Did Lunk see them? Cooper tightened his grip on the Spud-zooka and ramrod.
Gordy must have seen Lunk too. They couldn’t go forward toward the shed, and Lunk blocked the way they came. That meant cutting through the neighbor’s yard right between the two.
Cooper pointed the direction. Gordy nodded.
Springing to his feet, Cooper bolted from the woods with Gordy right beside him. Lunk’s dad came crashing toward them from the right. Lunk hotfooted in from the other side.
Cooper vaulted over a sandbox and dodged a bicycle just barely visible in the moonlight.
“STOP!”
Lunk’s dad. It had to be. But it fueled Cooper’s sprint between the houses and toward the street. Gordy raced right alongside him, legs pumping at a speed only raw fear produces.
“STOP NOW!”
The man’s voice wasn’t as close, but sounded just as angry. They were stretching the distance between them. Across the street and between another set of houses. Cooper didn’t let up. Outrunning Lunk’s dad was one thing, but Lunk could be a different story. Not that Lunk was quick—he was determined, though. And if he got his hands on one of them, he’d slow them down in a hurry.
Fence. The cedar planks had to be six feet high.
Cooper paced his strides to give a leap at the right moment. Grabbing the top of the wood, he swung a leg up and jumped to the other side. He landed on his feet, narrowly missing a patio chair.
Gordy wasn’t as lucky. One foot got tangled up on lawn furniture and he came down hard, slamming against a grill.
Keeping one eye on the fence, Cooper grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.
“Hurry!”
Gordy hobbled next to him, favoring one leg. “Slow down, Coop,” he said. “My ankle.”
Slow down? Grabbing him by the arm, Cooper yanked him ahead. “You’re going to get us caught.” Run, Cooper. Leave Gordy behind or you’ll both be dead. He can hide. He’ll be okay. The thought flashed in his head. It made sense—but he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. He pulled harder.
Wincing with every step, Gordy built up to a rocky gallop.
Cooper led them through the backyard and alongside the house. As they rounded the corner he glanced back to see someone struggling to get over the fence. Streetlights illuminated the front yard. They’d be sitting ducks out here.
He grabbed Gordy’s sweatshirt and pulled him toward an overgrown set of bushes lining the front of the house. The lights from inside spilled out the front windows, leaving the shrubs in heavy shadows. A lap dog hopped onto the back of the couch and yapped out a warning.
“Shhhhhh.” Gordy held his hands up as if to show the dog he meant no harm.
“Hide!”
Cooper dove to the ground and army-crawled his way to the back of the bushes, pushing the spud-zooka ahead of him. He could smell the dirt and leaves as Gordy wriggled beside him. When they reached the brick of the house they stopped.
Seconds later heavy footsteps rustled through the leaves on the side of the house. Lunk passed them and stopped no more than twenty feet in front of the bushes.
The dog kept yapping from inside the house. What if the owner came out to see what was wrong?
Lunk glanced toward the house and barked back at the dog. The dog went crazy. Breathing heavily, Lunk bent over, rested his hands on his knees, and scanned the street in both directions.
Cooper willed Lunk to leave. Just go. Give it up. He hated the helpless feeling of hiding, but at the same time realized if they hadn’t gone for cover, Lunk would probably be wailing on one of them right now.
The sound of more footsteps came from around the side of the house.
“Where’d they go?” Lunk’s dad jogged up beside his son.
“Lost ‘em.”
The man swore. “I’d like to have gotten my hands on them.”
Cooper could imagine that. Lunk and his dad tag-team wrestling him and Gordy. Cooper prayed. Told God how stupid he was and promised he’d be smarter in the future, even with the potato gun. A desperate prayer for sure. But he prayed anyway. He heard Gordy’s heavy breathing beside him. Was he praying too? Cooper hoped so.
One thing was for sure. Hammer had been trying to bait him. Lunk’s dad obviously wasn’t being held. This bit of information changed everything.
“Split up,” the man said, pointing to his left. “I’ll go the other way. Whistle if you see something.”
Lunk jogged off in one direction, his dad in the other.
“How’s your ankle?” Cooper whispered.
“Throbbing.” He hiked up his knee and massaged his ankle. “I hit a nerve or a funny bone or something. I don’t think I twisted it bad.”
“We’ll stay put until we’re sure it’s clear.”
“Think he recognized us?”
Cooper thought for a moment. “It’s too dark.” He hoped he was right.
“Thanks for waiting for me,” Gordy said. “For a minute there I thought you were going to ditch me again.”
Again. That stung. Cooper already lost Hiro. He couldn’t lose another best friend. But a few minutes ago he’d almost done it. He’d actually considered leaving him behind. Ditching him. “We stick together. Right?”
He saw the faint glow of Gordy’s teeth form a smile.
“Yeah, we stick together.”
Cooper shifted his position to keep watch on Lunk and his dad. We stick together. And it felt good. He was the one who always tried to look out for Gordy and Hiro. When did he start looking out for himself? What was wrong with him?
The dog still barked, but it didn’t sound like his heart was in it.
“It was a good shot,” Gordy said.
“What?”
“The Spud-zooka. Nice hit.”
Cooper imagined how it must have startled old man Lunquist. He laughed quietly. “Does that mean you’re glad we did it?”
“Definitely. As long as we don’t get pounded into mashed potatoes ourselves.”
Cooper kept a close watch on the street. “Hiro would have wet her pants if she were here.”
“You got that right.” Gordy repositioned himself. “And good thing you didn’t just turn yourself in.”
He had Hiro to thank for that. He didn’t want to think about what might have happened if he walked into the Police Department with the surveillance stuff. And if organized crime was in the mix, Hammer wouldn’t have to touch him. He’d just let the wrong people know his identity.
Something moving caught his attention. “They’re coming back.”
The boys lay completely still. Lunk and his dad met back at nearly the same spot. The lap dog had another fit.
“Long gone,” the man said. “Probably a couple of your friends from school.”
“I don’t have any friends.”
Lunk’s dad didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Well, whoever they are, I’ll be ready for them if they come back tonight.”
Fat chance. Cooper wasn’t going to come back tonight or any other night. Get home. That was the big goal now. To his room. His bed. Hide out there for a couple of days. Or weeks.
“You need to leave.”
Lunk’s voice. Cooper held his breath.
“You still worried about the little visit from the cops?” A deep voice. Strong. Like a DJ.
“Mom is.”
“They asked some questions and left. They’ve got nothing on me.”
So they did stop by. But they didn’t haul him in. What was going on here? How could Hammer not arrest him—unless he was covering for him somehow?
“Mom’s got a good job. Since you’ve come back so have her migraines.”
The man spit. “Women.”
“You’ve got money now. You got what you came for.”
The senior Lunquist swore. “I need a couple more days. I’ve got a loose end to tie up. Could use your help.”
Gordy squeezed his arm. Like he was thinking the same thing Cooper was. Cooper was the loose end. He had to do something before Lunk’s dad got to him. And if the cops didn’t arrest him before he left town, they might never catch him.
“Any idea who’d throw a potato at the shed?” Mr. Lunquist shuffled through the leaves alongside him.
Lunk rounded the corner of the house. “I intend to find out.”