Sunken Shadows

by Kathleen Brooks

  “That I was right?” Granger asked dryly.

  “No. That you pick the absolute worst women to sleep with. Stop looking at their chest size and start looking at their brain size. Any smart woman wanting something more than a one-night stand will have zero issues with those scars.”

  Granger began to argue, but Darcy cut him off.

  “I’m serious. Do you have scarring? Yes. Is it repulsive? No. The only women that would think so are superficial losers. I’d take off your shirt more and more if I were you. Trust me when I tell you, you have a great body and those scars don’t detract from it.”

  Granger was quiet as they walked up the steps to the church. “Thank you,” he said quietly before opening the door for Darcy.

  Wade wanted to hug her, but he knew if he made a big deal about it, Granger would get embarrassed. Granger always came across as so confident, and he was in his ability to do police work. But Wade knew the scarring had made him self-conscious. Maybe with Ellery, Darcy, Tinsley, and Harper’s help, Granger might break out of the cycle he was in. He was afraid to get attached to someone because of the scars, so he went for short-term, which resulted in being with women who wouldn’t look past the one-foot-long scar on his side and the eight-inch jagged scar on this thigh where metal had been embedded. It was a cycle that needed to be broken if his friend ever wanted to find love.

  “Hello!” Reverend Winston called out as he came into the chapel. “What can I do for y’all? Do you have more clues for me?”

  “We have Black Law’s diary,” Darcy said as she pulled the flannel-wrapped leather-bound book from her purse. “I have something else I also want hidden, but it won’t be ready until tonight, if that’s okay.”

  “That’s fine. It just needs to be after six. We have the ladies’ prayer group tonight at seven. It will be easy for you to slip in with all the other ladies. Have you figured out any more of the clues?” He motioned for them to follow him. He went three rows up and then went down on his hands and knees and began to crawl along the stone floor.

  “Yes. We know ‘He Loves Me So’ is a song,” Wade told him as the reverend wedged himself under the pew and began to grunt.

  “Do the lyrics help?” the reverend asked, his voice strained with exertion.

  “No,” Darcy sighed. “It’s an instrumental piece, no lyrics. I’m going to ask Miss Ruby to play it for me later. Maybe she’ll see some clue in it that we can’t.”

  There was the sound of stone sliding along stone. It echoed in the old building, and then it went quiet. “That’s where I left it,” Reverend Winston muttered from under the pew. He held out his hand for the book and Darcy handed it over. There was more stone-on-stone scraping and then the reverend was scooting back, holding a credit card. “I put this someplace safe five years ago. Couldn’t find it again,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Thank you for hiding my books. Do you have room for one more? I really don’t want anyone to get their hands on it before I’ve figured it out.”

  “Sure thing, Miss Darcy.”

  “Thank you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him for an impromptu hug. Reverend Winston chuckled and patted her back.

  * * *

  Wade took her hand in his. She was relieved to have the book safely tucked away in the church. She still had the music book in her purse. She’d taken pictures with her phone just in case she lost the originals.

  Granger led them from the church and across the street to Harper’s bar. The front door was open and Harper was watering her plants. “Hey y’all!” she called out and waved.

  “Are you excited to go on a treasure hunt?” Wade asked as he playfully nudged his cousin.

  “Do you really think there’s some fist-sized emerald in my bar?” Harper asked as she turned off the water.

  Darcy shrugged as they headed inside. “I don’t know, but I really hope so. If there is, then the treasure I’m looking for is real.”

  “Well then, let’s see the clue.”

  Darcy pulled out her phone and showed Harper the paragraph about the heart of the home. “Does this mean anything to you?”

  Harper shook her head. “No, sorry. Do you want to look around?”

  “I need to know which room was the original kitchen.”

  Harper looked at the back of the bar. “It was in the back and slightly to the left, if I remember correctly. From what my builders told me, it was a large kitchen. Over time it was divided into a smaller kitchen and a bathroom. Now some of it is my kitchen and the restrooms. Why the kitchen?”

  Darcy’s heart sped up. She could feel the blood racing through her body. “There’s an old saying that the heart of a home is the kitchen. And in your body, the heart is slightly left of center. I think Black Law hid the emerald in the former kitchen.”

  “How do we know if it’s in the section that still’s standing or the part that’s now the restrooms?” Harper asked as she led them into the kitchens.

  She pushed open a swinging door and everyone looked at the modern kitchen. Darcy looked back at the notes and frowned. “It talked about the glow of the heart of the home. I thought that meant a fireplace, but I don’t see one.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Wade said as he snapped his fingers. “You’re thinking of fireplaces like they are now. But when Black Law was here, they weren’t like that. Some of them were very large.”

  “That’s right,” Granger said, picking up on the train of thought. “Mrs. B’s history class. We toured an old house with re-enactors for fourth grade history class.”

  “So, what were they if not fireplaces?” Harper asked impatiently.

  “They were so large you could walk into them,” Wade said with a smile as if he knew something.

  “And in the south, they were against the back wall so they wouldn’t overwhelm the house during the already warm summers,” Granger added.

  All eyes turned to the back wall. Darcy saw a large enclave where beautiful natural wood was used as shelving on the top half and on the bottom half were cabinets with a butcher-block countertop. A painting by Tinsley hung above the enclave where the wall resumed normal shape and size.

  “I don’t see—” Harper began to say when it hit her. “That was a fireplace? It’s huge.”

  Darcy was already moving forward. “It’s white-painted brick.” She turned to see Wade on the phone.

  “Trent, I need you and Ridge at Harper’s bar right away. Bring your tools.” Wade hung up on his younger brother, not giving him a chance to say no. “Let’s get all the stuff off the walls and out of the cabinets.”

  Granger, Harper, Wade, and Darcy attacked the shelves, drawers, and cabinets. By the time Trent and Ridge had arrived, the contents had been completely removed. Darcy was pacing with nervous energy. This was it. Finding the emerald alone would be a huge discovery, but even more important, it would be a sign of the truth of the story about the sunken treasure.

  “What’s going on?” Trent asked as he set his toolbox on the ground and shoved back his hair from his face. “I was on a job.”

  “I know, but Darcy thinks there’s a huge emerald in this old fireplace,” Wade said, pointing to the cabinets and shelves.

  Darcy was fully prepared to be called crazy. Why wouldn’t they think that?

  “Okay. Wade, get the drills from the back of my truck. Let’s get the shelving and cabinets out of the way and see what’s next.”

  “You don’t think I’m crazy?” Darcy asked.

  “I like crazy women. Heck, I’m used to crazy women. You know my cousin, right?”

  Harper flicked him off as the guys got to work. Darcy didn’t know what to expect as the brackets holding the shelves in place were slowly taken down and then the cabinets were pulled away. Nothing. She knew better than to expect a giant X marking the spot. But when everything was cleared, she was left with a lot of nothing.

  22

  Wade looked at the wall. “What now?”

  “I don’t know. I guess just look around.�
�� Darcy stepped forward and began feeling on the wall. She pushed on every brick as Harper joined her. Trent stood back and took in the wall. He and Ridge whispered with their heads together. Granger began to feel along the side of the wall that was even with the room. Wade didn’t know what else to do so he began on the wall on the other side of the fireplace.

  It felt like hours. Every brick was pushed on. Every joint examined and nothing.

  “In my home where the warm glow is cast is the path to my heart. The heart of my home is forever a keepsake of what I have had and what I will never have,” Darcy said as she repeated the clue left in the diary.

  Wade looked at the fireplace and then across the room. “Where the glow of the fireplace is cast . . .”

  Darcy snapped her fingers. “It won’t be against the back wall. He’s talking about it casting out of the fireplace. Can someone turn off the lights?”

  Wade hurried to turn off the light and close the wooden plantation shutters. It was too bright to turn the room into darkness, but it was enough to cast the area in shadows. He just wondered what she was up to.

  * * *

  Darcy turned on the flashlight from her phone. She walked into the center of the fireplace and set it down. The light showed straight up the sealed-off chimney, lighting the whole area. She felt around, but nothing. No loose bricks, no secret buttons, nothing.

  “Wait,” she said as she stepped back from the fireplace. “He wouldn’t want it so near the fire. I know it wouldn’t burn, but he would need to be able to easily access it. So where else does the fire glow?”

  She saw everyone take a step back and then saw Wade’s face change. He was onto something. He grabbed a stool and placed it in the fireplace before setting the phone on it. “There would be a fire grate. It would keep the logs off the ground and cast a wider glow.”

  The light now shone in more angles, the newest being the glow that was on the floor a foot from where the main fire would be. It was on the edge of the brick fireplace where it met the hardwood floor.

  “Trent,” Darcy said excitedly.

  “Already ahead of you,” he said as he got to work with a crowbar. “Don’t worry, Harp. I can fix all of this.”

  “I’m not worried,” she said as Trent asked for his hammer and chisel after prying up a few hardwood boards and looking inside the floor.

  Darcy cringed. She was worried. This was a historic house that they were tearing up. She held her breath as Trent looked under the floorboards.

  “Nothing,” he said. “I’m going to tear up the first couple rows of the brick. Is that okay, Harp?”

  Harper grabbed Darcy’s hand as together they looked over Trent’s shoulder while he knelt on the ground. “Stop talking about it and do it already.”

  Darcy’s heart plunged further and further toward the torn-up floor with every brick that was removed. The entire first row—all ten feet of it—was torn out. Nothing. Ridge grabbed his tools and went to work on the opposite side of the fireplace. Brick after brick was removed. Trent moved faster than Ridge, and soon there were only a few bricks remaining.

  No one talked as the room echoed with hammering. Suddenly Trent stopped and set down his tools. Darcy felt a glimmer of hope as she and Harper leaned closer. “What is it?” Darcy asked.

  “It’s a little piece of metal attached to the brick with a spring. The mortar covered it, but it’s also painted white to blend in with the mortar so it’s hard to see.” Trent bent down and squinted. “There’s a wire running under the brick here.

  “Well, don’t just look at it! Push the lever!” Harper said as she tightened her grip on Darcy’s hand. Though it was Darcy who was probably breaking Harper’s hand at that point.

  Wade moved closer and Darcy looked at him. In that moment they had an entire conversation without saying a word. He knew all of her hopes and dreams rested on one little brick.

  “Well, here it goes,” Trent said as he pushed the little lever back.

  Darcy held her breath and stared at the brick. Nothing. But then there was the faintest click sound followed by the sound of a gear trying to turn. Everyone held their breath as they looked around.

  “It’s coming from the wall,” Ridge said, looking up from where he was kneeling next to Trent.

  “The paint!” Trent cried scrambling forward and running his hands over the side of the fireplace closest to where everyone was standing. “It’s stopping it from opening.”

  Ridge quickly followed Trent’s lead and the two of them tapped along the side of the fireplace looking for a weak spot.

  Darcy held her breath and clamped her hand down on Harper’s as the men worked together. Ridge had his ear to the brick and was directing Trent on where to tap.

  “Lower,” Ridge said as he knelt back down. “Lower still.” He moved to lie on the ground.

  Trent joined him as everyone was quiet. “I hear it.”

  Trent went to work on the paint and mortar and then suddenly there was a pop as the sound of the gear cranking stopped. Darcy struggled to see but Ridge and Trent’s shoulders were in the way. “What is it?”

  Ridge sat back and tapped Trent to do the same. When they parted, Darcy could finally see. Four bricks, two along the bottom and the two directly above them, were popped a quarter inch from the wall.

  “Here, use this,” Wade said as he handed Darcy the flathead and moved out of the way.

  Darcy looked over her shoulder to Harper. “It’s your house. Let’s do this together.”

  Trent and Ridge got up and moved to allow Harper to kneel next to Darcy. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Catch anything that falls out,” Darcy said with a quirked smile. This was it. It was time to find out if the treasure was real.

  Harper put her hands together and placed them on the floor. Darcy took a deep breath to steady herself and then pried the bricks open. They appeared to fit in the wall like a drawer with no handle. She worked the flathead into the narrow space—a space that was the perfect size for a knife blade—and with a scraping sound, the four bricks popped loose like a drawer opening after being stuck.

  Darcy’s heart beat fast as she dropped the flathead and used her fingers to pull the bricks the rest of the way out. Her heart stopped when Harper sat up and looked inside. Darcy just stared as Harper looked at her. With a little nod from Harper, Darcy reached inside.

  “Is anything in there?” Wade asked.

  Instead of answering Darcy held up her cupped hands as if cradling a baby bird. Except this was larger than a baby bird. And much heavier. The cool smooth object was the size of a pear and it was gleaming. The deep jungle greens reflected the light of the phone and sparkled in the light.

  “It’s real,” Darcy gasped as tears of joy, relief, and cheers of excitement broke free all at once. She laughed as tears rolled down her face and Harper flung her arms around Darcy. “It’s real. The treasure is real!”

  “Holy crap,” Granger muttered as Darcy stood on wobbly legs and showed them the emerald. “That has to be worth millions.”

  “It is,” Darcy said as she laughed again. She turned and held it out to Harper. “And it’s yours.”

  “You found it,” Harper protested.

  “In lieu of a finder’s fee, you can put my name as the discoverer. This means more to me than the million dollars. This means Black Law’s sunken treasure is real. I’m not on a wild goose chase, but getting closer to potentially the biggest find ever made, and you all helped. Thank you for letting me follow the clues and tear up your kitchen.”

  “Screw the kitchen. I can build a state-of-the-art one with a full-time cook now. But, what do I do with this?” Harper asked as she turned it over in her hands.

  “I’d take some pictures and then hide it in the church,” Trent suggested.

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Granger added. “I’d be worried having anything that valuable in the sheriff’s office. And I also don’t want you to have it at your house and become a target for theft.”


  Darcy turned to Granger. “Are you thinking what I am?”

  Granger nodded. “We found our trap for the murderer.”

  * * *

  Wade wrapped his arm around Darcy. She was shaking with excitement and adrenaline at the discovery. “You did it,” he whispered to her before he kissed the side of her head and hugged her tight to his side.

  “Not yet, but this was a major step forward. I have to meet with Miss Ruby. If we can figure out that clue, I can narrow down the search for Black Law’s sunken ship.”

  “Quiet, it’s ringing,” Granger said, and everyone immediately stopped talking. He put the call on speakerphone and Darcy heard Hugo answer. “Hugo, it’s Granger. I wanted to ask you a favor.”

  “Granger, what a surprise,” Hugo’s smooth voice said. By the crackling sound coming from the phone Darcy knew Hugo was on the ocean. She could hear the waves, the motor of a boat, and the wind hitting the phone. “How are you after all that drinking? I barely made it out this morning.”

  Hugo laughed and Granger kept his focus on the phone. Darcy could see him getting into character as his whole demeanor changed. “It was rough. I was surprised to see Darcy up so early. I was grabbing coffee before work when I ran into her. That’s actually why I called.”

  “Because of coffee with Darcy?” Hugo asked, but Darcy could already hear the interest in his voice.

  “Yes and no,” Granger said with a laugh. Harper rolled her eyes at it. Anyone who actually knew Granger knew that wasn’t his laugh. “I ran into her here in Shadows Landing. I thought she was in Charleston. But she said she had a big lead, and she told me she was sorry but she couldn’t mentor me right now. So, I thought of you. You know way more than her anyway, and I was really hoping you’d answer some newbie questions for me. I’d buy you dinner,” Granger said hopefully.

  “You know I’ve heard a lot about Shadows Landing. You could show me around and fill me in on the local stories about the pirates there.”