by Keene, Susan
We had seen pictures from earlier years and drawings by Ivy.
In person they were different. They were sixteen years older and secondly, they looked scared to death.
The Tuckers said nothing. They merely nodded to us.
Marshall Aaron Daley began to talk. He patted Sharon’s hand. “We are here to put an end to your investigation of Ivy Tucker’s death and finish explaining to you what occurred since the Tucker’s left on their vacation all of those years ago.
“We stopped the meeting the other day because we saw on your faces you didn’t believe a word we said.” He waved his arm to encompass the agents. “Once we talked it over, we realized, we would not have believed it ourselves.
“The doctors agreed to come here at great danger to themselves to put this matter to rest. I ask that you hold any questions until the end of this meeting. We need to make this meeting as short as possible and fly them back to safety.”
Sharon began, but first she put her hand on her husband’s knee. “In 2003 I was approached by a wealthy man whose son needed a kidney or he would die. He and his organization kidnapped a homeless boy and wanted me to remove his heart for a rich man’s son. I could not.
“My husband and I met secretly with the FBI to see how we could best handle the situation. Apparently, this was not the first boy who needed an organ or the first child they took to sacrifice.
“There happened to be a doctor who agreed to do these procedures. He was caught, charged with the murder of several children and is now in prison. The man came to me. When I said no, they took two of our children as bargaining chips.
“Because of the deeds they perpetrated before, we knew they would kill our children, so we decided, through the authorities, to hide the children they took for organ donors and we replaced the parts in question with pig organs. Since it works well, they didn’t find out.
“Our children were released, and I kept doing organ transplants for the monsters.”
Eric squeezed his wife’s hand and took up the story. “The reason we are here is to explain everything that happened to you and us and to beg you to not release Ivy’s drawings. First, they aren’t a true depiction of what happened and all the evil people on the other side of this have not been apprehended. We have two more grown children with lives of their own, new identities and it isn’t fair to open this case and take a chance of the men coming after us again.”
Marshall Daley went on because both Tucker’s were openly spent. “The elaborate details of the trip were only to throw off the people in question. The plan was to make them think it was a family vacation.
“The man who caused you all the trouble, killed Ivy, and put your friend in the hospital was Federal Ministerial Police Captain Samuel Carrere. He had been undercover for years as Michael Mannes.
“We used him as the captain of the schooner so the Tuckers would have protection aboard the ship. It backfired on us. Carrere’s goal all along was to steal the cash hidden in the vessel and sink it with everyone aboard.
“In the middle of the night, he went below to kill the family. Ivy didn’t like being closed in and always slept on deck. Eric woke up as Mannes came down the stairs and a fight ensued. He tried to take the knife from Samuel and a fight broke out. The Tucker boys tried to help. There was blood everywhere.
“When Ivy ran down the stairs, we believe, being as young as she was, she panicked at all the blood and didn’t look further into it. She believed her family dead. Mannes already had the seventy-five thousand dollars in cash in the dinghy. He set the schooner on fire as he made his escape.
“From this point, we don’t know what happened to Ivy. The Marshalls and Mexican authorities rescued the rest of the family, but Ivy was never found.”
Sharon said, “Until you found her on your front porch, we always thought she drowned when the ship sunk.”
Tears flowed down Ivy’s mother’s face. Her husband put his arm around her and patted her gently. Her father spoke in a low halting voice. “Not a day went by we didn’t pray she would show up. The US Marshalls had new identifications for us and the kids. We had a new life set up far away from Chicago. Of course, we gave up our medical practices for fear we would be too easy to find. It all went to hell when Ivy went missing. Thus, the Divine Diving fiasco. We used it so we could dock a cruiser in the Sea of California in hopes we could locate our girl.
“To us, she died the day Marshal Daley told us about her being found. As soon as we heard how she died, we knew it was Michael or Samuel.”
Dr. Tucker paused and Aaron Daley continued. “It was Michael Mannes who caused you all the trouble. He was apprehended in Mexico and shot trying to escape the Policia before he could be formally charged. The whereabouts of the money, anything he might have known about Ivy, all of it, died with him.”
I stood. Both FBI agents did the same. “Hold on boys,” I said. “I need to move around, nothing more. I do want to know about the man who threw the bomb into our kitchen, how the listening devices kept getting into the house and cars.”
“All FBI personnel,” he answered.
Ryan asked, “You expect us to believe the FBI threw an incendiary device through the window and into the kitchen?”
“Yes, he was an analyst from the St. Louis office. Had the device exploded, it contained a cherry bomb. We had no intention of letting it go off.”
Before Ryan could speak again, Nathan said. “What was the point of all of it? Why didn’t you come to us like you have now and tell us the truth?”
Marshall Daley, who had been sitting next to Dwayne Tucker stood and walked behind their chairs, He put one hand on each of their shoulders. “I don’t think you have a clue what it takes to make people disappear in one location and appear in another with new lives, names, birth dates, social security cards, money, and all the rest. They must cut ties with friends, family, neighbors, everyone they knew in a past life. And you.” he looked straight at me, “were tracking them down, and doing a bang-up job, I might add. The neighbor who talked to you was Chicago FBI, the neighbor who said he bought the house for a bed and breakfast, a Marshall.
“Had we not tracked your every move and listened to your conversations, we would not have been able to stop you.”
“What about Ivy’s drawings? And if we could find the woman who cared for her, why couldn’t you?” Amy asked.
Her mother said, “Ivy was a traumatized eleven-year-old girl. Her family was gone. She saw a man with a bloody knife jump off the boat, the boat sunk. Her pictures, I think, were a rendition of what she rationalized happened on that schooner. None of us were around to tell her differently.” She sobbed openly now.
“Here are the options,” Marshall Daley told us. “You can turn over the drawings, forget about Ivy Tucker and your investigation, forget you have seen these people, and go on with life, or you can publish the pictures with your story about what you believe happened based on the shattered mind of a child. The Tuckers can go back to the new life they have created, back to the business of living or we can begin again. That means new identities, home, and all the rest that goes with it all over again.
“The children are grown. Max is married with a baby; Dallas is in the last year at college. Their new ID would have to be without the family. They would have to never see their grandchild again or be a part of their children’s lives. It would involve too many people to move them all again. I, myself, think they have suffered enough. Let this go.”
I sat down while the cop talked. The four of us said nothing. Body language and having known the people next to me for so long, I knew their silence was not defiance but sorrow that we had ever found a young woman on our porch, dead. There was one more thing I needed to know. “I realize this is a small, well tiny, detail in the scheme of things, but did Captain Roger Simon of the St. Louis Homicide squad know anything about this, the bomb not being real and the menacing people being agents?”
“No, we kept everyone we could out of this. It is why the bo
mb squad came dressed in their suits instead of getting dressed at the scene. People are easy to fool when they are used to routine. I’m sorry about everything we had to do. But my job was and is to protect this family and I take it very seriously.”
Ryan, me, Amy, and Nathan stood and walked into the darkness where we could talk in private. It had nothing to do us not intending to protect the people whose new names we didn’t know. It was more about how we could phrase it, so they didn’t have to look over their shoulders wondering if we used the story of their lives as entertainment to be repeated at parties.
We walked back and I told the group, “First, I want to say, from all of us, how sorry we are this happened to your family. From what we heard in Mexico by the woman who kept Ivy all those years, she was smart and beautiful.
“Next we want to say that when we leave this bunker, we will never speak of this to anyone, and not among ourselves. Not because we signed papers agreeing to it, but because you have suffered more than any family needs too.
“You needn’t begin again. Enjoy your life and forget about us. When we started this investigation, we had no idea where it would lead.
“We wish you the best in all you do. I would be more than happy to turn Ivy’s original drawings to Aaron so you can see them.”
The Tucker’s stepped forward and we all shook hands. She whispered to me. “Please destroy all the drawings and every copy you have. It would bring back more memories of my precious Ivy and the horrible childhood she endured because of Michael Mannes. God Bless you.”
She took a step forward and hugged me, as well as Ryan, Amy, and Nathan.
We stood silently looking after them as they disappeared into the darkness at the other end of the bunker.
Ryan took my hand and squeezed it. Come on Private Detective Nash. Let’s go home and count our blessings.”
Amy put both hands on her belly. “Here, feel this.”
We took turns as we each experienced the kicking and the joy of a new life.
For days, whenever I thought of the Tuckers, beautiful Ivy, and the drawings she created out of fear, I had but one thought; but by the grace of God go I.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Keene, author of the popular Kate Nash Mystery series, lives in the Ozarks and writes full time.
She loves to cook, hang out with her grandchildren, and spend time with her numerous dogs.
Susan’s new series, The Arizona Summers Mysteries are true cozies. They include a restaurant, her mother, who doesn’t want to let go of the business, although she retired years earlier and her Aunt and best friend Sandy.
Nutmeg helps her solve crimes and keeps her out of harm’s way. The dog is able to know what is going to happen just before it does. Some have begun to call her psychic.
Each book includes recipes for some of the dishes that were used somewhere in each adventure.
Other Publications
By Susan Keene
SERIES:
The Arizona Summers Mysteries
The Wedding Cake Murder – Book – 1
STAND ALONE
The Twisted Mind of Cletus Compton
Tattered Wings
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Adventures of Diggity the Dog
Diggity the Dog at the Farm – Book 1
Diggity the Dog Finds a Friend – Book 2
Diggitty the Dog Saves Christmas – Book 3
We Are Not So Different After All