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Teresa was in shock, listening to her father's ranting words. Cindy was watching her friend, making sure she was okay. Then she saw the old man's face turn, towards the window. Cindy realized that the light there was brighter than it should be, and she felt something... a presence.
"Oh Sarah, you've come for me!" the old man gasped, his hand reaching towards the light. Cindy could definitely feel a presence in the room and let herself concentrate on it. She felt the old man's soul, his own light, going to meet the other one.
Teresa did not see that light, but she was seeing another presence at the head of the bed, behind her father's shoulder. She blinked, seeming to see her sister Alexis, as she had during the triathlon race, an almost immaterial outline, ethereal... ghost-like.
"The key." she seemed to hear Alexis say. "The key." Then the apparition was gone.
Cindy also felt and saw the light dim just a bit. When she looked at the heart monitor, it was flatlined. Teresa's father was gone.
"Teresa?" Cindy said gently. "He's gone."
"Yes." Teresa said, the look on her face inscrutable. "We got here just in time." She reached up and closed her father's staring eyes just as a couple of nurses came into the room.
"I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am." said the nurse.
"Thank you." said Teresa politely. "Do you know of any key that my father might have had?"
The nurse looked at Teresa strangely, then went over to the chest of drawers. It was empty except for a small jewelry box. Inside was a metal-bead necklace, with a key on it."
"This is the only possession he had here in the facility." said the nurse, handing the key to Teresa. It was the key to a safe deposit box.
"Thank you." Teresa said, her voice a million miles away. "I'll... I'll make arrangements for him." She and Cindy left the room of death.
As they walked down the hall, an old man was walking up. He stopped the women and asked about Teresa's father. "Are you his daughter?" the man asked. "You look a lot like him."
"Yes sir." Teresa said. "He just passed away."
"I am truly sorry about that, ma'am." the man said. "Are you going to have a military funeral and burial for him?"
"Uh... I didn't know he was in the military." Teresa said.
"Oh really..." said the old man. "Er, let's go sit down in the lobby."
Teresa was shocked as she listened to the old man's story, that her father had been a soldier in Viet Nam. She could barely think as the man said "He was a brave man. He saved lot of us from the Viet Cong when we were ambushed, and that was on two separate occasions. He never flinched in battle, even against overwhelming odds. He was wounded three separate times before they finally shipped him home for good."
"Did he ever say anything... about my mother?" Teresa asked. "I never knew her."
"Oh, did he ever." said the man. "He had a picture of her in his pocket, and he would look at that picture for hours. All he wanted to do was go home to her. I think that's what got him through Viet Nam... thinking of getting home to his wife."
Teresa just nodded. Meanwhile, Cindy was on her cellphone, calling Myron. "Myron, I need you to look up a military record." She gave the name of Teresa's father. After a full minute of listening, she said "Thanks, Myron. Yes, email it to me."
As she ended the call and put up her cellphone, she said "Teresa, you're never going to believe this..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Wow, I can't believe it." Teresa said as she and Cindy prepared for bed in their hotel room. "He was a war hero, and I never knew."
"He never mentioned it?" Cindy said. "Alexis never mentioned it?"
"He almost never even spoke to me at all." Teresa said. "And Alexis never said anything about it. I'll bet she never knew, either."
"Could be." Cindy said. "We'll go to the bank in the morning and look at the safe deposit box's contents... if they're still there. It might be a huge irony that this bank was one of those burgled by The Silverfish ten years ago."
At that moment an email came into Cindy's inbox. She read it and then said "The TCPD contacted the Army, and they're going to send one of their funeral teams to do your father's funeral, if you're good with that."
"That'd be great." said Teresa. "I didn't know what I was going to do otherwise. He'll be buried next to my mother and... Alexis." Teresa's eyes were looking far away.
"How did you know about the key?" Cindy asked, suddenly thinking of it.
"I..." Teresa started, then faltered before gaining harsh command of herself. "You'll think I'm crazy, but let me tell you this: when we were running the triathlon last summer, I kept seeing this image of my sister, like a ghost, and she kept urging me on to keep cycling and keep running. I thought it was just some kind of mind trick from being so exhausted and oxygen-starved during the race. But today, just as Daddy was dying, I saw Alexis again, right by the bed... and she whispered the words 'the key'."
"I don't think you're crazy." said Cindy. "I saw something too... it was like the light got brighter, and your dad's soul went to meet it. It was... weird."
Teresa nodded and they chatted about paranormal things. Cindy even recounted to Teresa about her dream of the fire that caused her to call Don, which was what saved the Troy family's lives on the night of the fire at The Cabin.
Though they finally went to sleep, they did not turn off the lamp the entire night.
Part 4 - Going Home Again
The next morning, Friday April 10th, Teresa gave Cindy a tour of her home town, a town she had not visited since leaving for college. Her aunt and uncle that had raised her after Alexis died had themselves died in another town, and were buried there. Teresa and Cindy were wearing their dress police uniforms.
"The house was right at the bend in the road." Teresa said as Cindy drove down a street in a residential area. There was a huge field of tall grass behind the back row of houses, and railroad tracks in the distance at the other end of that field. "Oh, there it is."
As the road turned sharply left, there was a house at the corner, it's backyard abutting the field. It was different than the other houses of the neighborhood.
"Looks like someone built a new house on that spot." Cindy said. "Does it look like your old house?"
"No." Teresa said. "It's different, and a little bit bigger, I think. Nicer than I remember, too." Cindy drove on down the road, then turned around, slowing down once more as they approached the house. As Teresa looked at it, painful memories in her mind of what had been there before, Cindy noticed a woman in her early thirties peering at them from behind the house. The woman had raven black hair, a very nice figure and large breasts, but there was something else on her face that got Cindy's attention: concern, maybe even fear. Cindy drove on, asking Teresa where they should go next.
"Well," said Teresa, "I guess that goes to prove that the only constant is change. There's a lot that seems to be the same, but it's changed, ever so subtly."
"I know what you mean." Cindy said, still thinking about the woman that had been peering at them from behind that house.
"I'm meeting the Army representative at ten o'clock." Teresa said. "We could go by the high school. The Police Department is next to it."
They drove to the high school. A new building was there; the one Teresa had attended had been torn down and replaced. It was then that the women noticed a ceremony going on behind the Police Headquarters building. Teresa sucked in her breath.
"Cindy, let's go there." she said. Cindy parked in the high school parking lot, as the police building lot was full. They went into the Headquarters building.
"Oh, are you here for the ceremony?" a young woman asked, seeing the two women in Police uniforms. She was the Duty Desk officer. "It's about to start, you better go on back now." Cindy and Teresa wasted no time in doing so, and soon were seated in the bleachers near other officers. This ceremony was not unlike the TCPD's ceremonies, Cindy thought. Police Departments are so similar, whether a small town like this one, a mid-size town like ours, or the City or New York City itself.
A policewoman was being promoted to Captain. Teresa whispered that she was the policewoman that had helped her, Teresa, on the night Alexis had died. Cindy marveled at the coincidence, at the forces of Nature that had conspired for them, especially Teresa, to be here for this moment.
After the ceremony, as the woman accepted congratulations from others, Teresa and Cindy came up to her.
"Teresa?" the woman asked, stunned. "Teresa Croyle? Is this really you?"
"Yes ma'am." Teresa said. "Congratulations on your promotion. This is my colleague, Lieutenant Cindy Ross."
"Oh, I've heard your name." the woman asked, shaking Cindy's hand. "You received a Medal of Honor in your Police Department, didn't you? And you did those fitness competitions or something like that?"
"Yes ma'am." said Cindy. "Something like that."
"Well, look at you, Teresa." the woman said, examining Teresa. "A Lieutenant yourself. You've come a long way from that girl all those years ago. How did you know about my promotion? You didn't come here just for that, did you?"
"No ma'am." said Teresa. "My father died yesterday. I'm here to make final arrangements."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." said the woman. "But I'm glad you made it here."
"Cindy," Teresa said, "this is the policewoman that helped me on the night my sister died. She's the reason I considered becoming a police officer myself."
"Then I must thank you." Cindy said to the new Police Captain. "Our Police Force wouldn't be the same without Lieutenant Croyle. Teresa, I'm afraid we're going to have to go to meet the Army officer for your father's funeral arrangements."
Teresa turned to the other woman and made her apologies. The woman said that they were having a luncheon at noon, and for both women to come back and join them. Teresa agreed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm Colonel Rudy Gloriman." said the Army officer, wearing his dress blue uniform. "On behalf of the United States Army, I'd like to offer my condolences to you and your family."
"Thank you." said Teresa.
"Ma'am, your father was a highly decorated hero in the Viet Nam War." said the Colonel. "We can provide a military funeral with full honors, or take a lesser role, or have no real role at all. It's up to you."
"Thank you, sir." said Teresa. "I'd like to leave everything in your hands. Military all the way. I didn't know my father all that well, and from what I'm told, he deserves a hero's burial." Only Cindy realized what it must have taken for Teresa to say that about her estranged father.
"Yes ma'am, we'll take care of it." the Colonel said. They exchanged phone numbers, and Teresa and Cindy left to go to the bank.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Oh yes," said the bank president as the women came into his office at his invitation. "I understand you work with that Commander that solved the Silverfish crimes. Did you know that our bank was one of those that fell victim to the Silverfish?"
"I do remember hearing that." said Cindy. "But we're here to examine the contents of a safe deposit box. My friend's father passed away, and it's his box. I know we can't take the contents until his will is probated, but we should be able to examine it."
"Well," said the bank officer, "I'm probably not supposed to do this without a warrant, but I've already gotten a call from the Mayor at the request of our local police department, asking us to assist you. I'll let you look in the box, but as you said, you can't take anything yet."
The safe deposit box contained some Morgan silver dollars, some jewelry, and some pictures: one of Teresa's mother and father, one of Teresa's mother alone, and one of Alexis holding her toddler sister Teresa, Alexis smiling proudly, Teresa looking almost sad. But it was the other contents that had Cindy and Teresa's interest.
"Wow, Bronze Star with Valor device." said Teresa as she opened a small blue box. "Purple Heart, two oak leaf clusters... oh my God... the Silver Star. My father earned a Silver Star and a Bronze Star, and I never knew he was in the military, much less a war hero."
"Yes." Cindy said. "Oh, look at this. Ever seen these before?" She held up a metallic object fastened to a small piece of stiff paper. Teresa grinned; it was a Parachutist Badge, a.k.a Airborne wings, which Commander Troy wore on his Tilley hats.
"Oh, look at this patch: he was in the 173d Airborne Brigade." Cindy said. "They saw a lot of bad stuff in Viet Nam. They did the hard jobs there. Teresa, your dad was a war hero and then some."
"Yes, he was." Teresa said. "Okay, let's go to the lunch at the Police Station." They thanked the bank president and left. They were introduced at the luncheon, and there was much discussion about their Police Force in comparison to the local one. As they were about to leave, the Duty Desk woman came up to Teresa.
"Ma'am," she said, "there is a lawyer at the front desk. He says he's here about your father's will.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"I was so sorry to hear of your father's passing." the lawyer said as they sat in an interrogation room of the Police Station, courtesy of their new friends of the local Police Force. He was youngish, seemingly friendly enough. "My firm handled your father's affairs while he was committed to Shady Acres. Here's the problem: he left a will that left everything to his daughter Alexis. He was never of sound mind while at Shady Acres, to which he was committed right after her death. There is no mention of you in the will, Ms. Croyle, and Alexis preceded her father in death. Therefore, by our State's laws he has died intestate."
"He must not have very much at all." Teresa said.
"No, he doesn't." the lawyer said. "But if you make a formal claim to his estate, which is your right as his only known living relative, then what little there is, including the contents of his safe deposit box, will be bequeathed to you. I can probate the will and your claim on Monday morning."
"Okay, let's do it." Teresa said. She turned to Cindy and said "I want those pictures and those medals." Cindy just nodded.
The lawyer left, and Teresa and Cindy made goodbyes with everyone. As they went into the lobby to go out the front door, Cindy stopped Teresa.
"You see that car out there?" Cindy said, pointing to a black sedan. "I think I've seen it a couple of times. They might be following us."
"Now that you mention it, I remember them being behind us when we turned around in my old subdivision." Teresa replied as she looked out at the car.
"Would you like my officers to pull them over?" said the Captain, Teresa's friend. "Expired tag, or something like that?"
"If you wouldn't mind." Cindy said. "Yes, if you wouldn't mind."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Trouble." said the driver.
He and the man riding shotgun were following the rental car, as they had been since the day before when the two women had arrived. Now there was a police car coming up behind them.
"Ah, shit." said the driver as the officers in the police cruiser came right on his tail and turned on the blue lights.
"Lose 'em." said the passenger. The driver pushed the pedal to the metal and the car tore off with surprising speed. It passed the rental car, the platinum blonde driver looking hard at them, followed by the police cruiser.
"Get to the plane." said the passenger. The driver reached down and pressed a button, injecting nitrous oxide into the engine. The car tore off in a burst of speed, leaving the police cruiser in its dust.
Three miles later, they pulled into a farm field, where a small propeller-driven airplane was waiting for them, it's engine running and ready to go. The men screeched up, jumped out of the car and into the plane. As the police car came to the field, they saw the plane leave the ground and gain altitude.
"Let's go check out the car." said one of the officers after they radioed in their report. Just then the car exploded with a force that the officers physically felt impact them.
"Jesus Christ!" said one of the officers. Just then, the rental car drove up and Cindy and Teresa got out.
"Geez, ladies!" the driver said. He reminded Cindy of Deputy Strait of Coltrane County as he added "What is going on here?"
"I don't know, Officer." Cindy said. "But I think it has to do with us, and it's big."
"Explosive, I daresay." said Teresa, flat deadpan.
Part 5 - Called Home To Apple Grove
"Okay, you guys be careful." I said into the phone. Cindy Ross was on the line, and had just told me about the brief chase, the airplane escape, and the exploding car. It was now nearly 5:00pm my time.
"Wow." I said to Tanya Perlman after disconnecting. "Cindy and Teresa had a tail on them. They spotted it and the local police went to pull the car over. The car was jacked up and was able to run away from them and get to an airplane. What has everyone buzzing is that the car exploded; it was loaded with explosives as well as a million-dollar motor. This, my friend, is what we call a strangeness."
"And that is an understatement." said Tanya. "What are Cindy and Teresa going to do?"
"Keep their eyes peeled, and the local police are helping them. Seems one of their Captains is a friend of Teresa's from when Teresa grew up there." I said. "Teresa's father's funeral is tomorrow. But they can't come home until Monday at the earliest, because her father's will is invalid and she's making a legal claim. Should work out fine, but she has to be there for that."
Just then there was a knock on my door, and Sheriff Daniel Allgood peeked in. "Don, can I see you in the Chief's office real quick?"
"Yes sir." I said.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To my surprise, my mother Phyllis was in the office. She was wearing a navy skirt and jacket and white blouse, and sheer navy stockings and navy blue high heel pumps. She looked hot for a woman of any age, and I had to work to keep from getting an erection at the thought of fucking this hottie Cougar that happened to be my own mother.
Daniel sat down behind the desk, a considerable bulge in his pants, as I sat down in a chair next to my mom. Her perfume smelled good as she told me what was going on.
"Son, do you remember Sheriff Greenwood from Apple Grove?" my mother asked.
"Vaguely." I said. "He's not Sheriff any more, is he?"
"No, he's not." said my mom. "But he and I keep in touch, and he said something is going on up there. He said that someone was trying to get at your father's legal files. A burglary was detected and the perp ran off, and then Mr. Muscone of the FBI told me to tell you that there has been some cyber-snooping activity involving your father's legal data that was on his law firm's servers. The county computers were also hacked, and the cyber-criminals were looking for information concerning your father and his legal papers filed there. An attempt to break into the Courthouse was foiled, as well."
"Okay." I said. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"Go and investigate it." said Sheriff Allgood. "Leave today, take a few days and check it out."
"Sheriff, I can't do that!" I exclaimed. "Ross and Croyle are away at Croyle's father's funeral, and won't be back until Monday or Tuesday; the Council meeting is Tuesday night and you know I have to be there----"
"Stop, stop, stop, stop." Daniel said. "It's Friday afternoon now. The weekend is coming up, and I don't expect anything beyond partying college kids to be a problem for us. It's relatively quiet since you broke down that diamond smuggling operation. The criminal community is quiet right now, maybe they're all doing their taxes before the April 15th deadline."
