The Pearls

by Michelle Farrell

  He started in the playroom and decided to see if he could get most of it in one large roll. He cut along the walls to the hall, the wall to the outside, and began pulling it up. Two hours later he had only the two offices to the right of the lobby left to do. The flooring was coming up very easy and in big sections so it was exceptionally easy so far.

  He walked to the end of the hall and decided to do the room to his left first. He cut along the walls, as he did in all the other rooms, grabs a corner, and started rolling it up. When he got to the area that he would have put a desk, the carpet stuck. He rolled out the roll of carpet he already had and cut down the length of the room leaving enough to grab hold of and yank up when he got back. He took the roll he had and dragged it out to the lobby.

  He liked to pile it all near the door so he wasn’t going room to room all the time. Mr. Steinman dropped the roll he had, grabbed the duct tape, and taped around the middle and ends of the carpet so it wouldn’t unroll on him. He went back to the office he was working in, braced himself legs apart and knees slightly bent, grabbed the edge of the carpet and pulled as hard as he could.

  The next thing he knew he was on his butt and the carpet was all up with a small square section still on the floor. “Now that’s not something you see everyday” he said aloud, he got up and brushed off his butt. He had about an hour and a half before the flooring company would be there so he rolled up the section that just came loose and went to the other office to get that carpet up. He would deal with the little square of carpet that was left when he got done.

  He had forty five minutes to spare before the flooring guys got there. He had taken the rolls down and all that was left was this little square. Mr. Steinman knelt next to the square of carpet and gave a little tug, the edge popped up easily and he pulled it up more to reveal a little door. Inside this door he found a safe built into the floor. The safe was not bolted to the floor so it lifted out easily. He pulled the safe out and took it to his truck and set it in the back seat. He will look at it later, after he gets the kids to bed, right now he needed to go sweep up the floors and bolt down that square and rip the carpet off the top.

  Three months went by and the remodel was almost done. The furniture was all ordered the other two attorneys hired. The walls were being painted right now. He hired a local artist to do a jungle theme in the playroom and had a monkey bar running across the room, not to high though. He also had the bottom half of the smaller wall done in chalkboard paint so the kids could draw, the artist made it look like a tar pit when she was all done.

  His office was being done in fall colors of orange, burgundy and green with a dark oak desk and book shelves. He planned to put his desk towards the back of the room with two wing back chairs in front of the desk for clients, a small kids table with coloring books. A window seat with lots of pillows was to be built in the window and another couch facing the window, for a more personal feel.

  Mr. Steinman left the color schemes and decorating of the other offices to the associates he hired. He wanted them all to feel comfortable in their spaces. The conference room he pretty much left blank, cream walls and a large oak conference table.

  Things were starting to feel right after so long. His children were happy with the Nanny and their new school. They loved coming to the office and deciding how to decorate the playroom. They were their father’s number one fans. Life was looking good for the young attorney and single father.

  Mr. Steinman was getting really busy in his new Law office; he was able to open the doors in November and already had quite the case load. In his off time he was ordering Christmas gifts online for his kids. There wasn’t much shopping here unless he drove to the city and he wasn’t able to do that too often. The Nanny had moved into their home a couple weeks ago and started to take on more around the house. She understood his career and wanted to help where she could. She was an older lady with grown kids of her own that had moved away, so his kids were like grandchildren to her, she had told him that a few days ago.

  It was getting close to Thanksgiving and Mr. Steinman had given her three days off and bought her a ticket to go see her daughter in New Mexico. He planned on cooking with the kids and his parents were flying in to see him and spend Thanksgiving with them.

  Christmas and New Years flew by in a whirlwind. The New Year brought a new batch of cases. He was swamped but made time for the little league games and soccer games and anything his children were enrolled in. Spring break took them to Hawaii for some fun in the sun. They also had a Disney cruise planned for a week in July.

  The months came and went and before he realized June and crept up on him. The kids get out of school in a week and he needed to pack their bags for camp. Mr. Steinman went to his garage to get the duffle bags he stored in there. That seemed to be the one thing that he remembered putting away, he was often just tossing thing in here and forgetting about them.

  As he reached for the tote with the duffle bags he hit his shin on something hard. “OUCH!” he yelled out. “What the hell is that?” he moves the box off the top of whatever he hit his shin on and realized it’s the safe he dug out of the floor, he forgot all about it. He takes the safe to the dining room table and sets it down; he heads back to the garage to grab the duffle bags before he forgets those too.

  Later that night after he has the kids packed for camp and all tucked in to bed he decides to examine the safe. It is not very big maybe eighteen inches across and about a foot deep. There is an old school dial on the top. The safe is black and gold, probably very pricey twenty years ago.

  Mr. Steinman grabs the safe and takes it to his home office where he has a file of the previous owners is in his filing cabinet. He grabs the file and turns his laptop on. It was too late in the evening to be calling anyone for information on the safe.

  Mr. Steinman reads through the file and sees the name of the previous Law Firm, Johnson, McKay and Berry. He does a quick search and sees that they closed the office when one of the lawyers died in his office and the other two retired. They are all deceased now.

  Johnson died of a heart attack in 1990, McKay in 1998 to a car accident and most recently Berry in 2002 to old age it seemed. He was 85 when he passed. The Law offices have been closed down since 1995, both men retired. Well the safe had to have been one of theirs, and there is no one left to claim it.

  Mr. Steinman decides to crack it open himself see if there is even anything in it. Surely it was cleaned out when they closed the offices and took everything out. He takes the safe back to the garage, sets it on a table and goes in search of the tools he will need. He finds his hammer and a chisel. He places the chisel on the crease between the dial and the actual safe. He holds the chisel tight and hits it with the hammer. After a couple hard hits, the dial breaks off and he is able to open the lid easily.

  Inside the safe he finds a package marked, FOR ZOE DEVONSHIRE ONLY, a copy of a birth certificate and an instruction letter. This is odd he thinks. He begins to read the letter and is quite shocked at what he reads. The letter is address to the lawyer that had a heart attack in his office and died. He looks at the late on the letter and sees that it was marked the same month and year the letter was written.

  Mr. Johnson,

  This letter is instructions of what I would like you to do with my daughter, in case I go missing, and don’t come back for her. Her name is Zoe Mechelle Devonshire. I am enclosing a copy of her birth certificate. Also enclosed is a check and should cover any expenses of what I need you to do. I need you to take her to Ireland, I can’t tell you the exact location to take her to, but I would like you to contact Makayla Michaels. She will find you once you contact her. Zoe is very special and can only be trusted with Mrs. Michaels. Please don’t fail me Mr. Johnson; she is all I have left in this world. Also give the enclosed package to Makayla; she will know what to do with it. Please for your safety DO NOT open that package. I beg you Mr. Johnson get her to Ireland safely. Makayla’s number is enclosed.

  Sincerely
,

  Elizabeth Devonshire.

  He noticed then the check attached to the back, made out to Cash in the amount of One Million Dollars. He also noticed the copy of a bank statement with Millions of dollars in it. The account had Zoe Devonshire as the account holder.

  He looks at all the documents in front of him a little stunned. He didn’t dare open that package. He did have his own children to think about and would not risk anything that would take them away from him. Mr. Steinman grabs all the documents, the package, and went back to his office. He wanted to see if he could find any info off basic sites on the internet.

  He wanted to locate all the names in this letter and see if this Zoe was indeed safe and where this letter indicates she should be. He had a bad feeling she was not. The death of Mr. Johnson was right after the date on the birth certificate and the letter.

  Chapter 7

  Kaiden

  Kaiden awakes with a start the song still in his head. Today it has given him motivation and not the usual heartache and confusion. He takes a quick shower and gets dressed, it is nine in the morning and he has some calls to make.

  He sits at his table and pulls the laptop over he opens up a search engine to search the number for California’s Social Services. He calls several numbers all getting transferred to a voicemail of someone who isn’t at their desk. He spends 3 hours making calls all going to voicemails. He is getting hungry and frustrated, so he decides to run out for a quick meal and come right back. Maybe someone will answer the phone after lunch.

  An hour later he is full and on his way back to his apartment when his cell phone rings. He takes his phone out of his pocket and sees that it is Charles calling.

  “Hey man what’s up?” he answers

  “You won’t believe what I have to tell you” Charles tells Kaiden a hint of Joy and dread in his voice. This makes Kaiden stop in his tracks and his heart starts to race, calls that start like this are never good.

  “Who has disappeared now?” he asks

  “Oh, NO NO nothing like that, I just got a call on your mother’s private line. It was a Lawyer in the town that Zoe was born in, he looking for Zoe”

  “WHAT?” Kaiden yells into the phone

  “Yep, seems this lawyer recently bought an old Law Office up there and he found a safe in the floor during a remodel” Kaiden is practically running home at this point, but doesn’t say anything and is just listening to Charles give him all the details of this conversation. “He took the safe home and forgot about it for almost a year, last night he did a little research on the old owners and well no one is alive so he popped it open”

  “What was in it? Did he tell you?” Kaiden asks in a rush. He opens his apartment door and runs to his bedroom grabbing his duffle bag out of the closet and sloppily throwing clothes inside.

  “Kaiden, what are you doing? Sit down and pay attention please?”

  “Sorry, I am listening, just packing at the same time, I know where I am headed now, I need to know what was in that safe about Zoe.”

  “Yes I know and I am about to tell you.”

  “OK sorry I am sitting now” Kaiden plops on the bed and listens.

  “Well there is a package for Zoe’s eyes only, a letter from Elizabeth, a bank statement of an account in Zoe’s name, and her birth certificate.”

  “Whoa”

  “That’s what I said at first, and then I asked why he was calling this number.”

  “Oh, right he called mom’s private line, nobody has that number, I didn’t even think it was still in service.” Kaiden says frustration creeping into his voice.

  “I left it on just in case, anyway this letter he read to me apparently Elizabeth knew she was going to die or disappear and made arrangements for the lawyer to bring Zoe to your mom here in Ireland.”

  “WHAT? How could she know she wasn’t going to come back, who just leaves their baby, I know we Dragons don’t!” Kaiden is excited now voice raised and he is pacing the floor now.

  “I know, I know Kaiden, it doesn’t make sense. I told the Lawyer that 7 years ago Makayla and Ethan were killed in that town and that they were there to find Zoe. And I told him you are still there.”

  “I am headed there as soon as I know what to do.”

  “Good boy, Mr. Steinman is expecting you. Since you are Makayla’s heir and she is no longer alive he can talk to you about all the details. He just gave me the rundown of what he thought was safe to tell. Apparently there is a warning in the letter.”

  “Thanks Charles I am on my way there. I can make it in two hours and I will call you when I know more.”

  “Hey Kaiden, since this man is a lawyer and has access to stuff you don’t, I gave him the gist of what we found and the name she graduated under, he said he should have a location for her by the time you get there.”

  “HOLY SHIT make that an hour, I will be in his office in an hour!”

  Kaiden packs up more than just a duffle bag if this lawyer can find out where she is Kaiden won’t be coming back to this apartment. He will be taking his soul mate home. He has three large bags stuffed in the trunk of his car. He looked up Mr. Steinman’s office location and set it into his GPS. He drives as fast as he can go, his eyesight helps him see the road and hidden cops from miles off so he doesn’t get pulled over. He is walking into Mr. Steinman’s office an hour and fifteen minutes later, at 2:00 p.m.

  Chapter 8

  Zoe

  Its free hour at school this morning and Zoe has been lost in her song just playing it over and over for 45 minutes. Her eyes are closed, her fingers are doing their own thing, they know what to do and she accedes to them. They have a mind of their own when she puts a guitar in her hands. She feels like something is going to change today.

  The song is stronger than normal and she has never played it this long. Her fingers are almost bloody when the teacher finally starts the class. Zoe feels somewhat lost today in class. She doesn’t hear the teachers talking or what the assignment was, she is just sort of in zombie mode.

  At noon she is headed home for a much needed nap, she didn’t sleep well last night. She felt like someone was watching her all night at the diner and made a quick escape out the back as soon as her shift was over. She didn’t notice anything unusual last night, but she still got the creeps and ran all the way home. She pretty much walked or ran everywhere. She could not afford a car right now not to mention she hated driving. She had some money saved, but she was more worried about finishing school at this point in time than getting out of dodge.

  Still in zombie mode she was slowly walking through the park when the little hairs on the back of her neck told her something was off. She listened for one second before just saying “fuck it” and took off at full speed to her apartment.

  “Justine!” Zoe yelled into the apartment. Today was her day off at shipping station, but she was working the late shift at the diner tonight. Right now however she did not want to be alone and Justine was not home.

  Zoe walked to the kitchen to see if there was a note or anything and she found one on the fridge. “Great she is working a double and we will be working at the diner together for a couple hours” she breathed out in defeat. “Well guess its nap time after all then.” She checked the windows made sure they were all locked and bolted the door shut. Justine won’t be coming home at all so she shoved the dresser they had in the hall up against the door, just in case. She was just a bit on edge.

  Zoe walked down the hall to her room and opened her door. She closed the door and looked around. Her room was done in ivory and pine. She had a Pine dresser and a Pine bed with a lace curtains over the windows. Her bed had a huge down comforter on it with a cream and lace duvet cover.

  Her bedroom was where she took the most care, it was the first items she bought herself, her own special something she got, something she took pride in. She loved soft colors and her room was her sanctuary. When she first moved in with Justine and they moved to an apartment with two bedrooms she got one
of those door jambs that goes on the floor and then wedges under the door handle. She hasn’t used it since moving out here to a smaller town, but right now she was grabbing it out of her closet and jamming it under the door handle. After she felt secure she walked to her bed and took off her shoes and pants and crawled into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep.

  Zoe wakes about three hours later and still has about two hours until she has to be at the diner. She decides to take a long hot shower maybe that will work her nerves down. She still feels sort of sluggish, but the feeling of unease has passed, and she feels extremely relaxed now. Zoe hears a thump on the wall and freezes. She looks around the bathroom but doesn’t see anything. She starts to undress and looks around the bathroom one more time, not noticing anything she shrugs it off and starts the shower.

  Once the water is hot, she strips off the rest of her clothing and steps in the shower. She takes her time shaving her legs and washing her long hair. Zoe wishes sometimes she could have another color hair she is only Twenty two and has almost white hair. She has tried to dye it in the past but the colors never stick.

  All done with bathing herself she stands there letting the hot water pour over her head and back. After another fifteen minutes the water starts to run cold so she turns the shower off and gets out. Wrapping a large cream towel around herself she steps back into her room and gets dressed.

  After making herself some dinner before her shift she walks to the door and puts the dresser back in its place in the hall. Paying extra attention while on her way to the diner, she doesn’t feel or see anything strange. She makes it all the way to the diner with no incident.