On the Road [again]

by Sheila Horgan

  Carolyn rubbed Adeline’s arm and tried to bring the discussion back to topic. “So, Barry didn’t tell anyone his mother had died because he wanted to keep the money coming in? But what about the funeral and the notice in the paper and all of that?”

  “That’s where it gets odd, to use your word. Look closely. The dates don’t match up.”

  “What?”

  “If you look at the date on the death certificate, it doesn’t match the date on the death notice, and that doesn’t match the date on the newspaper clipping.”

  “That is odd.”

  Adeline asked, “And how could a sixteen-year-old boy manipulate all of that?”

  “Thanks to Barry’s need for control, we can piece it together. Although I’m the first to admit I’m not sure this is exactly the way it happened, I’m comfortable that it’s pretty close.”

  “Okay.”

  “Barry lived outside of a small town. Really small. When you take a closer look at all the information, the death notice and the death announcement in the paper weren’t even from his town. It isn’t as if the coroner and the police did a great deal of investigating. My guess is that they didn’t do any investigating at all. The medical examiner, if you can call him that, was just a small-town doctor from two towns over.”

  Not getting any argument from the girls, Anna continued. “Think about it. Little town. Nobody really close to the mom or Barry. People figure he’s a good kid. Been taking care of his momma for years. Those that knew anything at all would leave it alone, and those that didn’t know them would mind their business. It’s easy to believe that a couple of people would feel sorry for a kid and be under the impression that money was coming from the big city and that the people sending it would never miss it. Think that way, and all of a sudden lots of things fall in place.”

  Carolyn looked crestfallen. “That doesn’t sound so bad. We haven’t found anything. He kept accepting money from a private source. I’m not sure that I would accept a long time in jail without fighting that one, especially if I started it all as a desperate kid. In today’s courts, you might just get away with that. It might even help the case against him when he beat up Cara. Lawyers can weave together some interesting logic.”

  Anna held up her finger. “Don’t forget, we haven’t gotten to Pickles yet. Plus I saw something interesting on the documents. Barry’s mother was bruised. Badly. A lot. I don’t think there was a lot of publicized elder abuse in those years. What if Barry was beating the hell out of his mother when she died?”

  “They didn’t investigate?”

  Anna shook her head. “From what I can piece together, they may have assumed that she was unstable on her feet and falling a lot.”

  Carolyn rubbed the back of her neck again. “That is odd.”

  “Think about it. You have a sick woman. You have a son that cares for her and is trusted with her banking information. He’s the one that comes into town and does the shopping and all of that. A good boy. You’re going to assume the best of him. Especially in small-town America a couple of decades ago.”

  Adeline sounded tired. “Heavens, look at the situation I am in. My children might be more sophisticated in their approach, but the basics are the same. No one, not even me, suspected that they would not only sit back and watch me deteriorate in such a cruel and hideous fashion, but further, they were active in taking advantage of the situation to advance their agenda.”

  Carolyn was too focused on the Barry situation to acknowledge Adeline’s comments. “Do you really think Barry killed his mother?”

  “Not really. I think what probably happened is that he was young, male, and frustrated and that he was developing a mean streak. He probably got a little rough with her. I doubt he actually used her as a punching bag, but you never know.”

  Carolyn rubbed at her neck. “I don’t recall there being as many parent-versus-child problems back then as there are now.”

  “That question is the same for lots of subjects: is there more of an issue now, or do we simply hear about it more? It’s an answer that I can never figure out.”

  Adeline asked, “Back to Barry. What else do you know? I can’t believe you’ve gotten this far. I’m so impressed, Anna.”

  “Thank you. It doesn’t take much talent, just a lot of curiosity.”

  Carolyn’s eyes grew wide. “I beg to differ. I think you are much more talented than you’re willing to admit.”

  “I had a husband who said that to me once.” Adeline’s smile was infectious.

  Anna suggested that they move out to the kitchen and get dessert in process while they talked. She didn’t want her company to show up when she was unprepared.

  Anna had a new recipe for lava cake that only took fifteen minutes to bake. Jordan loved to help with baking, and tonight would be the perfect opportunity. The baking project would keep Jordan busy while the adults had a chance to chat. Anna had a gift for keeping everything going on the stove while never missing a comment at the table.

  From start to finish the process would take less than thirty minutes, or maybe just a little bit longer for the cakes to cool enough to free them from the little cups she had already buttered.

  With the kettle on — Anna having become quite a tea drinker in the last few months — and all the ingredients for lava cake set out, the girls were at the table talking about Barry and Pickles.

  Anna asked, “So, where did we leave off?”

  Carolyn thought back. “Pickles was a high school cheerleader, and she uses the name Pickles on social media. I think that is all I know about her at this point, and I’m still very unclear on how you found all that out.”

  “That comes at the end of the story.”

  “Okay, but, Anna, be aware that I am not leaving this beautiful home of yours until you tell me all of it. I can’t wait any longer. So if your company comes somewhere in the middle of the story and you have to change the subject, expect this to be a late night.”

  Anna laughed. “You’re always welcome. Back to Pickles. She left her hometown and went to college out of state. From what I gather, things didn’t go very well for her. Not sure exactly what happened, but she left that college right in the middle of the term and relocated. She ended up in the same college as Barry. She’s a little older than he, but not all that much.”

  “So, that’s where they met.”

  “You would think so, but it doesn’t look that way. It looks like they never ran into each other at the college, but were contacted by the alumni committee after they left, and got to know each other at an alumni event.”

  “It amazes me that you have so many details.”

  “People forget what public lives they live these days. In the old days you might write something in a yearbook. These days you write it online. I’ve warned every one of the younger people in my family that once you put it out there, you can never get it back, but they don’t listen to me, and evidently Barry and Pickles weren’t paying attention either. Once I got on the right path, the details were easy to find.”

  Adeline shook her head. “That is alarming all by itself.”

  “It is. I am well aware that I leave a footprint for everything I do online, and after all of this research I may well have some organization with three letters for a name come knocking on my door. They say pretty much everything you say and do these days ends up in the basement of the White House. They may not have the ability to be proactive with it — yet — but they certainly go searching through the data once something happens. The problem is, when you’re looking for something, you will always find it. That is something I’ve been very careful about with this whole search about Barry.”

  Carolyn leaned forward. “Anna, what do you mean?”

  “It’s like finding Jesus in a peanut butter sandwich. If you’re looking for Jesus, you are going to find him everywhere.”

  Carolyn smiled. “Yes, you will. I find Jesus in all things.”

  “Bad example, but you know what I mean.”
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  “Yes, my daughter and I used to lie about by the big pool in the back of the property.”

  “Big pool?”

  “We have a lap pool up closer to the house and then one for lounging down at the back of the property. She and I would go out there when it was quiet and lie on a chaise and stare at the clouds. She had such an imagination, even back then. The things she found in those clouds, not once would I have imagined them on my own, but through her eyes, I saw them each time.”

  Anna stared at nothing in the middle distance, lost in thought for just a moment. “Children are a miracle in so many ways.”

  “Some of them are, yes. I have other words for my older children. Let us not get sidetracked, yet again.”

  Carolyn took responsibility for the digression in their topic of choice. “Sorry. Tell me what you meant by your comment, Anna. That you have been careful in your research?”

  “I tried to stay very objective. Not to come to a conclusion and then find evidence to back it up. I know that is an approach that many use on the Internet.”

  “Good approach. What did you find?” Carolyn braced herself for more — possibly devastating — information.

  “Like I said, they met at an alumni event. They were both young, good-looking, up-and-coming executives, and nature took its course. On the various events chronicled on the website, there are pictures of them looking happy and like they are smitten.”

  Carolyn took a deep breath. “I know you do, Anna, but I just have to ask for my own sanity. Do you have all of this documented?”

  “I do. And backed up. Here at the house and at Roland’s office in a special encrypted account they set up for me.”

  “Thank you. I worry. I know it’s silly, but I just can’t believe that Barry gave in so easily. I have nightmares that he will change his mind.”

  Anna’s phone rang.

  Moments later she told the girls that Liam, Morgan, and Jordan had just left the house and would arrive in approximately ten minutes.

  “Anna, please, give me the nine-minute version. I can’t take this anymore.”

  “Certainly.”

  Anna went on to explain exactly what her research had found. Barry had fallen for this young woman. She had also been more than a little enamored with him. Their relationship moved quickly. Within weeks they were both on social media talking about their happily ever after. They were planning on marriage and children. A house in the suburbs. On their separate social media pages they each pointed to a site that had vision boards they had made separately and together that proclaimed for the world to see each and every aspect of their current lives and the lives they dreamed of having.

  “What happened? How did they get from happily ever after to him being with my Suzi and Pickles being no more than a side note from a big guy in heels?”

  “That is unclear.”

  Carolyn didn’t mean to snap, but she couldn’t help herself. “Then what good does it do us?”

  Anna’s response was both understanding and kind. “I think I found her.”

  “What? You know where Pickles is?” Carolyn may have snapped a bit with the first question, but by the third, she was completely defeated. “Why didn’t you say that from the beginning?”

  “Because I’m not sure what our next step should be. I believe that without knowing the history of a thing, you don’t make good decisions about its future. I figured that you girls would need to know the background I found so that we could all make an educated decision about what to do next.”

  It was all Carolyn could do to stay seated. “We should go talk to her.”

  Anna countered, “That kind of depends. If what she has done or what she knows is enough to make Barry voluntarily spend years and years in prison, we need to tread lightly. We don’t want to scare her away, and more than anything we don’t want to make things more difficult for her if her life has been traumatized already by Barry, and we have to assume that it was.”

  “I guess it makes me a terrible person, but to be honest, I’m more concerned about my granddaughter than I am about Pickles. She went into this knowingly, and my Suzi did not.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Anna didn’t mean to sound confrontational, but it happened anyway.

  Carolyn was instantly angry. She hissed. “I do not believe that Suzi would intentionally get involved with a monster like Barry. Is that what you’re asking?”

  “Not at all. What I’m asking is how you know that Pickles was any more aware than Suzi. I feel ridiculous calling this young woman Pickles.”

  Adeline stepped in to calm the situation. “Barry is in jail. We know that he will be for some time. Our only concern is how to motivate him not to find some jailhouse lawyer and try to reverse the decision and consequences that are already in place. Being in prison must give him a lot of time to think about his actions and decisions, and we don’t want them to mellow with age. Nor do we want him to use his obvious intelligence and well-honed skills of manipulation to find a way out of his imprisonment. His incarceration gives him twenty-four hours a day to plot. And some unique individuals he is currently boarding with that might be able to help him in ways that law-abiding citizens would shy away from. We just want an insurance policy of sorts, and we don’t want to ruin a young woman to get it. At least not if it can be avoided.”

  “True.” Carolyn took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. “What are we going to do?”

  “I suggest we introduce ourselves into Pickles’s life gently. At this point our endeavors are not urgent. We have the luxury, at least for now, to make decisions that balance our needs with her well-being.”

  “That’s a good plan. How are we going to introduce ourselves to Pickles?”

  Anna reached for Carolyn’s hand. “I have a plan — ”

  Of course, that’s when the doorbell rang.

  That’s just the way Carolyn’s luck had been going.

  Anna smiled. “To be continued.”

  Carolyn let out a sigh.

  “Hun, I promise, we will talk it all out tonight. Even if it takes us until tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.”

  TWO

  THE COMPUTER CHIMED and Adeline — a towel wrapped around her head — tapped the needed keys. “How are you feeling today, Anna? Did you get any rest at all?”

  “I actually feel pretty good. I got up early, had a nice shower to clear my head, and then I took a walk around the neighborhood. I find if I’m just a tad off, a walk will bring me back.”

  Adeline smiled. “As you can see, I’ve not progressed quite that far in my day.”

  Before Anna could respond, they saw Carolyn projected onto their screens from her living room.

  She looked like she had been hit by a bus.

  Anna tried to be a tad less blunt than usual, determined to polish the rough edges, having admired the way Adeline was able to maintain a façade of serenity only broken when she spoke of her older children. Addressing Carolyn in a voice full of concern, she said, “Oh, dear, what happened? You look as if you haven’t rested at all.”

  “I spent the night in the ER.”

  “Are you alright?” both girls said in unison, alarm in their voices.

  “I’m fine. My neighbor’s granddaughter called. She was not home and unable to get her grandparents to answer the phone. I went over there and banged on the door. Nothing. After some time, I called the authorities. One neighbor had fallen and was unable to get up, resulting in the other not getting needed medication. I went to the hospital with them, thinking their granddaughter would soon come to relieve me, but no such luck.”

  “Are they alright?”

  “It looks as if they will be. I’m sorely disappointed in that silly little granddaughter of theirs. I believe she lives there because it’s free, but she doesn’t have their best interest at heart.”

  Anna, quick to get to the heart of any matter, asked, “Then why did she call you?”

  “Fair point. Maybe it’s that she’s un
derage. She can’t live here without them. I know that sounds terrible, that a grandchild should keep her grandparents alive for the sole purpose of having a place to live, but that is what it feels like to me.”

  Anna couldn’t help but smile. Carolyn was always such a sweet person that her cynicism was almost humorous. “That does sound a touch cynical, Carolyn.”

  “There’s just something off about the whole thing.”

  Adeline was circumspect. “Perhaps, or perhaps because of our current situation where we are engrossed in a mystery with abusive overtones, we are looking for things that aren’t ours to find.”

  “Maybe. Anyway, I just got home about twenty minutes ago. I’m going to go in and take a shower and make myself some coffee and something to eat. Can we have our meeting after I’m done?”

  “We most certainly can.”

  Anna volunteered, “Would you like me to come over and fix you something?”

  Carolyn shook her head, but didn’t hide her smile. “You don’t need to do that.”

  “True… ” Anna’s eyes lit up. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we meet at the bakery in an hour? You look like you could use a little TLC. It would be just as easy, and probably a bit more effective, to have our meeting there instead of over the Internet. Can you come, Adeline?”

  “I will be there. Actually, I think I will follow Anna’s wisdom and have a walk.”

  “You’re close enough you can do that. Make sure to carry your phone in your hand and keep that little buzzer thing in your other hand.”

  “Little buzzer thing, isn’t that a polite phrase for a zapper that would fill a would-be criminal with enough voltage that he or she would be writhing on the ground until help arrives? Just look what our society has come to. There are times it stuns me.”

  Anna burst out laughing. “Stuns you? I can’t believe you said that.”

  It took the others a moment to rewind the conversation and notice the pun.

  Calming down, Anna shook her head. “I agree, but better safe than sorry.”