Free In the House On Lakeside Drive by Corie L. Calcutt Page A

off.”
    “We’ll need something secluded, like woods and stuff. No farm fields—too easily seen. Country, not city. Basement is a priority. And some good doors with locks.”
    “Right, basement, we could fix it up a little. Given our sudden windfall, we could do it right.” Riley’s eyes gleamed at the thought of carrying out the next steps.
    “Hey, which kid had the crazy relative?” Charlie asked.
    “Not sure. If I had to guess, either the ball of fun or the older kid.”
    “Find out. I’d like to start leaving a trail toward that guy being the mastermind here, not us.”
    Riley nodded. He picked up a different iPod and flipped it on, the sounds of alternative music springing forth from its speakers. “Now, that’s more like it,” he said as he reached for the car keys. “Something with a beat…”

Chapter 12
    “There’s no need to rush, my boy,” Frank Parker said as he eyed the sets of baggage being brought into his living room. “You know you are all more than welcome here.”
    “I know, Frank, but the sooner we get set up at home again, the better. I know Remy’s not sleeping, and if Sam knocks over one more thing it might be something we can’t replace.”
    “Lad gets around well for not seeing anything. And anyway, I hated that old pot. Belonged to Lola’s sister Nancy, and while she was a lovely woman, she couldn’t pick art to save her arse.” The wry grin in the old man’s face made his eyes twinkle, and a chuckle escaped his lips.
    “Yeah, it was pretty ugly. Still…”
    Frank brushed it off. “At least stay for dinner,” he said. “Lord knows you won’t be cooking much once you get back, at any rate.”
    “I’m dreading the cleanup,” Rachel said. “It looked like a war zone.”
    “I still can’t figure out why,” the Englishman said. “Breaking and entering is one thing, petty theft…but from the way the lads talked, it sounds like they were looking for something.”
    Evan shrugged as he fell into an overstuffed armchair near the dining room entrance. “God only knows what. Even I can’t figure that out. Honestly, there’s nothing special about any of the stuff in the house, aside from Sam’s adaptive equipment. And really, that’s only useful to another blind person.”
    “Electronics are easy to fence, Evan. Surely you know that.”
    “I’m surprised you know that, Frank.”
    The older man sat down in a high-backed chair, turning it from the dining room table toward the living room to face his guest. “Like I said before, I know a thing or two about secrets. I can certainly tell you, as a lad who came from nothing, I couldn’t afford a ticket to America doing things solely on the up and up. And for certain the pawn brokers in my old neighborhood weren’t as fair as the ones you see now on the telly.”
    “You were a thief?”
    Frank raised his hands in a mock surrender. “I merely…borrowed. From some unsavory sorts. Nothing that was readily missed, but…”
    Evan shook his head. “I never would have guessed.”
    “My boy, why do you think I went into service shortly after I got my papers? Granted, the sixties wasn’t the best time to get patriotic, but it did pay for me to go to law school.” He sighed. “Do you think less of me, now that you know?”
    “No. But I see why you value honesty so much.”
    “There are times in life where the world needs to be in shades of gray. Even I know that. But, given today’s standards…honesty really is the best policy. Even if you lose some face or standing along the way.”
    “You were right, you know.”
    “About?”
    Now it was Evan’s turn to sigh. “I did some things…before, when I was in college. I’m not proud of them, but I managed not to let them get worse. I made some enemies. When Remy said it was a Southern voice, taunting them that night, I started to wonder.”
    “This is from home, then? Where you’re from?”
    Evan snorted. “Carolina was never really home. Pretty place, nice