Page 23 of Echoes of Eternity

His gaze was drawn to the mysterious bottle of whiskey sitting on his father’s desk.

Another unsettling mystery.

Was it all truly pointless?

Curious, Ryan logged on to the computer. He pulled up the outgoing monthly transfers they had just digitalized two months ago. They had only processed and uploaded the current year. Checking each deposit into the woman’s account, he saw a transfer each month leading up to his father’s passing. Walking over to the filing cabinet, he pulled out the prior year’s monthly deposits and transfers.

Every month of the prior year, the same transfer of $2,000 was made to the same account.

Going back to the cabinet, he searched for more years. There were none.

Peering at the clock on the wall, he saw it was after nine-thirty at night.

His heart dipped as he thought of his wife.

Emily had once again voiced her concern about his working hours just the other night when he climbed into bed after eleven o’clock. Chances were she was already asleep, but he knew he needed to get home.

On his way home, he thought about his father’s stern talks about drinking. He was so vehemently opposed to it, yet he was secretly doing it?

Turning into the driveway, he got out of the car and walked inside.

His wife was asleep on the couch, slumped over a pile of papers she appeared to have been grading. He smiled in a longing kind of way. He wanted to be more than what he was for his family at the moment. He hoped it’d change soon, but soon never seemed to come. He removed the pile of papers and the pen and set them aside. Then he covered her with the quilt from the back of the couch.

Exiting through the back sliding glass door of the house, he came out onto the porch and proceeded into the moonlight near the pool.

His father came to the top of his mind.

Pulling his wallet out from his back pocket, he retrieved the slip of paper his brother had given to him with the name and address of Linda.

He unfolded the wrinkled piece of paper and looked at it. Jason’s voice replayed in his head. He’s gone. What’s the point?

Peering out across the moonlit pool, he thought of his father. All the playful summers, the joyful dinners, and the times shared over the years. The church events, the man of God his father was in his community, in his church, and in the family. Could he have really been hiding something all this time?

He thought of the whiskey. He already was . . .

Ryan needed to find out the truth.

He couldn’t ignore it any longer.

CHAPTER 6

The morning’s sunlight streamed in through the living room windows, gently pulling Emily from her slumber. Adjusting beneath the quilt, she lifted an eyebrow at the realization that she had slept there the entire night. Finding her phone near her on the couch, she checked the time. It was just after six in the morning. Shoving the quilt off, she stood up from the couch and headed to the master bedroom. Ryan was in the shower.

Standing at the doorway of the open ensuite bathroom, she could feel the steam of the shower.

“Late night?”

“I was home before ten, but you were out cold.” He shut the shower off and reached out to grab the towel from the hook beside the shower.

“Are late nights at the grill just something I need to become accustomed to, Ryan?”

“No.” He yanked the shower curtain back, the towel wrapped around his waist. “I was trying to figure something out.”

“What?”

Stepping out of the shower, he went up to the mirror and wiped a hand over it. “Nothing.”

“Tell me it’s not about that transfer again . . .”