Sight Unseen 26

“What are you doing?”Kate asked Bella as she watched her niece kneel before the front door of Ralph’s house messing with the lock.When Bella had opened the bag that contained her tools Kate couldn’t figure out what most of them were used for.The ones she did know she didn’t understand how they would be used to break into places.She was excited to find out though.Especially when they were used on the safe.

“I’m trying to line up the spin stacks on the tumbler.”Bella said.

“What are spin stacks and a tumbler?”Irina asked.

“They are what make locks work.”Bella told her.”I think I got it.”

As Tanya watched the door open she wasn’t sure how she felt about her daughter so easily breaking into someone’s house.”Now that we are inside what do we need to do first?”

“I think we should start with the attic.”Bella figured starting at the top and working their way down was the best idea.

“Why can’t we start with the safe?”That’s what Kate was the most interested in.

“The attic should be fine.”Tanya was already regretting letting Kate come with them because she knew that she was going to have to reel Kate in many times before they were done.

“It’s this way.”Bella told them as she led them through a hallway up a set of stairs stopping underneath a pull cord attached to a door in the ceiling.”It’s up there.”

“I’ll go first.”Irina wasn’t going to let her daughter go into an attic that who knows what could be in there.Pulling the cord and unfolding the stairs she made her way into the attic.Seeing a light switch she turned it on so Bella would be able to see.”It’s safe.”

“This is a lot cleaner than the usual places I’m forced to go.”Bella mused as she looked around.

“What kind of places do you go?”Kate asked as she followed the group up the stairs.

Bella with Ralph’s direction started going through the boxes pulling out the things he wanted.”One time I had to go into a sewer.”

Tanya head snapped to Bella in surprise.“A sewer?!”

“Yeah, that was messed up case.This guy stole a ring that had been passed down from generations of family and pawned it for drug money.It was sold and the person who bought it dropped it in a sink and couldn’t get it before it moved on through the pipe.The ghost had been following the people trying to figure out a way to get the ring back and when it went down the drain he chased after it.I don’t know how long he watched the ring before he came to me but when I agreed to help him I had to go through a mile of sewers to retrieve it.”Bella couldn’t get the smell out her nose for a month.

“Of course you would go down into the sewer alone to retrieve a ring.”Irina was really going to have to watch her daughter.She didn’t want Bella to go off alone on one of these missions and get hurt.

Bella shrugged“I’m just happy a body wasn’t involved that time.Ralph says there is a trombone somewhere up here can you guys look around for it?”

“Got it.”Kate was more than willing to go through a stranger’s stuff.She was a natural snoop so to be given permission to search through a random person’s belongings she was all for it.

“What else does he want us to get?”Tanya asked.

“There is a box of picture albums he wants us to take as well.”Bella told her.

“That’s something easy to look for.”Irina said.

“I found the trombone.”Kate opened the case.”Whoah this thing is old.”

“It was Ralph’s second great grandfather’s.He says it’s incredibly valuable as it was made by some famous guy.He wants us to donate it to a museum.That way his extended family won’t their hands on it and sell it.”Bella wasn’t sure how to go about donating anything to a museum but she would figure it out.

“That’s surprisingly nice of him.”Irina hadn’t heard any good stories about Ralph so it was nice to know he wasn’t a complete delinquent.

“Here’s a box of photo albums.”Tanya said.

Bella looked through the box.”This is the one we need.”

“Anything else we need to find up here?”Kate asked.

“No, just the trombone, pictures and this box of the stuff I collected.Now he wants us to go to his parent’s room.”Bella told them.

Tanya grabbed the two boxes and followed the others down the stairs.Setting the boxes on the floor to come back for later.“What are we looking for in his parents room?”

“Well he wants us to take all his parent’s jewelry.He hasn’t made plans for all of it and will most likely just give it me to decide because he knows I won’t pawn it.”Bella went to the en-suite bathroom and started looking through the drawers and cabinets.

“He is just going to give you his family’s property because you won’t pawn it?”Irina didn’t understand this Ralph guy.

“Apparently his extended family is worse than his wife.He claims that when they figure out who inherits the estate it will be a giant fire sale and anything that can be sold will be sold.It’s because of that he would rather give it all to people would appreciate it.”Bella explained.”Can one of you collect all his father’s ties?He wants us to send them to his dad’s best friend who lives in a care home.”

“What didn’t he do all this after they died?”Tanya asked.

“He was killed 4 months after his father died.His mother had past a few years before that and he hadn’t had the chance to go through everything.”Bella said.

“That’s kind of sad.”Irina mumbled as she looked through the bedside tables.

“I can see why Ralph doesn’t want his family to get their hands this stuff.”Kate held up a satin box with contained a sapphire necklace.”This is just one of many expensive pieces of jewelry I’ve found.”

Tanya walked out of the closet holding a bunch of ties.“You haven’t seen what I assume is his father’s cufflink and watch collection.”

“I was hoping that he was joking about both of those things.”Bella seeing their confused expressions she explained.”He wants me to find dedicated collectors who will actually treasure them like his father did not just want to sell them off.”

“That is going to be a large project because I didn’t count exactly but a rough estimate of cuff links alone are at least a hundred pair.”Tanya said.

“Fuck my life.”Bella grumbled.

“Don’t worry Bella not only will the three of us help but Rosalie, Alice and Emmett will as well.”Irina would prefer if just the Denali were involved but they would need the help.

“I guess all we can do is grab the ties, pack up the watches, cufflinks and jewelry and move on to the next room.”Bella said.

“How much more stuff do we have to get?”Kate asked.

“I need to grab a couple things out his childhood bedroom, a few pictures from around the house and the safe.”Bella told her.

“Why don’t Kate and I pack up the stuff in here and you and Irina go deal with his room.That will make this go quicker.”And that way they would be able to use their vampire abilities Tanya thought.

“Alright.”Bella didn’t care who did what as long it got done.

“Just tell me when you are going to break into the safe.I don’t want to miss it.”Kate definitely wasn’t going to be stuck packing things when it came time to break into the safe.

Irina took Bella’s hand in her own and led her out of the room.”Which one is his?”

“This one.”Bella held back a sigh of relief when Irina let her hand go after she entered Ralph’s room.”Ralph would like us to throw out the magazines that he kept under his mattress and a box in his closet that is labeled Christmas decorations that he recommends we don’t open.”

“We should have brought gloves.”Irina was not pleased with either she or daughter dealing with what she expected to be sexually explicit material but would do it anyway.

Bella pulled two pair of latex gloves out her pocket and handed one to Irina.”I always carry a bunch when I do stuff like this.”

“Thank you Bella.How about I take care of the magazines and the box and you collect anything else Ralph wants.”Irina offered.

“Sure.”Bella was more than happy to have someone else deal with that stuff.Opening the drawers on Ralph’s dresser she started to collect the vintage t-shirts and sweatshirts Ralph said she could have along with any jewelry and valuable items.

“We’re done.”Kate said as she entered the room with Tanya.”Hey is that an original Nintendo?”

”It’s yours if you want it.”Bella offered.

“Seriously?!”Kate hadn’t played Nintendo in years.She moved on with the technology and had been wanting to get one but had never gotten around to it.

Bella nodded.”Ralph doesn’t care.He said it looks like you would actually enjoy it as much as he used to.”

“Kate you don’t need to take a dead man’s property.”Tanya wasn’t comfortable with that at all.

“Why not?It’s not like he is going to use it?”Kate didn’t see what the big deal was.

“Ralph would actually prefer if Kate take it.He said that if you go into the family room there is a Sega and a bunch of games you are welcome to.”Bella knew that Ralph would want his stuff to go to someone who would appreciate it.

“Yes!!”Kate cheered as she raced out of the room to find the Sega.This mission was turning out a lot better than she thought.She knew Emmett was going to be so jealous when he found out that the ghost gave her the video games.

Tanya sighed as she watched Kate rush out of the room.”Bella it really doesn’t feel right taking Ralph’s possessions.”

“You only feel like that because you can’t talk to him.In the beginning I felt the same way but once I got to know the ghosts I learned that most of them just want other people to feel the same things they felt for items that meant a lot to them.”Noticing Tanya wasn’t convinced Bella tried to explain it a different way.”Ok imagine you die.Would you want the things that you cherished most to be either be sold off to strangers for money or thrown away because they were considered by others to be worthless or given to someone who would cherish them?”

Tanya didn’t often think of death because as a vampire unless something terrible happened you would basically live forever.Taking a moment to think about how she would feel in that situation she realized that Bella was right.”I would want someone to cherish them.”

“Exactly and by helping the ghosts I give them a chance to make that happen.So instead of Ralph’s greedy relatives who only contacted his parents for a hand out, getting all this stuff that they will most likely sell as soon as they get their hands on it I will be making sure that people who actually will enjoy them as much as they did get them.I mean if you really think Kate won’t use the video games then I can give them to someone else.”Bella said.

”No, Kate will treasure them forever and use them often.”Tanya knew that Kate was the perfect person to have the systems.Her sister would get a lot of joy playing them.

“And that right there makes Ralph happy.”Bella said.

“I’m going to throw this is the trash can and put it on the curb.”Irina said as she held the magazines and box from the closet out in front of her.

“Probably not a good idea as it would look weird for Ralph’s to be on the curb.”Bella suggested.

“True.Maybe we can just throw it in the first dumpster we come across.”Irina didn’t like the idea of having the stuff in the car but didn’t want any suspicion on someone being in the house.”I’ll put all this in some trash bags.”

“They are in the kitchen in the pantry.”Bella told her.

“What else do you need packed up in this room?”Tanya asked.

“Well the clothes I put on the bed, the video game stuff, his jewelry, the boxes in the closet with his sports card, all his comics,the signed memorabilia on his shelf and the jerseys hanging on the wall.”Ralph had a large collection of sports memorabilia and Bella wasn’t sure how she was going to deal with all of it.She thought maybe Charlie would like some of it.”Then we just have to get the pictures from around the house and deal with the safe.”

“That’s easy enough.”Tanya had suspected this to involve a lot illegal stuff and was happy it all seemed everything was on the up and up.Then again they hadn’t gotten to the safe yet.Who knew what they were going to find in that.”Why don’t you go collect the pictures and I’ll finish in here.”

“Sure.”Bella was liking having the others helping her and although initially wary of them was finding herself more comfortable with them as day went on.”That will only take a minute then I’ll head down to the basement.”

“I’ll help you.”Kate volunteered.

Bella jumped when the woman seemed to appear out of thin air.”Jesus, where did you come from?”

“I was standing right behind you.”Kate told her.

“You two go finish up I’ll meet you in the basement.”Tanya was already preparing a lecture for Kate about reeling in her excitement.Her sister had been extremely sloppy in her impression of human.

“Come on Bella.”Kate grabbed Bella’s hand and dragged her out of the room.

“Unhand her Kate.”Irina demanded when she saw the pair making their way down the stairs.Bella looked winded and Irina had no doubt that was Kate’s fault.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”Looking back at Bella who was breathing heavy Kate smiled sheepishly.”Sorry Bella I got excited about the safe.”

“Why don’t we take care of that first then.”Bella suggested.

Kate rubbed her hands together in excitement.”What you need to do it?”

“I need my bag.”Bella told her.Before Bella could even blink Kate was handing her her bag.Bella wanted to ask how she got it so fast but decided that confronting her while she was alone in a very isolated area where the neighbors wouldn’t hear you screaming wasn’t the smartest place to bring it up.”Thanks.”

“No problem.”Kate ignored the glare from Irina.Yeah she should watch herself but they were going to break into a safe.How much cooler could this mission get.Well robbing the bank was going to be cooler of course.

“I’ll go first.”Irina opened the door Bella pointed out and flicked the light switch on.Leading the way she was surprised that it wasn’t a normal basement that she found.It was a games room with a pool table, dart board, bar with what looked like high priced liquor, comfortable furniture and a large screen tv.

“Whoah man cave alert.”Kate said.

“Ralph says go ahead and take whatever you want.He said that his father keep the expensive stuff under the bar and you should find something you like.”Bella told them.

“We don’t drink alcohol.”Irina said.

“That’s doesn’t mean I’m not going to look.”Kate was already going through the cabinets.She noticed a few bottles of expensive champagne and wine plus some limited edition whisky and gin that were unopened.”I’m going to take the unopened stuff.Even if we don’t drink it we can give it to someone who would.”

“Ralph appreciates that Kate.”Bella was pleased that Kate was thinking about giving Ralph’s stuff to others who would enjoy it.

“No problem.Now where is the safe?”Kate didn’t see any kind of safe anywhere in the room.

“It’s right here.”Bella said.

Kate watched as Bella pushed a brick on the fire place and the wall above it swung forward.”Shit, I would have never known that was there.”

“It is good hiding spot.”Irina agreed.”I doubt that anyone would be able to find it after we leave.”

“Ralph says that no one other than his grandparents, his parents and him knew about it.”Bella set her bag on the floor and rummaged through it.

“That has a thumb reader.How are you going to open it without Ralph’s finger?”Kate was already making plans to steal Ralph’s body and cutting off his finger if Bella couldn’t get the safe open.

Bella held up a black plastic box.”I’m going to use this.”

“What exactly does that do?”Tanya asked when she caught up with the group.

“Once I do this.”Bella put the box over the thumb reader.”I push the red button and it will let me bypass the reader completely letting me enter the code which will open the safe.”

“This is so awesome.”Kate had to keep herself from squealing in excitement as the red light turned green and Bella put the numbers in.It was when the safe door swung open that she cracked and let out a whoop of joy.”Holy shit you did it!!”

“Damn it Kate.Must you be so loud?”Tanya rubbed her ear trying to stop the ringing.

“Who cares if I’m loud let’s see what’s in the safe.”Kate pushed Tanya out the way to get a look in the safe gasping in surprise at the contents.Bella had mentioned gold and silver bars and some jewelry but Kate didn’t expect as much as she was seeing.”That’s got to be thousands of dollars worth of stuff.”

“Ralph said the last time his father counted it was a decade ago and with the going rate then he estimated the value at three quarters of a million dollars.”Bella began looking at the contents not noticing the slacked jaw expressions from the other three.

Irina was the first to get her bearings.”And he doesn’t care that you are taking this?”

“Nope, he said it was payment for helping him as I couldn’t collect the reward.”Bella didn’t feel bad taking it.She would need it as a safety net incase she had to up and leave on a moments notice.Although Ralph never mentioned it Bella had a feeling that’s why he was giving to her.To keep her safe because although he was annoying it was obvious that Ralph cared about her in his own way.Also Ralph didn’t have anyone else to give it to and didn’t want his family getting it.

“Alright this is a much bigger job than I initially thought it was going to be.”Tanya wasn’t sure where they could go to sell this legally.She wasn’t familiar with the area but was sure that there had to be someone who would buy large amounts of gold and silver.”Why don’t we start moving all this to the van.Is there anything in the house that we could put this in so it not only isn’t loose but no-one can see what it is when we transport it?”

“Ralph said that in the upstair closet next to his parent’s room is where they kept their luggage.”Bella told her.

“Alright I’m going to go collect some.You guys can start pulling it out of the safe and stacking it on the floor so we can see exactly what we have.”Tanya rubbed a hand across her face as she made her way to the stairs.She was convinced she was getting a headache.It did reaffirm her belief that Bella should not be doing this stuff alone anymore.There was no way the girl would have been able to move everything from the house by herself.Then there was dealing with everything once she removed it.Thinking about the safe she pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted Rosalie.Tanya wanted her to find a place to sell everything so they wouldn’t have to worry about bringing it to the hotel.The sooner they dealt with it the better in Tanya’s opinion.