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“Sure, Ike. Anything else?”

“No, not now. And thanks, Theo. I owe you a big one.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Ike. Happy to help.”

Theo grabbed the keys and hustled out of the station. Minutes later, he parked in front of Ike’s building, one that he owned. He rented the first floor to an old Greek couple who ran a deli, but it was too early for them. No one saw him bound up the stairs and unlock the door. Ike had no secretary, and his office was always a mess. His desk was covered with files and papers, most of which gave the appearance of not having been touched in years. Books were stacked on the floor. The garbage can was overflowing. The room smelled of stale cigar smoke. Theo flipped on a light, found the credenza, fiddled with the keys and opened it. The safe opened easily. He carefully avoided the gold coins and was impressed by the stacks of hundred-dollar bills Ike had stashed away. He plucked five from the pile, folded them carefully, and stuffed them in a pocket. He locked the safe and the drawer, turned off the light, and eased out of the office. He locked the front door and hopped on his bike. He had seen no one and was sure no one had seen him.

It was almost 8:30 when he returned to the police station. Peckinpaw was nowhere to be seen. Theo waited and waited, and finally took a seat in a folding chair. He sent a text message to Mr. Mount explaining that he would be late for class. Instead of a response from his teacher, he got a text from April. She was skipping school, too, and said she needed to talk. She needed a friend. Great.

Peckinpaw finally showed up a few minutes before nine. Theo gave him the cash and the keys. The officer explained that it would take about an hour for Ike to get out, and, in his opinion, Theo should go straight to school. Theo preferred to wait for his uncle, but if a police officer told him to go to school, then he really had no choice. Strattenburg had two truancy officers who patrolled the streets looking for kids playing hooky. If you were caught your life got complicated.

As he was leaving the police station, his phone vibrated. It was April and she wanted to talk. They met half an hour later at Truman Park, near downtown, and sat on a bench that was hidden by some trees.

“Why are you skipping school?” she asked. Theo told her Ike’s story and finished with, “At least I have a good reason. Why are you skipping school?”

“I’ll probably go tomorrow,” she said. “Right now I’m just too worried and upset. I had no right to stick my nose into their business like that.”

This was the same conversation they’d had a dozen times already, and Theo was tired of it. “Look, April, what’s done is done, and I’m not so sure what you did was a bad thing. It looks like the teachers are guilty. They cheated and now they have to face their punishment.”

“You keep saying that but it doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“I don’t know what else to say, April.”

They sat for a long time and said nothing. Theo really wanted to go to school, to check with Mr. Mount and see how much trouble he was in. He also wanted to run by Ike’s office and make sure the old guy was okay. But at that moment April needed a friend, and Theo was the nearest one.

He received a text from Mr. Mount: Theo, u okay?

He replied: Ok here. C U later.

April asked, “Who was that?”

“Mr. Mount. He’s looking for me. We really should go to school.”

“I’m not going to school today,” she said, and that was final.

They sat for another five minutes without talking. Finally, she said, “You know what I want to do?”

“Not really.”

“I want to have a picnic. Let’s run by Gibson’s Grocery near the college, get a couple of their corn dogs, and bike over to that spot above the river. No one will see us there, and we can have a quiet lunch.”

“I think we should go to school.”

“No, and besides, we’ve already missed half a day. Who cares? So we get in trouble. They can’t shoot us or anything bad like that.”

“My parents will shoot me.”

“No they won’t. They’ll get mad and slap you on the wrist, but you’re tough. You’ve been in enough trouble before. Please, Theo. I need a friend today.”

He couldn’t say no. Plus, he loved the corn dogs from the grill at Gibson’s.

That afternoon, after he finally shook loose from April, Theo walked into the offices of Boone & Boone and said hello to Elsa. She asked how was school. He replied, “The usual. Is Mom in?”

“She’s in court and your father has a client in his office.”

Theo’s plan was to march into his mother’s office and admit to playing hooky all day. If she was busy and couldn’t see him, he would go upstairs and confess to his father. But since both were occupied, he went to his office with Judge and closed the door, somewhat relieved that his big moment would be delayed. Now, he planned to announce it over dinner that night. After ten minutes he was bored. He left through the rear door and biked over to Ike’s office.

Ike was busy at his desk, barefoot, with Bob Dylan playing quietly on the stereo, and an open can of beer near his phone. It was as if nothing had happened. He smiled at his nephew and said, “Great to see you, Theo.”

“How are you doing?” Theo asked as he fell into an old chair.

“I’m fine. I feel lousy for what happened and for getting you involved. Believe me, Theo, you’re the last person I’d ever want to see me in jail.”

“It’s okay, Ike. I’ve worried about you all day.”

“Don’t worry about me, Theo. I’ve been in worse trouble.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“You know, Theo, I’m thinking about giving up alcohol. I think I’d feel better.”

Theo nodded at the can of beer and asked, “When do you plan to start?”

“That’s what I can’t decide. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next Monday. I might even go away to one of those fancy rehab places for thirty days and do a complete dry out. Get it all out of my system and learn some new habits. I’m really embarrassed right now.”

Theo wasn’t sure what to say about this. Ike was the last person to be embarrassed about anything. He saw himself as a rebel with little regard for rules and laws and those in authority.

Theo said, “I skipped school all day, and I need to tell my parents about it. They will want to know why.”

“You can tell them. I’ll call Woods tomorrow and explain everything.”

Mr. Boone and Ike rarely talked, and this had always bothered Theo. The fact that Ike would call Theo’s father and talk about this was perhaps a good thing.

“Why did you skip all day?” Ike asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m not that busy.”

So Theo told him about April, and her anonymous letter, and the suspensions of the five teachers at East. Ike could be trusted with any secret. He seemed to like the idea that April nailed the cheaters with an anonymous letter.

Chapter 18

When Theo returned to the office, his mother was standing at Elsa’s desk, talking to Mr. Boone and Elsa and Vince, her paralegal. It was obvious that something bad had happened. For a split second, Theo thought maybe the school had called and reported him.

But it was far worse. That afternoon, the police had arrested Geneva Hull and the other four teachers. They were being charged with conspiracy and fraud, and Mrs. Boone was furious.

“These people are not criminals,” she said more than once. “What is Jack Hogan doing? You’d think he and the police have more important crimes to prosecute, bigger criminals to go after. This is ridiculous.”

Jack Hogan was the chief prosecutor and a well-respected lawyer. Theo had watched him in many trials.