The Heritage Paper

Chapter 49



There was no reason to call the police.

This was not a burglary. At least not the typical kind the police could help with. And while the police in town were very good at certain things—like breaking up high school keg parties—Veronica figured international conspiracies and Nazis weren’t really their thing.

So they waited for Eddie. At that point they could discuss the next steps, and check out what Ellen was hiding on her Facebook page. In the meantime, Veronica took care of some much-needed business. First of which was to get rid of her mother, along with Uncle Phil and Aunt Val.

Once that was taken care of, they changed into more comfortable clothes. Maggie put on her pajamas, while Jamie finally shed his police uniform, changing into an oversized, hooded Yankees sweatshirt that Carsten gave him on their last Christmas together.

Veronica changed into her own comfortable sweats, which she wore with running shoes. She then started a fire in the fireplace.

Next, they all chipped in and tried to clean up some of the wreckage. Luckily all the broken stuff was just that—stuff. The really important items like photograph albums, DVDs of the kids being born, and the last connections to their father, weren’t touched.

A knock pounded the door. Veronica expected Eddie, but remembered he would never knock. When she looked through the peephole and realized who it was, she filled with anger. She swung open the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I have uncovered new information,” Ben Youkelstein said. “We need to talk.”

“Yes we do,” Veronica fired back. She sent the kids to their room. No arguments this time.

“I really need to tell you what I’ve learned,” he eagerly repeated.

“Is this something you just learned or something you learned a long time ago, like how my husband came to you with Ellen’s letters? Did you think to bring that up when Flavia mentioned he was meeting his contact at Vassar … it was you!?”

His face went blank. “Veronica, I can explain.”

“How could I trust anything that ever comes out of your mouth after all your lies? Get out of my house! And for your sake you better hope I don’t find out you had something to do with Carsten’s death, or I will hunt you down like those Nazis you chase.”

“But Veronica …”

She didn’t want to hear it. “The police will be here any minute, so I suggest you go … now!”

When the door slammed shut, it sent the tears rolling down her face. As if she sensed something, Maggie hurried down the stairs and went right to her with a hug, and whispered, “I wish Dad were here,”

“Me too,” Veronica said, and for the first time in a long time she meant it.

Fifteen minutes later, Eddie arrived, still in his suit from the security meeting. Veronica brought him up to speed on everything that happened since he left Flavia’s. Which was a lot. As if trying to avoid the reality of the situation, he turned back into carefree Uncle Eddie.

He tousled Maggie’s hair and asked, “How you doing, Maggot?”

“I’m okay.”

He surveyed the room. “Where’s your brother?”

“Upstairs playing video games. You know him—he’s a vidiot. Good thing they didn’t steal his Xbox or he woulda had a mental breakdown.”

Eddie thought for a second, once again the serious policeman. “Everybody should stick together right now. Have him come down here.”

But before anyone could move, the doorbell rang. Eddie pulled a gun from his waistband. Veronica doubted the “bad guys” would ring the bell.

Eddie moved to the door and whipped it open. He jammed his gun into the temple of the man standing there.

Zach stood frozen, gripping tightly onto TJ’s hand.

“Eddie … no!” Veronica screamed out.

Eddie looked like he wanted to shoot him, but grudgingly accepted Veronica’s plea—sort of. He forcefully pushed Zach to the floor.

Zach ignored the police brutality, picked himself off the hardwood floor and ran to Veronica. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“If you told me you were coming I would’ve cleaned the place up a little,” she tried to joke. “What are you doing here?”

“I had this sense that you were in trouble.”

Veronica just stared at him. Her knight in shining armor … or at least her knight now dressed in sweater and jeans.

“That’s real convenient,” Eddie shattered the nice moment.

“What is?” Zach asked.

“Is that the same ‘sense’ that told you to stowaway on the trip to Rhinebeck?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eddie eyed Zach up and down with suspicious eyes. “I just think it’s interesting how you keep showing up. At the school this morning with a coffee … pushed your way into the principal’s office … and here you are again. And what a coincidence that while Veronica’s house was being broken into, you took her out for dinner and tried to convince her that there was no danger.”

“You think I’m … that’s crazy!”

“Who else would have knowledge of this time-capsule buried in the backyard, or the information on Maggie’s computer?”

“Why would I do such a thing?”

“A down-on-his-luck reporter who sees his opportunity to get back to the top. How much did they pay you?”

“C’mon, Eddie, we’re all tired here,” Veronica tried to play peacemaker. “You’re making wild accusations.”

“I don’t think they’re so wild. His kid just happens to end up in the same class as Ellen’s granddaughter, and his wife happens to be in the same jail as Rose Shepherd?”

Zach turned to Veronica. “You don’t believe this, do you?”

Veronica stood paralyzed. She didn’t know what or who to trust anymore. She asked her gut, but it didn’t have time to answer her.

Because all the lights in the house went off.

She heard footsteps upstairs. Too heavy to be Jamie’s.

And there was more than one set of them.

The Nazis were back.