Chapter 17: The Ledger

Lorna had invited her whole family to supper, and I walked into it straight off a plane.

Her sister was there with her husband, and a neighbor with a casserole.

So was a woman from the school cafeteria who had worked beside Lorna for nineteen years.

They stood up when I came into the kitchen.

Nobody said anything for a moment, and then Lorna's sister started crying and held out her arms.

I let her hug me.

I was still learning how to be hugged.

The envelope lay in the middle of the table.

It was a plain manila one, and the front said Hallie-bug in curly blue ink.

"I couldn't leave it on the porch," Lorna said quietly. "I couldn't throw it out, either."

"Call Levi," I said.

"I did. He's in the air. He lands at midnight."

"Then I'll open it."

"Rosie..."

"If I don't, I'll think about what's in it all night."

I slid my thumb under the flap.

Inside were six photocopied pages and a folded note.

The pages were a ledger, ruled in columns.

The neat hand matched the tags on the shoes Levi had carried out of the fire.

Date, a first initial, an age, a town, and a sum of money.

At the right edge of every line, in a different column, was a small entry that said H.B. and an amount.

I read down the dates.

Then I read them again, because my own initials were everywhere.

H.B. lure, five hundred.

H.B. lure, six hundred.

H.B. sells, twelve thousand.

The last line on the sixth page was dated four months ago.

At the bottom of the stack was a deposit slip from a bank in Tulsa.

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