Open Door Open Door A thin beam of moonlight was shining onto the kitchen floor through the open door. Did I leave that open? Albert thought. He was about to close and lock the door, then head on up to bed, when he felt a sharp stab of pain as a hard cylindrical object was shoved into the small of his back. “One word,” came a gruff voice from behind him, whispering, “One peep out of you is all It'll take for me to drop you where you stand.” Albert jumped, startled by the sudden voice behind him. What the hell, he thought. He’s robbing me. Motherfucker’s robbing me! “Get your hands behind your back,” the voice from behind him commanded, no longer whispering. Someone else stepped out of the shadows from beside the kitchen table. There’re two of them, great, Albert thought. The figure approaching him pulled something out of his pocket that reflected the moonlight through the window above the sink. A pair of handcuffs. Albert could feel the situation spiraling out of control, and fear was beginning to gnaw at him. As the man with the handcuffs approached him, Albert instinctively took a step back, earning him a glancing blow to the back of his head from the man behind him. His knees threatened to buckle. Sensing this, the man behind him grabbed him around the neck with his forearm, cutting off his air. “Well don’t just stand there staring, cuff him!" the first guy said. “Now!” he screamed, when his buddy didn't move. The second guy gave the handcuffs to his partner, and then stepped back. The second guy's grin made him look dangerous. Albert stood there, head throbbing from the blow he’d received, and didn’t move a muscle or say a word as the man behind him put the cuffs on his wrists. “Okay, listen to every word I say, follow every instruction and don’t--don’t--make me tell you twice, and you and your family might just make it out of this alive," the first guy said. He pushed him toward the living room, almost toppling him over. “Smitty,” he said to his partner, nodding toward the stairs, “Wait for them," Albert’s living room was a large, open room. A stairway led to the second floor, where the bedrooms and bathroom were. The top of the stairs had and unobstructed view of the living room. The only exception to this was the wall with the fireplace, next to the stairs. You could stand against this wall, and someone coming down the stairs wouldn’t be able to see you until they reached the bottom step. His daughter, Theresa, discovered this quirk in the architecture when she was six and had thought it was just the funniest thing in the world to hide there, and then jump out in front of him. That small section of wall was where the second guy, Smitty, was leaning with a gun in his hand. The first guy-–Albert was starting to thing of him as the dangerous one-–was still standing behind him and spoke up, “Call your wife and daughter down here. I want you to act as normal as possible, like nothing’s wrong--and I want you to give a fucking academy award winning performance, or I’ll get Smitty to bring them down. I promise you he won't be gentle. Got it?” Albert nodded, and thought: How did they know I have a wife and a daughter? “Lena, Tess, can you come down here for a second?” Albert said. He surprised himself with how natural he sounded. Theresa called downstairs from her room,“I’m trying to sleep Dad! What is it?” Albert heard nothing from Lena. “Just come downstairs Tess. Lena! Come here for a second,” Albert called out a second time. The man holding the gun on him stepped back into the shadows as soon as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway upstairs. Lena appeared at the top of the stairs and waited for Theresa. They both walked down together, Lena in front. “What is it honey?” Lena said, “Why are you standing out here in the dark? Turn the lights on.” She walked down the stairs and was halfway down, when Smitty turned the light on. Lena blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. Tess screamed when she noticed the guy standing in the living room. The first guy raised his gun pointing it at Tess and thumbed back the hammer. He said to Lena, “Shut her up, or I will.” Lena grabbed her daughter’s hand and turned around to run back upstairs, but Smitty was standing at the bottom of the staircase holding his gun and grinning. Smitty grabbed Tess with his free hand and shoved her over to his partner. “The girl’s one hell of a looker, Robb. Can I have her when we’re done?” Smitty asked, pointing his gun at Tess and staring down the barrel at her, grinning. "You too," Smitty said to Lena. "Down here, now." I’ll smash every tooth in that grinning idiot’s mouth, Albert thought, knowing full well he’d do nothing of the sort. “We’ll see Smitty, we’ll see,” Robb said, sitting down on the couch and resting his feet up on the coffee table as if he owned the place. “Sit down Albert,” he instructed. Albert sat down. “Why don’t you have a seat on the couch Mrs. Butler? You too, Tess.” Lena and Tess walked over to the couch and sat next to Albert. Albert sat up, wondering: How do they know our last name? It wasn’t on the mailbox. He asked his captors, "What do you want from us?” “Cut the shit,” Robb replied. “If you’re smart, and do what I tell you, all we plan on doing is taking up a few minutes of your time. Do something stupid, and we’ll kill you and your family. Plain and simple.” This guy's starting to sound like a broken record, Albert thought, and said, “You’ve told us all of this, what do you want?” "You believe this guy?" Robb said to Smitty, smiling. He looked back to Albert. "Al, Al, Al. Let's not play games here. Where's the money?" “Money? I've got about sixty bucks in my wallet upstairs, and there’s a few hundred in my dresser. It’s all yours. Just don't hurt my family.” A grin surfaced on Robb’s face and he turned to Smitty, cocking his thumb in Albert's direction and said, "He cracks me up.” Robb turned back to Albert and said, “I do love a sense of humor, cute. But if you continue to bullshit me Albert, I'll put a bullet in your daughter's pretty little face." Lena spoke up, “Just tell us what you want!” Her voice had a hysterical edge to it. “I told you, money." “There’s a few hundred up--” Albert tried to say. “I don't care what the fuck you've got upstairs. I'm talking about the safe!” Robb screamed. He stood up, pocketing his gun, and walked over to Albert, backhanding him. Albert fell to his side on the couch, blood trickling from his nose. “We're gonna go on like this all night Al, until you show me the safe. Open it, we'll leave, and this whole night will just be a bad memory.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Albert said wiping his nose. “You know damn well what I’m talking about,” Robb said, and then hit Albert with the butt of his pistol. “Stop hitting him!” Lena screamed. “We know you've got three million in bearer bonds hidden in a safe somewhere in this house. Your partner told us all about it; about how you’ve been skimming a few thousand here and there off the top of various company funds, turning them into bonds to avoid detection, storing them in your safe. So cut the shit. Where's the safe?” Albert had no idea what "partner" this guy was talking about; the closest thing he had to a partner, was his assistant manager at the office, Jerry. Albert's salary as General Manager was barely enough to cover the mortgage, but he wouldn't steal money from the company, no. Even if Albert was skimming off the top, he wouldn't tell Jerry. “Look,” Albert said. “You got me handcuffed, and you guys have guns pointed at us. Don’t you think I'd tell you if there was a safe here?” “I don’t care what you would or wouldn’t do," Robb said. Lena stood up, glaring at the two men. “Why are you doing this to us?” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “He doesn't know anything about your stupid safe! Please! Leave us alone.” Robb ignored her, and continued staring at Albert. “I think we're gonna have to take another approach to this, Al," he turned to Smitty and said, "Grab the girl. Take her upstairs.” Smitty walked over to Tess and took hold of her upper arms, forcing her to stand. He shoved her toward the stairs and they walked up. Tess kicked and struggled the entire way. “Now, Al,” Robb said, sitting down and putting an arm around Albert, as if he were an old friend. “I don't want you to worry. Smitty's not gonna hurt her. He’s just gonna–-restrain her. I’ll give you until he gets back to decide about the safe. Think long and hard about it. Smitty can get pretty creative with his--restraining.” When Robb was finished with his speech, he removed his arm from around Albert and stood up. Okay, Albert thought: I have no choice; they really think I have three million hidden here. He sat there and thought for a minute about what he could do to get out of this. First, he had to get out of these handcuffs, and second he had to separate Robb from Smitty. “Okay, I’ll show you where the safe is," Albert said. "But first you’re gonna have to take these handcuffs off me or I won’t be able to enter the combination.” Lena looked at him like he was crazy. Robb stared at Albert for a few moments. “Fine," he said. Smitty walked back downstairs, and Robb said to him: "We'll be right back." He nodded to Lena, and instructed Smitty: "Watch her. If she tries anything, kill her." He directed his next statement to Albert. "If you try anything, he'll kill your little girl too." Smitty sat next to Lena, and touched her cheek. "Don't you touch her!" Albert yelled. “Don’t worry,” Smitty said. “I’ll be real gentle.” Robb pulled Albert up by his shirt, and turned him around, removing the handcuffs. “You go first,” he said, and pulled the gun from his pants, shoving it into the small of Albert’s back. “It’s in my den,” Albert said. “Right through here.” They headed to the den. Okay, Albert thought. The handcuffs are off, and Robb's about to be separated from Smitty, now what? They walked through the living room to the den. Albert entered first. When Robb walked into the doorway, Albert kicked the door shut behind him. It slammed into Robb, bloodying his nose and knocking him backwards to the floor. The gun flew into the air and landed a few feet away. Albert looked down; Robb was out cold, and the gun was out of reach. Picking it up, Albert rushed back into the living room. Smitty was sitting on the couch next to Lena. His gun was beside him on the couch. Albert stepped into view and pointed Robb's gun at Smitty. “Move away from her.” Albert said. The gun was shaking in his hands. Smitty looked uncertain at first, but then he grinned. Lena’s eyes opened wide as she focused on something behind Albert. "It’s okay Lena, I took care of the other guy," Albert said. Lena screamed: "Behind you!" and at that moment Robb’s fists, locked together, came down on the back of Albert’s neck, knocking him forward to the ground. The gun fell beside him. Robb walked over, picked up the gun, and then landed two more kicks to Albert's mid-section. Lena screamed as Robb kicked him again. “Shut her up!” Robb yelled to Smitty. Smitty backhanded her, causing a small trickle of blood to run from the corner of her mouth. Robb walked over to the gun and picked it up. “You should pay more attention to movies, Al," he said, kicking him again. "You should always make sure the bad guy's taken care of before you leave him alone.” He pointed the gun at Albert. “You're trying my patience Al, but I'm gonna forgive this one mistake. That's just the kind of guy I am. If you promise to stop fucking around and take me to the safe. Let me give you a little incentive.” He nodded to Smitty. Smitty ripped the pajama top off of Lena, exposing her from the waist up. “Very nice,” Smitty said, staring at her chest. He grabbed one of her breasts and twisted it. When she screamed, Smitty grabbed her hair and pulled her close to him. “Scream again and I’ll cut one of 'em off.” “Okay, that's enough.” Robb said, wiping the blood from his nose. He looked at the blood on his hand and smiled at Albert. “You're getting second chance Al. Remember, if you try any of that hero shit again, Smitty’s gonna go after your daughter next." * * * Tess struggled with Smitty the entire way upstairs. She couldn’t stand him being so close as he forced her upstairs. He smelled like old sweat and burnt onions. When they reached the upstairs hallway, Smitty shoved her forward, spilling her to the floor in front of her bedroom doorway. As Smitty walked over to her she kicked at him, meaning to land a good hard kick to his balls, but missed as Smitty stepped backwards. He stood over her (avoiding her legs by a wide margin) and picked her up by her arms. "This your room?" Smitty asked, looking in the doorway. She refused to answer, and tried to pull out of his grip. Smitty pushed her into the bedroom and threw her on the bed. She would have bounced off and landed on the floor but Smitty threw himself on top of her pinning down her arms, and lowered his face down to hers, smiling. His breath was horrible. His face was within an inch of hers and he tried to kiss her. Tess spit in his face, and surprisingly, his smile grew. He stood up, wiping off his face and turned his back to her. Tess was ready to jump on him while he had his back turned, but then he turned back around and pointed his gun at her. Her face paled as she saw him remove a roll of duct tape from his jacket. “You're gonna hold real still little girl, right? I don't wanna have to mess up that pretty little face,” Smitty said. He ran the barrel of the gun across Tess's breasts. She nodded weakly, shaking. Smitty set the gun down on the nightstand next to the bed, and pulled a long strip of duct tape from the roll. As he bound her left wrist to the bed, Tess looked over to the gun on the nightstand. “Don’t get any ideas,” Smitty said, noticing the direction of her gaze, “Don't forget, my friend has your parents downstairs at gunpoint.” I don’t want my parents to get hurt, Tess thought, but if this guy tries to kiss me again I’m gonna puke in his face. Smitty tore another strip from the roll, using his teeth. Tess closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the stench coming from him as Smitty bound her right wrist to the opposite bedpost. "Don’t look so scared,” Smitty said with a smile, “I’m not gonna do anything to you…” a long pause, “…yet.” There were no posts at the foot of the bed, so Smitty bound Tess's legs together, wrapping several layers of duct take around her ankles. He stood up, saluted with two fingers and then went back downstairs, leaving her tied to the bed. At least he didn't tape my mouth shut, she thought. Tess remained in bed for a while, trying to adjust to a more comfortable position. She wiggled her right wrist experimentally to see if she could loosen the tape-—no such luck. Her left wrist didn't move either. She looked around her room for something that might help her escape. The lamp on her nightstand was turned on, a book opened and lying face down next to it. Calm down and think. There's got to be a way to get out of this tape. Wiggling her left wrist, she tried to loosen the tape again, this time using her entire body. She wiggled her hand a little more. The tape felt like it was loosening a bit. She worked harder, jerking her wrist back and forth—Yes! It's coming loose. Her hand was sweating and she was able to pull it free from the tape. She turned to the other hand still bound to the bedpost, and clawed frantically at the tape, but was making no progress in her panic. She felt like crying—-until her fingernail caught the edge of the tape. Within a few seconds she had her right hand free and went to work on the tape binding her legs. When she was free, she stood up, and then walked out into the hall. * * * “We don’t want a repeat of what just happened, do we?” Robb said as he locked the handcuffs back onto Albert’s wrists. “On your feet,” he said, pulling Albert up. Albert winced at the pain in his side as he stood up, he thought Robb might have cracked a rib. “Now, let’s try this again. We’re gonna to go into the den, and you’re going to open that safe for me,” Robb said. He looked over to Smitty, “If you don’t hear me yell okay once we get in the den, shoot her," he said, nodding to Lena. Robb looked back over to Albert, addressing him, “I hope you understand the situation now." He yanked Albert's head back by the hair, and moved his face in close, whispering: "You're gonna behave now, right?” Albert was silent. Robb pulled harder on his hair, "Right?" he said, louder this time. "Yes, yes! I understand! Let go!” Albert cried out in pain. Lena, who had quieted down, started sobbing again. “Okay Smitty, I'm in,” Robb yelled once they were in the den. He turned to Albert, "Where's the safe?" Albert tried not to panic. "I lied," he said meekly. "I didn't know what else to tell you! You bust into my house, looking for this safe, and you attack me and my family. What was I supposed to do? There IS no safe!" Robb heard nothing else, after hearing Albert say he lied. “What do you mean you lied?” he asked Albert. Not waiting for a response, he hit Albert in the stomach making him double over. "You’re going to open that safe for me, or I swear someone is going to die.” He glared at Albert. "God DAMN IT! We’re coming out Smitty!” Robb yelled as they walked back out into the living room. He shoved Albert forward almost knocking him to the floor. Smitty quickly removed his hand from Lena’s breast, looking like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and stood up as they came back out. Robb pointed his gun at Lena, and turned to Albert. "You've got to the count of three to take me to the safe or I'm gonna put a bullet in her leg." Lena burst into tears and Smitty slapped her, telling her to shut up. Albert was about to say something when there was a loud crash from upstairs. Both Robb and Smitty froze and over toward the stairs. Robb lowered his gun and grabbed Lena by the hair, placing his gun against her temple. “Go check that out Smitty, make sure the girl didn’t get loose.” He looked at Albert, “You move and I'm gonna reupholster your couch with her brains.” Smitty headed upstairs to check on the girl. “You better hope your daughter's got enough brains to know not to fuck with us, Al,” Robb said as he traced the outline of Lena’s face with the barrel of his gun. Lena was trembling; trying not to cry. None of them moved as they waited for Smitty. There were no sounds from upstairs. Robb was becoming increasinly aggitated as the seconds crept by. He was about to call out to Smitty when they heard a scream, Smitty's scream. This was followed by a series of bangs, and a loud thud. Smitty screamed again, and then was silent. Robb looked back and forth from Albert to Lena, and then to the stairs. “Smitty!” he called. No answer. “Hey Smitty!” Still no answer. Robb cursed and threw Lena down onto the couch. "You take one step away from this couch and your daughter will be paying for it." He stood up, walked a few paces toward the stairs, sparing one look back at them and then continued up the stairs. After Robb was upstairs, Lenda asked, “Do you think Tess's okay? What do you think happened?” . “I don’t know," Albert said. "But did you hear the other guy scream? I hope she got him.” “Are we going to get out of this alive?” Lena asked, crying. Albert put his hand on top of hers and said, “I don’t know. I just don’t know.” * * * Tess was waiting in the hallway, straining to hear what was going on downstairs. She had to do something fast. She saw the telephone sitting on a table at the end of the hall. The phone! Excited, she jumped for the phone, and hit the table with her hip. It fell over with a loud crash. Shit! Tess panicked and all thoughts of calling the police flew from her mind. She ran to the bathroom just as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Please don’t let him see me, please, Tess thought as the footsteps approached. Looking out into the hall, she saw Smitty standing in her bedroom doorway, he looked angry. He stepped inside her bedroom and emerged a few seconds later. “Come out, Come out, wherever you are,” he whispered as he crept down the hallway. Tess closed her eyes and prayed. Smitty was almost to the end of the hallway, only a few feet from the bathroom door. He stopped when he reached the bathroom doorway. Tess held her breath, taking a step back into the shadows. She backed into a set of shelves against the wall and something started to roll off the top shelf. Before the object could fall to the floor, Tess's hand darted out, snatching it. She noticed, her eyes now adjusted to the light, that it was a screwdriver. Holding it out in front of her, she waited. Smitty poked his head inside the bathroom. He was only a few feet away from Tess; close enough for her to smell him. His hand groped along the wall, looking for the light switch. He flipped on the light, flooding the bathroom in a flourescent white glow, and took a step back, startled at first, seeing Tess’s face right in front of him. As he took a step toward her, Tess brought the screwdriver around in an arc burying it in the side of Smitty’s neck. He stood there; mouth gaping in surprise, staring at Tess. She paused for a minute, looking at the handle of the screwdriver protruding his neck, still gripping it. Grunting in disgust, she pulled the screwdriver from his neck and he screamed, clapping his hand over the wound. Blood was seeping through his fingers, and he fixed Tess with a look of the purest hate then lunged for her, missing her and hitting the cabinet beside her. Tess jumped back as he dove for her, missing her a second time. Smitty pulled his hand away from the wound and blood ran down his neck. He fell sideways, bouncing off the cabinet door, slamming it shut and hit the toilet with his knee. Screaming out in pain, he gained his balance and again, lunged in Tess's direction. She dodged to her left and struck out again with the screw driver, this time planting it in Smitty’s shoulder. He looked at his shoulder, dumbfounded, and screaming, then fell to his knees, striking his head on the marble counter on his way down. He was bleeding profusely from his forehead and both stab wounds. Too frightened to move, Tess stood there staring at Smitty. Oh my God, there's so much blood, she thought. Smitty was breathing raggedly, his chest rising and falling unevenly. His chest rose and then fell once more. It didn't rise again--he was dead. Tess didn’t want to step over him--didn’t want to step anywhere near him--because of all the blood. Move! You have to move now, Tess thought. Not looking down, she stepped past Smitty’s body. She heard footsteps approaching the stairs and froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Oh God, it's the other guy! What do I do? Before panic could completely take over, she ran out of the bathroom and to the end of the hall opening up the window there. She darted back into the bathroom and shut off the light, just as Robb reached the top of the stairs. She tried to stop shaking but couldn’t stop. Sneaking a peek around the corner, she saw that Robb had made it to the door of her bedroom. He stopped for a few seconds and then he started walking toward the end of the hall. She pulled her head back into the bathroom and held her breath as he walked up to the bathroom, and kept it held as he walked past the bathroom and examined the open window. Please let him think I went went out the window, she thought. When Robb reached the window, he stuck his head out and looked down. Move, now! Tess thought. This was the chance she was looking for. She ran out of the bathroom and down the hall to the stairs, not looking back. Her Mom called her name as Tess reached the bottom of the stairs and embraced her. * * * That little bitch is up here somewhere, Robb thought as he reached the top of the stairs. She might have been able to outsmart Smitty but not me. He drew his gun and cautiously walked past the overturned table and down the hall. I never should've brought him along, he thought. I knew he'd screw up. Idiot's useless, can't even tie someone up properly. Robb was a little nervous, at first, with the information he had purchased from his source. If the information was true, it would leave both him and Smitty set for life. Three million dollars was a lot of money. He and Smitty had done some surveillance on the house and research on Albert and his family for a week prior to breaking in. When he first questioned Albert, Albert looked as if he was telling the truth when he said there was no safe or no money. That made Robb nervous, but his source was confident. Robb was sure Albert was lying. Once Robb found the safe and got it open, he was going to take care of him. Take care of him good. I think the bastard broke my nose! He'd take care of Al's family too, although he'd probably have some fun with the wife first. Smitty could have the girl. The window was open at the end of the hallway. Where the hell is Smitty? Robb looked into the girl’s bedroom, but she wasn’t there. Where the hell is she? And where the hell's Smitty? He saw the open window at the end of the hall, and made his way over to it. The girl might be able to fit through it, he thought, but where's Smitty? Robb looked back down the hallway and then stuck his head out the window. The yard below was empty. If the girl jumped out, she's long gone by now. He heard a sound behind him, and pulled his head back in the window. Shit! The girl! He turned around just in time to see the girl run down the hallway toward the stairs. He was right on her tail as the girl ran down the stairs. He ran down after her. * * * Albert heard footsteps pounding down the stairs and was about to step out of his hiding place against the wall when Lena said, "Hold on, It's Tess, he's right behind her," and then she said, lower this time, "Alone." Albert flattened himself back against the wall and waited for the Robb to come down the stairs. After Robb had walked upstairs to check on Smitty, Albert went to the fireplace and removed the poker from the toolrack in front. He then flattened himself up against the wall by the bottom of the stairs, hidden from view, and waited. It was the same spot where Tess used to hide as a kid. Albert's hands were cuffed in front, but the chain allowed him enough slack to swing the poker, he hoped. This was the only chance he was going to have--he wouldn't be able to fight with the handcuffs on--he was going to have to knock them out with one shot. He gave no thought to the gun Robb was holding. Just one good shot, that’s all I need. As soon as he saw Tess run into her mother’s arms, Albert jumped out, swinging the poker. He hoped he had timed it right. His timing wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. The poker connected with Robb's lower legs, and he cried out in pain. Robb fell, slamming his head on all three of the remaining steps, one after the other, as he fell down. Albert winced as Robb's head connected with the hardwood floor. The gun Robb was carrying flew through the living room and hit the window, shattering the glass. He came to a stop, lying face down at the foot of the stairs. Albert walked up to him, holding the poker high, ready to bring it down on Robb's head at the slightest movement. He nudged him with his foot. Robb didn’t move. Albert turned him over. Robb's eyes were open. He was dead. Lena held Tess to her chest while Albert fished through Robb’s pockets. He found the key to the handcuffs in the inside pocket of Robb’s jacket and unlocked the handcuffs. Albert walked over to his wife and daughter, and all three of them held each other. The nightmare was finally over. * * * The police showed up fifteen minutes after Lena had hung up the phone. An ambulance pulled into the driveway behind the police cruisers. Albert refused to go to the hospital for treatment but did allow the paramedics to tape up his ribs (he would find out the next day two of his ribs were only cracked, not broken) and clean the wound on the back of his head. Lena and sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, while a detective listened to their account of the night’s events. “And they were looking for a safe with millions of dollars in bonds hidden in it, somewhere in your house?” the detective asked, paging through his notes. “Yes,” Lena replied. “Do you know how they may have come by their information?” “Please, my husband will tell you everything you need to know. Let me care of my daughter; she’s been through a lot.” “Of course. If you’ll excuse me Mrs. Butler,” Detective Conway said closing his notebook. The detective approached Albert, who was sitting in the ambulance outside. He shook Albert's hand and introduced himself. “Hello Mr. Butler. Detective Conway, homicide. I’d like to ask you a few questions.” Albert spoke with him for a few minutes while the detective took notes. “And you don’t know how they got the idea that you were holding millions in a safe in your house?” the detective asked. “No, the only money I have in the house is a few hundred dollars in my dresser upstairs, and what's in my wallet.” "Do you have a safe in the house?" the detective asked. Albert looked incredulous. “Of course not! Those guys were clearly insane.” He and the detective talked for a few more minutes and were wrapping up the conversation as a couple of paramedics came out of the house pushing two gurneys. There was a body on each, encased in a bodybag. Albert breathed a sigh of relief that they were covered--he didn't think he could take seeing their faces. Detective Conway closed his notebook. “Do you and your family have somewhere you can stay tonight?” Albert gave the question some thought. “I guess we could stay at my mother’s house. She’s been asking to see Tess for a while now." "I don't know how long the crime scene boys will be I'm afraid. I'll see what I can do to speed things up and get you back in your house as soon as possible." "I'd appreciate that. Thanks detective." The detective handed him his card, and said, "Here's my card. If you need anything give me a call." Albert took the card, nodding. "Can we gather some clothes and things to take with us?” Albert asked. The detective thought it over for a second, "Uh--yeah, sure take what you need. Just not anything from the upstairs bathroom, living room, or your daughter’s room. Crime Scene Unit won't let anyone in those rooms.” Albert thanked the detective again, and walked over to his wife and daughter. He explained the situation to them, and Lena agreed that they should stay at his mother’s place. Tess was a little upset that she couldn’t take any of her clothes, but Albert fixed that by telling her he’d buy her new clothes. Half an hour later they had gathered their belongings and walked back outside. “Hey,” Albert said. “I forgot something. Go ahead and get in the car and I’ll be right back out.” He walked back into the house, through the living room, and proceeded to the den. He stopped long enough to make sure the Crime Scene officers were busy, and entered the den, softly shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the painting on the far wall. Albert had never liked that painting. It served it's purpose though. Albert pulled the painting off the wall and set it next to his desk, revealing the safe behind it. After entering the combination, he pulled on the handle and opened the safe. Inside, were several stacks of bonds held together with rubber-bands. Not quite three million, Albert thought, but it was close enough. He was going to have to do something about his Jerry--and his mouth. His partner almost cost him his family. After assuring himself that the bonds were still there, he closed the safe and returned the painting to its place on the wall.
Copyright © 2006 Johan Keylay |