Page 34 of Silent Deception
“I don’t care,” Hayden said stubbornly. “I coulda gone if Mom hadn’t made me stay home. Cody’s a creep, and anyway, Iheardabout what his grandpa did. Mom and Dad were fighting about Nate last night, and I heard.”
Feeling as if an iron fist had grabbed his stomach, Cody held his breath and eased forward until he could see around the corner. A man with the same dark hair as Ryan was leaning against the bumper of a pickup, a beer can lowered at his side and a cigarette in his other hand.
The man made a wide gesture toward Hayden with the cigarette. “You shouldn’t eavesdrop on your parents, kid.”
“Well, Uncle Ryan had to come home because of it. I know you don’t like that, ’cause I heard you and him argue, too,” Hayden shot back.
“You are the nosiest nephew I have,” the man growled with a hint of exasperation.
“Theonlyone you have,” Hayden retorted, as if it were an old joke between them. “Anyway, it isn’t fair. I heard Dad say Nate was Cody’s grandpa, and that it was all Nate’s fault that alotof money disappeared. He stole it when he worked here, then he died, and no one ever found it. How come no one ever toldme?Is that why Dad won’t buy me a new four-wheeler?”
Cody felt himself go cold, then hot.
Grandpa Nate?
He took a step farther back into the shadows, humiliated. Every time the Gallaghers looked at him, were they thinking about what his grandpa did? Maybe even watching to see if Cody was a thief, too?
He spun on his heel and dashed down the aisle, ignoring the squeal of the door behind him and the call of his name.
Outside, he squinted in the bright sunshine as he scanned for any sign of his mother’s truck. Then he started running down the road toward the highway. It had to be miles and miles away, but there was no way he wanted to stay here now—not with humiliation burning in his stomach and the sound of Hayden’s scornful voice still ringing in his ears. Had he told kids at school already?
At the top of the first hill he stopped to catch his breath. Glancing behind him, he could see Hayden and his uncle standing in front of the barn, looking around—probably calling his name—though it was too far away to hear them.
He shaded his eyes as he studied the rolling hills to the east, considering the possibility of cutting across country to find his way home.Not likely.Heaving a sigh, he started toward the highway.
Sooner or later Mom would come by.
He wouldn’t tell her about the lies he’d heard. She’d be upset—and what could she do about it anyway, since Grandpa was dead?
He would think up a story about why he’d started for home and then make sure he never talked to Hayden or came to the Four Aces again.
CHAPTER TEN
At the sight of a forlornfigure trudging along the side of the road, Kristin breathed a sigh of pure relief. She dialed the Four Aces number on her cell phone and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel of her truck until an unfamiliar male voice answered.
“Garrett here.”
