Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter 7

Katie searched through several boxes and found no clue about anything.  She was getting to the point of giving up but something told her not to do so.  She knew that for Billy’s sake, she had to find out the truth.  She decided that she was getting tired and needed to call it a day, so she returned home.
    The next day she talked to her dad about everything. 
He told her, “Princess, don’t get involved in it.  Let the Army do their thing.”
“Daddy, they aren’t doing anything.  I have to do this.”
“Honey,” he continued, “you don’t know who these people are.  Just don’t get involved and you won’t get hurt.”
“Sorry Daddy, I have to.”  With that she left. 
Katie really hadn’t talked to her father about all of this.  That was the first time she actually knew how he felt about it.
    Katie tried to think of everything she could about what Billy might have been talking about.  She couldn’t think of anything.  She then remembered seeing Billy’s address book in one of the boxes at Billy’s parents.  Maybe, just maybe, she thought, it would contain a clue.
    She went back to their home and looked through the boxes until she found the book.  She looked through it for anything that might help.  All she saw were names and addresses of his friends and a few important dates.  As she was closing it however, she noticed on the last page there was something written that seemed out of place.  She looked again and it read: Deed – WPDLBJ. 
    She knew that was a clue about the deed, but what did it mean?  What did the letters WPDLBJ mean, and what did it have to do with the deed?  She tore the page out and put it in her pocket, looked for any other clues, and then left.
    Later she asked Billy’s parents if they knew what those letters meant but they didn’t know.  She sat for hours running ideas through her head about what they meant.  She finally decided that the BJ was for Billy Jones but couldn’t come up with the rest.  She knew this had to be a clue that would help her and she had to find out what the clue meant.
    Several days later, Billy’s parents called and told Katie they were going to go through all of Billy’s things to figure out what to do with it all and they wanted her to help.  She went over to help to hopefully find more clues.  They put all his Army awards and memorabilia in a big trunk to hopefully protect them.  His father took Billy’s diploma from West Point off the wall and handed it to Mrs. Jones.  “Here honey.  Put his WPD in there also.”
“Excuse me,” Katie spoke up.  “What did you say?”
“His WPD,” Mr. Jones repeated.
“That was part of the code I found for the deed: WPDLBJ.  Can I see that?” Katie asked.
Mr. Jones handed it to her.
“Hmmm. WPDLBJ.  West Point Diploma Lt. Billy Jones.  That has to be it, but what did his diploma have to do with that deed?”  Katie wondered.
Katie handed the diploma back to Mr. Jones.  As he handed it to his wife, it slipped and fell to the floor.  The glass shattered.  As he picked it up to clean his mess, a paper fell out from behind the diploma.  “What is this?” he asked as he picked it up.  Reading it in disbelief, “Katie it’s the deed, it’s the deed.” He handed it to her.
    “It really is,” she cried excitedly.  “That code WPDLBJ, was where he hid the deed, in his diploma.  I don’t believe it.  Do you mind if I keep this until I get things figured out?”
    Mr. and Mrs. Jones looked at each other and smiled.  Mr. Jones put his arm around Katie and spoke.  “Katie, as far as we are concerned, that land is yours.  You and Billy were gonna live there after he got out of the service, so it is yours.”
    Shocked Katie said, “I can’t take this.  It says here it is worth 2.5 million dollars and it’s a family heirloom.”
“No, please Katie, it’s the least we can do.  Billy would have wanted it that way.  Besides we have no other family to give it to and know you will take good care of it.  Think of it as our gift to you.”
    Crying, Katie hugged both and thanked them.  She then gathered her things and returned home to do her daily review.

 Chapter 8

    She was in her office when Brian called.
“Hello?”
“Hello Katie this is Brian.  I think things are beginning to die down.  We might be able to meet soon.”
“Good Brian.  Hey, I found the deed.”
“Really? That’s great.  So what’s it worth?”
“2.5 Million”
“Wow, I had no idea it was that much.  Anyway, give me a few more days and I’ll give you a buzz with more details.”
“Okay Brian, Bye”
    Just then her dad came home.
“Hey Daddy, I need to talk to you.”
“Sorry Princess, this isn’t a good time. I am in a hurry.”
“Where you going?”
“I am going to Fort Campbell.”
“Why are you going there?  Does it have something to do with Billy?”
“Billy?  Um, no.  What makes you thank that? Let’s just say it’s on business for a client.”
“Daddy, I didn’t know you dealt in military law.”
“I don’t baby.  My client isn’t in the Army.  I’ll be back in a few days.  Goodbye.”  With that he slammed the door.  In all the years Katie’s dad had been a lawyer, she had never seen him react like that.
    A few moments passed and there was a knock at the door.  Katie answered it and saw two men in full Army uniform. 
“Excuse me ma’am.  I am Major White, this is Captain Adams.  Are you Katie Warren?”
“Yes, I am.  How can I help you?”
“Well, you can start by telling us where Brian Walker is.”
“Please, officers, come in.  I don’t know where Brian is.”
“You have been communicating with him, correct?”
“Yes, but he always contacted me.  I have no idea where he is.”
“Ma’am, you need to realize that Lt. Walker is a suspect in a very classified case.”
“Well, I was not aware of that.”
“We have reason to believe that he has given you classified information.”
“Officers, I assure you that Brian has done no such thing.  He and my fiancé were good friends.  He was just giving me sympathy and my fiancés dying words.  Now I am entitled to that, am I not?”
“Yes, of course, but I wouldn’t exactly call them friends.”
“What do you mean?  They graduated the academy together.  They were best friends.”
“Ma’am, I am telling you that for the past year and a half, Lt. Jones and Lt. Walker hated each other and were at each others throats daily.”
“That is strange, Brian told me they were friends.  You say he is a suspect.  What for?”
“Ma’am, as I have said, that is classified.  Look, we have to get going but here is my card.  If, and when, Lt. Walker contacts you again, I want details.  Good day.”
    Katie couldn’t believe her ears.  Something big was going down, and she was right in the middle of it.
Did Brian lie about everything?  Is he covering something up? Did he murder Billy?
She asked herself all these very questions before, but she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers.
    It was over a week before Brian contacted her again and before her father returned.  Katie’s father had just pulled into the driveway when the phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Katie it’s Brian, please tell me you didn’t tell them anything.”
“Tell who, Brian.”
“The guys that came by your house last week.  Please tell me you didn’t!”
“No, Brian.  I didn’t tell them anything, but how did you know?”
“That doesn’t matter.  Look, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner but I had some business to take care of.  A lawyer friend of mine told me not to contact you anymore but I just had to.”
“Brian, please tell me what is going on.  I want to know about Billy.”
“I know you do and I will try to help you, but I must warn you, this will get long and difficult.  The Army is trying to keep a lid on this, and it just isn’t because of the murder.  Something else is going on.”
“What do you mean, Brian?”
“Well, there are some pieces missing about Billy’s case they don’t want anyone to find.  They are covering up something.  I don’t know what, but they are.”
“Can we meet?”
“I still don’t think it is safe yet, at least not until I get some more information on this new cover-up.  I gotta go now."
“Okay Brian.  Be careful.”
    Just as she hung up her father came in. 
“Who were you talking to Princess?”
“Brian. How was your trip Daddy?”
“Brian? He’s still calling you?”
“Yes Daddy.  He is trying to help me figure out this mystery behind Billy’s death.”
“Mystery?  There is no mystery.  He was killed.  Take your $2.5 million ranch and get over it.  I am gonna get something to eat.  Want something?”
“No thanks.  I have work to do.”
    Katie again picked up the deed and looked over it.  There had to be something she was missing.  She read the line that said net value: $2.5 million.  Then she got a strange feeling.  She didn’t remember telling her father about the ranch much less how much it was worth.  How did he know?
“Daddy?” she yelled to the kitchen.
“Yes, Princess?”
“How did you know about the ranch?”
“Oh, I was in your office one day and saw it laying on your desk.”
    Only one problem, Katie never left her papers lying on her desk.  Every time she left, if only for a few minutes, she locked them in the drawer.  She was going to take no chances with this.  So how did he know?  Someone must have told him and the only people who knew were Billy’s parents, whom he hardly talked to, and Brian, whom he didn’t even know.  Why would he make such a cruel comment as ‘get over it’?  He knew how hard it was on Katie.  Something was fishy about the way he was acting and Katie knew it.  Katie wasn’t going to contact Major White until she figured this all out.