Nowhere to Turn (25 page)

“We're not talking about your mother now, Connor,” Elliot said.

“I heard her talking to that guy, Jones, about how much she owed him. She told him about Grandpa's collection.” He looked contemptuously at his mother. “That's all you care about, isn't it? To you, the coins are just a way to pay off your debt. You don't understand—neither of you do. They're not just money, they're history. That's what Grandpa always said. They're pocket-sized pieces of history. But the only thing the two of you cared about was how much they were worth.”

“Did you take those coins, Connor?”

“You're not listening,” Connor said. “Mom took them. But I knew she was up to something. I pretended I was going to the library and waited until she left the house with Isobel. Then I snuck back inside. I saw her, Dad. I saw her take them, where she hid them. When she left again, I took them and put them someplace safe.”

There was something I didn't understand: “Why pry open the side door? Your mom already fixed it so that it'd look like the thief came in through the kitchen window.”

Connor looked at me as if I were an idiot. “If I just moved them, she might figure out that it was me. But if it looked like someone really had broken in, she'd blame someone else.”

I turned to Claudia again. “And that's what you told Mr. Jones, right? That's why Beej's house was broken into. That's why Nick and I were attacked. You really thought Nick had those coins, and you needed them.”

“You lied to me,” Elliot said. “You stole from my father. And now some thug has my father's dog.” He turned to Connor. “This ends here, do you understand? Give me the coins.”

“What are you going to do with them?” Connor said. “Give them to her”—he looked disdainfully at his mother—“so she can give them to Mr. Jones? So you can get that stupid dog?”

“Connor!” Isobel said, snapping out of the daze she had been in. “Grandpa loves Orion.”

“And as long as he's alive, those coins are his, not yours,” Elliot said. “Connor, if you don't hand over those coins this minute, if anything happens to that dog, I'll call the police myself. And I'll tell your grandfather exactly what you did.”

“I was helping him. I was protecting his coins.”

“You lied—to him, to me, to everyone. You made an innocent person look guilty. The police can charge you for that, Connor. Is that what you want? What do you think it would do to your grandfather if he found out? You'd never inherit those coins. Never.”

Connor stared defiantly at his father for a moment. Then he caved in.

“They're in the garage,” he said. “Under Grandpa's workbench. I was going to give them back to Grandpa when he got better. Then everything got so complicated. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, Dad. I was just trying to protect Grandpa's coins.”

“And make sure he didn't leave any of them to Nick,” I said sourly.

Elliot looked defeated. “I should probably call the police,” he said. “But what will happen to the dog if I do?” He looked at his wife. “Do you think Jones will make good on his threat?”

“You don't have to worry about Orion,” I said.

“How do you know?” Elliot said.

“I know where he is. He's in good hands.”

“You have the dog?” Claudia said.

I reached into my pocket for the piece of paper Mr. Schuster had signed for me at the hospital the night before and handed it to Elliot.

“I didn't tell your father what I suspected,” I said. “I thought you'd want to do that yourself. I just told him that I wanted to make sure Orion was being looked after. He gave me permission to remove him from the house last night.”

“But how? We were here last night,” Elliot said.

“She probably broke in,” Connor said bitterly.

I ignored him. “Your father trusted Nick with a set of keys. And you said yourself that Orion barks so much, you hardly notice anymore.” I'd been counting on that.

“Where is he now?” Elliot asked.

“Nick has him.”

Elliot sighed. “I doubt I could find a better home for the dog than with that boy. He certainly seems to love that animal.”

“He still has a court date coming up,” I said. “Nick was also charged with assaulting your wife and with unlawful entry into the house.”

“I'll withdraw the charges,” Claudia said quietly.

“He never hit you, did he?” I said.

She shook her head.

“Then why on earth did you say he did?” Elliot asked.

“Because she really believed that Nick stole those coins,” I said.

“The police said he did,” Claudia said.

“And then he showed up and wanted to talk to Mr. Schuster. I bet you were surprised.”

“I was afraid he would try to trade the coins for the dog.”

“I bet you were also afraid that if Nick talked to Mr. Schuster, he might mention where he'd found the coins. And if he did, Mr. Schuster would know that they had been moved. That's why you claimed Nick assaulted you. You had him charged. Then you got a restraining order to keep him away from Mr. Schuster.”

Claudia Schuster bowed her head and began to cry. Elliot did not go to her and hug her. He stood across the hall from her and stared at her as if she were a stranger.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

E

lliot Schuster might not have had the best relationship with his father, but he wasn't a thief and he wasn't completely unfeeling. He had seemed really concerned about how losing Orion would have affected Mr. Schuster. And as soon as he found out what had happened, he did the right thing. He called the police and explained everything. He insisted that all charges against Nick be dropped. He said that he would leave it up to his father to decide if he wanted to press charges against Claudia or Connor. He also said that he wanted to stop by my dad's place later to apologize to Nick. He asked me if I would agree to be there too. But first I had a stop to make.

I went from Mr. Schuster's house to my mother's house, took off my boots and coat, and stood inside for some time, wondering what could have happened to the letter Nick said he had left with Zeke.

Zeke had installed shelves and cupboards in the basement while I was away on a school trip. Since then, my mother had talked about uncluttering the main floor of the house by moving things down to those new shelves, but so far, she hadn't got around to it. I doubted she had even been in the basement since Zeke had done his installation.

I went downstairs. The shelves, which were built into one wall, stood empty. I approached them but found nothing. One by one, I opened the cupboards below the shelves.

And there, lying at the bottom of one empty cupboard, was an envelope with my name on it. Zeke must have brought it downstairs, intending to give it to my mom, then forgotten all about it.

I picked up the envelope. Inside was a letter hand written by Nick. It said exactly what he said it would say. I sank down to the floor.

Elliot Schuster was already at my father's place when I got back. Claudia and Connor were with him. All three of them took a step backward when they saw Orion, even though Nick had him on a tight leash. Not only did Elliot apologize to Nick—and to me—but he made Claudia and Connor apologize too. Then he said, “My father is going into a nursing home as soon as he's discharged from the hospital. He wants to know if you would be interested in adopting Orion—assuming, of course, that you're able to provide for him.”

Nick's face lit up. “I know I'll be able to get a job,” he said. “I got a good reference from the last place I worked.” He must have meant La Folie. “And I'm going back to school. Tell Mr. Schuster that I'll take good care of Orion. And I'll bring him by for regular visits. Make sure you tell him that part.”

“I will,” Elliot promised. He reached for his coat. “I misjudged you, Nick,” he added. “I'm sorry.”

“Well, I can't say you two didn't cover your bases,” my dad said after the Schusters had left. “But it could have turned out differently, Robbie. If Elliot really had stolen those coins, if he'd been desperate . . .”

“I knew Connor was involved, Dad. Earl was positive about the jacket he'd seen. And I knew Elliot had nothing to do with it when he told me about the ransom note. He wanted to get Orion back safely, and he had no idea where to find the coins.”

My father arched an eyebrow at the mention of a ransom note. “There are elements of this story that you might not want to mention to your mother,” he said. “In fact, you might want to consider not mentioning the whole thing. And, Robbie? Don't lie to me or the police again, okay?”

“Sorry, Dad.”

Nick, who was sitting at the end of my father's couch, reached out to scratch Orion behind the ear. The massive dog's tail thumped happily on the hardwood floor.

“I can keep him,” he said, his voice filled with awe. “I can't believe it. I can keep him.”

“I'm sure he'd appreciate having a roof over his head,” my father said. “Your apartment is still empty, Nick. It's yours if you want it.”

Nick glanced at me. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Hunter,” he said. “But Beej has invited me to crash on her couch for now.”

“Fair enough,” my father said. “The apartment's there if you change your mind.”

“I appreciate everything you did for me,” Nick said. “You, too, Robyn.” He started to get up. “I'd better get going.”

“Nick, we need to talk,” I said.

Nick dropped down onto the couch again.

“I have some phone calls to make,” my dad said. He withdrew to his office and closed the door.

I looked at Nick.

“I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't got involved, Robyn,” he said. He reached out and took one of my hands and held it. “I owe you one.”

“Why don't you move back into your old place?” I said. “You need somewhere permanent to live.”

He shook his head slowly. “I don't think I'm ready for that. I'd be down there wondering if you were up here, if that guy was up here with you . . .”

“I'm so sorry about that, Nick. But I thought—”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said. “I probably would have done the same thing you did.” He thought a moment. “No, that's not true. I would have done worse. I would have freaked out.” He let go of my hand. “It's not your fault. It's probably best if we both just move on.”

Half of me wanted to say, “No, the best thing would be for us to get back together.” The other half of me felt an obligation to Ben. I had told him Nick was out of my life. I had told him he had nothing to worry about. He had stuck by me even when Nick showed up again. How could I tell him it was over between us? Was I even sure that's what I wanted? Nick made my heart race, but he was hot-tempered and did things that got him into trouble. Ben was deliberate and even-tempered and never got into trouble. That meant something, didn't it?

Nick stood up. Orion jumped eagerly to his feet.