| Unforgiven Sins 13 �I�ve actually checked into the research your father was involved in, and what I�ve discovered is rather disturbing.� �What do you mean?� I was numb. I took the cardboard box containing my parents belongings, left the police station and drove home. I don�t remember how I got there, instinct I guess. As I climbed the stairs and moved along the hallway to the door of my apartment, I heard a sound, a door clicking shut. I swiveled round to see if one of my neighbors was leaving their apartment, but the hallway was empty. I felt drained, and my mind was a mesh of confusing thoughts. Perhaps I was hearing things. I dropped the box onto the floor beside my feet and rummaged through my purse for the front door key. I found my key ring, took it out, and fumbled through the keys for the one for the door and unlocked it. One of my neighbors walked by, saying something that seemed incoherent......I just smiled, picked up the box and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. I leaned my head against the back of the door and inhaled a slow, deep breath. The box under my arm was all I had left of my parents. I glanced down at it and wondered what could possibly be inside. I moved across the room to the coffee table, lowered the box onto its shiny surface, then |
| M.A.Anderson 14 sat down on the sofa staring at the plain, cardboard cube in front of me. I still couldn�t believe that my parents were really dead. Maybe I would wake up and it would all be some terrible nightmare, I thought. But that was wishful thinking. After some time, I reached across, tentatively lifted the lid and peered inside. Each item had been placed inside a plastic ziplock bag. I reached into the box and extracted the bags and began sifting through them. There were several. The first one I opened contained my dad�s wristwatch...it was blackened by the fire, the domed cover cracked and smoky. It was difficult to see th e face. I rubbed some of the sooty residue away with my thumb. The time read seven fifteen. Tears slid down my face as I remembered how they loved to get up early and have breakfast together before I got up, when I was still living at home. They were so happy together. I slipped the watch back into the bag and placed it on the table to one side, then I picked up the second bag and looked at it�s contents. My mom�s favorite pin. They must have taken it off her body...or what was left of her body. It was a moon and stars. The tiny diamonds encircling the gold moon were designed to look like twinkling stars. Some of the diamonds were missing and the gold had melted, distorting the shape of the crescent moon. It was too difficult going through their personal effects, and I was |
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| Unforgiven Sins 15 about to put the bags back and replace the lid, when I noticed an object I had never seen before sitting in the next ziplock bag. I picked up the bag and held it in front of me at eye level. I frowned. What was a safe deposit key doing among my parents� belongings? I pulled the top of the bag open, turned it upside down and shook it. The key bounced onto the coffee table making a high pitch pinging sound like a tuning fork. I snatched it up and examined it closely. There was a serial number engraved into the back of it. Had the key belonged to mom or dad? I wondered. Or had they both known about it? I decided to contact the bank to see if they knew anything. �I�m sorry Miss DuPont, but your parents didn�t have a safe deposit box at the bank,� the bank manager informed me. �Mr. McKenzie, your bank is the only one my parents have done business with over the past several years. How can it not be one of yours?� I asked. �Perhaps it doesn�t belong to your parents. Maybe the police mixed it up with someone else�s things,� he suggested. �Mm, maybe. Thank you for your time Mr. McKenzie.� �Sorry I couldn�t shed some light on it for you, Miss DuPont.� I hung up the phone having the distinct impression that |
| M.A.Anderson 16 Mr. McKenzie was not telling me the absolute truth. There was something in the tone of his voice, and I was usually never wrong when it came to my intuition about people. Mom told me once that I had a gift and that�s how I knew what people were like on the inside. And, to me, Mr. McKenzie was not telling the truth about that key. Why would he lie? Perhaps it was time I found out. I hired a rental car to drive down the coast to do some investigating of my own. As I pulled into the gas station and stopped at a pump, I checked the road map. I only had twenty miles to go. The attendant came across to the car and tapped on the drivers� window startling me. �How much, ma�am?� he asked. I wound the window down. �Oh, fill it up, thanks.� �Sure thing.� He nodded. �Can I have your keys?� I plucked the keys out of the ignition and handed them to him. �Would you mind taking a look at the oil and water, please?� �No problem.� While I was waiting, I took the key out of my purse and examined it again. I frowned. Now that I looked at it, it really didn�t look like a safe deposit key. It was too... ornamental. When I had looked at it in my apartment, I had been too distraught. I guess that had clouded my judgment. |
| Unforgiven Sins 17 I laid it in the palm of my hand and stared at it, then I turned it over and read the number engraved into the back of it...why did the number seem familiar? The attendant came back to the window and handed me the car keys. I dropped the key from my hand into my purse and took the keys from him. �That�ll be twenty dollars, thanks.� He held out his hand. �Okay, thanks.� I opened my wallet, slid out two ten dollar bills and handed them to him. �Have a safe trip.� �Thanks.� I drove out of the drive and onto the highway. I drove into the main street at approximately 3.30 p.m. and pulled into a parking space just along from the bank. I got out of the car, closed the door and pushed the button on the key tag to activate the alarm. I stepped up onto the sidewalk and gazed up and down the street. Everything was so familiar. I looked across the street and spotted the coffee shop where mom and I would go for lunch when I came down to visit. Just a few stores away was the bookstore that I worked in part-time when we had first arrived here. I loved that job. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply. The sun was warm and soothing on my face, and for a brief moment I forgot what I was doing here. |
| M.A.Anderson 18 �Hello,� a familiar voice said. My eyes snapped open and I swung my head around quickly. �Jake!� �How are you, Amanda?� He stepped closer. �I�m...doing okay.� He place a hand on my arm. �Are you sure? Is there anything I can do?� I looked into his unreadable eyes. �Thanks, Jake, but there really isn�t.� �If you need anything....anything at all, call me. Okay?� I nodded. �Thanks.� 'Let's catch up while you're here.' 'Sure. I'd like that.' Jake was a member of the law enforcement in the city. He had been a cop for the past few years. He stood about 6 feet, 2 inches tall, with dark brown hair and eyes. He was tanned and toned and looked great in his uniform. He looked at his watch. �Well, I�d better be going. You will remember what I said, won�t you?� �Of course.� I smiled briefly. As he crossed the street, he unclipped his cell phone and made a call. Glancing back at me, he waved as he continued on his way. I returned the gesture and watched him disappear down a side street. Jake had been my first serious boyfriend. Only because we had never lived in one place long enough to form any kind of meaningful relationships. Mom and dad had lived here for almost |
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