The Last Family

29

Eve Fletcher flung open the front door as soon as the mail carrier lifted the squeaky lid on her mailbox.

“Gimme that,” she said, snatching the envelopes from his hand and slamming the door in his face.

The postman stepped down from the porch shaking his head. It was the first time he had laid eyes on her in a year, and then it had been the same deal. She had sprung the door open as if she had been there coiled and ready with her hand on the knob, pouncing when he opened the mailbox. Last year she had done it three days running, and then nothing until today. Totally wacky shit, he decided as he stepped onto the next porch. He would be ready for her tomorrow. “I’ll just toss her shit up on the porch and walk off,” he said out loud. “I don’t have to take this mess from anybody.”

Two blocks away agent Larry Burrows had been sitting at the console, where he had watched an overhead view of Eve standing at the door waiting for her mail. “Missing General Hospital? She’s waiting for the mail with that anxious face we love so much.”

He had watched as she had paced the hallway for half an hour before the postman showed. Agent Burrows looked around at the four faces illuminated by the monitors. It was close inside the trailer, but from here on out, except for double-checking the post office at night, they would not leave except to follow Eve to her son. After she closed the door, she scurried back to the den and sat in her chair while she thumbed through the letters. When she got to the condominium brochure, she dropped the others into her lap and looked at the envelope. She held it with her left hand while she fumbled around on the tray for her glasses with the right. She put the glasses on and examined the envelope carefully. She seemed to inspect the flap before opening the brochure and thumbing through it from front to back. Then she removed her glasses and tossed the brochure into the trash box on the floor.

“I wonder what it means?” Joe said. “What’s the message? It has to be an all-clear signal. There’s nothing there.”

“Maybe it had something on it that only her glasses picked up,” Sierra said.

“I doubt it,” Joe said. He looked at the brochure photocopies and the copy of the outside of the envelope. The envelope said:

OCCUPANT

321 TUCKER COURT

CHARLOTTE, NC 28209

Joe looked at the return. “Motherlode Condominiums, on Madigan Street in Denver. Motherlode. Jesus, the man is amazing.”

Larry snickered.

Eve’s heart soared as she made her way to the den with the bundle of junk mail. Mr. Puzzle trailed behind her, following her form, scent, or through some other instinct, his tiny nails ticking the steps against the wood floor. When the animal arrived at the base of the chair and barked to be picked up, he was ignored. Eve had more important things on her mind than a yappy dog.

She had lifted the message from the brochure in an instant, as a billboard with a single word might be absorbed. She smiled at the thought that the instructions were invisible to anyone except two people on the entire planet. She was pleased with how clever her Martin was. First off, the brochure’s arrival meant that her Martin was safe. It also told her where to go and how. It was a puzzle based on things they had discussed years before and she had memorized. Eve and Martin had always shared a love of games. When Martin was a child, they had started with Candyland and gone on to Sorry, Monopoly, checkers, backgammon, and finally chess.

She remembered the instructions. Where to go and where to get the key to the locker that would hold the new instructions. Instructions that would insure she would escape her tail and meet him in safety. By creasing the rear corner of the pamphlet he had signaled her to switch to the other identity at the airport in Dallas.

Eve was well aware that the intricately planned precautions were necessary. Martin’s enemies had unlimited resources. Martin had said, “It’s okay to be paranoid when there is good reason.” Since he had escaped prison, she had lived her life assuming they were watching, as well as listening to, her every move. Martin had explained how they could use technology, secret beams and the like, to spy on people. Martin was an expert in that. The Fletchers were surrounded by the enemy and had been since Martin had worked against the international drug conspirators in Vietnam and later with the DEA. But the conspiracy had corrupted the DEA, and they had framed Martin. The dark cabal was made up of Jews mainly, but other international businessmen as well. Once Martin was eliminated, they would have a free reign. Luckily, she had taught Martin all about the Jews early on.

Eve hadn’t actually seen any enemy agents lurking outside her house, but Martin had told her that they would follow her to him, and she believed him. In fact, she had been aware that she was being followed on several occasions. He was a noble soldier for his country, having even gone to prison as part of his plan to fight crime. He had been aided in his escape by other agents. And he had changed his face and identity to continue the fight. She knew that corrupted elements of the DEA, FBI, and CIA would find him and kill him if she made mistakes.

Eve dropped the brochure into the trash box along with the other mail from the day’s delivery. The yearly visits with him were the only thing she had to look forward to, except for her stories and Mr. Puzzle’s company, which grew less rewarding every day. The animal was seventeen and couldn’t last much longer, what with one part of him failing, seemed like, every week or two. She sat gazing at the screen where two actors embraced even though they were married to other people. Normally scenes of adulterous behavior would get Eve’s blood up, but today she wasn’t thinking about people’s shameless behavior.

She lifted Mr. Puzzle to her lap, stroked his head, and contemplated the trip. She would leave Mr. Puzzle with the veterinarian, who would take care of him. “He’s a sweet nummins,” she murmured. She wouldn’t be coming back, ever. She wondered what would happen to her things, but it was a fleeting curiosity. She would be with Martin on a beach in South America, where they would live in peace. They had discussed it every year during their visit. It would be paradise. Eve and Martin. Son and mother.

Eve reached onto the TV tray, found a small tin, pulled it open by hooking the ring on the top. As the five agents looked on, Eve dug a wet Vienna sausage from the can by using a knitting needle and then held it like a carrot while the little dog greedily nibbled sharp furrows into the end.