“Principal Shepherd” Natalie said standing up from her desk.
“This is Chad Winningham, his daughter will be attending school here in a few weeks” she said “Mr. Winningham this is Natalie Carter.”
“Hi” Natalie said extending her hand for a handshake.
“Mrs. Carter” Chad said to her.
“Oh if you’ll excuse me” Principal Shepherd said leaving the room.
“So you’re the third grade teacher” he said to Natalie.
“I am” she said.
“Something wrong?” Chad asked as Natalie looked at him strangely.
“Oh I’m sorry for staring but…you just look so familiar…have we met before?” she asked.
“I don’t think so, I’m actually being relocated from Connecticut.”
“Oh, okay, sorry about that” she said.
“No problem” he said.
“So, why don’t you tell me about your daughter” she said gesturing to a chair in front of her desk “What’s her name?” Natalie asked.
“Daphne” he said “She absolutely adores reading” he said.
“Oh well that’s great” Natalie said.
“Art too, in fact my wife and I are looking into enrolling her in dance.”
“Really?” Natalie asked “I actually give dance lessons sometimes” she said.
“Really” he said intrigued “Small world” he said.
“It really is” Natalie said.
“So sorry about that, Mr. Winningham was Mrs. Carter able to handle your concerns?” Principal Shepherd asked.
“Oh she was very helpful” Chad said smiling at Natalie.
“Glad to hear it, shall we continue?” she asked.
“Let’s” Chad said.
“Well it was nice meeting you Mr. Winningham and I look forward to having Daphne in my classroom” Natalie said to him.
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy it as well” Chad said smiling at Natalie.
“Such a beautiful name by the way” Natalie said.
“Yes, well…I named her after my mother” he said “Have a good day” he said.
“Bye” Natalie said smiling.
“Bradley hey it’s me, you’re not answering your desk phone, listen there’s something we need to talk about, I need you to call me back as soon as you can” Sydney said on her phone as she approached the back door.
“Surprise!” everyone yelled as Sydney came inside.
“Wow, what is this?” she asked.
“Bradley and the girls wanted to do something special for you in honor of your book deal” Natalie said.
“Congratulations mommy!” Mady said happily.
“Congratulations mom” Rachel said as they all hugged her.
“Oh thank you so much” Sydney said “This is so sweet, you didn’t have to go through all this” Sydney said to Natalie.
“Bradley insisted that I help” she said.
“No…you insisted that you help” Bradley said to her “Surprised?” Bradley asked.
“Oh I’m surprised all right” Sydney said to him “Listen I’ve been trying to call you, there’s something we really need to talk about” Sydney said to him.
“Congratulations sweetheart” Vicki said hugging Sydney.
“Oh thank you, thanks for coming” Sydney said hugging her.
“Well of course” Vicki said.
“We had to eat dinner somewhere” Brian said to her, Vicki swatted him “Just kidding, congratulations” he said hugging her.
“Thank you” Sydney said laughing.
“What’d you want to talk about?” Bradley asked “Everything alright?” he asked.
“It’s about the book…” Sydney said there was a knock at the door.
“I got it” Bradley said, he opened it to see Barry standing there.
“Am I late for dinner?” he asked.
“Barry…you’re here…great” Bradley said disappointedly.
“Barry, what are you doing here?” Sydney asked.
“Hi uncle Barry!” Mady said to him happily.
"Mady, he's not your uncle" Bradley said to her.
“Well hello miss Madelyn” Barry said hugging her.
“Mady, sweetheart, did you invite Barry?” Bradley asked her.
“Uh huh” she said happily.
“And I’m glad she did because I have great news, I’ve been doing research all day and I think we have enough material.”
Sydney looked at him fearfully “Really…great, well why don’t we discuss it after dinner” she said nervously.
“Nat, is everything ready?” Vicki asked.
“Yep, we’re good to go, if we could all just head to the dining room” she said taking a casserole dish into the dining room and setting it on the table. “Did you tell him? About the Winchester thing?” Natalie asked.
“Not yet” Sydney said glancing back at Bradley conversing with Neilson.
“This isn’t going to go well” Natalie said to Sydney in a hush voice.
“Not at all” Sydney said to her.
Rachel held Joey’s hand as they entered the dining room together and approached the table.
“No no…you over there” Bradley said to Joey, Rachel rolled her eyes and glared at Bradley as she sat down. “So what’d you want to tell me about the book?” Bradley asked Sydney.
“Uh…I’ll tell you later” Sydney said to him.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yeah, let’s just eat” she said as they took their seats.
“So boys, how’s everything at the police department?” Vicki asked.
“Ugh, the captain took us off the case we were working on” Bradley said to her.
“They took you off the case, why would they do that?” Brian asked him.
“Said we were too closely involved” Neilson said to him.
“Involved how?” Natalie asked.
“The victims in this case were people we were associated with…a long time ago” Neilson said as he and Bradley looked at each other.
“Such as?” Brian asked.
“We’re not really allowed to discuss an ongoing investigation with civilians” Bradley said to him.
“Since when?” Sydney asked “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Uh…hey kids, why don’t you guys take these dishes and go into the kitchen and start cutting up the cake for dessert?” Natalie asked.
“We’ll do it” Rachel said as she and Joey stood up from the table, they picked up empty plates.
“Libs, Mady, help your sister” Bradley said to them.
“It’s okay dad, we’ll keep an eye on them” Libby said standing up from the table.
“Come on uncle Barry” Mady said to him.
“Yes, Barry you too” Bradley said, Sydney nudged him.
“Well alright” Barry said standing up from the table
“Sydney, we really need to talk about my research.”
“Yeah, Barry, later, okay?” Sydney said to him as they left the room.
“Alright, what is it?” Vicki asked.
“Remember Mr. Mooney?” Bradley asked.
“Mooney…Mooney…oh yeah, the deadbeat you guys worked for in high school” Brian said.
“Yeah” Bradley said.
“We found him dead the other day in the back room of the old record store” Neilson said.
“Well when you drink as much as he did and at his age…” Vicki said.
“No he didn’t die from that…he was murdered” Bradley said.
“They took you off the case for that?” Vicki asked.
“No, because Coach Reinhart was found dead the very same day, killed the same way Mooney was” Neilson said.
“Coach Reinhart?” Vicki asked “The football coach from your old high school?” she asked.
“And today…our old principal Mr. Wexler came into the station” Neilson said.
“Yeah he found a threatening note in his mailbox we had to put him in protective custody” Bradley said.
“And the common link between all three of them is apparently us” Neilson said.
“Well that doesn’t mean anything” Vicki said.
“We found an invitation to our 25 year high school reunion in coach’s hotel room next to his body” Bradley said to her.
“Oh my god” Sydney said.
“Time for dessert!” Mady announced as they came back into the room with a tray of plates covered in cake slices.
“Before we begin dessert I would like to propose a toast” Barry said handing everyone a wine glass “To Sydney, you’re a talent like no other and I’m glad I’ve been lucky enough to witness it, here’s to your success as an author” Barry said raising his glass.
“Here here” everyone replied.
“So Sydney, what’s the book going to be about?” Vicki asked.
“Well, uh…” Sydney said.
“Sydney and I decided that we are going to go suspenseful, sinister, dark” Barry said.
“Ooh, sounds exciting” Vicki said.
“Just as long as it’s not about me” Bradley said taking another drink, Sydney’s eyes shifted towards him.
“Don’t worry, this subject is as far away from you as possible” Sydney and Natalie shared glances. “I was in a shop getting some coffee and a man told me a story about a family that lived in this town a long time ago” Barry said. “Perfect on the outside, twisted and troubled on the inside” Barry said “Maybe you’ve heard of them, their name was Winchester.”
The clanking of Neilson’s fork hitting the plate filled the room as Bradley choked on his wine and looked at Barry in horror Barry looked around confused “Something I said?” he asked.
“Why don’t you kids finish your dessert in the kitchen?” Sydney said.
“Something wrong?” Rachel asked.
“No, everything’s fine, just uh…you and Joey go with your sisters into the kitchen and eat your cake” Sydney said “Libs, Mady?” Sydney asked, they all filed back into the kitchen.
“I am obviously missing something here” Barry said “What’s wrong? Did you all know the Winchester family?” he asked.
“Barry…what exactly did you hear about this family?” Vicki asked.
“Not a lot just that the father was an all powerful executive who used his money and influence to get his way, the mother a socialite who was completely oblivious to how twisted her husband actually was, the elder boy, the prodigal son, the apple of his father’s eye and the younger son, the black sheep and just as twisted as his father” Barry said “I found out a little bit more from doing some research this afternoon.”
“What kind of research?” Brian asked “City records, newspapers, internet searches…I couldn’t find very much it seems like everyone wants to forget they existed, I was hoping you could tell me if there are any police records on the family, arrests?” he asked.
Bradley and Neilson fixed their eyes on each other. “I think we need to be excused” Bradley said as he and Neilson got up from the table.
“Barry, I think it’s time to go” Sydney said “I’ll call you tomorrow and we can discuss some more topics” she said.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked.
“Nope, you didn’t do anything wrong we just…we need to talk about some things” she said.
“Okay…I’ll be by tomorrow?” he asked.
“That’s fine” she said.
“Goodnight everybody” Barry said.
Bradley sat atop an old trunk in the garage, smoke coming up from a cigarette as he took a deep inhale. “Crawling” by Linkin Park playing on a small radio nearby.
“Still smoke when you’re pissed off I see” Neilson said taking a seat next to him.
“Trust me, I can’t handle these things as well as I used to” Bradley said coughing as he put the cigarette out.
“Weird how this is all coming up now huh?” Neilson asked.
Bradley looked at him skeptically “Neilson” Bradley said “You think the Winchesters are somehow involved in the murders?” he asked.
“Don’t go there” Neilson said.
“It’s all too coincidental that’s all I’m saying” Bradley said “Two people we were closely associated with during high school are murdered the same week as our 25 year reunion and now my wife’s publicist comes out with this idea of using the Winchester family in a novel?”
Neilson sighed “Bradley…they’re dead” he said “I mean come on you stabbed the guy to death with an ice pick!” Neilson said in a hush voice.
“I know!” Bradley said.
“There was no pulse, crazy papa Winchester was pronounced dead at the scene, Damien’s brains were splattered all over the concrete outside the hotel after he fell from the balcony.”
“But what if someone shipped them off to some secret clinic like they did the first time?” he asked, Neilson shook his head.
“I thought I’d find you two out here” Brian said.
“What’s up dad?” Bradley asked “Wait who’s keeping an eye on the kids?” he asked.
“Oh would you relax, my son’s not going to do anything to your daughter with a houseful of people” Neilson said to Bradley.
“Listen, I know you’re all freaked out about this Winchester business” he said “But I can assure you, nobody’s going to find anything” he said.
“How can you be so sure? All it takes is one internet search” Neilson said.
“I took care of it” Brian said.
“Dad, I’m not going to have to arrest you am I?” Bradley asked.
“As much as I know you want to, no, you won’t” Brian said.
“As highly amusing as that would be” Neilson said.
“When you guys went off to college, we had a team go through every part of the internet with a fine-tooth comb and got rid of anything to do with you guys and the Winchesters” Brian said to them.
“Not possible” Neilson said to him.
“Hey, a lot of money can get you far in this world” he said.
“We didn’t want it to follow you guys your whole lives” Brian said.
“And you got rid of everything?” Bradley asked.
“Everything, Barry will be able to find basic information on the Winchester family but that’s as far as it goes.”
“Black coffee to go please” Barry said walking up to the counter of the coffee shop.
“Mr. Hoffman” a voice from behind said.
“Oh Mr. Winningham” Barry said shaking his hand.
“Getting coffee this late?” Chad asked.
“Got a long night of research ahead of me” Barry said.
“Oh right the book thing, hey how did my idea go over with your client?” he asked.
“Well…I’m not exactly sure, I feel like there’s some big secret that I’m not in on, know what I mean?” Barry asked.
“Sure, well if there’s anything else you’d like to know, I’d be happy to help” Chad said.
“Well now that you mention it, I’ve been searching all day but I can’t find anything on this family except for basic information” Barry said.
“Really…well…I’ll see what I can do” Chad said smiling slyly at him.
“Well if you do find anything, please, give me a call” Barry said handing him a business card.
“Will do” Chad said.
“Goodnight now” Barry said leaving the shop.
