“Of course they did. Just like they killed four other members of his team as well as Harvey and no doubt anyone else who got in their way.”
“Do you have proof of any sort?” she demanded.
He shook his head. “Jerry was bringing me proof that night. He and your mother were taking you and leaving right after hemet with me. Your grandparents had figured out something was very wrong and urged them to go. That night, he would give me what I needed, and then the three of you would disappear. But he never came. Hours later, I followed every route between his home and where we were to meet until I found the car in the ditch, almost hidden from view.”
The pain that captured Allie’s face then made Steve’s chest tighten.
“There was nothing I could do for them. They were dead. But—” he took a big breath “—I searched the car, and whoever killed them had obviously already taken the files because I found nothing.” He stood, walked to the fireplace and wiggled a stone free. He removed something from the space behind it and brought it to Allie. “This was clutched in your mother’s hand.” Then he plopped back into his chair as if he’d dealt his final hand and was waiting for her to top it or to fold.
The delicate silver chain wasn’t large enough for a necklace. A bracelet, Steve decided. Tiny silver blocks hung on the thin line of silver.
“This was my baby bracelet.” Allie’s eyes filled with wonder. “My grandmother said my parents put it in the time capsule they made when I was born.”
Rivero must have had the same thought as Steve because they both asked at the same time, “What time capsule?”
“The day I was brought home from the hospital,” she explained, seemingly unaware of their tension, “my parents added this bracelet and both my and my mother’s hospital bracelets to the time capsule they had prepared. They buried it in the backyard.”
Rivero turned to Steve. “If they took this out of the time capsule because the mother wanted to take it with them when they left—” the man had to take a moment to get his emotions under control before he could go on “—maybe the only thingthey planned to give me was the location of the time capsule.” He stood, started to pace. “It makes total sense. That way they wouldn’t be caught transporting the only evidence that existed outside the walls of Ledwell. Oh my God, all this time. Why didn’t I think of that? The bracelet meant nothing to me.” He turned to Allie, his entire being on alert. “We have to find that time capsule.Now.”
Foster Residence
Ridgeland Avenue, 2:30 p.m.
Allie wasn’t surethey had fully convinced Mr. Rivero they would keep him apprised of what they discovered. He’d called every twenty minutes for the past hour and a half. He wanted to come but hadn’t been able to bring himself to leave the house. Allie had read about and watched movies and documentaries about people who couldn’t leave their homes, but she’d never seen it firsthand.
“I’m sorry.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “I really thought it was in the butterfly garden.” She remembered seeing photos her grandmother had taken of the big day. Allie looked around. “It was right here.” She surveyed the various flowers and shrubs that attracted butterflies, all surrounded by a cute little picket fence.
“We should have a look at those photos if you know where they are.”
“Good idea.” One she should have thought of nearly two hours ago.
She hurried into the house and to the bookshelves where all those photo albums were stored. It took a minute, but she found the one that held the photos from that year—the year she was born. Her grandmother had been very careful to ensure all heralbums matched and all were dated with a gold metallic marker. It was an obsession of hers, she’d said.
Allie flipped through the pages, found the right one and grinned. The butterfly garden had been a lot smaller then. She carefully removed the photo that provided the best overall shot of her father digging the hole.
She hurried back outside to where Steve waited, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the shovel in hand. Like her, he’d started to sweat quickly in the afternoon sun.
“This is it.”
He wiped his hand on his thigh and accepted the photo. After studying it at length, he turned around slowly, surveying the garden enclosed with that white picket fence. At least it had started out white. It had faded and chipped in places. Something else Allie needed to take care of.
He pointed to one of the lilac bushes. “I think it might be under part of that bush.”
Allie bit her lip. The lilacs had been her grandmother’s favorite. “Be really careful. I’d hate to kill the bush.”
He pointed his shovel toward it. “There are times when sacrifices must be made.”
She laughed, mostly because she was emotionally drained and physically spent. The small silver bracelet felt cool in her hand, but she couldn’t bear to let go of it. Her mother had been holding it when she died. And this was for her parents. “Just do it.”
It didn’t take a lot of imagination to conjure up images of her parents rushing out here in the darkness of night to dig up the time capsule they had planted four years prior. She could see her father doing what he had to do once it was out of the ground, stuffing evidence inside while her mother picked through the mementos that had been hidden there. Allie couldsee her holding the delicate silver chain—the very one she now held. Tears burned her eyes, and she forced away the images.
Get this done, Al.
To his credit, Steve took his time and used extra care when digging around the base of the bush. At last the blade of the shovel slid into the ground, and there was a distinct metal-on-metal sound.
Steve smiled, crouched down and started to dig with his gloved hands.
Allie held her breath, afraid to hope but unable to stop herself.
