Cold Hard Cache

by Amy Isaman

  I dug into the center console for the key which I then tucked into my purse. I was still undecided if I was going to share it with her. I wanted to feel the whole situation out and see what she knew about the gold. If I gave it to the cops, I hoped they’d eventually give it to her anyway, but I didn’t know. I’d probably give it directly to her. I just didn’t know when.

  I knocked on the door and waited. Nobody answered. I knocked again, a little louder. This time, I could hear faint footsteps inside. “Hello?” I said to the door. “Hi. Carly? It’s Tricia Seaver, er, Tricia Warren. I…” I stopped.

  I didn’t want to mention Frank through the door. I assumed she knew what happened and that he’d passed, but if she didn’t, I didn’t want to break the news through a closed door.

  I sighed and headed back toward my car. If she was in there, she wasn’t opening up. I glanced back toward the house and saw the curtains moving in the window. Clearly, someone had been peeking out at me. If she wanted to talk, I assumed she’d open the door.

  But she didn’t.

  Just as I got to my car, a blue Prius pulled into the driveway and parked next to my car. Carly sat behind the wheel. I hadn’t seen her in years, but she still looked familiar with her wispy hair that was cut into a cute bob. Like me, she’d put on some weight since our senior year. She was also battling the gray and her hair was dyed a dark chestnut brown. Her blue eyes were slightly swollen and red.

  She stopped the car and stared at me. As soon as she opened the door, she stood and gave me a full-blown once over before speaking. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  I froze as heat flooded my face. “I’m sorry, Carly. I guess I shouldn’t have come. I, uh, I just thought that since I found Frank. After he…”

  As I fumbled along, I realized how awful it was that I was even here. He died today. And here I was, all curious about a key. God, I felt like a bitch. What was I thinking?

  “Wait. What?” Carly slammed the car door and the expression on her face softened.

  I held my hand up to quiet her and instantly felt like my mom. “No. I shouldn’t be here. I’m sorry. I, um, I’m staying at my mom’s house for another week or two. She’s still living in the same place if you want to talk. I lost my husband too. I just… I’m sorry. I’ll go now.” A wave of grief engulfed me, and my voice hitched. Grief was odd like that. I was finally at a place where I could think of and talk about my husband Bret without being pulled under the heaviness of loss and sadness. Until random moments like this, when the emotions hit hard, and it took all of my will power to hold myself together and not sink to my knees and sob.

  “You were the one who found him?”

  I swallowed the giant lump in my throat and nodded mutely.

  “They didn’t tell me who found him. But it’s just my luck that it’s you.” She turned her back to me as she stomped across the yard toward her house.

  Chapter 6

  I BLINKED IN CONFUSION as Carly stormed toward her house. Clearly, she didn’t like me. I had absolutely no idea why, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with finding Frank.

  Carly paused on the bottom step and turned to face me. “Well, you’re still here. You might as well come in and tell me what was so important that you needed to come here today, of all days.”

  I hesitated before following Carly across the yard and into her house. I was here. I might as well tell her why. She held the door for me, and I entered the family room. A little girl of ten or eleven sat on the couch. She looked exactly like her mom at that age, except that her eyes were brown. She the same wispy light brown hair as her mom at that age, but hers was cut in a cute pixie.

  “Hi sweetie,” Carly said and sat on the couch, wrapping her arms around her little girl. “It’s just you and me now, baby girl,” she whispered, her voice hitching.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to get swallowed by emotions. She’d already lost a son and now, a husband. I took a seat across from them. Like the outside of the house, the inside of Carly’s house was old but clean and tidy. She’d painted much of it in bright colors and replaced the floors which were now a light wood covered with throw rugs. Pictures of her kids covered the walls, and I remembered Alex as soon as I saw his school portrait. I’d only met him a few times on visits home, but he’d been one of Logan’s best friends when they were little. In fact, I remembered that he might have even had a little crush on Laurel during one extended summer visit when they were in middle school, and she was in high school. But I never knew who his mother was.

  Carly stood and brushed Kat’s hair back from her forehead with her hand. “Sweetie, I’m going to talk to my old friend. Can you go to your room for a bit?”

  “But I wanna stay out here.”

  Carly looked at me. “I’m guessing it would probably be best if Kat stayed in her room?”

  I nodded. “Probably.” I’d share the details with Carly if she wanted to hear them, but Kat didn’t need to hear about her Dad’s final moments.

  The little girl dragged her feet as she walked down the hall toward her bedroom, conveying her annoyance with every step, and Carly headed toward the kitchen which was right next to where I sat. “I’d like a glass of wine, or even a shot of something a hell of a lot stronger, but I don’t think that would help. So… tea?” She began to fill a teakettle with water.

  “That sounds lovely. Thank you.”

  “Sorry about that out there,” Carly said, nodding her head toward the front yard.

  “It’s all right. It’s been a rough day.”

  “No. It’s not okay. And you’re right. It’s been a super shitty day—not as bad as when we finally found Alex, but close. I spent the past hour answering questions, dealing with paperwork and identifying Frank’s body, as if there was any doubt as to who it was. We live in a town with nine thousand people, half of whom know him, and yet I have to go say, yes, that’s Frank’s body to make it official. Fucking idiots. Then, I saw you here, and I got more pissed. Which made me even angrier at myself that I still can get triggered about something that happened in high school.”

  She set the tea kettle on the stove and pulled some mugs out of the cupboard. “Right when I think I’m getting it together and things are going well, something horrible always happens. It’s…” She shook her head and swiped at her eyes. “Crap. I hate feeling sorry for myself, but why? Why again? Why me? What the hell did I do to deserve this shit?!?”

  I sat in silence and listened. I had no answers for her and lame platitudes that it would get better or that she’d make it through were not what she either needed or wanted to hear. So, I said nothing and wracked my brain for what high school drama she referred to.

  She turned and leaned back on the counter. A wry smile covered her face. “Of all the people I would think might be here on a day like today, you would not be on that list. But look around. It’s not like I have a pile of friends here offering their support.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t planning on any of this either. I’ll tell you about Frank, but before I start, I have to tell you, I don’t remember what happened in high school. I know there was plenty of drama back then, but we didn’t hang out after middle school. Do I owe you an apology? I feel terrible because it obviously hurt you, but I’ve got no idea.”

  She stared at me, one eyebrow raised. “Prom? Senior year?”

  “Okay? Prom. Other than a terrible date, I don’t remember even seeing you there.” Prom was one of the most overrated events of my life.

  “So, you do remember your date, Scott Aguirre.”

  “Yeah, sort of. Though I’m not sure I would have remembered his last name. We got set up, and he got hammered and passed out. If I remember right, Terra Norman set the whole thing up. I hadn’t gotten asked, so I wasn’t going. She was going with one of his friends, and they planned it. I remember the whole night being super awkward until he passed out in the back of his truck. So, Debbie ditched her date, and we went back to her house and wat
ched movies on their new VCR.”

  Carly stared at me for a moment. “So… you didn’t ask Scott to go to prom with you?”

  I shook my head. “No. I honestly hadn’t ever met him until he arrived at my door that night, with a tacky carnation corsage in hand. Why? What am I missing here?”

  “I was supposed to go to prom with him. But he never showed up. We went out a few times. He was the first nice kid I dated.” She smiled. “You remember what I was like. I was pretty much an asshole in high school. I met Scott at the Dairy Queen. We talked on the phone a few times, and I asked him to prom. We were going to Shepherds for dinner. I saved for a month to buy my dress. My mom stuck around to take pictures of us, but he never showed. I was humiliated. Then, prom pictures came out. I saw yours, and you were with Scott. So, I called him and confronted him. He said that you’d been dating, and were ‘giving it up,’ and I should just get over it already.”

  “What?!” I almost shouted. “What a dick. I never met him before that night. And I for sure never slept with him. I left for college an honest-to-God virgin.”

  She smiled, a sad smile. “Oh, I believe you. You’ve never done anything to make me not believe you, but back then? I was angry at you for years. I took what he said hook, line, and sinker. The funny thing is that I was mostly shocked that it was you. You were always such a little goody-two-shoes, getting good grades, and following the rules, but all these years, I believed him. I guess it was easier to blame you than to admit that I was the problem or that I picked another jerk. I thought he was such a nice guy.”

  “Uh, he lied and told you that we were having sex. He also got completely trashed on our first date. He wasn’t one of the nice ones.”

  “No, he obviously wasn’t. But in my teenage brain, he was, and you ruined everything. God, I’m an idiot. It’s been a pattern in my life. I think this next guy is gonna be great, and they never are.” She ran her fingers through her hair.

  The kettle started to whistle, and I stood and crossed the kitchen. I wrapped my arm around her and guided her to the chair. “Why don’t you sit down and let me do this.”

  She reached up and squeezed my arm. “Thanks. I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and as you can see, not a lot of people coming around on a terrible day. It’s just me and Kat. I don’t have a whole lot of friends.”

  “Well, you’ve got one in me.” I patted her shoulder and crossed the small kitchen to finish the tea. As soon as we were settled, I asked her what she wanted to know about last night.

  “Everything,” Carly said. “What did he say? What did he do? What happened?”

  I filled her in, and she listened without interrupting. I even told her that I’d gone back to the station and give another statement and also learned that I thankfully wasn’t a suspect.

  “Huh. I guess they’d have to check. I spent an hour this morning with Mike going over my whole schedule. Thank God Kat had a Girl Scout meeting last night, and a whole bunch of moms saw me drop her off and pick her up right around the time Frank was getting attacked.

  I’m sure I was one of the first people they thought of, but it wasn’t me, that’s for damn sure. We’re still legally married. Mostly because we’re both too cheap to pay for the divorce, but it worked. He was on the road more than he was home, and he could park his rig here and hang with Kat… and Alex.” Carly drank some tea and swiped at her eyes. “He was a gambler, a liar, and he would go on the occasional bender, but he was a good dad, and he wasn’t ever violent. I’ve been down that road and I’ll take a mellow occasional drunk over an abuser any day. Frank could make me crazy and lose his entire paycheck in one damn poker game, but he never raised a hand against me or the kids. And when he stayed sober, he helped out a lot around here.”

  I passed her some tissues from the box next to the couch.

  “I’m gonna miss the old fucker,” she said before breaking into wrenching sobs. Once she calmed down, she blew her nose and looked at me. “Tell me exactly what he said again.”

  “He started by saying that I needed the key. Do you know what he meant?” I asked, feeling a twinge of guilt in my stomach.

  “I have no idea. Maybe the key to his truck? Or maybe it has to do with what he said next? Like it’s the key to figuring something out? What was the next thing he said again?”

  “He said that his legacy is in the heart of iris. I thought Iris was a woman, like his wife, but I didn’t know you were his wife until my mom told me when I got home. She, uh, filled me in on the stolen gold situation too. I didn’t know about that, and I obviously have no idea what Frank was talking about. I thought you might.”

  Carly shrugged. “You got me. The cops didn’t mention it today or even ask me about it, which is kind of weird. Let me go get Kat and maybe we can hash it out? Thanks for sharing all of this.”

  “Sure. I’m gonna check on my mom.” I gave mom a quick call before ordering a pizza to be delivered. Then, I called Anne to have her take mom dinner. Anne was a bit miffed, especially when I told her where I was, which was weird. This was a small town, and nobody came to support Carly.

  “Well, Tricia,” Anne said, “You know Carly.”

  “No, I haven’t known Carly since the eighth grade, but the woman she’s become is super warm and friendly, just like the Carly I remember before we went our separate ways in high school. It took about five minutes for me to remember why we were friends. She’s totally genuine.” I decided to omit the welcome Carly had given me. No reason to give my sister any more ammunition. Nor did I want to bring up the fact that this was feeling like a feud between the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. I would not be picking sides in this battle.

  “Yeah, genuinely interested in married men, Tricia.”

  “Oh,” I said, struck silent for the moment. Shit. I took a breath. “Okay, we cannot have this conversation right now, Anne. We can talk about it later. I just know her husband died today, and she lost her son a few years ago.”

  Anne didn’t respond, but I could still hear her breathing.

  “We’ll talk about it later. Just go be with mom tonight because I’m staying with Carly for a bit.” And I hung up on my sister. I could choose sides for tonight.

  “That was your sister?” Carly asked from behind me.

  I turned. “Yeah. My mom wants to be left alone a bit to start getting her independence back, but she’s still not super mobile since her surgery. My niece has been with her all afternoon, but you know my mom. She’s not one to like being babysat.”

  “Do you need to go? It sounds like it got a little heated.” She looked down, avoiding eye-contact and wrapped her arm around Kat’s shoulders.

  “No. We’re good. It’s nothing we won’t get over.”

  Kat shrugged out of her mom’s arms and headed toward the kitchen. “Mom, what’s for dinner? I’m hungry.”

  “Pizza’s on the way, sweetie,” I said.

  “Thank you. I owe you,” Carly said. She crossed the kitchen and grabbed a notepad from the counter by the phone before sitting down at the small table. “I want to write this down. Frank said there’s a key to his legacy in the heart of iris? Is that right?”

  “Well, technically, he said I needed the key. And then he said that his legacy is in the heart of Iris.”

  She wrote that down and looked up at me. “You needed the key? Is that like a code or cipher to unlock the meaning of whatever the hell he was talking about?”

  I shook my head, grabbed my purse from the coffee table, and sat across from her. “No. I think he meant an actual key.” I reached into my purse, pulled out the key and set it on the coffee table. “When he was talking, I thought he was crazy or just drunk and rambling. Until I got home and found this in my purse. I’ve never seen this before in my life, and there’s no other way it could have gotten in there. I think Frank must have shoved it in there when he was telling me I needed the key.”

  The gold coin key chain shone on the table between us. Carly stared at it before looking at me, he
r eyes wide with shock. “I’ve never seen the key before. But that’s a coin from the cache. He and Del brought out what they could carry before it vanished. It wasn’t much, but enough. Did he go get the rest? Has he had the gold all this time?”

  Chapter 7

  I SHRUGGED AND STARED at the key. “Could Frank have gotten all of it out by himself and hidden it in the heart of iris… wherever that is?”

  Carly picked up the key and played with it, turning it over in her hands. “Do you recognize this type of key? The teeth are odd, longer than normal. I don’t know what the heck it would open.”

  “My first thought was that it’s for a safe, or a safe-deposit box. Does Frank have a safe here at home? Or maybe in his truck?”

  “Not in the house. Maybe in the rig, but I have no idea where. His rig has living quarters, but it’s still tiny by a lot of standards. I’m sure he could have figured out some place in there to stash it. He lived in the thing on long hauls. He had the time he needed to find a spot. I’m—” She stopped talking. Her eyes wide as she looked up at me. “Shoot, he could have all the gold in there. I haven’t been in it in years. When we first got together, I would go with him. We drove as a team. It allowed me to get out of Elk Creek and see the country. But then Alex came, life happened. I stopped going out with him and I just don’t go out to the truck anymore. It’s his space. He pretty much lives in there all the time, even when he’s home. Who knows?”

  Carly played with the key for a moment before continuing. “He was also a gambler, so I imagine most of it’s long gone.”

  “No, it can’t be. If it was gone, he wouldn’t have given me the key or told me that his legacy is in the heart of iris, would he? His legacy has to be the treasure, right? The question is, who or what does iris refer to?”

  Carly turned toward the couch where Kat was focused on her iPad. “Hey, Kat, come over here for a sec.”