luck had finally changed. He could get away with it.”

Cooper seemed to be processing that one. “But how did he know we’d be at the park? We weren’t even planning to stop there.”

“Scary version? Maybe he was following us,” Hiro said. “Watching for an opportunity.”

That was a creepy thought. Cooper pictured Stein in the minivan, watching them leave WalMart. Following at a distance. Putting his plan into motion.

“And you’re always out on your bikes somewhere,” Lunk said.

Cooper looked down at the table. She could tell he wasn’t fully buying it. But he would. It was making more and more sense to her.

“But why Gordy?” he said. “I was the one who figured out Stein was behind the robbery.”

Hiro looked at him. Did she really want to answer that?

“What?” Cooper said. “You look at me like I’m missing something obvious here.”

Hiro drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Maybe you’re the one Stein hoped to get.”

Her words hit him hard. She could see it in his eyes. Pain. Horror. Guilt. And then tears.

“Are you saying,” Coop’s chin quivered, “that not only was I unable to stop the kidnapping … but that it had been intended for me all along? That Gordy got taken in my place?”

Hiro nodded. “Getting Gordy was as good as getting you. He knew he’d rip your heart out. And there hasn’t been a ransom because he has no intention—”

“Hiro!” Lunk cut in.

Coop buried his head in his hands. “O God,” he whispered.

Lunk glared at her. He drew his forefinger across his throat, signaling her not to say another word.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Coop stood and bolted for the men’s room.

Hiro slunk a little lower in her seat.

“Well,
that
was handled nicely,” Lunk said.

Hiro didn’t miss the sarcasm. “Oh, but you could do better? How are you going to feel when the police show up at Cooper’s door after this bogus 9-1-1 call?”

Lunk shook his head. “But why’d you have to say Stein actually wanted Cooper?”

Lunk’s voice came out in more of a whisper, totally unlike his normal, bigger-than-life self. She looked at him closely, surprised. “I guess because I believe it,” she said softly.

“But how did
saying
it make things better? And that bit about Stein not making a ransom call because you think he didn’t want money—what he wanted was revenge—even if that meant murder.”

“I never said that.”

Lunk’s eyes narrowed. “But you would have, if I hadn’t stopped you.”

Hiro glared at him. “Maybe. But obviously you’re thinking the same thing.”

Lunk slid back in his seat. “But I’m not spouting out everything I’m thinking. People get hurt that way.”

Hiro looked at him. He wasn’t being sarcastic. Lunk actually cared. He wanted to protect Coop. As much as Lunk drove her crazy at times, they both cared about the same things. Or at least the same person.

“So now what?” Lunk said quietly.

His steam was gone.

Hiro checked her watch. Nearly four o’clock. “You and Coop need to change clothes. The police are probably looking for you.”

Lunk nodded. “Then we check out Joseph Stein’s place?”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s do it.” Coop’s voice.

Hiro turned to see him standing just a few feet away. How long had he been standing there? How much had he heard? She searched his face for answers, but he gave her none.

Coop started for the door. Hiro and Lunk sat in the booth for a moment longer.

“I’m telling you,” Lunk leaned close and whispered, “that tongue of yours is a real weapon.”

C
ooper knew it would be smarter to go home and change clothes first, but Stein’s house was on the way. Cooper sped down the block, heading straight for Stein’s place. His house was really close to Raymond Proctor’s … which meant it definitely was in the direction Cooper had last seen the minivan. Hiro’s theory was making more and more sense. Joseph Stein could be the man. Rain pelted him in the face. He blinked back the drops that hit his eyes and stayed focused on the road. “God, I can’t bear the thought that Gordy got taken instead of me,” he whispered. “Don’t let us be too late.”

With all the water, there was no way Cooper could get the speed he wanted. The speed he needed.

He saw the realty sign posted in the front yard from a distance. The house was small. One of the older single-story homes in Rolling Meadows. That meant one less floor to search, if it came to that. And he knew it
would
come to that. Cooper was going to search that house from top to bottom—legal or not. But the realtor probably never changed the locks. Joseph Stein could have snuck back in easily.

He pulled into the driveway with Hiro and Lunk right behind him. Was there basement? He scanned along the front of the house
for a window well cover. Sure enough. And the basement would be the most likely place to check.

His heart hammered under his rib cage as he took the steps to the house and peered in the front window. Empty. Just like Proctor’s house. But Stein left in a hurry last Halloween. There had been no time for him to stop at the house to grab anything. Likely the bank that foreclosed had moved all Stein’s stuff to a storage unit somewhere—or maybe to a dumpster.

“We should get out of sight,” Hiro said. “We don’t need neighbors calling the police.”

Cooper totally agreed. Three kids hanging around an empty house? There was nothing to see through the front window anyway. Hiro and Lunk rounded the house and peered through the back windows.

The concrete driveway led to a single-car garage. Cooper hustled toward it. Maybe Stein had pulled the minivan inside.

Overgrown bushes flanked each side, and Cooper picked his way through them to look through the window. Three feet away, he stopped. The windows had been painted. From the inside.

Why would a guy paint out his garage windows? What—did he think somebody would try to steal his lawn mower if they saw it? What was Stein hiding in there?

He circled around the garage to the back window. The same white paint. Thin enough to allow diffused light inside, but too thick for anyone to see in. The window on the far side of the garage was the same.

Cooper checked down the driveway, then knocked on the wood siding of the garage. “Gordy. You in there?” He listened—hoping to hear a sound. A scraping noise. A knock. Anything to let him know his cousin was inside.

He knocked again. Harder. “Gordy. It’s me. Coop.” He worked past the bushes and pressed his ear to the siding, facing the back yard. He banged on the wood this time. “Gordy. Can you hear me?” He strained to hear something. Anything.

“Coop!”

Hiro’s voice.
He spun around. Hiro rounded the corner of the garage with Lunk right behind her. Lunk held the concrete-filled bat with one hand.

Hiro stopped next to him. “Did you hear him?”

Cooper shook his head. “Nothing.”

Hiro looked past him. “Crazy the way Stein painted out his windows, don’t you think?”

Cooper’s thoughts exactly.

Lunk looked at them. “Do you think Gordy could be inside?”

Cooper shook his head. “I called. Didn’t hear a sound.”

Lunk seemed to be processing that. He looked at Hiro. Their eyes connected for a moment, then Lunk walked toward the back of the garage, disappearing behind it.

Hiro looked uneasy. “So now what?”

Cooper shrugged. “Lunk and I need to change clothes. The police will be looking for us.” The last thing he wanted right now was to be picked up for questioning. Not until after he’d checked out Stein’s house. Every inch of it.

“Then we’re coming back,” Hiro said. “Is that your plan? It’s still early. If we see something suspicious we call the police. Right?”

Coop looked at her, but didn’t answer. Right now calling the police wasn’t part of his plan.

The crash of breaking glass came from behind the garage.

“Hey guys,” Lunk called. “I found a broken window pane. C’mon back.”

Cooper looked at Hiro and then ran for the backside of the garage. Hiro was right behind him. Lunk stood holding his black wiffle-ball bat with a wicked grin on his face. The right bottom pane was missing from the garage window.

“I can’t believe you just broke that window,” Hiro said, but she was actually smiling.

Lunk peered through the missing pane.

“See anything?” Cooper pressed in, trying to get a better view himself.

Lunk didn’t budge until he was apparently satisfied. He backed away and let Cooper look inside.

Cooper let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. No minivan. Dark shelves lined the walls. Paint cans, buckets, gas cans and cardboard boxes of all sizes were strewn about the shelves in no particular order. Rakes and shovels stood in one corner, leaning against the wall. A lawn mower sat in the middle of the garage. A heap of balled up tarps was off to one side, clearly not allowing room for a car. Apparently the bank or realtor hadn’t bothered emptying the garage. But there was no sign of Gordy.

Cooper stepped away from the window, a fresh wave of dread breaking over him. They had to get into the house.

Hiro stood at the corner of the garage, watching the drive. “Somebody is watching us from a window across the street. We should go before police show up.”

Cooper agreed.

Lunk stood with the bat in his hands like he was ready to break down the side door entrance to the garage if Cooper asked him to.

“Thanks, Lunk.” Cooper said. “Let’s go. We’ll come back later.”

Lunk gave the bat a little shake and nodded.

Cooper started around the side of the garage, Lunk at his side. Hiro let them pass, which seemed a little weird since she was the one who had suggested they should leave.

He saw her disappear in back of the garage. “Hiro, what are you doing?”

“I just have to see for myself,” she said. “I’ll meet you at the bikes.”

She was in her detective mode. Double-checking to see if they might have missed something, which made him curious. He turned and peeked around the back corner of the garage.

Hiro had her face up close, framed in the broken window. Only she wasn’t looking inside at all. Her eyes were shut. She raised her
chin slightly, and he saw her draw in a lungful of air. She blew it out of her mouth and repeated the procedure.

Cooper’s stomach lurched. He reached for the side of the garage to steady himself. She wasn’t
looking
for Gordy. She was
smelling—
for the scent of death.