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Ghost

Ghost watched as the three descended into the hidden basement. The back door opened, and before Ghost could worry, Conor announced themselves.

“It’s us. Where is everyone?”

“Some down below, and the others in the living room,”

Ghost answered.

“Looks like you guys did better than we did,”

Conor said.

“Ray found a secret entrance to the basement,”

Ghost explained.

Gunner pulled out his gun and began down the stairs.

“Coming down,”

the big sniper warned the men below.

Conor stayed with Ghost, which he appreciated.

“Weird, there weren’t any exterior windows indicating a full basement. Someone put a great deal of effort into hiding it,”

Conor said.

“Did you find anything outside?”

Ghost asked.

“Nothing. The place was bare. Garage empty. The shed contained a riding lawnmower, but other than that, it was empty. Much like this house appears to be on the surface anyway,”

Conor said while pointing toward the secret passage.

“There’s a lot more going on here than a missing baby, Great-Aunt Sophia, and whether the priest shot Jericho,”

Ghost stated.

“Agreed.”

“We’re all clear down here,”

Elias announced from the basement.

Ghost didn’t wait to be told twice and immediately started down the stairs, his curiosity peaked and imagination working overtime. When he reached the bottom, he first noticed a completely separate living area with a couch, television, single bed, kitchenette, and bathroom.

“Is this some type of bomb shelter? Was Cross a doomsdayer?”

Ghost asked.

“Not as far as we know,”

Elias answered.

“Looks like he lived down here,”

Conor said.

“Explains a lot about the state of the rest of the house. But why?”

Gunner asked.

“The fridge is fully stocked, all fresh stuff,”

Ray said from the kitchen.

“No windows,”

Elias pointed out.

“Look at this,”

Brick said from what looked to be the office. “The place has video inside and out. Cross could see everything in and around the house from down here. Explains those cameras.”

“Was he hiding?”

Ghost asked ’cause it sure looked like it.

“And from who?”

Ray added.

“Better question,”

Conor said. “What does this map mean?”

They all converged on a table Conor was hovering over. Ghost looked down to find what looked like a map of Marshall with different colors shading certain areas and names attached. He wasn’t familiar with all the people who lived in Marshall, but he did recognize the Matthews lake house, downtown, and the Berry farm.

“Why does he have a map of the county?”

Ghost asked.

“Along with the exact boundaries of each landowner’s property,”

Elias pointed out.

“There’s Bryan Murray’s ranch,”

Conor said, motioning toward the map.

“Isn’t that the barn we were in, Ray?”

Ghost asked.

“Yes. It’s shaded red along with this property here.”

“That’s the Berrys’ land,”

Elias said.

“That makes sense ’cause Cross said the Berrys bought the Miles property. So all this over here belonged to Jericho Miles’s family.”

Ghost pointed at the large area surrounding the barn.

“Yes. The house is long gone; only the barn remains, and the land is being used for pasture,”

Elias said.

“What’s this other outline?”

Brick asked, pointing to an even larger area circled in yellow.

“Looks like it covers the entire southwest portion of the county, including the Berry farm, the old Miles property, and even part of Bryan’s ranch and a few other properties,”

Elias answered.

“Does anyone else get the strange feeling there’s shit going on here that goes beyond what we’re investigating?”

Ray asked.

“Yes,”

Brick said. “And I don’t like it. I want pictures of everything. Tear this place apart if you have to. I need to make a few calls.”

“On it.”

“I think shit is about to hit the fan,”

Conor said.

“Agreed,”

Ghost responded.

***

Ray

They returned to the lake house later that evening to find Julia and Kyle waiting for them with the information they’d found in the boxes. Rocko, Shaw, and a few deputies were still out following Rocko’s lead to Mr. Cross after searching his truck.

The younger boys were asleep on the couch after what appeared to have been a fun movie marathon, so the team stayed in the kitchen to review the documents. It was truly a family atmosphere among the team, and Ray was constantly reminded of a large part of his life that was missing. Would life in Marshall still be hell now that he’d grown?

“We found these buried deep in one of Sophia’s boxes wrapped in a silk scarf,”

Julia said as she handed the papers out. “There are eleven letters in total from Jericho to Sophia while he was away in the Army. They date between 1952 and 1953 and get progressively less often as time passes.”

Ray felt odd about reading private letters between lovers, but it had to be done if it shed any light on what occurred all those years ago.

“They begin normal enough. Details of basic training and then being deployed and flying out to Korea. Life in a war zone, basically, and we only have one side of the conversation, considering we don’t have Sophia’s letters to him. However, by how he speaks to her, you can tell how much he misses Sophia, and he writes that they’ll be married as soon as he returns to the States. There’s even one where he laments not marrying her before shipping out.”

“So our suspicions were correct. They were a couple before he left,”

Ghost said.

“Yes. I wish we had Sophia’s letters to get a full picture,”

Julia said. “But by all indication, their love was shared.”

“We began this investigation trying to find the line that connects Brick and Stryker,”

Ray said as he put the pieces together. “I’m throwing this out there as a possible scenario, and we’d need even more extensive DNA testing to prove it, but what if Sophia got pregnant before Jericho shipped out?”

“If so, what happened to the baby?”

Ghost asked.

“It was a different time back then. Single mothers were taboo, a family embarrassment, and were hidden away or sent away to have their babies in secret. The woman would return after acting like she’d been on holiday, but everyone knew the truth,”

Julia explained. “Sex before marriage wasn’t accepted as proper behavior and looked down upon as a family disgrace.”

“That child could have been my mother or father?”

Stryker asked. “I never knew my father, and my mother traded me in for her rich new husband.”

Stryker’s partner, John, reached over and took hold of Stryker’s hand at the sign of his sadness. Ghost had heard how Stryker’s mother dumped him because her new rich husband didn’t want the lowly serviceman in the family. Years later, she left all the money to Stryker, millions of dollars, as some sort of apology. Stryker immediately donated every last penny to the Wounded Warrior Program.

“Yes, and that’s how you and Brick are related. Brick’s grandfather was Sophia’s brother,”

Ray explained. “This is all conjecture at this point.”

“My father, William Matthews,”

Brick said, “would have been first cousins with Sophia’s child. Making Stryker and I second cousins.”

“Yes.”

They still needed to prove it, but all indications led in this direction. The only question was, did Sophia have a boy or a girl?

“So, if that’s true, Jericho Miles was my grandfather, and Sophia was my grandmother,”

Stryker said, and Ray could see the realization dawning in his expression.

Brick looked over at Stryker and stood to pull Stryker from his chair, hugging him tight.

“I always knew we were brothers in arms, but now we know our blood came from Marshall, from the Matthews family. This place is as much yours as mine,”

Brick said as Stryker hugged him back. Everyone knew Brick had a close relationship with his great-aunt, and knowing Stryker was her grandson must have been life-changing.

Family.