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replied. “Too hot.”
    Grandfather started the truck and nodded to Dr. V. “Thank you for your kind offer, but I am afraid my grandson has declined. We must go now.”
    Dr. V opened his mouth to say something more, but Grandfather dropped the transmission into drive and spun the wheel, peeling out of the parking lot.

I breathed a sigh of relief as our small pickup truck raced down the road. I was glad to be away from Dr. V, and from Ryan. I still couldn’t believe how much Ryan had changed on the outside, as well as the inside. While he was never a good friend, I did go over to his house a couple of times with Jake to hang out. Ryan wasn’t disrespectful toward his mother then like he was today. In fact, he was so tight with his parents that I really envied him.
    When Ryan’s dad died, Grandfather took Jake and me to the funeral. Ryan seemed to appreciate that we were there, but we didn’t know what to say to him. Ryan’s dad and Dr. V had been elite cyclists when they were young, so Jake and I mostly just stood around and listened to the other cyclists who had come to pay their respects. There had been a lot of whispering about whether Ryan would keep riding without his father. Clearly, he had, and while he was in Belgium, he’dobviously taken it to a whole new level. He was different now, though, and I was certain that Dr. V was responsible.
    I turned to Grandfather to talk with him about Ryan, but Grandfather was lost in his own thoughts, so I let him be. I pressed my palms against the dashboard, feeling anxious about what we might find at home. We lived only a few miles from Town Run Trail Park, and the way Grandfather was driving, we would be there in a couple of minutes.
    Like Town Run Trail Park, our house was situated along the White River. The home was tiny, but the property was pretty big. It was several acres and there were tons of trees. Maple and oak covered the high ground at the front, while birch and scrub cedar grew in the swampy rear where the land dipped down to the river. It was beautiful and secluded, and from the house you couldn’t see the road or any of the neighbors. It was perfect for Grandfather’s secretive nature, but all those trees might be a problem now. If someone was inside our house, no one would know it.
    “Maybe we should stop somewhere and call the police,” I said. “Too bad we don’t have a cell phone.”
    Grandfather shook his head. “Let us see what there is to see, first. I do not want the authorities to think that I am a paranoid old man if there is no trouble.”
    I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I kept my mouth shut. I shifted in my seat, a million questions running through my mind. The main one was,
What could we possibly have in our house that was worth stealing?
I wanted toask Grandfather about this and many more things, but I knew I wouldn’t get any answers. I was becoming convinced he was hiding something. Deep down, I’d suspected this for a very long time. The only thing I really knew about him was his name,
Chénjí Long
, or “Silent Dragon” in Mandarin Chinese. It was a perfect name for someone as tight-lipped as he was.
    We turned onto our gravel driveway, and Grandfather wove quickly past the overgrown trees lining the drive. He surprised me by stomping on the brakes a full fifty yards from the house. This was where the trees stopped and the lawn began. I didn’t see any vehicles anywhere.
    “Stay in the truck,” Grandfather ordered.
    Before I could argue, he cut the engine and slipped out the driver’s-side door. He hurried across the yard, toward our house.
    It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was up to. By parking here, he blocked the only exit for vehicles that might be out of view.
    Grandfather reached the front door, and I watched him turn the handle without inserting a key. Unbelievably, the door opened. That door was always locked. This was serious.
    Grandfather entered the house, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I got out of