From the #writingpromptchallenge
Safety deposit box—suitcase that is too heavy—person who laughs at inappropriate times
By Cyrus Alderwood
Kelly Mullins wiped the tears away as she watched them lower her father in the ground. He was a rock for her, always there whenever she needed a kind word or someone to just listen. For a loving and present father in all aspects of her life, he was incredibly nonjudgemental when it came to the choices she made. She started out as a high school teacher and then moved on to teach college courses before taking a dramatic turn in her career after her divorce. She decided she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps in her own way. She became a true crime writer and investigator of cold cases as well as a few unsolved crimes that didn’t show much promise in ever being solved.
She saw the worried look on his face the day she told him that she was going to only teach for one more semester, that she’d been researching and interviewing old witnesses in a murder case that had gone cold in Nebraska. As a retired homicide detective that worked many years in Atlanta he was blunt about the risks she was taking. He wasn’t worried about her financially, he had enough life insurance and savings to make sure she’d never want for anything. No, he was worried about the rocks that sometimes get turned over, about who would be watching her if she got too close to solving a case she was writing about. However, he never tried to talk her out of it. It was her passion and felt like a calling for her. He was glad to offer his advice. He even tagged along to help her as she wrote her first book about that case Nebraska.
“Everything will be okay,” Kyle said as he put his arm around her. “I’ll be in town for a few days. If you need anything I expect you to call. I’ll be glad to fix up a few things around your house before I leave.”
She’d been complaining about a couple of leaky faucets and how bad the bathroom needed a new coat of paint. Now all of that seemed so unimportant. She hugged him, and told him that she just needed to be alone after the funeral. “Come by tomorrow around lunch. I’ll fix something. I haven’t used my new grill yet. Dad put it together for me and it’s sat there on the back deck all summer and I haven’t used it once.”
Several of his old colleagues were there in uniform to pay their final respects and to remind her that they all considered her family. It was a tight knit community, the old Blue Guard, as they were often called. She knew she could call on any of them that were friends with her dad and they’d be there in a heartbeat. That was the way they were wired, nearly every one of them.
After the grave side service she walked back to her car, the last to leave. She spent twenty minutes alone by the grave lost in memories long gone before forcing herself to move. She noticed the man standing by her car and tried to give him a friendly smile even though it pained her. It was her father’s attorney and best friend. He was the one that read her the will and had everything her father owned transferred to her name.
“Mr. Alex, you look about as lost as I feel,” she said. Alex Bowman was a good man. She’d known him her whole life. When she was a tiny girl she called him Mister Alex because she had a hard time saying his last name. It stuck with her and she’d called him that ever since. “I am, darlin’. I am. My boat is gassed up waiting on me. Me and your dad were supposed to be out on the lake today to see who could catch the biggest bass. We even had money and a six pack of beer riding on the outcome. Not the first time we’d had that bet going. The lucky son of a bitch usually won that bet, too,” he said with an awkward laugh. “I’m going to miss that man. He was always there for me to get me through so many rough patches after my wife died. I know you guys lost your mom a few years back and for the life of me I don’t know how he managed to get up the next day. Then I realized that he had you. And you were always the ray of sunshine that kept him going. I just didn’t expect to see him check out of here so soon.”
An uncomfortable sad silence hung between the two of them. “Enough of my yapping,” he said with an awkward laugh and wiped away a few tears of his own. Your father left something else for you. He wanted me to make sure I gave this to you in private. He didn’t tell me what it was about. He just said that you’d know what to do with it. Said you were a clever one. Strong, like him. He just wanted me to tell you one thing, though. Be careful!”
“Be careful?”
“That’s it. Be careful. I don’t have any more information for you other than that.” He handed her an envelope.
She hugged him and told him to come by and visit soon. She had a few things of her dad’s that he’d want him to have.
She took the envelope home with her. Incredibly curious about what was inside she decided to wait and open it when Kyle stopped by for lunch the next day. He was there at noon on the dot with an appetite but fixed the two leaky faucets before they had burgers on the grill. She wished she’d broke it in with her father but she thought they’d have plenty of time.
Kyle watched as she ran her fingers over the envelope. He knew she was anxious to see what was inside but nervous about it at the same time. “That’s all he said?” Kyle asked.
“That’s it. Said that dad said I’d know what to do with this but to be careful.”
She reluctantly opened the envelope and looked inside. She pulled out a note and turned the envelope upside down. A key fell out and bounced on the table a couple of times before it came to a stop. On it was the number 418. The note had an address on it and a few scribbled words of advice.
She looked up the address. It was for the bank two towns over. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Kyle said. They got in her car and took the road trip to find out what the key went to. Once they got to the bank, she spoke with a man that knew her father. He didn’t have a bank account there, but after she showed him the death certificate and her court decree to take over all assets the man made a quick call and then showed her to the safety deposit box that her father had rented over a year ago.
She and Kyle were left with privacy to open the box. Inside was another key and another address. Beside the key was another address scribbled on a piece of paper. The address this time was for a storage unit rented not far from the bank.
“Why was your old man so discreet with these keys?” Kyle wondered aloud.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what any of this is about. But it’s not like him to do something like this without a reason.”
“You don’t think this is one final prank from the grave? Not to sound course about it, but your dad wasn’t shy about playing jokes on his buddies. Even you and your mom from time to time.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. This just feels weird. Like he was hiding something from the world and now leaving a secret with me. The note in the deposit box was weird. I trusted no one with this. What does that even mean?”
She slid the key into the lock and opened the door to the storage room and turned the light on. It was empty except for a suitcase in the center of the room.
“Damn, it’s heavy!” Kyle said as he tried to lift it. “What do you want to do now?”
Kelly closed the door behind them and laid the suitcase right side up. “Now we take a look inside,” she said. They kneeled down and she unzipped the suitcase and tossed the lid back. The suitcase was filled with folders and stacks of paper. As she thumbed through the ones on top she realized what she was looking at. Gruesome cases that were still unsolved. On top of the stack was another final note of warning. Show no one!
“Was your dad working old unsolved cases in retirement?”
“It certainly looks like it. I’d call and ask one of his old friends from the force but I have a strong gut feeling that he wouldn’t think that was a good idea.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“Exactly what he knew I would do. I’m going to work these cases for him.”