Goosebumps exploded over Freesia's body.
The metal file box.
She did everything in her power to maintain her cool. She opened her mouth to speak when a voice from the back door made everyone jump.
"Who called a town meeting and didn't invite me?" Detective Cuaco stood in the doorway holding Tamara's file boxes.
Freesia wondered how long he'd been standing there. Or what he'd heard. Or why none of them heard him come through the door, since the inside door was shut and required a good shoulder bump to get open.
Gran said nothing. She stared at the floor. Granddad shifted his eyes over to Bob and Len, who both suddenly became very interested in their coffee mugs.
The silence in the room was suffocating.
Freesia's brow creased. What's wrong with everyone?
Granddad cleared his throat. "Don't be a stranger, Barry. You know you don't need an invitation. Put those boxes over there by the door and come over here for a cup of joe. Forgive me for not getting up. My personal nurse here won't let me move around much."
Gran still said nothing, which wasn't like her. No matter how angry, upset or worried she'd ever been, she always made people feel welcome. She pulled herself up from Granddad's stool. "I'll make some more coffee."
Cuaco took his cell phone out from his shirt pocket, poked it a few times with his thumb and then put it back. He sat down next to Bob on the loveseat, leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers. "So? What's the news, friends?"
"We were just talking to Freesia about some of the new evidence that's come up," Granddad said.
"Ah." Cuaco nodded. "So you told her about the surveillance tape? I was actually coming over to talk to you about all of that. But it was probably best hearing it from you first."
Len released a heavy sigh. He put his mug on the coffee table and said, "Yeah. That's what we all thought too. And now that we have, I have to be going. Gloria needs help closing up the store. With the crappy weather outside, we're closing up early."
"Don't run away on my account," Cuaco said with a grin.
Len zipped up his sweatshirt. "No worries there, Barry. I think we said everything we needed to earlier today. But, as always, you know where to find me when you think of something else."
Len and Cuaco locked eyes for a second. Len broke the mutual glare and walked up to Granddad, holding out his hand. "Thank you for the coffee and conversation, George. Thank Lil for me too. See you again soon."
Freesia breathed out slowly, rubbing her arms. What the heck is going on? If the tension was any thicker, we'd be choking on it. She waved at Len and took his spot in Granddad's comfy chair.
After the door closed behind Len and they heard his car engine start up, Bob spoke. "Barry, you can be a real jerk sometimes. Seriously."
Granddad held up his hand as Gran walked back into the room with fresh coffee and another plate of cookies. "Bob, c'mon now."
"No. We all want to catch whoever did this to Tamara. But seriously, Barry, we're all friends here. We've gone through a lot of crap together and I think you could be less sterile. Questioning Len in front of Gloria about a suspicion of an affair? Showing the videotape and grilling him about Frank?"
"Bob, this isn't the time," Gran said, looking at Freesia.
Cuaco stayed in the same position. He rubbed his palms together. "It's my job. We're down to the crunch here and I have to start being a little more aggressive."
Bob scowled. "Yeah, but how you handled things with Frank was out of control. You know how things are with him."
"Enough!" Gran said. "I said this isn't the time to get into all of this. If you can't keep it down, I'm going to have to ask you boys to leave for today. There's a time and place for shoptalk about the case and it isn't here or now."
Bob and Cuaco stared at each other.
"Lil, I'm sorry," Bob finally said. "Guess the case is touching the sore spot in all of us. I just think some folks aren't seeing the people involved as people anymore. I'll be off too. George, listen to your nurse here or I'll come back with my bungee cords and strap you to your bed."
A muffled belly laugh, a handshake for Granddad and a kiss on the cheek for Gran, then Bob was off.
Freesia wasn't going to wait around. She had someone to see.
Sage.
She remembered her sister's reaction to what she'd overheard. "I have to go talk to my sister now." She knew who she needed to speak to next to help figure out the next steps in solving the mystery.
I just hope she's ready to spill because I'm not letting it go this time.
As she was about to walk to her bedroom door, Cuaco stopped her. "Freesia, just one quick question before you go. You told me that you worked on all your mom's files, is that right?"
Keeping her back to him, she said, "Most of them."
"I've gone through all of the files your grandparents brought up, but they've all cleared. You mentioned there was some other file box, right?"
"Right."
"Well, I didn't see any metal file box with the other boxes. Would you happen to know where I could find it?"
She turned around and shrugged. "Well, if it wasn't with all of those other file boxes, I really don't know. We moved a lot of things from our house into Granddad and Gran's. I helped pack up Mom's office, but I didn't keep track of where everything went after it was packed."
"I see." Cuaco stood up and faced her. Her grandparents, silent, looked from the back of his head to Freesia. "Well, I really need you to help me find that box, okay? Think really hard tonight about where it might be and we'll look into all the options you come up with. We wouldn't want anything getting into the wrong hands, now, would we?"
Freesia stood a little taller. There was obviously something in that file box he either really wanted to get his hands on or really didn't want anyone else to see. And she was going to check it out first.
"I guess not," she said. "If I think of anything, I'll let you know. See you later."
Before anyone had a chance to say anything else to her, Freesia rushed off to Sage's door. Even though she'd felt like she'd been run over by a semi-truck, Freesia put on her best brave face before she went in to talk to Sage. She left the men and Gran in the living room, drinking afternoon coffee and recovered cookies. Freesia walked up to her little sister's door. She took a deep breath as she gently rapped.
No answer. Not that she was surprised.
She opened the door wide enough to peek in and saw Sage lying on her stomach with her face in her pillow. Freesia shimmied through the crack in the door and shut it behind her.
"Sage?" she whispered. "You wanna talk about what you overheard?"
Still unsure of how much actually was overheard, she preferred to err on the side of caution by allowing Sage to start the conversation. If one happened.
Sage shook her head in response to Freesia's question, sobbing inconsolably.
"Oh, Sage." She rubbed Sage's back. "I know how much it must have hurt. But we should talk about it because they might find out more information, you know? And we need to stick together because we know what's true and what's not—"
Sage waved her hands, motioning for her keyboard. Freesia waited, continuing to rub her sister's back patiently while she typed.
'It is true,' Sage's keyboard droned. 'I saw them.'
Freesia's hand froze mid-rub. She felt like someone had punched through her stomach and ripped it out. "What do you mean you saw them? Who?"
Sage typed slowly. 'Mom. And. Him.'
"Enough with the cloak-and-dagger crap, already." Freesia slapped the bed with her other hand. "If you know what happened, just spit it out."
Sage pushed herself to the opposite edge of her bed, cowering from her sister.
Freesia bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Sage. I didn't mean to shout. It's just that there's been so much going on and all the weird things we've been finding out and now knowing that Mom—" She sighed. "Please. If you know something, just tell m
e. Okay? If you tell me what you know, I'll tell you what I know. When Rick and I get together later, we can see what we can figure out."
Sage sat up, wiped her face on the bottom of her shirt and breathed in and out slowly, just like she was taught to whenever she felt overwhelmed.
Freesia gripped Sage's shoulder. "Forget it."
'No, it's okay,' Sage typed. 'I'll try.'
Freesia's eyes flooded with tears. "Good for you, kid." She held Sage's hand, giving it a hearty squeeze.
'It was when Daddy first went away to Afghanistan. It was really late because you were still sleeping and it was dark. I snuck out of bed to pee and I heard noises downstairs, so I went to see. I thought maybe Daddy was still here.'
Sage started crying again and Freesia gave her hand another squeeze, encouraging her to go on.
'I looked around the corner and saw it wasn't Daddy. My stomach started hurting, so I went to pee and back to bed. But he used to come over a lot. I always woke up when he did.'
Freesia frowned. "How long did that happen?"
'I don't know. From when Daddy went away the first time until they told us he died.'
"That was a good six months. So, was this guy always nice to Mom?"
Sage shook her head and pulled herself into a ball, hugging her knees.
"Did you ever see him hurt her?"
Sage didn't respond.
Freesia closed her eyes and counted to ten. I can't rip her head off again, or she'll shut down completely. "Did he ever get mad at her? Or did she get mad at him?"
Sage nodded.
"Tell me what you heard." Freesia sat beside Sage on the bed.
'After Daddy died, he came over and Mama told him she didn't think he should come see her anymore. She told him he should think about seeing someone else. He sounded mad. Really mad. He yelled at her and called her names.'
A slosh of bile shot up into Freesia's throat.
No wonder Sage stopped talking. If she didn't talk, nothing would slip out.
Sage's fingers tapped widely across the keys as she tried to get all the words out as fast as she could.
'Her little phone rang all the time and she'd go away so I couldn't hear what she was saying, but when she came back again she looked mad and cried. She just told me it was a wrong number, but I knew it was him.' Sage stopped typing and started rocking, the bed squeaking with her movements.
Freesia pulled Sage into her. "Is that why you stopped talking, Sagey? Because you thought something bad would happen to us?"
Sage smushed her face into Freesia's side. Once she'd calmed a bit, she turned back to type again. 'Something bad did happen. Mama is gone. I didn't want you to be gone too. Who would take care of me?' Sobs shook Sage's body again.
A wave of rage washed over Freesia. Poor Sage had been keeping this secret inside of her for so long, on top of all the issues she faced on a daily basis. What kind of sick bastard did things like that to other people?
"Okay, Sage. I'm going to ask you a very important question. If you don't know the answer, that's totally okay. But if you do, I don't want you to be afraid to tell me. You aren't going to get into trouble, and you won't get anyone else in trouble, either."
Except that jerk that started it all.
Sage's crying quieted to soft whimpers.
Freesia enveloped her in her. "Do you know who this guy is?"
Sage nodded.
"Tell me who it is, Sage." Freesia braced herself for the answer, her heart pounding.
'It's that same guy in the hooded blue sweatshirt I told you about.' Sage trembled. 'It's Mr. Oakley.'
The blood in Freesia's arms and legs ran icy cold. "But you told me that you didn't see the man's face. How do you know it was Frank Oakley? Did you actually see Frank yelling at mom?"
Sage looked down and shook her head. 'No,' she typed. 'I only heard his voice. But I looked over the railing and saw his blue sweatshirt. Just like the one he wears when he's out here.'
Freesia breathed out sharply. "Sagey, tons of people have blue hooded sweatshirts, you know? We can't go accusing Frank based on that."
'But that one is different. It has a patch on the shoulder just like Daddy's.'
"What do you mean 'just like Daddy's?'" Freesia frowned. "I never saw him wear anything like that."
Sage stared at Freesia, unblinking. She typed, 'Yeah. I found it in Mama's closet a long time ago. She had it in a box with a bunch of Daddy's old military clothes that the base gave her when he died. She told me he was given the sweatshirt for some special thing he did.'
Freesia sat up straight and tilted her head. Well, she thought, this is just getting more and more interesting every day. She wondered how many other people had the same sweatshirt.
If Frank, Len and Bob all served together and all saw her mom, any one of them could have had the same blue sweatshirt. Sage could have just mixed up the voices. Unless only some people received the sweatshirt? She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Okay. Fine. But it still doesn't mean Frank was the one you heard yelling at Mom. We have to be super careful before pointing fingers at people, Sagey. This is really serious, you know?"
'This guy had a brown hole on the sleeve. A burn mark or something.'
Freesia sighed. She remembers a small detail like a burn hole, but not the guy's face. Of course.
"Okay, Sage. You've done awesome." Freesia gave Sage's legs a heavy squeeze. "I have to go help Gran with supper. Why don't you have some quiet time in here for a while?"
Sage nodded, putting her keyboard on the floor beside the bed, and curled up with Lamby. Freesia turned the stereo on and slipped out the door. Her brain was about to explode from all the information it had been fed over a little while. She had even more questions than she had before. But for some reason, she felt like she was getting closer to the truth.
And nothing was going to stop her.
Chapter Eighteen
After her conversation with Sage, Freesia rushed to the bathroom and freshened up before her grandparents called her to help prep for supper. Then she went to her room. Her bedroom had two doors—one that opened into the living room and a second that went into the short hallway that connected her bedroom to her grandparents' room, with the bathroom in between.
When she'd moved into her teen years, Granddad put up a folding door to the door in the hallway to give Freesia a little more privacy. She was never worried about them snooping through her things before, so she'd never bothered shutting the hallway door. That was until she had something to be found.
After getting back to her room, not only did she shut the door, she clipped the small metal lock into the wall hook, which someone could easily slip open with something small and flat. Better to at least have some warning someone was coming in.
Crouching down beside her bed, she tugged back the quilt hiding its precious treasures. She heard her grandparents moving around in the living room and froze.
Geez, this is worse than a Bond flick.
When she didn't hear any movement from either the living room or the hallway, she plunked herself down on her butt, crossed her legs and pulled the metal box out from under her bed. It felt cold under her fingers.
Great. Now, how am I going to figure out the combination?
Her mom used to keep her passwords, pass codes, combinations and other personal information in a file. But after Freesia had ragged on her to not to keep a file like that lying around, she locked the file away in the metal box. Suddenly an explosion of adrenaline shot through her body.
The other place her mom kept a file of the codes was in her cell phone, another dumb move Freesia used to harass her mother about. Detective Cuaco mentioned that he'd sent her mom's cell off to retrieve phone numbers, texts and voice mail messages. Did he have her mom's file of codes too?
If he does, that means he knows the combination code. But why wouldn't he have just said so? Why does he want in this box so much?
Releasing a sharp breath, Freesia r
acked her brain trying to figure out how to get into the box, making the least amount of noise. A voice from the kitchen startled her.
"Freesia? Can you please come out and help me in here? We're late getting supper started."
"Coming." She decided she'd get Rick to help her break into it. Heck! Maybe Mizu had some special breaking-and-entering skills she was hiding up her sleeve. Nothing surprised her anymore. But how was she going to sneak the box out of the house without her grandparents catching her?
Suddenly, she thought of a brilliant idea.
She grabbed the box, wrapped the sunglasses and hat in a face towel, and put it all on her bed. She peeked out the door leading into the living room. Gran was in the kitchen gathering up ingredients for supper. Sage must have still been in her room. Granddad wasn't in his usual spot. Her heart pounding, Freesia slipped over to the door leading into the hall, unhooked the lock and slid the folding door just enough for her to glimpse through.
She saw Granddad's feet, Rudy resting her chin on his splint and heard his gentle snore. She drew in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as she closed the door.
I swear I'm going to have a stroke before the summer is over.
"Well. This is as good a time as any," she said out loud. She grabbed the file box and the face towel. After saying a short prayer under her breath, she looked out of the living room door again and saw Gran at the sink, her back facing Freesia. She yanked the door wide enough for her to get through and not clank the box on the door and beetled across the living room to the back door. Just as she pushed on the screen door, Rudy lumbered out of her grandparents' bedroom.
Freesia's froze as she half expected to see Granddad coming right after the dog, but a few muffled snorts from the room assured her that he was still resting. "Rudy," she whispered. "I swear to God, you're trying to kill me."
The dog sat, her tongue hanging out the side of her fuzzy mouth, and wagged her bushy tail. A smile stretched Freesia's lips.
"You just gave me a great idea without even knowing it, you silly old girl." Freesia raised her voice enough for Gran to hear her. "Gran? Rudy is scratching at the door. I'm taking her out back for a pee. I'll be in there in a sec."
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