When the Chips Are Down by Anne Rasico Read Free Book Online

their seven hour voyage to Boise, and Trent was already sick of seeing nothing but the highway, flat lands, and other cars.  They had loaded the truck with extra clothes, food, water, and as many supplies as they could gather in a short amount of time. “Caleb’s going to have fun at the farm all by himself today. That’s what he deserves,” Zane laughed.
    “Be nice,” Brooklyn said. Zane was still a little irritated with Caleb, but more nervous and excited about going to Boise than anything else.
     
    “We need to have some sort of a plan once we get to Boise,” Brooklyn said, leaning forward in the back seat to face Trent and Zane.
    “What kind of plan?” Zane wanted to know.
    “ We need to know what we’re going to do once we get there!” Brooklyn exclaimed, “If Dr. Eldridge kept secret documentation of his research or something that the government doesn’t want us to know, where do you think he would’ve kept it?”
     
    “At the lab where he worked,” Trent replied.
    “Well, there’s no way we’re getting in there ; security is tight at those places. I guess our best bet is to find his old house,” Zane said.
    “You’re going to break into a dead guy’s house?  How do you know he doesn’t have a family still living there?” Trent retorted as if it was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “His obituary didn’t say anything about a wife or kids,” Zane said.
    “You guys are going to get us thrown in jail,” Trent g roaned.
     
    “No one’s going to jail.  Brook, what exit do we need to take next?” Zane said. 
    “We can stay on this road until we get to Boise,” Brooklyn informed, looking at the map.  “We’ll stop at the next rest area, and you can drive for a while,” Trent told Zane. 
    “That’s fine . You can take a nap and become less grumpy,” Zane remarked.
    “I have good reason to be grumpy.  We’re taking a very long and dangerous trip on a notion that if we go snooping through a dead scientist’s house, we might find something,” Trent grumbled. 
     
    “This could be the ground breaking trip of a lifetime,” Zane emphasized. 
    “Or it could be a complete waste of time and gas,” Trent retorted.  Brooklyn understood why Zane was so excited about going to Boise.  It had given him hope, and he was clinging to it.  If this trip did turn out to be a waste of time, she was not sure how he was going to handle it.
     
    “Well, here we are. Now what?” Trent said. They were parked on the street in an upper middle class neighborhood, staring at Dr. Eldridge’s gray and white house.  It seemed surprisingly modest for a scientist. The sun was setting and the house was dark. Children were playing in the front yard next door. “We should wait until those kids go inside,” Zane said.
    “They probably won’t even notice or care if we’re snooping around. They’re too busy playing,” Trent said.
    “Kids are nos ey and they have big mouths.  Of course they will notice us,” Zane replied.
    “W hy don’t you follow that gravel road over there? I think there may be an alleyway behind these houses,” Brooklyn suggested.
     
    Zane started the truck and turned onto the gravel road, and sure enough, there was an alley, but it did not run directly behind Eldridge’s house. “Just park the truck and we’ll walk. It’s not that far,” Brooklyn instructed. Zane parked the truck behind a red brick building and the three began walking. “I think those kids have gone inside. I don’t hear them anymore,” Brooklyn said when they were near the house.
     
    “Good,” Zane replied. They walked through the gate and stood in Dr. Eldridge’s back yard, nervous and unsure of what to do next. None of them had ever broken into a house before and they never thought that they would. Brooklyn pulled three pairs of gardening gloves out of her jacket pocket and threw a pair to Zane and Trent. 
     
    “Well, this isn’t getting anything done,” Zane announced after