Theo And Reed's Family Secrets

Chapter Twenty Two

The next day seemed to drag on like a neverending tooth ache. Most days Theo enjoyed teaching at the Academy and thought he was good at it. That day his mind was elsewhere. And his students appeared to know it. The teenaged tech obsessed zombies he called his students were feeding off his own distraction. They were talking in class and passing notes. Or in the case of First Daughter MJ Keller, not so secretly shopping on her iPhone for more forbidden tee shirts and makeup. Theo was very glad when the final bell rang and he saw the back of all of them.

He most likely broke a few traffic laws as he sped his Corvette to pick up Matt who had baked a melted cheese tuna casserole to give the grieving family. Then they headed off to Maynard Rhodes' apartment building. The building wasn't a bad place to live out your golden years, they both thought. It was a big solidly constructed building that was cheerfully decorated. Matt was very appreciative of the huge gazebo he noticed on the grounds.

From the name on one of the mailboxes in the ground floor lobby they found the old man had lived in apartment 2D. They took the elevator up and Theo crossed his fingers that the first face they saw inside the apartment was not Captain Meg Rhodes.

Theo knocked on the door and it was opened by a woman. Thankfully it was not the captain but a smaller slightly younger more rounded version of Meg Rhodes. The woman's plump face looked like it should be smiling happily but today was devastated. Her wide brown eyes were red rimmed and her full lips were trembling visibly. Theo and Matt introduced themselves to her and offered her their condolences. They also gave her the casserole offering.

The woman nodded and tried to smile kindly. " Hello. Yes. I'm Terri Stewart. Maynard is - was - my daddy. You all might as well come on in and join the rest. My daddy had so many friends. I don't know how he met so many people. He was a good man. He was very much loved and respected. "

She stepped aside, still holding the casserole dish, and let them step into the living room which was filled almost to capacity with so many people. They were all talking quietly or laughing softly or crying. Including Captain Meg Rhodes who stood from the overstuffed sofa with it's plastic. She pointed at them accusingly ," What the hell are you doing here? Haven't you done enough, Theodore Walton Fisher? "

Before either man could respond to her , her sister clicked her teeth and said ," Meg ! That's not called for. Daddy and Mama didn't raise us to be rude and nasty. "

Rhodes sucked in a breath harshly at Terri. " They didn't raise us to be too trusting either. Are you aware, little sister, that these two.... men were there yesterday when Daddy was killed? Neither has explained why he was there. Theodore is a very suspicious character. He fancies himself a detective but he is really just nosy. "

Matt's bright green eyes flickered with much restrained irritation as he said ," Theo is as suspicious as big bird. You know that, Captain Rhodes. What is your problem? "

" My problem is your friend's lack of ability to answer my questions. Why was my father at his house yesterday? "

Theo sighed deeply. " He called me. He wanted to meet me. It was his idea. "

" Why? You didn't know him. "

" Because he wanted to tell me my brother was alive. "