Chapter 1
Books and papers were splayed out on the table. Billie Frechette sat with her newly appointed best friend, Mary, whom she had met at school. Though the girls held but a few years difference in age, they had managed to quickly become inseparable. Simply having a friend was a tremendous feat for Billie who had only attended the Indiana High School for a short number of months. Her shy and reserved personality made it difficult to befriend others, she not accustomed to flaunting herself. To have made such a close friend as Mary in such a short time was quite a blessing. The two shared several classes and were always paired together, often found disrupting class and giggling over some inside joke. Things had quickly escalated to the point where visits after school or on weekends were frequent.
On this particular day it was Mary's house that the girls attended, homework and study things strewn across the kitchen table. It was quiet expect for the occasional out burst of a child from in the house, Mary's siblings (whom there were nine), the youngest but a baby. The two would glance to one another and chuckle when the noise would, on occasion, become piercing and loud. For Mary the distractions had become too incessant for her to concentrate, her schoolwork thus placed on the back burner. "Hey," she sighed, throwing her pencil down and leaning back in the chair. "What do you say to a break?"
Billie agreed affably and the two found themselves on the back porch.
The Hancock 's lived in a large rustic farm house big enough to hold the nine person family. Fields and tall grass surrounded the house, the friends standing along the wrap around porch looking out. As per usual they were laughing about one thing or another when Audrey, the younger girls mother, appeared from behind.
"Cookies," she announced, holding out a plate of warm, freshly baked treats while also balancing the noisy child on her hip. The girls gladly obliged, thanking the woman and munching on the snack.
The strap of the bag was holstered on his shoulder, the man approaching the farm house by the extended driveway. It had been close to a year since he had visited his sister's family, the time lapse only discernible now. Weeks ago, the man had entered the First National Bank of Chicago, emerging with nearly $7,000 in reward for labor; though not a typical labor as one may think. When the sight of Federal Agents was enough to make his skin crawl, John Dillinger had decided that Indiana would be more settling. There was always a home here, no matter how extended the time he was parted. Audrey and Emmet were always hasty to welcome him into their home, Audrey especially grateful to see her younger brother after the time that was spent out of state. The children were also great to see too. Each was beginning to fully develop their personality, which he hadn't always been around to witness.
Ascending the front steps of the house, John hadn't even bothered knocking as he opened the door, stepping right into the living room.
"Emmet, is that you?" a voice called through the house from the kitchen.
"No it ain't," John called back in reply, waiting for the response. Audrey, who had been drying dishes in the next room, a child on her hip, stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Her expression was speechless, she looking to the man who stood in her living room. Instantly she sat the dish down as carefully as possible, moving across the living room with the baby still attached to her side. Her arms were quick to wrap around him, the two staying in the joyful embrace before Audrey was to call the children.
Instantly she looked to him. "Mary has a friend over, I can't say your name, and what is it then?" she asked him, the entire Dillinger bunch aware of his constant change in aliases.
"Jimmy, just Jimmy for now," John told her, Audrey turning away from him.
"Uncle Jimmy is back home!" Audrey called to the children.
While the girls conversed among themselves there was suddenly an interruption. Audrey's voice sounded from inside the house, announcing an "Uncle Jimmy" had arrived. Mary's eyes suddenly became wide as saucers, obvious excitement coursing through her being. She instantly asked to excuse herself, simply explaining that this was a relative "they didn't get to see very often." Billie politely allowed her dismissal, watching her friend disappear behind a screen door. Once alone she took several paces to the small staircase, sitting atop one of the steps.
Mary, who had been somewhere in the back of the house heard, telling her friend a mumble of words before she appeared in the living room, instantly running to him. "Look at you girl, a year and this is what I see, a grown woman," John said at the sight of her. Several of the older children appeared after that, all gathering around to greet their uncle "Jimmy." When the chaos was able to quiet down, John looked to Mary once more. "Your mama tells me you have a friend over, don't be rude just because of me, go back out there with her, I'll be staying around for a while," he told the young girl and she moved back into the kitchen, John soon to follow.
"Sorry 'bout that," Mary appeared with a smile when she returned to the porch. Billie turned and stood.
"Back to the books?" she questioned, and the two girls were once again back to the kitchen table. The quiet engulfed them again, the two becoming intently engrossed in their work. Just after Billie had opened a notebook to begin transferring information, a new figure sauntered into the room.
Mary's friend had long ago appeared in the house, though she hadn't joined the others in the living room. Mary was instant to go to her side, John walking into the kitchen and reaching into a cabinet, pulling out a glass to run under the sink for water. Distracted by his task, John glanced over at the two girls in the kitchen, doing a casual double glance at the girl that stood beside his niece.
"You hanging around older girls, Mary?" John questioned, nodding toward her friend. She could have been eighteen, though no older than nineteen by her looks, or at least that's what he thought. For a young girl she sure had some attractive features; she'd be a real sight in her mid-twenties.