The House on Xenia

by Rita Moreau

  “Yes, Mama and YaYa?”

  “Mama was just here. She came and told me to be quiet. She came with YaYa. They said I should not talk about the body in the basement to anyone but you.”

  Josie sat still and took a deep breath. This was not the first time Alexi had told her that YaYa and their mother came by to visit. When it first happened, Josie dismissed it as a product of Alexi’s troubled mind. As it went on, she knew her mother and grandmother were there, and somehow Alexi could see them and talk to them.

  Once, when she was sitting with Alexi very early in the morning, and Alexi had had a bad dream during the night, Alexi said their mother was there and talked to her, telling her not to worry about the bad dream. It could not hurt her. Josie asked Alexi to give their mother a message. “Please tell her I love her, and I miss her every day. I wish we could talk again.” She waited to see if she would respond and she did.

  “Mama said you can talk to her anytime. She hears you. Just listen, Josie. She said she can visit you in your dreams. This is how God allows her to talk to you.” From that day on she never doubted her sister. Somehow the stroke had triggered this new ability.

  Her Aunt Toolou told her that she was not surprised. “Young children can see things we cannot. Alexi’s mind is like a child’s. It’s a blessing from the Lord. They will watch over her, and when the time comes, they will be there to guide her over the rainbow.”

  “All Greeks are superstitious,” Aunt Toolou said. Some women in her family read cards. They were fortune tellers. Josie remembered YaYa spreading out a deck of cards on the same dining room table that takes up a room in her house, and she would read the cards for GiGi. Josie was not a total believer. Her sister Alexi believed. Alexi had been different. More like their mother, dreamers. She was more like YaYa, practical and not one to follow crazy dreams. But still, she paid attention. After all, she had Greek genes and was as superstitious as any Greek.

  “Alexi, someone is coming by to talk to us about the house on Xenia. He will be wearing a uniform. You should not mention the body in the basement, just like YaYa and Mama told you.”

  “Okay,” Alexi said and smiled at Josie and winked. Unlike herself, Josie winked back.

  She heard the doorbell and went to the front door and opened it and came face to face with a tall man about her age in a military uniform. He was imposing and without a word he moved forward into her personal space. She backed up.

  “Ma’am, I am Colonel Storms. I called earlier. May I come in and speak with you about a matter?”

  “Of course,” Josie said and stood aside. He walked right into her house. She saw him take a quick look around. The front door led to a small hallway right off their living room. She had family pictures hanging on the wall. This guy was trouble. She could feel it.

  “Come in, Colonel. May I bring you something to drink?”

  “No thank you,” he said. She led him into the living room where Alexi was sitting on the sofa. Without being invited, he sat down in a chair opposite the sofa. Josie sat next to Alexi.

  “Colonel, this is my sister Alexi.” She had explained earlier about her sister’s stroke and her lack of memory.

  “Yes. Hello Alexi.” He smiled at her.

  “Hello,” Alexi said and smiled back. He then directed his attention to Josie.

  “I won’t take up much of your time. I am here to talk to you about the house you grew up in on Xenia. I understand you and your sister still own that house.”

  “Yes, we do. Our mother left the house to us.” Josie said while she wondered what else this man knew. Well, he had the power of the government behind him. By his smug demeanor, she figured he knew a lot but was here to find out more.”

  “I expect you have heard the news reports about a body that was buried under the house that sits behind the house you and your sister grew up in. It had been sealed in an unfinished basement. It was the body of Harvey Long who had been a civilian scientist working at Wright-Patt. Your mother GiGi was his secretary. She worked for him in the Foreign Technology Division or FTD. Did you know that?”

  Josie didn’t answer his question but just shrugged shoulders. She decided to play dumb. She figured that would work with this man. Still, she had to be careful as she watched him look at Alexi and smile. Alexi continued to smile brightly. She looked over at her and winked. Oh boy. Josie thought. That meant her mother and grandmother were nearby.

  “I was probably about five, and Alexi was a few years older. Both my mother and grandmother have been gone for many years. I knew she worked at Wright-Patt and I remember she used to tell us she had a top secret clearance and but could not talk to us about her job. I remember it was called a Q clearance.”

  “I see,” Colonel Storms said. “So you remember that?”

  “Yes. She used to joke with us that the Q stood for no questions,” Josie said.

  “Your mother’s Q clearance allowed her access to highly sensitive and technical military data. She was a clerk-typist/stenographer, but her position allowed her to see and hear the military’s deepest secrets. It was the highest clearance on the base for an individual in her position.”

  Josie was feeling uneasy with his manner of questioning. She looked over at Alexi who had stopped smiling. She was also picking up on the tension in the room radiating from this man.

  “So, over the years you don’t remember your mother ever talking to you about the man she worked for, Harvey Long?”

  “No. Like I said I was young. My mother was a strong and independent woman. She raised both of us during the 1950s as a single woman.” Josie said. “She did not talk about her work. It was a job. My mother was more interested in her dream to make it big in Hollywood,” as soon as she said she remembered that Alexi was sitting there, and the word Hollywood might trigger a memory, and it did.

  “I went to Hollywood,” Alexi said.

  He stared at her for a moment and then a friendly smile appeared on his face. Josie felt like he had been waiting for this opening.

  “You did,” he said.

  “I lived in Hollywood,” Alexi said, and her smile had returned.

  “You remember living in Hollywood,” he said.

  “Yes, it was fun,” Alexi said.

  “Alexi, do you remember the house on Xenia?” Josie felt her back stiffen.

  “No,” Alexi said and smiled at the colonel and winked at Josie. Her mother was there and one step ahead of this man.

  He caught the wink and looked hard at both of them and started to say something but backed off. He smiled at Alexi and then turned his attention to Josie. The smile disappeared.

  “Have the police contacted you or your sister?” He said with all the power his rank in the military allowed.

  “No, but I am sure it’s just a matter of time before they call and ask to speak with us.”

  “If they call, you are to refer them to me,” he said and placed a card on the coffee table between them. “Tell them to talk to me and that I am with NASIC.”

  Josie picked up the card and looked at it and then placed it back down on the coffee table. She saw that NASIC stood for National Air & Space Intelligence Center at Wright- Patt.

  “I work in what would be the current equivalent of FTD where your mother worked,” he said to Josie.

  “The cable news reports mentioned NASIC this morning along with the president’s plans to expand the space program,” Josie said remembering the news report and the fact that the colonel called right about the same time to say he was on his way out to talk.”

  “Yes, this is a very important step, and the president is going to make good on his campaign promise to expand the space program. It has been a long time coming. Wright-Patt stands to play a major role in that expansion,” he said, and then the tone of his voice changed to one of a man used to giving orders. “Part of my job is to make sure that happens.” Josie got the message even though it was not said, “And I don’t need you or your sister to screw that up.”

  �
�As I said all communications are to come through me,” his tone had reverted to one of condescension. Now he was talking to her as if she was a child. “Be honest. You can tell them what you have told me. That you were young, and you have no recollection of your mother’s boss. It should die down before long,” he said as he rose to leave.

  “Good-bye, Alexi.”

  “Good-bye,” she said, but it sounded more like good riddance, a favorite phrase of her mothers. He looked at her for a moment, while Josie held her breath, and then he smiled at Alexi and turned around to leave.

  Josie jumped up and walked him to the door. It was time for this man to leave, but she needed to ask him a few questions of her own.

  “What is this all about, Colonel? How did the body of my mother’s boss wind up in the basement of our house? Can you tell me? Please.”

  Colonel Storm looked at Josie and then said, “We are still investigating that. Since he was a civilian, the police and the military have joint jurisdiction. Just answer the police or these reporters that are camped out in your front yard honestly,” he said with a nod of his head to the cable news trucks parked out front.

  “So your sister can remember the past?”

  “In bits and pieces,” Josie said. “Sometimes a word will trigger a memory. Like just now with the word Hollywood.”

  “Your sister would have been ten when your mother’s boss disappeared.” He moved into her personal space as Josie held the door open.

  “If she remembers anything, it needs to be reported to me and no one else. That includes the police. Do you understand?”

  He then stepped closer to her and in a whisper said, “It’s for you and your family’s protection.”

  “Do you know what happened to that man?” Josie said a little surprised at her boldness. He took a step even closer. She moved backward and was pinned next to her front door. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Sometimes it’s best not to ask certain questions. You might not like the answers.”

  Josie watched as he turned and went out the door. She watched him walking and then was surprised when he lost his balance and fell. It was as if something pushed him. He got up and looked at her, and it looked as if he was coming back. She was getting ready to shut the front door and lock it when the driver of his black SUV jumped out and came running to help him. He barked an order at him and turned to look at her one more time and then walked toward the waiting car. Someone else got out and held the door for him. He was very tall and had a shiny bald head. Unlike the driver, he was not wearing a uniform. He turned and looked at her and Josie thought she saw a smile. The colonel got in, and he walked around and got in on the other side of the black SUV. The driver followed. He got in the car, and they drove off.

  “I might not like the answer, huh?” she said to herself and spat three times on the ground, a Greek tradition to ward off evil spirits.

  “You haven’t met my family, Colonel, but I think you may have met my YaYa. You better watch your step—sir.” Josie locked the front door and then walked back to her sister and sat down and held her hand like she used to when she was a small girl.

  “That was good Alexi; you did well, just like Mama and YaYa told you.”

  “I don’t like that man,” she said.

  “Me neither.”

  “I saw the body Josie,” she said. Josie was still to not disrupt the memory.

  “What body Alexi?”

  “The one the men in the uniforms put in the basement.”

  “Uniforms? Like the one Colonel Storms was wearing?”

  She nodded her head yes.

  “He was going to hurt Mama.”

  “He was going to hurt Mama, Alexi?” Sometimes it helped to repeat her words. The visit from Colonel Storms had stirred up memories. She remembered more and more.

  “He was going to hurt Mama, but YaYa stopped him,” she said and started crying.

  Josie calmed her down, and soon she fell asleep with her head on her shoulders. She laid her head down on a pillow on the couch and covered her with a blanket.

  Annie walked in and found her grandmother sitting in the dark. Alexi was asleep but woke up as she walked in the door. They helped Alexi to her room and went back to the living room and sat down on the couch.

  “What’s going on?” Annie asked her grandmother.

  “I’m not sure, but Alexi seems to remember a little more each day about the body they found in our basement. Tonight, she said he would hurt GiGi, and YaYa stopped him.”

  “Well no wonder he ended up in the basement,” Annie said, and Josie had to chuckle at her granddaughter’s wit. It reminded her that laughter was the best medicine.

  “So how did the meeting go with Wright-Patt?”

  Josie let out a sigh, “The colonel from Wright-Patt was a jerk.”

  “What did he want?” Annie asked.

  “I got the impression he was checking to see what we knew about the body. I didn’t get a good feeling from him. He was sneaky and got Alexi to talk about Hollywood when I accidentally mentioned the word. He knows she can remember the past. When he was leaving, he told me I was to talk to only him and if Alexi remembers anything he needs to know. He scared me, Annie. He got right up close and whispered in my ear that I should be careful about asking questions because I might not like the answers. A funny thing happened when he was making his way to his car. He tripped and fell. I think YaYa might have given him a little push. A tall bald man helped him get in the car, and I could swear he turned and smiled at me. The guy scares me.”

  “Is that his card?” Annie said as she picked up the business card from the coffee table.

  Josie watched as Annie got out her phone and after a minute said,

  “I looked him up. He is part of NASIC and is in charge of a section that deals with reverse engineering of foreign technology.”

  “So he works in the same area as this Harvey Long did years ago?”

  “The body?” Annie said.

  “Yes.”

  “That is weird.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Have you talked to your cousin, MC, in Florida?”

  “I keep missing her calls, but we have been texting. She’s was busy today with Aunt Sophia and a doctor’s appointment.”

  “Well, since you have reached out to your cousin you might as well get the whole family involved,” Annie said.

  “They already are. You forget if your Aunt Toolou is involved the family is involved.”

  “Do you want to watch the news?”

  “I’m afraid to watch any more news,” I said. “How about pizza and a movie?”

  Annie ordered the pizza with an app on her phone. If only it were that easy. Find an app and get answers. We settled in for some binge watching to take our minds off of the reality show playing right in front of us.

  Chapter 7

  Fish Camp, FL

  I was up early this morning. Aunt Sophia had an appointment with her physical therapist. They were in the living room. Aunt Anna and I were in the dining room having strong Greek coffee.

  “I’m heading down to the public access station today, and I could use your help since Sophia is on the bench.”

  “I’m getting busy back at the office,” I blurted. My aunt gave me the same look my mother used to give me when she knew I was trying to get out of something.

  “Yeah, so I heard,” she said with the look still on her round face. My Aunt Anna could double as a munchkin. I kept my mouth shut, but as I sipped my coffee, I wondered who in Fish Camp my Aunt Anna was talking to. I had just arrived, and not too many people knew I was back working at my old tax office outside of what I consider being the inner circle; Velma and Ernie. My aunt continued to give me a look. This was an exceptionally long look. Then she got serious. She threw in eyebrow pushups as she closed her eyes. Then the killer punch, the pout, lips scrunched together and pushed out, like an overdose of Botox.

  “Okay. Okay. I’ll try to drop by if I get the chance, a little
later today.” The look disappeared, and it was replaced with a big smile on the chubby face of my aunt who got up for more coffee.

  “Good, because Sister Hildegard and Sister Matilda might be there. They have joined the crew and are learning how to use the cameras.”

  Well, it would be good to see those two feisty nuns again I thought as I watched my aunt head into the kitchen. Yep, she resembled a munchkin. My Aunt Sophia was tall, more like a female Gandalf. The two joined at the hip, made quite a pair in public, everyone in town knew them. They were local public access TV stars. They have been after me to help host the show. They are determined women.

  I scooted out of the dining room and went into the living room. The physical therapist went over some exercises with me.

  “Be sure she does these exercises each day,” she said. “She’s doing really well and can get by now with just the cane.”

  “Wonderful,” my Aunt Sophia said. “I’ll give this walker to Sister Hildegard for the convent.”

  My Aunt Sophia, next to my mother, was one of the strongest women I had ever met in my life. So strong she almost went to jail for a murder she was falsely accused of by some Russian mobsters. She refused to tell the police what happened during a card reading. Her client was murdered, and she may have been one of the last to see him alive.

  “Your Aunt Sophia has the same rules for her readings as priests do for the confessional. What goes on in her card readings, stays in her card readings,” Aunt Anna told me when she called to say she had been arrested for the murder. Anna was a hybrid of her sisters, my mother and Sophia. She was a jokester. She and Sophia were both widows, having married and lost the love of their life and found no one else. Neither had children. “God’s will,” they would say. They made up for it by looking out for me. I’ve kept them busy.

  I kissed them both good-bye as they headed out the door. I planned to head out into the tax office shortly. That scoundrel, Charlie, had left plenty for me to do and judging by the text he sent me earlier this morning he was enjoying himself fishing in the Keys.

  “MC make yourself at home. I’m glad you’re back. Gotta go—got a bite.” I had sold the practice to Charlie on a payment plan. He already had offered to sell the practice back. I would take it over, and we call it even. Theo thought it was a fair deal. When and if he ever returned from fishing in the Keys, we’d work out the fine print.