Chapter4
1024 Words
Later that day, Adrian was assigned the task of sorting the week’s mail which was in her words, the “contribution” Veronica deemed suitable for him. Adrian sat at the small desk in the chilly, unused morning room. From the bills to the charity solicitations, to the trade magazines and corporate correspondence addressed to Veronica or “The Board”, he sorted mechanically.
Then his fingers brushed against a thick, cream-colored envelope. It was a heavy paper. The return address wasn’t flashy corporate branding. It was stark, professional: Evergreen Trust & Safety Depository, 450 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. Addressed to Mr. Adrian Carter.
His heart raced a little bit faster than usual, giving a single, hard thump. New York? Who could this possibly be from? He didn’t know anyone in New York. And he certainly didn’t have a safety deposit box. He slit the envelope open carefully. Inside was a single sheet of equally heavy paper. The letterhead contained the bank’s name and address.
Dear Mr. Carter,
Re: Safety Deposit Box 734 (Held under: Clara Carter – Estate)
Our records indicate that the annual holding fee for the above-referenced safety deposit box, held at our Madison Avenue branch, is now ninety (90) days past due.
As per the terms of the lease agreement signed by Clara Carter on October 12th, 1992, and the subsequent instructions regarding access upon her passing filed with this institution, failure to remit payment within thirty (30) days of this notice will result in the initiation of procedures to drill the box and its contents surrendered to the State of New York Unclaimed Property Division. To avoid forfeiture of the contents, please remit the outstanding balance of $325.00 (Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Dollars) to the address above, or visit our Madison Avenue branch in person with valid identification and the original box key to settle the account and access the box.
If payment is not received within the given time frame, the drilling process will be scheduled without further notice. Once the box is drilled, the contents will be removed. This means that the box will be held for transfer to the State once the contents are removed. Kindly bear in mind that this process cannot be reversed. It’s also important to note that after this step, any retrieval of the items will have to be done directly through the State’s unclaimed property process. And this might take several months or longer. We encourage you to act quickly to protect the contents and avoid extra steps, delays, or possible loss.
For assistance, questions about your account, or to confirm the outstanding balance, please contact our Client Services department at the number provided below during normal business hours. You may also visit any of our branch locations to make payment or discuss the matter in person.
Sincerely,
Eleanor Vance
Vault Services Manager
Evergreen Trust & Safety Depository
Adrian read it twice. But still, it didn’t seem to make any sense. Then he read it a third time. It then began to dawn on him. The sterile room seemed to fade away. The sound of distant vacuuming vanished. All he heard was the frantic pounding of his own pulse in his ears.
Clara Carter – Estate.
Safety Deposit Box 734.
October 12th, 1992.
The original box key.
His hand dove into his pocket. The moment his fingers found the key, they circled around the cold, tarnished brass. The key he’d found hidden in his mother’s suitcase, behind the damning hospital bill that name, Jonathan Reed. The key that had felt alien, out of place. Suddenly it felt useful.
New York, Madison Avenue? A box his mother had rented over thirty years ago? Paid for annually and kept secret, even from him. What desperate secret was valuable enough, dangerous enough, to lock away in a vault across the country? What piece of the puzzle about Jonathan Reed, about her own past, about him, had she hidden there?
The humiliation from Veronica coupled with Emily’s averted eyes, strengthened his focus. This was the reason he had connected to that family in the first place. The reason he had agreed to take all their bullshit. The reason for the pieces he had gathered for over two years. And now he was this close to finding an answer, he had to make that possible. This was the tangible lead he needed.
He needed to get to New York. And he needed to get there fast. He needed $325 that he didn’t have at that moment. All thanks Veronica’s control over household funds and his own meager delivery wages funding his separate apartment. She had given the excuse that “as a family” we needed to put funds together and she as the house manager would manage it. He was no fool to know that she was just looking for means to humiliate him the more by keeping him penniless. But if that was another sacrifice he had to pay to get what he needed, he decided to pay it. But he was wise to find a way around it so he doesn’t get stranded. He needed a reason to disappear for a day or two without raising Veronica’s suspicious hackles.
A plan began to form in his mind. He folded the letter carefully, slipping it and the brass key deep into his inner jacket Pocket. He looked out the window at the manicured, suffocating grounds of the Harris estate. The cage felt tighter than ever, but for the first time in two years, Adrian Carter saw the outline of a keyhole. And he held the key.
The delivery boy had a package to retrieve. But this time it wasn’t a printer toner. It wasn’t groceries. It was something more real to him. The answers to his past and future were waiting for him in a vault in New York City. The quiet patience hardened into steely resolve. The hunt had just escalated. Veronica Harris had no idea what was coming for her. And neither did Jonathan Reed. And for the first time, he was actually gra
teful for the humiliation of Veronica.
- Writer
