The Mystery of Chad Harris: Fate Delivers Us, Chapter One
 

Chad Harris was opening up the Book Café, when he got a phone call.

" Book Café."

" Chad? It’s Grace Bennett."

" Hey, Mrs. Bennett. What can I do for you?"

" Well, one of the patrons at the B&B was raving about that new coffee blend from Paraguay today. She wants to buy a few bags. I told her that I could get someone to bring her over 5 before checked out. Can you bring it over?"

Chad looked up and saw Beth coming in. " Sure enough, Mrs. Bennett. I’ll bring five bags right over."

" Good. I have a batch of those muffins that you like in the oven right now. They’ll be coming out soon."

" Then, I’ll definitely be there."

Chad hung up the phone and went over to Beth.

" Hey, Beth. Got a call from Mrs. Bennett. She wants some of that Paraguayan coffee. One of her guests wants it."

" Good. I was worried what we would do with the extra shipment they sent us. So, you’re going over there?"

" Yep. As soon as I get the order ready. I’ll even bring you back some cranberry-orange muffins."

" Oh yes. That’s one of Grace’s best kind. She brings a batch over to my mother, every once in awhile. I’ll see you later."

" Bye."
 

Grace Bennett is finishing the omelet for Reese, when Simone and Kay come downstairs.

" Hey Mom. What’s for breakfast."

" The omelet of your choice and a variety of muffins. "

Simone looks at the table, filled with Reese, Charity and Miguel.

" I’ll have ham and tomato, Mrs. Bennett."

" Ok, Simone. Kay?"

" Mushroom and tomato, Mom."

Grace fixes their omelets, and they’re all sitting down when they hear a knock on the back door. Simone sees who it is, and rushes to the door.

" Chad! What are you doing here?"

" Hey Simone. Making a delivery for Mrs. Bennett. "

Grace comes into the kitchen.

" Chad! Glad you made it. Got the package?" Chad hands Grace the package, and she tells him, " I’ll get your money for you. Take your jacket off, and I’ll fix you an omelet."

" Don’t go to any trouble on account of me, Mrs. Bennett."

" What trouble? It’s no trouble at all. Give me a few minutes."

Chad nods OK, Grace leaves, and then sits down the kitchen table with the rest of the group.

" Chad, Simone was telling us that you knew the murdered woman in the newspaper.", Miguel says.

" I didn’t know her all that well. But, she said that she knew about my parents."

" Wow. Did she?", Reese asked.

" I dunno. Before she left that night, she told me that she was going to bring back papers to me about my parents, but, she was killed first."

" That’s creepy.", Kay comments.

" Do they think that her death had anything to do with your papers?", Reese asked.

" I dunno. All I know is that Chief Bennett checked out Crystal when she died, and there were no papers on her. "

" None?", Kay inquired.

" Nope. So, either she was lying, or someone took them. But, why would anyone care about papers concerning me?"

" What papers?", Grace inquired as she returned to the kitchen.

" Chad says that the dead woman was supposed to have papers about his parents. But, she didn’t.", Kay explained.

" Oh, that poor woman. Sam came in so late last night and left early this morning, t hat we didn’t really have time to talk about the case. You knew the woman, Chad?"

" No, Mrs. Bennett. I had just met her. But, she said she knew about my parents. She said she thought she did."

" Well, why don’t I fix you an omelet and we can talk about it?"

" Gimme a  little of everything. I’m not picking."

" An ‘ Everything Special’ for you." Grace began the omelet and left it on the stove to cook, and then sat down at the table.

" So, this woman said she had papers for you."

" But, when they found her dead, she didn’t.", Kay said.

" Sounds weird.", Miguel says.

" More than that. Chad, this might sound odd, but, it’s not the first time something like this has happened to you.", Reese begins.

" Huh, Reese.", Chad asks.

" Look at the other person that ‘knew’ about your past- that Orville guy. He burns your birth certificate, and then his home burns down. Now, this singer gets shot. Coincidence?"

" Reese. What ARE you talking about. Orville and the singer had nothing to do with one another.", Kay chides.

" They had Chad in common.", Reese insists.

" Look, man, I ain’t into no conspiracy theories. I think maybe Crystal was playing me."

Charity, who had been holding the newspaper and looking at the picture of Crystal, finally chimed in.

" I don’t think so, Chad."

" What NOW, Charity?", Kay says.

" I don’t think she was playing you. I…I…"

" Oh no. Don’t tell us. Another vision.", Kay says, lifting up her arms in a ‘ I don’t believe this’ posture.

" I don’t want to say anything.."

Chad looks at Charity. " Naw, Charity. You can tell me. What did you see?"

" I saw…..I saw this woman walking in the rain. She stopped under a light. She pulled out a plastic bag from her coat pocket, and inside it, there was an envelope in it. It had CHAD written on it."

Chad looked at Charity. He didn’t know what to think. He knew people thought she was a little ‘off’, and he had to admit that he wasn’t into the psychic stuff too much himself, but, there was something about the sincerity in her eyes. He KNEW she wasn’t trying to play him. He knew that she didn’t enjoy her ‘gift’, like a woman he knew back in California. Meeting her made him rethink his skepticism about ‘gifts’ of the psychic kind. He wanted to believe Charity, because he didn’t want to think that Crystal was trying to scam him.

" You don’t believe me.", Charity says sadly.

Chad takes her hand. " It ain’t that, Charity. I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I actually want to. Because, that would mean that Crystal DID know about me. And, that there is proof out there. "

" It’s not out there."

" What?"

" The proof. It’s not out there. I had another vision of the envelope being burned."

" Stop it, Charity! Stop being so creepy.", Kay says.

" Kay!", Miguel scolds.

" No. Look at her. She’s talking about visions of envelopes that are there one moment, then are being burned. This isn’t about Charity. It’s about Chad. This is Chad’s LIFE, Charity. Stop playing with it."

" I’m NOT playing. That’s what I saw.", Charity begins to cry and gets up and goes over to the window, with Miguel following.

" Damn!", Kay thinks to herself. I can’t believe I blew it like that.

" Chad, I’m going to get your omelet." Grace plates the omelet and brings it back to Chad. " Charity, come back to the table. I’m going to tell Sam what you said, and it’s OK. We know that you only wanted to help. "  Charity nods and they come back.

" I have to. I’m taking the bus. Does anyone have change for a dollar?", Reese asks.

" I got it." Chad goes into his pockets, but, something is stuck and when he brings up his hand, the contents of the pocket spills onto the floor. Simone and Kay help him pick up the stuff. Simone holds something up into the light.

" Chad. What is this?"

Chad takes the medallion from her. " This? I call it my good luck charm. I’ve had it as long as I can remember."

" It looks like you should be wearing it around your neck. Why is it in your pocket?", Simone asks.

" Old habit. You live in group homes, and on the street, you know that it’s easy for stuff to be grabbed around the neck. So, I always kept it in my jeans pocket."

" May I see it, Chad?", Grace  asks. Grace looks at it. " Chad, this is so intricate. This design. On both sides. You don’t know where you got it from?"

" Nope."

" I’ve never seen anything like it. Would you mind if I researched it?"

Chad shook his head. " Ok."

Grace took it into the living room, and placed it on a plain white sheet of paper. Positioning it, she took photos of both sides with a digital camera. " As soon as I download it, I can get some info on it."

" You’ll tell me about it, when you do, Mrs. Bennett?"

" Sure, Chad. Now, you eat up. I’ll see you all later."  Grace took the photos to her shop.

" You think my Mom will find anything?", Kay asks.

" It’s just a coin. I bet I got it at some dump when I was a kid.", Chad said, eating the omelet.
 

The coffee was poured into her favorite cup, as usual. And, then, her breakfast plate was fixed, and the maid left.

They sat across from one another, as they had done for many a morning over the years. They usually took breakfast  in the sunroom. They could see into the garden, and the light was beaming.

She cut her sausage and dipped it into her grits and enjoyed the combination. She ate her meal with no problem, watching the other woman push her food around on the plate.

The silence would be ended, but, not by her.

" What did you mean,  that there was a death?"

" Just what I said."

" I searched the paper this morning. I saw some killings there, but, nobody who remotely touched MY life."

" Didn’t say the death happened here. Said that there was a death."

" I have made choices because of that secret. I’ve worked too hard. I’ve dealt with the consequences. Do you think it’s been easy?", she asks pleading.

" Of course not. I am the only one on Earth who knows what it cost you to keep this secret. I didn’t say that I wanted it to come out. I’ve read the cards. "

" The cards. THE CARDS! You’re scaring me to death because of ‘the Cards’?", the woman got up from the table in a huff.

" Sit back down….SIT DOWN!". The woman turned around. She could count on one hand, the number of times that the old woman had ever raised her voice. She sat back down in her chair.

" Now….I know it’s not what you want to hear. I didn’t even know if I should tell you. But, I love you, and have since the first day I saw you. And, you deserved to know. I know others don’t believe in the cards, but, YOU know better. YOU are a believer. "

There was a silence between the two woman that was only broken when the phone rang. The woman picked it up.

" Hello?"

" Hi, Mama."

" Theodore?"