The Silencer: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (19 page)

“I’ve never opened the mail, it’s always like that. I thought that was how it came.”

Assuming Brooke was just lying to avoid getting into trouble, she brushed it off. “Well, you’re not allowed to get the mail anymore. I forbid it,” she emphasized.

After the license ordeal, Brooke satisfied herself with only writing to her pen pal, going through stamps like it’s no one’s business. It was fun, and she treated the whole thing more like a secret interactive diary than anything else. She was happy writing to her pen pal, almost on a daily basis. Sometimes she would even draw pictures of herself and the family to send with the letter. Ashley assumed that it was Brooke’s new form of entertainment since she was no longer allowed to get the mail from the boxes any longer. Strangely, Ashley noticed, Brooke never received any letters in return.

“Brooke, baby, how come you never get any mail back from your pen pal?” she asked as Brooke sat at the kitchen table. She was fervently writing a letter to her pen pal and drawing another elaborate picture to go with it.

“I get the letters at school now,” she explained.

“Oh, does your teacher give them to you?” Ashley questioned.

“Yeah, Mrs. S puts them in my desk and when I get to school, I get them out and read them before class starts. She doesn’t like it when we’re not paying attention to her lessons.”

“That’s sweet of her. Brooke, can you finish up your drawing and get your sister? It’s almost time for dinner.”

Around Valentine’s Day, Ashley was checking the girls’ book bags. She was hoping the teachers had sent home a classroom list of all the student’s names so the girls could make their school mates Valentine’s cards. When she got into Brooke’s backpack, she found a small pink envelope addressed to Brooke. She opened it up, thinking it was an early Valentine from one of her close friends. It was a rather cute little “Local Girl Saves the Day” fantasy story about Brooke, printed out to look like it was on newspaper. She wondered, at first, if it was from Brooke’s teacher or her pen pal. Either way, it was a neat thing for her to have. She saved it for her and put it in the same box where she kept all of her important kindergarten papers. It was the only letter she’d ever seen, but she soon forgot all about it, thinking of it as a childhood phase. The only time it ever got brought up was when she needed more stamps so she could write more letters. Though, their family had a surprise in store that they weren’t expecting.

Chapter 5

Shortly after Valentine’s Day, Ashley learned that they were expecting baby number four. In dire need of more space with another little one on the way, she and Keith decided that it was time to buy a house. Something they could call their own and offer them more room than their cramped three-bedroom apartment. With her swollen belly growing larger by the day, their space became more crowded. They found a real estate agent, Joy, who showed them house after house in the city of Joplin. Nothing appealed to them as the real estate agent began running out of houses. One day, Joy called them to ask what their thoughts were about moving to the country.

“I don’t know. Keith still plans on working at the bank, and they’ve had a lot of business lately. I’m not sure that he’d be willing to make the commute. We’ll have to talk about it and get back to you.”

Joy emailed the Marshall’s with the listing which featured a five-bedroom farmhouse that had been completely restored. It was a large, charming country home that sat on 40 acres. The immediate five acres surrounding the house had been cleared, and the remaining 35 acres were completely wooded. It would offer them privacy and seclusion. The nearest house was almost two miles away, which was separated by timber and farmland. It was the perfect setting to allow the kids to run and play, without having to worry about traffic or weirdos. Ashley was excited when she saw the house and couldn’t wait for Keith to come home later that night.

When Keith came home from work, she bombarded him with information about the house and asked if he would be willing to move to the country.

“I don’t know, Ash. That would be a much longer commute than I’m used to. Right now, I have a 10-minute drive. If we moved, I’d have almost a 35-minute drive—and it is all highway.”

“Oh, but Keith, you
have
to see this house! It’s spectacular! It has a huge wraparound porch, two out buildings, plus a shed, and it is five beds with three baths,” she boasted. “And it even has a basement and an attic.”

“Show me the listing,” he said pulling off his work shoes. “I’ll take a look at it and we can talk some more about it,” he sighed.

“Okay!” she eagerly grabbed her laptop and pulled up the house. “See! And it’s also in our price range. Below it, actually,” she commented as her husband read the listing and viewed the pictures.

“It is nice,” he agreed, “but I don’t know if I want to move that far out.”

“Can we at least go look at it and see it in person? Keith, I
really
like this house.”

He grinned at her and nodded his head. She emailed Joy and asked her when they could do a viewing of the house before she went to bed for the night. The next morning, after she got the kids off to school, she checked her email. Joy had responded and said the house was empty so they could see it anytime they were ready. She called Keith at work to ask if it was all right to set up an appointment for that weekend. After a long sigh, he reluctantly agreed. The meeting was scheduled, and she could hardly wait. This was a dream house that she wasn’t about to let slip away.

Saturday afternoon, they had lunch and packed the kids up in the van as they headed for the country. Ashley went on and on about how beautiful the house was as Keith drove, offering no feedback.

“Aren’t you even the least bit excited?” she asked as they turned onto the road.

“Oh, I’m excited all right,” he lied. “Ash, what if this house has major problems? I know it’s ancient and it’s been restored, but what if there’s a crack in the foundation or an issue with the roof? New kitchen cabinets don't make it a great house.”

She frowned and pursed her lips. “Would you get over it already? This is going to be a beautiful house,” she reassured him as she rubbed her pregnant belly.

As Joy toured them around the house, the kids ran and played as they yelled from room to room. There was plenty of space and Ashley loved how elegant the home was. Keith even found it charming himself. Mature trees sporadically occupied the yard; a large one right in front of the house. It was beautiful.

“How long has it been on the market?” he asked as he admired the outbuildings.

“Let me see,” Joy said as she flipped through her paperwork. “Um, it looks like it’s been on the market for almost two years.”

“And nobody’s ever put it under contract?” his face crinkled as he began to wonder why.

“No, actually, I had a couple who made an offer on the house, but their loan fell through. I think it was the Briar’s who made the offer.”

Keith thought for a moment. “Oh,” he chuckled, “yeah, they actually applied for the loan through me. The husband had quit his job but never told his wife. When we tried to verify his income, we couldn’t since he was unemployed so their loan was denied.”

“Are you kidding? That’s why? They told me that they had to move to take care of the wife’s sister because she’d been in an accident at work.”

“No, that’s why. I’ll tell you what,” he said looking at his wife. “If Ash is still crazy about the house after seeing it, we’ll make an offer,” he smiled at her.

“Really? Do you really mean that babe?” she gloated.

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay, well if you guys are sure, I’ll go ahead and start the paperwork right now. We’ll make the seller’s an offer and see what they come back with.”

Ashley bounced up and down as Joy went to her car to get the paperwork. “Thank you, babe! Thank you so much!” she kissed him. “We’re going to be so happy here!”

Joy returned with the paperwork and began filling it out when Keith asked if the kids would still be in the same school district.

“Oh, I don’t know. Let’s check,” she said as she skimmed the listing.

Ashley nervously bit her lip, hoping the answer would be a good one.

“Yep! It says right here, R-IV so you’re safe there.”

Ashley sighed in relief.

Not long after they made an offer on the house, Keith was promoted to a directorship at the bank. It couldn’t have come at a better time. With his promotion, though, it meant he had to work longer hours. Ashley had her hands full with three kids at home and one on the way. Three weeks later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. They named him Bryce and were lucky enough to bring him home a day earlier than they did with Chase.

The offer on the house was accepted, and they hired a moving company to make their move easier and alleviate some of the stress that comes with moving. After they had been settled into their new house, Ashley began putting in a few hours of work-at-home bookkeeping here and there to help her husband when she could. With everything falling into place, the family had never been happier. That spring, Ashley, and the kids began gardening and even started to raise animals that the kids could help with. They thought it was neat to have chickens, rabbits and a couple of cows. Chloe was now nine, Brooke seven, Chase was almost five and Bryce was almost a year old. Every morning, the kids ran out to feed the rabbits in their hutches and tossed chicken feed out into the yard for the chickens. After the animals had been fed, they took turns watering the garden where they grew their own lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans. They were fascinated with how fast everything seemed to grow.

After about six months or so, weird things began happening. One morning when Ashley went running errands with all four kids in tow, she noticed the front passenger van door was open. She told the kids to wait inside the house; Keith was at work, even though it was a Saturday. Slowly, she approached the van, checking to see if anyone was inside.

“Hello?” she called out but received no answer.

Walking closer to the van, she saw that it was empty. Worried whether anything had been stolen, she began to take inventory. The car seat and booster seats were all there. A few dollar bills laid crumpled in the drink holder; no money was taken. As she walked over to the open door, she noticed everything from the glovebox had been scattered across the front seat. She began going through the papers to make sure everything was still there. It was. The vehicle registration, proof of insurance, her permit to pick up the kids from school, it was all there. She didn’t know what to make of it. It didn’t make any sense; she decided to call Keith at work.

“Keith, someone was in our van!”

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

“I mean someone was in our van. Nothing was taken, but all of the papers in the glove compartment were lying all over the front seat. They’d been rifled through, but they were all there.”

“That’s odd,” he commented as he managed accounts.

“Didn’t you notice the passenger door open when you left for work?” she asked.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t. When I left for work, it was still kind of dark out and my car was parked on the driver’s side of the van. Are you guys okay or do you need me to come home?”

“No, we’re going to come into town to run some errands. What time will you be back?” she asked as she began loading the kids into the van. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible in case whoever did it was still there watching her.

“Honestly, I can probably meet you guys for lunch if you think the kids can make it until about two o’clock or so.”

“Okay!” she said, glad that her husband would be able to spend a little free time with them.

It wasn’t long after the van incident, on a Friday night, when the family decided to splurge and went out to dinner. They hadn’t eaten out in a very long time since Keith had received his promotion and began working extended hours. When they returned home that evening, they noticed that the front living room window was open.

“Did you open the window today?” Keith asked, drawing his wife’s attention to it as they parked in front of the house.

Slowly, she shook her head, “No, I never open that window. You know the screen’s missing, and it would let all the bugs in.” Ashley hated bugs, and it seemed as though the ones on the country were morphed in size compared to the bugs in the city. She turned to face the rear of the van, “Did one of you kids open the living room window?”

Several no’s followed her question as the children denied doing it.

“You guys wait here. I’m going to go inside to check,” he said, nodding his head. “You sit in the driver’s seat, okay?”

“Okay,” she said as her heart raced, worried that an intruder was lurking in the house.

“If you see or hear anything, you drive off with the kids and call the cops,” he whispered before exiting the vehicle.

She nodded as he shut the door and she slid over to the driver’s seat. Through the windows, she could see his silhouette pass from room to room until his head appeared in the open window.

“It’s all right!” he yelled, motioning to her that it was okay to come inside.

That night as they laid in bed, they discussed the strange events of the window and the van door. They couldn’t make sense of the two events.

“Do you think someone is messing with us?” she asked her husband.

“I don’t know what to think. It’s weird, isn’t it? It’s like they’re harmless pranks, but they make you wonder. You know?”

She nodded, “Yeah, it’s almost as if some prankster is playing practical jokes on us, but I don’t get it.”

“Me either. It’s also possible that someone was planning on stealing something out of the van and I scared them off when I came out of the house to leave for work. And maybe one of the kids opened the window but don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Yeah, that’s possible, I suppose,” she agreed. Her gut told her that things weren’t that innocent. “Is there any way you could bring some of your work home and do it here so the kids and I aren’t alone as much?”

“No, not really. I’ve thought about it before, but it’s just not possible. I have to log into certain accounts that can only be accessed from the bank’s servers.”