Suspicions (30 page)

She shuddered as she contemplated how close
their whole family had come to being hurt by Patricia.

Absently touching her new stitches, Stacey
realized how fragile life could be. If Jason had not shown up when
he did, she didn’t know what would have happened.

The sound of Nikki snoring brought her out of
her thoughts. She left Nikki's room and walked into the bedroom she
shared with Jason.

Day 9 – Tuesday

Stacey was gratified to see there were no
reporters waiting outside to harass every passerby. She let go of
the mini-blind slat and walked back toward the kitchen where Jason
was waiting for her. He was taking the day off, as were the
children, needing the time to regroup.

Today was their ninth wedding anniversary and
they would be spending it together. Robby and Nikki were still
asleep, worn-out from the night before.

Stacey sat next to Jason as he finished his
breakfast. “The reporters are gone.”

He nodded and swallowed the last of his
French toast. “I guess they're off to find a new big story.” He
grinned at Stacey. “I'm just glad it doesn't involve us.”

He reached under the table, and pulled out a
small gift. The surprise in Stacey's eyes was obvious as he handed
it over. Tearing off the paper, she looked at the small blue box.
Upon opening it, she gasped in delight. She lifted the heart-shaped
pendant off of its bed of black velvet.

“Turn it over,” Jason said.

She did and saw the inscription there: For
Stacey. The love of my life.

Tears shimmered on her lashes as she looked
back up at Jason. She reached over and kissed him tenderly on the
mouth. “Thank you. I love you.”

He didn't reply, instead caressing her cheek.
“You really are the love of my life, Stacey.”

After all they had been through in the past
week, this was the crowning moment, when they knew their adversity
had only brought them closer after all.

“I feel bad, Jason. With all that was going
on, I completely forgot about buying you a gift.”

“That's okay. Just having you sitting here
next to me, safe, is all the gift I need.” He laughed quietly.
“Besides, if I hadn't ordered this last Monday, I probably wouldn't
have gotten you anything either.”

Stacey's eyes opened with astonishment. “Was
that the errand you were on when Kyle was abducted?”

He grinned broadly. “Yes. What else did you
think I'd been doing?”

Her face colored slightly. “I have no idea
what else you could have been doing. I'm just glad you were doing
this,” she said, holding up the pendant.

Later that morning Stacey did some chores
that had recently been neglected. One of them was the laundry. As
she was hanging clothes in her closet she noticed the large box
where they stored their shoes was out of place. Instead of being
against the back wall of the closet it was shoved forward.

Pushing it with her foot, she tried to move
it back into place. Something was in the way. That's strange,
Stacey thought. She leaned over and pulled it out further to see
what the obstruction was.

“Jason!” she called out. “Come here!”

Jason hustled into the room. “What's wrong?”
He walked over to the closet to see what Stacey was all worked up
about.

Stacey pulled a blue bag out from behind the
shoes. On it were the words “Valley Health Club.”

Jason stared in silence.

“Is this what I think it is?” Stacey asked, a
smile starting to break across her face.

“I don't know,” Jason said, taking it from
her and opening the zipper.

Stacey watched as Jason dumped the contents
onto their bed. Bundles and bundles of cash spilled out onto their
comforter.

“What was it doing in our closet?” Jason
asked.

Stacey laughed. “You know what Patricia told
me when I asked her where the money was? She said it was under our
feet! She must have meant our shoes.”

Jason still looked confused. “When do you
think she put it there?”

“I don't know.” Stacey paused for a minute,
suddenly remembering something. “Wait a minute. Last night . . .
was it only last night?” She looked at Jason in astonishment. “Last
night when I discovered you guys were missing I smelled some
perfume. She must have brought it here and hid it after she lured
you guys away.”

“I wonder if it's all here,” Jason said as he
began organizing the bills to count them. A few minutes later he
finished counting. All one million dollars were present and
accounted for.

Jason spoke first. “That sure is a lot of
money.”

“We'll have to give it back to Amanda.”

Jason nodded. “Of course, but we don't have
to do it right now, do we?”

Stacey grinned at him. “No. I guess we don't
have to right this second.”

As Stacey began putting the money back in the
bag, Jason touched her hand, stopping her.

“Let me just look at it for a while.” He
glanced at Stacey.

“Okay, I'll see what the kids are up to.”

She walked into the family room and found the
children watching a cartoon.

“How's it going guys?” she asked, concerned
there would be lingering effects from their brief ordeal.

“Hi, Mommy,” Nikki said, running to her
mother and giving her a hug.

Robby was engrossed in the television program
and gave a Stacey a quick smile to show he had heard her.

“How would you like me to read you a story?”
Stacey said as she sat on the couch and pulled Nikki onto her
lap.

A short time later Jason walked into the
family room carrying the bag of money. He looked at Stacey as she
sat on the couch reading to Nikki. “Are you ready to take Amanda's
money back to her?”

“I'm ready if you are. Just let me finish
this story first.”

They held hands as they walked the short
distance to the Stone's house, the children close behind. Amanda
seemed surprised to see them when she opened her door.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, as she
motioned for them to enter.

Jason held up the bag. “We have something for
you.”

Mark joined them a moment later as Robby and
Nikki went out back to play. Jason and Stacey explained how they
had come to have possession of the ransom money. Amanda was shocked
to hear what had happened since she had last spoken to Stacey.

“How's Kyle doing?” Jason asked.

Her face brightened. “He's doing very well.
In fact, he wanted to go back to school today. But I told him we
wanted to have him all to ourselves for one more day first.” She
smiled at Mark as he put his arm around her.

At that, Kyle came shyly walking into the
room and sat at his parents' side. Amanda gave him a squeeze. “All
ready to go, sport?”

He nodded.

Amanda turned back to Jason and Stacey.
“First we're going miniature golfing, then bowling, then I don't
know what.”

They were interrupted by a knock on the front
door. They were all surprised to see Fred Gowen standing on the
porch.

“Mr. and Mrs. Stone? I was wondering if I
could talk to you for a minute.”

They invited him in as Robby and Nikki came
running back into the house. They all sat down in the living room,
looking at Fred Gowen expectantly.

Noticing the attention, he shifted in his
chair uncomfortably. “One of my dogs recently had puppies, you see.
And I was wondering if your son would like to take one.”

Everyone's gaze shifted to Mark. He looked at
Kyle, who was beaming, and nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Gowen. I think
that would be wonderful.”

Amanda looked at her son. “Kyle? What do you
tell Mr. Gowen?”

“Thank you, Mr. Gowen! That would be really
cool!”

Fred Gowen changed his focus to Robby. “Young
Mr. Hunter, I was kind of short with you the other day and I wanted
to apologize. I had some dangerous equipment in my barn and I
didn't want anyone to get hurt.”

Robby blushed, embarrassed to have his
parents find out what had happened. “That's okay, Mr. Gowen.”

“Now, if it's okay with your folks,” Gowen
said, glancing over to Jason, “I'd like it if you could take one of
the puppies off of my hands, too.”

Robby jumped up and ran over to his dad.
“Could I, dad? Please?”

“All right, Robby,” Jason laughed, “I think
we could find a spot for a puppy at our house.”

A while later, as they were about to leave,
Amanda pulled Stacey by the arm. “Can I talk to you for a
minute?”

“Sure,” Stacey said. She turned to Jason. “Go
ahead, honey. I'll be home in a bit.”

After Jason and the children left, Stacey
turned to Amanda, her heart beginning to pound as she waited for
the accusations.

“Stacey, I just wanted you to know that I
spoke to my niece, Deanna. She told me what happened but I want you
to know that I'm not angry with you.”

“Really?” Stacey asked, thankful beyond
words.

“Really. I would’ve probably done the same
thing.”

“Thank you,” Stacey said, giving Amanda a
hug. Then she thought about Deanna’s roommate talking about things
going well on this end. She asked Amanda what that was all
about.

“Oh. I guess she was talking about the
attorney Mark had hired for her to help settle her father’s estate.
Deanna had felt like Mark was doing so much for her, she had
refused at first to let Mark hire him. But she finally agreed this
last week.”

“I see,” Stacey said, thinking that must be
what they’d been arguing about at the park. “Again, I’m just so
sorry for what I assumed.”

“It’s okay,” Amanda said. “Don’t worry
about.”

Stacey thought about the snooping she’d done
and was scared to tell Amanda about it. But she wanted to clear her
conscience and put the last week behind her. “Amanda,” she
started.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this. I’m so
ashamed.”

Concern filling her eyes, Amanda put her hand
on Stacey’s arm. “What is it?”

Biting her lip to keep from crying, Stacey
drew in a shaky breath. “When the FBI began suspecting Jason I . .
. I looked in Mark’s files in his office.” Stacey stopped and
looked at Amanda, who appeared shocked. “I wondered if maybe Mark
had taken Kyle. I was trying to find a reason for him to do it so
that Jason wouldn’t be a suspect.”

“I’m disappointed that you would do that,
Stacey. But I’m grateful for your honesty.”

“I’m so sorry.” Stacey thought about the
divorce papers she’d found but decided that was Mark’s information
to share. “I have something for you.” Stacey reached into her
pocket and pulled out the copy of the keys she’d made along with
the locker key.

“What are these?”

“The locker key is Mark’s. The other keys go
to the file cabinet in his office.”

“Thank you,” Amanda said as she took it from
her hand.

“What can I do to make it up to you?”

“I don’t know. Looking through our personal
papers is pretty serious.” Amanda paused. “But I sort of understand
your reasons for doing it. And you did bring back the ransom money
you found. I mean, if you hadn’t brought it to us, no one would
have known you found it. I really do appreciate your honesty.”

“I feel like such a horrible person. I hope
someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“Listen, Stacey. After all I’ve been through
this week, this is really not the worst thing that’s happened. I
think I’ll get over it.” She put her hands on Stacey’s shoulders.
“Of course I forgive you.”

Relieved beyond measure and feeling better
than she had since Kyle had been kidnapped, Stacey pulled Amanda
into a warm embrace. “You’re a better woman than me.”

Amanda pulled back and said, “Even though you
made a mistake, you’ve been through a difficult week yourself. I’ll
always appreciate you and your friendship.”

“Thank you,” Stacey said through fresh
tears.

That afternoon Jason and Stacey were relaxing
in the living room as the children played with their new puppy in
the backyard. Stacey was sitting on the couch, Jason lying on his
back with his head resting on her lap. They were rehashing the
extraordinary events of the last week.

“I wonder how Patricia knew about Amanda's
money?”

Jason smiled guiltily. “I might have
mentioned it to her.”

“What?”

He closed his eyes. “I don't know if I'll
ever forgive myself for that.” He looked at up Stacey. “I had no
idea she would use the information like she did.”

“How could you know? She seemed perfectly
normal,” Stacey pointed out.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock
on the door.

“Who could that be?” Stacey wondered
aloud.

Jason rose and Stacey followed him to the
door. It was Amanda. Jason invited her in and they stood in the
entry as Amanda held out a small envelope.

“I just wanted to give you this as a kind of
reward.”

Stacey took the envelope with open curiosity.
“You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Amanda said. “But I appreciate you
guys and I know this will probably help, so don't you dare refuse
it.”

With that, she opened the front door and
left.

Jason and Stacey looked at each other for a
minute, then Stacey opened the unsealed envelope and pulled out a
check made out to both of them for fifty thousand dollars.

They didn't say anything for a minute, too
stunned to speak. Stacey broke the silence. “What should we do with
it?”

“I think we need to take a vacation,” Jason
said.

Stacey couldn't get the smile off of her
face.

Christine loves reading, camping, movie
watching, and spending time with her family. She especially loves
to write stories about made-up people and give them challenging
situations that they have to get out of.