Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly (Cypress Grove Series) (13 page)

             
"Roger, we just want to know what you remember of the time your mother worked for the Carmichael
'
s, especially at the end when she was fired.
"  Emma speaks softly placing her hand on his forearm in a friendly manner.  Just like me, Emma senses the change in Roger. 

             
He looks up at Emma's friendly, concerned eyes and he nods his understanding.  "I was pretty young.  I remember there were a lot of nights when she did not come home till very late.  I mean like middle of the night late," he recalls.  "I knew it was late because my father would be pissed. I was awakened by them arguing," he explains still looking at Emma.  "I don't know if he thought she was having an affair, or what he thought really."

             
"Did you ever find out why she was so late?" Jimmy asks after a second of silence.

             
"No, but my father was drunk one night when she came home.  I heard them yelling and he left mad." I see tears well up in Roger's eyes as he remembers so long ago.  "He was really drunk. He crossed the center line and hit a car head on.  Both him and the driver of the other car died instantly," Roger whispers his horrible memory as a tear falls down his cheek. 

             
"Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had no idea, you always seemed so put together in high school," Luke consoles.

             
"Yeah, well, I had my little brother to take care of so I had no choice.  I stayed strong for him, put him through college, and now he is a very successful marketing director in Chicago.  I wanted him away from all of this." Roger is beaming now thinking of his little brother.  "Unfortunately, between his college and Mom's expenses, I was never able to save," he states with a half laugh at what has become of his life.

             
I'm in admiration of this man.  I always thought I had it so bad, but here is a man whose father died, his mother went insane, and he has worked all of his life to take care of his family.  Now he has nothing for himself.  With a baby on the way, wanting only the best for his new family, he is paying a very steep rent.

             
"You know, I always thought my father's death is what made Mom go off the deep end," Roger says looking at me now, his hands crossed in front of him.

             
"You said that your mom said Samantha's name almost daily.  What would she say?" I ask, placing my hand on his giving them a squeeze.  I don't know why I do it. I just want to give the man some comfort. 

             
"Mostly she spoke in tongues, you know that Voodoo mumbo jumbo.  I never understood what she was saying.  She'd do rituals with candles and herbs, a bunch of stupid crap. I don't know.  The only words I was ever able to make out were Samantha James," he answers, moving his hands to his lap.  Apparently, my show of affection was making him uncomfortable.  "It got worse after she was fired, she went totally insane.  She wasn't able to keep a job and paced the house at all hours of the night," he recalls.

             
"Jeez, Roger, I am so sorry.  If my mother was any cause of this," Jimmy stutters, "I am so sorry." 

             
"You know, I think she was always troubled.  Whatever happened at the Carmichaels' just put it into full force," Roger mutters looking at Jimmy.  "I wish I could be more help, I just don't know what happened.  Any time I asked her why she was fired, it would set her off into one of her rants.  I stopped asking and did the best I could to keep my brother shielded from her craziness."

             
Everyone is silent for a moment, no one really making eye contact.  I feel Luke squeeze my shoulder before he moves his arms in front of him.

             
"I don't know what happened either, but I want to do something for you." I speak up after the awkward silence.  "Consider what you have paid in rent so far on your house as paid in full.  It's yours. I am going to have my assistant transfer the deed into you and your wife's name." I tell Roger, whose eyes widen in shock.

             
"I can't," he sputters in surprise, "you can't be serious?"

             
"I am serious, very serious.  Ask these guys, when I give someone a gift they will take it."  I gesture at everyone, which they all nod. 

             
"It's going to happen whether you like it or not." Luke laughs, looking at me with pride. 

             
"It's a done deal.  If you don't want the house, sell it.  I don't care, it's yours.  It's time someone does something for you," I state firmly. 

             
"You don't owe me anything. For all we know, my mother is the reason your mother is dead," he says, looking at me abruptly as if he can't believe he just said that.

             
"You are not your mother, and I am not mine.  We don't know what happened. All I ask for in return is that if you remember anything you let us know.  No matter what it is.  If you remember something that may indicate that your mother did something to my mother, I want to know about it.  I will not hold you accountable for things your mother did when you were nothing but an innocent child.  Do we have a deal?"

             
"Why would you do this for me?" Roger says flabbergasted. 

             
"Because I can, do we have a deal?"

             
"Take it man. She won't stop until she gets her way."  Jimmy snickers.

             
Looking at me for a long moment, he finally says, "We have a deal!"  He seems as if he is going to jump out of his skin in excitement.  "I will rack my brain! I will have so much time on my hands now only having to work one job."  He's smiling from ear to ear. 

             
After everyone says their goodbyes, and we exchange contact information, Roger takes off in his beat up little car excited as all get out to get home and tell his wife the news.

Chapter
19

              "When are you going to buy me a house?" Jacob teases the next day when I tell him about what we learned from Roger. 

             
"Never, you're stuck living with me." I punch him in the shoulder.  "I'm giving you your own wing, plus free everything.  So deal with it."  I laugh at his mocking of me.  

             
"I guess I will try to survive." He chuckles.

             
We are sitting in the library going through some of the thousands of books trying to find anything we can. 

             
"So do you think your grandmother was really into all this magic Voodoo stuff?"  Jacob scoffs, putting one book aside to pick up another.  He's sitting in the overstuffed chair with one leg draped over the side.  I'm on the floor next to the chair with my legs crossed in front of me. 

             
"It would appear so," I answer, placing the open book on my lap.  "Why else would all of this be in here?" I question Jacob.

             
"Maybe she was just a collector." He shrugs. 

             
"I don't think so." I chew on my bottom lip thinking for a second.  "I mean, I don't believe she was evil or anything, but I think she practiced witchcraft.  Not the dark stuff though." I look up at Jacob for his reaction.

             
"You are basing this on what?"  He's smiling down at me, lightly kicking me with his foot.

             
"A gut feeling."

             
"Okay, we'll go with that," he says amused. 

             
The house is quiet with Luke at his dad's house helping him move some stuff around for a remodel they are doing.  Jimmy is with them, needing all the muscle they could get.  Jacob and I sit in silence pouring over books. 

             
Now I'm reading one that I translated to mean Lost Souls.  I have my laptop next to me to translate enough to get the gist of what the book is about.  Some of the words are not recognizable by Google, so I am very intrigued with this one.  I'm able to make out enough to know that this book is based on believing in souls that die before their time and are believed to be stuck on another plane.  At least, that is what I've interpreted so far. It explains that there is a way to contact these souls if one believes in its power.  I try to figure out what power they are referring to, but am unable to translate. 

             
Gus is on one side of me and Oscar is on the other.  I am taking turns petting them in between changing hands my book is in.

             
Flipping through the book frustrated, my eye catches something.  On a page toward the back there is a spell of some sort.  Taped to the top of the page is a key, an old looking key. It is tarnished with age. 

             
"Look at this!" I elbow Jacob in the leg, who I think has dosed off because he jumps when I speak.

             
"Is that a key?" Jacob says sleepily looking over my shoulder. 

             
"Yes it is." I gently try to pry the tape off without ripping the paper. 

             
"Do you know what it says?"

             
"No not yet." I have my full concentration on the task at hand, trying to get the old, brittle, yellow tape off without ruining the page. The tape is so brittle it almost disintegrates in my fingers, which is to my advantage because I'm able to free the key without damage to the book.

             
Holding the key between my thumb and forefinger, I study it for any writing. Turning it back and forth, I stare at it like writing is going to suddenly appear.  There is nothing on it, no writing or markings. 

             
"Let me see." Jacob leans his arm over my shoulder putting his hand out for me to give him the key.  I give it to him and he does the same as me, studying the blank metal with no markings. I start laughing at the seriousness on his face. 

             
"What?"

             
"Nothing." I chuckle and he sticks his tongue out at me.  

             
"What does it say?" He nods at the page from where the key was taped. 

             
"I can only translate soul and innocent so far.  I need to find someone that can translate these words.  I think they are old, like old Haitian." I put the book down stretching.  "I want to go back to Bon Dieu's. I want to talk to the woman in the back again," I tell Jacob, waiting for the argument I'm about to receive.  

             
"Lilly, do you really think that woman is going to tell you anything?" Jacob exclaims giving me a
'
be
serious
'
look. 

              "She told me the woman in the article wasn't my mother, yet it was in the safe along with the deed to my mother's house."  I stand up and sit on the arm of the chair.  Jacob moves his leg quickly before I sit on it. Gus and Oscar move into a sitting position in front of me.  I do a hand motion Sam had taught me to let them know to relax. "I know more now, I think I have some fire power." I proclaim chewing on my thumb nail looking down at the floor. 

             
"Yeah, but she is not the type of woman you want to have angry with you," Jacob says pushing gently on my shoulder to get my attention.

             
"I know about Miss Jeanette now, she was coming from the back when I ran into her," I argue my point.  "Besides, what is she going to do to me?  Put a "hex" on me?" I say using my fingers for quotation marks. 

             
"Maybe," Jacob says raising his eyebrows. "You don't know what they are truly capable of."

             
"I know that it is only dangerous if you believe in that stuff.  I know you've heard horrible stories.  They're just stories, folklore." I tell him getting up from the chair.  "My head is swimming with all this info, I need a break."

             
"Yeah, me too," Jacob says, "How long is Miss Finnegan gone for?" She had left this morning for Virginia. Her sister is sick and she went there to help take care of her.

             
"She wasn't sure, at least a month."  I frown. "We are on our own for dinner tonight." I tell him as we make our way out of the library. 

             
"Did Lucy not tell you?  We are going on a double date tonight with some old friends of hers.  She wants me to meet them," Jacob says hopping on one of the stools at the kitchen island.

             
"That will be fun. You guys deserve a night out. I've barely seen Lucy, she's been so busy getting everything up and running."  I grab a Diet Coke from the fridge holding it up to Jacob to see if he wants one.  He shakes his head that he doesn't.

             
"We're leaving in about an hour or so. When is Luke getting home?" Jacob asks.