Firestone (34 page)

Seth nodded.

“
I took a picture with my
phone,” Sandy said.

“
Show me,” Seth
said.

Sandy opened the photo application on her
iPhone and gave it to him. He flipped through the photos.

“
Nice work,” he
said.

Sandy nodded.

“
I numbered all the
books,” Sandy said. “You can see the number on the front and on the
back.”

“
This is the order you
found them in the box?” Seth asked.

Sandy nodded.

“
And the last book?” Seth
asked. “The one with the note to you?”

Sandy gave it to him. He read the note that
told Sandy to start at the beginning. He flipped through the
book.

“
I read it,” Sandy
said.

“
And?” Seth
asked.

“
It’s kind of gibberish,”
Sandy said. “Or . . .
well . . “

“
Or what?” Seth
asked.

“
It reminded me of that
code you and Dad used to use,” Sandy said. “Didn’t you tell me
that . . .”

“
Andy taught it to me.”
Seth nodded. “We used to use it when we were in school. Did you
decipher it?”

“
I don’t remember how,”
Sandy said. “Do you?”

“
I don’t know,” Seth said.
“It’s been a long time.”

“
But you’ll try?” Sandy
asked.

“
Of course,” Seth
said.

Seth stacked the books in order and looked
at the photo Sandy had taken. He moved a book to the side and
another one out to match the picture.

“
I don’t
think . . .” Sandy started.

He looked up at her, but his mind was
somewhere else. He shook his head.

“
No,” Seth
said.

He started moving the books around. The
first book became the third book. The fourth book moved to the
fifth position. He’d move a book and then look at the picture. Just
when Sandy was sure he’d moved every book at least three times, he
stopped shuffling them.

“
This is the first book,”
Seth said.

“
How do
you . . .?” Sandy asked.

He shrugged and picked up the book. He
opened the cover and looked at the first page.

“
Pretty crazy, isn’t it?”
Sandy asked.

He looked up at her, but she knew he didn’t
see her. His mind was tracking his thoughts. His mouth fell open
and he became very still. Just when Sandy was sure he was ill, he
gave a quick shake of his head. His eyes flicked to look at
her.

“
No way,” Seth
said.

He laid the books out along the edge of the
round table and opened the covers. He took his reading glasses from
his pocket and bent over the text. He went from book to book. Sandy
felt his energy rise as he reached the last book. He flipped the
page and continued going from book to book. His face broke into a
wide smile.

“
No way.” Seth gave a
little chuckle.

“
Was she crazy?” Sandy
asked.

Seth was smiling when he stood up to look at
her.

“
Not in the slightest,”
Seth said.

“
Then what is this?” Sandy
asked. Her eyes welled with exhausted tears.

“
This is a symphony to
you,” Seth said.

“
A what?” Sandy
asked.

“
A symphony,” Seth
said.

“
A what?” Sandy
repeated.

Seth chuckled.

“
Andy was a wonderful
composer,” Seth said. “She taught me most of what I know about the
science of structuring music and creating compositions
from . . .”

Seth waved his hand over his head in a
gesture to the ether.

“
This
is . . .” Seth nodded. “Let’s take it to my house. I
think I can play it for you. I don’t know, but I think
so.”

“
But why was she killed?”
Angry tears streamed down Sandy’s face. “I’m trying to find out why
my mom . . . and that horrible
man . . .”

Seth gestured to the table.

“
This is worth a fortune,”
Seth said.

“
What is?” Sandy
asked.

“
This work,” Seth said.
“Andy didn’t write much. Three pieces total, I think. This
is . . . a masterpiece, to you. I mean, we won’t
know until we get into it, but it’s either a full symphony or a
series of pieces or . . . I’d guess he killed her
because she wouldn’t tell him where it was. He thought he could
find it on his own.”

“
But . . .”
Sandy started.

“
Call Schmidty,” Seth
said. “Ask him.”

“
Ask him what?” Sandy
asked.

“
What an Andy Mendy
full-orchestra symphony is worth,” Seth said. “Never mind. I’ll
call.”

Seth took out his cell phone and placed a
call. Sandy sat down at the table while he had a quick conversation
with Schmidty.

“
Priceless,” Seth said
when he hung up the phone. “He’d have to auction it like we do for
my longer pieces. He said it’s worth at least a hundred times
anything I can write.”

“
What?”

“
You’re used to me,” Seth
said. “I’m more prolific than most composers. I create a piece
every year or so.”

“
When you’re sober.” Sandy
nodded.

“
Exactly,” Seth said.
“Most composers are lucky to write a few good things in a lifetime.
Andy’s work is . . .”

He leaned over to look at the journals
again.

“
This is breathtaking,”
Seth said. “You’ll have to hear it.”

“
You can transcribe it?”
Sandy asked.

“
Probably,” Seth said. “My
guess is that
you
can transcribe it, or we can do it together. It’s a piece of
music written for you, to you, Sandy, a message from a mother to
her beloved child.”

“
And he killed her for
it?”

“
Delphie’s almost never
wrong,” Seth said. “When she is, it’s a matter of timing. Red Bear
killed Andy for this — and there’s something in here to prove it.
Something will point the way.”

Seth nodded.

“
He’s not dead, is he?”
Sandy asked.

“
Why do you ask?” Seth
gave her a long look.

“
Did you see his body?”
Sandy asked.

“
No,
but . . .”

“
Do you know anyone who
did?” Sandy asked. Seth shook his head. “They rushed him
to . . .”

“
Denver Health,” Seth
said. “But surely . . .”

“
We thought he was going
to take me to do something horrible,” Sandy said.

“
He was going to take you
or Rachel.”

“
What if that wasn’t the
reason he was involved?” Sandy asked.

“
We were able to dismantle
Patty’s entire network,” Seth said. “ICE swooped in and arrested
them all. Because of you, they shut down half a dozen child
pornography distribution sites, confiscated entire warehouses of
material, and . . . It’s the largest bust of its
kind. Period. And Charlie and Sissy’s mother is never getting out
of jail.”

“
What if he went along
with all of that to appease Patty?” Sandy asked.

“
He thought she had this
work.”

“
Right,” Sandy
said.

“
He grabbed you to give to
Patty in exchange for this,” Seth said. “But you had the box. I
mean, you have everything of Andy’s.”

“
In exchange for
something,” Sandy said. “Something Patty said was this
piece.”

Seth looked at Sandy for a long moment
before he nodded in agreement.

“
He’s still alive,” Sandy
said. “I just know it.”

“
Then he’s going to be
looking for this,” Seth said. “Do you want
to . . .?”

“
Do you mind if we take it
to your house?” Sandy asked.

Seth nodded. Sandy went to the closet to
retrieve the box. She started packing everything.

“
Did you read this
newspaper?” Seth asked.

“
The packing material?”
Sandy asked.

Seth held a page out to her. The paper had a
picture of Tanesha and Jill at the Colorado State track meet. Sandy
and Heather were in the background. Someone had drawn a heart
around Sandy’s face.

“
She knew I was alive,”
Sandy said.

“
Looks like it,” Seth
said.

Sandy finished packing the box, and Seth
picked it up. They were halfway across the hair salon when Sandy
said, “Why do you think everything is so weird?”

“
No idea,” Seth
laughed.

“
I mean, first I hear that
she didn’t know I was alive,” Sandy said. “Then I hear that Dad
knew her and she helped him buy the condo. Then Red Bear says she
killed herself because she knew I was safe and
then . . .”

Sandy cleared her throat.

“
Lies,” Sandy said in a
low voice. “Tangle of lies.”

“
Exactly,” Seth said. “We
have to sort the lies from the truth.”

“
At least I
know . . .”

They went through the salon door, and Sandy
locked it behind her.

“
Know?” Seth
asked.

“
That my mom loved me,”
Sandy said. “A lot.”

“
She did,” Seth
said.

Sandy smiled. He put the box on the jump
seat of the truck and let her in. He went around to the driver’s
seat.

“
Ready?” Seth
asked.

Sandy nodded, and they drove to his
house.

Monday afternoon — 4:35 p.m.

“
Dr. Wilson!” The doctor
stood from his desk to shake Bumpy’s hand.

The nurse had just escorted Jeraine and
Bumpy into the pediatric rheumatologist’s office. The doctor was an
expert on childhood autoimmune diseases.

“
Please have a seat,” the
doctor said.

The doctor sat down behind his desk. Jeraine
and Bumpy took seats in front of his desk.

“
First, I’d like to thank
you for all the work you did with the boys in the recent East High
School rape case,” the doctor said. “My nephew got caught up in
that. He was dumb enough to purchase one of the videotapes. Thought
it would be sexy.”

Bumpy nodded.

“
He’s in counseling on
your recommendation,” the doctor said. “Two years, no problems, and
it all goes away.”

“
That’s a good thing,”
Bumpy said. “We don’t need any more boys lost to the justice
system.”

“
Yes it is,” the doctor
said. “He needs the counseling. His father was a brute. My nephew
would have never gotten it any other way.”

The man took a breath and put his reading
glasses on. He looked down at the file in front of him.

“
I’ve reviewed all the
records for Jabari Wilson,” the doctor said. “From Atlanta, as well
as from our Children’s Hospital. I took the liberty of consulting
with the doctors here and spoke with the doctors in
Atlanta.”

The pediatrician nodded.

“
My staff tells me you
have some legal issues in this matter,” the doctor said.

“
Custody,” Jeraine said.
“We have custody for now, but Jabari’s mother is suing us and the
court.”

“
Are you looking for a
legal opinion?” the doctor asked.

“
We’re looking for a
course of treatment,” Bumpy said. His voice was firm. “We have
lawyers to take care of legal issues. Right now, all we want is to
get the boy well.”

“
From what I gather, the
mother takes a certain medication for her migraines,” the doctor
said. “She gave this medication to her son because she thought he
was having a migraine. Do we know why she gave this medication to
her child?”

“
She says that he asks for
it,” Jeraine said.

“
And the
child?”

“
He doesn’t know anything
about any medication,” Jeraine said. “He thinks of the pills as a
treat.”

“
Candy?” the doctor
asked.

“
He doesn’t know,” Jeraine
said. “He says he takes what his mother gives him because she gets
upset when he doesn’t. He was trying to be a ‘really good boy’ so
he could stay here in Denver. That’s what he told my
mother-in-law.”

“
He doesn’t know why he
gets sick,” Bumpy said.

“
He doesn’t connect it to
the medication?” the doctor asked.

“
No, sir,” Jeraine
said.

“
Well, it’s from the
medication,” the doctor said. “All of this.”

“
And the lupus?” Jeraine
asked.

“
We aren’t sure what
causes lupus,” the doctor said. “As Dr. Wilson can tell you,
there’s a strong family relationship, but not always.”

“
Our concern is that he
has now developed the disease,” Bumpy said.

“
It sure looks that way,”
the doctor said.

“
And?” Jeraine’s voice
rose with his concern.

“
We won’t know for a
while,” the doctor said. “It’s possible that the child had the
predisposition for lupus. He might have developed it anyway. It’s
also possible the medicine initiated a cascade. The medication may
have dumped extraneous DNA into his blood. This caused his immune
system to over react. Unfortunately, we won’t know until he’s
through this crisis.”