He checked the hasp for wires, and then pulled it back. He couldn’t see any wiring. He eased the door slowly open, listening for the ominous click of a pressure switch. When it was barely open, he took out his pocketknife and extended the longest blade. Moving it backward, in the space between door and jamb, he determined there was nothing attached to the back of the door.
He closed the knife and pulled the door open. Just inside the entrance, on the seat of a riding lawn mower was a box with UPS Red markings.
“It’s all right,” he said.
Caitlin pushed against him to peer inside.
“Were you expecting a package?”
“No, I wasn’t planning to come up here again until Mom and Dad got home.”
“Well then, let’s see who it’s from.”
The yellow copy of the invoice was folded and shoved under the edge of the box. He slipped it out and passed it to Caitlin.
She unfolded the paper and read it silently for a moment. “It’s from Scott.”
“Oh? To you?”
“Yes.”
“If he sent it UPS Red, then he must have sent it recently. What’s the date on it?”
“Four days ago. The day I left for San Francisco.”
“Uh oh,” He said.
“What? What do you mean?”
“He sent it to you here, the day before he was killed. I’d say that what’s in this box is the little item that got him killed.”
“Of course, what else could it be? Open it.”
John looked from the box to Caitlin. “Are you sure you want to do that? Sometimes it’s better to remain ignorant. We could give it back and convince them that you never saw the contents.”
“Screw that! They’ve already tried to kill me, and they did kill Scott. I want to know what’s so damn important that they’re willing to kill for it.”
“All right, but you probably ought to wait until we’re back in the house.” John picked the box up, it wasn’t very heavy, maybe ten pounds, and held it out to Caitlin.
She took it from him, hefted it a couple of times as if she was estimating its weight, and then stuck in under her left arm. “Okay, let’s go.”
“First things first. I still want to look around the property. Did you say there was another path out of here besides the driveway?”
“Not much of a path, it’s for people on foot not for cars. Although, I suppose the Jeep could make it.”
“Show me.”
She led him toward the southeast corner of the property. The trees thinned in that direction and John watched carefully to judge whether the Jeep would be able to get between them. A hundred yards into the forest, the land dropped sharply for about twenty feet. It descended about the same distance giving a nearly smooth forty-five-degree slope, and then the path opened onto a clearing that continued downslope for at least a quarter mile. A four-strand, barbed wired fence bisected the field.
“That’s Abe Jackson’s property. You can just make out his stable at the far end of the clearing.”
“Yes, I see it.”
“There’s a drive leading away from it that will take you down to the road.”
“Which road is it?”
“The last one we passed before turning onto ours. You can either turn left there and come out on highway 24 near Falcon, or you can turn right, and you’ll meet back up with Black Forest Road in a couple of miles.”
“All right, this looks good. The Jeep shouldn’t have any problems fitting between these trees and this slope certainly won’t bother it.”
“Well, there is something else. You see those lumps in the snow?”
John gazed out across the white expanse. It was difficult to see any contrast in the bright sunlight.
“Yeah, I think I see what you’re talking about. What are they?”
“Rocks, the field’s littered with them. Some are big enough to rip the oil pan out from under the Jeep.”
“That wouldn’t be good. Maybe I had better brush the snow away from them.”
“That would take hours,” Caitlin said.
“Yeah, but it beats having a busted oil pan.”
“Later then, if you really want to I’ll come out and help you later.”
“You in a hurry to get back to the house?”
She held up the box. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to learn patience,” he said and then broke into a grin.
“Patience my Aunt Betsy. Let’s go.”
They walked side by side through the deep snow back to the house.
Caitlin set the package on a table beneath a tall mirror in the foyer while she shrugged out of her coat.
John eased out of his, removing the coat didn’t hurt his shoulder as much as putting it on. He hung both of their coats in the closet while she picked up the package and carried it into the great room.
When he caught up with her, she was sitting on the sofa, the torn wrapping of the package at her feet, the box to one side of her, and a letter in her hands.
He sat down on the other side of the box and watched her face as she read. After a few seconds, he grew uncomfortable watching the emotion that darkened her eyes and looked away. Whatever she was reading was personal, and she deserved her privacy.
John lifted the box from between them and set it in his lap. Foam had been sprayed into the box to form a custom fitted, shock-absorbing package. He worked the top of the foam out and stared inside. There were four objects in the box. One was another DVD, and two of the objects appeared identical. They were oblong like pointy eggs, about the size of hen eggs, and gold in color. His memory dredged up a Disney
