Free Nowhere to Turn by Norah McClintock

have any like that. You should have seen the look on his face when Connor told him that Grandpa had a couple of them—and a lot of others that were worth even more.”
    â€œI guess the whole collection must have been pretty valuable,” I said.
    â€œSo valuable that when my dad found out that Grandpa had promised to leave the whole thing to Connor, he freaked. He said a collection like that was far too much to leave to one person and that it should go to the whole family. Connor didn’t like that. He’s the only one besides Grandpa who knows anything about coins. He says he loves them because of their history, not because of what they’re worth. I think he was more upset than anyone else when they were stolen.”
    No wonder Connor had grilled me about Nick. Mr. Schuster’s coin collection was supposed to be Connor’s one day.
    â€œDid your parents suspect Nick right away?”
    â€œI’m not sure. But when the police came, they asked if there was anyone besides the family who knew that Grandpa had a coin collection, knew where he kept it.”
    â€œWhere did he keep it? In a safe or locked up somewhere?”
    She shook her head. “In the back bedroom—the one my parents are using now. The police also asked if anyone else had been in the house. That’s when my dad told them about Nick. He said that he’d fired Nick but that Nick had kept coming around.”
    â€œHe did?”
    â€œThe first time he came, he and my dad got into an argument. Nick wanted to see Orion. He tried to tell Dad that he’d changed. He said there were people Dad could talk to, if he didn’t believe him.”
    â€œYour dad didn’t go for it, huh?”
    â€œHe threatened to call the police if Nick didn’t leave.”
    â€œAnd Nick came back again after that?”
    â€œThat’s what my dad said. He told the police that he wouldn’t be surprised if Nick had a grudge. Then Connor told them that Nick knew exactly how much the coins were worth.”
    I could just imagine how the police had reacted to that information.
    â€œHow did Connor know that?” I said.
    â€œGrandpa e-mailed him about Nick. He said he was teaching Nick all about coins.”
    One more reason for the police to be suspicious.
    â€œWhen my dad heard that, he got really mad. He said Grandpa had been foolish to let Nick in the house. He said that once Nick knew how valuable the coins were, of course he would want to steal them. I guess the police must have thought so too. My dad said that because Nick is a youth, probably the most he’ll get is two years. Dad’s really mad about that. He says it’s not nearly enough.”
    I wanted to spring to Nick’s defense, but without any facts to back me up . . .
    â€œRobyn, why are you so interested in Nick?”
    â€œWe’re . . .friends.”
    â€œYou used to be more than that, didn’t you?” Isobel said. She smiled gently. “When I saw that picture of you and he said you were just someone he knew, I knew there was more to it than that. I could tell by the way he said it.”
    â€œWe used to go out,” I admitted. “But that’s over.”
    She looked at me as if she didn’t believe me. But she didn’t say anything else about Nick.
    We walked home in silence. I don’t know what Isobel was thinking about, but my mind was on Nick. Two years may have seemed like nothing to Elliot, but to Nick, it would sound like a lifetime. He’d been doing so well lately. He’d worked hard at getting his life on track. What would he be like after two years in jail, especially if it was for something he hadn’t done? Would he ever get over the anger he’d feel? Would he ever be able to get back to a normal life? Would he even want to?

CHAPTER EIGHT
    M
    organ came over after supper, and we settled at my dad’s enormous dining table to work on our project. Morgan seemed to