The Bequest
an excerpt

Prologue

Sam Robbins felt tired. He felt old… older than his 77 years could ever generate. Although his outside features gave him the appearance of a regal, distinguished man; he knew better. Whatever exterior appearance, Sam felt the ravages of time hitting his body like a tidal wave to the seashore.
He remembered how different he was in his younger days. Oh, did he remember those days. He had been vigorous and active in his youth. But all that was gone from him now. Though quite active for a man in his late-seventies, Sam still had the consequences of age still hit him. And each shot hit him hard. It was times like this that he missed Rachael. Rachael. His heart still ached for her, even after twenty years without her…
Click.
Immediately, Sam came out of his thoughts and opened his eyes. His senses flared at him, senses that had never failed at seeing danger. There was something very wrong. He quickly got up from his favorite gray recliner, and looked around. The small room had not been disturbed. There was nothing amiss. But he could have sworn he had heard…
“Is someone there?” Sam called out, and as he did slowly made his way towards the wooden desk on the far right of the room. For a man of his age, Sam was still quite sleek on his feet, a remnant of his youth. As quietly as a ghost, Sam opened the desk’s front drawer, and pulled out a shining revolver. It had not been used in several years, but it still was bright with its lethal power.
His eyes and ears ever ready, Sam opened the door of the room without even a creak. The hallway leading to three other rooms and the stairs leading downwards seemed to be untouched. Nothing seemed different. For a moment, Sam pondered the notion that maybe his old age was playing tricks on him; forcing him to remember his glory days… he shook his head firmly. No, he thought angrily, I am just as coherent as I was forty years ago. There is something wrong in this house. I can feel it.
His gun raised in the way only an expert could master, Sam walked down the hallway. He didn’t hear any sound, but he still could sense that there was someone else in the house. No one can live alone in a house for twenty years and not tell when there is a stranger inside. Sam footsteps made not one creak as he made his way to the stairs.
He looked down.
That was when he heard a movement behind him. He turned, just to see the broad shoulders and the outstretched white palms coming towards him. Even with the few seconds of advantage, Sam could not raise his gun fast enough. For the first – and last time – his reflexes abandoned him.
The shove came milliseconds after, and Sam felt himself hurtling town the stairs. He felt the gun fall from his hand. Each time he hit a stair, he felt his body twist. The fall felt like it would last forever.
“What a dumb way to die” was he last thought he had before oblivion overtook him. Then he felt the final crack as he hit the last stair, and in the time it took to fall from the final stair to the floor, Sam Robbins was already dead.

A man slowly and calmly walked down the stairs to where the dead body of Sam Robbins lay. The man’s white palms were now covered in black leather gloves. He went on one knee, and picked up the revolver that had landed next to the corpse.
“You gave your life for nothing, old man,” the man said to the body. The tone was mocking and filled with malice. “You spent fifty years of your life… for a cause that will soon cease to exist.”
Blood was now trickling from Robbin’s mouth. His eyes had seemed to die fixed on where the man now stood. There was no horror or terror in the old man’s open eyes. There was instead a sense of peace and resignation. There was also dignity, for Robbins had always worried that he would die of a heart attack, die on life-support… if he could have chosen how to die, he would have chosen this rather than old age.
The man had now stood up.
“We will find what you hid, Sam… and when we do…” The man laughed spitefully. He then took the revolver and put it in his coat. Then, with a mocking nod to the body, he left the house that now had no owner.

Chapter 1
Enter Diane

2 days later

“Diane!”
Diane Robbins looked up from her college homework and smiled. Even in a place such as the library, Susan Delyn was always a loud person. With her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and clothes that enhanced her 19-year-old physical attributes, Susan was well-liked by every boy in college and seemed to have a new date every other day or so. For reasons that Diane still could not figure out, Susan had taken a shine to her on the first day of high-school, and they had been best friends ever since. That had been several years ago now, but their friendship only seemed to deepen with time. Now they, along with another girl Tina, were roommates in the same dorm. Life was good.
On contrast with her, Diane always thought of herself as a little plain. With raven-black hair that went down to the small of her back and more “sensible” clothing, Diane always kind of envied Susan for her popularity and natural good looks. The only things guys ever commented about were her beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous smile and laugh. Although Diane had nothing against eyes, she still would rather be known for her hair or her personality. But, she thought, she might as well count her blessings that the boys weren’t commenting or asking for other sections of her.
It seemed that the guys Susan constantly dates seemed to have permanently-bowed heads whenever they looked at her. What shocked Diane more than that was the fact that Susan did not seem to mind. On the contrary, she seemed to relish the sick attention. Diane didn’t think she could handle rudeness like that. If a guy did that to her, the next thing he would know he would be on the floor with a bruise the size of a footfall growing out of his forehead. Despite herself, Diane found that she smiled at the thought.
Susan waved when she saw Diane smile, and came to sit next to her in the study section of the library.
“So what homework are you doing?” asked Susan, looking at Diane with mock rapt attention. Susan’s look never failed to get a laugh from Diane, and that day was not an exception.
“Calculus,” Diane replied, lifting her book slightly to show Susan a particular question. Susan groaned loudly, which was rewarded with sharp looks from other people sitting near them and a rather loud “Shhh!” from a nearby librarian.
Susan and Diane both laughed, though this time quite low.
“What about you, did you come here to study?”
Susan scoffed. “Do you ever see me holding school books when I’m not in my little campus dorm?” she asked, wagging a finger at Diane.
Diane shook her head in mock surrender. “So who is your hourly date today?” she asked.
Susan smiled roguishly. “Tony Ludlum,” she said.
Diane raised one eyebrow, getting a giggle from Susan. Raising one eyebrow something that Susan couldn’t do and always thought was hilarious. Susan had nicknamed Diane ‘Mrs. Spock’ after the first time she did it, and the nickname still stuck to a certain degree.
“But I thought that you went out with him not long ago and told me the day afterwards that you… oh, how did you say it?”
Susan raised her head in mock dignity, and in a deep voice said haughtily, “Tony was a no-good jerk, he kept trying to grab me, and the movie and food sucked.”
Diane had to suppress a chortle. “I believe that was exact phrase.”
Susan leaned back and stretched like a spoiled cat. “That was last month. This is a new me, and therefore a new date.”
“Has there ever been a time that you have kept the same guy?” asked Diane, grinning broadly. Susan eyed her with upset pride.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” huffed Susan, raising her head defiantly.
“Oh, yeah… who?” Diane inquired with a playful look.
“Tom Kepler.”
Diane groaned. “Oh, I forgot about him!” she said, shaking her head with repressed laughter. Tom Kepler was the college smart guy, which really dissed people off because he was one year younger than everyone but always seemed to be one year ahead.
“It’s not like he is the easiest person to forget… not that I want to forgot,” Susan said quickly, “but he was probably the most interesting person I have ever dated…” She stopped for a moment. Then, in an action which Diane called “the Susan Maneuver” (which Diane described as being able to talk about one thing and then switching to something totally different), Susan turned back to Diane and said, “So what did you think of the cafeteria food today?”
Diane blinked twice, as usual taken by surprise at the sudden change in conversation. But after a moment, she took it in stride.
“It wasn’t terrible like usual, but I hope that this is the road to improvement, not the end result. Why?”
Susan shrugged. “Just asking—”
Susan didn’t finish her sentence because Diane’s cell phone began to right. Diane, fearing dirty looks from the librarians, quickly picked up her phone and looked at the number. It was her aunt’ cell number. That’s odd, Diane thought, as she began to open the phone. She never calls me this early in the day…
“Hello?”
“Diane?” Diane could hear an unusual edge in her aunt’s voice. Diane immediately sensed there was something wrong. Her insides rolled inside of her. Is something wrong with Uncle Frank? Diane thought for a moment, panic-stricken for her uncle. Her father’s brother and his wife had raised her since Diane’s parents’ death in a car crash over ten years ago. They had raised her with love and devotion, and Diane knew that she was lucky. Not most uncles and aunts would do what hers had. Though she was terrified, Diane kept her voice neutral.
“Yeah, Aunt Jen?”
Diane, out of the corner of her eye, saw Susan mouthing to say hi for her. But Diane wasn’t thinking about anything except on the phone.
“Darling… I – I have some bad news.”
Now full-blown panic boiled inside of Diane. “Did something happen to Uncle Frank?” she asked, trying not to convey the panic she felt to her aunt.
Her aunt’s voice was surprised. “Your uncle? No, dear, he’s fine. He’s right here next to me.”
Relief swept through Diane. Then anger. “Why did you scare me like that,” Diane almost screamed, but only let out a fierce whisper.
“The thought never occurred to me that you would think your father was hurt,” Jenny replied, in an exasperating calm tone that frustrated Diane to no end.
“Well then, what is the bad news?” demanded Diane.
The next five words, although Diane had no way of knowing it, would change her life forever. “Diane… your grandfather is dead.”

Chapter 2
The Bequest

“I can’t believe that Sam died from something as simple as falling down the stairs,” said a relative stiffly to her husband. Her tone held obvious disdain for Sam. “Although I never particularly liked the man, I always thought he would die doing something useful. What a pointless way to die, especially considering the thousands and thousands of dollars that he had. I suppose this is an unfortunate reminder that money can’t buy everything.”
Although the woman had not meant for her voice to carry (although it was not as if she cared one way or another), Diane heard that simple comment from the other side of the funeral reception.
“Don’t mind these jerks, Diane,” said Susan, giving the relatives dirty looks that went unheeded. She set her small soda can on a nearby table and put a comforting hand on Diane’s blue-satin covered shoulder. Diane didn’t even feel her friend’s hand. After a moment, Susan removed her hand and just tried and be there for her friend.
Dozens of emotions were crashing into Diane. Anger. Hatred. Frustration. Sadness. Love. Grief. Most the anger she felt was directed to the relatives that had come to the funeral. People like the woman she had just heard. The funeral has only been over a few hours, and already they are all speaking ill of him, Diane thought with frustration.
The funeral had been a quiet matter, with no talking or socializing. Everyone there at the open-casket wake just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Of all her relatives, it was only Diane and her aunt and uncle that stayed the entire time.
The only thing about Sam Robbins that any of his relatives seemed to care about was the old man’s inheritance. Sam Robbins had been a very wealthy man, investing in stocks and other organizations in his youth. Since then, all his relatives smiled through their teeth at him, waiting – or rather hoping – for the day of his death.
That day had finally come, and the turn-out was every relative in the family from all over the country. These people don’t really care, Diane thought, wishing that she could lash out and yell at all these stupid people. All they care about is his money. They don’t care about anything else… then she thought about that for a moment. It was not as if it was their fault that no one else (besides her) seemed to like Sam Robbins. He had been a very private person. He never seemed to go out of his house. The only time she had seen her grandfather was when her parents or her step-parents took her to see him. They always went to his house. Diane couldn’t even remember one time that her grandfather had visited, even when her parents were still alive.
Diane smiled sadly. There were so many things that she would never know about him now. But this was never supposed to happen. She remembered the first time she had seen her grandfather. He had been as tall as a giant to her then. She remembered his face breaking into a grin at seeing her, and he swept her up into his arms in a shower of giggles. Diane always had just figured he would keep living, no matter the odds. She never thought that…
“Diane, are you alright?”
Diane pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at her uncle. He looked so much like her father that sometimes her heart ached for her real parents. But she still loved her uncle as a father, even though no one would take the place of her real one.
Diane forced a smile. “As well as can be expected, I guess.”
Frank nodded. Diane could tell he wasn’t sure on how to approach her about this. After all, Sam hadn’t been his father… he was just another family relative. Of all the other relatives, only Diane had touched her grandfather’s heart. Besides his wife who had died twenty years before, Diane was the only person on earth that Sam had ever truly loved.
Frank coughed uncomfortably. “Um… the lawyer is here. Donald. He’s going to read Sam’s will.”
Diane nodded without really knowing what she was doing. She felt as if she was in a horrible dream and she couldn’t wake up. She just couldn’t put the fact that her grandfather was dead… the one person that she loved as much as her parents and step-parents. She smiled as a fresh array of happy times with her grandfather came upon her.
“Susan, will you come with me?” Diane asked quietly, surprised by how small her voice seemed.
Susan nodded solemnly. “I’m here, whatever you need,” she said. Frank took Diane’s hand and led her to another room, where hundreds of chairs were already filled.
“Sit here,” said Frank, as they got to the front pew where Diane’s aunt sat.
Susan and Diane sat, and Frank sat on the left of his wife.
After a moment, an older man with gray hair and needle-like glasses walked to the front of the group. He had a kind face, but one that seemed to always be grimacing. Diane assumed that this must be because of the lawyer’s occupation. He pushed his small-framed glasses closer to the bridge of his nose, and cleared his throat.
“My name is Jim Dobson, and I am – pardon me, was – Mr. Robbins’s lawyer. I assume that you are all here to hear the bequest of Sam Robbins. This is his latest will, which means that all previous will are moot—”
“Get on with it, man!” yelled one of the relatives, getting a guffaw from the two drunken friends next to him.
Dobson looked at the man with a look of revulsion that shut them all up.
“Continuing… I will now read the will to all of you.” Dobson cleared his throat, and began to speak.
“I, Samuel James Robbins, hereby submit my will. My wishes are almost ludicrously simple, but it will cause several problems. Just off, I shall drop the bombshell on all my beloved relatives that have come weeping at my funeral for the sole purpose of getting their fingers in my million-dollar pie. Well, get ready for a rude awakening. Most of my money, at the time that I write this, is gone. Kaput. Lost in the gambling of the stock-market. All I have now is a house that is bought and paid for, as well as a few thousand dollars. I give all my money, land, and everything I own to my granddaughter, Diane Rachael…”
Dobson was interrupted by the immense booing and derision that came from everyone below. The relatives arose in one giant mob, and began to roar in anger. But there were two that stayed seated. Diane stayed seated, too shocked to move.
Her grandfather had given everything to her? She couldn’t get her mind around that. Why would he do that? She never knew that he loved her that much. The roaring of her relatives seemed to so far away to her, almost as if she was seeing a film on mute. She had a house! Why had her grandfather chosen her…?
“Diane!”
Susan poked Diane in the arm, and Diane looked up to see that things had calmed down and Dobson looked like he would begin talking again. Dobson looked from one side of the room to the other over the brim of his glasses. His eyes then rested on Diane.
“The final contents of the will are eyes-only for Diane Robbins. Miss Robbins, will you please join me in the office behind me? The rest of you, this business is closed.”
All the other relatives got up in a huff, and Diane could hear several snippets of the angered voices.
“…just like Sam to do such a thing…”
“… No wonder the man died. He must have felt mighty stupid at losing so much…”
“… That Robbins girl got everything. She must have…”
“… I wonder what Diane did to get on Sam’s good side. Nothing good, I’ll warrant…”
Diane closed her eyes as tightly as she could to the comments and stared straight ahead. Dobson looked at her kindly, and made a gesture towards the door. She walked with him, and he pulled the small, wooden door open. Inside was small, though not too cramped. There was just enough room for two people. A desk sat at the far center of the room, while two chairs sat at the end of the desk. Dobson sat at the chair behind the desk, and then made a gesture for her to sit. Her body still trembling from shock, she complied readily.
“Miss Robbins,” said Dobson, folding his hands together and putting them on the desk, “your grandfather explicitly said that the rest of the will you read, and only you read. Also…” then Dobson pulled something out of the desk drawer, and carefully held it out to her. For a moment, Diane did not recognize what it was… then understanding dawned.
It was a golden chain, and at the end of it hung a golden locket. Diane felt tears slowly falling from her face. She put her hand out, and Dobson carefully dropped the chain and locket into it. Diane held her hand still for a moment, and then closed her hand. She brought it to her bosom, and memories seemed to flood her all over again. This was the chain and locket that her grandfather had worn every day of his life since he married his wife. He had never taken it off, except for sleep. He had been found dead with it still around his neck.
Diane remembered that locket. She looked down at it for a moment. This was a very special locket, because you could only open it with a little tapping in the right places. She loved it when Grandpa Sam would open it when she was really little, because inside was a picture of her grandmother, Wanda.
“Your grandma was a very special little lady, you know,” she could just hear her grandfather saying to the little girl on his lap, “the first moment I saw her, I knew that she was the woman that I would marry.” The funny part, he would tell her later, was that he had only been eleven years old then. That kind of true love is so rare…
“Thank you…” Diane tried to say to the lawyer, but her words trailed off. Her emotions seemed too great. Though she had not seen him as much as many children saw their grandfathers, they had had a bond that was more powerful than any friendship. He had been her best friend, confident… now he was gone. And she didn’t know what to do about it.
Dobson didn’t say anything for a few minutes, seeing that Diane needed a little time to think and cry. Then he coughed slightly in his hand, and held the rest of the will out.
“Here,” he said. Diane looked at the will, and then took it from Dobson.
“I’ll wait outside,” he said, getting up from the desk. He stopped just briefly enough to put a comforting hand on Diane’s shoulder.
“Your grandfather was a good man. One of the best clients I have ever worked with… Even I feel his loss as just his lawyer.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine what you are feeling.”
Diane nodded, although the man’s words didn’t give her the comfort that he had been trying to give. She gave a weak smile to him, telling him more of a thank you than any words could have. He smiled back, and then noiselessly walked out of the room.
After a few moments of being alone, Diane began to read the will. She read it out loud to herself, so that she didn’t miss anything.
“To my dear Diane, I am sorry for the pain I am causing you for this. For many years I have been in the ring with death, and I won nine rounds. Apparently, the #@#$ sucker-punched me in the tenth round. I also know you well enough to know that you are asking yourself why I gave everything I own to you. First off, you should know that I hate all of my other relatives. Of all of them, only your step-parents and yourself looked at me without seeing dollar signs surrounding me. So I guess that one reason is that I knew giving everything to you would sure %&$# them all off.
“But I know that you know that this was not the real reason. The reason is that of anyone in my life besides Wanda, you were the one person that I felt really and truly loved me. Just for me. You have no idea how much of a blessing you have been to me, and I held every time we were together very close to my heart. I hope that you will remember this cranky, tired old man with as much love and affection as he held for you. I hope that you live a full, happy life.
“The only thing I regret about my death is that I will not see you grow into the star that you always told me you wanted to be. But always remember this, if nothing else that I have said. To me, you were always a star. From the first time I saw you, and for as long as you live, you will always be my star and sunshine. Take my gifts and use them well. Love from a tired old man, Grandpa Sam.”
Diane finished reading the rest of the will, and then read it again. And again. Her grandfather had never told her how much he had loved her like this. She didn’t even try to stop the tears now. She let them fall. Little droplets had fallen on the will, and her eyes trailed down.
That was when she noticed another little note. It was on the bottom of the will, almost like a little P.S. sign. “I hope that you like the locket. The only thing I ask of you is to not open it until you are safe at your new home. Above all… always lock the doors.”
The last part struck Diane as odd, even from her grandfather. Why did he warn her to lock the doors? Mentally, she shrugged. He must have said it for a reason, and right now she was not going to be mystified by stupid stuff. She had enough things to worry about already. No need on adding to the load.
She stood up, and felt the ache in her back disappear. She put the will on the table, and held the locket in her hand for a moment. That was the one part that did puzzle her to no end. Why did he care where she opened it? She had no idea. For a moment, she thought of just opening it anyway… why not? But she shook her head at the thought. For reasons known only to her grandfather, he had asked her a request, and %&$@ if she screwed it up for nothing, even if the request was slightly mental. She then put the golden chain around her neck, and smiled. Then she folded the will in half and went towards the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, and then opened it.
Her relatives had all left already, making all the empty chairs and complete silence. For some reason, this seemed to unnerve Diane. She couldn’t figure out why, but a tear slowly dropped from her eye. Maybe this was a sign to show that it really was over. Her grandfather’s funeral was over. Her grandfather’s funeral. Grandpa Sam’s funeral. She still couldn’t get the concept in her head, no matter how hard she hammered it in.
The only ones left in the room were Susan and Diane’s step-parents, and they had already put their coats on and were ready to leave.
Susan was the first to see Diane leave the office. Her face showed her grief for her friend, and Diane appreciated it. Then Frank saw her.
“What did the rest of the will say?” asked Aunt Jen, looking quite anxious.
Diane shrugged. “It was nothing real different from what the lawyer read beforehand. Just a few notes on how he felt about me…” She pulled the locket out from the neckline of her shirt and showed it to the others. “And to personally make sure I got this.”
“It’s beautiful…” said Susan, a little awed. Diane knew that her friend was right. This was not just a sentimental keepsake. This was a very valuable object, being that it was made of pure gold right at the right of her grandfather’s stock victories.
“Did the rest of the will say anything on why you got all of his possessions?” asked Uncle Frank, looking at her carefully.
But Diane shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, still as befuddled as before, “all he asked me was that I not open the locket until I was inside the new house, the other thing was to make sure I locked all the doors and windows.”
“What an unusual request to leave in your will,” commented Aunt Jen, deep in thought. “But with the… eccentric personality of your grandfather, I do not find it too surprising.”
“I would agree,” said Diane, “but there is just something… well, not quite right with the whole thing. But maybe it’s just me.”
“No, I don’t think it has anything to do with you,” said Uncle Frank, “I think that it has everything to do with Sam. In his mind, this was something important that he wanted you to see at the right time; at the right place… maybe he just wanted to picture you perfectly. He was always a control freak—”
“Frank!” cried Aunt Jen, looking at him with alarm.
“Well, it’s true, dear,” said Uncle Frank, now defensive. “It’s not like I had anything against the man, but he always seemed to want to make sure everything was exactly the way he wanted it.”
Surprising them all, Diane laughed.
“What’s so funny?” asked Aunt Jen.
“I’m just remembering last Fourth of July, when we went over to his house to celebrate…”
Uncle Frank groaned, rubbing his forehead as if in pain, and Aunt Jen laughed. “I remember that,” Aunt Jen laughed. But all Uncle Frank did was moan again.
“Oh, do I remember,” he sighed pityingly.
Diane and Aunt Jen laughed even more riotously. Susan was looking from one person to another in obvious bewilderment, which seemed to make the situation even more comedic. “What? What happened?” demanded Susan, as the laughing began to subside.
It was Uncle Frank who answered the question. “Well, Sam had invited us over to his house for a party on the Fourth of July and we said yes.”
Then Diane interrupted, and Susan was relieved to see her old friend back in spirits. “Well, while we were watching the fireworks—”
“Where he lived is known for its fantastic fireworks,” commented Aunt Jen.
“Anyway, when the big finale was in effect… now at this point, he had chugged in quite a lot of beer, so he was not totally in his right mind, you understand. He stood up right in front of us, and pointed to the fireworks.”
Diane couldn’t continue due to a fit of giggles that attacked her at that moment, so Aunt Jen found that she had been pushed up to the plate.
“Well, Sam was standing up, raving drunk, his words all slurred… and then he yelled quite loudly, ‘That looks like my Aunt Tammy’s backside!’” Aunt Jen tried to make an authentic adaptation of Sam’s voice, and her faithful interpretation produced several more laughs. After a few moments, even Susan had tears running down her face from laughing.
“Who was Aunt Tammy?”
Diane stopped laughing long enough to say, “In my grandfather’s opinion, one of her… bottom cheeks was a little bit saggy. One was always lower than the other. Apparently, one of the firework images reminded him of her.”
“It sounds like your grandfather was quite a character.”
Immediately, the cheerful atmosphere evaporated.
“He was at that,” was all Diane said in reply before walking out the door of the building, and the others, after a moment of surprise and sadness, walked out after her.

Chapter 3
Beyond the Grave

Diane wasn’t sure what to make of it as she looked around her house. Her house. It felt so unusual to think of it as her house, the house that she had known was her grandfather’s house since she was two.
Next to her stood Susan, trying not to get in the way. She stood a few feet away, watching Diane carefully.
The same smell covered everything. For years, Diane had tried to find out what that mysterious scent was. Finally, she realized what it was. Tobacco and peppermints. For as long as Diane had known him, Sam had always smoked heavily. Whenever she told him that it wasn’t good for him, he would chuckle “The better to leave this confounded shell and go be with my wife.”
Nothing had been touched since the medics had come to take her grandfather’s body out of the house. She remembered that it had been a neighbor coming to check up on Sam that had found the broken body at the bottom of the stairs. Diane remembered seeing the woman at the funeral. The neighbor had been an older woman, in her mid-sixties or so, Diane thought. The woman had cried during the funeral. Really cry. At the beginning of the funeral, Diane was sure that she was the only person that really and truly felt true grief over her grandfather’s passing. Then she had seen this woman. Two tear streaks had trailed down the woman’s cheeks, and she seemed to be mourning just as much as Diane had.
Diane had meant to go up and talk to the woman after the funeral, but the woman had left at some point when Diane wasn’t looking, and that was the last Diane had thought about her until now.
But again, Diane pushed the thoughts about the usual mourner from her mind, and concentrated on looking around. The furniture was just as she remembered, everything still perfectly placed. The two leather couches sat at each corner of the living room, both put in a position of seeing the new HD television set that her grandfather had bought two years before.
Diane walked over to where the television and sound system sat. Eight or nine DVD cases were scattered on top of the combo VHS/DVD player, and Diane looked through them. I Spy, the Last Action Hero, GoldenEye, Rush Hour… Diane smiled. Her grandfather had always been a big fan of Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker. She had no idea why. Personally, she hated Eddie Murphy’s humor. Too dirty in his younger years. But even she had to admit he had gotten better as he got closer to the flames. Hell must have frightened him quite a bit to make him take a 180 angle turnabout… She continued to look through them. The Mask of Zorro, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington…
“That one brings back memories,” she said to herself, looking at the cover. It had the black-and-white picture of a young, fatigued Jimmy Stewart, looking at hundreds of papers. This had been Diane’s and Grandpa Sam’s favorite film to watch together. Grandpa Sam always loved to show her how the government worked, how complex and imperfect it was…
“What did you say?”
Diane turned to Susan’s questioning glance. Susan was almost begging for a chance to help. But Diane was just as perplexed at what would help her as her friend was.
“Nothing, Susan… just thinking.”
Susan pulled her thumb up and pointed behind her. “If you would rather me leave…”
“No, it’s alright,” Diane assured her, although she knew that she was just being polite. In reality, she really did want to be felt alone… to grieve properly, something she hadn’t been able to do ever since she heard the news. That moment seemed like years ago now.
Susan looked around the house, trying to rouse some sort of conversation. “Quite a big house, huh?”
Diane nodded. “Yes, it sure is,” she replied, a cold, emotionless tone in her voice. “And this house is mine now. I guess I’m going to have to move from our dorm.”
“You don’t need to, you know,” said Susan, “you could sell this house and use the money for college…”
Susan had no way of knowing that this was the wrong thing to say. Really, Diane didn’t understand exactly why fury went through her at the very suggestion. This house held so many memories… so many good things that had happened here.
“No,” Diane said, hearing with surprise coldness in her voice. Susan looked just as surprised at the change of Diane’s voice. Diane continued to speak. “I can’t do that.”
Though Diane was sure that Susan would turn her back on Diane and slam the door behind her, Susan remained where she stood. She looked at Diane with understanding. This only seemed to make Diane angrier.
“Don’t look at me like that, Susan,” she almost snarled, turning away herself. “I don’t need your pity. I don’t want it, either.”
“What makes you think I pity you?” Diane heard Susan ask, but refused to turn around.
“I can hear it in your voice,” Diane replied. “It’s not that easy to hide. You feel sorry for me, or something like that.”
“No, I don’t pity you…” Diane felt Susan’s hand rest on her shoulder. She didn’t shake it off. She didn’t have the energy. “In fact, I feel quite the opposite.”
Now Diane did turn to her. “What do you mean by that?” Diane asked, the coldness almost gone now. Almost.
“Can’t you see it? I envy you, Diane. I envy the relationship you had with your grandfather… something that I never had.”
Diane didn’t say anything for moment. “Why not?” she finally asked.
Susan smiled ruefully. “My father and grandfather didn’t exactly get along real well. I mean, my father was not a mean guy or anything. It was just…” she shrugged helplessly. “They had their differences.”
“And because of those differences, you never got to have a relationship with him?”
Susan nodded. “He died about two years ago. My dad was heart-broken. There were a lot of things left unsaid between them. My dad died three weeks after the funeral. Crashed into a light pole late a night, drunk.”
Diane put a hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp. “I – I never knew that…”
“How could you?” asked Susan. “I never told you. I just want you to know that even though I have never lost a grandfather I loved like you did, I am not a stranger in the areas of grief.”
For the first time in what seemed like years, the sides of Diane’s mouth curved upwards. It was not a smile, thought Susan, but it’s a start. “Thanks, Susan,” Diane said.
Susan grinned lopsidedly back. “Don’t mention it, babe,” she replied, lightly hitting Diane on the arm.
For some reason, Diane picked that moment to remember the locket. “Hey, I’m going to crash here tonight, I guess,” she said, shrugging sheepishly. “You know, at least get a little used to this place.”
Susan shrugged. “As long as you are not planning on moving from our dorm for a few days. I’ve kind of gotten used to your singing in the shower.”
Diane laughed. “Don’t worry,” she replied. “I am not planning on moving for at least a few weeks.”
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow at classes then,” Susan said. She gave Diane an awkward pat on the shoulder, giving all the thoughts that she was trying to say. Diane smiled. She appreciated the gesture.
Then with one more glance, Susan walked out of the room. A few moments later, Diane heard the sound of a car engine fading away until it was gone.
After a few moments more of complete silence, Diane sat down on the recliner that her grandfather loved so much, and took out the locket. She twirled it around in her fingers, awed by how beautiful and precious it was. This little trinket meant the world to her, but she couldn’t really see why. Then she thought she understood. Inside something that epitomized everything that her grandfather had really been. Rachael. Rachael, Diane’s grandmother, had truly been “the woman behind the man.” She had made him something that he could have never been otherwise. She showed him what true love was.
Diane found at this moment she felt an empty spot in the pit of her stomach. She missed the woman that had died two years before she had even been born. She wished she could have seen what her grandfather had been like then.
The only time she caught a glimpse of that part of her grandfather was over seven years ago, when she had only been about thirteen or so. She had been here, at his house. It was one of those nights her family had slept over. It had been raining and thundering that night, Diane remembered. She had been awakened by a particular loud thunderclap, and found that she couldn’t go back to sleep. She walked quietly down the stairs and had gone to quietly explore this large house. That was when she had found it, while she had been walking around. A small picture of her grandfather and Rachael.
It had been dated six months before her grandmother died from a hit-and-run driver.
Even after all this time, Diane could still remember the way her grandfather looked in that picture. Still quite mature in his mid-fifties, Sam was still full of schoolboy love, holding his wife as if she was the most precious treasure in his life. Diane’s grandmother, though older, still had auburn hair. Little dimples covered her face as she smiled with pride at her husband, holding him tightly.
Diane wondered if either of them knew how short their time would be together at that point. Probably not. As with most couples before an unforeseen disaster, they probably didn’t even say good-bye.
That picture was how Diane loved to think of her grandfather, and she would continue even now.
Then she pulled herself back to the present. She put her fingers nimbly on the locket, remembering the first time her grandfather had shown it to her…

“What’s that, grampa?” asked the seven-year-old Diane, pointing curiously at a golden chain that hung from Grandpa Sam’s neck. Sam smiled at her question.
“What, this?” he asked, pulling the locket into Diane’s line of sight. Diane squealed with joy. “That is sooooo pretty?” she said, gasping as only a seven-year-old can. She looked longingly at the locket.
“Do you want to see what’s inside?” Sam asked her, his eyebrows rose up. Diane nodded her head up and down so quickly that her ponytail plopped over her eyes. Sam laughed.
“Well, I’ll take that as a yes, then.” The older man gently took Diane’s smaller pale hands into his large, tanned ones. He put her hands on the sides of the locket. “You see, Diane, this is a very special locket,” Sam said with dead seriousness. Diane’s eyes widened in rapt attention now staring at the locket with a renewed wonder.
“Who is it special?” she asked, her hands still exploring the edges of the locket.
“This locket is magical,” Sam replied, his eyes twinkling, “It can only be open if you touch it in a certain way.”
Diane began to jump up and down on her knees in excitement. “Can you show me, can you show me, can you show me?” she repeated again and again, barely holding in her enthusiasm. For a moment, Sam sighed dramatically and acted like he was thinking about it. Then he nodded, as if making the most important decision of his life.
“Yes, I will show you,” he had said. Again, he put his hands on top of hers on the locket. He put two fingers on the left side and four fingers on the other side.
“Now push,” Sam said. Excitement seemed to shine from Diane, as she did what her grandfather said. The latch on the side clicked as she pushed. She squealed.
“It opened, grampa!” she said, now so energized that it was hard for her grandfather to hold onto her.
“Yes, it did,” agreed Sam, smiling down at her eager face. “Do you want to see what is inside?”
Again, Diane nodded fiercely. Sam slowly pulled the latch back… and opened the locket. Inside was the perfectly preserved picture of a young woman, her auburn hair falling down her shoulders just so. Her eyes will full of love and vigor, and small dimples in her cheeks made her look dazzling.
“Who’s that?” asked Diane breathlessly, her eyes fixed on the picture. Even someone as young as Diane was recognized the mixture of sadness and pride in her grandfather’s voice.
“That is your grandmother, Diane. That is Rachael… my wife.”
Diane’s face seemed to sink slightly. “You mean my gramma that got hit by a car?”
After a few moments, Sam replied thickly, “yes, that’s your grandma.”
Diane looked down at the picture for another few moments. “My gramma is very pretty, grampa. I wish I could have seen her.”
“You would have loved her, darling,” Sam said, pulling her closer to him. “She was the most beautiful, special woman in the entire world. I would never have become the man I am today without your grandma…”

When Diane returned from her trip down memory lane, she found that her fingers were exactly in the same positions as they had been with her grandfather’s all those years ago.
“Let’s see if this still works,” she said to herself, and push a slight push. Just like it had when she was seven, the latch opened up with a familiar click. Diane didn’t touch the latch for a moment. She was savoring it. Then, ever so slowly, she pushed the latch back, and opened the locket.
“What the…?”
Inside was not the familiar picture of her grandmother. Instead, a small, folded white piece of paper fell slowly from the locket and into Diane’s lap.
“What’s this?” Diane asked herself. She picked up the paper in curiosity. Why was this here and not the picture of Rachael Robbins? Did her grandfather put the paper there?
The paper had been folded several times so it would fit inside the locket. The edges of the paper were badly wrinkled, telling Diane that this had been inside the locket for a while.
She unfolded the paper carefully, wondering what she would find. Why in the world would her grandfather leave her information not in the will? As she opened it a final time, a small object fell out of it. Diane picked it up, and saw that it was a key. Holding onto the key with one hand, she looked at the paper for a moment. She found herself surprised at first glance on how short it was. But then she read the message.
Look in the chamber of keepsakes.
Right under these words there was a small eye with a circle around it.
Diane put the paper down, and thought. What did the key open? What did it mean… the chamber of keepsakes? And what about the eye? She was sure that she had seen that before… Then she remembered…

“Diane, come here,” Sam beckoned to the ten-year-old Diane. Diane had her hair in two buns, and at that time Grandpa Sam had made it a habit of calling her ‘Princess Leia,’ a character from the Star Wars films.
Diane walked over to her grandfather. They were up inside his bedroom.
“What is it?” she asked, looking around for the reason her asked her here.
Grandpa Sam pointed down to the floor. “Come look at this,” he said.
Diane looked at the floor, and then back up at her grandfather. Her eyes silently told him that she didn’t understand.
“What am I looking at, grandpa?” she asked, trying her best to understand. Grandpa Sam smiled, and put his hand to the floorboards.
“I’m going to show you my secret place,” he said, and with that he pulled one of the floorboards out of the floor. Diane was surprised, because she could have sworn that there was no difference in that board than all the others.
Sam gestured her to come closer. Diane came and hunched over on her knees. The floorboard hole was not overly large, but big enough to hold a metal box.
“What do you put in here?” Diane asked, looking curiously back at her grandfather.
“Oh, just odds and ends that I want to keep safe,” he replied, pulling out the box.
“How do you know which floorboard to pull?” asked Diane, still looking at the floorboard.
“Ah,” said Sam, looking mischievous, “You haven’t looked hard enough.” He handed her the floorboard. Diane’s eyes went down the board, until her green eyes caught another eye. It was a small symbol, scratched into the wooden frame.
“I see it!” she exclaimed, pointing to the symbol. Sam’s head nodded.
“So you have.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, pointing to it again. It was an eye, surrounded by a large oval.
Sam seemed to think for a moment before answering. “It is an ancient symbol, signifying omnipotence. The all-seeing eye. Much like the one you will see on a dollar bill.”
Diane’s eyes lit up. “You mean the one on top of the pyramid?”
Sam smiled and nodded. “Yes, exactly.”
“What do you call this little place?” she asked, pointing into the hole.
“I don’t know. What should I call it?” asked Sam, looking at her questioningly.
Diane thought for a moment. Then she smiled. “The Chamber of keepsakes,” she said. Her grandfather nodded appreciatively. “I like that,” he said, putting the floorboard back in its place. “The Chamber of Keepsakes it is then…”

“That must be what he’s talking about,” Diane said, and ran up the stairs towards where her grandfather’s room was. Each step took her closer and closer… what was Sam trying to tell her?
She pushed the wooden door open and walked in. It was unusual for her to see nothing in this room. Everything was just so quiet. Even though she knew her grandfather was dead, she still expected to see him walk into the room, a mischievous grin on his face. But she knew that it would never happen. He was dead, and nothing she felt was going to bring her back.
She walked slowly onto the carpeted floor and closer and closer to the bed. The bed was still exactly as she remembered it; burgundy quilts over a king-sized bed. And next to the bed was the area that she remembered. She bent down on her knees, and put her hands delicately on the floor. Her eyes roved the floor, looking for the tell-tale eyes that had been carved on the floor.
Then she found it. It was the same, untouched by time or death. The unblinking eye stared back at her. She put her fingers on the eye with care, and when she did she felt the floorboard tilt, as if it was uneven.
So that’s how he had opened it, she thought, smiling inside herself. She had always wondered how he had done that. She put one finger on the far left side of the floorboard, and gave a slight push. The floorboard came up with a small creak.
Adrenaline went through her like water. What will I find here? She wondered, not having the slightest clue on what to expect. She tilted her head so that she could see inside. She gasped.
Inside was a tin box, just like the one her grandfather had shown her years ago. The tin box that he had never shown her the contents of.
Her hands shook as she pulled the box out of the floorboard hole. Despite how old the box looked, Diane guessed by the lack of cobwebs that it had not been hidden long. The box was long and thick. Then Diane noticed the small lock on the opening mechanism. The lock was the size of a key…
Diane pulled the key out of her pocket and looked at it curiously for a moment. I am just about to find some big secret my grandfather left behind, she thought, and for the first time felt hesitation. She hands held the key carefully. Something important was only an arm’s length away, but Diane was not sure that she wanted to know this secret. What could be so important to her grandfather that he would lock it away from everyone but her.
Everyone but her… why did he pick her?
Her eyes were fixed on the lock. Then she made a decision, but she didn’t understand why.
She fit the key into the lock, and turned. The box opened with a metallic clank…

Chapter 4
Secrets

Diane looked inside the box and looked with incomprehension at the items inside. There was money. Lots of money. More money than she had ever seen in her life. With shaking hands, she lifted one of the numerous stacks of one hundred dollar bills and looked at it with unbelieving eyes.
How had her grandfather gotten this? Why did he leave it to her without telling her while he was alive? Diane shook her head to clear her thoughts. This just didn’t make any sense at all to her.
She removed each stack from the hidden compartment, counting them. She had counted nine stacks by the time she noticed that there was something else inside. It was a bright-red folder. She pulled it out and opened it. There were three small booklets and a sealed letter.
“What are these booklets?” Diane asked herself. She picked one up and opened it. She gasped.
Inside was a picture of her, along with a fake name, fake birth date… fake everything! She looked in the other two booklets, and found that they were exactly the same. All pictures of her but completely different information on each one.
What does all this mean? What is Sam trying to tell me? Diane knew her grandfather quite well, but now all confidence in that fact vanished. She had no idea what was going on. What kind of man had her grandfather been?
Then she pulled out the sealed letter. Her heart pounded, and she found that she was unsure if she wanted to know. Then, without thinking, she opened up the letter. Carefully, she read it word for word.

Diane, my beloved granddaughter,

By finding this letter, I will assume that you have also found the six hundred thousand and the fake passports. I am also aware that right now you are wondering how I got so much money and what the point of the passports was. You are wondering why did not put this in my will, and why did I hide everything so secretly. Well, you will soon find out.

But for safety reasons, I cannot tell you everything now. Some of the deeper information will have to wait until a later date. For now, let us say that I am part of something big. This thing led up to my death. Yes, I am saying that however it looked like I died, it was all a lie. I was murdered. Now I need you to carry on my mission. The reason I was killed for is a flash drive. On this flash drive is information that many people will kill for to make sure it doesn’t get into the “right hands.” I would have left this flash drive here, but– let’s call the enemy just “the bad guys” – the bad guys might be reading this right now instead of you or they might have found this little cache before you did. Because of that, I have left you a series of clues that only you can find. Remember the toothless lion; he will lead you to the light. There are exactly _______ clues to lead you to the flash drive, and then an additional clue to lead you to where to take it.

Be extremely careful, dove. These people are dangerous, and believe me when I say that if there was another way I would have taken it. But I can’t. And you are the only person I trust enough to finish for me. All I can say about the information is that it has the ability to save of kill millions of people in the United States. Because you are reading this, that tells you that I died before taking the flash drive to my contact. Only trust those you are nearest and dearest to you, and maybe even not all of them. Get as many people that are close to you as far away as possible until you get this mission finished.

Lastly, I want to apologize. I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart for bringing this on our family and your friends. If I could do parts of my life over again, I would have been more careful. But I can’t undo the past, so all I can do is ask for your forgiveness and hope that you will still remember me with love.

Your loving grandfather,
Sam

Diane folded the letter back up. Now she was even more confused than when she started.