The Man in the Shadows

Jessica’s mind raced as she watched the young deputy. She needed to look through the bookshelf, but if he thought she was on to something, he would take over. Jessica lowered her eyes. She had to put on the distressed appearance of a girl who just lost her mother, not a woman on the path to revenge.

She whimpered, " Do you think I could have a couple minutes alone in the library?" she asked quietly. "It was my mom's favorite room in the house."

Jessica deliberately used the word 'mom', something she never called her mother. It sounded more hometownish. She hoped it made her appear younger and more fragile than the determined adult she actually was.

The deputy had a kind heart. He looked at her as she wiped a single tear from her cheek.

"Sure ma'am," he responded. He knew it was not allowed, but what could happen with him right outside the door? He stepped out onto the porch. "I will be right outside when you are ready to leave." he stated calmly.

Jessica thanked him and turned toward the bookshelves. She remembered her mother hiding things in the bookshelves when she was a child. It was a game they used to play. Perhaps her mother was training her for this very moment in time. Jessica shook her head,"Silliness, " she thought to herself.

The air inside the house was heavy with the scent of dried blood and old paper, the destruction from the ransacking still evident. The place she had grown up in now felt alien, tainted by tragedy.

Her mother had been hiding something. Something worth killing for. But what? She moved cautiously through the wreckage, avoiding the bloodstain on the hardwood where her mother had fallen. Jessica began pulling books from the shelves, scanning for anything out of place. A book bulging with answers, a book too light for the dense thickness of the cover, a hidden book behind other books, anything!

Then, her fingers brushed against the rough edge of a loose shelf board behind her mother's favorite novel.

She looked around to make sure that the Deputy was still outside and not watching her. He had moved off the porch a short distance and was on his walkie talkit. With a deep breath, she pried on the board. It gave way pretty easily, and inside there was a hidden compartment. Jessica let her nimble fingers reach inside the opening. She did not want to pull the entire board off, signaling that she had been looking for something. She wanted to know what reason anyone had to kill her mother before the police found the hiding place. She knew it was only a matter of time before they turned the house upside down looking for clues.

She felt paper against her fingers and scissored her digits around a stack of papers. She pulled out old letters tied with a faded red ribbon. Her heart hammering in her chest, she slipped the letters into her ovenight case.

She did not recognize the handwriting on the address labels. She could not spend any time looking through them now. She slowly took a book from the shelf, as the Deputy walked back in. He eyed her suspiciously.

Jessica choked, "My mom's favorite novel." she said as she held up the book. As she returned the book to the shelf, she made sure it fit snugly against the board. She inhaled and turned to leave the house. She had found something that in her heart she knew would lead her to her mother's killer. She stepped out onto the porch.

The Deputy closed the door behind them and walked Jessica to her car. She drove slowly out of the farm yard, gingerly reaching into her bag and pulling out the letters.

Jessica checked her rearview mirror, making sure the Deputy had stayed well behind—but as she unfolded the first letter, a name leapt out at her. Michael Bowden. Her father’s name.

Jessica’s breath caught in her throat. Her father had left when she was a child, disappearing without a trace. Her mother never spoke of him, and Jessica had stopped asking.

But now, here was proof that he had still been in contact with her mother. Jessica couldn't read the letter while she was driving, but judging by the date on the letter, he had been in contact recently.

Why had her mother hidden these?

Her mother had been hiding a deadly secret.

And Jessica was going to find out what it was, no matter the cost.