Death at Devil's Bridge Read Online Free Page A

It came out more loudly than I’d expected.
    Jeff looked nervously toward the door and whispered, “Shhh. Take it easy, Ben. He didn’t mean to sink it.”
    â€œI can’t believe it,” I said, whispering now, too. “What if he gets caught?”
    â€œHe’s not going to get caught.” Jeff looked at me earnestly, really believing what he was saying.
    â€œHow do you know? The police are looking for the person who did it!”
    Jeff shrugged. “Nobody saw him.”
    â€œBut why did he do it?” I asked.
    Jeff leaned toward me and said in a hushed voice, “You know Jen, Donny’s girlfriend?”
    I nodded. Everybody knew Jen and Donny.
    â€œWell, the kid who was driving the car was hitting on Jen at South Beach the other day, trying to impress her with his fancy car, get her to go for a ride and stuff. So Donny was just, you know, teaching him a lesson.”
    â€œGeez,” I said, imagining the whole scene. Donny was touchy about the Tomahawk, but that was nothing compared to how he was about Jen. No kid from the island would be brave—or stupid—enough to flirt with Jen since she’d started going out with Donny. Not that Donny went around threatening people or anything like that, but still, you didn’t want Donny mad at you. You just never knew what he might do.
    â€œSo the kid had it coming,” Jeff went on. “Maybe he’ll tell his friends they can’t just come here and throw their money around and treat us like dirt.”
    Treat us like dirt? What had the kid ever done to Jeff? I wondered. Then it hit me: the kid! “Where is the kid, anyway?” I asked.
    Jeff shrugged again. “Don’t know. I don’t think anybody knows.”
    â€œNot even Donny?”
    â€œNope. Donny left after he pushed the car in, and he never saw the kid again after that.”
    â€œAnd the kid just let Donny push his car in the water?”

    â€œNo. He was out on the beach, meeting some other kids.”
    It was pretty clear that Jeff was taking Donny’s side completely. He said, “You’re not going to tell, are you?”
    Tell? I hadn’t thought that far ahead. When I didn’t answer immediately, Jeff said, “ Ben . You can’t tell.” He looked at me incredulously and urged, “Come on , Ben. It’s not like he did it to one of our cars, like Chick’s or your mom’s or something. It belonged to one of them .”
    â€œThat’s why you’re covering for him?”
    â€œWell, yeah. What do I care about that rich little snot or his car? Donny’s my friend .”
    I couldn’t even talk. My thoughts were too jumbled up, and Jeff seemed so sure.
    â€œAnd you’re my friend,” he said. Then he added, “Right?”
    â€œWell, duh.”
    He smiled, spreading his hands wide, as if that settled that.
    I felt trapped in Jeff’s small, cluttered bedroom. I couldn’t breathe. Desperate to get away, I glanced at the clock. To my relief, it was almost nine-thirty. “Look, I really gotta go,” I said, standing up. “You know how Mom is.”
    â€œYeah,” said Jeff. “Okay.” Then, looking worried, he said, “You’re not mad or anything?”
    Mad? I didn’t know what I was, but I wasn’t mad at Jeff. I just needed time to think things over. “No,” I said.
    â€œGood,” he answered, and flashed me his old smile.
    I raced down the stairs, said a quick good-bye to the Mannings, and stepped out into the driveway. There was a light coming from the garage. Great. The last thing I wanted to do was run into Donny again. I crept toward my bike, trying not to let the gravel crunch beneath my feet.
    â€œLeaving, Ben?” Donny seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Suddenly he was standing between my bike and me. His voice was casual and light, as usual.
    â€œYeah,” I said, “and I’ve got to