Read Online The Pineville Heist by Lee Chambers - Free Book Online

confronted theman. Instead, all of their communication has been tense, frosty and overly-formal.
    Tremblay finished his brief trek down memory lane. He composed himself, whipped off his sunglasses, and raised the radio again. Tremblay spat into the radio, “Okay, put him on.”
    On the other side of the clump of trees, Aaron was running, with Carl hot on his heels. For the second time that day, Aaron ducked and weaved between branches, and leapt broken trunks and ditches. He was agile. He knew the woods better than Carl, who was trailing behind him now. But Aaron was also tired and thirsty and about ready to snap in two, mentally and physically. What happened to his friends?
    As he reached a small clearing, Aaron started to slow. He wiped away tears streaming along the sides of his face, into his ears. Kicking at the long grass in frustration, Aaron kept hidden while he kept an eye out for Carl.
    Then he heard Carl's voice, not far from his position. “Look, Aaron, I'm not saying you didn't see something out here, but put yourself in our shoes and look at it from our side for a minute.”
    Holding his breath, Carl waited for a response. “I'm not lying!” Aaron shouted, sounded like he was somewhere to the right.
    Carl veered in that direction, treading lightly, trying not to make a lot of noise. Crack. Clumsy oaf broke a damn branch. He tried to cover his mistake by talking some more: “Hold on. I didn't say you were. What I am saying though is we can only investigate a crime if there's evidence of one and, well…”
    “I know what I saw. Someone must have taken the bodies.”
    Carl's face appeared strained as he attempted to locate Aaron's voice, which seemed to be bouncing off every tree. “Then there's no sense wasting any more time looking for them out here, right?”
    “Hey!” Aaron felt himself being yanked backwards. He let out a surprised yelp and carouselled around to see Carl, who was now resting his arm around Aaron's shoulders.
    Carl began to lead Aaron away, keeping his arm firmly closed around him, squeezing a little too tightly. Aaron had no opportunity to escape again, and he slumped against Carl in defeat.
    “We need to look somewhere else.” Aaron had spent every last ounce of 'fight' on this mad dash, and he was about ready to relinquish the reins of the search to someone else. But, there were so many questions and fears rattling around his head. What about the money?
    Walking back to the wooded path, Aaron stepped over a plank that was covered with a layer of dirt; below it was the hole where Jake hid the other backpack.
    Amanda straightened from her leaning gait to meet Aaron and Carl as they approached the cruisers. Her face was etched with concern, and she smiled for Aaron's benefit. Aaron was never happier to see a familiar face than now in his exhaustion.
    Carl led Aaron to the tail end of the cruiser, and Aaron sat on the bumper. He kneaded the back of his neck and stared off into space, tired and worried.
    Carl seemed satisfied that Aaron wouldn't try another cross-country run through the woods again, so he turned to Amanda.
    She leaned forward and tried to read Carl's expression. Exasperated to find no clues in his poker face and no forthcoming words, she asked, “So?”
    “We didn't find anything,” Carl said, looking away.
    “Nothing? At all?” Amanda looked over at Aaron, who was still posed in a slightly comatose stare. He looked stricken and shocked. Amanda looked back at Carl and asked again, “Nothing?”
    Carl shook his head “no” and glanced over to Tremblay's cruiser. Behind the wheel, the shiny-lensed eyes were watching them as the Sheriff conversed with the radio. Tremblay waved Carl over.
    Amanda stared at Carl and Tremblay as Carl walked away. After a moment, she shrugged and turned to Aaron, looking him directly in the eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Startled, Aaron's unfocused stare began to focus on his teacher. With concern lacing her voice, Amanda