Light in the Shadows

by Hillman, Eva;

  Beth took the sack and put them in her purse that looked like a backpack along with the things they thought they would need for the day. When they got the letters and they were safe in Beth’s backpack the light left. It was gone. Chris, Stewart and Beth stood there for quiet awhile looking and wondering about it. The light was giving them something and it must have been important.

  The trio was anxious to look at the letters, but they didn’t want to take the letters out where anyone could see them. They did not know if they were being watched but they could not take the chance.

  They took a break to eat lunch and then they went back to the house. Someone had been there after they left. The place looked like a tornado had been through it. The cupboards doors were off; everything connected to something was gone or torn.

  They just backed out and left things like they were. Stewart wondered if there had been a trap set up to take pictures of them. They hoped they were safe. As they drove to the motel they decided it best to leave the town.

  They had stayed longer than they should have, and Chris and Stewart knew that from their jobs. Get in, get it finished and leave. That was their philosophy. They checked out of the motel, got into the car, and start driving without knowing where they were going. They drove for many miles with all of them thinking about what to do next.

  They kept checking behind to make sure no one had followed. All three needed down time to figure it all out.

  Beth told the men; maybe we could go to a place that is just for that, a resort of some kind. They all thought it a good idea and when they got to the next town they stopped for gas and got a map and in looking they found a good place to be for a few days.

  They had to turn to drive in a different direction to find what they were looking for. It was not the season for everyone to be on vacation, so they thought they would be able to get reservations. They called and were told they would be accommodated.

  They got all settled in their rooms and went out onto a patio that was part of the hotel. Such a great place and they thought it would be a great place to be if they were just going on a vacation. They got something to drink and settled back to just relax. They all agreed this was the safe place to look at the letters.

  Beth went to get the burlap sack. When she got back they each took one of the letters to look at it. Somehow, they knew it was more than just the letters that was important, or they would not have been hidden like they were.

  As they looked at the envelope knowing that they had never been mailed they understood there was a reason. They passed them around so each could see, read and figure out what they meant.

  Something in one of the letters stayed with Chris as he read them. He just relaxed and thought about what it was bothering him. Beth and Stewart sat with the letters knowing there was something about them, something different.

  Suddenly Chris yelled, “I know what it is. It has got to be the stamps. Dad wanted to be a stamp collector. He talked about it a lot. He just didn’t have time, or he wouldn’t take the time. He knew he needed to figure out the formula instead.” Mom was very frugal, and I am sure they had to put the money somewhere. Dad could have researched which stamps to buy as a way on investing money. No one would look at the letters. The problem would be to keep them safe.”

  Chris said, “the more I think about it all I think that mom and dad knew something would happen to them. They needed to protect us.

  “There must be a message to let us know what to do next. They all looked at the letters again hoping that what mom and dad wanted them to know was there.”

  Each of them read the letters again. They didn’t say much except how much Christopher loved Maud and what he would want her to do if she was alone. That was the answer. What Christopher wanted Maud to do was to find the formula. Dad had it hidden. Maud knew where it was, and she was to take it to someone that was higher up in the government.

  Christopher had met Timothy when he first started on the project. He told Christopher that all the governments in the world needed what he was searching for. He told him that if he ever found it or came close to it, to let him know. He would take care of it and no one would ever know who had developed it and how it was going to be used. Of course, they didn’t have the formula yet, but thought they would somehow find it. They decided to wait and see if the light would be able to tell them what to do with it.

  They now knew the formula was not in the home where they grew up. If it was, the light would have told us. Stewart said to them, if it is not in the house then the only place that it can be is with something that was your moms. They all admitted they were tired so they had dinner and went to their rooms to go to bed. All three of them were hoping that somehow in their sleep they would figure it all out. All of the three slept well; they really needed some sleep and rest.

  After years of hiding out away from the authorities Howard came back to search for the formula. He went back to the home where Christopher and Maud had lived and to look around again. The place looked like a tornado had gone though it.

  He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he thought it was the brokers that he was dealing with. Howard knew he needed someone to help him, but he didn’t want to tell anyone what he was doing. He was a traitor for money. Oh, how he needed the money. He had such plans with it.

  It was in his mind all the time and he knew he would do anything to get it. He already had, he had murdered three people and would murder more if that is what it took to get it the money. Howard had heard of hired killers and he thought that maybe that is what he would need. Someone without any conscience when it came to the things they did. He called a few people that he knew, and they told him where to look.

  Howard got a hold of a man named Leon. Howard knew that wasn’t his real name, but he didn’t care. First, he needed to get rid of the Tom and Mackey. They knew too much about him and what he wanted. They could not be trusted again.

  With that in mind he gave Leon the address where the two were staying. Leon went to the apartment where Tom and Mackey were in bed. They slept most of the time because they didn’t have treatment for their wounds. They had needed a doctor but couldn’t get to one, and they needed to heal on their own. Leon went in the apartment used his untraceable gun with a silencer to kill them both.

  They didn’t know it at all and Leon thought that how easy it was. Leon needed to be paid. He only did what he did for the money. The money made him live like a king in his own place. No one knew where that was or who he was. He only left for certain jobs and was told this one was special. Howard needed to get his formula soon. He thought that maybe Leon would look and find the formula.

  Howard knew he couldn’t trust Leon but as he was a hired killer he claimed he did what he was supposed to. Howard had a lot of money stashed that he had gotten from other illegal means. He gave that to Leon. He told him just what he needed to find, and he was sure that it was in Beth’s home. Howard had thought a lot about it and that is the only place it could be. He knew that Christopher had hid it and Maud knew where it was. With that thought in mind he knew that is where to find it. Howard didn’t care who got hurt; he just needed the formula.

  Leon went to Beth’s home and looked around. He knew that there were only some places it could be as her home was neat and everything was in its place. Leon knew he had to do something very drastic to find it. He didn’t think that Beth and her brother knew where it was. Leon figured that he needed them to find it first and when they did he would be there to take it from them.

  He looked around the area and found a very small house close by to rent. He posed as a disabled war veteran and he was able to pay cash for six months rent. They didn’t question Leon at all. He was very good with make believe as he used a crutch to get around with. He had some furniture to make the front room look good and the rest of the house he left like it was. He didn’t need anything else. He thought he was only going to be there for a few days or maybe a week.

  In the meantime, Howard had tho
ught about how he had handled it all and realized he was wrong. He didn’t need another person to help him. Howard knew without a doubt that the formula was in Beth’s home and he was going to get it. But he had hired Leon and didn’t want to deal with him. So he had to figure out a way to get rid of him. He was sure Leon had figured most of it out and would not die easily.

  He decided to take Leon back to the old house and tell him the formula was there. Then he would have to decide how to get rid of him. Howard went to the old house to set up an explosive that would blow up where Leon was looking. He had to make it look like an accident. He then set it all up close to the water heater, thinking the way he set it up would look like something happened to the water heater when the gas exploded.

  Howard knew that when Leon went to the old house and was looking for the formula the place would explode. He was so sure of his plan that he did not worry about it. He needed Leon away from him, and thought he had the best plan. But when Leon went to the old house to look for the formula, he was suspicious. He didn’t trust Howard and he was pretty sure that Howard had set up something that would kill him. He looked around and found the trap that Howard had set up and when he did, he set it to blow up as soon as he got out of there. Leon had rented a car and drove back to the house he had rented then he could stay away from Howard.

  After Beth, Chris and Stewart got up and met for breakfast they realized the only thing they could do is go back to Beth’s home and search. They had not searched her house yet. Beth was sure it wasn’t there because when she moved in she kept everything where it belonged. Beth told the men, she did not think that it could be there. But the men disagreed.

  Stewart told her it could be in some things you are not aware of. While they were traveling back to Phoenix and Beth’s house they talked about the light and what it meant to them. They wondered if it was going to show itself to them again. Or was it finished with what it was supposed to do? A good question and none of them had an answer.

  They were two days on the road and were glad to get to Beth’s home. They got there in the middle of the night and they went in to make sure the home was the way it was supposed to be. It was a mess from the police being there, but Beth decided to worry about cleaning in the morning. Everyone went to bed and slept for a long time.

  When Beth got up she made coffee and when the men heard the coffee perking and got up for a cup. They all sat at the table and no one spoke for a few minutes and then they all started talking at once.

  Finally, Chris said he thought they should go about our lives like we would if we didn’t know anything. Beth can go back to work. Stewart and I are just visiting. We are taking a break from our jobs. In the meantime, we will search. We will take everything out of each cupboard, closet, drawer and look at everything.

  Beth called her friend, Lisa that was taking care of her job and told her she was back. She said, “I would like to start next Monday if that is all right with you.”

  Lisa said, “great I was wondering if I could start this quarter in school. Whatever you need me to do I will be glad to help you.”

  When Beth hung up she asked if the men wanted to run. Both said yes. It would be good to just run to get all the things in our mind clear. They all changed to their running clothes and went out to run. They ran for three miles along the same trail that Beth used. Then they ran for another couple of miles in a different direction, a place that Beth had never ran before.

  When they got home they were exhausted and sat down to relax. Stewart was hungry and went into the kitchen and realized that they hadn’t thought about food. They showered and went to get something to eat and buy groceries.

  When they got home, Chris said that he wanted to go research stamps. Beth and Stewart put the groceries away and sat down and talked. They were talking about each other. Neither of them wanted to say what was on their minds. It was each other they thought about and they knew it was not the time to do anything about it.

  Chris was on the computer to research the Philatelic Society. The Philatelic Society is a group of people that saves and sells stamps. He looked around the site and immediately found what he was looking for.

  The stamps on the envelopes were very rare. They had not been canceled and that made them more rare. Chris yelled for Beth and Stewart to come and look what he found. Chris explained that they would have to find out if they were forgeries. He explained, only the experts will be able to tell us. We will have to find out what to do with them if they are real. Dad wanted these stamps for us. Chris told them. We are not out of the woods yet. There is still the formula we need to find and to get it to the right people.

  They agreed that they would do as they figured before. Live like everything was okay and with Beth back to work and Chris and Stewart relaxing from a hard job, they would search the place.

  Beth went back to work and said to Lisa, I owe you one it was great of you to help me when I needed it. I will always be there for you if you need me. Lisa showed Beth what was going on with the job and she left the office to sign up for the fall classes. She was glad that it all worked out as she needed the money and she was done early enough to go to school when it started.

  Beth was glad to be back to work. She loved her job and the people she worked with. The doctors were glad to have her back.

  Chris and Stewart had breakfast and talked about what was going on. The men were great friends and Stewart talked to Chris about how he felt about Beth.

  Chris had already thought it might happen, he replied to Stewart, “I’m glad it is you and not some other person I don’t know anything about. I know you will be good to her.”

  Stewart replied, “Nothing is going to happen until all is settled.”

  Chris interjected that the big problem is that we don’t know who wants the items, or where they are. We do know that whoever killed our mom and dad wanted that formula. They thought they had it or they would not have murdered two great people. But now they know they don’t have it and they are in trouble. The next thing is that is going to be done will be dangerous. It will be against Beth or me. We need to protect ourselves against that. We will have to know what to do, and then we can be safe.

  The next day Beth went back to work, and Chris and Stewart sat around the house, drank coffee, talked about their work. They were both taking it easy and wondering what is next. They had decided to search the house; they got breakfast, got ready for the day and decided to start the search in the rooms that were mostly not used. Most of the rooms were used at it was small house and only one was an office/guest room and not used that much.

  That is where they started. Each item had to be searched. They decided to take everything out, and as they took it out, they searched it. Eventually the room was empty. Everything had been looked at and everything had been taken to a different place in the house. All the items were looked at and now the room itself.

  Beth came home from work and when she saw the room, she was not happy at what they did to the room, as she was proud of her house. Then as she thought about it she decided it was a good time to rearrange it, get new things, and make it even better than it was.

  As the work began, they decided to sand and restore the floor. The curtains would need to be changed. The desk that her computer was on could be better than it was. The things in the closet needed to be sorted through. Many of them will be given to the local thrift store. That is where Beth kept her coats, and she realized that she didn’t need them all. Not in Phoenix; it was a lot of work and it was wonderful to revitalize the room.

  It took them all week to finish. When they were okay with what was done, Beth told the boys it was wonderful to get it done, and we will not have to worry about that room at all. The boys looked at each other and wondered if this was the way it would be with all the rooms.

  While Beth worked each day the boys kept looking in the rooms. Every room was emptied, the room was searched the baseboards, the floor, and the fixtures. When Beth got home she would decide to f
ix whatever problem she thought was there as the room was emptied.

  Each room took at least a week to empty and fix and return everything. Room by room everything got searched, everything was taken out and the room was put back even better that it was. Beth was excited about the new look in her home that she couldn’t explain to them how it made her feel. With all of the changes, they were able to make room for all of the books Beth had kept from their mom and dad’s collection.

  One of the rooms Beth used as an office but it still had a lot more area that wasn’t used and they made shelves for books. It was comforting to have mom and dad’s books there with them. It made more sense than keeping any other item that would be in remembrance of them

  More than a month had gone by and they had done all of the rooms but the kitchen. The home was wonderful. It had new carpets, new flooring, new drapes, and some new furniture. What a great home.

  Beth didn’t think that they needed to do the kitchen, as she had done that herself. She said it was okay and not to worry about it. But Chris and Stewart disagreed. They had finished almost everything, and they wanted to finish it with the kitchen.

  After talking with Beth they decided to wait a week before they talked again about it. Chris and Stewart rested, was able to talk to their boss to see if anything had changed. They were not sure how long this was going to last, but they needed to be finished.

  When they decided everything had been searched except the kitchen the two men knew it had to be done, and although they didn’t believe they would find anything, they needed to look to satisfy themselves that everything has been searched. They waited until the week was up that they had agreed upon and when Beth left for work, they started in the kitchen.

  They took everything out and then stopped to get a cup of coffee and as they had taken the chairs out they sat on the counter. They were discussing what to do next when they looked in the pantry and saw a light; it was a bright light, just like the one they seen at the house where the letters were hidden. The light stood in the doorway of the pantry. Both Chris and Stewart looked at the light and knew that it was Eric helping them again.