Stone Cold (8 page)

They’
d walked nearly three blocks when Eden realized the boys were not going toward the school. Instead they were headed toward the subway station. She increased her pace to close the gap between them and pulled her hoodie over her head to disguise her appearance in case they looked around.

“Where are they going?” she wondered aloud as she followed them through the tur
n style and onto the train that had just arrived.

The boys found a few isolated seats and Conall began going over the plan.

“We’ll get off the train at the station near Jack’s place. We’ll walk the rest of the way until we get to the alley and the bushes between his condo and the next building.”

“Is that where we’re going to wait until he comes out of the building?” Bobby asked.

“Yes. When we see him exit the building, he’s probably going to start walking toward the restaurant and he’ll probably call the person he’s supposed to meet just like before. We have to wait until he’s on his phone and about to end the call.”

“Then, as he passes the bushes, Bobby and I will
come up behind him and act like we’re boxing each other. We’ll pretend we didn’t see him and accidentally bump into him,” said Shawn.

“That’s right.
Even apologize for knocking into him for effect. Hopefully you’ll hit him hard enough to dislodge the phone. I’ll be right behind you and when he drops the phone I’ll grab it and run through the alley between the buildings.”

Bobby and Shawn nodded to show their understanding.

“At the same time, you two can turn and run in different directions and we’ll all meet back at my house, mission accomplished.”

The plan sounded so easy and after going over it several more times the boys were confident they had everything under control. Within minutes the train arrived at
their destination and they filed off one by one, each deep in their own thoughts.

Eden
exited the train as well and continued on her quest to find out what these boys were up to. It was clearly a different mission now. She guessed it probably didn’t have anything to do with the girl Conall had met. Even so, the fact that they lied to her parents about where they were going was evidence enough that something was about to happen that their parents would definitely not approve of.

Several blocks from
where they exited the train, Eden watched as Conall and his friends disappeared into the darkness between two buildings. She was standing across the street from an old upscale penthouse apartment building and saw the boys looking and pointing at it as they walked past. It was around 8:00 P.M. now and aside from a few street lamps the area was very dark. For a minute she thought about crossing the street to continue following them. Her gut instinct told her not to since she was alone and it felt unsafe to go into the darkness, especially in an unfamiliar area.

Eden
decided to scrap the mission and return home. It was no longer fun to her and for all she knew they were probably just doing guy things, whatever that was. She waited one more minute, not wanting to signal defeat. Her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark. She wanted to see if the boys would emerge from what now appeared to be an alley. She also didn’t want them to see her if they did.

A minute passed and bored with her current situation,
Eden started to walk toward the station. She could see a man in a dark trench coat standing in front of the condo but there was no one else in sight.

“He looks bored too.” She watched as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and talked as he walked down the street to his left.

Before she could think another thought, Eden was paralyzed by what she became witness to. As the man in the trench coat walked, she saw two other men who seemed to be horsing around with each other run into him from behind. They hit him so hard he fell to his knees. He caught himself with his hands as his cell phone went flying and landed on the sidewalk in front of them.

In the chaos
, while the two apologetic men tried to help him up, another man came from behind them. He picked up the cell phone, then disappeared into the dark alley. At the same time, the two men who knocked the man down began to run in different directions. Two much larger men appeared out of nowhere from the darkness and gave chase. Seconds later, Eden saw the two large men return to the scene with the runners in tow. 

T
here was no way she could leave now! Eden was in shock. Even though she’d lived in New York City her entire life she’d only ever seen things like this on television or in the movies. From her position, she was able to see everything clearly as it unfolded. She’d begun to think that the two men who bumped the guy and the one who picked up the cell phone were probably working together.

She wondered, “W
hy would they want a stranger’s cell phone? Why didn’t they try to rob him of money too?”

The police arrived within minutes. After questioning the
man in the trench coat and who Eden guessed were his body guards, the two young men were handcuffed, frisked, and read their rights. The police car was parked under a street lamp and as the two men were being placed in the car Eden caught a glimpse of each of their faces. Without warning, she felt her heart pounding faster in her ears and a wave of nausea came over her as she bent over to keep from fainting. There was no mistaking it. The two “men” were Conall’s best friends Bobby and Shawn.

All she could think about was where Conall had gone. She had her suspicions but she hoped she was wrong.

Eden ran to the train station, oblivious to her surroundings. Everything was a blur. Her movements seemed mechanical as her unconscious mind kicked into survival mode. It wasn’t until the train lurched forward that she finally snapped back to the present time with no recollection of how she’d made her way back to the train. Every part of her was numb but her thoughts were spinning.

“Please
, please don’t let that have been Conall who stole the guy’s phone!” pleaded the voice in her head. She had a sick, sinking feeling in her stomach that it was.

“Who else would it have been? They were all together when they went into the alley but maybe Conall found out what they were about to do and decided to leave. Then
maybe they ran into another friend who helped them instead.”

Eden
was desperate to make this all go away and protect her brother. She’d taken care of him since he was born and she could do it once more. There were so many thoughts going through her mind.

“What am I
going to say to him? How am I going to keep this from our parents when I saw the whole thing?”

The ride home went much quicker than
Eden had hoped. Her fears were alleviated somewhat when she reached the house and everything seemed normal. She half expected to see police cars and Conall being led away in handcuffs.

Her parents were sitting in the living room and she uttered a quick hi and goodnight as she ran up the steps.

She could see the light under Conall’s bedroom door. Her pace slowed and she took a few deep breaths in and out before coming to a stop in front of it. Eden raised her arm, her fist ready to knock as the door suddenly opened. Their eyes met briefly and Conall jumped back several feet, startled by the unexpected sight on the other side of his door.

“What are you doing here? You scared the life out o
f me! What are you doing?” Conall had no time and was in no mood to have to deal with his sister’s intrusion.

Eden
ignored his obvious annoyance, walked into his room, and closed the door behind her. With head down, she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him backwards until his legs hit the side of his bed where he was forced to sit.

When she finally raised her eyes to look at him, Conall could see this was not her normal expression.

“Conall, I, there’s something I have to tell you but I, don’t be mad at me but,” Eden was stuttering over every word.

“
Oh come on Eden. Just say it! What ever it is just say it! I don’t have time for this. Shawn and Bobby are coming over soon.”

After a long pause, she
collected her thoughts and calmly and slowly proceeded to deliver the bad news.

“Ok ok.
Now don’t be mad at me but I followed you and your friends tonight because I thought you were going to the basketball game and that the girl you met might be there. I wanted to see who she was but when I realized you weren’t going to the game I kept following you anyway. That’s when I saw the whole thing.”

“What whole thing?” The color in Conall’s face had started to drain.

“Conall, I saw you and Shawn and Bobby, what they did to that man and you stole his phone!”

Before she could finish
, Conall interrupted. His eyes closed for a second and he took a deep breath.

“
Eden, you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone about this. We had a really good reason for doing what we did. I can’t tell you why yet but I will, eventually.”

“You don’t understand – let me finish! Bobby
and Shawn didn’t get away! They got caught by two big men who must’ve been that guy’s bodyguards! They called the police and Shawn and Bobby got arrested!”

Eden
had held back the tears until now.

Conall stood
and began pacing across the room. One hand was on his clenched jaw, while the other one repeatedly stroked through the hair on top of his head. He’d gone through his plan so many times – it was flawless.

He questioned his plan in his head
as he kept pacing the floor.

“How did I
miss the fact that Jack Barnes had body guards? Who is this guy? Oh gosh! What’s going to happen to Shawn and Bobby? Will they be forced to tell the police about me?”

“Conall? Conall,”
Eden broke the silence with a much calmer tone in her voice.

“What are you thinking? What are you going to do if the police come here looking for you?
”

Conall stopped pacing and
looked at her, his green eyes filled with tears. His heart ached when he saw her tear stained face, black mascara dripping from her chin.

Eden
couldn’t look at him whenever he cried. It was such a rarity and usually only happened when he was in extreme pain, like the time he fell off his bike and broke his leg. Somehow she could feel his pain. Her leg began to hurt her too for at least a week after he was put in a cast.

She
lowered her head and turned toward his bed to avoid his gaze. When she raised her head, her eyes locked onto a black object on the nightstand next to the bed. Without a sound, Eden stood and walked toward the nightstand and picked up the object.

“Is this it
? Is this the guy’s phone? What in the world do you want with his phone? What’s going on Conall?”

“I can’t tell you, you just have to trust me right now.
”

They
had been so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t hear the knock on the door downstairs.

They both jumped when the silence was broken by a knock on Conall’s door.

“Conall, come out here now, on the double.” Their dad’s voice had that angry tone they knew all too well.

Eden
looked out the window and saw the police car parked in front of their house.

She whispered,
“The police are here. Shawn and Bobby must have told them everything. Don’t worry Conall. I’m sure this will all work out.”

She
hugged him with a grip so tight he could barely breathe.

“No need for you to get dragged into this. Stay here until you hear me leave.
I need you to do something for me though.”

Eden
nodded.

“
Without asking any questions try to get into his phone and delete any records for any girls named Hannah. Please, please write down all of her information first though. It’s extremely important that I have it. Delete all of his pictures too.” Conall’s voice shook as he reluctantly asked for Eden’s help.

“Ok
, but who is she? What is so special about this girl?”

“No question
s! Just please promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to get her data and delete it from his phone! It’s urgent before he can recover his contacts on another phone. Do whatever it takes to get this done Eden!”

It took everything he had to pry
Eden’s arms from around his body. After one quick kiss on her cheek, Conall opened the door and walked downstairs to await his fate.

No sooner had he put his foot on the last stair than two police officers asked him his name and started reading him his rights. They escorted him outside in handcuffs and as he was being put in the car, Conall looked up at his bedroom window. There in the dark
, he could see the shadowy figure of Eden with both hands pressed up against the window. He knew she’d do her best to honor his request.

*****

Never in his wildest dreams did Conall think he would ever end up being arrested and taken to jail. He was in shock as he posed for his mug shots, going through the motions as the officer told him which way to turn.