An Unsettled Past

by C. L. Brees

  “So, what should we do in the meantime?”

  “Let’s go snoop some more in the study,” Alex mentioned.

  “I have a question though, about those letters we found. Does your mother even speak Russian? I saw they were all translated, but who could have done the translation if she doesn’t speak Russian?”

  “I don’t believe she speaks Russian. Maybe the people who wrote the letters translated it for her? Now that you mention it, that sort of defeats the purpose of sending them to her with Russian and English. You know, I’m even more confused about those letters now than I was before. We’re missing something here.”

  “Hold up, what letters are you talking about?” Brandy inquisitively chimed in after she let the information settle for a second.

  “While we were being nosy earlier and sifting through my mom’s records, we came across these letters. They were all in typed Russian, but on the back of each letter there was a handwritten English translation,” Alex explained.

  “That does seem odd. And you’re certain she doesn’t speak or know any Russian at all?” Brandy inquired.

  “I’m about ninety-nine percent sure that my mother doesn’t know any Russian. However, she could have had them translated by someone else. Possibly someone that she trusts?”

  “The question we should be trying to answer is: who did it, and why?” Amy urged as she stood to her feet.

  “Well, enough about the letters. There has to be a safe in this house somewhere. Let’s head back to the study again and keep looking.”

  They all made their way back down the hallway towards the study. Alex was on a mission to discover this supposed safe. As they entered the room, the strange odor reached the end of his nostrils once again. Musty. He was now certain he wasn’t crazy. When they left the room earlier, the air had been filled with a calming lemon scent. The smell now didn’t make him feel calm in any regards.

  “There’s that smell again, Amy. Someone has been in this house besides us. This house always has a fresh scent of lemon in the air. Does that smell like lemon to you?”

  “Alex, stop. No one has been in here. How would they have gotten in? You had the alarm set while we were gone, and we’ve been here the rest of the time.”

  “Amy, you can’t smell that? He’s telling the truth; I smell it too. It smells just like you said—musty. I don’t know how else to describe it. If you’re saying it always smells like lemons in here it sure as hell doesn’t smell like lemons now,” Brandy said as Amy scratched her head.

  “Let’s just back out of here and head back towards the living room.”

  “No way! I’m not scared. Let’s find this safe or more letters and see what more we can find out. I was just making an observation. And if someone really was in here, they have to be long gone by now. Who hangs around a house they broke into?”

  “You really should watch more horror movies, Alex. You’d learn a lot from them, like that the one who says shit like that is usually the first one the killer takes out,” Brandy joked.

  “No killer is going to ‘take me out’ as you put it. Now seriously, let’s get to work before Mike gets here.”

  Each taking a corner of the room, they hunted underneath rugs, behind pictures, and in the closet once again. Once again their search turned up nothing. It was at that moment that it dawned on Alex: maybe it’s hidden underneath the desk?

  “Come help me quickly and move this desk out of the way.”

  “Sure, why didn’t I think to look under there?” Amy wondered aloud.

  They pushed the desk forward, and there it was plain as day right in front of them: a floor safe. Alex sighed with relief.

  “I told you she had a safe somewhere in here. Now all we have to do is figure out what the combo is.”

  “Any clue what it could be?”

  “Well, let’s try something that she’d easily remember…hmm, I’m going out on a limb here, but let’s put in the day my father was murdered.”

  He quickly typed in the code: 05-12-87. He heard the sound of the safe unlocking. He was in. He slowly turned the handle and pulled up on the heavy safe door. When he looked inside, it became clear to Alex that there was a secret, and now he would finally know the truth about who his father truly was.

  8

  They all stood there looking inside the large safe. There it was: stacks of bank strapped money, jewelry, and even more envelopes full of letters.

  “What have we stumbled upon?” he asked aloud to the group.

  “I have a feeling it’s something we were never supposed to see or know about,” Amy said as Brandy nodded her head in agreement.

  Alex was more interested in the envelopes than he was the money or jewelry. Whatever was going on, the truth lay in these envelopes. He just knew it.

  He grabbed the stack out and handed a small stack out to Amy and Brandy. He took his stack and retreated back to the leather chair that he had spent most of the afternoon sitting in. After a few moments, his reading was interrupted by Brandy.

  “Alex, you’re never going to believe this. I was reading this letter and—now, I never said I was advanced in Russian or anything—but what I have gathered is that these people have been looking for your mother for some time. Look at the date—last Saturday. They know that you’re in Ridgewood Hills. And what’s scarier is that they mention in this letter that she has two days to comply with their requests or face the consequences.”

  “The deadline was Monday. So this is real, because those four murders took place on Tuesday.”

  “Shit, I don’t have a good feeling about any of this,” Amy shouted as she began to pace.

  “Brandy, does it say anywhere in the letter that they know where we live?”

  “I don’t think they know where you live; these letters were delivered to a hospital in Denver. You really should call your mother and warn her that she shouldn’t leave the hospital without an escort.”

  “Good idea. Let me go do that right now.”

  Alex grasped for his cell phone in his pocket and called his mother’s mobile phone as he walked out of the study. He had to warn her of this news; but how would he explain how he found out this information? He knew he had to warn her; he’d have to make something up fast to cover his snooping.

  The call went to voicemail after two rings, which usually was an indication that she wasn’t taking calls at that time. It was more than likely she was with a patient or in a meeting and unable to talk. After the beep, Alex quickly explained to her not to leave the hospital without calling home first and that they would all drive down and pick her up from the hospital that night. However, Alex knew that she wouldn’t be home until late that night and prayed that she checked her voicemail before she left to come home. Feeling a bit relieved he ended his voicemail with his usual, “I love you.”

  Alex returned to the study and was interrupted by Brandy as she was reading another letter.

  “What is it, Brandy?”

  “Your father…how much do you really remember about him?”

  “I don’t remember much, really. Everything is such a blur from my childhood. I have a few flashbacks to the murder from time to time, but not enough memory to recall exactly what happened. Why do you ask?”

  “Well this letter here talks about money and that they want their money back,” she said setting it down in front of Alex, “see here, this word is ‘money’ and this one here is ‘took’.”

  “They think his father took their money?” Amy gasped.

  “From the sound of this letter, someone really believes he took their money and drugs and then crossed them by having them arrested.”

  In the distance a loud clap of thunder shook the house as the power began to flicker. It was now a full blown storm outside and was only getting worse as the hours passed by. Alex was suddenly shaken by a new realization about his father. He had certainly pissed off the Russian mafia, and in the end he had paid dearly for it with his life. Now it appeared that they were back for
revenge. A tsunami of emotions flooded his brain once again, and each one made him reevaluate his entire life. He must have stolen the money. How could his mother afford the house they were in, the luxury of buying the two of them new cars every two years? It all was becoming clearer to him about just what type of person his father really was. He sat down quickly, as the room around him began to spin. All of his blood was draining as he became white as a ghost. He cupped his hands over his eyes and nose, the adrenaline causing him to burst into tears.

  Rushing to his side Amy nervously asked, “Alex! What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve just had my worst suspicions confirmed. It’s doubtful that my mother could have ever afforded a place like this on her own, let alone buy us both new cars and pay cash for everything on the spot. I mean sure, she makes alright money as a surgeon, but not that good of money. This all has to be true,” Alex speculated as Amy wrapped both of her arms around him and gave him a hug.

  “I’m so sorry, Alex. This has been a very intense day…are you sure you want to go out tonight? The weather is only going to get worse as the day wears on, and I don’t feel you’re in the right frame of mind to have a good time. Maybe we should just keep going through these letters and put our heads together to figure this all out.”

  “I’ll be alright. There is no need to ruin everyone’s night because of me. Besides, I want to get out of the house.”

  “As long as you’re sure, Alex, we’ll support your decision. I mean, should we really be altering our lives because some nut cases can’t let go of the past? Doing that only proves one thing: they’ve won.”

  Standing to his feet quickly, Alex exclaimed, “They’re not going to win. Besides, Mike will be with us tonight. Nothing is going to happen to us as long as long as he’s here.”

  ***

  The three walked out of the study, turning the lights off on the way out. Alex didn’t want his mother to know that he had been going through her things. Nothing would piss her off more than to know that her privacy had been violated by the one person she trusted.

  It was nearing four o’clock in the afternoon as they emerged into the living room once again. In the back of his mind, Alex had reservations about trekking out that night, but he didn’t want to make a big issue about it. His friends deserved to enjoy their lives and not be brought into this sordid mess. That pesky gut feeling of his would have to take a back seat. He was going out, and no mafia was going to stop him from living his life to the fullest.

  As Alex was about to turn the corner from the foyer into the living room, a tingly feeling shot straight up his spine. He stopped dead in his tracks as his body trembled from the chill. It had been a long time since he had experienced that sensation, as the last time he felt it was the night he and Mike had their first date. It was almost as if he could picture something out of his control about to happen and he was helpless to stop it. Amy turned around as he stood ever so still with a blank expression upon his face.

  “Alex, you coming?”

  “I just had a dreadful feeling wash over me. That seems to be the theme of the day though. It’s probably nothing except some residual shock from all of the news I’ve received today.”

  “I’m almost certain that’s what it is. Let’s go relax before John and Mike get here.”

  Shaking the feeling from his mind, Alex joined his friends in the living room. Brandy and Amy had already made themselves comfortable on the couch, leaving an empty space for Alex to sit next to them. As he sat down, Amy turned slightly to her side, sliding her right leg underneath her thigh.

  “Alex, I feel like we’ve spent the better part of the past two days in this room. Any special reason why we keep going back to the same spot?” Amy inquired as Alex smiled at her.

  “I feel more comfortable in here. This is my happy place, and there’s something that I wanted to show you guys.”

  He stood to his feet and walked towards the entertainment center on the far wall. He bent down and slowly opened a drawer. He fumbled with several items inside, scattering them about in the drawer. Eventually, he pulled out a large black scrapbook. It was something that he obviously kept hidden from sight.

  “Now. I’ve never shared this with anyone, not even my mother. You guys are the first to ever see this.”

  Adjusting her posture and leaning closer Brandy asked, “What is it, Alex?”

  “It’s a book I made several years ago of some photos I found one day when looking through some boxes in the attic. They’re of my father, mother, and myself from back in the Colorado Springs days.”

  “Wow, let’s take a look.”

  Alex sat in between and opened the front of the book and began flipping through the pages. A bright smile flashed upon his face as he turned each page.

  Brandy chuckled to herself, “You look just like your father, Alex.”

  “That’s what I’ve been told. These photos bring back such great memories for me.”

  “That makes me happy, and thank you for trusting us enough to let us see this book.”

  “Of course; you’re both wonderful friends and that’s saying a lot because I don’t think many people are wonderful.”

  They continued looking through the book, and it was immediately apparent that Alex had changed. He was no longer the same carefree and happy kid that was smiling back at them from the pages of his scrapbook. The Alex that they knew now was so serious all the time. He did an amazing job of projecting to everyone that he was happy and content; however, they both knew that he was hurting inside because he missed his father.

  The three of them spent the better part of the next half hour sitting around in the living room, talking about the old days. Alex opened up about his feelings on graduation, Mike, and whether or not he would be joining Amy in New York in a few months.

  Turning her head towards Alex as he smiled at the pages Amy interrupted, “Alex…”

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “Promise me again that we’ll always be friends. I hear all of these stories about how when one person moves away from home people drift apart. I don’t want that to happen with us.”

  “We’re never going to drift apart. Ask Brandy. We’ve remained friends this entire time. We don’t see each other every day, but we’ll always be friends. Isn’t that right?”

  “Absolutely. But I can see what Amy is saying. She’s moving across the country. It’s not the same comparison, Alex.”

  “Exactly. You two are only a little over an hour apart. When I leave for New York, we’ll be a three-day drive apart.”

  “Amy, rest assured, you two will always be friends,” Brandy said. “I can already tell just from the two hours I have known you. Besides, they do have these things called airplanes, and you can be back here or vice versa in a matter of hours.”

  The sound of a ringing cell phone interrupted the conversation about friendships. Alex rushed to grab the phone from his pocket. “I am praying that it’s Mike calling, saying he’s almost here.” Alex grasped the phone and looked at the caller ID display. It wasn’t Mike but instead John calling. He flipped open the phone without haste and spoke. “Where are you at, John?

  “I’m literally just leaving school. You two missed a strange day, that’s for sure. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, was all abuzz with what happened to Kelli. I had casually mentioned to one person that Heather had vanished, and before lunch it was all over the school that she’d been kidnapped.”

  “What did you expect to happen? You know we go to school with a ton of gossipers. Anyway, speaking of Heather, did she by chance reach out to you today at all?”

  “Nope, the only call and text message I received today were from Amy asking me to translate some Russian letters you found. I told her I’d come right after school.”

  “Oh, about that—problem solved. My friend Brandy is here for the evening and she already took care of that for me. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

  “Oh, awesome. Well I am going to head over your w
ay once I get out of this parking lot at school. Everyone is trying to leave all at once and with this rain–well we both know it’s a chaotic scene out here.”

  “Whew, who are you telling. Alright that sounds good. We’re all just sitting here waiting for Mike to get back into town and head this way also. Once everyone is here, we can decide where we want to go for dinner tonight.”

  “You know I’m always in for dinner. Who all is joining us tonight?”

  “It’s Amy, Brandy, Mike, you and me going.”

  “Count me in. I’ll be over there as soon as I can. I’m going to run home and change clothes really fast before I head over.”

  “See you soon, John.”

  John had a truly rough day at school. He spent the better part of the morning worried about Heather, not to mention being bombarded with questions about the robbery and Kelli’s murder. It was almost as if the student body knew he had some sort of insider information into the working of a police investigation. After lunch it only got worse once news spread that Heather had gone off the radar. He also worried about Amy and Alex and how their day was going with the research at the library.

  After about five minutes of waiting in the line of cars to exit campus, he pulled out onto the tree-lined boulevard and headed towards home. The rain storm was making it nearly impossible to see even twenty feet in front of him. He chugged through traffic, and after about fifteen minutes he arrived at the main entrance to their subdivision. He turned right onto his street and pulled into his driveway.

  He was already mentally drained from having to concentrate on classes and worrying about his friends all at the same time. He sighed as he pushed the front door open, tossing his backpack to the floor of the foyer. He rushed up the stairs to his room, removing his shirt as he walked down the hallway, exposing his tanned skin and ripped stomach. He raced into his closet and grabbed a blue and white striped button-down along with a pair of dark colored Levi jeans. He maneuvered swiftly into his bedroom and removed his pants, tossing them onto his bed. John was very meticulous about his outward appearance. Any outsider would think John was straight out of GQ magazine. He always looked so put together when it came to fashion. And tonight was no different, as he wanted to look his best for whatever reason. He walked into his bathroom after getting dressed, just to give himself one last look over before he left the house for the evening.