Nothing to Lose Read Online Free PDF

didn’t even report it to Mom,” I said. My father nodded. He knew what would have happened if I’d told my mother.
    â€œI’ll call someone,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ll get your stuff back, Robbie, but you never know. If there have been other similar thefts in the area, maybe they’ll catch the guy.” He poured himself another cup of coffee before picking up the phone and calling the police.
    â€œSomeone will be here in a few minutes,” he said when he hung up.
    â€œA few
minutes?
” I said. That was fast. “Lemme guess—a friend of yours?”
    My father grinned. He knew a lot of people and made a point of keeping in touch. “It’s not what you know,” he said, over and over. “It’s who you know and what
they
know.” He believed that in his line of work— private security and investigations—you were only as good as your contacts.
    While we waited, my father cracked some eggs into a frying pan and put some bread in the toaster. While he stirred the eggs, he said, “So, has your mother made up her mind yet about what’s-his-name?” He tried to sound casual, as if no matter what the answer was, it was no big deal. Maybe he really thought that. Maybe.
    â€œHis name is Ted Gold,” I said, even though my father knew it perfectly well. Ted had asked my mother to marry him. She hadn’t said yes yet, but she hadn’t said no, either. “And you know I’m not supposed to talk about him.” My mother had forbidden me to discuss any aspect of her private life with my father.
    â€œWell, what do
you
think, Robbie? Do you think she’s going to marry him?”
    I shrugged. I really had no idea. I knew that my mother liked Ted—a lot. But I also knew that she didn’t seem in any hurry to remarry.
    Someone knocked on the door. It couldn’t have been my father’s police officer friend—he would have to be buzzed up through the ground-floor security door. That meant it had to be Nick, who lived directly below my father.
    I was right. Nick came in, glanced around—checking, I think, to see where my father was. When he didn’t see him, he pulled me close and kissed me. “I missed you,” he said in a low voice.
    â€œI missed you too.” I wrapped my arms around his waist, and we just stood there for a moment, my head resting against his chest so that I heard his heart beating, until I heard a noise behind me—my father, clearing his throat. I pulled away from Nick.
    â€œI was just about to have breakfast, Nick,” my father said. “Can I get you something?”
    â€œUh, no, thanks,” Nick said. But I could tell he was torn. My father was probably right. Nick was probably hungry. “Robyn and I have plans. We’ll grab something downtown.”
    My father sat down with his eggs and toast and a fresh cup of coffee. On the surface he looked friendly and relaxed. But I knew him better than most people, which is why I knew that he was doing what he always did: examining, assessing, analyzing. “So how’s everything going, Nick?” he said.
    â€œGood,” Nick said.
    My father looked him over carefully. Nick looked pretty much the same as he always did. He was wearing black boots, a black hoodie, and black jeans. His jet-black hair, which was getting long, was tucked back behind his ears. A lock of it fell over his purple-blue eyes. A hairline scar ran from the bridge of his nose clear across to his right earlobe. Nick smiled pleasantly at my father but raised a hand to adjust his collar. That’s when I noticed the mark on his neck. It was an ugly black-and-purple bruise. I caught a glimpse of it just before he hid it under his hood. I was sure my father had also noticed, but he didn’t mention it. Instead, he doubled down on his eggs.
    â€œWe should get going,” Nick said.
    I was about to explain that I had to