Chapter 12 - The Locket
"Where is it?" Arthur demanded, stepping forward.
"Teresa doesn't have it," I said, my mind racing back to the night of the arrest. "Mason does."
When Mason stole the leather ledger from me in the alley, he had bragged about taking whatever he could get his hands on. I remembered Amy mentioning weeks ago that her childhood jewelry box had gone missing from our bedroom. We thought she had misplaced it. Mason had stolen it for Teresa, but when he got arrested, he kept it for himself.
"Mason is in protective custody awaiting trial," I told Arthur. "His belongings would be in lockup."
"If he figures out what's inside that locket, he'll post bail and vanish," Arthur growled. "We have to get it back. It belongs to Amy."
I didn't hesitate. "Get in my truck."
I drove us straight to the police precinct. I bypassed the front desk and went directly to Detective Vance's office.
"Connor, what are you doing here?" Vance asked, looking up from a stack of paperwork. He eyed Arthur suspiciously. "Who is this?"
"This is my father-in-law," I said smoothly. "Detective, I need to ask you about the evidence seized from Mason's apartment after his arrest."
Vance sighed. "It's all impounded. Why?"
"He stole something from my wife. A silver locket. It has immense sentimental value."
Vance pulled up a file on his computer. "Let's see... a watch, a ledger, three laptops... yeah, a silver locket is listed here. But I can't release it without a court order, Connor. You know that."
"I don't need you to release it," I said, leaning over his desk. "I need you to open it. Right now. Because there's a stolen bearer bond inside worth five million dollars, and if it stays in an unsecured lockup, it's going to disappear."
Vance's eyes widened. He stood up without a word, grabbed a set of keys, and gestured for us to follow.
Down in the evidence room, Vance unlocked a cage and pulled out a clear plastic bag. Inside was the tarnished silver locket I had seen Amy wear on our first date.
Vance put on gloves, took a small penknife, and popped the clasp.
The locket opened. Inside, folded incredibly tight, was a piece of aged, watermark paper. Vance carefully unfolded it using tweezers.
It was a bearer bond from a Chicago bank, dated 1993. Value: $5,000,000.
"I'll be damned," Vance whispered.
"My mother stole it," I said. "She tortured my wife to get close enough to find it. Now, it needs to go back to its rightful owner."
Vance nodded slowly. "I'll make the calls. The rightful owner's estate will be notified. But the reward for recovering stolen securities of this size... it's a mandatory ten percent."
Five hundred thousand dollars. Legally ours.
I looked at Arthur. The scarred, weary ex-con had tears streaming down his face.
"Come home with me," I told him gently. "It's time you saw your daughter."
An hour later, I walked through my front door. Amy was in the living room, reading a book to Frederick. She looked up and smiled, but then she saw the large man standing behind me.
She dropped the book. Her hands flew to her mouth.
"Amy," Arthur choked out, falling to his knees on the rug. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I left you."
"Dad?" she whispered, sliding off the couch. She crawled across the floor and threw her arms around the man she thought had been dead for twenty years.
I stood back, watching my family finally, truly heal. The secrets were gone. The toxic past was buried. We had half a million dollars coming to us, a beautiful home, and a grandfather for Frederick.
As I watched them cry in each other's arms, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
It was an automated message from the state penitentiary.
Inmate Teresa Bradley has been transferred to the infirmary. She wants to see her son before she dies.
I looked at my wife, holding her father and our child.
May you like
I hit 'Decline' and blocked the number.
Some doors are meant to stay closed forever.
