Sunken Shadows

by Kathleen Brooks

  Wade wasn’t entirely sure of that, but he knew he would do anything to keep Darcy safe. And if it meant drawing out a murderer, so be it.

  20

  Darcy stood with Wade as they closed the door on the detective. She turned to face the woman cleaning up the coffee—the same woman who had embarrassed her considerably, yet didn’t seem to be judging her for it at all. And at least she now had a proven alibi.

  “I’m so sorry we disturbed you last night. But thank you for coming forward to help.”

  Edie picked up the tray and smiled kindly at her. “Wade and I have been friends since he was born. I grew up here and my brother, Walker, is best friends with Wade’s cousin Gavin. The Faulkners are like family. And family sticks together.” Then Edie winked at her. “And I’m glad someone on this street is having fun.”

  Darcy turned to Wade when Edie went into the kitchen. “When did her husband pass away?”

  “Almost two years ago now. She hasn’t so much as looked at another man, even if they are doing plenty of looking themselves,” Wade whispered back.

  “She’s so young, though.”

  “Doesn’t mean her heart wasn’t already taken. Maybe someday she’ll be ready for a second love, but not right now.”

  Darcy and Wade walked back into the kitchen. Edie was washing the mugs in the sink and Darcy went to join her. She picked up a towel and began to dry them.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Edie said as she rinsed soap off a mug. “Shane has some weapons and some SEAL gear packed away. If you’d like to use it, I know he’d approve.”

  “Thank you. I’ll come over later this morning and have a look at it.”

  “I’ll be heading to Keeneston next month to visit Walker and his wife, Layne. It’s a great place to hide out if you need it.” Edie winked at Darcy and picked up a towel to dry her hands. “It was great meeting you, Darcy. Let me know if I can help in any way.”

  “I will. Thank you. You’re a very kind woman.”

  Edie smiled and Darcy felt her heart break. While it was a kind smile, it was a haunted one. Darcy could tell Edie was still mourning the death of her husband. Darcy was overcome with compassion and wrapped her arms around a surprised Edie. “Anytime you want to hang out, just come get me. If I ever get my boat back, I can take you diving.”

  Edie hugged her back. “I’d like that. Thank you.” Edie pulled back and turned to Wade. “See you later.” With a little smile, Edie left.

  * * *

  Wade closed the front door after telling Edie he’d be over after lunch and turned to find Darcy standing behind him. She was chewing her lip and looking down at the ground.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Darcy’s head shot up as if she were surprised to see him. “Sorry. My mind can go off in so many directions at once. I was thinking about a clue I found in Black Law’s diary about the emerald that was stolen from the dowry. At the same time, I was thinking of Edie and her husband’s love. I was also thinking of us. Of last night.”

  “You were thinking about all that at once?” Wade asked as he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  “Yeah. I was also thinking of a good way to set up the murderer, and I was thinking of how I could secretly continue with the real treasure hunt.”

  Wade shook his head. He’d heard women could do this, but he’d always thought it was a joke. “I’m amazed you could think about all that at once. Let’s take it one at a time. Tell me about the diary and the emerald.”

  Darcy turned and ran upstairs before hurrying back down with an old book wrapped in what looked to be a flannel shirt. “I found this passage talking about the heart of his home. That home has now been turned into Harper’s bar. Anyway, I think if I can break down the passage after looking around her bar, I’ll be able to piece together his paragraph about it. But, more importantly, if the emerald is there, then it’s further proof that the treasure is real and I’m not just chasing ghost stories.”

  “Okay,” Wade said, pulling out his phone and sending a text. A second later, he got one back. “Harper will meet us at the bar in an hour. That way we can look all through it before people start showing up. Next?”

  “Edie and her husband’s love. I hope to find that someday. We—” Darcy stopped and bit her lip again.

  “We had something last night that made you think we might have a chance at something as powerful as what Edie and Shane had,” Wade finished for her.

  Darcy nodded her head.

  “I don’t know what our future holds, but I want the chance to explore it. I’ll always be honest with you, Darcy. If I don’t feel the same, I’ll tell you. But right now everything inside of me is telling me to reach for you. I’ve had crushes before. Infatuations too. Nothing compares to the feelings I have right now. I feel . . . centered. So, if you’re willing, I’d like to see where this goes.”

  “I feel the same way, Wade. I want the chance to see where this goes.” Darcy took a deep breath and let it out and Wade saw her relax a little.

  “So, next is a way to set up the real murderer. I have some ideas on that, too.”

  “I was thinking of being very public, yet not. Like flashing your cards to one player in a game of poker, but then hiding them from the other player.”

  Wade nodded. “We let it slip to one person that you’ve found something. We could use Granger for that. I don’t like it, but we can let people know you’re in Shadows Landing with your boyfriend. Granger can say he overheard you talking about it.”

  “I like that idea,” Darcy said, nodding as if she were running the scenario through her mind. “But for the actual treasure hunt, I want to take photos of all the documents and then get them safely hidden. I’m so nervous holding on to them.”

  “Let’s get Miss Ruby over to play the music and then we can have Reverend Winston show us another secret hiding place in the church. The whole town could burn and they’d still be safe there.”

  Wade pulled out his phone and sent the first text. “Reverend Winston said to come any time before four this afternoon, and he’ll help us.”

  Wade sent another text and waited. And waited. “I guess she’s doing something. But I’ve asked her if she has time to come over. So, want to grab breakfast at Stomping Grounds Diner before we tear apart my cousin’s bar?”

  “I’d like that. I’ll jump in the shower real quick, then we can head out.”

  Wade followed her upstairs but didn’t push it when Darcy went into her own room. He’d been feeling as if time was running out, but now he knew they had time to find out if what they were feeling was love. It was certainly possible. He’d been in love before, and while there were some similarities, this all felt new to him. Either way, he was excited to see where they ended up.

  Darcy looked around the diner and blinked. Kids were hanging from the rafters. Literally. A young woman around Darcy’s age stood in the middle of the diner with her hands on her hips as she looked up at the three large wooden beams that ran across the diner. The ceiling was almost eighteen feet high and the wooden beams were about ten feet up. Lights and fans hung from them, keeping the diner cool.

  When Darcy followed the woman’s glare, she saw two boys standing on one of the beams about eight feet apart and holding wooden swords. “Levi!” the woman shouted. “You get your little butt down here right now.”

  The older of the boys on the beam shrugged and didn’t seem the least bit concerned that his mother looked ready to kill him. “We’re playing gladiator and Lyle said he could beat me.”

  “Your brother is five. What does he know?” the mother asked impatiently.

  “Boys are so stupid,” a girl sitting at a large round table said with a roll of her eyes.

  “The mom is Lydia. Her husband, Landry, is deployed right now. Every time he comes home they have a baby,” Wade whispered. “Landry Jr. is the oldest at ten. Then there’s a kid every year. So, the girl who just called boys stupid is Lacy. She’s nine. The girl in pigtails nodding her head in agreem
ent is her sister, Leah. She’s seven.”

  “And the boys up there?”

  “The older one is Levi. He’s eight. The younger one is Lyle. Then the little girl coloring and not paying attention is Lindsey. She’s six. And the littlest, Leo, is four.”

  Darcy looked over to where Leo was smashing his hands in his pancakes.

  “How do you feel about children?” Darcy asked almost in horror at the scene.

  Wade smiled, and it made her insides do a little flip. “Love them. Even these guys. You know the saying, it takes a village? Well, Shadows Landing is the village helping Lydia out. She’s making the best of a tough situation.”

  “How often is Landry home?”

  “Not very often. He’s career military and is stationed in the Middle East. He comes home for a couple of months every year.”

  “How can she manage?” Darcy asked. Her heart was breaking for the young wife who was left at home to run everything while worrying for her husband’s life.

  “She has us.” Wade grinned before he headed over to Lydia. Two men went to join him. They were around the same age, late fifties, and both smelled of barbecue.

  “Darius. What’s cooking at the Pink Pig?” Darcy heard Wade ask the tall and muscular man with dark brown skin and a shaved head.

  “Just smoking up a nice-looking hog. Come on over for lunch, Wade.”

  “He’ll be coming to Lowcountry Smokehouse today for lunch, Darius,” said a man of equal age to Darius, except he looked like Santa Claus with a farmer’s tan.

  “Earl,” Darius grumbled.

  “How ya doing, Earl?” Wade asked as he pulled a chair from a nearby table.

  “Good. My pig is smoking up nicely under the wood smoke.”

  Darius rolled his eyes. “The charcoal is making mine nice and tender.”

  “I’ve used an electric smoker before,” Darcy said, trying to participate in the conversation instead of just standing there.

  Darius and Earl gasped.

  “Dear Lord, child. You never use an electric smoker,” Darius said, shaking his head.

  “That’s right. You gotta get some real smoke on it. That’s why it’s called a smoker,” Earl said as suddenly the two men became buddies. “Isn’t that right, D?”

  “Sure is, E. Don’t worry, young lady. We’ll teach you everything you need to know about smoking meat.”

  “We can take you around this afternoon. Are you free then, D?” Earl asked Darius.

  “Sure am. This little lady needs an education in meat.”

  There was snorting laughter that came from behind her, and she turned to see Edie trying to smother a laugh by the front door. “Oh, I think she can handle meat.”

  Darcy surprised herself by bursting out laughing.

  “You’re telling me, hon,” the waitress said, wiping Leo’s face and hands for Lydia. “I let Pearl out last night to go potty and the noise scared her something fierce. She came running back inside with her tail tucked.”

  Okay, now the embarrassment was in overdrive.

  “You ready guys?” Wade asked Darius and Earl as he climbed onto the chair and distracted the waitress from commenting further on Darcy’s enthusiastic night.

  “Do we have a challenger?” Levi asked as he raised his wooden sword.

  “I got a better game. Let’s play pirate. I’ll make you walk the plank,” Wade said as he climbed onto a table, jumped up, and wrapped his arms around the beam.

  Darcy was pretty sure every woman in there sighed as his shirt rose up to expose his abs and that sexy little line of hair that disappeared down his pants. And then Wade flexed his arms, kicked out his legs, and swung up onto the beam.

  Men clapped, woman ooh-ed, and Lacy rolled her eyes again.

  Darcy and Edie smiled at each other as Wade stood up on the beam. “Ready?” he asked Darius and Earl. They nodded and moved to lock their arms together. Wade turned to Lyle first. “Ready to walk the plank?”

  Lyle squealed with excitement as Wade grabbed him up by the forearms and dangled him over the side of the beam. He squatted down so Lyle was closer to Darius and Earl.

  “You’ve robbed from Black Law and now must pay the price,” Wade called out as the diners used their forks and knives to begin banging out a walk-the-plank beat.

  Wade nodded to the men who widened their stance. Wade let go of Lyle and the boy fell into Darius and Earl’s arms like a cheerleader coming down from the top of the cheer pyramid.

  “Again! Again!” Lyle called out as Lydia swooped in to grab him.

  “No. No more playing on the beam. I don’t know how you got up there,” she said as she kept a death grip on this shirt.

  “A pirate never reveals his secrets. Argh!” Lyle said before trying to charge his little brother with his sword—a sword that was quickly confiscated by his mother.

  “There’s no quarter for you, scallywag. It’s time to walk the plank,” Wade growled out theatrically as he handed a very serious Levi overboard.

  “I swear on my life that vengeance will be mine!” Levi called out before dropping into Darius and Earl’s arms. The diners cheered as Levi bounded out of his human net and took a bow.

  Wade lowered himself off the beam, dangled for just a second, and then dropped the remaining four feet. “Thanks for your help,” he told the barbecuers who had suddenly gone back to giving each other grief over their cooking style.

  “Thank you, Wade. I have no idea how they got up there,” Lydia said, gripping a son in each hand. “I’m counting down the days until Landry gets home. I told him I’d go on his next deployment for him. A war zone sounds like a vacation.”

  Lydia turned to Edie and Darcy and smiled. “Hi, Edie. And hi, you must be Darcy. I’ve heard all about you.”

  Edie tried to cover her laugh up with a cough, and Darcy jokingly smacked her arm. “Apparently everyone heard me.”

  Lydia joined in the laughter and Darcy felt something she hadn’t really felt before—camaraderie. They weren’t judging her or making her feel bad. They were teasing her as if she were one of them, and she found that she rather liked it.

  “With Wade, who can blame you? It’s a good thing I got my tubes tied. Those Faulkner men could get a girl pregnant just by looking at them,” Lydia giggled.

  Edie and Darcy joined in and then laughed even harder when Wade asked them what was so funny. By the time she and Wade finished breakfast, Darcy felt as if she were home. She had friends. She had inside jokes. And she had Wade.

  21

  Wade paid the bill as Granger walked into the diner. Two kids playing gladiator on the beams ten feet up earlier and no one blinked an eye. Granger walking in wearing board shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops caused a hush to fall over the diner.

  “Well, I’m glad I have your attention,” Granger said out loud. “If anyone asks, I’m an amateur treasure hunter and not the sheriff.”

  “Then what’s your job?” Darius asked.

  “Maybe I should work for you.”

  “You don’t wear flip-flops when you’re working at my place.”

  “Darn straight,” Earl added.

  Granger probably rolled his eyes behind his mirrored shades. “I’m helping Darcy out by being undercover. So, let’s say I’m an insurance agent. Now, don’t anyone tell anyone I’m the sheriff, and if anyone is asking, let me know who they are.”

  “Sure thing, dude,” Earl called out as everyone laughed. Granger’s jaw tightened, but he ignored them as he headed over to join Wade and Darcy. “I heard you had an interesting wake-up call.”

  “I’m guessing by your getup that Chambers has talked to you?” Wade asked as Granger took a seat.

  “Yup. It’s why I look ridiculous. I refuse to put on another barely buttoned shirt. Hope this will do.”

  “You’re fine. And actually, we were about to drop off a special gift with Reverend Winston before going to see Harper,” Darcy told him. “Since you’re my new hunting buddy, you should probably join us. It’ll give
us time to come up with what I want you to tell Cash or Hugo. Which one did you buddy up to the most?”

  “Hugo. He’s not as insufferable of an asshole as Cash is.”

  “Then we’ll have you drop some tidbits to Hugo, and I’m sure he’ll pass them along. It’s what they all do. They all say they are rivals, but they gossip more than a knitting group.”

  “Then let’s go,” Wade said as he stood up. Granger stood, too, and they waited for Darcy, who was staring at Granger.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Why don’t you like to dress in beachwear?” Darcy asked. “It seems strange, given where you live.”

  “Remember I told you I was in a car accident?” Granger said as they left the diner. “I had to have emergency surgery to set both a broken femur and to fix some internal bleeding. I have some scarring I’ve been told is not as pretty as my face.”

  Wade, his brother, and his cousins had been there when Granger had come home from college that summer after the accident. It had been bad. Granger was lucky to be alive. The driver of the car that hit him was drunk and died at the scene. It took a toll on Granger both mentally and physically.

  “Well, whoever told you that was ugly on the inside and not worth a second thought. Let me see your scars.” Darcy stopped on the sidewalk and placed her hands on her hips.

  “Thank you, but I’d rather not.”

  “This isn’t up for debate. I’m used to hauling things out of the water, and I will pin you down and pull up your shirt one way or another. You need the opinion of someone who is not trying to sleep with you for purely lustful reasons.”

  Granger looked to Wade, who just shrugged. Darcy seemed determined and he thought it was good. Granger had hidden behind jeans and a polo shirt for too long. With a sigh, Granger lifted his shirt.

  “And your leg?”

  Granger lifted the loose-fitting swim trunks and then dropped them a second later.

  “I’ve come to a conclusion,” Darcy said as they headed for the church.