Robert, page 5
“James has been cremated, and his ashes will stay at the funeral home until you’re dead. Then the two of you will be buried in the same nameless prison plot with only your number as reference to who you were.”
The judge looked at her when she told him that she wanted Katie there so she could have a few words with her. Then she asked him for a weapon so that she could make her see reason.
“That isn’t going to happen; I’m happy to say. She and her family are enjoying a lovely day, celebrating that you and James are no longer a problem. Now, let me finish this. Now, where was I? Oh yes. There we are.”
“Mary, when I think of what you and your brother said, I should have taken action against the two of you then. I might well have been able to save a few more people.” The judge looked at her again before reading on. “You have the life you deserve, and I will also. Your Aunt Katherine Archer.”
Before she could think about what Katie had said to her, she was shoved out the door and into an awaiting van. No amount of threats, which usually worked for her, would make the people in the van with her stop so that she could get out. Someone was going to pay for this, and she would keep at them until they finally gave in. That had worked for her before all this shit began to fall on her. The van stopped so suddenly that she nearly fell off her seat. Mary might have if not for the fact that she was chained up.
“What the fuck was that for? You morons are going to pay for this.” The back of the van opened, and she looked at the man standing there. She didn’t know what he thought he might be doing, but she knew a sap when she saw one. “Paul, I have no idea what you think will happen when I get out of here, but you’d better be straightening up your act. And I do hope that you got rid of that brat. I will not be aged by—”
The cop across from her fell over. If he was dead, it was good. It would be one less person that she’d have to kill to get out of her. The second cop fell over too. But he winked at her first. Not knowing what was going on, she watched him as he lay there. As soon as he was down on the floor, she felt the locks on her legs let go. It only took her two seconds to get the chain unwrapped from her seat, and she was on the move.
Peter picked up the gun lying on the floor next to the second cop. Not sure when it had been pulled free, she reached for it at the same time that Paul pointed it at her.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Put that shit away. Or better yet, hand it to me. You deserve to die as much as the next person. Hand it over, Paul, or help me; I’ll make you suffer in ways you can imagine.” Paul told her that he hated her. “Well, la-dee-da. I’ve hated you since we first met. Give me the fucking—”
The pain in her chest hurt. While she didn’t bother looking at what had happened, she knew enough that she was shot. Turning to look at the cop behind her, the second shot hit her face. Mary was hurting by the time she fell to her knees.
“I only had to distract you enough so they could shoot you in the back, Mary. They swear that they’d been knocked out when the van suddenly stopped for a deer that ran out in front of them. I thought that was a fitting ending for you. To be less important than a wild animal. Having you dead will lessen my son’s nightmares of you and make everyone, in general, feel better at night.” She began to think she was hurt worse than she thought she might have been. “You’ll be thrilled—or perhaps not, I could care less that I’ve met someone that makes me happy. And when we marry, I’m going to be thrilled beyond words. So lucky that you’ll never be a thought in my head until the day that I die. Fuck you, Mary Pencil. I hope you rot in hell.”
~*~
Robert saw the cruiser pull into the driveway where he was working at his home that he and Elizabeth would be moving into full-time soon. Just yesterday, Markus Conley was arrested, as had been his wife and son. The things that they’d been stealing from construction sites were vast. Not only had they been stealing from the job they’d caught him on, but his theft had been going on since the first-week Bingo hired him. He’d not even tried to hide the money that was in his bank account and safety deposit box. Conley bragged about them thinking; Robert supposed that no one could get into them without his permission. Idiot.
“Robert.” He asked Officer Carter if he was all right as he tipped his imaginary hat in return for the gesture. “I am. Thank you so much for asking. I came to let you know that Mary is dead. She was trying to escape when the van she was riding in was in a near miss with a deer. When they slammed on their brakes, both the officers were hurt, and she took their key to get out—the damnest thing about that. However, I hit one of them suckers once. Not a thing that I’d like to have repeated. The two men in the back were knocked unconscious, and she took their keys. After getting herself unlocked from the van, one of the men woke in time to shoot her. Good thing if you ask me. The government doesn’t need to pay for her to sit around on her fat ass for—I’m sorry, Robert. I forgot that she was related to you for a moment.”
“That’s all right, Ryan. I’m with you on this being a good thing.” He nodded and looked around the house they were both standing in. The need to change the subject seemed like a good idea. “It’s coming along well, I think. After the insurance company reimburses us for all the stolen equipment, we’ll be working well. Merce and Del replaced what was needed now so we could finish up, and the insurance company was good with that.”
The two of them talked about the renovations that were going on. Mostly they admired the stained glassed pieces that would go into the house as soon as the window areas were enlarged or cut down, depending on what was going on in the room. The staircase was one of the places where a more significant part was going. Just at the top of the stairs, they were going to put a couple of chairs and a small table to read by. Robert thought the light through the glasswork would be distracting, but he wanted what Elizabeth wanted. Ryan asked him if he knew if Peter was going to sell off the other pieces are not.
“I know Peter and Heather will let the family go through it all to take what we want. I’ve taken a couple of the larger pieces to put in the window openings. I couldn’t believe how many of those we’ve found stored in the barn and basement of the house.” Ryan told him how he remembered his grandmother. “I don’t have many memories of her. I remember more when I see a picture of her with the family. I know that grandda misses her something terrible.”
Ryan was an older man, more than likely older than his grandfather. While he was on the police force, had been since he’d been just a kid, he told him, Ryan didn’t do much other than run errands for the department and make out the schedule when there were events that the police were needed for nowadays. His wife had passed away some time ago, and he was lonely; he told him, so working kept him out of trouble.
“Your grannie, she sure could make a person feel good about themselves. You don’t know my daddy; he was a bastard and a half. Mostly it was drinking that made him so mean. Your grannie would take my brothers, sisters, and me into her house and keep us there until our daddy was out of jail or off his drinking after momma died. Daddy died about the time I was out of college. The rest of us scattered to the four winds and never looked back. I miss them.” Robert told him he didn’t know what to do without his family nearby. “You had a good set of parents, Robert. They loved you and supported you no matter what you did. Though we never had a lick of trouble with you when you boys were younger.”
“Mom and dad would have murdered us if we caused any trouble that we couldn’t explain.” Ryan laughed and asked if he was talking about the middle school girl. “Yes. Bethany James. Her parents were ill, pneumonia if I remember correctly. I went there after school to give her the homework she was missing. I found her not only exhausted but also caring for her parents and little sister. I put her to bed and stayed to help her out all night. I forgot to tell my parent where I was; I’d worried about them. We didn’t have cell phones as we do now. When mom and dad showed up there, mom was ready to beat me for staying all night with a young girl when she found James’ not just in need of more help than a couple of teenagers could give them but that her little sister was ill as well.”
“Your parents, after calling in an ambulance to get the help they needed, took that baby home to care for. I think your daddy gave little Anna away when she got married.” Robert remembered only then that Mr. James had passed away from his illness, and his wife had been ill for the rest of her life. Robert smiled at the memory of dad being so flustered when he’d been asked. “As I said, you have good parents. Even your grandparents were good people.”
“Thanks, Ryan. I know that, but it is nice to hear someone else say it too.” He hugged him before he left, telling Robert that he only had to ask if he needed anything from him. “I will. Thank you for coming over and telling me about Mary.”
Robert called his mom to let her know about her niece. He had a feeling that even though Mom had said she was washing her hands of the woman, she would still grieve for her. It did help her that Del and Merce had adopted James’ three children. And that Paul had moved to the area so that Mom and the others could be a part of his son Brian’s life. The kids spent a great deal of time together at Mom’s house, and he thought they were making the best memories with her and Grandda.
The crew that he was working with was a good bunch. Bingo, his future grandfather-in-law, was around enough that Robert never felt like he was messing up too much. He was forming a good bond with the older man as well. Elizabeth was working for the rest of the morning into the afternoon, so he was here making sure he didn’t get into trouble being left alone. Smiling, he thought of how exhausted Elizabeth had been when they’d gotten home last night.
She’d kept dozing while he was driving her back from her work. Every once in a while, she’d wake up enough to tell him something, but for the most part, she slept. Even when they pulled up in front of the house, she was too tired to walk inside on her own, and he ended up carrying her up to the bedroom he’d been sleeping in. Robert took the couch in the living room so as not to disturb her excessively.
“Mr. Robert?” He had to get used to his new name now, he thought, wondering how many times Bash—he didn’t know if it was his last or first name—had called to him. “Mr. Robert, there is something that you gotta see. It’s amazing that we even saw it before tearing out the wall completely.”
Following the man, Robert wasn’t upset about the interruption as he was relieved by it. His thoughts about Elizabeth waking him up with a very carnal kiss made him want to go to the hospital and tear her clothes off. The kitchen resembled a wartime room. It had been ravaged by all the walls being taken out. Bingo and his grandda were in the room too.
The door was beautiful. Asking if either of them knew why the oak door had been closed off, neither of them knew. Not only had the door been plastered over to hide the fact that it was in the kitchen, but it had also been written on. Getting closer to the fancy script, he was surprised to read what was there. The date on it was eighteen fifty-one.
“This here room was for my mamma. She passed on before I could get it all done for her.” There were many misspelled words, but he could make them out. “She wasn’t a good mamma, but I made me a promise with my daddy, and I was beholding to do it for her. But she’s dead now. So whoever found this, you can have her things for your own if’n you want them. Otherwise, lit you a big old fire and have at it.”
The key to the door was hanging on the frame, and Robert used it to unlock the door. The darkness of the room and cobwebs hanging in the opening made it difficult to see anything inside. Taking one of the pieces of wood just lying around, he removed all the dusty cobwebs and went inside.
“There doesn’t seem to be any electricity in this room. Let me get one of those big lights to put on the situation.” As soon as Bingo returned with the light, he walked into the darkened cavern and had his first look at what had been stored away. “My goodness, Robert, this is wonderful.”
It was too. It was a beautiful turn-of-the-century bedroom set, consisting of not just the dressers and bed but a sizeable tall boy, bedside tables, a large blanket chest, and a woman’s vanity table. He ran his finger over the top of the dresser and saw that the wood looked dark.
“If I don’t miss my bet on that, I’d say that’s mahogany. I’ve not seen a set like that in forever. My goodness. I’m betting that would make a good guest set if you’d like to have it cleaned up.” He said he would, but he’d have to see what Elizabeth thought of it. “Yes, sir. That’s a good thought. I’m positive she’ll love it as much as you seem to.”
“I do love it. I think that it would look amazing in the room down the hall. The one at the end.” Bingo asked if it was the one with the big picture window facing the backyard. “Yes, that’s the one. The dark wood with the sun shining on it would be breathtaking. Look, there is even clothing in the cabinet here.”
He was about as excited as he could be about the find. The more they looked around, the more that they uncovered. Robert loved the ladies grooming set that was on the vanity. Beautiful bottles of now empty perfume bottles. Even though there wasn’t a bathroom in the large room, handmade soaps and loofas were still in their skin.
“I’m betting your mom would love some of those seeds in that thing. She’s been talking about starting them up since I moved in with her. Those are old seeds too. And from their size, I’d say they never came out of a package, either. Just heirloom seeds passed around the town until most of them forgot to save them. You take that thing over to your mom, and she’ll grow them for fifty years or so.” He did like that idea as well. While he’d never used a loofa, he had heard great things about them.
Robert’s excitement grew as they found a window that had been boarded over. Once the boards were removed, the room looked larger. Bingo asked him what he was going to do with the extra space.
“I’ve not thought beyond how many things are in this room. But I think that it would make a great pantry. Or even a breakfast area. Whatever Elizabeth wants.” He decided to message her to see if she was busy. When she called him back, he’d already figured out how to show her the room. After telling her the story that had come with it, she also wanted to see the furniture. “Grandda thinks that it’s mahogany. I know that it’s heavy. You would have laughed at us all while we were trying to move a couple of pieces to get to the window.”
“I love it. And it has a rich history behind it. Yes, the bedroom you were talking about would show it off in the best light. Oh, how I wish I were there. But we’ve gotten a lot done today since we weren’t all that busy. Also, Merce was here putting in a couple of pieces of equipment. I had no idea she owns the company that makes most of the things we use here.”
“That’s why I think she and Del are perfectly matched. Not only are the two of them engineers, but they seem to see things outside of the box more than anyone else I know.” After telling her that he’d be here waiting for her to get off at three, he said to her that he loved her. “With all that I am, my dear Elizabeth.”
“You’re such a sap. But I do you as well.” She was still laughing when he put his cell phone back in his pocket. The others had left when he began talking to Elizabeth, so he had the entire room to himself. Pulling out one of the drawers to look at whatever had been left behind, he found a book of sorts.
“I came by—what do you have there, son?” He handed the book over to his mother, and she flipped through a few of the pictures before shivering. “It’s a death book. During the Victorian times, though I never heard much of it being done here, someone used to take pictures of the dead in posing pictures with family members so that they could be remembered. If I remember correctly, it was called Memento Mori photography, which means remember you must die. I think it was mostly children that died when they were so young. They thought it would lessen the pain of a loved one’s death if they could see them all together. My goodness, those are the best I’ve seen, considering what they happen to be.”
“I think that the family that lived here, or the man’s in-laws took them for people. This is his portfolio, I suppose.” Mom shivered again and handed the book to him. “I’m sure you didn’t come out here to see what I’d found, did you?”
“In a way, yes. Delmar told me about the room you’d unearthed, and I thought it would be fun to see what is in here. The furniture is beautiful.” The two went through the doors and the cabinet to see what else they could find. “You should donate these dresses to someone that can put them on display. I’m not sure who that would be, but it would make an excellent addition to someone that collects things like this. She must have been a big woman, this mother-in-law of his. These dresses are huge.”
They both laughed but did sober up when they thought of what they were doing. Mom told him she was slightly nervous about the book and trying to make a joke. She apologized to him.
“No need for that, mom. I know it made me feel a little off when I found it. The one with the baby and the little girl got me shaken up, the worse. I can’t imagine doing something like that for a living.” Mom told him that she couldn’t either. “Let’s look at the bedroom where this set will go in. I already spoke to Elizabeth. She also loves the idea of putting it in the one at the end of the hall.”
When Elizabeth showed up, the room was measured to see where the pieces would go. The house has eleven bedrooms in it. After it was finished on the second floor, there would only be five. Dividing the rooms up, they were larger seemed to be just what needed to be done. Also, more plumbing. Not just for the second floor but the upper level as well. Elizabeth didn’t want to look at the book they’d found. She said she’d had a shitty day and couldn’t take any more death right now.
“Come here and let me hold you.” She went to him willingly, and when his mom walked out of the room, he lifted her chin to see that she was crying. Kissing her cheeks where the tears had fallen, he told her again that he loved her. “I will forever love you. You know that, don’t you, Elizabeth? I wish I could take away your pain right now.”
