The Shoe Box Secret {Part One}

“Oh, good grief. Are you kidding me?”

Cece tossed a handful of her husband’s laundry into a basket and forced the closet door open. “Where the heck does he even wear all of these clothes?” She bent over and picked up five more t-shirts, and a pair of pants then added them to the clothes she’d collected from his side of the bed. She knew it had been a while since their last laundry day, but she didn’t think it had been that long.

Searching the remainder of the closet one last time, her eyes fell on a box behind his golf clubs. It was a smaller shoe box, but Cece couldn’t recall the shoes that went with it. She wondered if Mason had gotten her a gift for their upcoming anniversary and her curiosity got the better of her. She removed the lid, but her brows furrowed.

“What in the world?”

Her eyes scanned over the contents. There were various passports, each with a different name, and a significant amount of cash in different currencies. “Liam Matloff. Hiram Ridgeport. Benjamin Jeffreys. Samuel Campion. This can’t be right.” Cece recognized a few locations but not the names and wasn’t sure why Mason had them in his possession.

There was one passport, with the name Henry Lancaster, that caught her attention more than others. She’d seen that name in the news a couple of weeks ago. It was a case that was unsolved, but involved money laundering and murder.  Cece’s mind began to race with the thoughts of what it could mean as her heart rate increased. She could feel the panic rise as she flipped through five more passports.

Headlights passed the window and Cece jumped. She glanced around the room and realized that Mason was home. Quickly placing everything back the way she’d found it, she set the shoebox back in the closet and tugged the laundry basket toward the washer.

She heard the front door open then slam shut. The baby monitor on her hip lit up in green lights as their nine-month-old son began to cry. Cece rolled her eyes. “Really, Mason. I just got Finn to sleep,” she mumbled under her breath. Releasing a sigh, she threw the remainder of the basket into the washer, added soap and hit start before heading to Finn’s room.

Mason met her at Finn’s crib and placed a hand on the small of her back. She jumped at his touch, and he removed his hand with a skeptical look. “Everything okay?” She nodded. “Of course, you just scared me, is all. Welcome home.” She adjusted Finn before giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. Mason smiled as they walked to the kitchen. “Thanks, honey. How was your day?”

“It was uneventful. Finn, here, he’s fussy and won’t sleep longer than thirty minutes. But otherwise, it’s been an alright day.” She offered a warm smile and rocked their son, hoping she seemed normal. Finn sniffled and buried his face between her head and shoulder. Mason nodded and set his briefcase on the counter before taking a seat at the bar. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that he isn’t sleeping. Maybe try some music tonight? If he doesn’t stop, just let him cry. Eventually, he’ll pass out from exhaustion. No use in you losing sleep too, Cece.”

“That’s so cruel. I could never.” She looked horrified as she held Finn closer to her chest. “We’re supposed to nurture and take care of him.”

“Not at the risk of preventing his development.” Mason rolled his eyes and shrugged his coat off. “You can’t pamper him all the time. He’ll get too soft.” It was Cece’s turn to roll her eyes as she sat in the rocking chair across from Mason. “You always say that, but you don’t know the first thing about it. He’s teething. Cut him some slack.”

Mason laughed. “Yeah, I’ll cut him some slack when he learns what’s right. I used to pick on kids like him.” Pouring himself a whiskey sour, he took a drink and pointed at the child. “Don’t encourage him to be any less than his optimal self.” Cece shook her head. “He’s less than a year old. How could he possibly know what’s right? You’re awful.” Mason ignored her and walked to the living room. “When’s dinner?”

She released the breath she’d been holding and rubbed Finn’s back. “It’ll be ready in thirty minutes. Let me get Finn back to bed, then I’ll finish it.” Mason flipped on the television to the news, and the conversation was over. Cece considered her find in the closet and the best way to approach him. She knew that tonight wouldn’t end well since he was already in a mood, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was far greater than even she knew.

‘Who am I married to?’ 

The question bounced around her mind as she laid her son in his crib once more and covered him with a small blanket. She considered her options as she prepped their dinner and served him. She desperately wanted answers but was afraid of the cost.

~*~

Hello again, lovely readers!

I’m a little behind on my blog challenges, but this one here, this is part of it. We were asked to use this site to pick a prompt. My prompt was:

“A woman finds an old shoebox belonging to her husband, and opens it to find foreign passports under different names, and a large amount of cash. Who is she married to? As she starts to panic, he arrives home…”

I’m not really sure where the rest of this prompt will go, but if you’d like to see a part two, leave me a comment below with some ideas on what he’s hiding and why he might be doing it.

You can find the responses from other participants here (NSFW), here, here, here, and here.

(:

Enjoy!