Rundown (Curveball Book 2) (48 page)

“
Need
help?” my dad asks, holding the screen door open.

“
I’m
good.  This is the last box.”

Once
the decision was made to leave the Red Sox, we agreed that staying in
Boston wasn’t what we wanted long term.  It’s not that we
don’t love the city, because we do.  It’s just that after
how insane the last seven months have been, we agreed that a fresh
start was exactly what we needed.  The kids will finish the
school year and then we’re on our way to New York, where we’ll
rent a place on Keuka Lake until the house we’re building is
finished. 

I
carry the box I’m holding into my childhood bedroom and find
Breanne sitting on the bed with her back resting against the
headboard.  Gazing out the window, she absentmindedly fiddles
with her necklace, frowning. 

“
What’s
wrong?”

“
Hmm? 
Oh, I was just thinking.” 

She
uncrosses her ankles and sets her feet on the floor.  Rising
slowly, she picks something up from the bedside table and then walks
to the dresser and places the item down.  The jewelry box.

“
This
is going to sound silly.  I don’t know, maybe it’s my
hormones.  I just…I don’t want to wear this anymore.  I
think it’s time to put it away.  Get closure.”

Breanne’s
nervous and I’d bet she doesn’t want to offend me because these
things came from Alexis.  Smiling, I cup her face in my hand. 
“They were clues, not gifts.  She’d probably want that
too.” 

I
unclasp the necklace and set it inside the jewelry box.  Bending
down, I open the box containing my framed photos and place them on
the dresser as well.  I reach in to get another and end up
cutting my thumb on something sharp.

“
Shit. 
Do you have a Band-Aid?” I ask, sucking on my thumb to prevent
blood from staining the carpet.

Breanne
reaches into her purse and pulls one out.  “What did you cut
it on?” she asks as she triages my wound. 

Carefully,
I root through the box until I come across my watch, which contains a
few remaining pieces of jagged glass.  “This, I think.”

I
hold the watch out and let Breanne inspect it, certain she’ll tell
me I need a tetanus shot. 

“
Do
you ever plan on getting this fixed?” she asks.  “You’re
lucky the compass or the hands haven’t been damaged.” 

As
she says this, she cautiously sticks her pointer finger inside the
watch, maneuvering between the broken shards jutting out, and gasps.

“
Did
you cut yourself?” I ask, reaching for the watch.

“
Will
you look at this?”

Breanne
ignores my request and instead lifts the watch closer to her face. 

“
What
is it?”

“
That,”
she says pointing to the big hand of the watch and for the first time
I notice the unique design.

“
A
key,” I whisper.

“
You’re
the one who holds the key,” she whispers, quoting a line from
Alexis’s letter.

“
Do
you think…”

“
I
don’t know.”

With
the help of a pair of tweezers, Breanne finagles the key out. 
It’s tiny and fragile and I have no idea how this small thing could
unlock anything sizeable enough to hold any content of worth.  

“
Do
you still have Alexis’s letter?” she asks.

Taking
out my wallet, I find the letter and place it on the dresser before
us.

Not
all treasure is buried,

Some
is simply locked away.

At
times, dangling in front of you,

Or
stored out of harm’s way.

Shattered
glass can’t break our memories,

They
aren’t measured with a clock.

You’re
the one who holds the key,

She
the door to unlock.

Guard
the people and secrets you uncover,

As
those who protect us sometimes lie.

When
the tides have changed and the danger’s gone,

Make
a wish and say goodbye.

1-4-3

I
haven’t looked at the riddle Alexis wrote in months, but the words
are forever branded into my memory.  Upon reading the passage I
remove the necklace from the jewelry box and mutter the words
‘dangling in front of you’ while staring at Breanne’s
reflection in the mirror.  Reaching for the jewelry box, Breanne
answers with ‘out of harm’s way’.

Picking
up the watch I chant ‘shattered glass can’t break our memories,
they aren’t measured with a clock.  You’re the one who holds
the key, she the door to unlock.’ 

Looking
around the room, I think of what Breanne could possibly have to
unlock.  Having similar thoughts, Breanne searches the necklace
for a hole thinking that the necklace is actually a locket. 
It’s not.  

Frustrated,
Breanne sets the necklace in the jewelry box and shuts the lid,
tracing her fingertips over the intricate 3-D design of a church on
the lid. 

“
This
is an exact replica of the church Mark and I got married in. 
From the windows, to the steps that lead to the oversized wooden
doors.  Even the landscaping in front of this church is
identical to the real one.  It’s perfect.  It’s…wow.”

“
What
is it?”

“
The
oversized wooden doors.”

“
Is
that a keyhole?”

I
try not to get too excited because if this doesn’t work, I’ll be
severely disappointed.  I watch skeptically as she picks up the
small key and position it just above the small slot.

Breanne
shrieks.  It actually fits inside.

She
turns the key and I swear to God my heart briefly stops when I hear a
faint ‘click’ before one of the tiny doors pops open a sliver. 

“
Holy
shit. Can I?” I ask, gesturing to the jewelry box.

Biting
her lip, Breanne hands it over and with the tip of my finger I open
the door the rest of the way and press the other door open as well. 
 We both gasp at what lies just inside the enclosure.

An
SD card.

Flipping
the jewelry box over, I smack it until the card flies out from where
it’s snuggly nestled.

“
Fuck. 
This was in there the whole time,” I say in disbelief.    

“
Let’s
see what’s on it,” Breanne suggests, firing up my decade old
desktop computer.

Joining
her at my childhood desk, I hesitate.  “Wait.  If this is
the code she wrote and no one else could figure it out, it’s not
going to mean much to either of us.”

“
Maybe
it’s something else,” she proposes.  “I mean, if she had
completed the code, she could have just given it to the CIA herself. 
Why hide it?”

“
Because
she didn’t trust the CIA enough to hand it over.  Mark
mentioned that she was very skeptical.”

“
Why
complete it then?” she asks.

I
shrug.  “Alexis always completed everything she started. 
Even if it was only for herself, she might have seen the challenge
and done everything she could have done to see the project through,”
he explains.  “Or, she completed it because she thought there
was merit to the idea that someone else hacking the airline’s
system, like Ridges proposed, was a possibility…I don’t know.”

 “
Well,
there’s only one way to find out.”

Breanne
inserts the card.  A small screen pops up, asking for a
password.  I’m relieved when 1-4-3 works.  Once we’re
granted access, another window pops up and asks if we want to
download the content on the file.  Selecting yes, we watch three
files appear.  Breanne double-clicks the first one, titled ‘BW’,
which appears to be an address book of sorts.  Scrolling
through, there are several names that stick out.  A senator from
New Hampshire and a famous artist. Some of these people were
passengers on the maiden flight.  We continue scrolling and come
across Vivian’s name. 

“
I
bet this is a member list of Black Widow Threads.”

“
I
think you’re right,” I agree.

The
next file contains some of the documents Mark showed us that had been
retrieved from Alexis’s house.  In addition to that are
several other documents pointing to corruption and outlining the
connection to the Threads organization.  The last file is called
is called ‘Counter attack’. 

Breanne’s
about to open it when I stop her.  “Let’s wait.  That’s
probably code we won’t be able to understand.”

“
What
do you want to do with this?”

I
pick up Alexis’s letter and re-read the last few lines. 

Make
a wish and say goodbye.

“
Call
Mark.  We’ll give the card to him.  With Dosdell out of
the picture, I’d say the danger’s over.  They can figure out
the rest.”

Breanne
smiles in agreement.  “Can I have the watch?  I’ll put
it with the necklace in the jewelry box.”

I
hand it over and observe her walk into the closet and set it on a
shelf.  

“
I
have an idea,” I tell her.

An
hour later, Breanne and I are sitting on my parent’s boat in the
middle of Keuka Lake, silently bobbing.  

“
You’re
sure about this?” she asks for the tenth time.

Hunched
over with my forearms resting on my legs, I rub my thumbs over the
jewelry box that contains the watch and necklace.

“
Alexis
and I used to throw pennies in the lake when we were young...like the
lake was our own wishing well.  I’m sure she knew we’d need
closure if we ever figured this out.  Let’s make a wish and
say goodbye.”

 
Breanne
stands and walks the short distance to the back of the boat. 
“Ok, then.  Just don’t tell me what you wish for or it won’t
come true.”

“
All
my dreams came true when I met you.”

Taking
the jewelry box, I kiss it one time in thanks to my sister before
winding up and launching it into the white-capped waves.  I pull
Breanne into my arms and stare at the water, grateful to be moving
forward. 

A
delicious chill runs through my body as warm arms wrap around my
waist.  The sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on leans in so
close that his nose is literally in my hair.  Catching me off
guard, he inhales deeply and groans, “What shampoo do you use?”

My
heart is pounding and I couldn’t make a sentence right now if I
tried.  A hot, younger man isn’t only hitting on me, but an
hour ago he also became my husband.  Captivated, I turn to face
him, which is a huge mistake because now our faces are nearly
touching.  It’s physically impossible in this dress, but I
swear I can feel every inch of his body pressed against mine.  

“
Excuse
me?” I ask.  Not because Drew clearly knows what shampoo I
use, but because his question is reminiscent of one of the first
conversation we ever had.