Promised Box Set

by James Kipling

  A knock on the door announced the arrival of Pierce’s wife. The pictures he had of her at the office did not do her justice. Even in her house dress she was stunning with shoulder length blonde hair and warm brown eyes.

  “Hi Chelsea, I’m Emma. I am glad to finally be able to meet you, although I wish the circumstances were different. He’s told me so much about you.”

  “It is really good to meet you too,” she said. “I’m so sorry for intruding.”

  “Don’t be silly. Breakfast is ready since Pierce said you guys are going to the prison today, first thing I guess.”

  “Yes, and it is not something I’m looking forward to… but I must do it. I think it holds a clue to all this mess.”

  “I hope so. Now, the bathroom is across the hall and I brought you some clothes. We’re roughly the same size so they should fit well enough to get by.”

  “Thank you, very much.”

  “No problem, and as soon as you’re done, please come join us.”

  Left alone, Chelsea had a few minutes to sift through her thoughts. It seemed as though Ashlee’s murder had opened up Pandora’s Box and she had to deal with it. Deep down she wanted to run away and hide, even for one day, but it was not possible. She also felt that her visit to her uncle would help resolve a small part of the puzzle, at least.

  She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Emma’s clothes did fit and made her look much more cheerful because of the bright colors. As for her stressed out look, a cup of coffee would surely bring her back to her usual self.

  Splashing her face with cold water, she headed for the dining room where she could hear the twins crying. Pierce and Emma each had one and were trying to feed them. One was contentedly sucking on a bottle while the other was fussing.

  “We already made you a plate,” said Pierce, pointing to a cup of coffee and some pancakes.

  She sat down and immediately drank some coffee.

  “Did you sleep all right?” Pierce asked.

  “Never slept better, actually,” she replied, biting into one of the pancakes. They reminded her of Sunday mornings when she was a child. Her mother would make them, and it was kind of a tradition.

  “All set to go to the prison?”

  She scowled. “I’m not sure about that, but I’ll manage.”

  “It must be difficult, not seeing him for such a long time…”

  “I won’t know how to begin. There is so much going on and I just don’t know how to handle it. To make things worse, he might not even know who I am. It’s over fifteen years.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll take it one step at a time, and I’ll be there to ask a few questions too.” Pierce reassured her.

  “I know, I am feeling so overwhelmed right now,” she said as she poked her pancakes with her fork.

  The clash of thunder threatened rain.

  “I think we should leave before the rain starts,” Pierce suggested.

  “I guess I should go get ready then.”

  “But you barely ate,” Carson said sternly, almost the way a father would to a daughter.

  “I guess, I don’t have much appetite.”

  Getting her handbag and other things together, her mind kept going to the horrible scene in her apartment the day before. Among the many questions flashing around in her head was why did they have to murder Ashlee? How did she fit into the puzzle? She certainly hoped that the visit to her uncle Isaac would provide some answers.

  There was a knock at the door and Emma came in bringing a jacket. “Since its looking like rain, I brought you this.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I can’t imagine what you guys go through. All I know is Pierce admires you for everything you have endured, and the way you still try to help others even after you have seen so much that is evil.”

  “How much does he tell you about me?”

  “Honestly, not too much. We try to keep work at work, but sometimes he has no other choice but to talk about it. Sometimes I wish he could just retire so he could come home and be safe. We don’t want the girls to grow up without a father.”

  “That I can understand, and as his partner, I will try to make sure nothing ever happens to him.”

  “I know, and thanks. If you need anything else, just give a shout.”

  Left alone, Chelsea felt a single tear trickle down her cheek. Others soon joined it and she could hold them in no longer. The weight of everything was bearing down on her and she just wished it would all be over.

  Straightening her clothes after she had washed her face to remove any trace of tears, she went into the living room. She might as well get it over and done with.

  Chapter 12

  The whole family was in the living room as she walked in.

  Pierce got up upon seeing her. “Ready?”

  “As I will ever be.”

  He kissed Emma and the kids, then motioned for Chelsea to head for the door.

  The rain had begun to fall, so they hurried into the car. She felt naked without her gun on her hip.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Pierce asked her again.

  “I suppose so. Plus the message yesterday about blood being thicker than water makes me think uncle Isaac is somehow connected to this.”

  She didn’t mention what she was thinking about the teddy bear. That would be her secret, until she was sure.

  They drove in silence for a while until he asked, “How come you don’t remember that much from your childhood?”

  “It isn’t that I don’t remember. I do, but I don’t remember names. Just their faces. I guess as a child, my parents didn’t consider it important for me to meet their friends.”

  “Do you think there might be another reason why your parents never introduced them to you?”

  “I’m wondering that now. But I would hate to think that they had a secret life,” she said, slowly. “But, if that were the case, then the less I knew, the safer I was.”

  “That is possible.”

  She watched as the giant drops of rain hit the windshield. A hundred thoughts kept running through her mind. She wondered how Pierce handled difficult cases and his family at the same time. To whom did he talk when he needed to vent? And how did he manage to always seem in control no matter how rough things were?

  Without thinking, she turned to him and asked, “How do you manage?”

  “Manage what?”

  “A wife and children? I don’t even have a family to juggle, and I’m always stressed.”

  He chuckled. “I came from a family of eleven and I was the oldest. I took care of my younger siblings, and from that I learned how to prioritize.”

  “Still. This job takes so much out of you and you still have time for them.”

  “I don’t know how to explain it without sounding like an ass.”

  “Maybe you should try anyway.”

  “When you have someone you truly love, you make it work. You’ll make anything work because that is the one person who is most important to you. I met Emma in college and I fell hard. Because of that, I made a fool of myself trying to impress her. Luckily she felt the same way about me, and all my idiotic behavior only made her love me more.”

  “So what did you major in at college?”

  “I started out wanting to be a lawyer, but the more I learned, I felt that they made little to no difference in the world anyhow. Plus, it would eat me alive if I sent someone to prison falsely. So, I decided to do something more useful, and that was to become a cop. Homicide appealed to me because you have to put all the little pieces together to figure out a case. Maybe that’s why I also love crossword puzzles.”

  “That I understand.”

  He smiled, “I knew you would.”

  “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask. Did you know all along that Emilio De Leon was still alive?”

  “Not for sure, but since no body was found and people were murdered using his signa
ture style of slitting their throats and removing their faces, I began to wonder and became suspicious. Now it has been confirmed that he is very much alive.”

  “How do you think he got my information though?”

  “From a dirty cop among us.”

  “So you think it might be Dean?” she asked, remembering his warning.

  “Not exactly. He was an excellent agent in the Drug Unit, and he doesn’t have anything suspicious in his files, but my major concern is that we haven’t known him for long, so until we are very sure, it makes sense to tread cautiously.”

  Chelsea was relieved to hear him say that. He was only operating off a hunch, not facts. She did not want to believe Dean was dirty. She thought back to yesterday and how he had somehow managed to make her feel that she was not fighting her battles alone. He was there for her. Only a handful of people had ever made her feel that way and they were all dead.

  Just then they pulled into the prison compound. It was a brown brick building with sturdy walls and barbed wire running along the top between several look-out towers. Her uncle had been locked up here for years, but she had no idea what he was like. She only ever remembered the teddy bear he had sent her. He couldn’t have been all bad—could he?

  It took her a minute to come back to reality when they arrived, and she got out of the car. She walked slowly to the entrance, guided by Pierce’s steady hand on her back. Her feet felt leaden as she slowly made her way inside. A feeling of dread seized her and she felt like turning and making a break for it. But it was too late to back out now. So, swallowing her fear, she stepped inside as Pierce held the door for her.

  They spoke to the officer in charge who was expecting them. He led them to an isolated room and told them to wait. He soon returned with a female officer.

  “Detectives,” she said. “Follow me.”

  “We aren’t going to see him like the other visitors?”

  “No, because you aren’t regular visitors,” she replied. “And I’m sure you want the utmost privacy so no one will know that you’ve been here, right Detective Carson?”

  He nodded. He had thought of everything.

  She followed behind Pierce and the officer. She knew she must have looked frightened, because Pierce touched her shoulder gently.

  “We are in this together Chelsea, and I will not fail you.”

  Forcing a smile, she entered the room and sat down. Now that the moment had arrived, she was petrified, because she didn’t have a clue what to expect. What was he going to be like? Would he see her? Recognize her? Would he give her the answers she needed? Would she learn something about her parents that she never wanted to know?

  The door opened and she saw him standing there looking like a pathetic old man. The years had taken their toll. His hair was gray, he walked with a stoop and was squinting as if maybe he was not able to see so well. But she recognized him nevertheless, and her childhood memories came flooding back.

  Chapter 13

  Sitting in this private visiting room in the prison, Chelsea looked at her uncle, Isaac Welsh, and remembered him from her childhood. She remembered that he used to come over frequently, and that she used to enjoy his visits because he always brought her something and would spend time playing with her. She wondered what had caused her to suppress those memories. She watched for any signs of recognition from him.

  He scrutinized her face, then tentatively said, “Chelsea? Is that really you?”

  “Yes, Isaac, it’s me,” she answered, barely above a whisper, her voice thick with emotion.

  For a moment his face lit up. “Chelsea,” he said again, as if he couldn’t believe it. He sounded as if she was the last person he had expected to see. She could not blame him for that either.

  Then suddenly, his tone changed. “Why are you here?”

  The suddenness of the question and her fear caused the answer to be trapped in her throat. She moved her lips several times, but the words would not come out. Finally, she managed to force them out.

  “Whoever killed my parents is after me now, and I need to know why.”

  She heard his audible intake of breath, and saw what looked like pain in his eyes before he bowed his head and covered his face with his hands.

  Then slowly and with great effort he said, “I am the reason they are dead.”

  Chelsea nearly broke down at the news. To learn this after all these years. It was almost more than she could take. Her uncle had the key to the mystery all along and she never knew. She felt like ranting and raving at him, but restrained herself. She needed to find out more.

  “Isaac, please tell me. I can’t go into this fight blind. I need to know the facts. My life depends on this.”

  “I agree that you deserve to know the truth. I just don’t know where to begin. There is so much to tell.” His voice trailed off.

  In her impatience, Chelsea felt like grabbing hold of him and shaking him. Instead, she reached over and held his hand. His arm was covered in tattoos—and she saw her name and her mother’s name colorfully illustrated on it. She also noticed how affectionately he looked at her, as if she were still a child, the one he once knew.

  “Tell me what you know first,” he insisted.

  “I started getting phone calls yesterday—it was a man telling me to stop, that he knew I had copied my parents’ file and that I should stop investigating my parents’ murder. I had told no one that I had copied the file, and my home number is only known by the staff at the office. So that was weird. Then, yesterday we started a new case concerning a college student named Ashlee Thompson who was pregnant at the time of her death. She was dating Austin De Leon, but he told her he was Austin Rodriquez.”

  She stopped a minute when she saw the expression on her uncle’s face.

  “How was she killed?”

  “She was stabbed in the heart, and our main suspect is a guy named Justin Quincy. We’re not so sure now.”

  He bit his lower lip and shook his head. “Quincy has an uncle named Carlos Mendoza who was a hit man for Emilio. He killed mostly women with a knife in the chest. But Carlos died about two years ago from what I know.”

  “He did,” Carson confirmed.

  “That is your link to Quincy and to De Leon.”

  Things were dropping into place, although many more questions remained unanswered.

  She continued to speak. “Then Emilio’s son was killed in my apartment yesterday, and a message was left on my wall saying ‘blood is thicker than water’ and the teddy bear, the one you gave me, was also left there.”

  “That sounds like De Leon, all right.”

  “So are you saying that Emilio was the one who ordered his own son killed in my apartment? Why would he do a thing like that?” Chelsea asked, considering the man a monster.

  “Such men brook no opposition, not even from family, and they will remove anyone who becomes a serious threat to them.” Chelsea shuddered.

  “Do you still have the teddy bear?” Isaac asked.

  “Yes, well sort of. It is now being kept as evidence.”

  “Keep it safe, never throw it away. It is very precious.”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “One day you’ll find out,” he said cryptically, and continued speaking. “And it does not surprise me that Emilio would kill his son. You see, he doesn’t have the same mindset as me.”

  “And that is what,” inquired Pierce. “You aren’t exactly a saint.”

  “I know I’m not,” he snarled. “I did a lot of bad things of which I’m not proud.”

  “Why did you get involved in drugs in the first place?” Chelsea wanted to know.

  “I had been a dealer since I was seventeen, but your mother never knew that. I made good money and I never had to work that hard. I was only dealing pot anyway. There isn’t really anything too wrong with that. Anyhow, my supplier invited me on a trip to Mexico. It was the weekend of your tenth birthday and I would be back i
n the states in time for your party. But that weekend I was not simply visiting Mexico. They brought me there to smuggle drugs into the country for them. I was against it, but they threatened me so I finally caved in.

  It was while I was on my way back from that same trip that my brakes gave out and I slammed into another car. It contained a mother and her son who died on impact.” He paused for a moment to bring his emotions under control.

  “They were just two people that died in a freak accident. Hell, I was not even supposed to be there! Had I thought about that trip to Mexico before, I would never have gone.

  I was arrested and the drugs were found in my car. So I was tried for both manslaughter and the drugs, and sentenced to life. When I realized what I was facing, I decided to make a deal with the DA. I promised to give them De Leon in return for a shortening of my sentence. But somehow, someone got wind of the plan and leaked it to De Leon. The reaction was swift. Within a few days your mother and dad were killed. Mendoza came to visit me and he had your teddy bear. He told me that if I ever stepped out of line again, you would be next.”

  His voice was nearly a whisper, and tears were seeping through his hands that he held over his face. He spoke in between sobs.

  “My foolish choices got my baby sister and her husband killed. I swore to her I would keep her safe, but I failed her. I failed you too,” he said, looking up.

  Tears were now streaming down my face too, as I mourned the loss of my parents who were innocently caught in a war not of their own making.

  “We can’t change the past, Isaac,” I said to him. “But tell me what I need to know so I can end this.”

  “You can’t! De Leon has people everywhere and he runs the black market in drugs for most of Arizona and California. There is nothing you are going to be able to do to stop him. This one is bigger than you, Chelsea. Back off if you want to stay alive. You’ll be in over your head.”