Read Online The Stranger Next Door by Peg Kehret - Free Book Online Page A

Ginny.”
    “Can we call her?” Rocky asked. Even though he and Blake were unhurt, it seemed imperative to talk to his mother right away.
    “She’ll call you,” Mr. Franklin said, “as soon as she can. I know she’ll be upset when she learns what happened, but right now her safety, and yours, is our first concern.”
    Rocky folded his arms across his chest, rubbing on the sleeves of Alex’s sweatshirt, trying to get warm. Why did Mother have to be in Washington, D.C., tonight? Why did she have to go there at all? Why couldn’t someone else testify during the trial?
    Mother and Blake had explained the whole situation, but Rocky still didn’t totally understand it all. Something about their explanation bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong.
    He closed his eyes and thought back to that first night, more than a month ago, when they had moved so suddenly. After Mr. Valdez took them to a hotel room, the three adults had finally explained the situation to him.
    “We are moving,” Mother had told him, “because I’m going to be a witness for the United States government in a major drug trial. The defendant in the case has made millions of dollars selling illegal drugs, and he will do anything to prevent me from testifying against him.”
    Rocky was dumbfounded. How could his mother, who didn’t smoke and who didn’t drink—not even beer orwine—be involved with a drug dealer? It just seemed impossible.
    “When she says the defendant will do anything to keep her from testifying,” Mr. Valdez said, “that includes murder. He couldn’t do it himself, of course, since he is in custody, awaiting trial, but he has a network of henchmen who will gladly follow orders if the price is right.”
    “How did this happen? When?” Rocky stammered, not knowing which of his questions to ask first. He had to move—to change his name and go into hiding—because someone wanted to murder his mother? It was unthinkable!
    “This man often uses old cars to smuggle drugs into the country,” Blake said. “He buys cars that have been in accidents, then has them towed to one of his contacts in Mexico, where packets of drugs, usually cocaine, are hidden in the cars. Sometimes the upholstery is split and small packages of drugs are sewn inside. Sometimes a secret compartment is drilled in the dashboard or under the floor. More than once, cocaine was inside a spare tire in the trunk, or in a fake muffler. The cars are repaired enough so that they can be driven across the border. The drivers choose busy times when the customs agents are harried, and they take along their wives and children, to give the appearance of a family on vacation.”
    “Once the car is in the United States,” Mother continued,“it goes to one of several auto-repair shops in Southern California. Someone at the shop—usually the owner—is in on the deal. He gets a tip when such a car is brought in so that he can remove the drugs when nobody else is there. He does this as quickly as possible, then calls an anonymous contact person who comes to pick up the packages of drugs.”
    “So A-One Auto Repair was one of the places the drug dealer used?” Rocky asked.
    “It’s one that he wanted to use,” Blake said. “He called and offered us a chance to cooperate with him. If we agreed, we would get ten thousand dollars each time a pickup was made.”
    “Only instead of saying yes,” Rocky guessed, “you called the police.”
    “That’s right,” his mother said. “When he made the offer, I said I needed to think about it. Then we notified the police, and that same day someone from the FBI asked us if we would be willing to cooperate with the government in trying to catch the drug smuggler. We said yes. When the drug smuggler called back the next day, I did as the FBI instructed: I told him we wanted the money and would do what he asked.”
    “We knew when we agreed to do this,” Blake said, “that it might mean we would have