The Book Glasses

Chapter 2

Two pairs of book glasses?

As she walked through the city, Sam contemplated what she had achieved with one set of glasses and imagined the possibilities of having two motivated people working together, both with the power of the book glasses.

But how had Garza Junior got his hands on them? She recollected Gower and Roth telling her of Garza’s trail of destruction over the decades and was devastated to think that he or his son could have used the second pair of glasses to achieve his evil aims.

Sam needed to know about the second set of glasses and the only way she could get answers was to meet with Anthony Garza face to face. She needed to get him to admit that the second pair were his and tell her where he’d got them. But to do so she needed to be fearless as he would sense her fear of him and use it against her. Therefore, she consciously pushed aside any residual fear she was still holding onto regarding the man who had nearly killed her and her mother.

By the time she’d arrived at police headquarters in the heart of the city, she was ready for the challenge. She had even rehearsed the questions she had for him in her head. Gower and Roth were both there to meet her in the foyer and first escorted her to their office to brief her about keeping the meeting short and to avoid creating a scene.

“Allowing you to meet with Garza is irregular and we would prefer that you do not draw any unwanted attention to yourself or this meeting. And you mustn"t give Garza any grounds to accuse us of violating his rights in any way or to mistake this meeting as a***e or harassment. Do you understand?” said Gower.

“Yes,” said Sam. “Message received loud and clear.”

“Please wait here while we escort Garza from the holding cells to an interview room.”

Fifteen minutes later, Roth returned and led her to the interview room where Garza was sitting alone at a table carefully restrained for her safety. She assumed the two detectives would take their place behind the two-way mirror to watch and listen to the meeting without being seen. Therefore, she knew she must watch her words, not just for Garza’s sake, but to avoid contradicting the story she had already told the detectives.

When Garza looked up and recognised her, his face darkened with loathing. “What the f**k are you doing here?”

“Look, I didn’t kill your father. It was his hatred, evilness and greed that killed him,” Sam said.

“I know you killed my father.”

“I will do a deal with you. Tell me where you got these glasses, and I will tell you the truth about your father’s death.” She retrieved the second pair of book glasses from her handbag and showed them to him.

“The truth is you f*****g killed him, you f*****g b***h and, if I wasn’t handcuffed, I would kill you myself.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to hear about his death, fine. It will remain my secret and you will never know the truth.”

“Wait, b***h. Tell me, what secret?”

“First, you tell me where you got these glasses, and I will tell you the truth about your father’s death.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t have the glasses. They are the glasses you had all along.”

“Okay, if you want to be like that, I’m walking.”

“No, wait. I’m telling you the truth. If I already had the glasses, why would my father and I have gone to so much trouble to track you down to get them?”

“You need to do better than that. I found these glasses in my apartment. Remember? The place where you almost choked me to death. You’re full of s**t. I’ll give you one last chance, tell me about these glasses or I’m out of here and you will never know the truth about your father’s death.”

Garza looked bewildered. “Why would I lie? I didn’t have the glasses when I went to your apartment. Now tell me about my father. Please!”

Without another word, Sam turned and walked out the door, frustrated and confused. She was beginning to believe that Garza was telling the truth.

As she closed the door, the next door in the hallway opened and Gower appeared. “Before you go can we see you in here, please?” He let her into the viewing room where they could see Garza throwing a mini tantrum and fighting against his restraints. But he wasn’t going anywhere.

“What’s up? I’m finished with him. He’s of no use to me. He’s going to take it to his grave,” Sam said angry and frustrated as she pointed at him through the window.

“Garza’s son doesn’t know anything about the glasses because it was not him who left them in your apartment,” Roth said.

“I found these glasses in my apartment. The same place he held my mother captive for over twenty-four hours and where he tried to kill me and her. Who else could have left them there? No one else was in my apartment.”

“There was, actually,” Roth said.

“What are you talking about?” asked Sam, her anger rising.

“Calm down. We were asked to look for a pair of glasses, but we’ve been so busy, we hadn’t got around to doing that,” Gower replied.

“Asked to look for them? By whom?”

“The glasses belong to your mother, Sister Sue. It was she who told us to look for them,” Roth explained.

“What?” Sam couldn’t believe her ears. Her entire world then went into a tailspin. She was transported back to the time she had first told her mother about the book glasses and recalled how easily Sue had believed her incredible story and how cautionary she had been. She had insisted that the glasses belonged to the Catholic church and needed to be returned. And Sue knew all about the side effects, the visions. It all made sense now.

Her emotions were like a whirlwind swirling inside her and she reached out to the wall with both hands to keep herself from falling. She hardly noticed Roth and Gower approach her from each side to help hold her up.

The knowledge that she had been spectacularly deceived was earth-shattering. Shaken to her core, she felt her mother’s betrayal pierce her like a dagger to the heart. Clearly, Sue had kept much more from her than the fact that she was her mother. What other secrets had she kept?

“Excuse me, Sam. Hello, can you hear me?” Gower shouted, still holding her up on one side.

“Let’s put her down on the chair. She’s in shock!” Roth demanded.

“I’m calling the ambos. She’s as white as a ghost!”

“No, give her a minute or two. Let’s see how she goes. She’s got the b****y holy glasses; she been lying to us all this time. If we’d known her mother was talking about them, we wouldn’t have wasted all this time. Now there are two pairs of them, so let’s wait until she snaps out of it. I want those glasses so go get her some water. I’ll hold her here in the chair.”

This was not what Sam had expected. And the woman who she knew as Sister Sue, who claimed to be her mother, might have other motives for her actions.

Regardless of what possibilities tomorrow might bring for Samantha Page, she needed the truth.