Chasing Secrets

by Richards, Alyssa

  She shook her head. “The key was in a safe deposit box that I didn’t even know about. The banker alerted me to it. Although David was a very deliberate person.” She told him how he had given her instructions about the safety deposit key and box. “I think he had to know that if something happened to him, that I would find the other box, and the key.”

  “Okay, then, let’s figure out what he was trying to tell you.” He held the Star of David keychain. “Could be a simple reference to his name, or his faith. The symbol also has lots of meanings on its own. Hang on just a second, I need some paper.” Griffin walked into the kitchen where he opened and closed drawers, rummaged through papers.

  His text alarm sounded and she glanced at the message that illuminated his phone screen.

  It was from Luke: I have verbal confirmation that permits have been signed. Should have them in my hand by Friday. You need to get your ass over here pronto. Workers can be ready to start by Monday!!!

  Hope that she didn’t even realize she had fell from her heart and sank into an all-too-familiar pit of disappointment. She reminded herself that she had only known him for a few days, that she shouldn't even feel disappointed. But she did.

  Griffin had reminded her of her dreams, the life she’d once thought possible and who she was deep inside. That part of her wasn’t dead and gone as she had often thought. It was still alive and wanting a place in the world.

  Griffin returned with a notepad and pencil and he began to write notes. “It was the central symbol for the Zionist community, then the Jewish community after the 1890s. It’s a hexagram, often used in the occult. Two triangles, One a phallic symbol, an icon for male. It stands for aggression and manhood. The female symbol is the exact opposite. The cup, vessel, a woman’s womb.”

  The text alarm dinged for the second time and Luke’s message illuminated on the screen again. Griffin read the text, his lips pressed together. He cleared it from his screen.

  “Or you can see it as just a star, which has an association with the heavens,” she said. “In some spiritual communities stars are seen as symbols of the battle between light, which refers to the human spirit, and darkness, or material forces.”

  She told Griffin about David’s obsession with stars and how they covered the interior of their home. “We discussed their meanings ad nauseam. He loved their imagery and I had studied the constellations with my mother over the years. Then he took this common interest to a whole new level, putting stars all over our home. He called them ‘little bits of light God dropped from the heavens to guide us on our way.’”

  “To guide,” he pointed out. “So, the stars have always been clues somehow.”

  “Now that I have this key, and a lot of hindsight, I think so. The stars have to be clues for me. He had me read the name Elias on the day he was killed. I think he suspected they were onto him.”

  Griffin stared at the small key. “Safe deposit box key. Probably, anyway. Star of David.” He traced the two triangles with his middle finger. “What banks do you have in your area?”

  “I’m from Charlotte. We have more banks than churches, and we have an awful lot of churches. None that fly the Star of David as their logo, though.”

  “I’ve actually spent a lot of time in Charlotte, and I don’t remember any banks with stars, either. Alright. Let’s figure this out. Light, dark, heaven, hell…”

  “We talked a lot about the different types of stars, their meanings, where they show up in history, in architecture. But none of them point me toward a safety deposit box.”

  “Maybe they got to him before he could give you a more obvious clue.”

  “I think he didn’t put the more obvious clues out because he was afraid someone would break in and find them.”

  “You’re probably right.” Griffin pulled up his phone and opened a browser. “Let’s get a list of all the banks in the area in front of us. Maybe something will jump out.”

  She watched him scan through the list, scrolling page after page, his eyes focused and searching.

  He sat up straight and pointed at the screen. “This one.”

  “Regional Bank of Charlotte? Why that one?”

  He typed in their website address and enlarged the front page. “This is the front of their building. It’s close to UNC Charlotte, where I taught a few classes once, and I remember this building. Look at the fountain out front. See how it has a flame in the middle and the water sprays around it? You could say that the fire and the water are representative of—”

  “Male and female energies,” she said quickly.

  “Exactly,” he said.

  “Dang.” Chills covered her arms. “That's it. I’ll go there in the morning.”

  “I can go with you, if you like.”

  “Really?” Hope expanded in her chest and she tried to temper it. Having him along would be incredibly helpful, since he had an expertise she didn’t have. And she wanted more time with him. But he was supposed to be on his way to Greece. Never again would she hold someone back from leaving town.

  “You have time?”

  He put his phone in his pocket and nodded. “I’ll make time.”

  “Okay,” she finally said. “I’d actually really appreciate that.” Her phone rang and caller I.D. said it was her father. “I need to take this, it’s my Dad.”

  “I’ll give you some privacy.” Griffin stood and waved his phone. “I have to text Luke, anyway.”

  “Hi, Pop. You okay?”

  “I’m fine, sweetheart. Are you someplace safe?”

  “Yeah, I’m at my neighbor’s house.”

  “Okay, hang on just a second.” There was a beep, then her father said, “Detective Boone, are you there?”

  “I’m here, Frank.”

  “Good. Did that right. Barb, I did some research on this Club East that owns the condo next to yours, and they were on David’s customer list up until about a year ago.”

  Barbara’s heart beat against the inside of her chest with both fists.

  “Another LLC owns Club East,” Detective Boone said. “Ajay Ravi is listed as the primary owner.”

  “David must have taken diamonds from one of their shipments and got caught. They probably came after him when he didn’t give them back,” her father said.

  Barbara looked at the Star of David keychain that Griffin left on the glass table and she put her fingers over her mouth.

  “This means that our suspicions were true. Elias wasn’t operating alone,” her father said. “And that means that this Ajay Ravi, if he’s the one that Elias was working for, probably knows where you are. Maybe not specifically, since you’re not in that same house anymore. But I would suspect that he knows your general location.”

  She grabbed the robe at her chest, feeling paranoid. “Do you know what he looks like?”

  “I’ll email you a copy of his driver’s license,” Detective Boone said.

  “You should come home,” her father said.

  “If he knows where I am and he follows me, that will lead him right to you. I can’t do that.”

  “I’ll have several cops to keep an eye on us. There’s no safer place you could be than home,” her father said.

  “I sent the Brevard P.D. Ajay Ravi’s name and photo. I let them know that he might be in the area and that he’s potentially connected to the man who broke into your rental house. But your Dad’s right. It’s best if you get out of there. Whether you leave tonight or tomorrow, be careful, be aware of your surroundings.”

  Her father made a final plea for her to come home, and after she agreed, they said their good-byes. Barbara turned and found Griffin standing across the room, watching her.

  “Apparently the guy I killed does have a business partner.”

  “My sister and her husband have a second home at the beach. We could go there.”

  “I don’t want to involve you any more than I already have. I mean, you’ve been shot, and now I’m a sitting duck in your home and that puts you at risk agai
n.”

  He stepped closer to her and took her hands in his. “I have this sense that you’re the one always helping others. At some point you're going to have to let someone help you.”

  Her shoulders gave way and she realized she had been holding them close to her ears. “I just don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “Tomorrow morning we can drive to my sister’s place, or we can go to the bank in Charlotte and try out that key. Either way I’ll help you if you'll let me.”

  “Okay,” she said, relieved to have his support.

  “Have another glass of wine. I’m going to try calling Luke again.” He kissed her and made his way to the back of the house.

  She poured herself another glass of wine and focused on the name Detective Boone had given her: Ajay.

  A chill ran up and down her back. He considered himself a businessman—that’s how he rationalized what he did, how he did it. Whatever he had to do was just business. He was pissed. Mad that she had killed Elias. It seemed she had unintentionally upped the stakes when she killed him. Ajay was more determined than ever to make sure his diamonds were returned.

  * * *

  Before Griffin could finish dialing his cousin, his phone rang.

  “Yeah, Luke—” Griffin said.

  “Tell me you’re on your way. Tell me you at least have your ticket. Tell me you’re packed,” he said.

  Griffin cleared his throat. “I’ve run into an odd situation—”

  “Oh, man, not again. Tell me you’re still coming, Griff. You have no idea how much work I’ve put into getting this set up.”

  “I know, I know. And we’re going to do this. I promise.”

  “You’re bailing.”

  “I’m not bailing. I got shot.”

  “Shot?”

  While Griffin told his cousin about the events of the day, he leaned around the corner and watched Barbara. He had finally met someone who wasn’t just a distraction, someone he thought he could trust. That wasn't supposed to happen, not now. Long distance relationships didn’t work, he had seen that with Loralee. He still wasn’t sure which choice made their relationship fall apart more—pursuing his dream or giving it up.

  All he knew was that he couldn’t make the same mistakes with Barbara. She was anchored to Charlotte to care for her father, so, living abroad wasn’t a possibility.

  Luke reaffirmed that they had worked their entire lives for this archaeological opportunity. It wouldn't come around again and Luke couldn’t do this without him. Griffin had promised him that if there were a next time, that neither hell nor high water would keep him from going. He had to go. If he gave it all up again, he knew he would regret that choice for the rest of his life.

  “The doctor said no swimming in lakes or streams for three weeks, and no traveling for a week. He wants to make sure an infection doesn't develop.”

  “You take good care of yourself and I’ll see you in a week,” Luke said.

  “I’ll be there. I promise.” Griffin said.

  * * *

  Barbara rested her head on Griffin’s chest and watched the embers glow in the fireplace. His friend Mac had parked his police cruiser in the front driveway just as Griffin had said that he would. Every now and then they heard a car drive by. Each time she peeked out the side window near the door to see who it was, she saw a police car driving slowly over the dirt road. They would stop and shine a searchlight over Griffin’s front yard and the surrounding area. Once, a uniformed policeman got out with his flashlight and walked around the yard. When he saw her looking out the narrow window, he waved and gave her the thumbs-up sign.

  A coyote howled in the dark and the rush of the nearby waterfall ran like white noise, lulling her into a restless sleep. She dreamed fitful dreams of chasing someone down narrow and twisting hallways, his face just out of her sight, his fast footsteps echoing on the tiled floor. Diamonds and stars lined the walls, and when she touched them she cut her hands on their sharp edges. Blood ran over her palms and spilled onto the floor.

  She rounded the corner and found David standing alone in a small room, facing her, as if he waited for her. Expected her. He wore his usual navy blue shirt with the white company logo on the front pocket. “David?” she said. “David, you nearly got me killed.”

  He lifted his arms slowly, pointed a gun at her, and fired.

  “No!” she screamed.

  She felt the bullet hit her chest with the same sharp burn she had felt in her arm once before. She sat up with a gasp, her heart running at double speed.

  “Barbara—Barbara!” Griffin called.

  She pressed her hand to the wound on her chest, tried to stop the bleeding, tried to stop the pain.

  She turned to find Griffin sitting on the edge of the couch.

  “It’s alright. I think you just had a dream,” he said.

  She looked down and dragged her fingers over the blue top Lillian had brought her. No blood, no wound. Her mouth was dry. “A dream.”

  “It’s okay,” he said softly and ran his hand over her back.

  Her text alert sounded. She slid out of Griffin’s embrace and took her phone from the coffee table. The message was from Kris:

  CALL ME.

  Kris never used all caps. She dialed her number and peeked out of the blinds. A hint of orange glowed from behind the mountains; the sun would be up soon.

  “Barb?” Kris said.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong? Is Pop okay?”

  Kris exhaled hard. “Last time I spoke to your dad, he had just talked to you on the phone last night. He told me was going to work late at the warehouse. I called him this morning and he didn’t answer. So I went to the warehouse. The lights were on in Pop’s office, and there was a note.”

  “What kind of note?”

  “Someone’s taken him. Pop’s been kidnapped.”

  15

  When Barbara and Griffin walked into her father’s home, there were three men gathered around recording equipment at the dining room table. Detective Boone approached them from the family room. “Barbara,” he said and put his arm around her. “We’re going to get him back. I promise.”

  Kris ran in from the kitchen, holding her swollen belly, her eyes red from crying. “Oh, Barb! I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I should never have left him,” Barbara said and hugged Kris tight.

  After she introduced Griffin to everyone, she began asking questions about what was being done to locate her father.

  “Since we’re not sure where the kidnapper will call, we put recording equipment on the warehouse landline and here as well,” Detective Boone said. “So far we’ve gotten this email.”

  He showed her a printed email with a photo attached: her dad tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, a blindfold over his eyes, and his face badly bruised. Barbara’s heart hit the floor at the sight.

  The email read: Tell Barbara to hand over the diamonds, and we’ll make sure her father gets returned unharmed. She has 48 hours.

  She pressed her palm to her forehead. “I don’t have any damn diamonds!”

  “I’ve replied to his email and told him as much. Also told him I’d rather talk with him over the phone and sent him my number,” Detective Boone said.

  “Pop’s on medication,” Barbara said. “Blood pressure and blood thinners and heart meds. He can’t go without them. He’s already had two heart attacks. His blood pressure is probably through the roof right now.”

  “Kris told us. We’re going to get him home safely. First, I need to get the kidnapper on the phone with our hostage negotiator.”

  “What about money? We don’t have diamonds, but how about if we offer him money in lieu of?”

  Detective Boone looked at the floor for a painfully long moment. When he finally looked at her again he said, “We can try that, and I’ll get funds from the station to offer them, but they may think we’re keepin
g the diamonds from them. That could piss them off. Regardless, we can’t offer anything right away. Statistics don’t favor a happy ending if we give in too quickly. We have to be patient, let them make their next move.”

  Panic erupted inside of her and she pressed her hand against her chest.

  “I can’t do nothing,” she said. “I can’t just sit around and wait.” She thought about the key in her purse and Griffin’s suggestion that they try the bank with the fountain.

  “I understand that you want to do something to help him. But we have to play this carefully, otherwise we won’t see your father again,” Detective Boone said.

  “What if I’m able to find the diamonds?” Her words came out quickly.

  “You know where they are?” he asked.

  “No. But I can run around to banks and try to figure out what that key belongs to. There’s one that—”

  “I think we should stick with our hostage negotiator. We don’t need anyone trying to be a hero.” He patted her shoulder and returned his attention to the other policemen.

  “It wasn’t an either/or suggestion,” she said under her breath as she walked away.

  Griffin stood on the opposite side of the room and his head moved in a slow nod, as if he knew what she was thinking.

  Kris walked up to her, her hand cradling her belly.

  “Kris,” Barbara whispered. “We’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have a lead on the diamonds that I need to follow up on. Call me as soon as you know something.”

  * * *

  Barbara and Griffin reached the bank just before it opened. The fountain out front was just as Griffin had described: streams of water circling a red hot dancing flame. The security guard unlocked the front door to the bank with a ka-chunk, and they walked inside.

  When they reached the safety deposit box area, Barbara went through the same procedure as she had before, showing her license, her marriage certificate, and David’s death certificate.

  “Do you know the account number?” the banker asked. She glanced quickly at Griffin and flipped her long red hair behind her shoulder.