Page 2 of Kevin's Destiny

“Don’t be, she deserved it. Anyway, my plan is that once my work is done, and I’m ready to leave here, I’m going to go see her and tell her that whenever she gets out, then she’s on her own. I’m also selling the house, all her stuff is in storage, and I stopped paying for it. The owners of the storage facility know where she is. They’ll wait a few years, give her a chance to maybe get parole, then have an auction for lack of payment.” He grinned when he heard Erin giggle.

“Not that I know about these things, but I’ve heard you and Caleb discuss your ex before. Is there anything of hers that you put in storage that could make you money?”

“What do you mean?”

“Again, this is based on what I heard you, Caleb, and even Ryan talk about her expensive shopping habits. Again, I don’t know these things, but did you happen to pack up any purses or shoes that might be expensive?”

“I have no clue, like you, I don’t know about that crap. However, I have seen charges on my credit cards for expensive things. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the head’s up.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck with what you have to do, and keep me posted. Not about everything, just when you’re leaving Seattle.”

“Okay, should I come to Erin’s Way, or can I go over to Broken Two to see Caleb? Oh, and which ranch will I be staying at?”

“Yes, to stopping in to see Caleb. You can either stay in one of those cabins, to be closer to your son, there are two empty ones there. Or you can take a cabin over at New Double.”

“Don’t hold me to it, but I’ll probably take a cabin at New Double. As much as I love my son, and miss him, I don’t want to be right next door and him thinking I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“I understand. Thanks for calling, Kevin. I look forward to seeing you soon.” They hung up. After a few minutes, thinking about what Erin had said, he accessed his old bank accounts, then looked up items on the computer. Several hours later, he leaned back with a heavy, but flabbergasted sigh.

“Holy shit, Jesus, Karen, why the hell would you spend thousands of dollars on one purse?” He looked over at his list of things to do before the move, he added the notation of checking out the storage locker to see if he could find the purses and shoeshe’d shoved in a box when he’d packed her stuff after she was arrested, and he had filed for divorce.

He rose from his desk and wandered the house, trying to recall the happy memories he had shared with his son and wife, and couldn’t recall one with Karen. Not in this house, he hadn’t moved in here until after Caleb was born. Which left his first two to three years with Karen okay. Reflecting back, they, or rather, he, hadn’t been blissfully happy. With Caleb, he had a whole separate list of things he needed to discuss with him. He didn’t expect his son to return home to help him pack, but he would like to know what the younger man wanted done with his high school trophies, yearbooks, and other things he had saved over the years.

Kevin looked at his watch, and saw it was only eight o’clock on a Sunday night. Instead of returning to his office, he decided to go up to the attic to see how much stuff had been placed there over the years, and whether he would take it with him, or toss it.

Two hours later, he stood in his living room with his fisted hands on his hips, and shook his head in awe. He had found several boxes buried, ones that he had thought were empty, and was going to set them out by the road. However, after he lifted the first one, he opened it and was shocked to see a pair of shoes inside. Upon further inspection, he hauled fifty-six boxes from the attic and set them on the coffee table. After opening each one, he had divided them between shoes and purses.

Baffled, he pulled his phone and dialed his son.

“Dad? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because it’s late at night. Not that late, it’s only nine here, so that puts you at ten. You never call this late.”

“Sorry, I was going to call you about this later, but I need to talk to you now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m making lists to clean up my life here, then I’m coming to Colorado.”

“Really, that’s great! Do you know when?”

“I’m hoping to be there in two months. I have a meeting with HR next week. I also have a couple of cases on my desk that I need to either close, or pass off. Once I meet with HR, I’ll be going to my Captain and telling him about my retirement.”

“That’s great! So, why are you calling me now?”

“Earlier tonight, I called Erin Riceman to see if she still needed another security officer. She does, so I’ll have a job at New Double when I get there. However, we got to talking, and I went looking.”

“Okay, I don’t know if I want to ask.”

Before he had called his son, he had snapped photos of the items he had found in the attic, and sent them in one e-mail as he talked with the younger man.

“I just sent you an e-mail. I mentioned your mother in passing to Erin.”

“Why?” Kevin could hear the bafflement in his son’s voice at his confession.

Kevin sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s more for me, but when I’m ready to leave here, I’m going to stop by the prison one last time to see Karen. I was going to reach out to ask you if you wanted me to tell her anything.”