The Cleansing

by Shane Crosby

“All in due time, I guess.”

  We parked in front of her house, got out, walked to the door and rang the bell. I have to be honest; I was close to throwing up anticipating that door opening.

  “Yes. May I help you?”

  We gave her an invoice to sign. The note we left her yesterday explained our visit. It said, Hi Mrs. Briggs, we’ve come regarding Morris and your husband’s death. Don't look. Someone has been watching your home. Smile, take the mail and shut the door. I’ll return tomorrow.

  “We’re here to move Mrs. Marylyn Briggs.”

  “Oh yes come in. You're late. What kept you?” She shut the door behind us. “Please come sit down. What's going on? How do you know Morris?”

  I signaled her to be quiet by putting my fingers to my lips. If she was being watched, I knew her house was probably bugged. I searched it from top to bottom before we said anything else.

  “Look.”

  I opened my hand to show them what I’d found. There were listening devices all over her house.

  “How did they get in here?”

  “When you left they came in and placed them. No worries, there aren’t any left.”

  “Morris was in my unit, ma’am. I was his mentor, so to speak.”

  “I’d been trying to call him about his uncle.”

  “Uncle?”

  “Yes. He’s my sister's son. I’m his aunt. My husband was his uncle. They were very close. I was surprised he hadn't called but then the military notified my sister he was killed.”

  “Yes ma’am we're very sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you. Since he was in your unit do you know what happened to him?”

  “No ma'am actually I do not. The only thing I do know is that prior to his death, he was scared someone was trying to kill him, he said. I heard that clearly in his voice. He didn't know who or any specific details. “

  “My husband spoke with him several times before he died. Something was going on with those two but I don't know what.”

  “Did your husband say anything that you could think of that might help us figure out what's going on?”

  “All I know is that for more than a year before he died, George and his friend the Vice President weren't happy about something they suspected going on behind the scenes in their jobs. But they're lawmakers, they’re never happy about anything.”

  “Right. That's an everyday occurrence.”

  “Absolutely! I heard about shady dealings and blackmail the entire time I’ve been married to him. And vice versa for the Vice President’s wife, oh Lord even more so.”

  “Yes, I can imagine.”

  “That's right you can only imagine. It's a mess. George hated it because he wasn't that type of person.”

  “We were sure hoping this would be the diamond in the rough we were looking for.”

  “Hey you know what?”

  She got up and walked into another room.

  “My son found a key. I almost forgot. It was in the weirdest place imaginable. It was taped under the refrigerator. He was moving it or trying to and he got something to stick under it to move it easier and the key was dislodged some sort of way. Here it is. It's the way he hid it that leads me to believe this may be something. I didn't think anything of it until you came yesterday.”

  “Maybe we’ve been given new life.”

  “I hope it helps.”

  “So do we. Do you know what your husband was working on?”

  “No I don't. He was an ex SEAL. He was used to keeping secrets. I used to worry about him coming home from a mission. If he was going to make it back alive or I’d be getting a call telling me he died in some training exercise, which would’ve been a complete lie. He survived all of that, retired from the military and gets killed at home.”

  “You think he was murdered?”

  “No. I KNOW he was. My husband just had a physical two weeks before he died. I had an autopsy ordered all of a sudden the samples are accidentally not stored at the right temperature. I wasn't going to release the body to the funeral home. Guess what? Some intern didn't get the memo and my husband was cremated! I can't mourn my husband’s death because there are so many unanswered questions.”

  “Wow. This looks like a replay of our lives this past year.”

  “Mrs. Briggs, neither of us knows what's going on but I can promise you we're going to find out.”

  “I found something about six months or so ago. I think this might be what you’re looking for. Please come with me.”

  We followed her upstairs to a bedroom. She moves the nightstand bends down and touches the floor and the wall opened up. I checked for listening equipment in there but I expected it would be clean and it was.

  “What’s this?”

  “We’ve lived in this house twenty-five years and I’ve never known about this room, until after George died.” She turns to look at us.

  “Can you believe that? I’m starting to wonder who I was married to.”

  “So are we.”

  “I found it accidentally. I was cleaning and dusting. I guess I touched the button or something and the wall opened up.”

  “The simple fact that he went through all these steps to hide the button that opens the door shows he never wanted anyone to find it.”

  “He knew what he was doing.”

  “What did he have in here?”

  “Oh, right, sorry. I’m trying to catch my breath with everything that’s going on.”

  Pointing to a box on the desk, “This is what I wanted to share with you, well give you.”

  We walked over to the box and looked inside. There were pictures and a lot of notes different cities, states and news stories about missing people.

  “Why do I get the feeling we’ve found Pandora’s box?”

  “Do you know what’s in here?”

  “I have no clue what that stuff is; just a bunch of papers with words on them if you ask me.”

  We looked at each other. “Us too.”

  “Do you think it’ll help you?”

  “I’m sure it will. We just have to get it back to our room and review all of this stuff.”

  “Uh, Mrs. Briggs, before we leave, is there anything else you can think of that you might want to give us that could help us?”

  “Well, yes and no.”

  She walked out of the room and returned with two phones.

  “This is my husband’s cell phone and this one is God knows what.”

  I took it from her hand. “It’s a satellite phone. I’ll bet he was using this as a secure way to communicate. Everyone will expect you to have a cell, but a satellite phone, no way. Something had him spooked.”

  “Or he was protecting someone. It could be both.”

  “All I know is, since my husband’s death, I’ve found out things about him that makes me not even know who he was. I’ve known him since college. Now, after more than thirty years, I don’t know him at all.”

  “You know him. You may not know the soldier, but you know the man completely. From what I’ve learned about him, he was a good man. He stood up for what he believed.”

  “Unfortunately, I’m sure that’s what got him killed.”

  She walks toward me puts her hand on my arm with tear filled eyes she looks up at me.

  “I didn’t want you all to pursue this, but if you think you can really find out what happened to my husband and nephew, you have my support.”

  “I promise we’ll find them.”

  “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  DAY NINE

  SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Don

  We’ve been in the states much longer than we anticipated. Our plan was to get in here, make contact and get out. As usual with plans, they have a fifty-fifty chance of working out the way you wrote it down. It looks as if, everything we wrote down was with erasable ink.

  After we met with Mrs. Briggs, we started our hunt for the bank and the safety deposi
t box that key would fit. Out of all our planned tasks, I believe this one would be the easiest to complete. I’m quickly finding out I was wrong. In the past few days, we must have gone to every bank within the tri state area and come up with a goose egg. I’m in disbelief at our lack of ability to get this done. I mean, how difficult could it be to find one stupid bank?

  We made it to the last bank right before they closed. I was prepared to throw in the towel if we struck out again.

  I walked into the bank and the young lady was so sweet and nice. I was in such a bad mood I had to struggle to smile back at her.

  “Hello, sir, how can I help you today?”

  “Yes, my uncle left this safety deposit key to me in his will.”

  I handed her the key and held my breath.

  “Oh, I’m sorry sir. This isn’t one of our keys.”

  “Are you sure? I thought for certain this is the bank he said in his will.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, sir. What’s your uncle’s name?”

  “Thank you. George Briggs.”

  “One moment.”

  She went to speak to one of her supervisors I assumed. When she started to walk back to my area I searched her face for a yes I had the right bank.

  “Sir, I’m sorry. We don’t have a George Briggs as a customer here. Maybe your uncle went to another bank before he died.”

  “Yes maybe.

  “Yes, sir unfortunately. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you. If you find out that you’re mistaken, please call me.” I gave her my fake name and number and left the bank. When we returned to the hotel, we discussed the day’s events

  “We’ve gone to every bank in D.C and Virginia, including his own and he doesn’t have a safety deposit box at any one of those.”

  “I know! Damn! I’m past frustrated. I’m starting to think it doesn’t go to anything.”

  “Wait, don’t get discouraged. Don’t throw it away.”

  My encouragement speech is interrupted by the ringing phone.

  “Dub, this is the fake line.”

  “Answer it!”

  “Corey speaking.”

  “Hi, Mr. Brown.”

  “Yes.”

  “This is the young lady you spoke with at New America Bank in Virginia.”

  “Yes, hello I’m surprised to hear from you.”

  “The bank manager wanted me to call you about the safety deposit box. We don’t have your uncle but we do have a Brandon Briggs.”

  “Oh, okay he put it in his son’s name. He passed away at birth.”

  “Oh, yes sometimes people will do that to remember that person. There’s another name listed, Sophia.”

  “Sophia? Yes, another relative.” I laughed nervously. “You’d think he would have put it in my name since he left it to me in his will.”

  She laughs. “Yes, that’s certainly a better option. You just never know what your relatives are thinking. You’ll need to have Sophia come with you to access the box.”

  “Oh, yes of course. I’ll do that tomorrow.”

  “Ok, we’ll see you then.”

  “See you then.”

  (Click)

  I turned to Dub. “Awww hell.”

  “What?”

  “There’s a safety deposit box there under the name of Brandon and Sophia Briggs.”

  “Those have to be his kids. From the pictures in the house, I know he had at least two. We need to pay her another visit tonight.”

  “I’ll call her now.”

  THE BANK

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Don

  The previous evening, I called Marylyn Briggs and asked her to meet us at the Bank and gave her instructions on how to keep from being followed. She was to call her sister have her sister call her when she was a block away at that time Mrs. Briggs would leave out of the back and walk the block to get in the car. Although I’d given her instructions, I was still concerned. Trying to teach a civilian covert tactics could be disastrous but she followed them flawlessly. She and her sister pulled up in front of the bank like they’ve done this hundreds of times. Dub and I greeted the sisters with hugs. We were happy they made it safely and with no rabid dogs behind them. After the smiles and hugs came the introductions:

  “Good to see you Mrs. Briggs, this must be you sister.”

  “This is my sister Susan, Private Morris’ mom. She’s here visiting me and some college friends.”

  “Hi how are you? We’re sorry for your loss.”

  “I’m Dub and this is Don.”

  “Thank you it’s very nice meeting you both. Anything I can do to help you find my son’s killer I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you but this is it.”

  “When you go into the bank, act normal. Don’t be nervous. You’re not doing anything wrong.”

  “Okay, I’m not. I’ll be fine.”

  “We’ll be watching you from inside the bank.”

  We walked into the bank and the same young lady from the day before was there to greet us.

  “Hi Mr. Brown. Good to see you. Is one of these young ladies Sophia.”

  “I’m Sophia.”

  “Great, please walk this way.”

  We walked with her to the vault. She would only allow Mrs. Briggs to enter. She had to show ID which showed that her middle name was Sophia. She was asked a series of questions and then she was allowed into the vault.

  It seemed like and endless amount of time passed before she came out. Our actions mimicked an expectant father pacing back and forth watching the clock. When she finally came out I almost ran and hugged her. The young lady came to lock the vault and escort us out of the area back to the bank lobby.

  “Thank you for banking with us. If there’s anything else you may need, please come back to see us.”

  “I will thank you.”

  When we left the bank Dub and I drove them the two blocks to their car. Mrs. Briggs handed us a leather carrying case. Before she got out Dub opened it and looked inside. It contained a passport, another satellite phone, a GPS scrambler, money, coordinates and an array of other items. We gave Mrs. Briggs the money and kept the bag and the remaining contents.

  “When you arrive home, call the number of your husband’s phone from yesterday.”

  “Let it ring twice and hang up.”

  “Right. If you’re in trouble, don’t hang up, just let it ring until we answer.”

  “Got it.”

  Watching them drive off left a knot in my stomach. I’ve never like involving civilians in missions. I just hoped that after all of this, we’ll be able to bring her and her sister the answers they’ve been denied.

  BACK AT THE HOTEL

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Dub & Don

  I sat the bag down on the table and Don started pulling items out of the bag. There was another phone, this one had Morris’ number in it. There were black and white pictures. They were old, too. You could tell from the creases, worn edges and dull colors. Look like these were handed down to him or he got them from a museum. The paper they were printed on looked more dated. You could see the people in them but the images weren’t sharp. The faces were a little out of focus making it a bit difficult to see all of the features of the faces in the photos.

  “I can’t wait to open this bag. I feel like a kid at Christmas.”

  “I second that!”

  “Why do you think he has these old pictures? They have to be clues. None of these pictures could be of his family except maybe this guy.”

  “I’m betting a clue. Those newspaper clippings, the phone, the scrambler everything he had are clues but to what I have no idea.”

  “You think Mrs. Briggs would know?”

  “I don’t know. She might but this was kept in a vault in a safety deposit box. He had a secret room it’s almost like he had a secret life.”

  “I don’t know so much about secret life. He was an ex SEAL. Like she said, they were used to keeping secrets because of their missio
ns.”

  “I know all about that. You have to have an understanding partner that’s for sure.”

  I smiled. “Didn’t work for me.”

  “Don’t sweat it. One relationship you can’t mess up is the one you have with your brothers. You got us for life!”

  “Glad of it, too because marriage is definitely out of the question. The last person I married turned into a meth addict that ended up burned and beheaded. I’m guessing with that on my resume I’ll have to live with you all and your families when I’m old and grey.”

  “Don’t sweat it man, we’ll keep the spare room ready for you.”

  “Have they called?”

  “I was just thinking about that. No, she hasn’t.”

  “Damn, something’s happened.”

  “We need to go over there.”

  “If we do, you know what that probably means for us.”

  “We can’t leave them alone. They risked themselves to help us.”

  “I knew you were going to say that.”

  “Why? Because you were already thinking it?”

  “Something along those lines, yes.”

  Marylyn Briggs calling....

  “Don.”

  “Hi Don, this is Marylyn. I thought you weren’t supposed to answer.”

  “That was the plan, but we’d gotten a little concerned about you and your sister.”

  “We’re okay, Susan wanted to stop at the store. We’re making pizza.”

  “Just for future reference, don’t stop in the middle of a mission to go to the store.”

  “Sorry, this is our first mission.”

  “We’ll forgive you this time.”

  “Thank you. Please be safe.”

  “Same to you.”

  (Click)

  EVENING NEWS

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  Don & Dub

  Good evening, as some of you are well aware, there’s been a rash of disappearances occurring through the tri-state. The latest one being, Margaret Browning. Who was last seen on Massachusetts Ave approximately 5:00PM. She was wearing a Pink and red long sleeve button front shirt, jeans, Timberland boots and a light leather coat. She was wearing a Washington Redskins wool cap. If you see her, please tell her, her family is looking for her and contact the police. Ms. Browning is the third person to be reported missing in as many months. Making some people in the community wonder if it’s safe to walk the streets of D.C.