Below the Surface (A Code of Silence Novel, Band 3) - Hardcover

Shoemaker, Tim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0310735017 ISBN 13: 9780310735014

Verlag: Zonderkidz, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Something is wrong with Cooper. He’s plagued by a fear he doesn’t understand and can’t control. Cooper just wants to escape, and a summer vacation aboard the restored cabin cruiser, The Getaway, with best friends Gordy, Hiro, and Lunk seems like the perfect way to do it. Two weeks of fun—with no mysteries or life-and-death danger. That’s the plan.

But their plans are shattered the very first night when they witness a murder. Or did they? Despite their intentions of leaving the investigation to the police, narrow misses and creepy encounters lure them in. Is there really a body floating in the underwater currents of the lake? The closer they get to the truth, the deeper into danger they get. Too late they see the trap. Now each of them must face their own buried fears . . . just below the surface.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Tim Shoemaker is a national speaker and author of eleven books, including Code of Silence, Back Before Dark, and the third in the series, Below the Surface. His nonfiction titles include Super Husband, Super Dad … You Can Be the Hero Your Family Needs.  Tim has three grown sons and has been happily married for over thirty years. Tim has also been working with youth on a volunteer basis for over twenty years—and still loves it. Connect with Tim on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorTimShoemaker

 

 

 

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Below the Surface

By Tim Shoemaker, David Conn

ZONDERKIDZ

Copyright © 2014 Tim Shoemaker
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-310-73501-4

CHAPTER 1

Vacations were all about having fun—or running from something not so fun. Cooper needed this vacation to be about both. The fact that he was starting high school in a matter of days wasn't what gnawed at him. Not really. It was something way deeper. Buried. And he intended to keep it there.

The more he packed his days with fun, the more effective his escape would be. And thanks to The Getaway—rather, thanks to Dad's uncle, who gave them the old cabin cruiser—that's exactly what he planned to do. He stood on the teak deck and looked out over Lake Geneva, or rather Geneva Lake, as it was officially named.

"Hey, Coop." It was his cousin Gordy's voice.

Gordy bobbed in the two-man inflatable raft by the back of the boat, his white-blond hair blowing back from his forehead. He grinned and pointed at the bucket of dead fish propped between his knees. "We doing this or not?"

Cooper eyeballed the target of their prank—the Malibu wakeboard boat tied to a buoy about halfway between them and the beach. "Absolutely."

Hiro gave him a questioning look, as if she wasn't sure this was a good idea. Predictable.

Cooper smiled and hustled to the stern of the boat. He peeled off his T-shirt, swung over the transom rail, and dropped onto the attached swim platform below. The buoy his dad had rented was among a dozen others anchoring pontoon, sail, and speedboats in a corner pocket of Lake Geneva bordering Big Foot Beach State Park. Like the heel of a giant sock, the lakeshore curved in two directions away from where the boats were anchored.

The south shoreline ran nearly straight west from this elbow of the lake. And in the other direction, the beach jutted north along Lake Shore Drive and the park. Eventually this shoreline wound around Maytag Point and on toward town.

The swim to either the beach or to the south shore looked to be about a hundred yards, give or take ten strokes. The Getaway was tied to the farthest buoy from either shore, which meant nothing but water between them and the horizon. The spot—and the lake—was absolutely perfect.

"Lunk's gonna wish we'd waited for him," Gordy said. "But we'd be crazy to miss this chance."

"You're both crazy to take this chance," Hiro said.

Whether Hiro was worried that something would go wrong or that her dream of being a cop someday conflicted with pulling a prank like this, Cooper couldn't be sure. And he wasn't about to ask.

Cooper glanced at the Malibu wakeboard boat again. The extreme green fiberglass hull with yellow accents practically glowed in the setting sun. Only a navy blue sailboat sat buoyed between them and their target.

Hiro rested her forearms on the rail above him. "Let's go for a walk on the beach instead. You guys can skip stones or something." She smiled and nodded.

Gordy laughed. "Nice try."

Hiro's black braid hung over one shoulder as if it were pointing at them. Accusing. "This is a bad idea, guys."

She was probably right. The Malibu was empty, but not for long. If they were going to do this, now was the time.

"We're on vacation, remember?" Hiro said. "No trouble. No worries. Just fun."

Cooper nodded. "That's exactly what we're doing. Having fun."

Hiro raised her eyebrows. "Is that what you call it?"

Gordy grinned. "Your problem is that you don't know how to have fun."

"I can think of a lot more enjoyable things to be doing than planting stinky fish in some innocent stranger's boat." She smiled and shook her head. "What is it with guys?"

She used the word enjoyable like that was the goal all along. Which only proved she didn't understand guys at all. This was about taking chances. Risks. And living to laugh about it later. "It gets the adrenaline pumping," Cooper said. It wasn't much of an answer, but it was the best he could do. She wasn't going to get it anyway.

"That's it? That's your explanation?" Hiro looked incredulous. "Five minutes ago a guy built like Superman tied that boat to the buoy and rowed his trophy date to shore."

"He doesn't look anything like the real Superman," Gordy said.

Hiro tilted her head to one side. "The real Superman? And here I thought he was a fictional character."

Gordy looked at her like she was weird. "You've never watched the old black-and-white TV show? It's like from back in the fifties or something."

"You might find this hard to believe," Hiro said, "but I find better things to do than watch old TV shows or pull pranks."

"You're right." Gordy didn't even look up. "That is hard to believe."

His jab didn't even faze her. "Did you notice the guy and his date—what was really going on there?"

"Yeah," Gordy said. "They crossed the street and went into the pizza place. Blah, blah, blah. We all saw that. What's the problem?"

Hiro sighed that way she did when she was about to make a point. Here it comes.

Cooper smiled and climbed into the inflatable.

"When guys are around girls, they like to show off," Hiro said slowly. "Impress them. Prove how tough they are."

Okay. Maybe Hiro understood guys better than Cooper thought.

"And while Superman is chowing down on pizza and romancing his babe, we're going to leave a little surprise in his boat." Gordy grinned. "We'll see how impressed his date is then."

"Exactly." Hiro looked up at the darkening sky like she was hoping for a little help. "You aren't seeing the red flag here?"

Ah. The red-flag approach. One of Hiro's favorites.

Cooper shrugged. "Looks like a green flag to me."

Gordy laughed. "Or a checkered one." He shielded his eyes with one hand and scanned the beach. "I'm not seeing a red one anywhere."

Cooper loved Hiro's exasperated expression. Yeah, this vacation was going to be exactly what he needed.

Hiro sighed. "I hate to sound like the mom here, but you two are running with scissors. You know that, right?"

Gordy shook his head like he was trying to make sense out of what Hiro had just said. "What?"

"You're living dangerously. Run with scissors and eventually you'll get cut."

Gordy waved her off. "It's a harmless prank."

"Hmmm." Hiro didn't look convinced. Or impressed. "We'll see how harmless it is once Superman comes out and catches you two messing with his boat."

Hiro was always seeing the danger in things. Trouble was, Cooper knew she was usually right.

"He's not going to catch us," Gordy said, "unless you keep delaying us. C'mon, Coop."

Gordy scooted to make room in the inflatable. "Sure you won't join us, Hiro?"

"You two have your fun," she said. "I'll watch from here. Excuse me if I don't see the point in all this."

"Point?" Gordy looked confused. "We're not trying to make a point. There is no point to it."

Hiro smirked. "So it's pointless. Thanks for clearing that up for me."

Gordy reached into the bucket, grabbed a bloated sunfish by the tailfin, and tossed it at Hiro. She ducked and screamed. The dead fish nearly hit her in the face, then slapped the water on the other side of the boat.

Cooper and Gordy laughed.

Hiro glared at them, but the smile was still there. Sometimes she worried about them more than she needed to. Cooper understood that.

"We'll be right back." Cooper pushed off from the swim platform and paddled with his arms toward the speedboat. How long had the couple been inside the pizza place? If...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Zonderkidz
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310735017
• ISBN 13: 9780310735014
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 416
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar