When Wayne didn’t say anything, she continued, “Well, I’m also sure that having her husband killed must have been rather difficult for her to adjust to as well.”
Wayne sighed heavily. “Don’t even talk to me about her husband. The man totally wrote us out of his life when mom divorced him.”
Kelly could see that the old hurt had always been there just below the surface and had resurfaced with the unexpected events of the past week. She knew better than to allow Wayne to continue on that topic. He would only succeed in making himself extremely angry and spoil everyone else’s afternoon in the process. They didn’t need to arrive at their grandparents’ home that way. So she did what she’d always done to her brother to sidetrack him, she changed the subject to something more pleasant. She asked him about his new marketing plan for the company. He was more than glad to talk about that.
The ten minute drive passed without any further outbursts from Wayne.
When they arrived, Kelly was deep in thought about how she was going to be able to show Jane that she was now willing to accept her into her life as her step-mother.
While they were walking toward the side entrance of their grandparents’ home, Kelly wasn’t sure if she should advise Wayne on how to treat Jane or not. Then she decided not to since it seemed as if he was looking for any excuse to be angry. She forced herself to look as pleasant as she could when they walked out onto the patio of the big, two-story house.
Everyone else was already sitting on the patio, so Kelly walked up to the table where Beth and Jane were sitting. She felt like hitting Wayne when he walked past them to the other side of the patio where their grandfather was sitting with Leo. She was still just a little in awe of the man and his size. When he stood, she noticed that he was several inches taller than her six-foot-four inch brother and outweighed him by at least one hundred pounds.
Her grandmother gave Kelly a questioning look. Kelly shook her head slightly and joined the two older women at a small table ten feet from the other table. The talk at both tables remained casual and low until Maria stepped out onto the patio to announce that dinner was ready.
There seemed to be no planned seating arrangement, but Kelly found herself sitting on her grandfather’s right as he sat at the head of the table. Leo was on her right and to make matters worse, Wayne was sitting directly across from her. Jane was sitting on his left and next to Beth who was at the other end of the table.
Kelly looked to her right, at the huge man sitting there with a frown on his face and resigned herself to suffering through an uncomfortable meal. The man just didn’t seem friendly to Kelly. She knew it was impossible to change seats now, so she’d just have to try to make the best of the situation. At least she wouldn’t have to talk much. She didn’t think she’d heard the man say more than a few words since she’d met him at the hospital Monday.
She looked across the table and saw Wayne grinning knowingly at her. That just made everything perfect, with her brother enjoying her awkward situation.
Every eye turned to Kelly’s grandfather at the head of the table when he cleared his throat. He bowed his head and asked the blessing. Kelly bowed her head but kept her eyes open and sneaked a peek across the table at Jane who had her eyes squeezed tightly shut and seemed to be saying something to herself as her lips were moving. Then Kelly glanced to her right. Leo, on the other hand, didn’t bow his head nor did he close his eyes which were glaring at Wayne. Now, that was interesting, and she’d do well to remember that and try to find out how her brother had already angered the giant. She needed to warn Wayne to be careful around the big man.
When the prayer was over, Kelly unfolded her napkin and spread it across her lap, then turned to Leo. “I understand you were quite close to my father in the Air Force.”
The huge man looked down at her, and she couldn’t help noticing how small his brown eyes appeared in that huge face which seemed even larger below a shaved head.
“The general was my CG for the last seven years. I was officially his driver, but I did everything for him. He never went anywhere without me. I was always there to protect him.” Then, as if to answer her unasked question, he added, “Now, I’m protecting his wife.”
Kelly couldn’t help but think that last statement had been offered as more of a challenge than merely for information. That was when she realized why Leo had been glaring at her brother. Wayne had snubbed Jane when they arrived. She had better warn Wayne for sure now.
Then Kelly had the stray thought, ‘If he was Harry’s protector, then where was he when Harry was killed?’ Of course, she wouldn’t dare say it aloud, but Leo didn’t look as if he had been wounded.
When everyone had finished their meals and Maria had cleared the dishes all conversation stopped when Harold cleared his throat. He gave a meaningful look at Jane then Leo, and said, “I would like to know the circumstances surrounding my son’s death.” He didn’t seem to be addressing the request to either Jane or Leo. If anything, it seemed he was talking to both of them.
Kelly looked at Jane first, but quickly noticed that she was looking across the table at Leo as she said, “Leo, you were there, why don’t you tell them what happened.”
Leo looked straight back at Jane for so long and so hard that Kelly was sure he wasn’t going to answer.
Finally, he leaned forward in his chair. Surely it wasn’t to see Harold over Kelly. The top of her head was barely even with his shoulder.
Leo cleared his throat, picked up his water glass and took a long drink. “No, ma’am, I wasn’t.”
Jane had a shocked look on her face. “You weren’t? Then, how did that happen? Harry never went anywhere without you.”
Leo took another gulp of water. “We were out in the countryside, away from Kabul.” He paused again. “The general was with General Walker and the two colonels who were their executive officers. When General Walker started walking away, General Newcomb walked with him. I was following along like I always did, until General Walker ordered the colonels and me to go back to our Hummer. Then the generals walked farther away, and the rest of us had to watch everything from a distance.”
Even though everyone at the table was clearly anticipating his next words, Leo stopped again for another drink, but his glass was empty. He reached his long, thick arm out to the center of the table without even leaning, grabbed the water pitcher, and refilled his glass. He took another long drink before continuing.
“They stopped about fifty yards away from us and began to talk. The general, that is General Newcomb, seemed to be angry about something. He was waving his arms, and I could tell he was shouting. I was about to head that way, orders from some other general or not, when I heard AR shots and both generals hit the dirt.”
Kelly expected him to stop again to take another drink of water, and he did. “I grabbed my AR and ran over to where the two generals were lying on the ground. I looked around for the shooter, but didn’t see anyone. Back behind a low ridge of hills where it sounded like the shots came from, I heard the sound of a motor revving up and taking off. I looked down at the generals, and General Walker was getting to his feet but General Newcomb wasn’t. He was the only one hit, and I could tell he had a head wound and at least one more in his upper back, almost in the neck.”
Kelly couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What is an AR?” She noticed Wayne giving her a funny look from across the table.
Leo looked at her like she was dumb but answered anyway. “Assault Rifle. This one was probably an AK-47.” When he continued to get blank looks around the table, he added, “It’s an automatic rifle originally made by the Russians that can fire up to 600 rounds a minute. If you’ve heard of the M-16 or M-4, well, it’s a lot like them but it fires a bullet that’s fifty percent larger.”
When it appeared that Leo was finished, Harold spoke up. “Did they ever find the one who fired the shots?”
Leo shook his head, not looking at Harold but at his plate instead. “No sir. Not that I heard be
fore we left Washington.”
They were all silent as they prepared to leave the table and go to the family room for coffee. They must all be pondering everything that Leo had just told them. Kelly certainly was.
Chapter Seven
Grant’s head was still reeling from the morning briefing they’d just had with Agent Scott. It seemed that the other two generals were still in the area as well as General Walker. Scott had made arrangements with Grant and Stan to go to the resort where they were all three staying the next day.
His mind was whirling in circles it seemed. He had so many subjects seemingly attacking him at once. He didn’t know which one to think about first. How do you solve a murder that happened half way around the world? Was Jane Newcomb really his mother? And finally, what was he going to do about Kelly Newcomb? More to the point, what could he do about Kelly?
In spite of the importance of the first one to his job, his thoughts kept straying to the last two, especially Jane. Could it be possible that his mother was still alive? And even more than that, could it be that Jane was his mother? He couldn’t just base it on her smile. Lots of women must have a smile similar to his aunt’s and sister’s.
Grant couldn’t get his mind to wrap around the possibility. Every time he tried, he came up with too many questions with no immediate or easy answers. ‘What really happened twenty years ago?’ ‘If she was alive, why hadn’t she ever contacted any of them?’ ‘What kind of person is she now?’ He hadn’t actually talked to her the few times he’d seen her at the Newcomb estate and at the funeral.
He remembered how insistent Sybil had been in his apartment last Thursday night. She sure was agitated. And she was only going to get more and more agitated until he could go to her with something positive one way or the other. Was Jane her sister or wasn’t she. Sybil wasn’t going to rest until she knew positively. For that matter, Grant would really like to know too.
Then, it was as if Grant’s thoughts all came into focus. He knew what he had to do now. He had to stop worrying about stepping on toes anymore and start asking the right questions of the right people.
His thoughts turned to Kelly. Even though he was fairly certain she didn’t know any more than he did, she might be willing to help him find out. He felt confident that she would want to help him learn the truth about his mother, once he explained the situation to her.
As soon as he had made his decision, Grant wasted no time telling Stan goodbye and heading out the door to his car.
He went straight to the Newcomb Motors corporate office which was on the second floor over the local dealership. When he walked into a reception area with a high counter, a very young blond woman was leaning on the counter. She watched him, with what seemed to be great interest, as he walked toward her. Then he realized that she was staring first at the weapon on his hip and then his belt badge.
“May I help you sir?”
“Yes, I would like to see Kelly Newcomb please. My name is Grant Thompson.”
“If you’ll have a seat, please, I’ll check with her.”
As Grant walked over to some seating against the wall behind him, the receptionist picked up her phone and punched in three numbers. She kept her eyes on him the whole time she spoke into the phone. After a brief conversation she said, “She’ll see you now. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you back to her office.”
Grant followed the young woman around her counter and through an open doorway to her left. Once inside the large room with eight cubicles in it, she led him to an office with glass walls on the top half of the two sides facing the open area.
When she reached the door, the blonde motioned for him to go in and turned to leave.
Grant noticed the plaque on the door as he passed through, ‘Kelly Newcomb, CFO.’ Quite an impressive title.
He turned to his right and found Kelly standing in front of her desk beside one of two chairs facing each other. He walked over to her, and she held out her hand to shake his.
“Good afternoon, Detective. Won’t you have a seat?” She motioned to the chair across from the one she was carefully lowering herself into.
Grant couldn’t help but look down at her left foot as he took the seat she offered. He said, “Good afternoon Ms Newcomb. Please call me Grant. I have a feeling you’re going to be seeing a lot of me for a while.”
He noticed that she caught him looking at her foot, but returned her eyes to his face.
“Okay, Grant, then please call me Kelly.” She looked him directly in the eye, and the cop in him appreciated that. “What can I do for you this afternoon?”
Grant blew out the breath he’d been holding. “Well, I’m not sure where to start. I guess it would be best to say up front that this meeting probably doesn’t have anything to do with the investigation into the death of your father.”
Her bright blue eyes widened at that, but she waited for him to continue. He couldn’t explain why, but that pleased him.
“Please, bear with me for a few more minutes as I fill you in on some of the background before I can get to the point of my visit.”
Kelly continued staring directly into his eyes and simply nodded her head for him to continue.
“According to what my aunt, my sister, and I were told, my mother died in a car wreck in Europe twenty years ago. We now have reason to believe that we may have been told a lie, and that she is still alive.”
He paused to let that sink in. When he didn’t continue for a moment, she said, “I’m sure there must be something in this story that ties in with me.”
“Yes, there is. You see, my mother married your father twenty years ago.”
He watched her carefully, and was not disappointed with her reaction. Her dark complexion became almost pale and she jerked back as if she’d been slapped in the face.
She struggled to get control of her voice. “You . . . you must be mistaken. You can’t be serious.”
He nodded his head. “Yes, I’m afraid I am very serious. My Aunt Sybil was at the wedding, and after they left on their honeymoon, she never saw her sister again.”
Some color was coming back to Kelly’s face but a determined look came with it. “But, you have to be mistaken. My father married Jane twenty years ago.”
Grant smiled in an attempt to comfort her. “Yes, your father married Sarah Jane Thompson twenty years ago, and he told us that she died in that car wreck in Europe shortly afterward on their honeymoon. He even shipped an urn to us saying it contained her ashes.”
Kelly stood painfully and almost shouted, “If this is some kind of cruel joke, Detective, then I am not laughing.”
Grant stood also and held out a hand like a stop sign. “Please, Kelly, sit back down, and let me show you something that may prove to you that I’m very serious and that what I just said may be true.”
She stared into his eyes for a long moment before slowly lowering herself back into her chair.
Grant sat back down in his chair, pulled his briefcase into his lap, opened it, and pulled out the photograph Sybil had given him Thursday evening. As he handed it to Kelly, he said, “This is a photo of my mother and your father taken at their wedding.”
Kelly took the photo, and her hands began to shake as she gazed at it. After what seemed to Grant like a long time, but could only have been less than a minute, Kelly dropped her hands with the photo still in them to her lap and looked up at Grant again.
Grant waited her out while many different emotions crossed her face. She seemed to be giving all of this considerable thought.
She stood again and said, “Come with me . . . .” She struggled with the next word. “Grant. We need to talk to my grandfather . . . . right now.”
Grant didn’t say anything as he followed her out her door, through the open area, and then down a long hallway into another office. An older woman was sitting at the desk. She took one look at Kelly’s face and said, “Go on in Kelly, he’s just organizing things on his desk so he can leave.”
* * *
>
Kelly tried to smile at Martha as she led Grant Thompson into her grandfather’s office. She was only vaguely aware of the pain in her ankle, even though she was limping badly by then. She was so confused she wanted to scream. She had thought that she was beginning to get comfortable with the fact that her father’s wife was in her life even though he wasn’t. That after twenty-two years that was all of him she’d ever have. Jane was her new step-mother. Now, with all that Grant had just told her and the photo he had used to back it up, she was just so thoroughly mixed-up that she didn’t think she’d ever make sense of any of it ever again.
As did his secretary, Harold took one look at Kelly’s face and made no comment but came around his desk to join her and Grant.
“Grandfather, you remember Detective Grant Thompson.”
Harold nodded at Grant and reached out to shake his hand, noting the serious look on his face. “Please, shall we all sit down?”
He walked over to the conversation pit and sat on one of the sofas. Kelly took a seat on the sofa next to his, and she noticed his eyes were on the spot next to him but he didn’t say anything.
Grant took a seat on the sofa across from her grandfather thus placing her between the two. Kelly looked at the dear old man and said, “I need to be able to look at you without having to turn my head.” She blew out a breath then realized she still held the photo, and it was face down on her knees.
Kelly turned her gaze from her grandfather back to Grant and said, “Grant, why don’t you tell my grandfather what you just told me?” She turned back to her grandfather and said, “Please, Grandfather, listen to everything he says without interrupting. I’ll tell you this in advance. I’m afraid that I believe everything he’s about to tell you.”
“Okay, little one. With that introduction, I can hardly wait to hear what he has to say.” He turned to Grant. “Proceed Detective.”
Lost Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 1) Page 12
