Family Secrets

by Ronnie Ashmore

  The others had their own cellphone lights working now and were looking at other items scattered around the room, old tools, electronics, and junk of different kinds. Roberts joined Mike in the far corner. He had found what looked to be various furniture pieces covered with blankets along the wall behind the staircase.

  “What a mess.” She said, lifting the corner of a blanket off a long item that appeared to be a table.

  Mike grabbed the blanket she was holding and pulled it into the floor. Dust rained down on them and Roberts stepped back attempting to get away. The dust covered her uniform in dirt.

  Mike laughed at her reaction as he noticed it was a glass top coffee table that appeared to have mold on the bottom edges of it from moisture. He shined his light into the glass top to see it better. His light caught the reflection of something.

  “Sonofabitch!” He yelled, jumping back.

  “What?” Jimmy asked, as he and the others walked over to look at what was wrong.

  Roberts and Mike shined their light into the coffee tabletop, the table was hollow inside and you could see into it. As the others joined them all their lights converged on the thing in the table. It was a human face. The corpse was mostly a skeleton now, the flesh having rotted away a long time ago.

  “What the hell?” Jimmy asked, stooping over to get a better look inside.

  Tolliver looked at the face and said, “I think we just found Pam Parks.”

  23

  Everyone stood around out in the yard as Tolliver was explaining to Christine what was going on.

  “Nobody can stay here tonight. This is a crime scene.”

  “The crimes happened years ago, Chief.” Christine said.

  “No, child. We found a body in the basement. I think it may be your mother.”

  Christine stood still and stared blankly at Tolliver. Finally, she inhaled deeply and giggled which took Tolliver by surprise, “So, that’s what happened to her. He never said where she was, I didn’t ask very often, though.”

  Mike thought she would show some sort of emotion but there was nothing. Tolliver continued, “Well, Lydia and Max can stay with you awhile, then?”

  “Of course.” She said.

  “Fine. You can go whenever you need, like right now. We got work to do here and you can’t be here. Officer Roberts will take you home.” He motioned for Roberts to come over from where she was standing. He gave her the instructions and told her to come right back.

  Morgan walked over after the family had left and spoke to Tolliver. “Chief, I got DPS crime lab coming to process. It will be a couple hours. I’m going back to the office to work on the search warrant.”

  “Fine. Me and Mike will go to the jail and see if we can see George. I want to be the one to tell him his world is fixing to crash down. Jimmy stays here.”

  Mike and Tolliver left the house and headed to the jail. Once inside the city jail area Tolliver asked the jailer to see Parks.

  “He ain’t here.” The jailer, whose name was Simpson, said.

  “What do you mean ‘he ain’t here’, he was arrested this morning?” The chief asked, loudly.

  “P.R. bond from the judge not long after the arrest was submitted.” He said.

  P.R. bond. Personal Recognizance bond was a bond type for low level offenders or for someone who was a prominent, long time businessman who had never been in trouble. The defendant basically promised to show for court, and he could get out of jail without a bondsman.

  Mike followed Tolliver out of the jail part of the building. The chief was mad, and Mike was feeling uneasy. They walked to the chief’s office he picked up the phone and dialed a number as he looked on the phone list by his phone. He put it on speaker.

  “Hello!”

  “Amy? You stay with them until you hear from me. Parks made bail, judge P.R.’d him. He may be mad at Christine and Lydia. You keep an eye out, I’ll have someone come help you in a bit.”

  “Chief, you think Parks would come after his own daughter and grandkids?” she asked, her phone was scratchy, and her voice echoed.

  “Only one of those kids is his grandkid. Besides, we just found his wife stuffed in furniture in the basement. You be careful.” Tolliver hung up the phone. Morgan walked in and joined them in the office.

  “I got the search warrant for the house. Jimmy said crime lab is an hour out. I’m goin’ to get the warrant signed and get back to the scene.”

  “Fine. Mike, you go help Roberts at Christine’s house. We may need to put them up at a motel or something. I’ll figure it out later.”

  Mike left the office and fifteen minutes later he was at Christine’s house. The only vehicles were Christine’s car and now two patrol units. Roberts let him in as he approached the door. He went to the living room, but nobody was there.

  “She’s showing the kids the extra room. What did Chief mean about only one grandkid earlier?” Roberts asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Mike gave her a brief explanation and seen her face change expressions from confusion to anger then disgust. He told her about the possibility of a motel for the Parks’ and then he sat down on the couch.

  He felt worn out. Like he could sleep for days. Mike checked his watch, two thirty in the afternoon. Christine came into the room followed by the other two. Mike nodded his head at Christine.

  “You got any coffee?” He asked.

  “I’ll make some.” Christine said, walking to the kitchen. Roberts followed her offering to help.

  Max went with them leaving Lydia and Mike alone. They sat in silence for a little bit but there was a question nagging at Mike he needed the answer to.

  “Lydia, did you know your Grandma was in the basement?” He kept his voice low hoping not to let Christine hear them talking.

  She sat down in the recliner and stared out the window without answering for a few seconds. Then she nodded her head.

  “We weren’t suppose to tell anyone. Grandma died one night and the next morning Grampa put her in the basement and told us not to tell.” She was whispering as well, copying Mike tone.

  “You and Max?”

  “Yeah. And Mom’s sister.” She said, glancing over her shoulder to the kitchen area.

  “Your Aunt Elizabeth?”

  “She helped Grampa move her down there.”

  Mike stood up, thanked Lydia, then went to the kitchen where Roberts handed him an empty coffee mug. The brewing coffee filled the small kitchen with a wonderful aroma, Mike sat the mug on the counter not wanting anything right now but answers.

  “Did you know your mom was in the basement?” Mike voice was louder than he intended, he glanced over to Lydia who was looking at him with what he thought was fear in her eyes.

  “I didn’t. Not until today.” Christine said, as tears welled up in her eyes.

  Roberts was watching the two of them confused finally she put her empty cup down.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Lydia told me when we were sitting in that room at the police department. She told me ‘if they look, they will find Grandma’. I didn’t know what she meant until y’all told me at the house about it.” Her voice trailed off.

  “Lydia says your sister helped move her down there. Elizabeth told me that she hadn’t been to the house since leaving. What else are you and your family hiding?” Mike asked.

  “What do you want me to say? We are a family of secrets. Telling all of them at one time isn’t going to happen. You want the rest of the answers go talk to the others. I can’t deal with any more stuff right now.” Christine left the kitchen and went down the hall to her bedroom and closed the door.

  Mike walked outside digging his phone from his pocket as he went. He found the contact and pushed the button. The chief’s voice came on the line after a couple of rings. Mike filled him in on what was going on and what he had just been told. After disconnecting the call, he walked around the yard for a few minutes to gather his thoughts.

  This family was nuts. Everybody had sec
rets, everybody lied to benefit themselves, and everybody was a victim. He had never heard of anything like this in his life. Chief wanted him and Roberts to stay with Christine and the two kids for the night. Mike wanted to go to his own home, to his own bed, and sleep for days. Probably wasn’t going to happen today though.

  Roberts joined him outside. “What’s wrong?” She asked, her uniform pants were still dirty from this morning’s altercation with George Parks and her shirt was spattered in dirt from the basement search.

  Mike looked at her and shook his head. “Chief wants us to bed down here tonight and keep an eye out for the old man. He said he’d call tomorrow with more instructions.” Roberts sighed heavily and looked at her uniform. Mike could feel what she was thinking and couldn’t agree more.

  24

  Mike was sound asleep in the recliner and was being shaken awake hard by Roberts, who seemed to be in a panic. Roberts had slept on the couch and Mike fell into a deep sleep in the recliner. He came awake slowly, aggravated that he was being forced awake.

  “What?” he said, wanting her to quit shaking him.

  “She’s gone! The other two are still here.” Roberts said, her voice rising.

  Mike lowered the leg rest and jumped up fully awake. He went to the kitchen window to look out where the cars were parked, hers was gone. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked at Roberts.

  “When?”

  “I don’t know. I got up to go to the bathroom and she was gone. I only fell asleep for a minute it seemed.”

  “Call the Chief.”

  Roberts hesitated and Mike did not blame her. The chief was probably going to rip them a new one for failing in the one job they were assigned. Mike decided he would call and take the ass chewing he knew was coming.

  Mike pulled his phone from his pants pocket and made the call. He noticed it was almost seven and the sun was already shining bright as the day was just starting. Roberts watched as he relayed the information and was waiting for the yelling to start. Mike disconnected the call surprised that chief hadn’t yelled and put the phone away.

  “He wants us to bring the other two and meet him, he’s at the scene.”

  Forty minutes later they pulled into the driveway of George Parks house. Mike in his car and Roberts in hers with Lydia and Max. Max had gone back to sleep in the backseat. Lydia rode in silence in the front seat.

  The chief was sitting in his patrol car with the door open and one leg on the ground. There was a flurry of activity inside the house and in the yard. A crime van from the DPS was sitting in the driveway pulled as far up as possible, technicians were busy going from inside the house where they were collecting evidence to the van and back in the house. Mike and Roberts walked up, and Tolliver got out of the car and stood to meet them.

  “Chief, I’m sorry. I fell asleep. I didn’t know she left until this morning.” Roberts said.

  “No, I’m to blame for this not her.”

  “Oh, come on now. She is the only one to blame for not doing what we told her to do. We know where she would go?”

  Nobody knew.

  “You been here all night?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah. I sent Jimmy home last night. This is a one-man job, anyway. It’s not a mystery. We know who done it.”

  Mike and Roberts watched as the chief walked up to a technician in white plastic coveralls to find out new information. They noticed how slow he was walking and how tired he looked. Mike had felt like melted crap last night he was so tired, he realized Chief Tolliver had less sleep than he’d had the entire weekend. He felt a pang of guilt over that. He said as much to Roberts. She agreed.

  Tolliver walked back to them to fill them in. The JP had already been here to pronounce death as was the law. The crime scene technicians had processed all they could in the basement, but the technician said the body had been down there so long that most of the visible evidence was destroyed. She had been placed in the hollow coffee table and the glass top insert had been sealed with caulk. The body had been removed and was on its way to Lubbock for an autopsy. The coffee table and other evidence was secured in the crime van. All the pictures and fingerprints and evidence had been gathered.

  “Now we got our job to do. I got Morgan writing a warrant for George. We need to find him.” Tolliver said.

  “And Christine.” Roberts finished.

  They heard a vehicle pull into the driveway and turned to look. It was a newer car driving slowly down the drive. Mike thought he recognized it but wasn’t sure. They watched as it stopped. Elizabeth Parks got out of the driver side and walked to them. She looked as dapper as always, Mike thought, as he watched her walk their way. He had an urge to run toward her and tackle her to the ground and place handcuffs on her. He grunted and Roberts looked at him strangely.

  “Chief? What in the world is going on here?” Elizabeth asked standing next to Tolliver.

  “Oh, well, we are processing the house. Well, DPS was anyway.”

  “Processing? Why?” She looked around at the activity as the crime lab technicians were packing their equipment.

  “What brings you here?” Mike asked.

  “Christine called me last night and told me to come here to pick up Lydia. I told her I would leave early this morning. And I did. Now, Chief are you going to answer me?”

  “Processing is what you do at a crime scene, Miss Parks.” Tolliver said, he looked at Mike and continued, “Officer Collins would you like to do the honors?”

  “Yes, sir.” Mike took hold of Elizabeth’s left arm and placed it behind her back as he grabbed the other one and did the same. It was one swift, smooth movement as Roberts gave him a pair of handcuffs. Mike felt a sense of satisfaction as he secured her wrists then turned her to face the group again.

  “What are you doing?” She yelled at Mike.

  “Hush, now.” Tolliver said, raising his own voice and getting within inches of Elizabeth’s face. “We found your Momma.”

  Elizabeth Parks did not say anything, but her eyes welled up and spilled over, the tears flowing from her eyes creating a black mess from her eye makeup, a black river of mascara began to run down her face. As Roberts called for a tow truck to tow Elizabeth’s car, Mike led her to his patrol car and placed her inside.

  25

  Mike removed the handcuffs from Elizabeth Parks and settled her in a chair in the conference room. Her face was a mess of makeup as she had not stopped crying since the chief told her about their discovery. Makeup had fallen on her red blouse and created a mess on it as well. Mike hesitated in sliding her the box of tissues as he left her alone in the room.

  Morgan and Tolliver were in Morgan’s office waiting to talk to Elizabeth. Mike told them she was ready.

  “Good. I told Amy she could go home. Same for you if you want.” Tolliver said.

  “Chief, I’d rather be in the room when y’all talk to Elizabeth.”

  “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Taking their seats at the table Morgan activated the recorder. Mike thought the conference room was getting lots of use this weekend. Elizabeth watched silently as they took their seats. She had cleaned up a little as the mascara streaks on her face were not so noticeable now. Morgan read her the Miranda warning from a form he took from the folder he had and asked her to sign her name to it for acknowledgement.

  “Why am I being read my rights?” She asked, signing where Morgan indicated.

  “Because you are a suspect in your mother’s death.” Morgan said.

  Elizabeth started laughing and laughed so hard new tears formed in her eyes. She wiped her eyes with the wadded-up tissue she had been holding causing more streaks.

  “What’s so funny?” Tolliver asked.

  “I’m a suspect? That old bat died on her own free will. Nobody killed her.” She laughed again.

  “She didn’t get in that coffee table on her own.” Morgan said. His irritation toward Elizabeth was growing as she continued to laugh and shake her head. “You lied when you said you hadn�
��t had contact with your parents in a long time.”

  “I have not lied. I haven’t been to that house since mom died.”

  “Start from the beginning and tell us how she came to have her final resting place in your dad’s basement.” Tolliver said, trying to calm Morgan down and keep Parks talking.

  “She just died. She had been sick for a while, many years. That’s why dad did to us what he did. He couldn’t do those things with mom.” The grin disappeared and she shook her head. She told the story in a rush.

  Her dad called her late one night saying her mom had died. She didn’t talk to her dad, but she talked to her mom now and then. He sounded scared like he didn’t know what to do and he was in a panic. He had custody of Lydia and Max who was just a baby in diapers. She drove the two hours to the house. It was the first time since packing up and leaving that she had been inside the house. Elizabeth was mad, she didn’t want to help her dad, she wanted to call the police or somebody and make an official report. Her dad wouldn’t let her, he had to be in control just like always.

  George was afraid of having the kids taken from him so together they came up with a plan. They would bury her in the basement and dad would tell everyone she was sick, or in the hospital, or nursing home anything to cover it up. In the meantime, he could still cash her disability checks and take care of Christine’s kids.

  Lydia was awake by the time they finished, they swore her to secrecy and told her never to mention her grandma again. Elizabeth felt horrible about it, but as time went on, she forgot all about her mom for the most part.

  When she was finished speaking, she looked at everyone in the room waiting. Mike caught on to something she had said and when he seen a break in the conversation, he spoke.

  “You said ‘Christine’s kids’, you don’t know do you?”

  “Know what?” She asked, looking at him.

  “Max ain’t Christine’s son.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Tolliver looked at her as he leaned forward in his chair. “You grew up in that house of hell. Whose child do you think Max is?”