The 15th Star (A Lisa Grace History - Mystery) (17 page)

“
That was quick,” Keiko said. When she looked up no one was there even though she’d distinctly felt a presence and even thought she’d caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Keiko put down the paper she’d been working on and walked around the first corner, nothing. She went around the second to face the staircase, nothing. Keiko started down the hall to the first room off the left, put her hand on the knob to turn it, when the door at the top of the stair opened with a loud squeak. Keiko jumped. Julian had the two chairs as promised and proceeded down the stairs half hunched over trying to spare his head from bumping the low ceiling.

“
Exploring?” Julian asked.

“
I thought I heard someone down here. I guess this place is making me a little jumpy. Usually I love old buildings. But not this one, not today. Maybe it has something to do with finding out that the poor lady I spoke to yesterday is dead.”

Julian put down the chairs,
“Let’s get this done quick. There are two of us and only four drawers of papers. We can do it.”

“
Thank you. Thanks for coming with me today.”

“
There isn’t any place I’d rather be,” Julian said.

Julian picked up the chairs and carried them to the back room.

“Okay, what are we looking for?”

“
Letters to Mary, Caroline, or Grace from Louisa or any male. I’m looking for any mention of the 1812 flag, Fort McHenry, the star from the flag, or anyone who was at the fort. Also any mention of anyone’s son. Probably the time period of 1812 to say, 1830.”

Julian smiled at Keiko,
“Could you be just a little more specific?”

Keiko playfully bumped him with her hip,
“Stop stalling and get to work, I want to get out of here. I don’t want to be here after dark.”

“
Maybe we can take a crack at deciphering the letter after we are done here.”

“
That’s the plan.”

An hour and a half later, Julian handed Keiko a letter,
“This is the one I think you’re looking for. Here, check it out.”

July 19
th
, 1813

Dear Mrs. Pickersgill,

It is with a heavy heart I write this letter. A grievous wrong has been done to Miss Wisher while under our care and protection at Fort McHenry. Not all men of war are honorable and it was Miss Wisher
’s unfortunate fate to have been taken advantage of in the
most distressing
way. As a woman I am sure you will understand I am not exaggerating the circumstances. Please treat Miss Wisher with extra Christian love and care. She did nothing to place herself purposely in harm’s way. She was trying to save my chaperone Miss Maggie who had crippled her back, from a chore of carrying when she became lost in the maze of the fort. Even though those of us from the North pride ourselves on seeing all of God’s creatures as equal and worthy of basic human rights, not all men agree, and unfortunately, the law is on the side of these dishonorable miscreants. I am so sorry I failed Miss Wisher as I find her a meek and merciful soul.

Sincerely,

Louisa Armistead

“This settles it. Grace was raped by someone at the Fort. This is why Louisa gave her the star! This letter is an independent verification of the correspondence between Louisa and Grace Wisher. The date is around the same day the incident would have occurred. Let me take a photo of the letter and email it to my account.”

Keiko tried to get her phone and laptop online.
“I’m not getting a signal. We’ll have to take it upstairs.”

Keiko carefully put the letter in the envelope while Julian locked the cabinets back up.

“Are we coming back down to keep searching?” he asked.

“
No, this letter is enough. I don’t think she would have mentioned such a subject again. Let’s get a copy, and a req form to take it back, then let’s work on where the star is. I have a feeling if we find the star, we can find the letter that names who raped Grace. It might be important to the historical record, especially if we can track down whom her baby was given to.”

Julian and Keiko climbed the stairs, ready for the next step in their adventure.

The man hiding in the back room, waited five minutes then climbed up the stairs. He walked past Keiko and Julian as they were filling out the paperwork requisition form to lend the letter to the Smithsonian. Julian gave him a nod as he walked past. Outside, the man placed a quick call in view of the building. His orders were clear, make it look like an accident. He sat in a silver car stolen earlier that morning from one of the many local street parking spots. With any luck, he would return it near or in the same spot he lifted it from before the owner even knew it was missing. With the engine running, he waited for them to exit the building.

***

As Keiko and Julian exited the Flag House, she breathed a sigh of relief. The building had an air of things left undone. A heaviness lingering within its walls, making it hard to breathe. She was glad to be leaving. Outside the sun was out, even though the day was cold and breezy.

As they crossed the street, a car turned onto the road heading to the left of the car approaching them. It was clear the oncoming car was going to hit the one that had the right of way. In slow motion, Keiko saw the innocent driver veer out of the way and head directly toward her and Julian. Julian grabbed her arm and jerked her out of the way as the car that almost caused the accident pulled away.

If Julian’s reflexes had not been so fast, they would both be on the pavement right now.

Keiko could not stop shaking from the adrenaline rush.

“Are you okay?” he asked, rubbing her arms trying to calm her down.

“
Thank you, you saved our lives.”

Meanwhile the other driver pulled over and walked towards them. He was visibly shaken.
“I’m sorry. I have no idea what kind of game that guy was playing. I saw him coming, and slowed down on purpose to get out of his way, and then he jerked the wheel to hit me. Thank God you avoided me. There wasn’t a thing I could do to stop my car from running you over. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that maniac wanted me to hit you.” The driver shook his head and got back in his car.

“
He can’t be serious, can he?” Keiko looked up at Julian for reassurance.

“
No, of course not,” he said with an authority he did not feel. Julian thought about the face of the driver of the other car. It was the same guy who had passed them in the front room. He thought it odd that the man had come from the same hallway they had just left. That was the reason he had noted his face. The only reason someone would want them dead is if they thought Keiko and he had damaging information. Things like this only happened in the movies. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind.

“
Let’s go grab some lunch and then we’ll look at that letter.” If it was a code to the missing star, would that be a reason someone would kill for? Only other historians would care and Julian did not think they were the murdering types. Disclosure and provenance would leave a public record, but more importantly, how would they have found out? Only he and Keiko knew about the clue regarding the star. It just didn’t make sense. Then of course, the letter alluded to a secret, and from the clues in the other letters it could reveal the identity of who raped and raised Grace Wisher’s son. Again, was that a secret worth killing for? And then back to the same question, how would they have found out about the letters? Undiscovered until two days ago. How would someone have found out? Unless they knew there
were
missing letters, possibly incriminating, and they had asked to be notified if someone called asking about Grace. Julian knew this theory was way out in left field. Of course, they could ask the people at the Flag House if someone had put in a request. Julian stopped short. Maybe the receptionist’s death was not an accident.

“
What?” Keiko said as they stopped just short of the car.

“
Get in, we’ll talk about it at lunch.” He finished escorting Keiko to the car, opened the door for her, then walked quickly to his side, got in, and locked it.

He threw the car into drive, before either of them had time to finish connecting their seatbelts.

“Talk to me. What is going on?” Keiko said.

Julian turned to face Keiko briefly,
“I think that man is right. Someone is trying to kill us.”

Keiko laughed, looked at Julian
’s face, and realized he was serious.

“
That woman who worked at the Flag House is dead, shot, made to look like a drive-by shooting. Someone tries to get us killed in an accident. Look, we know the letters have a clue to the whereabouts of the star and a letter incriminating someone in the rape of Grace Wisher, passing the child as white, and possibly the murder of a woman. At this point, if we assume in this theory that someone has an interest in keeping these facts secret, maybe they would be willing to kill. Continuing with this theory, who would care enough to kill?”

Keiko didn
’t have to think long, “The only people who would care are those still politically connected and powerful right here in D.C. If it involved one of their ancestors.” Keiko got a sick feeling. Someone was trying to kill them. For the second time in her life she felt helpless. Worst of all, she’d gotten Julian into this mess too. Up until now it had been a fun exciting search. A game. She’d never given a thought that unveiling the truth could mean exposing a dark family secret. A secret so shaming or evil that the living family members would not want it revealed. The other fact remained that someone knew Grace had hidden the star. They just didn’t know where and obviously since they wanted them dead, they didn’t care to have it found.

“
Keiko, we have to find the star now or they will kill us. We have to find the letter and make it public as quick as possible. They probably have a tail or a bug on this car. They might even be able to track us by our cell phone locators or even our key cards from work. We need to ditch everything for now. I’m heading to my friend’s place. We can pick up a new ride, and decipher the letter. Keiko, you have to decipher that letter.”

“
I think I know where the star is hidden,” Keiko said still in shock.

Don
’t talk about it now, not until I say so. The car could be bugged.”

“
Where does your friend live?”

“
Not far. About fifteen minutes outside the city. Let me give him a call. But we can’t use our phones. Hold on.”

Julian pulled over to get out, leaving the engine running, and found a pedestrian who let him use their phone.
“Ray? Hey I need a favor, make sure the guard at the gate is expecting me. Tell the guard I’m going to Ron’s place. Ray, this could be life or death. Make sure you give him Ron’s address at the gate. I don’t want anyone to have a way to find you. Thanks. Can you leave the garage door up? Great. We’ll be there in about fifteen. Me and a lady friend. You’ll like her. Thanks.”

Julian gave the phone back to the owner with a quick,
“Thank you,” and climbed back in the driver’s seat.

“
Do me a favor, any numbers you want to keep in your phone? Write them down now, we’re tossing them in a few minutes. And I’m sorry but the laptop has gotta go too. Send any data you need in the next five minutes. We’re chucking the battery, and sending the rest on a little trip. Same with the I. D. card.”

Keiko nodded. She couldn
’t believe this was happening. She had to think. Now was not the time to panic. Her and Julian’s life might depend on her figuring out the clues in the letter. She prayed her intuition was correct. She may not have a second chance to get it right. For now she was happy to let Julian take control of the situation.

Julian pulled over in a bank parking lot, next to a pickup with a bunch of junk in the bed, and tossed the cell phones, minus the batteries, in the back.

“Go pull as much cash out and I’ll do the same. No credit cards after this. I don’t think anyone’s tailing us, and with all the security around the bank I don’t think they would try anything here. Too many cameras. Too high a risk of getting caught.”

Keiko nervously kept watch over her shoulder afraid any minute she might feel a bullet in her back.

Meanwhile, Julian walked over to the dumpster and tossed the batteries from the phones and laptop in.

Keiko finished her transaction and Julian did the same. They got back in the jeep, and locked the doors.

“What about the laptop?”

“
We’ll take care of that in a minute.”

Keiko removed her thumb drive from her satchel and shoved it in her pocket. All in all, they were stopped for less than two minutes.

Next, Julian stopped at another bank right in the drive-through. He got down on his hands and knees looking for anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, no bigger than a key fob on the underside of the back bumper, he found the bug, held on by a magnet. He then walked to the bank tube, put the bug in, and sent it to the teller, before getting back in the jeep and driving off.

He turned to Keiko as he got in the car,
“They record everything. They’ll have a picture of our license plate and they’ll know that was a tracking device I pulled off. The Federal Treasury Department will have their secret service get involved. Chances are the ones chasing us are involved more on the political end. A Senator or Congressman, something like that. We might need the proof later that someone was after us.”

Keiko just nodded. She had no idea how Julian would know these things and now was not the time to interrupt his train of thought with questions.

“Hold on.” Julian stopped at a Starbucks the next plaza over, and took her laptop. He walked in, left it by the first table, and walked back out. “There, now the security cards.”

“
This too.” Keiko handed over the thumb drive to Julian.

Julian stopped at the next plaza, where he walked into a CD/Game Shop/Recording Studio. A minute later, he walked back out.

Back in the jeep, Julian turned to Keiko, “My buddy owns the place. That’s where we’ve been recording. If anyone comes in, he’ll say we just asked for directions. He’s got a lead safe in the back. They shouldn’t give off any signals through that.”

Julian drove through some side streets and wove through a neighborhood he was obviously familiar with. He got to another main thoroughfare and headed back to the city.

Keiko kept silent.

“
The car was bugged?” She finally asked.

“
Yep.”

“
Somebody really wants us dead?”

“
Yep.”

Reality was starting to sink in. Somebody wanted them dead. This wasn
’t a game. It was life and death. Situations like this don’t happen to a grad student going for her masters in history, of all things. She wasn’t involved in espionage, high finance, or security. It was totally unbelievable except someone was dead, someone had just tried to kill them, and there was a bug on the car. Keiko shuddered. Julian reached out his hand and grabbed for hers.

“
How come you know all this spy stuff? Were you ever a spy?’’ Keiko asked.

Julian laughed,
“No, only on the playground. But I learned from one of the best. We’ll be okay. They’re probably not sure that we suspect anything yet. We’ll be okay.” He squeezed her hand gently and held it for the rest of the drive to Ray's house.

They pulled up to a fancy gated community and stopped at the guard gate. He looked at the pass in Julian
’s car and let them in. They drove about a mile and passed one fancy gated neighborhood after another. Just when Keiko thought the place couldn’t go on much longer they pulled into one of the gated entryways again. This time the guard stopped them and asked for the number. Julian gave the number, “D-818” and the guard waved them in.

“
Were not going to that one,” Julian turned to her and explained, “that’s actually my brother Jesse’s place. He works in intelligence for the army and is currently stationed in Qatar. He’s a linguist. We’re going to see someone who has the expertise to find out what’s going on.”

Julian turned onto another tree lined street.

“We’re going to see Ray.”

*

***

*

Chapter 9 - September 13 - 14
th
, 1814

That day the battle at Fort McHenry began. Grace first heard the men running through the streets shouting that the British were outside the harbor. Then that evening, shortly after dark, after sitting alone with her fear and prayers, the bombardment started.

“Pray girls and pack a bag of what you hold dear, the treasures you do not want to burn. Hurry girls,” Mrs. Mary said, “Grace, help Mama with her things.”

Every boom and flash brought a new stab of fear. No one in the house could sleep. Everyone changed back into their day clothes, listening for the next cannonball. The flashes would light up the night followed by the echoing boom. Mrs. Bethany, Rebecca, Caroline, Mary, and Grace all loaded up the wagon with their most precious belongings in case they were forced to flee. Mrs. Bethany went to the cellar packing food supplies and forcing everyone to eat. Mrs. Mary had a pistol and kept it loaded by her side.