Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

take the gun to start with. Hadn’t planned to take it to school, for sure. But that fat-ass Tulio wouldn’t let it go. He kept pushing and pushing . . .  Calling me names . Threatening to  . . . Cole swallowed, his hands going clammy just thinking about the stairwell and how they’d pushed up against him.
    So he’d taken the gun to school just to show them. Just to scare them off. Because they wouldn’t leave me alone . But that fat-ass Tulio had called his bluff and grabbed the gun right out of Cole’s hand and wouldn’t give it back.
    Enough of the guys had seen Tulio walking around with it. Of course the principal had seen them. That old guy had eyes in the back of his damn head. They’d scattered, but the principal had seen the gun. There is no way any of the guys will lie for me . The principal would tell the cops and the guys would give Cole up in less than a heartbeat.
    So I’m outta here . But he didn’t want to go empty-handed. He’d gotten used to the feel of cold metal at his back. He wouldn’t take a gun to school again, but he sure as hell wanted one when he walked into a bad neighborhood. He’d lost the first one he’d taken, but he knew where to find more.
    Cole didn’t want to know why Mitch kept a bunch of guns and thousands of dollars in that little room in the basement – the hidden room that Mitch didn’t want him to know about. Mitch had his hands in some serious shit and Cole did not want to follow in his brother’s footsteps. ‘Ex-con’ didn’t look good on your permanent record.
    But this once, he needed the help. There had been fifteen normal guns plus some that looked like antiques. He’d left the antiques alone the first time. He wouldn’t touch them this time either. Just a normal pistol. That’s all I need .
    He crept down the stairs, grateful that Mitch was gone, leaving Cole all alone in the house that had more nooks and crannies than an English muffin. Mitch thought he was too stupid to know about all the hidden corners and rooms.
    Cole knew about them and more. He pushed the boxes away from the wall and frowned. Then his heart started pounding even harder. The door had a new padlock.
    Oh no . Hell, no . Now what?
    A clatter upstairs had him jumping away from the supposed-to-be-secret door.
    ‘Mitch! Where are you? Goddammit, you mother fuck ing sonofabitch, where the fuck ing hell are you?’
    That couldn’t be Matthew. Matthew didn’t swear. But it was. Stowing his shock, Cole replaced the boxes and listened. Matthew charged up to the second floor, so Cole jogged up the basement stairs. If he hurried, he could slip out through the garage before Matthew came back down, because he didn’t want to listen to another one of Matthew’s rants about what a problem Mitch was becoming.
    Cole had gotten through the kitchen when a hand clamped his shoulder. He turned and looked down into Matthew’s glaring face. Matthew was bigger than Mitch. But I’m bigger than them both . Why do I have to be such a fucking loser? ‘What?’ he snarled.
    ‘Where’s Mitch?’ Matt demanded.
    ‘Not here. Said he had a job. He took the Jeep, left the van.’
    Matthew looked away. ‘Damn him. Damn him to hell.’
    Don’t ask what’s wrong . Don’t ask . ‘What’s wrong?’ Dammit .
    Matthew was pale. ‘Mitch set Dad up with some dangerous men. Stole from them, made it look like Dad did it. Fucking nightmare.’
    See, now this is where I’m smarter than Mitch . Mitch would be all sarcastic, but I will pretend to care, just so I can get the hell out of here before the cops haul me off to juvie . ‘Why would he do that?’
    Good tone, good concern. Go, me . But Cole was really grinning inside. Go, Mitch . Asshole stepfather made Mitch take the blame years ago. That’s why Mitch went to jail. Paybacks are a bitch .
    ‘I don’t know. Still holding a grudge, I guess.’
    Well it was three years of his life in prison getting it up the ass every day . Which is why I’m having problems now . Thanks , Dad.
    Cole grimaced. ‘It wasn’t like that was Dad’s fault or anything.’ Man, even I can’t pull that one off with a straight face . ‘But it was three years of his life, Matt.’
    ‘This is going to get Dad killed,’ Matthew said bitterly. ‘What’s wrong with you two?’
    ‘Look, I don’t want anything to happen to Dad. If Mitch did this, he was wrong.’
    ‘If? If? I don’t know why I bother with you people.’
    Cole raised his hands. ‘Whoa. What did