Free Can You Keep a Secret? by R. L. Stine Page A

appetite?” Lou shot back. “Like never?”
    “We have pasta every Monday,” Eddie chimed in. “And Lou makes the meatballs. They’re awesome. It’s the only thing he knows how to make.”
    “It’s an old Polish recipe,” Lou said with a mouthful of crackers. “My grandmother taught it to me. You’d laugh if I told you the secret ingredient.”
    “What’s the secret ingredient?” I said.
    “Salt and pepper.”
    I laughed. Eddie laughed, too. I think he was trying to lift the mood. Maybe get his stepfather to stop ranting and being angry for a few minutes.
    Lou studied me. “Your family Polish, too?”
    I shook my head. “No. My great-grandparents came from the Czech Republic. I think it was called Czechoslovakia back then. I still have some family there. My Great Aunt Marta lives in Prague.”
    I suddenly pictured the black wolf with the blue eyes. I guess it was because I mentioned Aunt Marta. I felt a tremor of fright, but I forced the image of the wolf from my mind.
    Lou shoved the box of crackers back in the cabinet. He turned to Eddie. “No offense. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your friend here. But you’d better take a shower before dinner. You stink, fella.”
    “I know—” Eddie said, blushing.
    “What were you doing? Rubbing dead dogs on your clothes? Rolling around on top of them?”
    “Yes,” Eddie said. “That’s what I was doing, Lou. That’s what I do when no one is looking.”
    “You’re funny,” Lou said, frowning. He shook his head, his eyes on me. “Not much to laugh about around here, Emmy. The whole town thinks I’m some kind of crazed maniac. One mistake and … and…”
    “Lou, let’s try to have a pleasant dinner,” Mrs. Kovacs said, finally turning around to face him. “I know you’re in pain, dear. But—”
    “The funny thing is…” Lou said, ignoring her. “The funny thing is, they really need me right now. They’re getting nowhere with the robbery investigation. I mean nowhere .”
    Eddie’s eyes went wide. I felt my heart skip a beat. We were both suddenly alert.
    “Robbery?” Eddie said. “What robbery?”

 
    17.
    “I guess you young people wouldn’t want to read a newspaper,” Lou said sarcastically. “Where do you get your news, anyway? From “SpongeBob SquarePants ?”
    Eddie rolled his eyes. “We don’t watch cartoons, Lou. That’s more your style.”
    Lou opened his mouth to answer, but thought better of it.
    “I have a breaking news app on my phone,” I offered.
    Lou squinted at me. “And you still don’t know about the robbery here in town a few nights ago?”
    “Cut her some slack,” Eddie said. “Just tell us about it. Come on, Lou. Just tell us what you’re so fired up about.”
    Lou leaned back against the kitchen counter. His big hands squeezed the counter edges, then relaxed, then squeezed again. I could see how tense he was, how he was nearly bursting from his anger.
    “It was an armored truck robbery,” he said. “At the Division Street Mall. This guy in a ski mask showed up just as they were loading the truck with the money from ten stores for the whole week.”
    My heart was skipping beats now. I tried to swallow but my mouth was suddenly as dry as cotton.
    This is the robbery. This is where the money came from.
    “Just one guy with a gun,” Lou said. “That’s all it took. He didn’t even have a buddy, someone to drive. He flashed a revolver and told the truck guys to fill his briefcase with money.”
    “Wow,” Eddie said. “Did he get a ton of money?” Eddie had his eyes on me. We both had the same thoughts. And we both knew we had to force ourselves to act completely innocent and normal.
    “Yeah. Thousands,” Lou said. He clenched his fists. “Thousands. He tied up the two truck guards, and he got away quickly and cleanly. No muss. No fuss.”
    I let out a long breath of air. “Unbelievable,” I muttered. I couldn’t get the image of the brown leather briefcase out of my