Chapter 36
Aubrey
AFTER THE ALIBI
Last night was rough and emotional. I was already at my breaking point from finding that knife in my drawer and the police search shortly after on Friday night.
But when Deacon got home yesterday and told me what happened at Foster’s house, it was more than I could handle.
It felt like that was my last chance to find out the truth about who caused my parents’ deaths, and now I’ll never know.
Deacon is making us grilled cheese sandwiches while I’m trying to coax at least two cups of coffee out of the machine before it dies.
“Please, please, please, just a little bit more.” The thing spews and sputters, and I hold the cup up, making sure to catch every single drop that shoots out of the few nozzles that actually work.
Once our food is plated and we each have at least half a cup of coffee, Deacon and I sit at the kitchen table. His chair is as close to mine as he could get it, his hand wrapped around my thigh, anchoring me to him. I’m all for it.
I woke up in Deacon’s bed for the second morning in a row, with my back against his front, his arm wrapped around me. The first thing he said was, “You’re going to spoil me, waking up like this.”
Same, Deacon.
The two of us talked all morning. We discussed whether or not Foster really had what he said he did, and if so, what he did with it. Also, we went over every possible scenario of who would want to frame me for Ben’s murder. Sadly, we didn’t come up with much.
Thankfully, Shane and Eddie had removed the knife from the oil pan early Saturday morning and disposed of it. I didn’t ask what they did with it and I don’t want to know. I’m just relieved it’s gone.
Serenity breezes in the room wearing a colorful caftan. “Morning, you two.”
“Hey, Serenity,” I say.
She stops and looks at me. “Oh, sweetie, are you okay? I know it’s been a helluva week but you look like you could use one of my smoothies.”
I can’t shake my head no fast enough. Last time she talked me into trying one of her concoctions, I was higher than I’ve ever been and didn’t sleep for three days. “No, no, I’m good. But thank you!”
“Okay, well, you let me know if you change your mind.”
She moves to the coffeepot and starts to make a cup when Deacon asks, “Did you have a chance to ask Frank for a list of people who were here Friday night?”
“Yes! He scribbled the names down on a piece of paper in my unit last night when he got in from work. Let me go get it.”
Deacon stops her just before she steps outside. “Hey, we’re keeping things locked down around here for a while until we figure out what’s going on. You good with that?”
“Sure. But I have my usual group coming here for yoga this afternoon.” Serenity gives me a small smile. “But if that makes you uncomfortable then we can figure out somewhere else to go.”
“No, your group is fine to still come here.” Serenity holds a yoga class in the backyard every Sunday afternoon, weather permitting.
“There’s no one new in the group, is there?” Deacon asks.
She shakes her head. “No. Same ole bunch that’s been coming for years.”
“Thanks, Serenity.”
And then she’s gone.
I take a final sip of my coffee and say, “It’s going to take me all day to get my room back in order.” I’ve avoided it until now.
“We don’t have to tackle that today. You’re welcome to stay in my room for the foreseeable future. In fact, that’s the way I would prefer it.”
I lean against him. “Can I get my room straight and still stay in yours? Because that mess in there is all I can think about.”
He stands up, lifting me with him, then carries me down the short hall to my room. “Let’s knock it out and then head upstairs for a nap.”
We’ve been working for a couple of hours and there’s still so much to do. Deacon is a huge help with the big stuff but I’m the only one who can sort through everything.
“I’m starving,” Deacon says. “That grilled cheese didn’t make a dent.” He’s standing in front of the bed in the only clear spot on the floor. “Are you hungry? I can go pick something up.”
My lap is full of socks that I’m trying to sort into pairs. “I could destroy a cheeseburger right now.”
“Done.” He pauses before leaving the room. “Eddie and Shane are in the garage if you need them. And Serenity and her group have their asses up in the air in the backyard so hopefully that will scare anyone off who tries to come in here.”
I throw a sock at him. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”
He laughs. “I’ll tell her myself.” He walks to the exterior door, but only to check it to make sure it’s locked before leaving through the interior door. It’s that little bit of thoughtfulness that makes me weak in the knees for him.
A moment later I hear his car crank and back out of the driveway. Getting up from the floor, I decide to take a break while I wait for him to get back. I’m making myself some tea when Frank comes in the back door.
“Mind if I sneak in a load of laundry?” he asks.
“Not at all.”
He sets the basket down on the kitchen table and starts sorting his clothes into piles. And from the variety of colors, some of Serenity’s stuff is mixed in, which is really cute.
I drop our lunch plates into the sink and glance out the window. “Serenity had a pretty good turnout today.”
Frank laughs. “I gotta admit, I’m surprised some of those older ladies can bend their bodies like that.”
“You should try it! You did just have a big birthday so you may want to stay limber in your old age.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.”
My phone rings and I hesitate a moment since I don’t recognize the number, but ultimately answer it.
“Hello?”
“Aubrey, this is Hank Landry.”
“Oh, hi.”
“Listen, this is gonna sound strange, but can you grab that jewelry box Paul Granger sent you?”
That was not what I was expecting him to ask me. “Sure, hold on.” I walk back to my room and grab it off the top of my dresser. I glance around the room, and it’s covered in clothes with nowhere to sit, so I bring it back to the kitchen table. “Okay, I got it.”
“Turn it upside down.”
“Hold on. Let me put you on speaker.” I hit the button and put the phone on the table. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah.”
Frank comes back out of the laundry room, puts his empty basket on the table, and watches me flip the jewelry box over. “Okay, what am I looking for?”
“There should be a small tab in the corner. Might be tucked in the seam.”
I feel around the bottom edge and run across a bump near one corner. “I may have found it but I’m not sure there’s enough sticking out for me to grab. How did you know about this?”
It’s a few seconds before he answers me. “Went to Angola today to talk to Paul. He had another box like that. Apparently he likes to put secret compartments in some of the things he makes.”
“Oh, wow…Okay.”
I work the little piece but can’t get any movement.
“Here, use this.” Frank has a pocketknife in his hand and pulls out the small set of tweezers.
“Thanks.” I take it from him and it does the trick. Just a few tugs later, the bottom pops open and something falls out, bounces across the table. “Oh shit! There was a USB drive in there!”
“Aubrey, Paul didn’t send you that jewelry box, but he did give Foster one just like that when he visited him.”
“What?”
“If it’s okay, I’m coming there. I’d like to see what’s on the drive.”
Part of me wants to hang up on him. I don’t think he’d be on my side if there’s anything on here that could harm Camille or her family, but then he didn’t have to tell me about the compartment. He could have just figured out how to take it from me.
My voice cracks when I ask, “Is this what I think it is?”
“I believe it could be. Can I please come there and view it with you?”
“Yeah, okay.” And then I end the call before he can say anything else.
I stare at the drive. My hand shakes as I pick it up.
Ben was killed because of this. The murder weapon planted in my room because of this.
So many people are searching for this.
And I’ve had it for weeks.
Frank’s eyes are big as saucers.
“I’ll explain everything later but I don’t know how long I have until he gets here and I want to see what’s on this thing before he does. My laptop…broke. Do you have one I can use?” I ask him.
He nods. “Uh, yeah. Let me go get it.”
I examine the jewelry box again while I wait for Frank to come back in case there’s something else I’m missing. Probably need to give the other items Paul sent me a good look-through too.
It doesn’t take Frank long to get back. He puts his laptop on the table next to me and I hand him the drive. He examines it a second. “Shit, this is a USB. Mac only has a USB-C port. I need a converter to load it. Hold on, let me go get it from my bag.”
He turns toward the door and heads back to Serenity’s unit.
It feels like my whole body is vibrating from nerves. Am I about to see how my parents died?
I don’t know if I can handle that.
But I also feel like I’ve waited so long for the truth that I have to watch it.
Deacon comes in the back door a few minutes later, a white bag in his hands. “Hope you’re hungry!” Then he looks at me. “What’s wrong?”
I hold up the jewelry box. “Hank went to Angola to talk to Paul. Paul told him there was a secret compartment in the bottom so I pried it open and there was a USB drive inside.”
He looks around the table. “Where is it? I can grab my laptop.”
Shaking my head, I say, “No, Frank’s got his. Went to get a converter so he could load it.”
Deacon turns to the window over the sink. “Frank left. Passed him when I was turning onto our street.”
“What!”
I run past him, out the door into the yard. Frank’s truck is gone.
And so is the USB drive.