by Rita Moreau
“I see nothing, just jewelry. Nothing expensive, Alexi was not one for expensive jewelry. I’m wondering now why she locked this in her safe.”
“Look a little closer, under the jewelry.”
Josie took the jewelry out of the box and placed it on the coffee table and then felt around the bottom. Josie now saw she could lift the bottom inside of the jewelry box. She was careful, and it opened easily as if it had been opened before. As Josie lifted the lid, she gasped. She saw it, an envelope, just as Alexi had told them the night before she died.
“OMG, MC. It’s here. An envelope. What should I do? Should wait for Annie?”
“No, you need to open it now. Annie gave you permission, and I believe she would agree. Open it.”
“Okay.” Josie carefully opened the envelope and looked inside. It was empty.
“It’s empty.”
MC thought about this for a moment. “That makes no sense. You told me that Alexi had told Annie that she would find an envelope in her safe and she reminded her of that on her deathbed. An important envelope so why would it be empty?”
“I think someone got into the house and the safe and took it,” Josie said as she placed the envelope back in the jewelry box. “Men in Black,” thinking she sounded like her granddaughter. Everything was a movie reference. “That takes us back to Xenia and the chip. It’s holding everything until it’s ready to give it up.”
MC listened while Josie rambled on. She could see something fuzzy. She wasn’t sure if what was in that envelope had been taken by the Men in Black although that was a distinct possibility.
“My money is on Colonel Storms. He was at the airport when Annie and I were leaving for LA. MC, I have been thinking. I remember a hiding place in the old house, loose tile in the fireplace. That’s where I hid my diary. I bet Xenia hid the chip there?” Josie said. “I bet my diary is still there. What do you think? Can you focus on that?”
“It’s not like a remote control Josie. I can’t switch the channel. What do you know about the history of the house? When it was built? Prior owners?” MC said while trying to make out the fuzz in her mind before it disappeared altogether.
“It was built around 1900. Sometimes called a double or duplex and the old farmhouse in the back was built earlier. My grandfather James bought the house after the crash of 1929. I remember YaYa saying he bought Xenia from Indians like Manhattan.”
“It may be on sacred ground then, even a burial ground for Indians.”
“Well, for now, I guess, I will put this empty envelope back in the jewelry box. Thank you, MC. I know you have to get back to work.”
“Wait,” MC said. “Take one more look in that jewelry box and concentrate Josie on looking beyond the physical box.”
Josie picked up the box and placed it on her lap. She looked a little closer, and that was when she saw it. At the bottom of the jewelry box, on one side, it appeared as if the fabric was loose. She had been concentrating on that envelope and had missed it.
“Wait a minute MC, I think I see something.”
As MC waited on the line, she felt like she could see Josie because she could.
Josie poked her finger inside a slit in the fabric and pulled out a piece of tissue paper.
“Holy crap MC, I found something,” Josie said.
“MC it’s some sort of computer chip. That’s what was in the envelope. She must have moved it out of the envelope and hid it in her jewelry box for a reason. I bet she left the envelope in the bottom of the jewelry box for Annie as a clue.”
“The house must have told her to move it,” MC said. “The house may have seen Alexi’s future and right before the stroke directed her to move it. You are right. She may have left the envelope in the jewelry box as a clue for Annie.”
“So, my sister hid the envelope and a chip in the jewelry box and may have not had a chance to tell Annie because she had a stroke.”
“I don’t know, but now I’m wondering about this chip. What the heck is it? Is it a copy of the chip the house is holding ransom?” MC said. “Or is it something altogether different?”
“I don’t know MC. Alexi was good with computers. She may have made a copy of the original and placed it in her safe, as a backup. What do you think?”
“I think whatever she did, Xenia told her to do it. It was guiding her like it guided your mother,” MC said and then she felt something come over her about Alexi.
“Josie, think back on the night before Alexi died when she talked to you and Annie. Did she tell you she had seen the chip?”
“She told us so much that night, and then Mama showed up, and it was one big hot mess,” MC could hear she was fretting.
“Relax and take a deep breath,” MC said. “It will help. Hold the chip in your hand and think.”
Josie closed her eyes, and while she held the chip, she took a deep breath and then it came to her, “I remember now. Alexi said she only saw the chip once and it was the day after Mama died. That was the only time the house showed her the chip. After that, it was hidden, and the house never showed it to her or anyone,” Josie said.
“She made a copy and returned the original to the house. I’m sure the house told her to do it. I guess we will find out,” MC said. “That house knows the future and why it needed Alexi to make a copy. It sent a shiver down her spine. “You need to get that chip to a safe place. The sooner, the better,” MC said.
“Where should I hide it?” Josie asked. “I could take it to the house and put it in my old hiding place,” Josie said. “Do you think I should ask Annie to see what is on this chip when she gets home?”
Both MC and Josie thought about that, and their nosy Greek genes were taking over even though MC knew Josie should get that chip to a safe zone.
“I think we should see what is on this chip, MC. I have a date with John later this evening, but I can text Annie and see if she can come home early. That it’s important. It’s about Chip-Gate,” Josie said.
“What?” MC said.
“That’s what Annie has dubbed this mystery, Chip-Gate,” and then it hit her. She knew exactly what she should do with this chip.
“MC I’ll give the chip to John,” Josie said. “He deserves to know what’s on this chip and why it was so important his father lost his life over it. Plus, he’s a reporter. His father gave the chip to Mama for protection. I’ll do the same.” MC was quiet; listening to her genes. It felt like the right thing to do, or maybe the house was channeling her and telling her that Josie should give the chip to John Long.
“I agree. I think you should give this chip to John Long. Be careful, and whatever you do with that chip Josie, it needs to be done quickly, and it needs to be done tonight. It needs to be safely hidden.”
MC returned to her work, but she had a bad feeling, a premonition. Maybe this was the message from the owl that flew by when they were at the cemetery. She was worried, very worried.
xxx
Josie texted Annie and said she needed to talk to her about Chip-Gate. She was home in a half hour. “What’s up?” she said as she swooped into the house. Josie led Annie to the sofa where the jewelry box sat on the coffee table. She had returned the chip and the envelope back to the jewelry box. Josie told her about her conversation with MC and that she had found the envelope. “I opened the envelope. MC said I should, and she was sure you would agree. I’m sorry I know you were the one to open the envelope.”
“No, No, that’s fine Gram—we need to sort this out,” Annie said.
“What did you find?”
“I’ll show you.” Josie got the jewelry box and sat down and repeated the steps as she did earlier with MC. When she showed her the envelope, she handed it to Annie who opened it and said, “It’s empty.”
“Keep going,” Josie said nodding at the jewelry box. “You are hot,” a clue from a game they used to play when Annie was a kid. Annie looked in the jewelry box and saw the slit on the side and then she found it. Now it was Annie’s turn to gasp.
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“Good grief, it’s a computer chip. This makes no sense?” Annie said. “Is it a copy?” Josie just looked at her granddaughter. She did inherit the family psychic genes.
“You are reading my mind,” Josie said. “The envelope in the jewelry box was empty. The chip was in the jewelry box, and you found it just like I did. MC thinks your aunt made a copy of the original and placed it in the envelope in her safe as she told you. Somewhere along the line she moved it and hid it in her jewelry box. She left the envelope for you as a clue. She never got the chance to tell you. She had the stroke.”
“Gram, oh my goodness,” Annie said now with a look of distraught on her face. She was still holding the chip. “I remember now right before the stroke she texted and asked me to call her. I had forgotten until this moment about that text. She was going to tell me she moved the envelope but never had a chance. She had a stroke.”
“It needs to be placed in a safe hiding place, and it needs to be done tonight,” Josie said.
“But I also think we need to see what is on that chip. What was so important that they killed a man?”
Josie knew if they found out what was on the chip, they were one step ahead of Colonel Storm, but she also knew he was not that far behind.
Chapter 24
Fish Camp, FL
Later that night Aunt Sophia read the cards, and it did not look good.
“I should call Josie and remind her to get that chip to a safe zone immediately,” I said to Aunt Sophia.
“I can see the house. It’s dark,” Aunt Sophia said.
I decided to call and got no answer. I kept calling but no answer.
“I’ll call Toolou. Maybe she could do a drive-by,” Aunt Anna said.
While Aunt Anna called and was speaking to Toolou, I called Josie one more time and was relieved when she answered.
“Hang tight Toolou, I’ll call you back. MC is talking to her now,” Anna said. Both my aunts were now quiet now while MC spoke to Josie.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. You gave us all a scare.”
“I’m sorry. Annie and I have moved to a hotel. We just got checked into the room.”
“What? Why?”
“Because of what’s on the chip,” Josie said.
“I’m putting you on speaker so Aunt Anna and Aunt Sophia can hear this conversation.”
“Okay. So, when Annie got home, I told her about the box you saw and how that box turned out to be Alexi’s jewelry box. I showed her how I opened the box, and I had her repeat the steps. She found the chip just like I did,” Josie said.
“Then we talked, and she agreed that we would give John the chip. It was his father who was buried under our house all these years, and he’s been looking for answers ever since.” I looked at my two aunts who were nodding their heads.
“Josie, my aunts agree. Plus having a member of the press on your side right now may not be a bad thing,” I said.
“So, what exactly is on that chip? I know you opened it?”
“Well, that’s the thing. We don’t exactly know. ”
“John sat down with Annie and tried to open it. There was only one file he could open and only partially. It was in German. John speaks and can read German. His father was one of the many German scientists the government brought over to the US after the war. John read it. He said it was a declaration from his father. It said all he ever wanted to do was use science for the good of mankind, but two governments did not allow him to do that. John said he is sure whatever is on the chip was the reason his father was silenced.”
“Josie, did John find out how his father died?” I asked out of the blue. Josie had told her about John’s amulet and carrying around his father’s ashes.
“John told me the cause of his death was still under investigation.”
“So, the body was not returned, just his ashes?” I said.
“Yes, he told me that he was sent an Urn with his father’s ashes.”
“Well, that is odd. So, he doesn’t really know if the ashes are his father’s?”
“No, not really,” Josie said.
“MC the file he could open also had pictures. That’s why we’re here. John told us to pack, and he got us to this hotel right away.”
“Pictures?” I said.
“They look like pictures of a crash site. But it didn’t look like a plane crash. It was hard to tell. He thinks the chip has information on the government’s investigation of UFO’s. He said it might have proof of alien life on this planet,” Josie said.
“Good grief,” I said. “Hang tight. I will call Ernie, my friend the spook. You met him at the wedding. I’ll get back to you. Text me your hotel and keep in touch and let me know if you move your location.”
“MC, if anything happens to us, John said he will go public with the chip. It was his father’s last act on this earth.”
I looked at my two aunts, both looked worried, even Aunt Anna who took everything with a grain of salt.
“Well, you heard. She and Annie are in a hotel, and John Long has the chip.”
“You need to call Ernie,” Aunt Sophia said. The psychic airwaves were open and working in this room between my aunts and me.
I called Ernie and told him what happened.
“So, John Long has the chip? The son? The local TV newscaster?”
“Yeah, he and Josie have become friends.”
Ernie jumped into action. I guess the aliens can wait. He wouldn’t even tell me if he knew what was going on and he probably did.
“Text me her hotel info, and I will get her some burners. She and her granddaughter need to move and move now. I’m sending over some friends. They will move her and her granddaughter to a safe house,” Ernie said. John Long is in danger as well if he has the chip, copy or no copy.”
“You know something, don’t you? Does that chip have proof of the government’s involvement in Roswell?”
“Maybe,” Ernie said. “But it’s a little more complicated. What do your genes tell you?”
“I feel like the house on Xenia is leading the way.”
“What is it about that house MC? I understand the house has been looked at with technology way ahead of anything we have today.”
“What can I say? It’s a special house.”
“I see. Technology shows some kind of presence in the house.”
“It does.”
“You know a drone can detect a human presence from thousands of feet above the earth. This technology detects some kind of presence.”
“Alien?” I said without a second thought.
“We can’t explain it. The type of presence is unknown,” Ernie said.
“Ernie I can tell you this. That house knows where that chip is, and I’m guessing that chip has evidence that in all probability relates to aliens and Roswell and governments’ involvement, but it will only give that chip to Annie. The house knows that it is old and dying and wants to speak to her before it goes.”
“Well then, it’s in your ball court, apparently. We may need to get you up there to facilitate this meeting between that house and Annie.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“Please tell me and be honest. Am I right? Is someone in the government involved?”
“Someone? Which government?” Ernie said in his serious spook tone of voice.
“So, this is something to do with Area or Hangar 51?”
“Yeah, you could say that MC. I will tell you this but deny I ever told you. The chip Josie found in her sister’s jewelry box is not a copy if they were not able to open it. There is something going on with that house on Xenia. There is a presence in that house, but it’s not human. It’s not of this earth.”
“What! What!” My aunts now said in unison looking over at me as I put my cell away. I briefed them on what Ernie had said.
The three psychic minds sat there and thought about what Ernie just revealed. Aunt Sophia got up and returned with her cards. “Come with me.” Th
ey followed her to the dining room table where both aunts read cards and conducted their fortune-telling business. They were quiet and waited while Aunt Sophia laid out the cards on the old table. She looked at them for a long time.
Finally, Aunt Sophia spoke, “There is only one chip. I think Alexi had it all along. The house, Xenia, is something else. I don’t know what but whatever it is it will only reveal it to Annie. I think it’s a message. It might be from another world.”
Chapter 25
Dayton, Ohio
Josie looked out the peephole of the hotel room to see two men in uniform waiting outside. MC told her Ernie would call and he did and said his men were on their way over and would take Annie and her to a safe location.
“Annie let’s go,” Josie said as she opened the door and they followed two men in uniform out of the hotel to a black SUV waiting in the parking lot. Two men followed behind them. Josie could see they had guns. They weren’t hiding their weapons.
“This is cool, Gram.”
“I don’t think so, Annie.”
“It’s like a movie, and we have starring roles.”
“I’d rather be at my house, tending my garden,” Josie said, even though gardening and cooking were not on her favorites list.
After climbing into the back of the huge SUV and she noticed the windows were tinted very dark. So dark she could not see out. The two men were up front driving and looking out from the passenger seat. They were both maintaining personal and radio silence. When the vehicle stopped, Josie and Annie waited until someone opened the door on Josie’s side. Josie gasped when she saw Colonel Storm, and once they got out, she could see they were at Wright-Patt and were standing in front of an old hangar surrounded by older, seemingly abandoned buildings. Josie and Annie huddled together in fear.
Colonel Storms stepped between Josie and Annie, grabbed them both by their elbows, and pulled them forcefully toward a large, unmarked door.
“Hello, ladies. Welcome to Hangar 18. We need to talk. I think you have something that belongs to us and I need it back. I think you know what I am talking about. I need that computer chip back. Until I get it back, you will remain here as my guests.”