The Ghost Cop: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Melissa invited them into the house.
“We are going to have to make this quick. James and the rest of the family will be gone for a little while, but not too long. I will show you around a little bit, before I take you to Mary’s room. In her room should be something to help you.” Melissa said as she started to walk. “The first level of the house isn’t nothing big. You saw the entry, to the dining room. You have the kitchen and down this hall you find the guest bathroom. Through this far door you find the master bedroom and bath. Up the stairs, to the right, you have four more bedrooms. Nothing huge as you can see. To the left you have the library, the study, and other bathroom. To the left, you have the library, the study, and another bathroom. This far room is the room I wanted to show you. This is your Grandma Mary’s room, because every women needs her own inspiring space although many men don‘t understand.”
On both the right and left of the door hung shelves from floor to ceiling filled with book as she made her own personal library. Several famous masterpieces such as Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet and J.R. Tokien’s Lord of the Rings sat on the shelves. Dust collected on the top of the book only showing nobody touched them in a long time. Masterpieces, as these, should be read over and over again admiring the beauty of every word written upon white sheets of paper. Only a true reader understands the power behind the written word.
“Mary loved to read a good book with Shakespeare being her favorite. You could find her reading all of his over and over again waiting to be drawn into the book itself making a new character as she went. She dreamed for many year of owning a bookstore of her own, but she never said anything. We found it in some of the letter she written George of the years. He was gone so much leaving her only one way to talk to him. The pictures on the wall and the blankets on the chairs, she made by hand.”
Hanging from the wall above the desk, gorgeous pencil drawings stood out against the background. Andrew looked closer at the pictures of horses. Getting a closer look, she did every detail around the eyes and the legs. The details should have taker her days to complete if she worked on the picture around the clock. Some pictures are really worth a thousand words. Along the few chairs and the loveseat laid beautiful handmade afghans with daisies, with sunflowers, and one, an unexplainable one, of a horse. Andrew watched one of his babysitters crochet. The horse would have taken her years to crochet, but the afghan did make a nice addition to the couch it rested on. Above the desk, a small TV sat on another shelf. Below the shelf, lined several movies mark with titles and New York Play. On the top of the desk sat several pages of handwritten items. Andrew picked up on of the top sheets to read.
You Will Never Know
As I sit here in the dark
Feelings and thoughts rush to my heart
The sound of you fills my soul
The truth is just too hard to hold
The days go by cold as night
I must go on but not tonight
Are love is true as it shows but
You will never know
By Mary Silver Dace
Andrew thumbed through several more pages of poems and a few short stories by his grandmother. A stack on papers on the corner of the desk caught Andrews eye. The writing on the pages didn’t come from a hand and pen, but no doubt from a typewriters. The top cover read Only In Heaven by Mary Silver Dace.
“Out of everything she did, those pages began the only book she ever written. She never tried to publish the book either. One day long after George passed away, I caught her writing. I asked her about being published. She just said George told her you couldn’t make it anywhere on hopes. Her writing won’t get her anywhere. Everything retains a meaning to her here. To the rest of us this room is just her place in the house. We leave it the way it is, on her request.”
Andrew picked up several of the papers lying on the desk in Mary‘s private room. They had to make this quick, because Melissa could only buy us a small window of time before James came back. One by one he flipped through them knowing somewhere in those papers had to be something about his grandfather. She couldn’t have been a writer for all those years, especially after George had died, and never write a word about his grandfather. As he read the first few words on one paper, a coolness filled the room. She was here with him.

Mary sat in her private room trying to escape the people outside. She just wanted to be alone now. She pulled out a piece of paper jotting down “Only in heaven - notes.” She knew she really should be working on some of the pieces she has already started, but there wasn’t a way to work on them with so many things on her mind. She had to write what was on her mind, or anything else she has done will not be worth the effort to even read a second time.
She leaned back in her chair. He was the only thing on her mind. As much as she had tried to push him out. She couldn’t. A piece of her wanted him to stay in her mind. As he stayed in her mind, she wrote:
“June 24 - He stood upon the brink of life and young enough to do something about it. Dreams of the future still linger in his mind from day to day as he paints a perfect picture of self-determination, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency in one. Within the walls of my world, he only stands as a hero capable of rescuing me of the thing I fear the most. I can hear them now. Knocking at my door, a demon taking my protection, my support.”
Mary paused at he knock at the door.
“Who is it?” She asked
“It’s George. Are you going to come out here or are you just going to hide in there all day?”
“I will be out in a minute.”
She continued to write, “The demon on the other side has forsaken me. Here is my hero climbing up to my window like a fairy tale.” As she pictured him climbing up and taking her so then she didn’t have to go down to all the people waiting. As George would say, it makes his appearance and reputation better to be accompanied by a women. So glad she could be good for something.

Once again, like several days before, she sat alone in her room continuing to write. She wrote mostly on the items she had already started, but once in a while a thought to cross her mind she would write on instead. On the sheet dated June 24, she continued to list important thoughts.
“June 29 - Only love climbs up windows. With love, you just know. You can run and you can hide, but it will take over. There is no stopping love.”

The day no other could touch happened to her as she stood outside watching the people around her when he pulled up. A few days passed by her since she seen him last. Excitement fled through her body to just is able to look at him. She remembered the moment so clear. Him climbing out of his truck and her running at him so thrilled to see him. For the rest of the time they was together, she was attached to him. She wouldn’t even let him out of her site. She sat with her pen for a long time, but only these words could be found on the paper. “August 8 - Love has found me. Where will it find you?”

It had been several months since Mary had gotten the chance to write. Pain and heartache had stuck her world. She knew she could no longer be in his world. She didn’t fit into his, and he couldn’t make it in hers. She sat at her desk looking out the window in front of her. On the desk, stacks of papers stood. There were poems and short stories, but none of them could touch what she felt. She couldn’t work on any of them. Instead she picked up the paper with Only in heaven written on it. She read through the words she had written on the page before. They are now only memories in her past. Memories of a love she could only long for. From the tip of her pen, when the day came where only memories could be found, came these words.
“Will it find you in the arms of the one you love, or will it find you alone. Love can do a lot of things, sometimes it’s not the nicest things especially if you are alone. Alone it will make you suffer. It can torture you. It will spend eternity haunting your every move. There is no weapon against love. I know and I am here. For him, it’s the infection, and he can avoid it like the plague. For me, its just torture knowing it’s coming. Knowing I can’t stop the inevitable. The thought burns like a knife slowing entering my body, turning on its own free will and it draws closer. Everyday it comes closer. I don’t know how close I am. I just know I am closer. I can feel it now like it’s just around the corner waiting to jump out. It won’t scare me. I know it’s there. There is nothing I can do to stop it from coming. I want to scream “Don’t you get it. Don’t you see. I can not live without you. I can not breath with you,” but it won’t hold it back. I know there is no way for me to keep him. I know I can’t keep him. I can no longer hang on to him or even cling on to what I hope would be longer then I know it is. There is nothing I can do to delay it’s coming, to deter it somewhere else, delay it from happening. know body holds the power to be able to stop independence. He has nothing stopping him of doing what ever he wants. There is so much he could be, and I don’t want to come in between the two.
Today, I look out my window and think. I think about him just like I do everyday. I know he’s out there. What is he doing? Where is he at? A thought passes through my mind. One I don’t want to believe, but yet still a possibility. It is painful. It’s more painful then anything I have been through. I have lost a lot of people in my time. I have been through some hard times, but knowing I loved him the way I did, I would have done anything for him. I can hear him whispering through the wind. Lie’s I hope. It’s only lie’s I hope I hear. I hear him tell me he doesn’t know. He can’t say. He doesn’t want to lie. I love the man. You will find no lie there. I love and for that I am here. I am here everyday. I can’t change the fact I love him and I can’t change the fact I am complete with him and with him is where I want to be. I can’t change the fact I will never leave. I love him and to me I don‘t need anymore. His love is what breath air into my lungs, fills my belly with food, and gives my mind a reason to continue.
I got up this morning. Did the same thing I do every morning. I sat looking out the window thinking. You guessed it, thinking about him. I know he isn’t coming back. The pain is so great, but the punishment is worse. I would rather die a thousand agonizing, torturing, excruciating deaths, then I would face the fact the he is gone. It has consumed my body. There is no more fighting it, it controls my every move and every thought. There is nothing else in my world. He is there, deep inside of me, I can feel him. I can feel him inside tearing me up, letting me bleed. I wish I could fight it. I wish I didn’t have to die slowly of heart ache. A heart ache eating up all the energy I have. Sinking farther and farther, I can’t catch it. I no longer have the strength to catch. Inside lies nothing more then deep open wounds. My wounds can only be mended by him. Nothing else can bring closer to my wounds for my wounds will only respond to his touch. A touch, I don’t want to believe yet I know will never come back. I don’t want to believe. You can’t make me believe. He will here. You watch. I wake up thinking today is the day. He is coming back. Today he will walk through the door and hold me tight. Today he will prove me wrong. I listen and I watch. I can hear him. Can you hear him? My mind begins to race. My heart pounds within my chest faster and faster as the moments pass by. It becomes hard to breath. I can’t catch it. And then. And only then. He is walking through my mind. I invite him in. There you will find an old memory and me. I find my weakness in his arms. I fix the meals, thinking about how I could feed him when he gets here. Everything is set up just the way he likes it. I pace. I wait. I watch. I listen. At the end of the day, I go to bed. The next morning, I wake up knowing today is the day. For me, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe the day will come. In the house you will only find my devotion. Today, I have lost the battle for he didn’t show up on my door step. I know tomorrow’s another day. Tomorrow is another battle for there is only way I can lose this war. The only way he will not come home will be the day where the ground is the only thing between us because I promised. There, in heaven, we will meet again. Only in heaven can I win.”


“Only in heaven can I win. Did she know long before to write Only in Heaven?” Andrew said. “She knew from the beginning there was no hope and yet she still continued on because she loved him so much.
“She still spend every minute with him.” Amy said
“She had to have loved him a lot to stay with a man she knew she couldn’t be with only to suffer the long heartache afterwards.”
“Not a lot of people could make a promise like she did to him and keep it. Most would have had to go on to forget what pain it cause them.”
Andrew flipped through the papers until another page caught his attention.


Mary sat at her desk. The dream she had only hours before lingered on her mind. She didn’t understand what it was supposed to mean, yet there it was creeping up in her mind. She placed her pen on the paper.
“There I was sitting on the deck of the most beautiful house looking out across all the land belonging to us. I could see the love of my life in the distance. In between us lay acres and acres of land. I could see my sheep and pigs from up there. I could also see my horse. God, did me and here spend some time together from a colt until now. There was 500 or so head of cows holding the ground down not far from our fields. I loved it when the time of year came around to have calves. It’s almost like having babies of your own. Speaking of babies, I could hear mine in the house now. Having all my babies in the house felt good. To be able to put food on the table and clothes on their back. I had struggled so long, but I didn’t have to worry about it now. I never would imagine I would have so many of them, though. With him being younger, it wasn’t all bad. Most of the time I went with him, but, for a reason unknown to me, I stayed behind this time. Sitting on the swing rapped up in my blanket. The time around me flew by as I sat. Shortly, my love joined me on the deck. There wrapped up in each other arms we watched the sun fall behind the skyline. Beautiful shades of red and orange graced us with their presents. We sat under the stars for a while, yet the chill in the air got to us both. Inside the house was gorgeous, yet simple. For me, it couldn’t get any better. One room, my room, was the best. It was a fairly large round room on the bottom floor. All around the sides was book shelve after book shelve filled with book, mostly my books. I loved being able to sit in my room with my desk facing towards the window. The window was a large 3 pan window stretching from the ceiling to the floor. The window in the middle I painted. A beautiful picture of an angel. This angel watched over me through many bad occasions and along the way became my inspiration. Every time I set eyes on my angel, I could keep going. You look at the land, the animals, and everything around. You come to realize only love makes a house a home.”
Mary paused. She loved being a writer, but here didn’t say everything. At the bottom of the last page by itself. Mary wrote one line she needed to say, but she couldn’t find another place for; “Life happens while you are making other plans.” She fell into life, while she continued to make other plans.


“Mary did some dreaming of what she wanted after George was gone” Andrew decided.
“She figured she would live through her writing instead of live through life.” Amy said
Andrew flipped through the rest of the papers not finding much more, except the last page.
“The rest of the papers in the room were put away. Between the dates and the items she wrote about, the stack of papers on the desk was the last Mary wrote. The last page had to be the last thing she wrote.” Andrew said

Mary could fight no longer. Her world had been consumed by pain. A pain nothing could touch now. She didn’t do much more anyways. She wrote here and there, but mostly just sat staring out the window. It was becoming hard for her to get out of bed and take care of herself. James and Melissa had moved in to keep her company. Between Melissa and Janet, they kept the house up and going for her too. She didn’t want to move, the pain in her heart had grown so much it even hurt to move. She just wanted to be left alone, waiting day after day for death. With her thoughts in place, Mary began to write.
“ The question is not just, does punishment come from living or from dieing? There is no way to know if punishment comes from dieing, because nobody here has been on the side of death. From living, we know. The world is passed being unkind, it’s cruel. Living in this world can be brutal and heartless. Everything only happens in cold blood. Through it’s eyes there is no fear and no mercy. Only a monstrous beast waiting for anybody to put their guard down. They only delight in proving the world’s people with suffering. The aftermath of its destruction is devastating. Yet every day going by is a battle. A battle to keep going. A battle not everyone wins. Battle after battle only leads to one thing - a life long war where only the best survive.
The second question, and the most puzzling, is the suffering, the pain, the devastation, and the battle actually from the world or from our mind? Can our mind cause just as much as the world can?”
Mary skipped a few more lines. She had written about him several times, yet she never wrote his name. She didn’t want anybody to know who he was. Since George was gone and her son was gone. There wasn’t a whole lot anybody could do anymore, so she wrote: “Where oh where can Dan be? Only a Zellar could disappear.”

“Bingo!” Andrew yelled looking up at Amy. “I have his name.”


Back at David’s, Andrew picked up the phone and dialed the phone number he found in the phone book. Ring…ring…ring.
“Hello.”
“Hi. I am looking from someone by the name of Dan Zellar.”
“My husband.” the voice responded
“Is he around?”
“No, he is not right now?”
“Where might I find him?”
“He will be back in about 20 minutes or so.”
“Can you have him call Andrew at 555-8163?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.”

The next half an hour he paced back and forth waiting on the phone to ring. As he waited questions started filling his mind. What if he wasn’t his grandfather? What if he was, but he didn’t want to have anything to do with him? What if this man claims not to be the father? What if he is not the father? What if he never finds his grandfather? If any of this happens should he just give up and live with what he found. Maybe someone else knew of what happened in the relationship like a friend or close sister.

He just stared at the phone. Finally after a couple of rings, he drew in a deep breath and picked the phone up.
“Hello?”
“This is Dan Zellar. I am looking for Andrew.”
“This is him.”
“You called me earlier?”
“Yes I did. I have a few questions for you.”
“Okay.”
“I was wondering if you knew a lady by the name of Mary Dace?”
“Yes I did.”
“I am Adam Dace’s only son and Mary Dace‘s grandson.”
“Oh my god. I knew he had a son, but the way Mary’s husband taken care of everything. I didn’t think you would ever be able to find us, especially after you father passed away.”
“I didn’t know my father passed away until the end of last week and I came out here looking for one of the guys he worked with at the police station. From there one thing leads to the next.”
“So I take it you have found your grandmother by now?”
“Yes, I have.”
“How is she?”
“By what I hear much better now since I seen her. She is in a nursing home across town where she lived for a while. The whole thing happened with my dad got to her after grandpa died. She wouldn’t do anything for herself. She spends day after day just sitting in her chair looking out the window. Her grandson didn’t want me seeing her, because her husband made such a point for none of this to happened. Jerry was only trying to respect his grandfather. I slipped in to see her anyways. She thought I was my dad and I came to take her to heaven. The only thing I told her was it wasn’t her time to go and when it was I would be back for her. Her grandson called to tell me she started doing things for herself again such as feeding herself and having conversations. He invited me to dinner and to see her again before I go home.”
“I guess I kind of expected this because the women is in her 80s now.
“We should get together for lunch today. I don’t have much time left.”
“Sounds good to me”
“Where should we go?”
“I don’t know a lot of places. How about you come by and pick me up. Then we can decide from there?”
“That sounds good to me.” Dan said, and then hung up the phone.
Andrew and Dan arrived at a small diner called Love’s Coffee Shop.
“We are here.” Dan said, “Love’s Coffee shop. You could say they specialize in coffee, but offer some good plates as well.”
“Smells good.” Andrew added as they stepped through the door.
“There’s a story behind it.”
“So, tell you about you know.”
“I am married, have been for 15 years or so. I have one son with my wife, he is almost 14 years old now.”
“I figured so, by the ring on your fingers. So what is the story behind this place?”
“I brought you down here because this is where I met your grandmother. She was working here when I would come I on my way home.”
“They told me it was a diner, but they never said much more.”
“They probably wouldn’t have.”
“With as much money as George brought in, I couldn’t imagine Grandma needing anymore.” Andrew questioned.
“Can I get you two something?” A women asked from above them.
“How about two specials, Diane.”
“No problem, Dan. What about something to drink?” Diane replied
“Just coffee. How about you, Andrew?”
“A Mountain Dew would be nice.”
“Okay.” She turned and walked away.
“You have to understand, “Dan continued, “George wasn’t a nice man. See, he did a good job being the ’husband’, but not for her. He made sure they had a roof over their heads, food on the table, and generally looked good for the rest of the world. What he didn’t give her is the things a women needs most.”
“She found what she needed most in you.” Andrew realized looking into the eyes of a man who really loved her.
“She worked here, despite what George said because she needed time out of the house, something of her own, and money to spend for herself.”
“George didn’t let her have money to spend?”
“No, he was afraid she wouldn’t watch what she done, I guess. It was a control issue. He could not have control when she was working or the money she brought in from working.”
“Everybody, I have talked to have talked so highly about George and how well he took care of his family. A nice home, nice cars, nice clothes, expensive education.”
“Andrew, let me tell you something about people. Not just wealthy people, son, but people of all kinds, in all places. What on the outside isn’t always what is on the inside.”
“So, tell me how you and grandma met, please.”
“I came in one evening. She asked me what I wanted. I told her two coffee’s along as she joined me. I knew she was older than me yet she was still so beautiful I didn’t care. So she took her break and joined me for a cup of coffee.”
“You went from having coffee to having a baby?’
“We drank coffee a few times a week, to me coming in everyday she worked, to us doing things before and after she worked. George worked late nights and was gone most of the time, so its not like he ever caught her. We never had anything more than a friendship. She wasn’t going to cheat on her husband at all.”
“Unbelievable.”
“We sat for hours in this coffee shop, on the days she knew no one would be in the house, and read.”
“You liked to read?”
“Your grandmother and I both loved to read. In the corner there,” Dan pointed, “we spend hours reading Shakespeare’s plays. I remember how every time we would sit and read Romeo and Juliet, your grandmother would cry at the end. I could see it in her eyes of how much she wanted a Romeo to step into her life.”
“I never knew.”
“She was so creative. This women could sit at the window drinking her coffee and pick one person from the crowd walking by. From the looks of one person she could create an unimaginable story from it. Mostly short stories but damn good ones. I kept telling her she needs to write her own stories to be published, but she would just shake her head and change the subject. She would never talk about it.”
“I wonder why.”
“We also went several times to the plays the high school put on seeing anything they put on. Once we went to see a travel group of actors. I tried several times to get her to travel to New York to see the play, but she always told me George wouldn’t let her go. The few times I went, I taped it so then she could see them later. She would tell me she would spend hours watching those movies again and again.”
“I saw all the movies in her room. She kept a small TV and VCR in her room for watching them I would guess.”
“I am glad to hear she enjoyed them so much. Anyways, she came to me one day telling me George and her was adopting a little orphan boy so she would have to stay at home. She was really upset about the circumstances but she wouldn’t say anymore. She showed up here at the coffee shop upset one afternoon about a year later. An afternoon I just happened to be passing through. She would never say what was upsetting her. I invited her to go with me for a little while, and for the first time since I met her she agreed. We met other places and did things, but she wouldn’t ever go with me. One thing lead to another and you know. I met up with her a few more times. After the last time I saw her, she found me about six or seven weeks later and told me she was pregnant. The last time I heard from her was a short note to tell me she delivered a healthy baby boy and she gave him up for adoption. I guess George must have claimed him long enough to sign the papers.”
“Sounds like he was a good man.” Andrew smirked. “The more this story unfolds the more I don’t like George, even for being dead.”
“He’s dead now?”
“Ya, the only reason Jerry invited me to dinner was because he was dead and no longer able to protest. As happy as I made Grandma and the fact he’s gone.”
“After all these years a mother’s love comes through even with her son never being in her care. Not to say I don’t love him, but you know it’s different with me. It’s just unbelievable the love a women can have.”
“I guess I haven’t see n a woman's ability yet.”
“When you get a little older, you will begin to see. In her last note, she told me she gave your dad up for adoption. She never said anything more. Probably more work by George.”
“So you didn’t know any more.”
“When your grandmother was in labor, I drove down to the hospital. One of her sisters had called to tell me. She was really close to your grandmother, but out of all your grandmothers siblings have probably passed by now since they was all about 10 years older then her. She was the baby of the family, although she had been far from being babied.”
“So you showed up there.”
“Yes, when I had stopped at the nurse station and asked where Mary Dace was I was greet by a tall lanky man.”
“George.”
“Yes. He told me I had no business being there and I needed to leave. I told him it was my child being born and I had every right to be there. He didn’t waste any time from there. He turned and simply told the nurse I was not be anywhere around his wife and it would be in there best interests to have me removed. I didn’t argue, knowing I couldn’t win. I just simply told them I would find my own way out.”
“You didn’t do anything?”
“I hung around in the back ground for a while. When George left the floor, I sunk over to the window to see Adam. Afterwards, I stopped the nurse. I wanted to know how Mary Dace was doing. She said I wasn’t supposed to be there and to leave. I looked into her eyes and told her I was the babies father. Mr. Dace was just here to make sure the baby was gone. She said she thought it was strange he would not go in and be with her, even when they had problems. She said with the last lady he was here with he was right there next to her the whole time. I didn’t really pay attention to the comment although it became a dead give away about the orphan boy. I just wanted to know about the problems. She said she had sugar problems, and had a few seizures. They had to do a C-section and the baby came out fine. She continued to have problems with bleeding and more seizures, to name a few. By the time I got the news, they had stabled her and she was going to be just fine. I told her thank you. She said they was going to keep the baby for a few more days before he would be on his way if I wanted to come back up.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, I did. I went up several times and sat and held him. The nurse kept me informed of when George was coming and going. Plus she hid me a few times.”
“Did you ever go in and see Mary?”
“No I didn’t. I wanted to so bad, but I never did. I guess I was too afraid of getting her in trouble or something along those lines. Don’t get me wrong, I had my days went I regretted it, but even if I had seen her there wasn’t much I could do anyways.”
“I can understand.”
“Shortly afterwards, I got some court papers in the mail.”
“Let me guess. A restraining order for you not to go near the family.”
“I take it I am not the only one along the way with the same problem.”
“Nope. Adam’s adoptive parents had the same problems, only there was because they bumped into her in the store.”
“What a bunch of jerks.”
“I think my father and my grandmother would just be glad I am sitting here with you. I know my father had to have searched for you a long time. I know now how much you meant to my grandmother, so much she couldn’t even put it into words.”
Dan didn’t respond except for the grin from ear to ear. He paid the ticket and they left.

“Grandpa, I could call Jerry and see if you could go visit Mary.” Andrew finally mustard up enough courage to say.
“Andrew, you know how much I would love to see Mary again.”
“Let me make this phone call.”
“No Andrew, I said my goodbyes to Mary a long time ago. If I go in to see her I might not be able to say goodbye again.”
Andrew sat silent unable to understand why he would pass seeing one of his loves by. Why he passed by so many things.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes, Andrew.”
“If you knew dad was yours, why didn’t you do anything when George and her put him up for adoption?”
“I could not raise a son alone. Especially when I was working a job with a lot of overtime hours at the age of 23. Other then your grandmother, no other woman hung around in my life and with only a one bedroom basement apartment. I was no way ready to take on a baby. I figured the circumstances was best he was with two loving parents who was prepared to have a child.”
“I guess I never pictured the situation from your point of view. I haven‘t been a parent, only a child. Up until now, because of everything, I thought if I had a child I would be honest and always take care of the child.”
“Andrew, some circumstances where your ability to take care of a child or even to be honest is not the best interest of the child.”
“What about the best interest of a child now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Grandpa, I have leukemia. That is why I am here. I have been through everything, and my last option is a bone marrow transplant. All my family at home and all Mary’s grandchildren here are not a match. The doctor told us the other day our only hope would be through you.”
“I think it is the best interest of the child now”

When Andrew reached David’s house, there was another envelope sitting on the table waiting on him. David pointed to it when he came through the door, after telling him Sandy and Amy went to catch a movie.

Two People Survive Head-on Collision March 25, 1990
Lee Berkley and April Love escaped unharmed when their cars collided with each other yesterday afternoon. April Love was traveling east bound on Highway 34 when she was side wiped by an unknown truck. Love then crossed the median into the west bound lane. Love then made contact with the well known Highway 34 ghost cop before hitting Berkley car head on. Neither the hit and run pickup nor the ghost cop could be found. After surveying the cars, Love’s contact with the ghost cop saved both of their lives. If contact with the ghost was not made then both Love and Berkley would have been killed on contact.
What could it be?

Andrew placed all the articles side by side across the desk. He gazed from one to the next for about twenty minutes until a knock could be heard from the door.
“Come on in David.” Andrew said
“You didn’t say much when you came in.”
“The lunch wasn’t to bad. I got a lot of my question answered about general things.”
“But?” David asked knowing more happened.
“I told him about my problem. He said he was going down to have it done today. The hardest part is the idea of how possible it is for him not to be a match. Then I am out of hope, there is no other hope for me. David I am not ready to die yet. I have some many things I want to do. I proposed to Amy the day I ended up in the hospital.”
“Congratulations Andrew. Don’t worry it will be fine, just wait. You have been through enough not to have something good happen. Did you get everything ready for tomorrow?”
“I am all packed and ready to go. My bus leaves at nine in the morning. I just wish I could figure these articles out.” Andrew replied still staring at them.
“Let me look at them.” David stepped up looking over the articles. “This one here on the end with April Love. April Love owns Love’s Coffee Shop over on Berkley.”
“Grandpa Dan and me sat at Love’s Coffee Shop yesterday. Wait a minute, David. What street are we on?” Andrew asked looking back at the other articles.
“This is Jackson.” David said confused
“Oh my.” Andrew said
“What is it?”
“The first one I got read a man by the name of Jackson. This last one read the owner of the coffee shop and a man named Berkley.”
“Street names.”
“Yes, so whoever is sending these are pointing towards the coffee shop. Look at these dates.”
“March 22-25? Isn’t today the 25th?”
“Yes it is. I got to go.”
“Do you want a ride?”
“No, I walk. I will be back.”

Andrew walked down the street, holding the articles, in the direction of the coffee shop. Following Jackson to Lincoln. He than took Lincoln to Maple. At the corner of Maple and Berkley he could see the coffee shop. Andrew walked down and went in. He orders a cup of coffee with the change in his pocket. He sat in a corner booth drinking a few more cups.
The door chimed and the sound of boots stepped in. Andrew looked up at a young cop dressed in uniform. He walked down towards Andrew, his boots clicking on the floor, hands in his pockets. He really did look like Andrew.
He slid in across the table from Andrew. He gave him a grin and then stuck his hand out.
“Adam Dace.”
“Andrew Dace.” Andrew replied shaking his hand.
“Long time since I have seen you. You have grown. How’s is Amy and your mother?”
“Their good. Looking forward to me going home.”
“They love you a lot. God, do I miss Angela. You did a lot for me and your grandmother. I hope one day you understand.”
“Why did you send me down here?”
“I know you have been struggling with some of the new ideas, but Jake’s your dad. He participated in your life since day one. He loves you very much. I am proud to tell you he is your dad.”
“Thanks dad. I needed your approval.”
“That’s not all Andrew, you have to be careful. You have to watch or the truck will get you. Watch, Andrew, for me and your grandmother. Speaking of your grandmother, I made her a promise a long time ago. It’s time for me to go and see her. ” Adam said getting up. “One last note, never keep your women from dream and treat every day with her as if it was your last.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, son.”
“You going to be there, right. It’s important to Amy and I.”
“Your grandmother and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Adam grinned.

Andrew reached the house to find everyone in the living room with Dan.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have something to tell you Andrew. I figured it would be best to do in person. I went down and did the test needed and…” Dan cleared his throat trying to find the words. Tears rolled down his face as he placed his hands on Andrews shoulders.
“It didn’t work did it? Your not enough of a match for it to work.”
“I am almost a complete match Andrew. You’re over your hurdle now. You just have to survive through the transplant.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Andrew said over and over tears filled his eyes as a weight was lifted off his chest. Hope still remain somewhere within him.
“I light of the good news between Andrew and Amy being engaged and Andrew‘s hurdle is jumped over, dinner is on me.” David said.
“Congratulations.” Sandy yelled excitedly
“Thank you.” Andrew said
“Not to push you out of the picture David, but it would be my honor to provide dinner for my grandson and granddaughter.”