Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

expert to go through
it all. They were going to help her…”
    “ Did she sell all of that
too?” Sissy asked.
    “ We told the kids about
their Mom selling their old house,” Aden said. “And yes, Sissy, I
think she did.”
    “ Her creepy lawyer said he
sold all of her assets.” Remembering the college fund, Sandy
grimaced.
    “ We’re wondering if you
kids know of anything that might link your mother to the horrible
crimes that happened to your sister, Sandy,” Agent Angie
said.
    “ Anything, even the
smallest thing, can be really significant,” Agent Tony
said.
    “ Like what?” Sissy
asked.
    “ They’re looking for some
gold,” Sandy said.
    “ Like what you have?”
Charlie asked.
    “ Charlie helped Pete move
it for me,” Sandy said to Aden. “When he lived at the
salon.”
    “ We carried it for Uncle
Seth. They’re really heavy,” Charlie said. “He took it.”
    “ Detective O’Malley had
the gold evaluated,” Agent Angie said. “We were hoping we could get
fingerprints off the coins but the gold is clean. Someone buffed
every coin.”
    “ Someone really loved on
that gold,” Agent Tony said. “It was cleaned, polished and placed
in those jars. Would you mind telling us how you got the gold,
Sandy?”
    “ My father gave me one of
those two gallon jars every Christmas,” Sandy said. “He said it was
my college fund. I buried them in his backyard and dug them up the
day they were rebuilding the house.”
    “ That’s what Detective
O’Malley said,” Agent Angie smiled at Sandy. “Thank you for
repeating it.”
    “ We found cash, but not
gold among your father’s possessions,” Agent Tony said. “I know
you’ve worked with Detective O’Malley, Sandy. But can you think of
a place where your father might have hid another supply of
gold?”
    Sandy shook her head.
    “ You mean Mom had the
gold?” Panicked, Charlie’s voice came out loud and high.
    “ Why does that freak you
out?” Aden asked.
    “ I just… I mean…” Charlie
licked his lips. “I just know it’s true. That’s all.”
    “ What’s true?” Aden
asked.
    “ Mom was involved in this
crap,” Charlie said.
    “ Why does that freak you
out?” Sandy asked.
    “ I…” Charlie shook his
head.
    “ What is it Charlie?”
Sissy asked.
    “ She tried to get me to…”
Charlie cleared his throat.
    “ Me too,” Sissy
said.
    “ You know what?” Aden
stood up. “We don’t know anything about this and I’m not willing to
have the kids bear their horrors here.”
    Sandy got out of her seat and walked out the
door. Sissy and Charlie started to stand.
    “ Please wait,” Agent Angie
said. “We want to hear about your experiences. Of course we do. We
need your help today. But we don’t need to hear this
today.”
    She met them at the door.
    “ Please,” Agent Angie
touched Sandy’s shoulder.
    “ I’ll sit down,” Sandy
said. “But there’s no way I’m putting Sissy and Charlie through any
more than they’ve been through. These kids have been through hell.
We’ll will talk about this as a family and decide together what’s
best for us. First.”
    Agent Angie stepped back from Sandy.
    “ You have me,” Sandy said.
“You have my testimony and almost a decade of films and stills.
That’s enough for a hundred criminal cases.”
    Sandy went back to her chair and sat down.
Sissy and Charlie followed her lead. Agent Angie went back to her
chair. For a moment, the room was silent.
    “ We really need something
that links your mother to this case,” Agent Tony said. “Without
evidence, she will leave here tonight and disappear. We need your
help. We have to find something solid that links her to the
business.”
    “ Like what?” Aden
asked.
    “ Ideally?” Agent Angie
asked. “Even one gold Krugerrand would do.”
    “ That’s a gold coin,”
Sandy said. “It’s a little bigger than a quarter and a lot
heavier.”
    “ Did you look in Mom’s
storage locker?” Sissy asked.

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