Root of All Evil

by Hayden, Jennifer

  She frowned. “What did you just say?”

  He looked at her strangely. “I said, Ike. That’s what it looks like to me.”

  She looked at the word again, her eyes growing wide. “That’s it!”

  “That’s what?” he asked.

  She was already up off the couch and heading for the stairwell.

  “What’s with her?” Nate asked, confused.

  Luke shrugged, just as baffled.

  She returned to the room quickly, her old, raggedy stuffed teddy bear in her hands. “Ike,” she said, holding the bear up so they could see it. “He was my teddy when I was a little kid.”

  Luke felt his heart began to pound. By God, maybe she had something. “Let’s see it.”

  She sat down beside him and looked the bear over closely. There was a hole in the back of Ike that looked strangely hand made. She hated to do it, but she tore at the hole, making it wider. Then she shoved her fingers inside the back of the bear and felt around. At first, there was nothing. Disappointment began to claw at her. Then suddenly her fingers closed around some paper. She looked at Luke. “Bingo.”

  He sat up quickly. “What is it?”

  She pulled out the paper and opened it up. A key fell onto her lap and she picked it up and handed it to Luke.

  “Looks like a safe deposit box key to me,” he said, looking the key over and then handing it to Nate. Nate nodded his agreement.

  “There’s more,” Kate said, looking at the scribble on the small white piece of paper. It says Savings and Loan. There’s an address here and a strange number.” She handed it to Luke.

  “It’s a box number, Kate. I guarantee you this is a safe deposit key and a box number.” Luke was on his feet quickly. “This address is here in Seattle.”

  Kate felt a glimmer of hope. “Do you think this is where the money is?”

  “I don’t know. We’re going to find out though.” He headed into the kitchen to talk to Archer.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  The Savings and Loan was located on the corner of fourth and Pike. It took Archer only a couple of hours to get the okay to have the bank opened so they could have access to the safe deposit box. The disgruntled bank manager who let them in assured them that the number was indeed one of their boxes. He led them to the back of the bank and through some double paned glass doors. Once they reached a small room with metal boxes lining the walls, Kate grew nervous. Was she going to find the money in there? Was it going to be that easy, after all this time? Somehow, she doubted it.

  The box was pulled out. The bank manager set it on a large metal table and stepped back. Kate inserted the key and took a deep breath. When she opened the box, she let it out. Inside were several stacks of hundred dollar bills. She didn’t know how much money there was but it had to number at least a hundred thousand dollars.

  Luke let out a curse. “No way.”

  “Is there anything there but money?” Archer, who was breathing down their neck, asked. “Because he could have easily extorted this kind of cash from you.” He looked at Luke. It was true, Kate decided. He could have.

  She lifted the piles of money up and looked in between and under them. There was nothing there.

  “There has to be something else,” Luke said, growing impatient. “He wouldn’t possibly go to all this trouble for a hundred thousand, would he?”

  Kate held her fingers up. Another piece of paper, and another key. The bank manager frowned, reading the number on the paper. He located the box and pulled it down. When Kate opened it, she found much the same thing in it…and another key.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Archer said, scratching his brow.

  Another box was opened, and then another. All were filled with cash and underneath that, a note and another key.

  Kate felt herself growing more and more upset. Her parents had obviously been living another life. A life she had known nothing about. She turned the key on box number ten and opened it. Again, there was money in it. But this time there was also a large manila envelope. Inside, she found a copy of their will, which at the time of their murders, had been nowhere to be found. Everyone had just assumed they hadn’t had one. She handed the papers to Luke and dug through the box again. No more keys.

  Luke cursed, as he looked the paperwork over. “The money is yours, Kate. They left you all their assets.”

  Kate just looked at him dumbly.

  “I’ll be damned,” Archer said, shaking his head. “So this is what the bastard is after.”

  “Probably around a million or so if the count is right,” the bank manager said, then cleared his throat and backed up when everyone looked at him.

  “Where did they get this kind of money?” Kate asked, shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “More importantly, why didn’t they pay off their debts with it?” Luke shoved the will back into the envelope and looked at his wife. “There’s more to this, Kate. There has to be. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “There are no more keys.”

  “We’re missing something somewhere.”

  “We can’t be. We’ve looked through all ten boxes.”

  “I’m telling you this doesn’t make sense. Everything about this doesn’t make sense.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude but what do you want to do with this money?” the bank manager asked, obviously wanting to go back home.

  “Put it back,” Kate said absently. “For now anyway.”

  “Put it back,” the manager said, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. “You’ve just found out you are the sole heir to a million dollars and you want me to just put it back? You don’t even want a hundred bucks?”

  “Just put the shit back for now,” Archer said, apparently impatient with the entire process. “I’m with your husband. Something is definitely rotten here. I’m just not sure what.”

  After securing the safe deposit boxes, they left the bank.

  “Why would your parents leave it all to you?” Luke asked suddenly, once they were in the truck and on the way back home, Archer behind them in a squad car.

  “The money?” Kate thought that over. “They weren’t close to Michelle. I’m not even sure they knew where she was at that point.”

  “You don’t think it’s strange that when your sister lives in the trailer park and has several deadbeat husbands and small children to boot, your parents leave all their money to you?” He looked at her, intently. “We were loaded back then, Kate. I was playing ball for Seattle and making plenty.”

  “I admit it’s odd.” She frowned. “Just what are you getting at?”

  “I don’t know. This just doesn’t fit.”

  “You’re not making any sense now.”

  “I just feel like something’s right under my nose and I’m not seeing it.”

  They pulled into the driveway and got out of the truck. Archer sped in next to them and followed them into the house.

  “Well?” Nate asked, meeting them at the front door.

  “Meet your sister in law, the latest millionaire in the Garrison family,” Luke said, folding his arms over his chest.

  Nate shook his head. “No way. You’re kidding me, right?”

  “Ten safety deposit boxes, ten keys.All full of money,” Luke answered. “The last one had a will leaving it all to Kate.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah, holy shit,” Luke agreed.

  “So the money was there all along.”

  “Yeah, and that fucking bear was up in my attic the entire three years she was being tortured.” Luke swore. “This was all right in front of my nose and I didn’t see it.”

  “How could you?” Suz asked, walking in from the kitchen. “And even if you had found the bear and the key, you wouldn’t have known Kate was still alive.”

  Luke supposed she was right about that. He looked at the clock. It was after nine. Hallie’s bedtime was eight-thirty.She should have been tucked in and waiting for her story long before now. Instead, she
was God knew where with a madman. The pain in his chest grew and he looked over at Kate. He could tell she was thinking the same thing. For the past week, she’d been getting Hallie to bed at night. She’d been bathing her and brushing her hair and telling her stories. But tonight she would go through the anguish of loss, just as she had three years ago.

  “It’s getting late,” Archer said, walking into the living room. “We’ll be back early tomorrow. If he calls you tonight, page me.” He handed Luke a business card. “I’m going to leave the officer outside parked there for the night.”

  “Thanks,” Luke said absently. He waited for the police officers to clear the room before turning to his brother. “I know you need to get home to your kids.”

  “God, I’m sorry, Luke. You have no idea how badly I feel right now.”

  “I know you didn’t mean for anything to happen. You’ve been a big help today. If you hadn’t dragged that box back out we never would have found that money.”

  “It was a long shot but it paid off.” Nate slipped his jacket on. “I’ll be back in the morning. If you need anything before then, just call.”

  “I will.” Luke walked them to the door. When it was closed and locked, he turned to Kate. She stood at the foot of the stairs, her tired eyes full of anxiety.

  “We’re going to get her back. Stop thinking.”

  “He’ll hurt her eventually, Luke. Maybe not for a while, but if we don’t get him that money he’ll kill her just to make his point. It doesn’t matter if she’s only a child. She’s my child and he wants to hurt me. I’ve caused him a lot of trouble.”

  “Don’t tell me things like that right now, Kate. It’s eating me alive already that she’s not here.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about it. I feel so sick inside.”

  He walked over and folded her in his arms. “Yeah, I know. Me too.”

  They stood like that for a long time, doing their best to comfort each other.

  “You’re going to have to take better care of yourself. You haven’t eaten a thing today,” he mused, letting a finger graze the dark circle under one eye. “I got so wound up about Hallie today I almost forgot about…..” He let his hand rest over her stomach.“You need to eat.”

  “I can’t, Luke. Not right now. I just want tomorrow to come. I want my little girl back.”

  He didn’t push things. He knew how she felt. He couldn’t eat a thing either. “We’ll just wait it out then. Together.”

  The night was a long one. Rather than go to bed, they sat in the living room on the couch, staring at the clock as time ticked by. Eventually they ended up nodding off. When Luke opened his eyes, it was six AM. He looked down at Kate, whose head rested in his lap. She was still sleeping and he hated to wake her. Gently, he eased her head from his lap and stuck a pillow under it, then got up and stretched. He had to figure some things out. The main thing was how he was going to get his daughter back. His head was a little clearer than it had been the night before. A little coffee and maybe he’d be able to see what he knew was right in front of his face.

  Walking into the kitchen, he set the coffee pot up and waited for it to percolate. Hearing his cell phone chirp, he dug into his pocket and pulled it out. Nate was calling.

  “Hey.”

  “You up? I didn’t want to call the home phone and wake Kate, in case she managed to get to sleep.”

  “I’m up. She sacked out on the couch. We both did for a short time. Not good sleep for me, but it helped.” Luke grabbed a mug from the cabinet. “She’s in pretty bad shape. She won’t eat.”

  “I wouldn’t either. In fact I haven’t,” Nate said.

  “She’s pregnant.”

  “Wow. That’s great, Luke. Congratulations.”

  “Yeah. We’d be excited if it wasn’t for all the rest of this.”

  “We’re going to get her back. I’m going to shower and come over.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll see you in a few.” Nate hung up.

  Luke disconnected the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket before he reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a steaming cup. The aroma was heavenly and the jolt of the caffeine was right up there with it. He walked back into the living room and picked up the manila envelope they’d found in the safe deposit box at the bank. He went into his office and sat down at his desk. He pulled out the will and leaned back in his chair as he looked it over. It was a standard Will and Testament. He skipped the first couple of pages and went to the assets. There wasn’t much listed. The entire estate was bequeathed to Kathryn Fitz Garrison.

  He flipped through the legal jargon and went back to the first page. That’s when he noticed something strange. His eyes narrowed as he read it again; I, Hallie Jane Fitz, being of sound, mind and body, declare this my final will and testament. He frowned. Kate’s mother’s name had not been Hallie. It had been Emily. Her grandmother’s name had been Hallie.

  “What are you doing?” Kate walked into his office, rubbing her arms as she yawned.

  “Hallie Jane Fitz,” he said the name and looked up, meeting her gaze.

  She gave him a funny look. “You’re talking about my grandmother. Why?”

  Suddenly things made a whole lot more sense. “Because she’s the one who left you the money, Kate. Not your parents.”

  Kate shook her head, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “Look at the will. It’s right here in black and white.”

  She walked over and looked at the document. “That can’t be. Grandma didn’t have any money.”

  “Apparently she did. Nearly three million dollars in stocks and bonds.” Luke tossed the will down on his desk. “That explains why your parents didn’t use the money to bail themselves out of debt. They couldn’t. Not legally, because it wasn’t their money.”

  “But-”

  “When did your grandmother die?”

  Leaning against the desk, Kate appeared to think that over. “You met her. I introduced you to her one summer. When she died we went to the funeral in Spokane. Don’t you remember?”

  He thought that over. He vaguely remembered. “That was right before your parents were killed.”

  She didn’t argue. “She died of a stroke.”

  “Did you have any idea your grandmother was planning to leave her estate to you?”

  “None,” she said, without blinking. “I didn’t really even know she had an estate. I only saw her occasionally. We talked by mail now and then. She never said a thing to me. She lived very frugally too.”

  He thought that over. The conclusion he was coming to wasn’t a good one as far as Kate’s parents were concerned.

  “You have that look. What are you thinking?”

  “You’re not going to like it.”

  “I don’t like much of anything that’s going on right now. Just tell me.”

  He shrugged. “I think your parents were planning to swipe your inheritance.”

  Her brow furrowed.

  “Think about it, Kate.” He rested his feet on the edge of his desk. “Why didn’t they tell you about the will? Why didn’t they give you the safe deposit box key? Why would they hide it like that? They never said a word to you. If they were going to turn it over to you, why would they hide it that way?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Face it, Katie. You said yourself your parents were selfish. It’s possible that they were trying to figure out a way to get the money for themselves.”

  “Anything is possible,” she relented. “They could have taken some money and paid off their debts and I never would have known. So why didn’t they?”

  He supposed she had a point. Then something occurred to him. “Maybe because they never got the chance.”

  “You mean because they were killed.”

  “They were murdered, Kate. And I think we both know who murdered them now. The mystery is how Louis Ferndale became acquainted with your parents.”

  “Maybe he knew my grandmoth
er somehow.”

  “Maybe. I don’t think so though.”

  He looked at her seriously. “Have you ever met any of your sister’s husbands?”

  She looked startled. “The first one. He was a musician. He died from a drug overdose a long time ago.”

  “What about the rest of them? The last one, specifically.”

  “I haven’t even seen Michelle in years. Not since I graduated from high school.”

  Luke got a sick feeling in his gut. “I need to get a hold of Detective Archer.”

  “Why? What are you thinking?”

  “Maybe nothing. It’s just a theory.”

  “Tell me,” she persisted.

  He met her gaze. “I think your sister may be Louis Ferndale’s wife.”

  Kate actually winced, the idea clearly repulsing her. She started to shake her head.

  “Think about it, Kate. How else would Ferndale have known about the money? It was a family inheritance. It wasn’t any real estate deal, or whatever bullshit lie he told Karen to keep her quiet.”

  “Are you saying that you think Michelle has been behind this the whole time?”

  “I’m saying I think Louis Ferndale may be her husband or ex-husband.” He picked up the phone and dialed Archer’s cell phone number.

  TWENTY-NINE

  Michelle heard the crackling of loose gravel under tires as she sipped her morning coffee. She knew who was coming. The bastard. She’d tried calling his phone numerous times over the past twelve hours and he hadn’t answered. He hadn’t answered because he had known exactly what she was going to say to him.

  A car door slammed. Boots crunched across the dry dirt and then he was standing in the kitchen doorway.

  Louis Ferndale was an intimidating man. That was part of what had attracted Michelle to him in the first place. She’d always liked the rough ones. That was likely a lot of the reason she still lived in a trailer park, she figured.

  “Where is she?”

  “Asleep in the car. She’s quiet, so leave her there.”

  “It’s hot out,” she said, frowning at him. “Did you crack the windows?”

  “They’re cracked.”

  “She can’t stay here. I don’t know what you were thinking.”