Lords Valley, Pennsylvania
SMOKE ROSE FROM THE chimney of a three story home set in the midst of Channing Forest. The smoke drifted away in the cool mountain air as twilight set over the land. The home was in desperate need of a paint job, but a warm glow shined out of the windows that were simply decorated for the holidays with strands of white lights and a single candle. A bright red mailbox sat adjacent to the house bearing the name Cormack.
The low hum of a TV set could be heard outside the house as a doe and her fawns passed under one of the living room windows. The deer peered observantly through the window as a family relaxed inside. Miles lounged with his feet up in an old blue recliner. He had kicked off his boots which lay haphazardly on the floor. Miles’s eyes appeared calm and reflective as he looked down at a stack of papers that sat on his lap. Miles very intently read his mother’s words as he soaked in the experiences of the woman he so admired.
Breaking his eyes from the manuscript, Miles stretched and let out a tremendous yawn. Letty looked up from her laptop with a smile. She had never seen Miles so at ease before. Her eyes grazed over Miles’s face. His eyes, which were so dark and cold that night in New York, were now soft and inviting, like pools of hot chocolate tempting her senses. Miles’s beard had begun to grow back and as he read, he scratched at the whiskers that ran along his jawline. Resting at his side, G sat in an almost identical recliner, fast asleep with Miles’s leather jacket draped over him like a blanket. Letty smiled as she looked at her men, a feeling of supreme gratitude flooded her body.
Clicking her fingers against the keys of her laptop, Letty sent an email to Knox. Her email address was cryptic. Registered to an Amanda Juarez, the email [email protected] didn’t even hint at Letty or Miles’s identity. Knox, of course, would know who the email was from, though, because he was the one who created the account in the first place.
Hey,
Just checking in. The weather’s amazing here. Hope you’re well. See you at Christmas. Peace.
-Amanda
Letty smirked a little as she hit send. Everything about her cryptic message was code. Knox couldn’t care less about the weather. Letty was alerting Knox that everything was okay. Closing the lid of her Dell, Letty reached down to pat the head of the dog that sat by her feet. A silky-coated chocolate lab looked up at her with a happy face. Sawyer was a stray that had wandered through the woods and happened upon the Cormack homestead. Miles liked to say that the dog chose them. Sawyer had climbed up on the porch shortly after they had arrived in Pennsylvania and decided to never leave. Miles and Letty were happy to welcome Sawyer into their lives, and G saw the dog as something of a companion.
“Good boy,” Letty said as she pat Sawyer’s head.
Rising from her chair, Letty crossed the living room, skating across the shag rug in her satin bedroom slippers. Flicking on the old tube TV, Letty turned to channel six as the game show Jeopardy came on.
“Seven o’clock already?” Miles asked as he broke his eyes from his mother’s manuscript.
“Sure is,” Letty said. “This day flew by. Is it an interesting read?” Letty asked, pointing to Andie’s memoirs.
“This?” Miles asked as he pointed to the stack of papers on his lap. “Very interesting. She knew a lot more than she let on to.”
Letty didn’t look surprised. “She was not a dumb woman.”
“No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. This right here…” Miles said as he tapped his finger three times on the manuscript. “Would blow the lid off of organized crime in Carrion.”
Letty’s eyebrows raised with interest. “Really? What do you intend to do with it?”
“Me? Nothing. But what’s to stop someone else from publishing my mother’s work posthumously…” Miles hinted. “Especially a certain someone who is always on the computer,” Miles said as a smile tugged at his lips.
Letty snickered. “I’m pretty sure that’s what Andie would have wanted. To make Carrion safe for her children and grandchildren.”