The House by the Side of the Road

Jean Bremer

Description

A cast of characters on par with those of "Three Pines." Charming, talented, survivors, whose lives have come full circle as they pursue the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams, amidst the danger and cruelty of the worst that Chicago has to offer.

Helen is a young social worker in Chicago who can’t find one of her clients, Marty Munoz. Marty was released from detention, and it is Helen’s responsibility to get him through the first six months, but he has not checked in for a week. Despite a snowstorm, she heads south to check out a house where his roommates say he may have gone.



The only house she finds in the area is an abandoned, dilapidated, overgrown mess, but she decides to get as close as she can. Maybe Marty is there but can’t get back to the train due to the weather? When Helen enters, beautiful sights, sounds, and smells welcome her. Lively conversation floats from the dining room, and there she finds Marty.



In the short week he’s been at the house, Marty has been transformed; he looks different and sounds different and is happier than she’s ever seen him. When Helen leaves the house that night, she wonders if she has walked out of a dream, or is what she saw something miraculous? Just as the house looks broken and crumbling on the outside, it is exquisite on the inside, just as the residents appear to have fallen to the lowest rungs of society—but is that who they are inside? Helen quickly learns appearances can be deceiving.

Sujets

• Univers ado
• Suspense
• Suspense
• Crime
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665746120
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The House by the Side of the Road
 
 
 
JEAN BREMER
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Jean Bremer.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4611-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4612-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911557
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 09/13/2023
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
 
 
 
 
 
Who would you be if you had a cheerleader? A protector? A mentor? A teacher? A friend. Go find them. Look ahead, not back, and go for it!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to the Ladies of the (Book) Club, who read my manuscript and offered invaluable feedback: Linda, Barb, Kathy, Sheron, Mary, Carol, Wendy, and Jan. Love you all.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Chicago is an amazing city. It has the second-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. It is the third largest city in the US. There are Bulls and Bears lurking everywhere, at Soldiers’ Field, the Board of Trade, and city hall.
But everything has a flip side, and here is Chicago’s: it’s the place the US military sends its doctors for combat training. In 2020, there were 2.7 million people (about the population of Mississippi) living in Chicago, one of five of them in poverty.
People on the street are Midwestern polite, respectful, and helpful. While beauty and wealth abound on the Gold Coast, there are areas where poverty and gun battles are the norm. And those gun battles have begun to spread across the affluent as well as the impoverished neighborhoods.
 
CHAPTER 1
J ohnathan Richards stood up from his business class seat and graciously offered to get the carry-on for the woman seated next to him. The woman stretched, smiled, and accepted his offer. The flight from LA to Chicago was a long one, even in business class, but just sitting next to this elegant man had made it interesting. He reminded her of Errol Flynn in his heyday. Did anyone besides her remember Errol Flynn? The tall, handsome man had been a source of great interest to the flight attendants, with his movie-star good looks. He spent most of the flight on his laptop, probably managing his mega-successful business enterprises, they imagined. He occasionally checked his watch or pulled out papers from his leather briefcase. He was the epitome of the American dream, exuding charm, and everyone who saw him hoped he’d grace them with his attention. A flight attendant brought Richards his cashmere coat and helped him into it. He deplaned, made his way through the crowded O’Hare terminal carrying his Brunello Cucinelli bag, and headed out to meet his ride, which turned out to be a Mercedes-Benz Maybach S 580. The car pulled away from the busy airport into the dark night, merging into rush hour traffic.
That evening, Johnathan was enjoying an excellent fillet at the Gold Coast Club, his go-to residence when visiting Chicago. The wine pairing was exquisite, and the service even better. He wouldn’t stay anywhere else. At 8:00 p.m., he rose from his regular table, put on his coat, and headed out to the front entryway to await his scheduled driver, who arrived promptly at 8:05 p.m. The driver didn’t speak while proceeding to the prearranged destination. Soft jazz permeated the soundproof interior of the Cadillac Escalade. Richards was deep in thought, anticipating the meeting ahead of him. He enjoyed these meetings.
The car approached a palatial home in Kenilworth, a suburb north of Chicago and one of the wealthiest in America. The driver proceeded through the gates and pulled under the portico, where Johnathan disembarked. The car pulled away.
No conversation , thought Richards. Excellent dr iver .
The door to the house opened, and he was greeted pleasantly by an employee of the household, a lovely Hispanic woman.
“Good evening, Ida,” Johnathan said as she took his coat and scarf.
“Good evening, sir,” she replied. They had met many times before.
Johnathan was led into a parlor where five exquisitely dressed and physically fit individuals awaited him. They exuded money.
“John! Great to see you,” the gentleman at the head of the table greeted him. Maxwell Randolph Menninger, a well-known philanthropist and industrialist with the pedigree of an American aristocrat, was their host tonight—a Harvard grad, sixth generation. Randolph Street in downtown Chicago had been named for one of his ancestors. He was the real deal.
The others followed Max’s enthusiastic greeting as they arose and approached Johnathan with extended hands. It had been three months since their last meeting.
Drinks were ordered and places assumed. Attendees smiled and interacted like old friends, updating one another on golf triumphs, recent cruises, and family milestones. Once settled with cocktails in front of them, the time had come to briefly conduct business.
Brian Groen, a Northwestern alum in economics with a Wharton MBA and a key portfolio manager for a leading investment firm in the city, was the money guy for the partnership and had the full confidence of the group.
“We understand things are all set to move our product into place,” Brian said. “What do you expect the delivery date and distribution timeline to look like, Johnathan? Our investors are looking forward to their return by the end of the quarter, as you know.”
“Indeed,” Johnathan affirmed. “I am very confident that this delivery will move smoothly and without incident.”
“Excellent, Johnathan! It is always a great pleasure to work with you. Such a seamless operation and always a great return on investment. We will check back in at our next meeting in March. I would be happy to host as usual,” said Randolph. Clearly this was not the first collaboration between this group and Johnathan.
“If there are no further questions for Johnathan, let’s move into the solarium for cigars. We have so much more to catch up on!”
As the group picked up the conversation among themselves, they moved into the large solarium, where tropical plants, fountains, and pools of koi gave the feel of being in the Caribbean rather than a northern suburb of Chicago in the dead of winter.
 
CHAPTER 2
I t was a dark and gloomy Friday evening as Helen Wagers headed out of her office building to her car. The weather was not supposed to improve, and while it may not have been prudent to strike out on a wild goose chase in it, she had one more loose end to tie up before she could call it a week.
The air was cold and whipped around the precipitation that hadn’t yet decided whether to be rain, sleet, or snow. It being Chicago, it was possible to have all three within the same hour. The sky was steely gray and hung like a heavy pall over those brave individuals who found themselves hurrying to their next place of shelter, whether that be an El train, a subway, a building, a car, or a restaurant.
As she got to her battered old car, a green 2001 Honda Civic, she greeted it by name. They had been through many adventures over the years.
“Thank you for waiting for me, Edith! I know this weather is tough on your old bones.”
Helen had decided that she and Edith would continue their adventures together if Edith was able. Edith had some job security in that Helen barely covered her rent on her caseworker salary, much less a new car.
It may be a long shot, but I need to try this lead to see if I can find Marty , she thought. Such a good kid with so much baggage . He’d failed to return to his group home all week, and more baggage was going to accumulate if he didn’t check in by the end of today, which was basically now.
I can’t believe he would do this. Things were going so well. I could tell it wasn’t easy for him, but he was toughing it out , she thought.
Marty had reportedly taken a train out from downtown to the far south suburbs of the city and beyond. The terminus for the train was a park and ride in the middle of nowhere. She was familiar with it, having driven by it many times on her way to and from the school she attended in Central Illinois. It was p