Chapter 6 - THE KEY
I drove home like every red light was personal.
When I pulled into the driveway, Margaret was standing in the front hall holding a small brass key.
Gwen stood ten feet away.
Paige blocked the stairs.
"There he is," Margaret said brightly. "We were just looking for you."
I shut the door behind me. "What's going on?"
She held up the key. "Gwen has been sneaking around again."
Gwen's face was pale.
I forced a confused look. "Sneaking around where?"
Margaret watched me carefully.
"The damaged room."
"The one with bad pipes?"
A tiny pause.
"Yes."
I shrugged. "Then lock it back up."
Paige stared at me like she couldn't decide whether I was stupid or dangerous.
Gwen looked crushed.
I hated that look, but I needed Margaret relaxed.
"See?" Margaret told Gwen. "David trusts his family."
I walked to Gwen, touched her shoulder gently, and felt her flinch.
"You should rest," I said.
She looked into my eyes.
I tapped twice against her shoulder with my thumb.
An old signal from when we used to play poker with friends: I'm bluffing.
Her breathing changed.
Just a little.
That night, Margaret took the brass key upstairs.
At 2:08 a.m., I heard Paige's bedroom door close.
At 2:14, Gwen met me barefoot in the hallway.
"She keeps the key in her jewelry box," she whispered.
"I don't need it."
I pulled a small lock bypass from my old travel kit.
Gwen stared. "Why do you have that?"
"Long story."
The lock clicked in twelve seconds.
The door opened.
A stale, chemical smell rolled out.
I switched on my phone flashlight.
The first thing I saw was a folding medical chair.
The second was a trash bag full of empty prescription bottles.
The third was a stack of unopened envelopes tied with string.
Every envelope had my handwriting on it.
Letters I had mailed Gwen from overseas.
None had ever been opened.
Then my light moved to the wall.
Dozens of photographs were pinned there.
Photos of me.
Photos of Gwen.
May you like
And one photograph I had never seen before.
It showed my mother standing beside a man I knew from my own unit.
