Double Take by Kendall Talbot Page B

know we have heaps of time.”
    â€œI’d just feel better if I see it and we get set up.”
    Trent shrugged and moved further under the shed. Soon he was on his hands and knees. He looked behind him and just about burst out laughing when he saw his dad doing the commando crawl. He’s going to be completely covered in dirt and shit by the end of this .
    Another metre or so and Trent stopped. “This is it.” He slapped the smooth ground. “This is where I put the boom box last time.”
    Murray was filthy and sweating like crazy by the time he arrived at the spot. And when he wiped his forehead he left a dirty smudge on his sleeve. His constant wriggling didn’t help either. Gemma was going to freak out when she saw him, thought Trent. But at least now she’d understand how they got so dirty every time they came here.
    â€œAre these guys going to jail?” Trent said.
    His dad rolled to look at him. “Of course. What they’re doing is illegal.”
    â€œWhy do you think—?”
    â€œShhh.” His dad froze. The whites of his eyes were huge. Trent’s stomach flipped over at the fear he saw in his father’s eyes. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all .
    Murray rolled onto his front and propped himself up on his elbows, whispering something under his breath. Trent thought it might have been, “This is crazy,” but he didn’t get the chance to ask because right now one of the robbers was walking right towards them. He heard his dad suck the air between his teeth and Trent was certain he could hear his own heartbeat too. It was all so much scarier now that Dad was here. Seconds later he was looking at heavy boots while the man jiggled with a set of keys. The door opened above them and then the feet disappeared. The sounds of footsteps above were followed by a whoosh of breath. Dad had obviously been holding it. Trent glanced past his dad and noticed Max grinning. He gave a thumbs up and it seemed like ages before Dad matched him with his own thumbs up signal.
    The next robber came and scurried upstairs so quickly Trent wondered if he was worried about being seen or something. The third man took his time. Strode in like he owned the place. He was huge and fit-looking too. The muscles on his arms bulged out everywhere and Trent imagined he was a boxer or something. It wasn’t until he saw all the tattoos that he thought just how scary the guy was. He glanced at his dad and by the look on his face he was thinking the same thing.
    Trent remembered the camera and jabbed at it.
    â€œOh yeah.” Dad unhooked the camera from his neck. The next robber was the woman and obviously Dad was just as shocked as Trent had been the first time he saw her, because by the time he brought the camera up and looked through the lens, he missed getting her photo.
    Dad was ready when the fourth man arrived. He steadied himself on his elbows with the camera clasped between his raised hands. When he clicked the button, the noise seemed to echo off the ancient floorboards above them. Trent’s breath caught in his throat. He expected the man to stop. But he didn’t. They were lucky. Dad lowered the camera back onto the dirt. He obviously wasn’t going to attempt any more photos. Trent didn’t blame him one bit.
    When the final robber arrived, Dad just lowered his face to the ground, forehead to dirt. Once that man’s footsteps were upstairs, he raised his head long enough to press the record button on the boom box, then plonked his head down again.
    Trent rolled onto his back and stared at a cobweb blowing in the breeze as he listened to the conversation above them.

Chapter 10
    J ack arrived at the shed a few minutes early. Once again he was relieved to see everything as he’d left it. But then again, it should be. Based on the amount of dust blanketing everything when he first rediscovered the shed, he was pretty sure no-one had been in