Masked Ménage (Ménage Series: Book 1 of 6)

Chapter 16: Dreaming of the Past - Amy

Amy

Driving relaxes me and I can think better without distractions, especially as I make my way down the empty highway. It's so hard to get my brain around all the information in his journal. After rereading the article on Samuel Blake and how he went missing on Halloween, it seems coincidental that he was found by the side of the road, next to our pond, and this Joe Whitney had the same car. Just another fluke, possibly, but this must all be connected somehow.

Sitting here, all these questions keep coming to the surface. What if this Joe is my father? Did mom know all about the Roth murders? Was she involved?

Then there is this man, Donald Millhouse, who seems to have been holding all the cards.

I need to find out who he was and if this man and Joseph Whitney are the same people. If this is true, I may now be in charge of my father's murder case.

Part of me thinks he could never pull this off, working at the same job and with many of the same people as before.

They would recognize him if that were the case unless he had plastic surgery to hide his true identity. The man has money; he admitted this several times in his writings.

Dave and Paul worked for Joseph Whitney. They protected him and assisted Joe in trying to solve the Roth murders. They also protected me and my mom until I went to college. Then what happened?

Did they stay on and watch over my mother for Joe?

I say out loud, "Maybe it's time to call Dave and ask him to tell me the truth. Showing him all of this evidence, knowing Donald is dead. Maybe he would explain to me what he knows, or at least, Mr. Millhouse's true identity. He had our pictures hidden in his wallet, so if anyone would know the truth, in all of this, it would be Dave."

As I drive north on Route 81 towards New York State, I hear a song that reminds me of Vin. We dance to it several times and he would sing it to me when I was sad.

"Maybe I should go to Syracuse first, but I'm not ready to face him just yet. This is way bigger than I thought possible, and now my family is involved. Either way, it was going to be a tough conversation. But I need some hard truths before I face him. With everything I've read about his family, mine, and his employee's murder, how can I not think of the man and what we had together? I need to see Beth and get this all worked out in my head first. She was always the voice of reason." I say to myself.

I remember, Beth asked, "Amy, how did you get Vinny to notice you? Every time he sees you, he lights up like a Christmas tree."

Hearing this, I wasn't sure what to say. When did she see him react like that? Oh great, what if she likes him too?

"Um..." I tried to think of something to say.

She added, "My parents took me out for pizza the other night. Vinny was there, eating with his aunt when you walked by the restaurant. That boy had an enormous smile on his face when he saw you walking down the sidewalk. Then you noticed him looking at you through the window, and I watched you smiled back. That's when he waved to you. It was very obvious to me how much he likes you, Amy. You kept going, and he watched you walk down the street towards the theater. I think Vinny likes you a lot."

At that point, I wasn't sure what to do or say.

Quickly I stated, "I don't know what you saw. We only talked a few times here and there, but that's it, nothing more."