Garage Sale Diamonds (Garage Sale Mystery) (25 page)

“Oh, no. I want one, too!” Jason feigned disappointment, extracting fits of laughter from the children. “Can’t a grown-up qualify?”

“No, no!” the Grands shouted gleefully.

“Besides,” Jennifer added slyly, “you must be very, very good to get an under-the-pillow gift.”

Jason caught his wife’s amused eyes, “Well, that probably counts me out!” He winked at her.

After breakfast, Jennifer carried plates to the sink then turned back to the kids. “Now run upstairs to change into play clothes for our woods walk.” 

“Is Gwandaddy coming, too?” asked Milo.

“No,” Jason answered. “But I want to see what you find. And be careful. You might see a snake.”

They giggled nervously at this possibility before hurrying toward the stairs.

To Jennifer he added, “…and that includes the human kind as well. I’ll watch after you from the sun porch. Take your cell phone and call if anything seems suspicious.”

58

Sunday, 7:05 AM

The Grands scampered upstairs and Jennifer followed to get dressed also. When they met again in the kitchen, each child held the handle of a plastic bucket before they headed across the yard, out the back gate and down the partially overgrown path leading into the woodsy Fairfax County parkland. An active stream coursed beneath huge, spreading trees. Clinging fall leaves and bushy evergreen foliage muted the nearby traffic sounds enough to hear melodic birdcalls.

In only a hundred steps from their back door they transitioned from the fenced yard of their residential world into a natural one. As they trooped along a downhill path, pushing back branches to make way, Jennifer thought she saw and heard movement in the bushes—as if something or someone were running away. Probably retreating wildlife: a red fox, possum, raccoon or even coyote.

They knew deer lived in these woods, having seen them grazing often just outside their back fence in the grassy strip before the woodland’s tree line began. Surprising a wary deer on a walk with three boisterous children to spook it away seemed unlikely; yet as they walked together along an area of dense thicket, a deer exploded out of the bushes, rocketed past them and disappeared into foliage on the other side of their path.

“Wow, did you see that?” Christine exclaimed.

“Wait ‘til I tell Mommy and Daddy,” Milo marveled.   

“They’ll be amazed,” Alicia agreed.  “Why are you wearing your garden gloves, Gran?”

“They protect my hands when I pick up trash to keep the woods clean—things like this.” She reached down for an empty plastic bottle and a piece of weathered newspaper in bushes edging the trail. “Anybody find special nature study items yet?”

“Here are some acorns attached to a branch with dried oak leaves,” Christine said.

Alicia added, “And here’s a cicada shell. Look how the claws hang on to my sweater.”

Not to be outdone, Milo picked up something from the ground, announcing, “I found a wock, a gway wock. With pride, he dropped it into his bucket.

“That’s the best gray rock I’ve seen,” Jennifer patted his head. They wandered beneath the sheltering trees for half an hour, collecting nature’s treasures.

“Okay, kids. Time to start back now to show Granddaddy your collections.” They exerted extra energy to hurry uphill on the last leg home. Pretending she could barely keep up, Jennifer reached the back gate last.

“Run on ahead to the house to show Grandaddy what you found while I pick up this last bit of litter. I’ll catch up in a minute,” she called.

At the edge of the woods near their back fence, she added an empty beer bottle and a dirty,  leatherette, pocket-size case to her litter trashbag before hurrying home behind the others.

After the children’s nature show-and-tell for Jason, Jennifer said, “Grandaddy and I want to read the newspaper. Guess what: today’s a ‘Sponge Bob’ TV marathon. Isn’t that your favorite?”

Two said “yes” but not Christine. “Mommy said not to watch TV all the time we’re here.”

“She’s right and you haven’t. Would she really mind if you watch ‘Sponge Bob’ awhile?” Christine agreed and Jennifer settled the children on the den couch before selecting their channel.

After poring over the voluminous Sunday Washington Post and The Times, Jennifer emptied her litter collection bag, pulled out bottles and soda cans to recycle and trashed the rest. The leatherette case landed on top in the wastebasket and, judging it new enough to put in her Goodwill box, she put it aside to take to the garage later.

Just then, Alicia returned to the kitchen and tugged at Jennifer’s sleeve.  “Gran, I remember something,” she said. “Watching ‘Sponge Bob’ reminded me because he has one in his show.”

“One what?”

“One elephant. In a garden by the front porch of the house where I bought my doll is the statue of an elephant about this high.” She touched her waist. “I remember giving my doll a ride on it while the rest of you shopped there. The lady giving the sale is the same one who traded the new doll for my old one last night.”

Jennifer hugged Alicia. “Thank you, Honey, for such an excellent memory.”

Pleased at Jennifer’s praise, Alicia skipped back to her place on the couch in the other room.

“All right, Jen, what are you up to now?” Jason asked, wary.

“I’m getting an idea.”

“That’s another danger phrase from you.” He sighed with resignation.

“Jay, I couldn’t find addresses for Hussein or Witherspoon in the phone book but, thanks to Alicia, I know how to find Zayneb’s house, where this Ahmed who owns the diamonds is staying. I knew the community, but it’s huge and without a street address I’d never remember the house.”

“Okay, and…?”

“And if we looked for the house in your car, nobody could recognize us since I shopped those sales in my car. The house where we bought the doll has an elephant in the front yard. We could wear sunglasses for disguise.” She snapped her fingers. “I even have a Halloween wig I could wear so nobody could recognize me. Therefore, safe.”

Jason moaned audibly, “Does this mean you want to borrow my car?”

“Actually, I thought maybe we could go together—a little Sunday adventure. Becca could watch the children. Aren’t we both trying to figure out this diamond situation?”

“Geez, Jen, I have a lot of computer work to do this afternoon with my company’s merger coming up.” He sighed and cocked an eyebrow. “Will the marriage suffer if I say no?” 

Trying not to laugh, she pretended to examine her nails? “Are you willing to risk it?”

“All right, I know blackmail when I hear it.” But he only faked annoyance. Although swept into this potential danger by default, as usual, he recognized that he needed to know as much as possible to protect his family.

59

Sunday, 7:37 AM

Ahmed’s subconscious sifted through his many problems as he slept. He awoke with two clear plans: one for disposing of Mahmud’s body and the other for recovering the diamonds.

This Jennifer Shannon woman had the gems or knew who did. The sleeper cell would get to her, use torture as leverage to get her cooperation, or threats to kill a loved one, or both, until she produced the treasure. They could burst into her house or follow her when she left and abduct her elsewhere. To avoid a witness to inform police, they’d kill her, making that appear a random incident.

He mentally rehearsed his story of Mahmud’s sudden “trip” as he went downstairs for breakfast, where a double surprise awaited him. The lovely Khadija stood at the foot of the stairs, melting his heart with her pleasant smile and friendly disposition.

“You have a guest this morning,” she said. ”My mother isn’t well today, so I answered the doorbell. He’s waiting for you in my father’s study.”

“Thank you, Khadija. Will you join me at breakfast later?”

“I…I don’t think my father will allow that. But if not, maybe we can talk together later today.”

She led him to the study door. “Here he is,” she said to the guest and backed away as they closed the door. The men exchanged God’s blessing. “You may remember I am Abdul who hosted our cell meeting on Friday. Perhaps Mahmud would like to sit with us while I speak with you?”

Ahmed cleared his throat. “An excellent idea, but Mahmud is not here. He returned yesterday afternoon to his home country for a family emergency. He may be gone for an extended time, so we must proceed without him.”

Abdul hid his shock well, but Ahmed saw it and continued quickly. “This timing is unfortunate, as we are down from eleven to nine men without Ali and Mahmud. But we will manage. I will stay in this house to protect his family in his absence. I will, however, need a new driver since my presence here is undocumented and I cannot risk a police stop.”

“May I have that honor, Ahmed?”

“Thank you, Abdul, but the honor is mine if you will accept the job. Have you had breakfast? No? Then why don’t we go to the dining room to eat while we talk?”

“A fine idea and thank you for the invitation.”

They seated themselves in the dining room. Ahmed called, “Heba, we would like breakfast now.”

She appeared instantly, more subdued than ever, wearing her usual long sleeves, long skirt and hijab. She poured coffee and placed fruit, bread and jelly on the table.

After she returned to the kitchen, Ahmed spoke. “Thank you for dealing with Ali.”

“Allah solved that problem for us with an explosion leaving them all dead. I did nothing but report this to you,” he admitted modestly.

“But you were prepared to solve it yourself otherwise.”

“Of course,” Abdul confirmed. “And now may I speak in confidence about quite another matter?”

“Speak then, for no ears will hear but mine.”

60

Saturday, 7:46 AM

When Ahmed confirmed they spoke privately, Abdul relaxed. “At our cell meeting you told us American Jews killed your parents. Then the Great Leader arranged your rescue, educated you and selected you to lead this project?” Ahmed nodded. “You said you were five then?” He nodded again.

“You said two men came to take you to the madrassa.”

“Yes.”

“And were you the only child of your parents?”

“No, they also killed my infant sister. My twin sister visited another village that day.  My mother’s dying words begged me to take care of her, but at school, my rescuers would not tell me my origins and punished my questioning. So I gave up. Without knowing the name of my village—or even my country—I’ll never find her.

“And at the meeting two days ago did I see above your shirt a red birthmark on your neck? Is it a stain that runs across your shoulder?”

Ahmed sat up straight. “Yes, but how could you know this?”

“And did you tell those men your Baba said Allah marked you with this stain to show your special importance to Him?”

“Yes!”

“And those two men who rescued you, was one older and one younger?”

Speechless with surprise at these intimate revelations from a stranger, Ahmed nodded.

“Then I was that younger man, fifteen years old at the time and in training to rescue boys like you. I can’t remember them all, but you were my first so I remember you well.”

Ahmed jumped to his feet. “Do you speak the truth, Abdul?”

“As my witness is Allah, peace unto His name.”

“Then you know my country? My village?”

“Yes.” He named them for Ahmed. “Your village was too small for many maps but places with as few as 200-500 inhabitants worked well for our tactics.”

“Praise Allah, I prayed for this knowledge. Thanks to you, I feel rooted to the earth at last.”

“You have a special hate for the Americans and the Jews, as you explained at the meeting.”

“Yes, revenge for their murder of my parents.”

“Your hate for them is worthy, but you know only what you were told. There’s more to the story.”

“What do you mean?”

“At that time, our new cause hungered for recruits. Our Great Leader’s unique multi-purpose plan designed future world domination earlier than any other sects imagined. We needed many soldiers for our army of action. Our Great Leader, whose forward-looking brilliance constantly amazed us, conceived another clever plan. In each village lived many people supporting our cause but a few troublemakers who did not. He said culling out the opposition meant everyone left agreed with us. We’d eliminate the opposition and harvest their children to train as soldiers for our new army.”

“But how does that apply to me?”

“Your parents objected to our ideas. They spread dissent against Islamic radicalism to all villagers who listened. Eliminating them sent a powerful message to other villagers—join us or die. So our Great Leader sent men to dispose of your parents who we knew had three children, a boy, a girl and an infant. When we came for you, your sister had disappeared. This was no loss to us, for we trained only boys.”

“But the American Jews…

Abdul grinned, pleased to impart important news. “We told that story to all the boys we harvested to focus their hatred on our enemy and secure their loyalty to our cause. Not knowing their villages of origin, they could never return to learn otherwise. So we rescued you twice: first, by saving you from your parents’ blasphemous rantings and second, by providing you education and training to fight for Allah’s grand purpose. Fortune smiled two times on you, Ahmed.”