How Did I End Up Here? Day 3

“I’m going with you.” I looked him in the eye letting him know I was ready to argue.
“You bet you are. You have power of attorney for this box,” he said simply gaining the upper hand.
“Oh, Dad, no, you don’t think he stole from the box do you?” My brows drew together indicating I was worried.
“I think because you still have the key that things are okay,” was his reassuring response.
We drove to the bank, talked to the manager, and went to get the safety deposit box. It was as it had always been. It held my grandmother’s jewelry and some savings bonds my mother had for me.
With help from the bank manager, the box was changed and a new key was issued. The Chief drove me to my apartment where I got some clothing and then he took me home. I went up stairs took a long shower and changed. When I came down, there were two officers in the living room. I knew them both. Anna Wilkins, a petite good-natured officer, was assigned inside the house and Jack Adams, tall and lanky with a desire to please, was going to be in the car outside.


I went up to my old room, crawled between the sheets, and was asleep in minutes.
The Chief went back to the office to find out the status of the BOLO and finish up his day. He called the administrator of the nursing home. He wanted no one in his wife’s room that was not personally known to the staff. A man claiming to be from the church had shown up today. He was not from the church. That taken care of he needed to find the man Barstow and find out what he wanted.
Later in the day when, I awoke, I felt refreshed. I dressed and wandered downstairs to find something to eat. I found Anna in the kitchen and wonderful aromas wafting out.
“Afternoon, Sam, hope you don’t mind my taking over the kitchen. The Chief will be home in about half an hour. If you can wait that long, I’ll have dinner ready for you.”
“Anna, that’s great! I can wait. But I need a bottle of water,” I told her.
Anna reached into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She handed it to me. I took it and sat at the counter.
“So did you get drafted to go to ER with me last night?” I asked.
“I volunteered,” she replied with a smile.
“Thanks for that. I wish I could remember. I don’t even recall seeing Molly,” I said morosely.

“I talked to Molly today. She came to see you when her set was done. She had trouble getting you away from the man you were with. When she did you weren’t too coherent. You gave her the key and told her what it was for. She said you weren’t too steady on your feet,” Molly told me.
I shrugged and drank some water. Something was niggling at the back of my brain. Something I knew would be important. Try as I might, I couldn’t grab onto it.
The Chief arrived Anna and I put dinner on the table. I asked Anna to stay but she said she needed to get home to her husband. She left and we sat down to dinner.
“Dad, there is something in the back of my mind about last night. I can’t seem to hang on to it long enough to remember.”
“It’ll come to you. Don’t think about it now,” he said calmly.
“Do we have night coverage, too? Maybe we should take them some of this delicious pork.” I said trying to figure out how serious this situation was.
“No one is assigned to watch the house tonight. They are driving by on the hour and half hour.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I meant it and smiled.
“Just a precaution I also took care of your mother, too,” he told me.
I nodded and continued to eat my dinner. After dinner Dad and I took coffee into the den. We watched some TV together then I turned in for the night.
I slept a very restless sleep, filled with images running into each other. Jesse Barstow kept running through my head. What had he wanted me to do? Why had he hired me? Why had he drugged me? How did my mother fit in? I awoke tired and still drawing a blank.
Dad had coffee on when I came down the stairs. He had just put bacon in the pan. He looked up and said, “Couldn’t sleep either?”
“Nope, still cannot get to that niggling little thing in my head.”
“It’ll come to you. What have you got that you need to be working on?” he questioned.
“I’d just finished up for Molly, so the job offer by Barstow would have been the next thing. I’m going to call and see if I have any messages.” I went to the phone called my office and checked my voice mail. There was a cryptic message from the voice of Barstow.
“So, you are a hot shot PI? I really don’t think so. You fell for the oldest con in the book. It was so easy to get you where I wanted you.”
I replayed it so Dad could listen. He sent Anna over to get the tape and take it in to be analyzed.
I called my home to check the voice mail there. There was none. At least he hasn’t got my home number. I was careful not to give that out to clients. My office and cell phones were for business.
Dad and I ate in silence. I cleaned up after breakfast and Dad went to get ready for work.
Anna showed up as Dad came down the stairs. He nodded to me and said to both of us. “You
girls keep out of trouble.” Then he left.


Hope you are enjoying the story.
TTFN