Just Breathe (The Protectors Book 2)

by Leeanna Morgan

  “We were unpacking boxes as fast as we could, but we couldn’t keep up with our customers. Most of the people who came in today have never set foot inside the store.”

  She pushed a button on the cash register. A long receipt scrolled out the top.

  Tanner was impressed. If that was a record of what had been sold, it was no wonder they’d been run off their feet. “I called your mom and thanked her for lunch yesterday.”

  “That was sweet.”

  He hadn’t thought it was sweet. It was something he wanted to do. “Your family are close.”

  Kelly glanced at him as she scooped the money out of the cash register and into bags. “Does that worry you?”

  “No. I mean, that must be normal for most families.”

  She hesitated before putting more coins in a bag. “I used to dream of being an only child. I’d be able to spend as long as I wanted in the bathroom and be guaranteed of mom and dad’s undivided attention. There would always be ice cream in the freezer and no one would tell me to go away because I annoyed them. One day, my brothers went to an ice hockey game with dad. They were gone all weekend. Even with my sister and mom at home, it felt wrong. I missed my brothers so much that I practically glued myself to them when they got back. Do you know what they did?”

  “Told you to go away?”

  “No. They let me hang out with them. It only lasted a few days, but it was the first time they’d ever included me in everything they did. I felt like the luckiest person in the world.”

  Tanner leaned against the front counter. “I had a friend called Aaron. He was four years older than me and lived in the same foster home. He let me follow him around. I think he felt sorry for me.”

  “How old were you?”

  He counted back through the years. Instead of his childhood being defined by happy moments, his points of reference were the number of homes he’d run away from. “I would have been about ten years old. Aaron left one day and I never saw him again.”

  Kelly stopped counting the money. “That’s sad.”

  Avery came out of the workroom with three boxes stacked in her arms.

  “Let me help,” he said quickly.

  “Thanks. The items in the top box need to go on the display by the front door.”

  Tanner opened the flaps and saw lots of glass and porcelain figurines. “Did you buy these at an auction?”

  Kelly looked at the glass mermaid in his hands. “How did you guess?”

  “It could have something to do with the box.” He found a place on the shelf for the green and blue mermaid and held up the box. The North American Auction House’s logo was printed on the outside.

  “I always knew you were smart.”

  He smiled as he pulled a unicorn from the box. “These will make great gifts.”

  Avery unpacked the other box. “Did you tell Tanner about the cookies?”

  Kelly shook her head. “Not yet. You tell him while I count the money in the workroom. I’ll be back soon.”

  “Kelly called Jackie—the lady you know from Pastor Steven’s church. She decorated gingerbread men for the store and we sold them for her. They were so lovely. She wrapped them in cellophane and tied a red bow at the top. They were all gone an hour after they arrived.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “She’s making more tomorrow. But that’s not the best news. Kelly took one of the gingerbread men to Tess’ café and she ordered fifty. Jackie was excited.”

  “I bet she was.” Tanner knew how much it would have meant to Jackie. Kelly had a kind heart; kinder than most of the people he’d met.

  He placed the last figurine on the shelf and picked up the empty box. “What can I help with next?”

  Avery smiled as she passed him another box. “You shouldn’t have asked. But since you did, this one goes on the shelf below the Art Deco mirror.”

  Tanner looked around the store and pointed at a mirror with rounded, shell-like edges. “That one over there?”

  “That’s right. We’ll have you working with us in no time.”

  “I think Kelly might have something to say about that.”

  “Probably, but we need someone to help us. Even before Doris’ article hit Facebook we were busy.”

  “Can you work more hours?”

  “Only at a pinch. I have classes every day. If I worked more hours in the store I wouldn’t have time to do my assignments.”

  Kelly came out of the workroom. “The cash is done and ready for tomorrow.”

  “That was quick,” Tanner said.

  “Eftpos is a wonderful thing. We only need about a fifth of the cash we used to have. My other secret to a quick and easy balance is a money counter. It beats counting ten dollars’ worth of quarters.” She took one of the boxes off the pile beside Avery. “How was your day, Tanner?”

  “Not as busy as yours. I spent half the day working with Tank. He’s more nervous about John’s wedding than John is.”

  “That’s probably because Tank’s getting married a few weeks after Christmas.”

  “Could be.”

  Avery opened another box. “He’s not having second thoughts about getting married, is he?”

  Tanner couldn’t think of anything less likely to happen. “Definitely not. He loves Hayley. If anything, he’d sooner run away and get married now.”

  “Like my Elvis idea in Las Vegas,” Kelly said with a grin.

  “Something like that.”

  A knock on the front door turned everyone’s attention to the woman standing outside.

  “It’s Erin from the library,” Kelly said as she rushed across the store. “She must have found something.”

  She unlocked the door and waved her friend inside. “Come in before you freeze to death.”

  “Hi, Kelly. It’s not too cold out there.” Erin opened her bag and pulled out an envelope. “You’ll be interested in this.”

  “Thank you.” Kelly took the envelope and pointed to Tanner. “Do you know Tanner Sutherland?”

  “I can’t say I do. Hi, Tanner. I’m Erin Williams.”

  He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. Do you know Avery?”

  Avery waved from around the edge of a display. “We’ve known each other for years. Hi, Erin.”

  “Hi, Avery.” Erin looked at the store. “I need to come in here more often. It’s like stepping into Santa’s cave.”

  Kelly held the envelope tighter. “Thank you for doing this research. Do you want to have coffee with us?”

  “I can’t. Jake’s on babysitting duties and Laura’s got a terrible cold. Her little nose is running like a freight train. I thought I’d make them both a nice dinner. If you need more help, let me know.”

  “I will. Give Laura a hug from me.”

  “If she’s feeling better by Saturday you can cuddle her yourself. Jake and I are bringing her to Rachel and John’s wedding.”

  “I’ll look forward to seeing her.”

  As soon as Erin left, Kelly opened the envelope and read the papers.

  Tanner watched the excitement build on her face.

  “You’re not going to believe this…”

  “What have you found?” Avery put down the box of vintage Christmas decorations she was unpacking.

  “I asked Erin if she could look at newspapers published in Boston between 1830 and 1840. I thought they might give us more information about the Jackson family. She extended her search to 1850.”

  “What did she find?” Avery asked.

  Kelly passed her cousin a piece of paper. “Alexander Jackson’s brother was presumed drowned in the Charles River. His body was never found.”

  Avery read the article, then passed it to Tanner. “And?”

  “And Alexander was in Boston when his brother went missing. According to a story in the Boston Daily Advertiser, Alexander was part of the team searching the river for his brother. In her journal, Abagail said the two brothers didn’t get along.”

  Tanner frowned. “Lots of bro
thers and sisters argue with each other. It doesn’t mean he had anything to do with his brother’s death.”

  Kelly showed him another newspaper article. “Alexander was arrested in 1831 for attacking his brother. What if he killed him to inherit the family fortune?”

  Tanner frowned. “That’s a big assumption to make.”

  “They were a wealthy family. If his brother had lived, Alexander wouldn’t have inherited his family’s estate. That would have left Alexander with nothing.”

  Tanner shook his head. “Until we have more facts we can’t jump to conclusions. We need to see if Alexander Jackson was legally adopted by the Jackson family. And then we need to find out why he was in Boston. Just because he was there when his brother died doesn’t mean he killed him.”

  “But Abagail—”

  “I know what Abagail said, but apart from what she wrote in her journal, we don’t have any evidence that proves Alexander killed his older brother.”

  “His name was Anton. Alexander’s brother was called Anton Alfred Jackson.”

  Tanner handed Kelly the photocopied articles he’d read. “We need to be careful. Where is the journal at the moment?”

  “In my vault,” Kelly said.

  “Take copies of these papers and put them with the journal. Is the quilt in the vault, too?”

  “No, but I can move it there.”

  “I think that’s the best place for it. If Doris asks any more questions, tell her you can’t answer them.”

  “I already have,” Kelly said. “She saw me this afternoon.”

  Avery glanced at her watch. “I’d love to stay and help, but I need to go home. Will you be okay, Kelly? I know there’s a lot of work still to do.”

  “I’ll be fine. Go and do whatever it is you need to do.”

  “My grandmother’s nursing home is having a Christmas party. I promised Nana I’d be there.”

  “Don’t forget the present you put aside for her.”

  Avery darted behind the counter and took out a parcel wrapped in bright, glittery paper. “Thanks. I would have driven halfway there, then remembered. Have a good night.” She pulled on her jacket and zipped it to her chin. “See you tomorrow.”

  The back door slammed and the store was silent.

  Kelly slid the papers into the envelope. “Is it just me or do you think we’ve found more than we were supposed to?”

  “There’s a reason no one told anyone outside the family about the journal. Have you got time to go through everything we know about Abagail? We might be able to verify some of her other entries by cross-referencing them with what we know from other sources.”

  “I have to wrap today’s online orders. If you could do those, I’ll go through my notes and write down anything that might help us.”

  Tanner looked into her clear, green, eyes. She had no idea what could happen because of the journal. For Kelly, it was a mystery to be solved; a political and social injustice she wanted to make right.

  Nothing could change the past—but one family might be willing to do whatever they could to hide the truth.

  ***

  If there was one thing about Christmas that Tanner didn’t like, it was wrapping presents. It had nothing to do with odd box shapes, tape that always stuck to his fingers or the time it took to make the gifts look right.

  In some deep, dark, recess of his mind he associated Christmas presents with everything he’d never had.

  When he was younger, he didn’t have money for gifts. Sometimes his foster parents gave him pocket money, but most times he was left on his own.

  He didn’t blame his foster parents. He always thought his mom would return and take him home. By the time he was old enough to realize that wasn’t going to happen, it was too late. He’d set in motion a series of events that would shape the man he was today—events that he wished could have been different.

  He pulled enough Christmas wrap off a roll to cover the box in front of him. Kelly’s head was bent over her notebook. Unlike him, she’d gone through the copy of Abagail’s journal methodically, highlighting the parts she found interesting.

  Those interesting parts were the things they would investigate, the historical events they might be able to verify.

  He picked up the scissors and cut the wrapping paper. “I did some research on Senator Jackson today. He’s being groomed as the next Minority Leader of the Senate after Tom Buchanan retires. Senator Jackson won’t want any dirty laundry from his family hitting the media.”

  Kelly tapped her pencil against her chin. “I still can’t see what all the fuss is about. Alexander Jackson died more than one hundred years ago. Whatever he did or didn’t do when he was alive doesn’t have any relevance to the Jackson family today.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. A politician’s reputation is worth more than gold. If Alexander Jackson wasn’t legally part of the Jackson family, he shouldn’t have inherited their fortune. The Jackson empire was started by an impostor and, potentially, a murderer. For all we know, another relative could come forward and say their family should have inherited the Jackson family estate.”

  Kelly wrote something down in her notebook. “I haven’t had time to see if Alexander has a birth certificate or some legal documentation showing a name change.”

  “I can do that. What do we know about Abagail?”

  Kelly flipped to the front of her notebook. “She thinks she was born in 1836 on the cotton plantation that Alexander Jackson owned in Charleston. When she was older, she decided to celebrate her birthday on July 27, the day she arrived in Montreal and became free. You already know that Alexander Jackson’s wife, Mary, taught Abagail how to read and write.”

  Kelly looked up from her notebook. “Alexander Jackson spent most of his time in Boston. His wife stayed in Charleston. What kind of marriage do you think they had?”

  “Not great. I remember Abagail mentioning that when her master was home, everyone was scared. He must have been a hard person to be around.”

  “Hard isn’t the right word. He was brutal.” Kelly rummaged through the papers in front of her. “Abagail found the letter Alexander wrote about his brother’s murder in 1851. We know that because she escaped on the Underground Railroad in the same year. There’s something I don’t understand. The few times Mary Jackson went to Boston, Abagail never went with her. But for some reason, in 1851 they went together. There must have been a reason.”

  “On Alexander Jackson’s last visit to Charleston, he threatened to sell Abagail. She must have been terrified.”

  “Maybe Mary Jackson took her to Boston to help her escape.” Kelly handed Tanner a folder. “This is the information I copied about the Underground Railroad. Montreal was one of the cities a lot of slaves escaped to. There’s a map in the front of the folder showing the routes most commonly used.”

  Tanner looked at the documents. “Mary also gave Abagail the silver teapot and tray. If she did help Abagail escape, the fear of being caught would have been overwhelming. There must have been a reason Mary risked her marriage and everything else for a slave’s freedom.”

  “Abagail had been a house slave her entire life. She might have had a close relationship with Mary.”

  He picked up another box. He was beginning to think there was more to Mary’s relationship with Abagail than either of them imagined. “What do we know about Mary?”

  Kelly pulled out another folder. “Mary Elizabeth Beaufort married Alexander Jackson in 1833. She was from New York and the oldest of fourteen children. Her father made his fortune in the fur trade and later from buying and selling real estate.”

  “Alexander married into a family who could increase his wealth and social standing.”

  “Isn’t that a bit cynical? They could have been in love.”

  “Alexander Jackson was climbing the social ladder. I’ll bet you a week’s wages that Mary’s father was one of the property investors who helped Alexander buy his first factory in Boston.”

  Kell
y frowned. “Mary and Alexander only lived in Charleston for about a year before Alexander purchased a house in Boston. Mary died in 1861. She had one son, but he died when he was a baby. Her husband married his second wife, Jessica Ruchet, two years after Mary died. She was twenty-six years younger than Alexander.”

  Tanner smiled. “You don’t need to scrunch up your nose. There’s nothing wrong with marrying someone younger than you are.”

  “When Alexander married his second wife, she was eighteen years old and he was fifty-three. That’s so yuck that I don’t want to think about it.”

  “They could have been in love.”

  Kelly snorted. “He was probably after her family’s money.”

  “Now who’s being cynical?”

  “Come on, Tanner. You can’t tell me an eighteen-year-old and a man who’s fifty-three have anything in common?”

  He leaned forward and grinned. “It’s called chemistry.”

  Kelly groaned. “I thought modern males might have evolved from their cavemen ancestors. I was wrong.”

  “We can’t be perfect all the time. Maybe he wanted children to extend the family tree.”

  “He did that when he married his second wife,” Kelly muttered.

  “Ouch. That hurt my male pride.”

  “As long as your male pride doesn’t extend to eighteen-year-olds you’re safe.” Kelly looked at her notebook. “Avery is going to search for any record of Abagail getting married in Montreal. I just hope she stayed there and didn’t move to another part of Canada.”

  “She never mentioned anything about Montreal in her journal, apart from arriving there.” Tanner added another wrapped box to the pile beside him. “How many online orders do you get each day?”

  “Usually we mail up to thirty items a week. At Christmas, we can do that in one day. Avery’s a whizz on Internet marketing. She’s helped me develop our website and made online sales possible. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

  “You would have found another way of making your online sales grow.”

  Kelly shrugged. “Probably. Mom and Dad were disappointed when I stopped teaching to work in Uncle Mike’s store. I want to show them my college education wasn’t wasted.”