Read Brooks Berry In The Case Of The Stolen Season Page 16

PARTMENT. "I think we have our answer," said Brooks. "So my question for you - what are we going to do about it?" countered Brad. "Well right now, I'm going to have to use my brain for thinking of what to tell my mom why I'm out until almost 11 on a school night!" "Shoot!" yelled Brad. "I have to go too."

  The boys hopped on their bikes and headed for their houses. Their bright lights illuminated the road ahead of them. "See you in the morning!" yelled Brad as he turned down his street. "Thanks for having my back!" ribbed Brooks.

  Brooks put his bike in the garage and quietly opened the door to the kitchen. He peeked into the living room and saw his mom asleep on the couch. He heard a door close downstairs and heard his dad coming up from his office in the basement. Brooks quickly slipped upstairs and got in bed. He’d been able to get in his room undetected. Now he just had to hope that nobody had known what time it was when he came home.

  Brooks woke up early on Thursday. He had about an hour to go before he had to leave for school. The case had reached a cross roads he felt. It was getting too dangerous to pursue alone. He had already had two close calls in that scoreboard, and it was escalating each time. Locked in was one thing, but being gassed and kidnapped took this to a whole new level. Plus he already had enough evidence he felt to know who was behind the plot. He knew the person who was passing the CD’s with the video footage was Coach Russell’s kid, Smokey. And he had knew that both Smokey and his son had motivation to sabotage Tosa East’s season so they could help Marc Ille get a scholarship at the University and get the better of the two quarterbacks - Jeff Kopish to play for State College. Lastly he knew that Coach Russell’s other son had access to Tosa East facilities to install the video cameras. It was time to call Uncle Mike.

  “Berry” Uncle Mike answered his phone with just his last name. “Hey Uncle Mike, I need your help bringing a case to a close, can you come over this afternoon?” “Hey, Brooks, sure, I’d be happy to. Does this mean that the case of the lousy football season has been solved? “ Brooks grinned, “It goes way beyond just that. I’ll tell you when you get here. “See you after school, buddy,” said Uncle Mike.

  School dragged on. Brooks still had a headache from the gas the day before. As Brooks and Brad ate their lunch together in the cafeteria, Brooks told him his conclusions. Brad was excited to hear how it had unfolded, but his nagging headache was still bothering him. Brooks invited Brad to meet him after school to talk about the case with Uncle Mike. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Brad.

  Finally the bell rang and the boys rushed back to Brooks’ house after school. The police cruiser outside meant that Uncle Mike was already there. The boys put the bikes in the garage and headed in. Uncle Mike was dressed in full tactical uniform. He looked especially intimidating in all black with the big boots on and vest. “What’s with the storm trooper outfit?” asked Brooks. “I was training with the SWAT Team this morning,” he said. “So you’ve cracked another case? I’m eager to hear this,” said Uncle Mike.

  Brooks and Brad laid out their evidence, how they’d seen the guy that they later learned was Smokey Russell at the games talking to the coaches and exchanging things with them. Then they laid out the whole family connections. Uncle Mike sat nodding his head. His face grew angry when the boys recounted being locked and gassed in the scoreboard.

  “That crosses a serious line,” he said. “I’d like to question both the coach and his sons at the same time. I guess I can get a warrant for that…” he said, deep in thought. Brooks’ dad who had been sitting at the table with his mouth open the whole time, amazed at what was going on right under his nose without realizing it, suddenly spoke up. “I read in a newspaper article that football games are a whole family thing for the Russell’s. His kids go to every one of his games.” “Well if that’s the case, we can probably do it without stirring up suspicion on Friday at the Kenosha game,” said Brad. “I’ll coordinate it on my end,” said Uncle Mike, “Brooks can you be there for the questioning with me?” “If it’s ok with my dad,” said Brooks. His dad smiled broadly and said, “I like how my consent now matters to you, son!” Brooks smiled sheepishly. “It’s ok with me, but I’m going with you guys too,” said Brooks’ dad.

  “HaHEM!” Brad loudly cleared his throat and looked at them annoyed. The group cracked up in laughter, “Brad, want to come along?” asked Uncle Mike. Brad was beaming, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”