Invincible Chronicles of Nick - By Sherrilyn Kenyon Page 0,43
out on his rump. To have him go to jail would be the bonus round.
That would kill his mother.
Don’t ever go to jail, Nicky. Whatever you do, don’t be like your father. I’ve worked too hard and sacrificed too much to see you come to that end. She said that to him so much that it kept a constant earworm going in his head.
“Why would you do this to me?”
The coach gave a cruel smirk. “Because you have the skills I need. I have a list of items and a very short time to gather them. If I fail, you won’t like what happens to you. That I promise. But if you help … I will reward you greatly.”
Why would he need Nick’s help to steal? “What? You got a gambling problem or something?”
“You’re a smart kid. This is one debt I have to pay and one I will do anything to meet. You help me and I’ll help you.”
And if he didn’t, the jerk would send him to juvie. He shuddered at the very thought.
Then an idea hit him. “What if I borrowed the money you need? You could pay back your loan sharks or bookie or whoever, and everyone would be happy.”
The coach shook his head. “My items are very specific. Money won’t do either of us any good, and it won’t pay my debt. Or keep you out of jail.”
“Look, I don’t want to be a thief.”
“Fine. As I said, borrow them. I don’t care how you get what I need so long as all the items are in my possession and they are the exact, and I do mean exact, items on my list from the people I tell you to take them from. You understand? There can be no substitutions whatsoever.”
Nick nodded. If he could borrow them, that wouldn’t be so bad. Except he knew the coach wouldn’t return them.…
Man, how did he get into these things?
The coach handed him a folded-up piece of paper. “You have six days, Gautier. After that, I’m going to make Mr. Head very happy where you’re concerned.”
Fabulous.
Nick watched as the coach left. His heart pounding, he unfolded the paper and read it. Stunned, he felt his jaw go slack over what the coach wanted him to take from his classmates. But one item in particular leapt out at him.
The coach wanted him to steal Nekoda’s solitaire diamond necklace.
No way. I won’t do it. He had no intention of hurting Kody. Not in any way or form. He wouldn’t do it.
The coach could roast, for all he cared.
And he held that resolve tight until his sixth period, when the police came and arrested Dave Smithfield out of their classroom.
Dave cried like a baby while they handcuffed him and read him his rights. “I don’t do drugs. I swear it! Someone planted that in my locker. I’m telling the truth. Why won’t you believe me? I didn’t do it. I didn’t!”
They refused to listen as they hauled him out of the school while Nick and the rest watched on in horror.
Until he met Coach Devus’s satisfied smirk and warning gaze. Then he knew the truth.
The coach had planted it in Dave’s locker and he’d probably called the cops, too.
And later that night, after football practice, while Nick watched the news at Kyrian’s house, he learned just how sick his new coach really was.
The woman commentator’s face was sad as she read from the teleprompter. “A tragedy tonight coming from juvenile lockup. A fourteen-year-old student at St. Richards High School, David James Smithfield, who was arrested earlier today after drugs were discovered in his locker at school, was found dead in his cell an hour ago. Authorities are awaiting the autopsy results, but at this point, they believe it to be a suicide.…”
Yeah, right. Nick had a really bad feeling about that as he pulled the pendulum from his pocket. Dave wasn’t the kind of person who’d kill himself. Not even after being arrested. He’d known the guy for years. Always happy-go-lucky, Dave had never been involved in anything immoral or illegal. And as small as their school was, Nick would know if he had.
His heart pounding, Nick opened his book on the desk and flipped to the pendulum page.
Holding the chain the way Grim had taught him, he concentrated on his question. “Was the coach responsible for Dave’s death?”
Without hesitation, it swung over yes. Forcefully. Then it started moving in a strange pattern he couldn’t identify. Unable to decipher it, he