Light in the Shadows

by Hillman, Eva;

  After listening to the messages on Chris’s home phone, they decided to take the needed time off and spend it at Chris’s sister, Beth’s home. They were not going to tell their superiors about where they were going. So they jumped into the car and here they were.

  If they could help her, that would make the visit even better. But if they did help Beth, they needed to do it together, as they worked together and needed the time off together.

  Beth got both. She thought it was a little too much, but she had room for them and she was happy Chris was here. Her house stilled smelled like the apple crisp she had baked the night before. She made coffee and gave them a plate of it. What a pleasure for the men. They needed some home cooked food and some down time as well. When they were at the table in the kitchen with another cup of coffee Beth told them, what was going on. She had no idea what the men wanted or what they thought she had.

  Chris and Beth talked about their folks and what they were doing. Neither of them knew what the intruders wanted. Beth described the men and both Chris and Stewart agreed with her, the thieves were dangerous.

  Beth went into the guest rooms and made sure the guys had everything they needed. She had one of the rooms as an office, but she still had a bed in it and, so it was good she had enough room for both men. Beth told the guys they could still get some sleep and wanted to sleep herself and they all went to bed. Even with the locks being changed, Beth felt much more at ease about having the men in the house.

  Beth got up at her usual time and got ready and went to work. The guys were still sleeping. It was okay for her to go to work today, as she felt safe. Another time she had used “safe.” After she left for work, the men came back to search in Beth’s home. They were surprised when they walked into the house and there was Stewart at the kitchen table drinking coffee. They walked in like they owned the place, and there was nothing they could do except to pretend they were from a gas company.

  They told Stewart they were from the gas company to check the gas lines, although Stewart knew better because they didn’t have on uniforms. Of course, Stewart knew who they were, and he said very loud “what gas lines are you checking?”

  The men said they were not sure, they were told to come to this address and their boss would call them to tell them what to look for. Stewart said, “Good let me call your boss and see what he wants you to do.”

  By then Chris had heard them talking and realized these men were the ones that searched the house before. Chris stayed in the bedroom. He thought maybe he could be helpful from there.

  Stewart asked them the phone number and they said they would have to make the call. Stewart replied, “I don’t think so.”

  At that time the men decided to run. One of them took a swing at Stewart, Stewart ducked, and Chris came running in. The men knew they had to get out. One of them picked up a chair in the kitchen and threw it; it caused enough distraction to keep the other two busy getting out of its way. The two men ran, and the Chris and Stewart followed right behind them. They caught the thieves in the yard. Chris hit one man, Stewart hit the other and the fight was on. The four of them were fighting in the yard and the two thieves were getting the worst of it. They were on the ground and Stewart and Chris were just going to pick them up when the police came.

  A neighbor heard the fighting and called the police, as she didn’t know who anyone was. She saw four men fighting. The police held their guns on all four of them. The police said they wanted to know what was going on.

  The two men who were searching Beth’s home were beat up bad. They said they didn’t need to go to the hospital; they just wanted to go home. The police wanted to know what it was all about and the two men said it was over some women and the police believed them. They told them they could all go free but they warned all of them they would be on the lookout and would arrest them if they caused any more trouble.

  Chris and Stewart didn’t want to let the police know why they were fighting, so they just let it go. They knew the two men were just hired by whomever it was that wanted whatever it was in the house.

  Stewart and Chris went back inside and straightened it all up and wondered just what to tell Beth. They decided to go to get breakfast. They knew the thieves would not come back today. What they wanted was still a mystery to Chris and Stewart.

  Chris and Stewart went to eat breakfast; they were very quiet, as they were thinking about what to do next. They knew the thieves they were fighting were just doing what they were told to do. They also knew there was something Chris and Beth’s father had that someone was searching for. From their experience in government work they also knew it was of national importance to keep the wrong people from getting it.

  Chris called his superior at the company he worked for are told him that he and Stewart wanted some time off and were just helping Beth with her problems. As it turned out the problems were not for Beth to understand but it was something Chris and Stewart needed to deal with.

  Their superior told them to just “hang out” to see what would happen and try to figure out what it all was about. The boss said he would have his men ready to go if they did figure it out. They were at work, yet they were not.

  When Beth got home from work she learned about the fight and what happened. She had stopped at the store and bought groceries, as she wanted to cook a meal for the two men. She was a good cook, but she had not had much practice lately as she lived by herself and was content to eat simply.

  She made lasagna, with garlic bread and salad. It was a good meal and Chris and Stewart enjoyed it. Most of the time they ate at a restaurant when they had time to eat. After they finished eating Chris, Stewart and Beth cleaned up together. Then she got each of them a plate of apple crisp and a cup of coffee and they went into the front room to relax.

  They sat facing each other and none of them knew what to say. They had coffee, ate apple crisp, and thought. Both siblings knew they would have to go back to the beginning to figure out what to do next. They each threw out things that didn’t mean anything, but the other had things to say about it. It was a discussion of all the beginning of their lives. Mom at home and dad working. It was all they really knew. They were just normal kids doing normal things at the time. Then Chris thought of the time they had to stay in their rooms one day when their dad came home.

  They didn’t know what was going on, they just thought he was sick and mom didn’t want them to catch the cold. Then they started thinking about that time when they could go to a friend’s house after school. It was unusual for them to be able to do that. They could go to a friend’s house if their homework was finished and their chores were done. Both of both kids had a very structured home life and they had time to do the homework and do chores as well as to play.

  Occasionally, some things were different. They tossed out ideas, both thought them through. Both brother and sister remembered about the same things. The things that were different. They were thinking about the house they lived in when their folks were killed in the automobile accident. They were thinking about how they just packed everything up and left their home. It was sold. They never asked questions about it. Neither of them wondered who bought the house. They were in shock with both of their parents gone.

  They had Katy. She had gotten cancer many years ago and passed away. They were there for her funeral, with her friends and all the ones she worked with. No family. They didn’t ask questions but there was not a family member present. Just them. Everything Katy had become theirs. They gave the furniture to the local thrift store, and put everything else in some boxes and stored it in their storage shed. Somehow the people searching for “something” at Beth’s house must have researched it all and decided it was with Beth. She maybe had it, but she just didn’t know what it was they wanted.

  They talked way into the night but didn’t come up with anything. They finally decided to go to bed. The next day was Saturday and Beth didn’t have to work and they decided to sleep in that morning. It was not a good nig
ht for either of them. They had too many things on their minds. They thought of their parents, they thought of the lives they led, they thought of all the things that were different from the other kids. They knew it was different. Both thought they lived a normal life and for the most part they did. They rest of the time they had a very structured life. A life related to their parents needs. They realized their parents were very close and didn’t say much about their past lives. The parents of Beth and Chris didn’t have many friends; just themselves.

  The next morning, Chris and Beth and Stewart were very tired, but they decided to run anyway. Stewart also liked to run so they got dressed and went running. They ran to the park and along the running trails and because Beth had the two men with her, she felt safe. They ran for a long time. They went into other trails Beth hadn’t yet gone too. She thought it was great to look around at all the things she hadn’t seen yet.

  Finally, they decided they were tired and hungry. They stopped at a local place to eat. It was nice to sit and have coffee, talk and eat. A lot of their worries were with them, but with the run, it was okay. They knew they had to deal with it, but not this minute. They walked home. It was such a great morning, soft clouds, sun, and about 68 degrees. You couldn’t get a better morning to run.

  When they got to the house, the police were there. Someone had been looking for something and started going through the books stored on the back deck. It was such a mess. Books were everywhere. Scattered all over the back yard. Beth and the men picked them up and left them on the deck and because every time they left the house someone was there to search it; they talked about it and decided to take off. They left everything like it was and just took a change of clothes and went to a motel.

  After they checked in to the motel they went to a restaurant to get a cup of coffee. Then they went back to the motel and spent most of the night talking. Beth and Chris went back over their past again hoping they would come up with something different they had forgotten about. But they did not. They needed to figure out just what to do, and how to do it. All of them realized this was serious and maybe someone would die. They had to figure out just what someone wanted, as well as who wanted it. They decided to go to sleep and see if they could come up with anything the next morning.

  Beth and Chris didn’t sleep very well, but Stewart slept all night and got up early and went to get coffee. While he was gone, both Beth and Chris decided they needed to go the house they grew up in. Both had decided the night before and both had the same reason for the decision. They thought there must be something their parents had that was either a national treasure, or a military secret that could make someone a lot of money.

  The next thing was to decide if they should take Stewart with them or if they should tell him a lie. They would tell him they could take it to the FBI and let them handle it.

  Before they could talk about Stewart, he came back with some coffee and some donuts. As Stewart set them down on the coffee table, he said, “I understand the only thing you guys can do is to go back to the old house. I know you are deciding whether to take me with you. I am going with or without you. Let’s get that out of the way.”

  Beth and Chris looked at each other bewildered. Stewart knew what they were thinking! They decided it is okay to have Stewart as their companion. He was a good judge of people and he is a good person to have around when trouble started. They worried he would get hurt but decided he would be okay and they had to take that risk. After Beth and Chris ate their donuts and finished their coffee they went to their motel rooms to get a shower.

  Stewart knew they would have to go now. Not later. He told them both when they got back after their shower they had better leave now; Stewart had a credit card in a different name. That he used it on another of his jobs. They rented a car and decided to drive to where Chris and Beth grew up.

  Beth knew she wouldn’t be back home for some time. Not long, she hoped but she needed to do something about her job. Hers was a job that needed to be finished each day. To be fair to the doctors she worked for, she just couldn’t leave without taking care of it. She had a friend Lisa that had just quit her job to go school but had not yet started. Beth called Lisa and told her there was a family emergency, which she would explain later, and she needed Lisa to fill in at work for her. Lisa knew Beth and didn’t doubt what Beth needed was someone to do her job without any question why. She knew it was important for her to take care of the job and not to tell anyone what was going on. Beth called the office where she worked and got it all arranged. Everyone was fine with what Beth was doing as she was very dependable knew it was going to be fine.

  Beth, Chris, and Stewart left in their rented car and started out on their journey. After an hour or more they stopped in a small town and purchased some of the things they would need. Each got a small suitcase, toothbrush and several changes of clothes. They all went to a different store they were not seen together.

  When they got back to the car they packed their stuff in their suitcases and headed toward the town where Beth and Chris grew up. After driving for a while they were hungry, then they stopped at a town where they found a good country restaurant. The three of them talked together while they ate. They needed to know who owned their parents house now. They were going to another state and needed to know where the courthouse was as they could inquire about the owners. After their meal they got back in the car to continue their journey. Stewart drove for several hours, and then Chris changed with him and drove.

  Both Stewart and Beth were trying to rest. Beth just set back and let everything go through her mind and tried to understand what had happened and why. She started thinking about her life and how she and Chris grew up. They had a good life and they loved their mother and dad very much.

  There was nothing fancy, but nothing shabby about her life. She just grew up and thought her life was like everyone else. As she looked back with a lot of questions in her mind, she knew she did not have the same life as everybody else did. She needed to know the difference with her and Chris life. Chris was driving, and she asked him a question. Was his life the same as his friends? Chris was sure it was, but now he questioned it and wondered the same.

  They talked into the night as Chris drove. Stewart was in the back seat sleeping. Chris and Beth kept talking about their home; life was different than most of their friend’s home life was. They just didn’t think about it at the time. Now they knew something was different. Was it their parents that were different? Just what was different that made everything not the same. They didn’t go to movies, they didn’t go out to eat, they didn’t go on a picnic, they didn’t have a time to go out to have fun with swimming, or for concerts. They just stayed at home. They realized it was one of the main differences; they’re friends enjoyed activities and they stayed at home.

  Finally, they decided it was their father’s job. Mother knew what he was doing, but she never talked about the job with the children. It was not a subject that could be discussed. Without questioning further, they went about their life. It was an easy life. They could go to some of the activities the others of their group went too. Some of the time it was different. Sometimes they had to go to their rooms and meals were brought to them and they did their homework or whatever needed doing in their rooms. Clean the rooms, do the homework, watch television but just stay there. They never thought much about it at all. It was part of what they did. It was part of dad’s job. It was what it was.

  The further they drove and the longer they talked, Chris and Beth realized they needed to research their dad’s job to see what he was doing that young kids would not be allowed to know. They knew there was something their dad was working on that was top secret and very important.

  Dad went to work that morning, the same as any other day, but he didn’t come home. Mom asked questions she shouldn’t have asked. Now they were both dead. Both Beth and Chris knew it was murder. They knew that whomever he worked for, he murdered them.

  Now was the time for Ch
ris and Beth to find out the truth It had been a long time coming. They lived their lives and both of them thought it was the way things were supposed to be, but now someone was looking for something Beth had; something in the house where Beth lived. But they had no idea what the something was; however Chris and Beth were convinced that the answer to all of their questions was hidden in the house where they had grown up. The next day after driving all night long they stopped in the town that was the county seat of the area. They were relieved to be finished driving. They got a motel to shower and change clothes. Then they went to the county courthouse to research the home to find out who owned their former home. They discovered no one lived there. It was time to find out who had killed their mom and dad.

  When the trio arrived in the town where Beth and Chris grew up, they got a motel with two motel rooms and unloaded the car. They showered changed clothes and met to get something to eat. While they were eating they discussed how to get into the house to search.

  For some reason no one was living there. They were not sure of the owners. It would be nice to rent the house, but they decided it would be best not to be obvious about why they were there.

  Breaking in to search was risky but with Chris and Stewart skills from their work, they could take care of themselves. They were confident they would not be caught. They knew whatever they were searching for was not in plain sight. Because of course the ones that wanted it had already searched everything. There must have been a secret place known only to their parents.

  Beth, Chris, and Stewart sat in the restaurant and after they had eaten they just sat and talked. They were good with each other. What a great friendship. It seemed like they had always been together. The three of them really liked each other and respected each other. Of course, Chris and Stewart already knew how much they needed each other. Each of them had saved the others life when they were working. Theirs was not a normal job. They worked for the government. They were not part of the Black Operatives, but they did work for a secret agency. They gathered information. Most of the time it was easy to go and find out what was needed. Sometimes it got where they were going to have to get in and get out fast.