Accidental Leigh (11 page)

The bells on the door announced a visitor and Lexi turned to
see who was coming in. She had seen the delivery man a hundred times before and she always wondered the same thing. He seemed much too old the way he huffed and puffed from address to address. He had the look of someone who wished they were doing something else. Maybe it was retirement he looked forward to. Maybe he resented his superiors that were old enough to be his grandchildren. The old man placed a large, brightly colored envelope onto the counter and held up a small palm sized piece of technology. After he punched in some numbers, he held the device out to Lexi for an electronic signature. Lexi noticed that the envelope had been badly torn and taped together. It had black smudge marks that looked like it had been run through broken machinery and then left on a road to be run over by every delivery truck that was able to move.

A good opportunity for sarcasm was never wasted by Lexi, “Do you normally destroy the packages before delivering them, or is that an extra charge?”

“Sorry ma’am. That’s just the way it came to me. You have to sign for it. If anything is damaged, you have to claim it online.”

“I bet it’s a real handy user-friendly process too.” Lexi mumbled, as she looked at the envelope in front of her, curious to see what this could be
.

She thought briefly about the delivery man again, as his truck careened around the corner and down the street. She turned her attention to the badly damaged package.
What is this?
She thought.
The senders name is Kate, but why is this coming from an address in Israel? That’s how lives are completely turned upside down by mailmen and delivery people, complete strangers going about their business, never knowing what they have left behind in their wake. This could be the door to adventure or to a nightmare.

She yanked the thick paper tab that ripped a thin plastic ribbon from the envelope. Lexi reached into the newly ripped opening and fished out a handwritten letter, that had been largely destroyed by what she imagined was some mechanical
T-Rex that was on a strict diet of important packages. Along with the letter, there was an index card that had a couple of phone numbers and a brass key taped to the back.

Hah! The Key to adventure!
Lexi set the letter down in front of her and saw that it looked like her sister’s familiar neat handwriting, but the lines seemed skewed.
Kate would never have skewed her lines like that, unless she was in a hurry.
Lexi flattened it out on the counter and began to read. The mangling machine had damaged the letter so badly, that Lexi had a difficult time making out all of the words. Some areas were completely illegible and were at best partial sentences.

Lexi

I hate to ask you this, but I really have no choice. Right now I’m in Haifa Israel visiting Dr. Jakub Meier, but I am on my way to Turkey soon to do some research at the Gobekli Tepe site. I need some help. I know you are settled in your new place and very busy, but you are the only one I can trust. I need you to go back to our place in Arlington. The key that you have received came off of my key chain and it is for the drawer in Kurt’s old desk at the house. In there, is a notebook that has the contact information and the instructions on how to get a hold of a man named Kidd. Kurt had once told me he is the only person that he could trust outside of the country. He said if any of us ever got into something serious, to get a hold of Kidd. (This part was badly damaged and unreadable)  Mr. Kidd will help you.

Go into the safe in my bedroom closet
. I had it set to the same numbers as ALWAYS. Inside, there is a very old coin. That is the thing I need you to bring. Do not let anyone see it. Don’t let anyone know you have it. Take as much cash out of the safe as you need.

That coin is (unreadable) and you need to (unreadable) Haifa Israel.

Once you get a hold of Mr. Kidd, you need to have him escort you with the coin (unreadable). We cannot use our cell phones. Remember what Kurt told us about cell phones?

Kidd. To get ahold of Mr. Kidd. You can only call him from the phone on Kurt’s
old desk, because it is secure. Use the instructions that Kurt left in case we ever needed help. Tell him that Kurt said it was time to return a favor. Then (unreadable)

Book a flight (unreadable)

That old coin is actually a (unreadable)

Love you, Sis

“Christ! Really Kate? You can’t call? Were you drunk or asleep when you wrote this?” Lexi shouted loud enough to call Allie to attention and then she looked at the letter again to check the date. Lexi’s heart started to race, when she realized that this letter had been written six weeks ago. She grabbed her cell phone and immediately dialed Kate’s cell. A dozen attempts only brought the same response, “please leave a message after the tone.”

[Fluffer Nutter]