Don't Look Back (16 page)

Trevor,

I’m sorry you feel that I would be a horrible mother to our child, because I am the only mother our child will have. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes, but that’s part of life. I’m also sorry about the things I said to you in my last email. That was mean and uncalled for. Please accept my apology.

Don’t you think, for our baby’s sake, that it would be best if you and I can be friends? Even if we can’t be together as husband and wife, we need to be able to work together to raise our child.

Do you think that’s possible?

Lily

This time he replied almost instantly. It almost made me feel like he was right there next to me. I didn’t like that feeling.

Lily,

Okay, I guess I’m sorry too. But how can you go on and on about us working together to raise our child when I don’t even know where you are? How does that even work? It looks like it is up to you now to show how serious you are about this. We need to meet, face to face, to talk about everything. Then I’ll know you’re serious.

Trevor

The idea of being in the same room as him scared me deeply. He had so much anger inside, there was no telling what would set him off. Just like in his emails. He’d been all loving and sweet, then bam, he started saying all kinds of horrible things.

Trevor,

I’m not ready to meet with you yet. But we both need to be able to get on with our lives. We need to legally end our marriage. Will you cooperate in a divorce?

Lily

Again, he responded immediately.

Lily,

Like I told you before, if you’ll send me back my gym bag, I’ll cooperate in a divorce.

Let me know when you’ve sent it.

Trevor

If I wanted Trevor to cooperate in the divorce, I knew I would have to go along with his demand. It was really a simple thing so why should I resist? I could figure out a way to get it to him without divulging my location.

Okay Trevor. I’ll let you know when the gym bag has been shipped.

Lily

He didn’t reply, so I shut down my laptop and thought about how I could ship the bag to him while keeping my location a secret.

I could drive the few hours to Reno and ship from there. Then the postage would show Reno.

Feeling good about my solution, I decided to get going on it right away. I’d have to arrange for a day or two off from work, but that wouldn’t be too difficult. I walked upstairs and into the baby’s room, then opened the closet and then the door to the secret room. Pushing aside the blank I’d hung over the door, I crawled inside and turned on the lamp that I had put in a corner previously.

It took me a few minutes to locate the gym bag since I couldn’t remember exactly which box I’d put it in. Carrying the bag downstairs, I set it on the dining room table, then went into the kitchen to make myself dinner.

At least it shouldn’t cost much to ship, I thought, since it weighs next to nothing. I wonder why Trevor was being such a jerk about me sending it back to him. Yes, it was the only item of his that I’d taken, but it had held the money that
he’d
stolen from
me
.

Whatever, I thought. As long as I get what I want, what do I care that he wants this bag so much.

Wait a minute, I suddenly thought, stopping my meal preparations. Why
does
he want it so bad anyway?

I set down the vegetables I had been chopping and walked over to the table. The gym bag lay on the table, flat and empty. At least I assumed it was empty. I unzipped the main section and looked inside. It appeared empty. I felt around and didn’t feel anything but seams. I zipped it closed and checked one of the side pockets. It was empty too. Flipping it over, I unzipped the only other pocket and stuck my hand in. I felt around and began pulling my hand out, but for some reason, I decided to examine the inside a little more closely. A hard crumb of some kind pressed against my finger, but then I felt something small, hard, and smooth.

Using my fingertips, I pulled out the object. It was so small it would have been very difficult to accidently stumble upon it. I examined the object and immediately recognized it as an SD card, the kind used in digital cameras to store photos.

Was this what Trevor really wanted back?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

After booting up my computer, I slid the SD card into the slot on the side of my laptop. A screen popped up giving me some choices and I clicked on the option to view the pictures. Another screen appeared with about twenty thumbnail photos. I clicked on the first one in the series, which enlarged it. The picture showed Rob, Trevor’s boss and the owner of Rob’s Auto Body shop. He was smiling and standing next to a counter at the shop. There were cars in the background, obviously in the process of being repaired, and I recognized the location as being the shop.

Rob held a beer in one hand and with the other he pointed to an open metal box which sat on the counter. The box looked like it was about the same dimensions as my laptop, which was about eighteen inches by twelve inches. The box looked like it was about six inches deep. But the most interesting aspect of the box was that it looked like it was completely filled with cash.

Most of the bills on the top were twenty dollar bills. The others were varying denominations. I could only assume that money was stacked beneath the top layer.

I pressed the arrow key on my keyboard to move to the next picture. This time it was Trevor standing by the counter, but he looked like he was running his fingers through the money. The next picture showed the box closed and Rob putting a sturdy lock through the two metal loops which overlapped when the lid was closed.

The next few pictures looked like they were all taken out in the desert. They showed Trevor and Rob taking turns digging a hole, then Rob placing the metal box in the hole, then Trevor filling it in and smoothing it over.

The next one showed Trevor stacking a few rocks in the spot where the box was buried. The next one was actually a video. It showed Rob sitting in the passenger seat of Trevor’s Camaro. He appeared to be passed out. I could hear Trevor’s voice.

“Look at him” Trevor said, derision clear in his voice. “He’s so out of it, he probably won’t even remember we came out here.” The video ended with Trevor’s laughter.

The last photo was taken from inside the car, looking out through the windshield at the place where the box had been buried.

I went through the slide show a few more times, then tried to think why Trevor would want it back so badly that he was willing to grant me a divorce.

I mentally listed the reasons I could think of. Maybe Rob told him to get it back or is threatening him. Maybe he wants to make sure no one else sees it. But the most likely reason was that he needed the pictures to help him find where he’d buried the money. But would he be able to find it just based on these pictures? If he already had an idea where it was, I would think these pictures would be unnecessary.

Unless, I thought, a smile turning up the corners of my mouth, there is other information stored on this memory card. Quickly closing the pictures, I clicked on “My Computer”, then opened the drive letter assigned to the SD card. I saw a folder where the pictures were stored, but there was also a text file on the root of the drive. I opened the file and saw two groups of numbers.

With GPS being used so commonly, I assumed these were the coordinates for where Trevor and Rob had buried the metal box full of money. And since Trevor was so anxious to get this SD card back, I could only assume that he couldn’t remember where he had buried it. The money must still be where he’d put it.

“Greta, how would you like to go on a treasure hunt?”

She lifted her head from where it had been resting on her paws and began wagging her tail.

Googling the coordinates in the file, I saw that the spot was not too far outside of Reno. I didn’t own a GPS unit, but wondered if Marcus had one I could borrow. But first I needed to arrange to take a couple of days off. I also needed a shovel.

I called Billi and asked if it would be possible to take the next two days off to attend to a personal matter. In all the time I’d worked there, I’d never been late or missed a day of work, so I couldn’t see how she could object.

She told me she would need to check with Maddy to see if she could cover for me and she would call me back. While I waited to hear back from her, I called Marcus on his cell phone.

“Hey, Kate,” he said. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

“Not pull more weeds, I hope.”

I laughed. “No. I was wondering if you happen to have a GPS device that I could borrow for a couple of days.”

“Sure. Are you going on a trip or something?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I am.”

“When do you need it?”

“I’m hoping to leave in the morning.”

“Oh. I can bring it over now if you want.”

“Thanks. That would be great.”

After we hung up, Billi called back and said Maddy had agreed to cover for me. I thanked her and hung up.

A few minutes later Marcus knocked on the door. I let him in and invited him to sit on the couch.

He held out the GPS device. “Have you ever used one of these before?”

“No.”

He showed me how to use it and I tried it out.

“What if I had specific coordinates. How would I put those in?”

He glanced at me, a questioning look on his face, then showed me how it was done. “Where are you going anyway, Kate?”

“Just down to Vegas to visit a friend,” I lied.

“You’ve been there before though, right?”

“Of course. It’s just that I was thinking of buying one of these, but I wanted to try one out first.” A lie on top of a lie. Nice. But I certainly couldn’t tell him the truth. Oh yeah, Marcus. My husband, who is alive and well by the way, won’t give me a divorce unless I send him back what amounts to a treasure map. But I’m going to see if I can dig up the treasure he buried before he has a chance to. Yeah, I thought. I’m sure that would go over really well.

“It’s probably a good idea to try it out before you buy one. They can be kind of expensive.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful with it.”

He smiled back. “I know. I’m not worried.”

I wished I could ask him if I could borrow a shovel, but that would invite too many unwelcome questions. “Well, I’m going to get an early start, so I should probably go to bed soon.”

“Okay. I can take a hint.” He stood. “Have a good drive. I’ll see you when you get back.”

I walked him to the door and said good-night, then went upstairs and began packing. I didn’t know if I’d be spending the night, but I wanted to be prepared.

I set my suitcase and Greta’s things by the front door then went to bed. I really did want to get an early start, even though I wasn’t driving as far as Las Vegas. As I tried to visualize how the next day would go, excitement swept over me and I had trouble falling asleep.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

After stopping by a local Wal-Mart and buying a shovel, some water bottles and some snacks, I entered the freeway and headed North. I had punched in the coordinates like Marcus had shown me and followed the directions on the device.

With Greta along, I had to stop a few times to let her run around, but within four hours I had turned onto a dirt road that really did look like the middle of nowhere. When the GPS device announced that I had arrived at my destination, I smiled. But as I looked around, I didn’t see the pile of rocks that Trevor had used as a marker. I wondered if they’d gotten knocked over, but I didn’t see anything that resembled rocks scattered from a pile. I wondered how accurate the GPS device actually was and decided to walk around the area and see if I could find the stacked rocks.

Greta started off trotting along next to me, but soon decided to explore on her own. It was was easy to keep her within my sight since the area was mostly barren with a few small bushes here and there. I wandered around for at least thirty minutes before I came across a pile of rocks that looked familiar. I went back to my car and drove to the pile, then using my new shovel, I pushed the rocks aside and began digging. It didn’t take long to reach the metal box.

I pulled it out of the hole and set it on the ground. Fortunately, it wasn’t too heavy. But I would need a tool of some sort to open the lock. After setting the metal box in my trunk, I filled the hole back in and set the rocks back on top. Greta had come to see what I was doing by then.

I poured some water from a water bottle into her bowl, then grabbed a fresh water bottle for myself and drank the whole thing. It was hot and I was glad the job was over. Once Greta and I were refreshed, I put the shovel in the trunk, strapped Greta into her seatbelt, and got in behind the wheel.

Now that I had collected what I assumed was the cash, my next task was to ship the gym bag to Trevor. I had boxed it up, including the SD card, and addressed the package before leaving home. Now I just needed to drive to the post office and ship it. I had looked up the address of post offices in the area and punched in the address of the one I had decided to use. I followed the directions and soon found myself at the post office.

I might have to get one of these GPS devices, I thought. Especially with my bad sense of direction.

I shipped off the package, then headed west on I-80. I was back home before dinner. Though exhausted, I brought everything in. I hadn’t needed my suitcase after all, but that was okay. I set the metal box in a corner of the dining room. I would need to go to the hardware store and get something to cut it with, but that would have to wait until morning.

After fixing a quick meal, I went to bed early and slept soundly all night.

I slept in the next morning, since I’d taken the day off from work. The first thing I did, after getting ready for the day, was to email Trevor and let him know that I’d shipped the bag. I wondered how long it would take him to suspect me as the person who’d dug up the box. Would he first think it was Rob? What would he do once he suspected me?