Chapter 19

Remington tapped his fingers nervously on the edge of the desk of the bank manager as they waited for his return. "I knew this wasn't going to be easy," Laura groaned from the chair beside him.

"Settle down, Laura. He said he just needed to confirm the box was still intact. There's nothing to get nervous about," he tried to reassure her.

"Well, if there's nothing to be nervous about, why do you keep tapping your fingers?" she challenged.

Remington immediately stopped his fingers and watched as the bank manager approached them with a smile. "See look. He's smiling. I bet we'll be holding the contents of that box in no time," he tried to assure her.

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. and Mrs. Steele," the bank manager stated politely. "It's not very often we get requests for the older boxes, so I needed to be sure we had the correct keys," he explained. He held up a long, thin key on a keyring. "I had to go find this."

Laura exhaled softly as she smiled, "I apologize if this is causing you any inconvenience. We promise we won't take up very much of your time."

"No, not a problem at all. And, surprisingly enough, it's been a quiet morning," the manager explained. "Now, if you'd like to follow me, I can bring you down to our vault." Laura stood, looking visibly relieved as Remington joined her, and together, they followed the manager down a flight of steps into the basement of the bank. They continued down a short hallway, their footsteps echoing against the concrete. "Here we are," he announced. He held the door open for them, and the trio stepped into a small anteroom. "Here, let me just unlock this gate," he stated, holding up a large keyring. He fumbled with it for a long minute before he announced, "Found it. I never seem to get the right one the first time." He pushed the gate inward and waited until Laura and Remington were inside the vault.

"Box two fifty-one, mate," Remington reminded the manager as he tugged on his ear, annoyed everything seemed to be taking much longer than necessary.

"Two fifty-one…. Two fifty-one… two fifty...one…" the manager chanted as he scrolled through the faded numbers on the boxes.

"This one! Right here," Laura pointed out with a forced smile. She, too, was becoming more and more anxious the longer the bank manager took.

The manager smiled at her, "Your eyes are better than mine!" She slipped the key into the slot to the right and turned it. The bank manager followed, and several seconds later, the outer lock was removed. "I'll leave you two alone now. If you need anything, just hit the buzzer and someone will come down and assist you." He disappeared into the hall, his footsteps quickly fading away.

Remington tugged the long, metal box from the slot in the wall and placed it onto the table. "Well, whatever's in there weighs enough," he commented.

Laura narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's heavier than I expected it to be, that's all," Remington explained.

Laura lifted the lid and peered inside, "There are notebooks in here… ledgers of some sort." She pulled several out and placed them on the box. She lifted one in particular and flipped through a few pages. "Wait," she uttered as she scanned the pages. "I don't get it. J-Dip? J-Drag? A-Corn? Old Man? It doesn't make any sense." She ran her finger down one line of the ledger sheet and shook her head.

"Here, let me take a look," Remington held out his hand. Laura gave him the book she held and watched as skimmed the pages with a frown on his face. "Well, if I had to take a guess, your father was tracking some illegal business, but for who, I can't say. What… what did you say he did for work?"

Laura shrugged her shoulders, "As best as I can remember, he was an accountant for a winery and a few other businesses around the city. One was a laundromat, maybe… and some kind of import company. That's all, I think. I don't really know." Laura looked down at the stack of books in the drawer and admitted, "I didn't really pay much attention to what he did. I just know he always paid the bills on time and was always conscious of how we spent money. He's the reason I am the way I am. He was always making sure everything was in balance, not just in his checkbook but around our house, too."

Remington closed the book in his hands. He placed it onto the table beside the drawer and began flipping through the remaining books. "But he still managed to make sure you were happy," he declared. He touched his lips with his fingers before he added, "I may not know what it takes to be a good father, but from everything I've heard recently, he doesn't sound like he was all that bad."

Laura gave him a weak smile as she stated, "No, he wasn't bad at all. I mean, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have my love of the circus."

"Speaking of which, we should bundle all this up if we're going to make it to the newspaper in time to get that advertisement in today's print," Remington reminded her.

"Yeah, we should probably do that," Laura replied half-heartedly.

Remington studied her face for a moment before he reached out and assured her, "If you need another day, we can wait. He doesn't know we found this, so what are twenty-four more hours going to matter, eh?"

Laura covered his hand with her own as she shook her head, "No. I've waited long enough. But thank you. You seem to be taking this in stride much better than I am."

"Well, it wasn't all that long ago we were thrown into my family history full force. Now, I guess it's time for me to learn more about yours," he teased, drawing a laugh from Laura.

"Well, the more we are uncovering right now, I'm not even sure I know the truth about my own family history, so this will be new to both of us," Laura laughed lightly. Her mood seemed to shift ever so slightly but enough that Remington could feel her tension lift.

"All right then. Let's pack these up, bring everything back to the apartment for safe-keeping before we see what Mildred has been up to all morning. We can call over to the paper and if we can make today's copy, fine," Remington declared.

Laura lifted the stack of books inside the box, revealing a sealed envelope at the bottom. She raised an eyebrow as she read the neatly printed writing, "To my daughter, Laura."

"What's that there?" Remington asked.

"An envelope... addressed to me," she stated. She handed him the books and lifted the yellow paper envelope. She carefully tore at the seal on the back and pulled out a small, folded paper. "Laura, I don't know how to explain everything that is going on. It happened so quickly I didn't have time to tell you face to face, but I hope you will understand. Just remember, I love you, Loo-Loo. I always will. And someday, I hope I'll be able to explain why I'm not there for you. Love, Dad."

"Loo-Loo?" Remington teased with a crooked, toothy grin.

"Don't," Laura warned him as she tucked the letter back into the envelope.

Remington didn't relent, "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for that wonderful nickname your father gave you, now isn't there."

"Yes, and I'm not going to indulge your curiosity right now, either. Let's get out of here," Laura informed him quickly as she slid the now empty box into the drawer and closed it up tight.