Read Online Tag Along by Tom Ryan - Free Book Online

pulls up and parks behind us.
    â€œShit,” Candace whispers. “Five-oh.”
    It’s the same cop from earlier. He gets out of his car and walks over to us.
    â€œWell, will you look at this,” he says. “I thought I recognized this truck. You guys aren’t up to any trouble here, are you?”
    â€œNo, sir,” says Candace in her fake baby-doll voice. “We just came to the park for a stroll. It’s superduper romantic here!”
    â€œGot to be careful,” he says. “You’ll find yourself in all kinds of trouble if you start getting too romantic in a public space, if you catch my drift.”
    â€œOh, for sure!” says Candace. “I’m saving myself for my wedding night.”
    I choke back a laugh. She sounds totally sincere but completely naive, and none of it lines up with the way she looks.
    â€œThat hoodie looks familiar,” the cop says, pointing at Candace.
    â€œYou like it? My grandma bought it for me before she died. It really means a lot to me.” She makes a sad face.
    â€œYou guys mind if I take a look inside the vehicle?” He’s already walking around it, looking through the windows.
    â€œBe our guest,” says Candace. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
    â€œYeah, I think I’m going to have to take a little look-see inside the cab.” He looks at me. “This your truck?”
    â€œYeah,” I say. “Well, it’s my dad’s truck.”
    He gets me to pull out my license, insurance and registration. He looks them over, then cheerfully opens the front door of the truck and starts to dig around.
    We stand to the side, and Candace nestles up against me, shoving her face into my chest and biting on her knuckles. I put my arm around her and play along, trying not to imagine what Lannie would think if she saw this whole scene.
    After several minutes, in which the cop turns the cab upside down, empties all of my dad’s toolboxes and even gets on his back and shines a flashlight underneath the truck, he stands up and reluctantly hands the papers back to me.
    â€œNothing in there,” he says.
    â€œThat’s what I said!” says Candace, her voice muffled by my shirt.
    â€œListen,” he says, “I think it’s about time you guys hit the road. There’s no good reason to be hanging out here.”
    â€œYes, sir,” I say. “We’ll do that.”
    I wait for him to get back in his car, but he doesn’t move. He just stands there with his arms folded, staring at us. “Not sure if you guys understand what I’m saying here,” he says. “I think you should leave. Now.”
    â€œOkay, wait a minute,” says Candace. “You can’t just make us leave. We aren’t doing anything wrong, and this is a public space!”
    â€œYou’re right,” he says. “I can’t legally force you to leave, and I can’t charge you with anything if you decide you want to ignore my advice and stick around anyway. But you know, I don’t have to go anywhere either.” He looks up at the sky and whistles. “It’s an awfully nice evening to just sit here and listen to the radio.” He looks at his watch. “I’d say the prom isn’t going to be over for at least, oh, I’m guessing another few hours or so. Until then, I won’t have a whole lot to keep me busy.”
    He takes a step toward us. “I’ll tell you something else. I don’t trust either of you as far as I can throw you. I knew there was something fishy going on back at the convenience store, but you convinced me that you weren’t the girl I was looking for. Now I’m pretty sure I was right all along. Give me some credit, guys. You think I don’t know about the Ledge? I know you kids don’t go in there to play board games.”
    I don’t see any point in arguing with him, especially since he’s right,