Indemnity: Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series (44 page)

“
Do I have to?”

“
No. I’ll go later if you’d rather not.”

At first Chuck thought Jack hadn’t heard him, but then the boy stretched out his legs. “My house smells like my mom. I wanna go with you.”

Chuck turned onto Tracy’s tree-lined street and glanced in the rearview at Jack. He sat still, staring out the window the way he had through the whole trip. “You sure you’re up for this?”

“
What’s going to happen to my house?” Jack asked.

“
We’ll sell it, I guess.” Chuck pulled into Tracy’s driveway, but for Jack’s sake, he was careful not to park in her spot.

“
What about my stuff?”

“
We’ll get it. We won’t sell your stuff.” Chuck got out and opened Jack’s door for him.

“
What about my mom’s stuff?”

Chuck knelt down, eye level with Jack. “There’s a bunch of things we’re gonna have to take care of, things that I haven’t had time to think about yet. We’ll figure them all out, but just not today.”

“
Can I unlock the door?” Chuck handed him the keys, and Jack worked intently to find the right key and slide it into the lock. He grunted and twisted, but gave up. “I can’t turn it.” Chuck put his hand over Jack’s and turned the key. Easing the door open, Jack said, “I smell fire.”

“
Not fire, just burnt stuff,” Chuck said. He strode past Jack into the kitchen, and found ashes in the sink. “Your mom burnt some papers or something.”

“
Mom had lots of secrets,” Jack said. “Do you think she was a spy?”

“
No, just very secretive. Why don’t you go get some of your favorite toys together? We’ll take them with us. I need to get some things together for the funeral.”

“
What’s a funeral?”

“
It’s a special church service they have when someone dies. Pastor Glen is going to have one for your mom on Wednesday.”

“
Can I go?”

“
Of course. Why wouldn’t you?”

“
School.”

“
You can miss this week of school.”

“
That’s allowed?”

Chuck nodded. “Bobbi will let your teacher know. Now, go get your stuff, and make sure you get a suit and tie.”

“
I’ll look dopey.”

“
Your mom liked that, though. Do it for her.”

“
Yeah, she thought I was handsome all the time.” Jack headed upstairs to his room, leaving Chuck in the kitchen. “Where to start?” he asked, looking around. A stack of mail sat in one corner of the kitchen counter. He flipped through it quickly. Bank statements and utility bills. All the correspondence from John Dailey was gone. Chuck suspected that’s what ended up as ashes in the sink.

He laid the stack back in its place and checked the cabinets. He found a half a bottle of bourbon. Another handful of papers shielded an empty bottle in the trashcan. Now it seemed very likely she was under the influence when she wrecked. Was it intentional, though?

He pulled the papers out and leafed through them. Junk mail. He was about to toss them back in the trash when he noticed one of the sheets was cream-colored stationery. He held the sheet and let the others drop away. The letter from Brittenham & Associates, St. Paul, Minnesota, invited Kathleen R. Kelly for an interview three weeks from now.

Teresa Kathleen Reynolds had reinvented herself once again. Is this why she caved on the parenting plan? Because she knew she was taking Jack in a few weeks anyway? But she had to know that he would hunt her down until he found Jack.

But if she planned to disappear with Jack, why would she leave this letter when she burned others? She wouldn’t. She changed her plans. He double-checked the papers in the trashcan, but everything else was junk.

Nothing looked out of place in the family room or the living room, so Chuck headed upstairs. Remembering the prescription bottles in her purse, he checked the bathroom medicine cabinet first. She had an assortment of drugs: anti-anxiety medication, anti-depressants, sleep aids, and stimulants, all from different doctors. Tracy was a prescription drug abuser. She shopped for doctors so she could maintain her supply.

Chuck slowly closed the cabinet. How could she even function, taking all that? She surely had the means to take her life if she had wanted. Maybe her wreck really was just an accident.

The only place left that might hold any answers was the bedroom. He could hear Jack down the hall, doing far more playing than packing. At least he felt like playing. Stepping across the threshold into Tracy’s bedroom made sweat bead across Chuck’s forehead, and his stomach rolled inside him.

The bedroom, like every other room in the house was sparsely furnished, with just a bed, nightstand and dresser. Tracy’s bed was unmade, but everything else was in order. A book lay face down on the nightstand. He picked it up, and embossed on the cover was the word ‘Journal.’

Tracy’s journal. Jackpot.

It wasn’t a collection of her thoughts, though. Instead, it was a record of Jack’s year, a near day-by-day account. “Wonder if the other years are around here somewhere?” He pulled up the bed skirt, but found nothing. He discovered a storage box in the back of the closet, and inside it, he found the journals from Jack’s first five years.

Entries ranged from a few words, to elaborate descriptions of his milestones. There were other things of Jack’s she had kept - pictures he drew, a pair of baby shoes, an infant outfit, and dozens of studio portraits. He set the box on the bed to take home, but it hit with a thud. Chuck pulled the bedclothes back, afraid of finding another liquor bottle, but was completely stunned to find a Bible.

He picked it up gently and opened it. The presentation page was missing. Naturally. It seemed worn, used. Finally, he turned to the page marked by the ribbon. It was in Matthew, and circled on the page was the verse that read, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Rest was underlined twice, and the word ‘yes’ was written in the margin.

Was that it? The answer he needed? Did that mean Tracy somehow found Jesus in the eleventh hour, here, alone? Bobbi said that fit her. She did everything else alone and in secret.

“
Whatcha doing?” Jack stood in the doorway.

“
I found your mom’s Bible.” He held it up for Jack to see.

The boy jumped into the bed and crawled across to him. “My mom never let me jump on her bed.” He leaned over Chuck’s shoulder to see the Bible. “Oh yeah. She said Mr. Dailey gave it to her. I wanted to get one that smelled better. That one smells like it’s been cooked.”

“
Probably spent a lot of time in a box somewhere.” He dropped the Bible in the box.

“
What’s in there?”

“
Journals your mom kept about you.”

“
Really? Can I see?”

Chuck nodded and Jack pulled one of the volumes from the box, and leaned back on the pillows. He turned several pages. “She scribbles.”

“
It’s cursive. You’ll learn it next year.”

Jack snapped the book closed and handed it back. He folded the pillow up around his face and breathed deeply. “It smells just like her hair.” He twisted the pillow around and hugged it tightly, his smile fading.

Chuck rubbed Jack’s back. “Maybe we better go.”

Jack nodded. “Can I take this?”

“
Absolutely.”

Monday, October 22

Chuck paced away from the desk while the receptionist at Penner Hewitt dialed Rod Penner’s office. Swallowed up in the grief and questions over Tracy’s death was the fact that her father was now a free man. If he was as dangerous as Tracy and John Dailey believed he was, then Chuck had to do everything he could to ensure Jack’s safety.

Yesterday’s search of her house yielded little, except for the journals Jack reveled in, and confirmation of her substance abuse. Maybe here in a dark corner of her office, there was a piece of information that would tie everything together. He and Rod were classmates at Northwestern, and although they never crossed paths professionally, he was gambling that the law school connection counted for something.

“
Mr. Molinsky, Mr. Penner can see you now.”

“
Thank you.” Before Chuck could cross the room, Rodney Penner opened his office door. “Rod, thanks for seeing me on such short notice.”

“
No problem, Chuck.” He shook Chuck’s hand, then shut the door and walked around to his desk. “I was really sorry to hear about Tracy. Especially after she left here so suddenly.”

“
Do you know why she left?”

“
No. She stormed into my office ... Let’s see ... two weeks ago Thursday, and said she was through here. No warning, no real reason.”

“
She didn’t mention Colin Janssen?”

“
No. Is that why she quit?”

“
She said he stabbed her in the back.”

“
Well, if she quit over him, that’s a shame. We fired him last week. He was passing himself off as a full partner in the firm, sending phony emails, plus his billing procedures were a little ... irregular.”

Chuck shook his head. He knew that guy was no good. “Was she in danger of losing her job?”

“
Not at all. Granted, Allen hired her for all the wrong reasons. He’s got a real weakness ...” Rod’s face flushed and he looked away. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“
That’s okay, Rod. I deserve it all.”

“
I didn’t mean to imply ... She was a consummate professional.”

Chuck nodded. “Did she have any friends here?”

Rod shook his head. “Kept to herself. She went to the gym at lunch, never out with clients or us. We’d see her in meetings or in the elevator. But extremely conscientious, and she had good instincts.”

“
She said she had a will here. Do you know anything about it?”

“
It’s filed. I can have someone look it up for you. Are you in it?”

“
She said I was the executor.” Chuck shifted in his seat. “Rod, I need to ask you for a personal favor. Tracy’s dad did hard time for second-degree murder.”

“
Are you serious?”

“
Yeah, he beat his wife to death. Tracy was absolutely terrified of him.”

“
Who could blame her?”

“
He was paroled this past Friday. If he’s dangerous, I need to protect my son. Is there any way I can check her file cabinet to see if she had information related to it?”

“
Her computer’s been wiped already, but you can look through her files. Come on.” He led Chuck up to Tracy’s office and unlocked it. He took the file cabinet key from the desk, and opened the top file drawer. “Have at it.”

Chuck worked his way through the files, but nothing looked relevant. He slid the drawer shut and opened the second drawer. Again, all the files were firm-related business. The third and fourth drawers held no answers either. Chuck pushed the last drawer closed with a sigh. “Thanks for letting me look, Rod. I guess some questions aren’t meant to be answered.”

“
Chuck, really, I’m very sorry. About Tracy. I didn’t know her that well, but ... It’s a shame, especially leaving such a young son behind.”

“
She was a good mother.” Chuck gave the file cabinet key back to Rod.

Rod dropped the key in his pocket and motioned toward a storage box in the corner. “That’s everything from her desk. I guess it’s yours now.”

Chuck set the box on the desk and opened it. Two pictures of Jack, a calculator and some office supplies. “Wait, here’s another one of your keys.”

Rod took the key and turned it over. “Looks like a safe deposit box key. Yeah, Missouri National Bank. It’s theirs.” He gave the key back. “Maybe your answers are there.”

“
Wait a minute.” Chuck fished Tracy’s key ring from his slacks. A matching key hung next to the house key. “I had one all along and didn’t realize it.” Chuck put the key in his wallet, then handed Rod a business card. “If you would just have somebody put the will in the mail to me. I’m not going to do anything on it before next week.”

“
Sure thing. When’s the funeral?”

“
Wednesday at two at Bricker’s.”

“
We’ll be there.”

Driving to the bank to open the safe deposit box, Chuck couldn’t suppress the desire to track Colin Janssen down and punch him. The way he preyed on her ... Why would Tracy, who didn’t trust another soul, why did she take everything that jerk said at face value?

The light changed and Chuck drove out of the shadow of an office building into the bright autumn sunshine. Of course. Tracy feared ex-posure. Rather than confront Colin, and risk Rod and Allen finding out any more about her, she ran. She was physically afraid her father would find her, but she seemed more terrified of the truth.

At the bank, Chuck followed the teller to the vault with the safe deposit boxes.

“
It’s this box right here,” she said. “If you need anything else, let me know.”

“
Thanks,” Chuck said. He slipped the key into the lock and turned it. Inside the box, was all that was left of Teresa Reynolds - a fifth grade report card with straight A’s, a photo of a little girl and a collie, and a photo of a woman who was obviously Tracy’s mother. There was no date on the picture, but it couldn’t have been taken very many years before the murder. Maybe it was the last picture Tracy had of her mother. Underneath them lay Tracy’s mother’s engagement ring and wedding band. In the bottom of the box there was an envelope addressed to Teresa Reynolds. Several pieces of notepaper were folded together, fastened to the envelope with a rubber band. Turning them over, Jack’s name was on the outside one, but Chuck was stunned to find his name on the other. His note read: