by Lyssa Layne
“Oh,” Cherie said.
It sounded simple, but for some reason, Jason wasn’t convinced.
“Okay.” Cherie stood then turned to leave the room.”
“Cherie, where are you going?” Jason said as he stood rooted in place.
“I’m heading for the wine cellar to start looking through the boxes.”
“Honey,” Olivia quickly put in, “I have to find the key before you can go down there. Besides, I think you’ve had enough excitement for one day. What about we plan on tomorrow spending the day searching the boxes?”
“Count me in Cherie, I’ll be glad to help,” Mark volunteered.
“Me too, I’m in this to the end, Cherie,” Jason added not to be outdone.
“I’ll help too, Honey. Between the four of us, we’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for much faster.”
Jason saw Cherie in a whole different light. Her inner strength vibrated to be released.
Cherie couldn’t disguise her irritation. She didn’t want to wait another day, but what alternative did she have now? Plus Olivia needed to locate the key to before she could start another search. “Fine, tomorrow then.”
It was all Jason could do not to laugh at Cherie’s clipped response. And at the same time, he knew she felt guilty, almost like a spoiled child, something he was sure she’d never been accused of being before now.
Cherie came back into the room. She stopped in front of the three of them. “Look, I’m tired, and I’m going to bed.” Cherie reached up and touched Mark’s cheek. “Mark, thanks for letting me tag along today regardless of what happened, it wasn’t your fault. Someone obviously didn’t want us there.”
She moved from Mark to Jason, “Thanks for caring enough come to the hospital. Jason, I’m sorry things aren’t going well for us now, but I do appreciate you coming to the hospital to see me and then bring me home.”
Jason reached out and pulled her into his arms. He pressed her head to his chest. “Honey, I was right where I wanted to me. I’m not leaving regardless of what we said last night. I’m not giving up on us yet.” He kissed her soundly before she pulled from his grasp.
Cherie touched her lips.
Turning to her Grandmother, she gave the woman a hug, clinging to her. “Sorry if I scared you today. I didn’t mean to.”
Whether she knew it or not, Cherie was an emotional wreck. She couldn’t prevent the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She ran from the room and up the stairs.
Jason started to go after her, but Olivia reached out of his arm and stopped her. “Jason, she needs to be alone. Today was just another example of how crazy her life has become. Someone tried to prevent her from finding information about her mother, and they damn near killed her and Mark in the process. Now I don’t know why this happened but I want the two of you to make sure nothing else happens to my granddaughter. I’ve only just found her, and I’m not about to lose her again. I want one of you with her at all times, is that clear?” Shaking her finger at both of them.
Jason and Mark exchanged worried glances. This was the first time the Olivia had ever demanded anything from them. For it minute each was reminded of Lawrence.
Mark was the first to break his silence. “Olivia, we don’t know for sure that who started that fire was trying to stop Cherie from finding anything out, it could have just been some kids playing or even a vagrant that felt we were trespassing. I can’t believe that there is anything so bizarre about Destiny and her stay at the hospital could be responsible for what happened today.
“Maybe, but it’s just too much of a coincidence for me to believe otherwise. Just be careful in your searches and don’t let Cherie follow you again.”
“Don’t’ worry, you have my promise.” Mark crossed his heart for emphasis.
“I’m holding you to that.” Jason informed him, “I don’t want her in jeopardy again.” Jason felt like an idiot for even speaking up at that moment, but he wasn’t about to risk losing the woman he loved, for the sake of stupidity.
##
By ten o’clock the next morning Cherie was going crazy. She wanted to get started.
Jason and Mark pulled up the long driveway and got out of Mark’s car, dressed in old clothes, ready to continue their search.
Olivia instructed Jenning’s to meet them at the wine cellar door at precisely ten a.m. He was there, waiting for them as Jason and Mark, came through the kitchen door.
Opening the door, Jennings went down the stairs first, cautioning everyone to remain where they were until he could flip on the light switch. Jennings went in first with a cloth wiping cobwebs out of the way.
When the lights turned on, they all descended the stairs anxious to begin their search. The room was like a dungeon and just as big; dark, cold, and uninviting. Jason felt as if he was walking into trouble.
Olivia stepped beyond the men, heading for the back wall. “This is where I instructed Mason to put his boxes. I believe the oldest files will be the furthest back. If you’ll start moving the most current files over there,” Olivia pointed to a bare wall just under a cellar window. “Cherie and I can go through them to get the approximate date of the files and see what names are associated with them.” She pulled two permanent felt markers from the pocket of the apron she donned to protect her clothes from the dust. She handed one to Cherie then uncapped the pen in her hand.
Mark stepped forward removing the first box and placing it where Olivia suggested.
Olivia stooped over and used her apron to wipe the dust from the box top, lifting the lid, pulling the first file to see how Mason had boxed up his closed files. She checked two other files before replacing the lid of the box. “This box is full of completed divorces. The year on them is 1989.” Olivia wrote the year on the top of the box and well as a big D.
Cherie saw what her grandmother had done and pointed for the next box to go beside the first. She squatted over that box, looking through the files it contained. After a few minutes, she replaced the top and added the same year as the first box as well as the “D” for divorces.
The first dozen boxes or so were all the samedivorces completed from 1985 through 1990.
By noon, they had tackled about half of the files in the cellar. They were now stacking the boxes according to what they contained. Divorces and Dissolutions in one row, newest dates against the wall. There was a row for corporate matters pertaining to Lawrence’s business. Another row was all bankruptcy cases. The last row held miscellaneous matters, and other small jobs requiring oversight by a lawyer; wills, codicils added to wills, and living trusts. There were even a few real estate files, but not a single adoption. No files marked Alexander or Michaels.
After a brief break for lunch, they were back at it.
The third box Cherie opened when they returned to work drew a loud gasp. “Jason, come here. I think we’re getting closer. This is the first adoption file I’ve run across.” Cherie handed the file to Jason then turned and pulled out the next file. It too was another adoption file. “Jason?”
“Hang on, I’m reading.”
Mark, Jennings, and Olivia joined them as everyone waited to see what Jason had to say.
He felt Cherie’s eye boring into him.
“What?”
Jason looked up at them, held out his hand, wanting to see the file Cherie now held.
Cherie handed it to him then pulled the next file out as well.
Jason scanned the second file. He grunted as he flipped the pages.
“Well?” Cherie anxiously awaited a response.
Jason asked for the third file, then squatted, opening file after file, scanning for dates, names, and amounts.
By the time he stood and faced them, he was barely holding on to his anger.
“Jason, you’re scaring me. What is it?”
Jason looked up at them and announced, “It appears that my father was selling babies.”
CHAPTER TEN
Jason stiffened. How could this have happened?
Cherie stared into his eyes, her mouth dropped when he didn’t laugh. She reached for him.
He stepped back, his hands up preventing her come coming closer.
Olivia was the first to speak up. “Jason, you’re wrong, I’m sure of it. Your father wasn’t like that.”
No matter what she said he read the very real fear in her eyes. It was bad enough knowing that her husband had led a less than exemplary life, without worrying whether or not he was corrupting his friends. Was Lawrence behind it or was it all just one big fat lie, his father used to manipulate him? He glanced down at the file then smacked it with the back of his hand. “Well Olivia, I beg to differ. From what I’m reading in these files, his name is listed as the lawyer representing a number of people in adoptions, and the monetary amount isn’t peanuts. The numbers are significant.”
Most everyone in the room knew what this meant to Jason, even Jennings. That the father who had been so cold, so demanding, so perfect in Jason’s eyes was suddenly turning out to be less than a perfect person himself.
“The miserable bastard.” Jason spat. He longed to have his father before him, to tell him exactly what he thought of him. How could he have treated him like such an inferior being when he was apparently involved in a baby-selling scam?
“Jason, let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s take these files one at a time and read them thoroughly, surely that can’t be right.”
Cherie put a hand on his shoulder but when she looked down at her, she dropped it.
Only Jason wasn’t ready to hear anything. He was convinced of the worst. He was so enraged to think of all he went through with his father that he picked up a box of files and flung them across the room. “Damn him!”
Mark retreated from the cellar, followed immediately by Jennings and Olivia.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Olivia leaned on the banister. “Jason—I—” There were tears in her eyes.
Of all the people he knew, Olivia alone knew what this meant to him. He locked eyes with Olivia until Cherie laid her hand on Jason’s arm. Jason shook off her arm and turned his back on her.
“Jason, don’t push me away, I want to help.”
“There’s nothing to help, my father was a son-of-a-bitch who had the nerve to shove his perfection down my throat when all the time he was involved in an illegal baby-selling scheme.”
“You can’t be sure of that. You haven’t even taken a look at the rest of the files yet. You’re jumping to conclusions again and not for the better.” Cherie shook him then dropped her hand the second she saw his eyes blazing.
“How dare you?” Jason snapped. He took two steps, spun around, and raked his fingers through his hair. “You have no idea what I’m reading into these files. Remember, I’m the lawyer, not you. Besides, it doesn’t take a genius to read that these adoptions took place all those years ago and made my father a very wealthy man.” To prove his point, he picked up the first file. “This adoption netted him ten grand. Twenty years ago that was a small fortune, not to mention I recognize the name on the file.” He showed her the papers, and even she was aware of the name.
Taking the second file, he opened it, found the amount and snapped the file shut. “This one brought him fifteen.”
The third file he opened and dropped back into the box. “That one was for over twenty-five thousand dollars. Now even you can see that this went beyond the realm of honesty.
“Yes, but let’s keep digging there may be a reason for this. Maybe it’s not what you think. Maybe there’s more to it than that.” Cherie’s voice softened as if attempting to give him hope.
“Give it up Cherie. There’s no use trying to protect me. I can read the truth.” Jason turned away, unable to meet Cherie’s eyes.
“Can’t we just keep looking? We’re obviously on the right track with these boxes. Let’s see if we can’t find my adoption papers.”
Jason stopped dead in his shoes. He felt as if he’d been hit by a freight train. What if his father was responsible for Cherie’s adoption? What was he paid to cover Lawrence’s tracks? For that matter, was Lawrence involved with these other adoptions as well? Jason closed his eyes to the world around him. Shaking his head, he realized Cherie would never forgive him now, not if his father were responsible for all this.
“This is as much my problem as it is yours. I have a mother whose life was completely screwed up thanks to her father.” Cherie had enough trouble, refusing to call Lawrence her grandfather. “I also care a great deal about what happens to you, and since this is affecting you as much as it is me, I say we stick together on this and find out the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as those in your profession are so prone to saying.”
Jason spun around and headed straight for her. “What is it with you? Knock off the Pollyanna syndrome. It’s not going to work with me. Can’t you get it through that thick skull of yours that my father was probably responsible for your adoption? No telling how much money he took from the Alexander’s?” There, it was out, his worst fears.
Unable to deal with anything further today, Jason stormed over to the stairs and just as he started up them the door to the cellar slammed shut. Jason took the stairs two at a time. He smacked the door with his fist.
“What that hell?” Jason stammered.
“There!” Olivia shouted from the other side of the door.
Cherie rushed up the stairs to Jason’s side. “Grandmother? Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m doing a favor for the two people I care about most in this world aside from my daughter. I’m tired of watching two stubborn people, who love each other, push each other away for the sake of their own stupid pride. You two can just stay down there until you come to your senses. And I’m giving orders to Martha and Jennings, not to mention Mark, that they are not to open this door no matter what you say.”
If it weren’t bad enough that they were being treated like children who were on a time out, they heard Mark, Jennings, and Martha laugh at something Olivia was saying to them.
“I’ll be damned. I didn’t think the old girl had it in her,” Jason exclaimed. “I guess Lawrence isn’t the only Alexander capable of blackmail.”
“If you’re smart you won’t say another thing against my Grandmother. I won’t listen to it. Do you understand?” Her hand was already clenched into a fist.
“Listen to yourself. You’re even calling Olivia Grandmother now.”
Cherie startled, blinked twice, opened her mouth then clamped it shut. She took several more breaths as the red on her face faded away. “So.”
“I don’t blame you. I wish Olivia were my grandmother too. At least she never pretended to be anything she wasn’t.”
Cherie shook her head then turned and headed back down the stairs to returned to the last box of files she had opened. She picked up a pad of paper, and a pen then sat on the floor next to the box and started writing.”
Jason stood on the top step.
Cherie continued digging through file after file. Jotting notes down, when she finished that box, she replaced the lid, wrote a big “A” on the box along with the years 1975-1980.
Jason hated feeling useless, but he had no idea what to do next. His head was so screwed up believing his father was involved in illegal activities.
Cherie finished marking the box then moved it to start a new row. She then proceeded to grab the next box, scouring through them, looking for clues. She continued to write notes as she went.
Jason watched her for about fifteen minutes until she finished filling the first page of her tablet with notes.
Unable to stop himself he moved near her. Looking over her shoulder, he read the notes she’d been taking. By the time she put the pad down and went to get the next box, Jason saw what she was looking for.
She stopped in front of him. “Are you going to help or stand there looking like Oscar, the Grouch?”
Jason gave her a sheepish grinbefore he took the box from her hands t
hen sat on the floor next to her.
“The one thing I’m noticing is that I recognize a lot of family names listed in these files. Some of them are the older sisters of girls I went to school with. And look, the money that’s being paid on these is not by the adopting families, but by those putting the children up for adoption. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Jason took the papers and scanned through them, opening the file Cherie handed him, he saw that she was right. The money being paid for these adoptions was by the wrong family. Cherie had just given him a reason to feel relieved.
He continued to search through the box Cherie had just brought back.
In the meantime, Cherie grabbed that next to the last box and started going through its contents. In this one she found a ledger and brought it over to him, she sat next to him and starting matching dates and amounts against the ledger.
Jason observed what Cherie was doing, and the results left him scratching his head. For every check that was written out to his father for an adoption, that same amount was paid to a school, orphanage, or children’s hospital that same day.
So what if his father wasn’t making any money on the adoptions, that didn’t make what his father did any less painful or legal. He still broke the law even if he wasn’t pocketing the funds.
While he continued to study the ledger trying to figure what exactly his father was up to, Cherie went through the box before her and when she found nothing with her name on it, slid it aside and went for the last box.
They were both, dust, tired, and frustrated. As pathetic as it sounded Jason was glad they hadn’t found Cherie’s adoption papers. Maybe it was legal but just hadn’t been finalized.
Cherie plopped down beside him then rolled her head right to the left and back again, joints popping as she did.
“Are you as stiff as I am?” Jason asked.
“Yes, but I’m anxious to find something, anything, that will give us a clue.” She quickly flipped through the labels file to file, reading aloud only the names of the parties involved.