The Lost Choice (3 page)

Dorry Chandler was the kind of woman people stared at, trying to determine if they thought she was attractive. She was five feet four inches tall if she stood on her tiptoes to be measured, which she was apt to do, and weighed an even one hundred pounds. Her red hair was accented by a sprinkling of freckles on her face. Mark walked over and kissed his wife on the top of her head.

“What time did you get in?”

“Late—eleven-thirty. Plane was delayed out of Dallas.”

“Sorry I didn't wait up,” Mark said as he sat on the arm of the chair.“Other than the late flight,was the trip okay?”

“Yeah, you know,” Dorry shrugged.“Did the interview. In and out. No big deal.”

“Do you have to go to the office today?” he asked.

“Nope. Wrote the article flying in and e-mailed it to the office last night while you snored.” She messed up his hair and headed for the kitchen.“Coffee?” she asked.

“Sure, thanks,” Mark said as he followed her in and sat down at the breakfast table. A Denver police officer in his fourteenth year, Mark was exactly two years older than his thirty-seven-year-old wife. He was average in height and build with dark, curly hair that occasionally grew over his ears. And that was okay. He was a detective sergeant and could get away with it.

The first day he had seen Dorry, she was arguing with his partner, who, at the time, was trying to give her a speeding ticket, and she was refusing to accept it. Standing at the rear of Dorry's beat-up white Buick LeSabre, Mark had been laughing so hard that his partner finally walked back to him and, fuming, handed him the ticket book. It had taken Mark about five more minutes to calm Dorry down and convince her to sign the ticket, but that was all the time it took for Mark to fall in love.

It had taken Dorry a bit longer to admit she was attracted to a policeman. After all, she was a newspaper reporter and had spent a great portion of her adult life fostering deep reservations about authority. In any case, they were married less than a year later and had their only child, Michael, six years after that.

Now Mark asked his bride of eleven years a familiar question.“How many cups have you already had?”

“Sixty or seventy. But I've only been awake a couple of hours. Don't start.”

Mark had a theory about his wife and her personality as it related to coffee consumption. Simply put, he believed that while others might exhibit type A tendencies or be labeled a “driver” or “choleric” or one of the other terms in current use, Dorry
was
caffeine. Mark teased about her constant liquid companion, but had long since decided he did not really want her to quit. She would be an entirely different person without it, and he was happy with the wife he had.

“Sheesh!” he said, noticing the clock on the stove. “It's ten o'clock already. Why'd you let me sleep so late?”

“I don't know,” Dorry answered. “You seemed tired.” She sat down across from him and slid his favorite mug over. “Anyway, Michael was up early and wanted to play with Jonathan.” Jonathan was seven, the youngest of three children who belonged to their neighbors, Richard and Kendra Harper.

“Where are they now?” Mark asked.“Next door?”

Without moving the coffee cup or taking her eyes off Mark, Dorry smiled and slid her forefinger from the mug handle, pointing it out the big picture window. “In the ditch,” she said.

Defining the boundary of the Chandler's backyard was a low area, a wet runoff that Mark proudly referred to as “the creek.” Dorry called it a ditch.

Whatever it was, they couldn't keep their son out of it. Michael was a five-year-old with his mother's red hair and green eyes and his dad's personality. Interested in everything, he wanted to know where it came from, how it worked,
why
it worked, and quite often,what it looked like on the inside! Mark and Dorry had wanted more children, but after years of trying to conceive again, they had finally been told by several doctors that it was “an impossibility.”

As Mark looked out the picture window, he saw the bobbing heads of two boys as they knelt, splashed, jumped, and scurried from one area to another. He chuckled and shook his head.“They'd probably roll around in that creek all day if we let 'em.”

“Ditch,” Dorry corrected. “Probably so.” She stood and reached for another cup of coffee.“But we are going to the mall today, remember? Master Michael Chandler needs some summer clothes, and I could use a few things myself.” Mark groaned.“I forgot all about that, but yeah, I guess. We're still cooking out tonight with Richard and Kendra, right?”

“As far as I know. They said they would cook, so I'm not even thinking about it. You know their deal. When
we
cook, they bring nothing. Nothing! So tonight, guess what I'm bringing?”

“Nothing?” Mark asked innocently, trying not to laugh.

“That's exactly right,” Dorry replied. “But I will bring an entire box of nothing.”

A LITTLE LATER, AFTER HAVING BEEN CALLED THREE times by Mark, Dorry whistled once with her hands on her hips and their son tramped through the back door. “Let's go, buddy. Dad's in the shower. We're going to the mall. Are you dirty?”

“No, ma'am.”

Dorry stuck her arm in front of him as he tried to squeeze by. “I didn't think you were, but I had to ask,” she said. “I just couldn't see through all that mud covering up your cleanliness.”

“Oh, Mom,” Michael grinned,“don't be sarcasm.”

Dorry stopped. With her eyes opened wide, she asked, “Where on earth did you learn
that
word?”

“Daddy. He said it was supposed to be your name. It's what Grampa wanted to make your name, but Nana wouldn't let him.”

“Really?” Dorry stifled a laugh.“Remind me to tell you a story about Daddy later. Right now,we have to hustle. Take off your clothes here in the kitchen and run for the tub.”

As the guys were bathing, Dorry poured another cup of coffee and started the washing machine. She turned the water temperature to its highest setting.
Forget color. It's all brown anyway,
she thought. Gathering up the clothes, Dorry noticed a heaviness to the blue jeans. Not surprised, she began to empty the pockets. It was something she had done for Mark ever since they'd been married, and now Michael was just like him. Mentally, she categorized the items, placing them on the counter by the sink or straight into the garbage can.

Whatever the heavy thing was, Dorry had to work the pocket inside out. Her hand barely fit into Michael's undersized pockets anyway and this last item, certain to be the biggest rock yet, seemed truly stuck. Gradually, she was able to reverse the wet cotton fabric and remove . . . something. It wasn't a rock,Dorry didn't think. But then again,maybe it was. She turned it over.

It was metal. A bit smaller than her hand, crumpled into a vague rectangular shape, with some kind of small indentions all over it. Old looking, but not rusted.
Definitely metal,
she decided.
Unless it's a rock.

IT WAS ALMOST A WEEK LATER WHEN DORRY REMEM-bered the “rock.” She had put it in an empty flowerpot on the windowsill above the sink, intending to inspect it more closely when she wasn't in such a hurry.

Mark found it the following Thursday evening. They always enjoyed the extra hour or so of daylight that summer provided and, most days, spent the time after work outdoors with Michael. From the patio where he and Michael were watching Dorry transplant clumps of daisies, Mark went inside to retrieve the pot.

A moment later, Mark unlocked and opened the window from the kitchen. “Is this the one you want?” he called, holding up the flowerpot.

Dorry glanced up.“Uh-huh. The yellow one.”

Mark stepped through the door.“Do you want whatever this is
in
the pot?” he asked as he walked over. He shook the pot and made it rattle.

“What?” Dorry looked up.

“This thing.” Mark reached into the pot and brought out the object. “Is this a throwaway?”

Recognition showed in Dorry's face as she straightened her back and removed her gardening gloves. “I forgot all about that,” she said.“It was in Michael's pocket last week. I actually meant to show it to you.”

“So don't throw it away?”

“Not yet. I want to look at it again. And we're ready to come in. The mosquitoes are killing us.”

LATER THAT EVENING, THE FAMILY GATHERED IN THE den. “What do we want to talk about tonight?” Mark began. The television sat, rarely used, in the corner. Several years earlier Mark and Dorry had agreed that their jobs kept them current on as much news as they could stand, and neither wanted Michael to grow up with the television blaring constantly. So, unlike other families they knew, the Chandlers had developed a habit of talking.

“Hey, get that thing,”Dorry said.“That thingie from the flowerpot. Where'd you put it?”

“Oh, yeah,” Mark said as he got out of his recliner and headed for the kitchen.“Hang on.” Seconds later, he returned with the object in his hand and a perplexed frown on his face.

“Come here and hold it where we can all see it,” Dorry said as she made room on the couch. “Michael, you sit in Mama's lap.”

Mark sat down and held the object at an angle to catch the light from the floor lamp. Reaching up to adjust the lampshade, he said,“Where did you say this came from?”

“From Monkey Boy's pocket,” she answered and gave the child a quick tickle across the ribs. Michael giggled.

Mark looked at his son. “So where did
you
get it, Monkey Boy?”

“At the creek,” Michael said.

“At the creek? Or
in
the creek?”

Michael looked thoughtful. There would come a time in his life, particularly as a teenager, when he would notice that the answers his parents required were to be delivered in excruciating detail. This was not Michael's fault—just a natural byproduct of having a journalist for a mother and a detective for a father. But for now, he was only too happy to reply.

“It was kinda on the
side
of the creek.”

Mark turned it over.“It's not a rock. It's too heavy. Kind of reddish brownish. It's hard. I can't nick it with my fingernail.”

“Let me see it,” Dorry said. Mark handed it to her. She held the edges up to the light. “See the cuts?” she said, pointing them out to her husband and son. “Sort of . . . indentions or something. It's like they have a pattern, but not really. It looks old, doesn't it?”

“Yep,” Mark said as he stood up. “Old like me. And it's time to go to bed.”

“Daddy, will you read me a story?”

Mark reached down and grabbed Michael, swinging him up into his arms.“Yes, I will, Monkey Boy!”

“Hang on a minute. I'm serious,”Dorry said.“Don't you think this is old? I mean, really old?”

“Yeah, probably,” Mark said as he turned the chortling five-year-old upside down.

“Yeah, probably?” Dorry imitated Mark's voice. “Yeah, probably? Do you not have any curiosity about this at all?” Mark was tempted to answer her with a “yeah, probably,” but instead said simply, “Look, Dorry, you have enough curiosity in you for all five of us, and there are only three in our family!”

“Well, I just would have thought . . .”

“Hey, if you really want to know, give it to Dylan and see what he can find out.”

She scrunched up her face.“Who?”

“Dylan. Kendra's brother. You met him last Saturday night. He just moved here.”

“Okay,” she said as the recognition dawned on her face. “I remember. He's one of the new ‘big dogs' at the museum, right?”

“In one department or another. Anyway, give it to him and see what he thinks.”

“I think I will,” Dorry answered and kissed Michael goodnight. “I'm sure we'll get along. I saw what he brought to his sister's cookout.”

Mark paused, then chuckled as he caught the reference. “Nothing?”

“Yes,” she smirked. “An entire box.”

TWO

POLAND—APRIL 1943

THE GROUP OF MEN STOOD IN THE FACTORY courtyard shortly after midday. Their guide was the owner of Duetch Emailwaren Fabrik, a producer of enameled goods. Oberführer Eberhard Steinhauser was enjoying a tour of the grounds with his second, Unterscharführer Herman Bosche, several other officers, and an adjutant who had been assigned to the men for the morning.

Steinhauser and Bosche were resplendent in their uniforms. Black-on-black with ornamental silver and an occasional trace of red, the sharply tailored clothing had been created specially for officers of the Staatspolizei. On each shoulder of the jacket were the letters
SS
laid over a lightning bolt. Medals and ribbons for loyalty and bravery stood in contrast over the left breast, but the uniform's focal point was the cap—steeply arched in the front and centered with a silver skull and crossbones.

Their tour guide was also dressed expensively, but in a business suit. Navy blue, it was one of many double-breasted suits owned by the direktor of the company. A tall, thirty-four-year-old man, he wore his dark hair combed straight back, and though he smoked incessantly, he somehow managed to appear stately. The starched white shirt he wore provided an adequate background for the red and grey tie, but one's eye ran immediately to the lapel, not to the tie. There hung a large ornamental gold-on-black Hakenkreuz, a swastika, the symbol of a member in good standing of the Nazi Party.

Steinhauser spoke.“A pity we must leave, Herr Direktor. Your hospitality has been greatly appreciated, and I assure you, duly noted. You will not forget my poor mother?”

“No, no! Of course not,” the direktor replied as he placed his hand on the oberführer's shoulder and gently started him moving toward the exit.“Should I deliver it to her personally, or would you have me direct it through her loving son?”