"Well, you comin' or not, LaFiamma?" Lundy growled wishing he'd never asked his partner to go to the Johnson Space Center. "We got to make up our minds before the rain comes."

"Okay man, just a few more minutes! UPS called to say they were makin' a special delivery and I HAD to be here. Go without me if you're gonna be so damn impatient!" The Northerner shot back equally as frustrated with the phone call that had stopped their outing.

"Who'd be sending you a special delivery overnight package anyway? Probably one of your contract buddies," Lundy yelped as the doorbell rang behind him.

"Bomb squad?" They simultaneously whispered.

"Well, you gonna answer it - or you gonna stand there?" Lundy questioned.

"You're closer!" Joey snapped shaking his head as he walked around his partner to his front door. Opening the door, he found two UPS personnel standing behind a large antique trunk. Joe signed for it as the two men carried it into his apartment.

Lundy stared at the intricate carvings that covered the top of the trunk as Joe ran after the men asking about a key.

"Sorry, that's it," they said stepping into the elevator.

Joe walked back into his apartment and stared at the trunk. Why was it sent to him? Why, now?

"LaFiamma, this is old! You don't see fine mahogany inlay like this anymore. Got the key? Come on, let's have a look inside!" Levon said anxiously, trying to think of all the things that might be inside. "Come Oonnn! Let's open it!"

"No key, that's it," Joey said blankly, staring at the trunk. He remembered the trunk from his childhood but for the life of him he couldn't remember where.

"Well how the hell we going to open it, if there's no key?"

"Don't need a key," Joe answered with an air of certainty.
 

"How do you know that?" Lundy responded wondering just how a trunk like this could be opened without a key.

"I don't know Lundy! I just know you don't need a key to open the thing. An' be careful -you can cut yourself on those carvings!" Joey replied as his partner pulled his hand back yelping in pain.

"OW! Now he tells me!" Lundy howled, putting his finger into his mouth to stop the bleeding. "You don't need a key, an' there's no visible sign of a hinge - so how do we open it?"

"I'm thinking."

"Well, don't stress yourself, boy. Jus' go through a list of your aunts and uncles and see if you can remember…."

"Go through a list!? You know how long that would take? Until tomorrow!" Joey quipped angrily, frustrated that he couldn't remember the combination. "No, this is an odd thing. Something like Uncle Salvadore and Aunt Esta would have."

"Salvadore and Esta?" Levon quizzed looking at the grin that was spreading across his partner's face.

"Yeah, Aunt Esta use to go into the kitchen and do bird calls if she got bored at family gatherings. You want to see a REAL 'godfather' it was Uncle Sal. Aunt Esta is the only one who called his Salvadore. Everyone else in the family called him Sal. Grownups and kids alike all thought she was a little odd. She wasn't Italian."

"That makes her odd? Not being Italian?" The Texan questioned with a laugh.

"No… just that no one knew anything about her or where they met. He went on a trip to the East Coast for a month or two and came back married. They never had any children. I stayed at their house a couple of times when my brothers were in a state track meet. I was six or seven. I only remember seeing this trunk once. It was kept in Aunt Esta's sewing room. No kids were allowed in there. She almost beat the shit out of me, when she caught me playing on the trunk one day. I remember she told me to be careful with it, because someday the trunk would be mine."

"Well, that's just great, LaFiamma! Here it is - and we can't open it? What's in it anyway?" Lundy had completely forgotten about the outing to the Johnson Space Center, he liked unraveling puzzles and this certainly was one.

"Hell, how should I know how to open it? I was seven years old and told to keep my hands off it?" LaFiamma blasted, letting his partner get the full blast of his frustration.

Joey watched the Texan run his finger around what appeared to the top of the trunk. Nothing!

"Here," Joey said, pushing his partner out of the way, he grabbed the sides of the trunk fully intending to lift it, instead they heard a loud click and the lid popped opened. Joe had not expected the lid to open. With the expectation of lifting something heavy and then releasing, threw him off balance and into Lundy. They fell to the floor as a loud clap of thunder echoed overhead.

"You want a longneck?" Joey asked jumping to his feet.

"HELL NO! I want to see what's in your trunk! Your Aunt and Uncle must have had some reason for sending it down to you after all this time. Forget the beer, LaFiamma! Let's look in the trunk!"

"They died last month. Uncle Mikey called and told me. He said it was really odd that they both died at the same time. Police said it wasn't foul play and it wasn't suicide. They were found sitting in their chairs in their living room each with a book in their laps."

"You said your Aunt Esta tol' you when you was seven that this trunk was going to be yours? Why you? Why not some other member of the family?"

"Geez, Levon, how am I suppose know?"

The two detectives stood looking into the trunk. It was lined with delicate, blue rose wallpaper. There was a wooden divider down the middle, making two separate sections. Joey cautiously bent down and picked up a blue and white quilt that was neatly folded in one of the sections.

"That looks like something Mother Minnie would make," Levon gasped. "Heaven forbid that we should be related, LaFiamma!"

"Forget it, Lundy! It will never happen," Joey answered unconvincingly. He whipped the quilt out to its full length, walking into his dining room, he draped it over his weight set. "Nice," he said quietly as his hand stroked a wrinkle out.

"Nice is right. That's a wedding ring quilt. Handmade too. I remember one of my…"

"One of what, Lundy? Just because someone in your family had one too, doesn't mean this is it!" Joey growled turning, walking back to where his partner stood.

"You're right. What else is in there?" Levon asked looking down into the trunk.

"Well, we have a wool scarf - for those sharp Chicago winters. A couple of albums and some small boxes." LaFiamma picked up a corner of the scarf and realized too late that it was wrapped around something. He caught the book before it hit the floor.

"A diary!" Lundy gasped, like a kid discovering treasure. "Hey now partner, maybe this will tell us some deep, dark family secrets."

"Oh, get off it Lundy!" LaFiamma groused running his fingers over the soft velvet cover, fingering the tarnished brass lock. Memories of Aunt Esta sitting in her sewing room tediously writing in this book flashed through his mind. She said it held 'secrets.'

"Well, you just going to stand there playing with it? Or you going to open it?"

"NO! Come on Lundy - why you so interested in this stuff anyway?" Before Levon could answer, Joey continued, "I'll open it later. I don't think she meant for anyone but her to read this."

Joey laid the diary on the top of his stereo cabinet hoping his partner wouldn't get up off the floor, grab it and start reading it. The lights in the apartment flickered, indicating a real spring storm was brewing.

"You got candles or a flashlight in case we lose power?" Levon asked looking up at the Northerner. "Good thing we didn't go on our trip, we'd be right in the middle of it about now."

"Yeah, I got candles. Flashlight's in the car."

Lundy sat on the floor, his back to the breakfast bar, staring into the trunk. Slowly he reached in and took out a picture album with a carved wooden cover. "Man, look at this! Never seen anything like this before," he said tracing the design with his fingers.

"HEY LUNDY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST HELP YOURSELF TO MY STUFF, HUH!! Joey roared angrily, startling even himself. He didn't want strangers going over his family's heirlooms. Lundy wasn't a stranger to him, but to his family - definitely.

"LaFiamma?" Lundy gasped, surprised by his partner's outburst.

"S- sorry, Lundy. It's just - I don't know. I just have this weird feeling I'm going to find out something about my family that I really don't want to know."

"Joe. Every family has secrets hidden away. Whether there's any here or not, don't matter. This was then, an' we're now." Lundy said evenly, trying to calm the tension he saw in his partner.

"You don't understand, Levon. My family comes -- comes from thick blood -- Catholic -- European Catholic upbringing - tight! Long after you're gone - you're remembered in church AND in the family. I always heard rumors about Uncle Sal from my brothers. I'm not sure I want to find out if they are true."

"Well, these pictures must be of your Aunt Esta's family cuz they sure don't look Italian to me. These are old tintype pictures. Early 1800's, I'd say," Levon replied looking intently at the old photos on his lap.

Joey knelt next to his partner of two years to look at the album. He slowly studied each page as Lundy turned them. It was at the last page of the album that Levon emitted a slight gasp of surprise.

"What's the matter? What is it?" Joey asked looking at the strange expression that crossed his partner's face.

"This - this picture -- it looks like my great-granddaddy. I only seen him once. I remember my granddaddy talking about the handlebar mustache his father had. Hey NO WAY!" Lundy scowled slapping the album shut. // LaFiamma and me related? No way! //

LaFiamma slowly stood up and walked to where he had laid the diary. Lundy watched as his partner opened it and slowly turned the pages.

"It's empty! There's nothing here!" Joe said in stark surprise, tossing the book to his partner who was still on the floor.

"I saw her! I saw her write in it everyday!" Joey quipped, not understanding. Not understanding this at all.

"Easy Joe," Levon replied pulling himself to his feet. "It was a long time ago. Maybe you just thought you saw…"

"I - SAW - HER, LUNDY!" Joey shouted, "saw her sit in one of those old-fashioned school desks with the ink wells. She had one in her sewing room. She sat there only when she wrote in the book!"

"Were you next to her when she wrote? Did you see actual words?"

"No. I was in the hall, looking into the room. She didn't like kids in that room. She said it was her own special room to do whatever she wanted without anyone bothering her."

"Why don't you get us those longnecks now? I'll look in the trunk…see if something will tell us more."

"Sure," Joey mumbled, walking to the refrigerator to take a beer out for his partner, then decided to get one for himself too. Joe set both beers on the counter and reached for the phone. Uncle Mikey always had all the answers. Maybe he'd have the answer for this…

"JOE!" Lundy shouted just as LaFiamma reached for the phone. "Hey man ... this other book is full of old newspaper clippings!"

Joe quickly pulled his hand back, grabbed the beers and slipped onto a stool next to his partner. He stared at the open book on the breakfast bar.

"Your… your aunt was a Federal witness ... in New York City!" Levon blurted out.

"WHAT?!" Joey gasped leaning closer to have a look at the clipping Levon's hand was pointing to.

"Here man, look!" Lundy exclaimed, slowly turning each page so they could study them together.

"OH - MY - GOD!" Joey yelped, jumping off the breakfast stool, throwing up his hands, he spun on his heels and stared at his partner. Of all the things he expected … this was not one of them!

"A FED? UNCLE SAL WAS A FED? Geez, no wonder he and Uncle Mikey never got along!"

"Joe! According to this, Esta testified against her husband in some big criminal trial. After he was sentenced, she followed the advice of her lawyer and got a divorce."

"Must be why Sal was in New York for so long. He was involved with the trial in some way. Maybe on her protection team? Maybe they weren't married after all? He just protected her all those years."

"I don't see nothing here that says she remarried. It just says that she was put under TIGHT Federal protection."

"That would explain why they never had any children. And why Aunt Esta didn't come to family gatherings ... especially when pictures were being taken. What's in those little boxes? You look yet?" Joey didn't wait for an answer, he reached down into the trunk and took them both out. One was small about two inches square. The other was two inches by six inches and was heavier. Joe slowly lifted the cover of the smaller box.

"Hey man! That's Mother Minnie's pin!" Levon exclaimed staring at the antique silver scroll pin with two pearls in the middle.

Joe stared at his partner for several seconds before saying, "This pin's been in here for a long time, Levon. It can't be Minnie's."

"Minnie's got one just like it. This fancy scroll work around the edge ... it's the same. Her best friend gave it to her. Someone … someone who was like a sister to her."

"Aunt Esta?" Joe asked not believing what he was hearing.

"What's in the other box?" Levon asked, wanting to find the answers to unasked questions. No way did he want to be related to this dude from the North.

Joey lifted the cover off the top of the heavier box and slowly withdrew a slender black bottle. "Looks like the invisible ink bottle I use to use as a kid."

Both detectives blinked. Mouths fell open and they stared at one another. "No way, LaFiamma. Invisible ink in the diary?"

"Hell, let's try it," Joey said with a grin picking up the diary.

Levon carefully opened the bottle as Joey laid the book open on the kitchen counter. "Hey, there's a brush in here. How we…?"

"It's what we need. Otherwise why would it be here," Joey chuckled. "She wrote in it. We need something to make the ink visible. This has to be it!"

"What, this aunt of yours psychic?" Levon asked, a hole in his stomach tightening as memories washed over him.

"You got a strange look on your face, Lundy. You want to tell me what's crawling up your neck?"

"I don't believe what I'm thinking myself, Joe. Minnie's close friend was named Esther. They said she saw into the future. I remember my mama being real upset with my daddy one day, after he'd left for a while. Mama said that Esther was right, she shouldn't have married him, all he would do was bring her grief."

"Come on, Lundy, hold down each page so I can brush it with this stuff. Let's see what we can find out. Like it or not partner, looks like we're in this together."

Gingerly Joey brushed a page at a time with a thin coating of the liquid from the black bottle. The two watched in awe as words began to appear on the pages. The handwriting was in fine, delicate, cursive style. Periodically the two detectives looked at each other, shaking their heads, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"Better let it dry a bit, don't you think?" Joey questioned, not sure the words would still be there once the page was dry. Not sure he wanted to know what they said.

Swallowing the last of his beer, Levon answered, "I don't know, Joe. Maybe we better start readin' it. What if the writing disappears once its dry?"

Joey wasn't sure. Wasn't sure he wanted to know. He turned and walked into the living room, staring out the window at the rain. Uncle Sal a Fed. He couldn't believe it. But it did explain a lot of things -- why Aunt Esta kept to herself so much -- why Sal didn't get along with Uncle Mikey and other wiseguy family members. Why they never had kids…why Sal was always armed and went with her wherever she went.

Joe stood watching the rain pelt down and bounce off the ground, glad he'd remembered to cover his sports car. He didn't turn as Lundy began to read.

"Dear Joey …

Joey moved to the quilt and slowly ran his hand around the delicate stitching. "I remember my mother working on this," he said quietly, "She said it was to be a wedding present for a family member?"

"You and Maria?"

"I don't know. What else does the book say?"

Levon continued reading as Joe walked back to the window to watch the rain.