Sibley's Secret

work closely with the reporters and editor of the newspaper, determined to build a career. Sarah began working as a telephone switchboard operator in Detroit, one of the jobs available to young women. The two young friends tried to maintain their relationship as much as possible without being together, but when she’d just turned fifteen, Sarah’s father died in a factory accident and she was desperate, unable to fully support herself with her low pay. She was also quite attractive, and when a prosperous business man began pursuing her, she felt she had no other alternative than to accept his advances. He proposed and found a better rooming house for her and a position in his company. In months, she was pregnant, only to find out her betrothed was already married.

  She was frantic and afraid, with no money and no one to support her when her child came. There were women’s relief organizations, but they weren’t kind to unwed mothers. In desperation, without hope, she bought a train ticket to Lansing. She wasn’t rational; there was no rational course for her. Scared, alone and expecting a child, she was destined for disaster unless her one hope, John, could see through the fog of bias and social condemnation to rescue her.

  When she arrived at the newspaper office, she was too scared to enter. She stood on the sidewalk, head down, and afraid. John was setting type by a second-story open window when he glanced down and saw her; he was sure it was her, walking away with a small suitcase. He ran downstairs as fast as he could, out onto the curb, but she was nowhere in sight. He began to panic, when he saw her across the street, sitting on a bench in the park. Her hat hid her face, but it had to be Sarah.

  He hurried across the street and as he approached, he became fearful that he’d made a mistake. Was he being foolish rushing from his bench to chase a girl only because he thought she reminded him of Sarah from behind? He could be the biggest idiot in town for running out as he did. Then, she lifted her head and he saw her pretty face for the first time. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but it was she; surely it was she. She tried to look away when she saw him, ashamed.

  She was shaking uncontrollably when he sat beside her, gently touching her shoulder. “Sarah? I can’t believe it’s really you. Why are you crying?”

  She couldn’t look at him at first, then she began sobbing and stuttering, telling her story, not knowing exactly where to begin. It didn’t matter. However disjointed and confused her revelations came out, John didn’t care. The important thing was that she had come back. Or, did she come back? It wasn’t immediately clear. She didn’t want to burden him, the boy she’d loved when they were both naïve and innocent. They could never reset the clock and begin where they’d left it that summer after school. She was pregnant!

  He embraced her, holding her while she sobbed, oblivious to people walking past who remained respectful of the young couple, seemingly dealing with tragedy. It wasn’t really tragedy to the young pair; it was a momentous reunion for them both. They’d never stopped loving each other. Within a month they were married. Sarah was welcomed into the Albrecht family by her former teacher and John’s father as freely and openly as if it were just the beginning of another school year for the young friends.

  When Carter was born, there was never any doubt that he was John’s son. As John continued to advance at the paper, they were able to grow into a new apartment and even bought some farmland in Jackson from one of his coworkers. They visited the farm on weekends and began planting trees, planning one day to have a life on the farm. He didn’t plan to give up his job at the paper; they didn’t plan that far ahead. The only important thing to them was being together again, with their son, beginning a new life.

  Warning

  “Please sit down, Karina. Can I offer you a drink?

  “Thank you, Gregor, it is most kind of you. I would enjoy tea if you have it.” It was an unusual gesture for him. In past meetings, he wanted quick reports and ended them without any refreshments. She felt obliged to accept.

  “Of course. I will call my secretary in the business office down the hall. It will be just a moment.”

  “Please, I do not want to be a burden.”

  “No, it is nothing. My staff is in a separate area in the office next to mine. I like my privacy, but I also have people working for me. It may be a bit unusual, but it works well for me.” She just smiled. He was an odd man, short and balding in his mid-forties. Looking at him with his expanded waistline, it was hard to imagine him as a ruthless gangster. But things were different in the twenty-first century. Even bad men appeared as normal business people, not as in old cinema films with bodyguards and guns everywhere. His isolation from his staff was about the only outward signal related to his criminal dealings. The staff probably worked only on legitimate business dealings. The rest, he handled from his private office with no one listening.

  A moment later, his office door opened and a nicely-dressed older woman carried two cups of tea on a silver platter. “Will that be all, Mr. Jelavich?”

  “Yes Gerta. Please close the door on the way out.”

  Karina and her client enjoyed a quick sip of the warm drink before she began. “Gregor, I believe the gold remained on the Trans-Siberian train after Admiral Kolchak was removed. This we have decided based on his letters to Anna that you were able to provide.”

  “That is an important bit of news, Karina. I am glad the documents have been useful.”

  “Thank you, Gregor.”

  His smile subsided, “You used the term ‘we’ again. Was this another figurative term?”

  She was suspicious that he knew the answer. “I have an acquaintance, Gregor. He is an American professor. He is here doing studies of Russian history.”

  “And what is he to you?”

  She was affronted by the personal question. “Why do you ask, Gregor? He is none of your concern.”

  He placed the tea aside and became more sinister; “I am paying you well to do private research for me. I have invested a great deal of money finding Kolchak’s gold and I will not share information that might help others find it.”

  “Have you been spying on me?”

  “I spy on all of my employees. This is how I remain in control and am not in jail! Now tell me what he knows and do not play games with me. I warn you.”

  She was scared of the man for the first time. “As I said, Gregor, he is studying history. That is all.”

  He leaned on his desk. “Tell me what you have told him.” It was not a request.

  “I have told him nothing of importance; he does not know I work for you.”

  “I will decide what is important, Karina not you.” His tone mellowed, but had also become more sinister.

  “Gregor, I must object. My relationship with the professor is separate from my work for you.”

  “We shall see, Karina. I will find this out in any event. In the meantime, I do not want you around this man.”

  “Gregor! You cannot tell me who I can be around.”

  “That is exactly what I CAN do, Karina.”

  Nervous

  Karina left the meeting with Gregori Jelavich fearful and afraid. She was afraid for Evan. She was not accustomed to such treatment. She rushed to the Metro watching everyone around her, feeling like she was being followed. Gregor knew about Evan. She needed to tell him to be careful. She couldn’t leave the project now even if she wanted, she knew too much about Gregor’s scheme, and he would never let her leave until he had the gold, but she couldn’t let Evan be harmed either. He’d done nothing except help her, and maybe love her. She’d never admitted her feelings toward him, but they were suddenly clearer. He could be in danger. Is that what Gregor was saying?

  She rushed to the subway. Her feelings for Evan crystalized. She’d deflected him for weeks, working with him without outward emotion, despite his obvious probing. She had resisted him every time. It had been easy, and there had been no urgency. Now, it was clearer to her. It had taken the veiled threat from Jelav
ich to understand her own feelings.

  The Metro train arrived, and she rushed aboard, looking in all directions. When the doors closed, she wished it was faster. She willed the train to go faster; she needed to talk to Evan, to warn him.

  At the museum stop, she rushed across the broad boulevard without her usual caution, looking in all directions for anyone following her. She didn’t see anyone suspicious, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Once inside, she didn’t see him immediately. He was working with his laptop at an unusual table. She composed herself and walked up to him. “We need to talk.”

  Graveyard

  Jim looked at his watch. He liked to be in the office early, and he didn’t want to wake her. Fortunately, Jackson and Tranquility were in the same time zone, even if they were over seven hundred driving miles apart. She answered on the first ring, “Hi, Jim.”

  “Hi, Kiki, are you up or not?”

  “Yep, I was up an hour ago, just leaving for the office. Chad’s back at college, and I get lonely at home.”

  “Yeah, I know the feeling.” He chatted a little about local events in Jackson, trying to renew her interest in their home town but didn’t get much reaction.

  She responded, “We’re getting active with the leaf peepers here. It’s early, but people start coming now, just to enjoy the early fall weather.”

  She wasn’t going to trade New England