The Greedy Heart

The Letter

Inside, under the rest of the cotton, there was a little note folded nice and neat. I pull it out, unfold the piece of paper, and read it out loud:

“Our dearest Jessica,

           If you are reading this then, that means that I am already gone, and something has happened. If I was home and there with you, you would never have seen this note to begin with. After reading this note, please toss it into the fireplace and make sure it turns to ash. Please always know that we love you and Frankie so much! Things have been occurring and have had me on high alert for quite some time. Especially, after my partner Gil went missing. I have already told all of you what needs to happen if something happens to us suspiciously. Always trust your instincts! I hope that you remember everything that I have told you and what all I have trained you for in case you ever need to protect yourself, Frankie, and your mom. There are so many things to tell you and show you, but I’m sure things will roll out eventually. This necklace was my mother’s and her mother’s before then, and now it is time to pass it down to you. I had planned to give it to you at your graduation but decided now was no better time. I had always planned to just take us all away and disappear, but with you graduating soon Mom and I decided to wait. Unfortunately, I won’t be there for that and for that I am so sorry, my princess. I love you, your mom, and Frankie so much! Please remember what I had planned for you all when things got bad, do all that and you should be okay.

I love you all so much! Give everyone my love and give them a kiss and hug from me!

                                                                                                           With love Always,

                                                                                                                       Dad”

My tears are just overflowing now and I’m just sobbing uncontrollably. Oh Dad! Mom! This is just horrible! Why is this happening? Why didn’t we just run away together and just disappear? I feel guilt as my father’s letter tears into me, feeling guilty because we could’ve just left! If only I knew they were holding back because of my upcoming graduation. They should’ve known I wouldn’t have given a damn! I open my swollen eyes as I feel Frankie, come to my side, and hug me close.

“Hey, sis, don’t cry. It’ll be okay, Dad’s prepared us for the worst. We can do this,” he assures me.

I grab a nearby tissue and wipe at my face to dry my tears, “I know Frankie, your being such a big boy right now. Bigger than me and I appreciate it. I’m sorry for being such a cry baby!” I tell him.

He wipes at my face with his small hands and says, “Sis, you are not a cry baby. It’ll be okay, as long as we have each other, right?”

I choke back a sob and gulp hard as his words just tears into me some more, “Yes, sweetie, we have each other. We will always have each other!” I pull him into a tight hug again and think hard about what all needs to be done.

“Let’s clean up here and let’s go get washed up. Then we can veg out for a while, I’ll make us a light lunch, and then we’ll head out to see this detective.” I suggest, while getting up I tear the note into a million pieces and throw them into the fireplace, where a small fire still burned. I watch as each little piece is burned to ashes. and start cleaning up the mess we just made.

Later on, after lunch, I’m following the directions to the detective's office, when I look in my rear-view mirror, to notice the same vehicle from the last exit still behind us. I try not to panic, and ask Frankie in the back seat, “Frankie, do you have your seat belt on?”

“Yep.” He says as he bobs his head to some tune on the radio.

I look forward and keep driving, randomly checking the mirror to see if the car was still following us. The car had retreated further behind, but I could still see it. It was a black suburban with some heavy dark tint. The lady on Google map finally announces, ‘You have arrived.’ I pull into a parking spot closes to the door and watch discreetly as the black SUV drives by. I reach for my holster that’s strapped to the bottom of my chair and make sure that my firearm is still there, I pull it out, to make sure that its loaded and the safety is off. I wasn’t taking any chances; especially, with Frankie with me. I put the gun back into its holster as I know I won’t be able to bring it with me since this is the police station, but it comforted me that it was there.

I get out the car and walk over to Frankie’s door to open it for him. We walk over to the brown building and let the front desk know that we were there to see Detective Fritz. An average height, balding, middle-aged man, wearing slacks and a button up long sleeve meets us downstairs and introduces himself as Detective Fritz. I check his badge with his picture that’s clipped to his collar, and we take the elevator up to the 5th floor.

“Please have a seat, Frankie. I’m going to talk to your sister for a little bit, can I get you something to drink or a snack?” He asks Frankie, pointing to a nearby waiting area. He shakes his head ‘no’ and takes a seat, pulling out his Nintendo switch to occupy him for a while.

“Okay, then. Jessica, please follow me.” He says walking towards a tall brown door. He pulls out a seat for me and sits across from me.  

“Jessica, first and foremost, I want to extend my sincerest condolences to you and Frankie. How are you and Frankie holding up?” He asks.

“Thank you, detective. We’re doing okay, I guess. It’s still a shock to us right now as it just happened. We don’t really know how to process everything just yet honestly.” I tell him truthfully.

He nods his head and says, “I understand this is really fresh and considering it’s Christmas, I bet it’s even harder for you both. Can I get you anything to drink or some snacks?”

I shake my head and say, “No, thanks.”

“Okay, so I’m going to make a few statements and ask you a few questions, okay? Just answer as best as you can.”

“Of course, detective.” I tell him.

“Your parents did die in a car accident last night. Their vehicle received a very large impact on the side, causing them to flip multiple times and causing the vehicle to stop all the way at the end of the road. There was a gas leak, and it caused the car to catch on fire before help could arrive.” He tells me. I notice that I’m at the edge of my seat and gripping the sides of the armchair tightly. Just thinking what could’ve been going on in my parents’ minds at their time of death was just terrifying. I sniffle a bit as tears start running down my cheeks. He hands me a tissue and I dab at my tears.

“I’m sorry, detective. Please continue on.” I tell him sniffling into my tissue.

“It’s okay, Ms. Jessica I understand this is a blow to you and I really hate to re-hash things, but I’d really like to find out the truth about the accident.” He says as I look at him questioningly.

“The truth, detective?” I ask.

“Yes, after investigating the scene and the evidence at hand, your parents didn’t run into anything. They weren’t speeding and there was no other damage to anything surrounding your parents point A of impact and point B of final destination. Plus, there were no other vehicles on site that was in a car crash along with them. No witnesses either. Granted, it was Christmas eve and the streets at the time are usually not busy with people either. Also, the one that called the accident in was an anonymous caller. We haven’t been able to trace it to a source at all.”

“Are you saying that someone, someone purposely caused my parent’s car accident?!” I asked him incredulously.

“Yes, Ms. Jessica. That is exactly what I’m saying. We’ve determined that this accident was not an accident at all, but a homicide.” He tells me as my mind went totally blank and I black out.