Free Code of Silence: Living a Lie Comes With a Price by Tim Shoemaker Page B

anymore.
    Cooper tried to push that thought out of his head. The important thing was that they made it. They got through day one. And Frank was alive.
    The three of them left the bus together and stood watching it pull away down Fremont Street.
    “We need to talk about this,” Hiro said.
    Cooper started walking toward his house. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
    Hiro caught up to him. “Really? Well, maybe I have one of those baloney detectors now, because I can tell you’re full of it.”
    Gordy jogged a few steps ahead, turned around and walkedbackwards. “Look, let’s just forget about it all for awhile. This is Friday. Tomorrow is Saturday. And then we have Sunday.”
    Hiro put her hands on the sides of her head and shook it in obvious frustration. “And what comes after Sunday, Mr. Calendar?”
    Gordy fell in step alongside them. “Monday?”
    “Right. And your own personal interrogation by a juvenile officer.”
    Gordy groaned. “Did you have to bring that up?”
    “We need a plan,” Hiro said. She picked at her braid. “We have to
do
something.”
    For a second Cooper had that feeling they were being watched. He glanced up and down the street, but didn’t notice anyone. Not even a car. “Look,” he said. “You’re right. Meeting one-on-one with the police could be disastrous.”
    “
Could
be?” Hiro cocked her head to one side.
    “Maybe we could call in sick Monday,” Gordy said.
    “You’re smarter than that.” Hiro tapped Gordy’s forehead. “And that won’t look suspicious?”
    Gordy mumbled something, but Cooper couldn’t quite make out what he said. It wouldn’t be hard to guess.
    Cooper sat on the curb. Hiro and Gordy sat beside him. For a minute nobody said a word. He figured they were both waiting for him to speak. He felt their eyes on him.
    “What if …” he tried to focus his thoughts, “What if we try to figure out who the robbers are ourselves?”
    Hiro looked at him. “And how would we do that?”
    “The back-up hard drive.”
    “You mean look at the surveillance tape?”
    “Why not? If there’s a camera in the office we may get a look at Mr. Lucky’s face.”
    Hiro stood. She fingered her necklace like it was a source of investigative inspiration. “Or maybe the other two had their masks off while they worked on the safe.”
    “Hold on,” Gordy said. “What are we supposed to do if we
do
get a clear view of them?”
    Cooper took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Maybe we could burn a DVD, just that portion of it, and mail it to the police.”
    “And if the police see any one of their faces,” Hiro said, “maybe they’ll call off the whole interview thing Monday and concentrate on finding the real guys.”
    Gordy looked hopeful. “Yeah. That could work. Then we’d be in the clear. Right?”
    “And,” Hiro said, “we’d actually be
helping
with the investigation.”
    Cooper stood and the three of them walked toward Cooper’s house. “It beats waiting for them to find
us.
”
    “When do we start?” Hiro said.
    “Tomorrow. We’ll use my dad’s laptop. We can bring it out to the shed.”
    Hiro looked up at him and smiled. She hadn’t done that since agreeing to the Code.
    “Hey, Coop.” Gordy pointed. “Check out your fence. It looks like somebody drove through it into your backyard.”
    Cooper stopped dead and stared. Two sections of cedar fencing stood propped against the garage door, along with a single post. A trail of plywood and boards lined the ground all the way from the driveway through the opening in the fence It looked like a path laid out as if to protect the grass from getting deep ruts.
    “The surprise,” Cooper said. He’d totally forgotten about it. “Mom said Dad was bringing something home today. Mattie is totally convinced she’s getting a pony.”
    “Every girl’s dream,” Hiro said. “Whatever it is, it must be heavy.”
    Gordy trotted toward the driveway. “Like a horse trailer?”
    Cooper jogged