Con Academy by Joe Schreiber

Author:Joe Schreiber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Nineteen

“YOU DIDN’T TELL HIM, DID YOU?” DAD ASKS, OUT IN THE parking lot.

“Tell him what?”

His face pinches. “Don’t play me for a patsy, kid. I invented this racket.”

For a second we just stand there in the exhaust-reeking, cold darkness outside the office building. Rhonda has already climbed into Dad’s old Chevy and now she’s sitting in the passenger seat, having swapped out her gum for a Marlboro, fiddling impatiently with the car radio.

“I know why you’re in such a hurry to pull off this scam,” he says, peering at me from under his eyebrows. “I know all about your Thanksgiving bet.”

I stare at him. “What—?”

“Your little friend from school paid me a visit the other day. What’s her name—Andrea? She must have seen you leaving my motel in town, because she came by later and told me everything.” He tilts his chin up so that I can almost see a ghost of a smile tucked into the corner of his mouth. “Gutsy move on your part, seeing who can fleece this Rush brat first.”

I don’t say anything.

“Don’t worry,” Dad says. “Your secret’s safe with me. Still, I gotta say, it’s a good thing you didn’t go against me on bringing Rhonda into it.” He makes a fist and chucks me on the chin, hard enough to hurt. “I’d hate to break up our father-son bond, right?”

“Just make sure you’re here tomorrow,” I say.

“Oh, I’ll be here,” Dad says. “For two million bucks, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

We drive back in silence.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.