“What’s that?” says Emily.
“A supermarket.”
“Oh. Makes sense.”
“Yeah. And there’s a bluff right behind the supermarket so he can throw the pizzas in a backpack and ride up a trail so he won’t get caught.”
“Is that why the boys gave Daniel the bike?”
“I guess. Except turns out they stole the bike and painted it a different color so people wouldn’t know. But Dad figured it out. Daniel’s going to turn it in to the police but the police aren’t going to tell anyone it was him who did it so he doesn’t get in trouble with those boys.”
“Is Daniel going to do it? Is he going to nick the pizzas for them?” says Emily.
“He doesn’t know. He’s scared. He wants to just give the bike back and tell them he’s not nicking anything, but he can’t give it back because it has to be returned to its owner. Daniel sounds really worried, which he never is. So it’s weird.”
“What if,” says Emily, “Daniel gave the bike back to the boys, then a couple days later, the police arrested them for having the stolen bike? Then Daniel wouldn’t get in trouble with anyone, and the owner of the bike would get it back, and maybe the boys would go to jail or something, and not bother Daniel anymore.”
“Whoa, Emily! That’s a really good idea. I’ll tell Dad in the morning. See what he says.”
Braedon can practically hear Emily smiling on the other end of the phone. Neither says anything for a few seconds, then Emily says, “When are you coming to Galway to visit?”
“Don’t know,” says Braedon. “I want to come this summer but Dad says he has to get ready for his new coaching job. And with Teddy disappearing… Maybe Christmas.” He hesitates, then adds, “I sure hope so. It’d be fun to see you.”
“It would be fun,” says Emily. “I wonder who’s taller now.”
“We’ll have to measure,” says Braedon. “Wait. Hold on. I hear someone coming through the front door.” Braedon puts the phone down to dedicate both ears to listening. He recognizes his father’s familiar gait, then picks up the phone. “It’s Dad. Maybe he knows something about Teddy.”
“Let me know, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Hey,” says Emily, “before you get off the phone. Think maybe you’ll bring some euros?”
“Definitely,” says Braedon.
“How much, do you think?”
“I don’t know. I have about a hundred and fifty now. Maybe I’ll have more by the time I visit.”
“Whoa. How’d you get so much?”
“When we moved to America, we found a bunch of euros unpacking. Like a mess were in pockets in Dad’s clothes. He said I could keep them for when we visited.”
“I have fifty-seven euros. Want to take a train ride to Dublin and walk around there and eat lunch and maybe go to a play or something?”
Braedon thinks that going to Dublin with Emily—just the two of them without any adults—sounds like the most amazing adventure ever. “Whoa, Emily. You’re full of good ideas. I definitely want to if Dad lets me. Oh! He’s coming. I’ll get back to you tomorrow. I mean today, your time.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
CHAPTER 18
Judd gave Braedon a fingerprint kit for his birthday, and after playing with it for a few days, Braedon stuck it on the upper shelf of his closet under boxes of board games. The next morning before breakfast, Clay asks if he and Grandpa can borrow it.
Braedon says, “Did someone break into Grandpa’s house and you’re trying to find out who did it?”
“No,” says Clay. He doesn’t want to tell Braedon about the earring and ransom note, so he just says, “We’re going to dust some of Uncle Teddy’s things so we can give his fingerprints to the police. That way they’ll have them just in case.”
