Sunken Shadows

by Kathleen Brooks

  “And you used the dagger you handed me to scare him off?” Kord asked as Darcy felt tears of anger and sadness for Rev, fighting for his life.

  “Yes. And he ran out the back door.”

  Everyone began talking at once. Reverend Winston dropped Darcy’s hand as Sadie moved to the front to clean up his face. Wade was engrossed in a conversation with his family when Darcy stood up. Everyone was in such a tizzy they didn’t notice her grabbing the tall candlestick by the back door and walking outside.

  She turned it upside down and wasn’t surprised to see a boarding pike inside it. She pulled the pike out and looked around. There were footsteps dug into the freshly mulched garden. Darcy followed them at a run. They disappeared in the cemetery.

  The cemetery overlooked the branch of the Shadows River and was filled with Spanish moss hanging from the large Southern live oaks and bald cypress trees that stood all around her. Tombstones of all shapes, sizes, and ages were in perfect rows. A few mausoleums were scattered throughout the cemetery.

  “You want me? Here I am!” Darcy yelled.

  Darcy heard a footfall on the grass behind her. She spun but saw nothing. Slowly she crept further into the cemetery. A man laughed behind her and she spun once again ready to attack with her pike.

  “Ask for me again,” a deep voice sang. This time she didn’t jump. She found the most open spot in the cemetery and crept toward it.

  “Tell me you want me.” The voice was closer now.

  Darcy held her ground and tightened her hands on the pike. “You wanted me. Here I am.”

  Darcy was expecting a knife. She was expecting a cat and mouse game. She wasn’t expecting the man to rush from behind a tombstone and crash into her. The pike went flying from her hands as she hit the ground hard. Breath was forced from her body as the man straddled her waist. As she lay struggling to breathe, he grabbed a knife and held it to her neck.

  “Here I am. Now, what should I do with you?”

  “You can go to hell,” she spat.

  “I’ve already been told that once today.” He chuckled. Darcy felt the knife press into her throat. “Tell me about Black Law’s treasure. Where is it?” he asked in a deep voice she was sure wasn’t his real voice.

  Hiss . . .

  Both Darcy’s and the attacker’s heads swung to the side to see a massive alligator lumbering toward them. He’d pause, open his mouth and hiss, and then walk toward them a few more steps.

  “Bubba?” Darcy asked as her heart thundered. She was way more terrified of the gator than the man who was now barely holding a knife to her. The gator looked at her and then looked up at the man.

  Hiss . . .

  Well, if that wasn’t an order from a gator, she didn’t know what was. Darcy flung her hips up and rolled toward the gator at the same time she screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “Bubba!” she heard Gator yell from up at the church.

  The man went tumbling toward Bubba who was only three feet away with his mouth wide open. Darcy covered her face and prayed. She heard a snap that seemed louder than a lightning strike and then a scream.

  Darcy watched through her fingers as the gator held on to the man’s forearm. The gator opened his mouth again and the man yanked his arm free and ran. She saw the blood, but it looked like he still had his hand attached.

  “Good Bubba, good Bubba,” Darcy chanted as she tried to slowly back away on her hands and knees.

  Suddenly Gator leaped through the air and landed right on top of Bubba. A smaller, screaming Turtle landed on the tail, wrapping his arms and legs around it and holding on.

  The back door of the church opened as Skeeter shot past her. Darcy scrambled back behind a headstone and watched as Skeeter pulled his knife and tried to throw it at the man now climbing into a boat. He wasn’t fast enough and the throw wasn’t far enough. The knife landed in the mud as the speedboat tore away.

  “Are you okay?”

  Wade was by her side, holding her tightly as he ran his hands over her body looking for injuries. The Bell family rested their rifles on tombstones and fired. The sound of glass shattering and bullets ripping into metal had Darcy spinning around. They were hitting the speedboat, but it wasn’t enough. The man had ducked down behind the chair and was steering the boat out of sight.

  “Call it in!” Suze yelled to Kord. “Speedboat with broken windshield and three bullet holes near the motor.

  “Damn. I shouldn’t have missed that shot.” Maggie’s face was set in a tight line as her mother reached up and smacked the back of her head.

  “Language.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes and turned to her. “Sorry.”

  “You all were wonderful.” Darcy felt the tears pricking the back of her eyes and buried her face in Wade’s shirt as they broke free.

  She took a deep breath, but keeping her face buried, called out, “Can someone help Gator and Turtle? And can someone get me some pork right now?”

  “You want to eat?” Trent asked from somewhere behind her.

  “I always eat after killing something,” Gator said from where he was lying on top of Bubba.

  “No, I want to give it to Bubba. He saved me.”

  “I’ll get it!” the peppy voice of Tinsley called out.

  When Darcy got herself together, she took a deep breath and looked up into Wade’s furious face. “What on earth were you thinking?”

  “I didn’t want him to hurt any of you. It’s my fault the Rev was hurt.”

  “The hell it is. It’s the attacker’s fault for killing off the competition instead of just doing a better job. What is your fault is putting yourself in danger.”

  Darcy leaned back as everyone went quiet. Wade was the calmest and laid-back person ever, but right now his face was red, and she could see his carotid artery pulsing. He was pissed. Even Bubba stopped fighting and stared at him.

  “Wade,” Trent said quietly, trying to calm his brother.

  Wade pushed his brother’s hand off his shoulder and stood up. He began to pace, and it felt as if they were all at a tennis match. Every head, including Bubba’s, turned to watch him going back and forth.

  Darcy pushed herself up. Her body was drained from the adrenaline release and her heart was breaking. “I’ll go,” she said softly as she hung her head.

  Wade spun and grabbed her arms, but it didn’t hurt like she thought it would. In all his anger, he still held her with gentleness. “No. You’re not allowed to leave without me.”

  Darcy was confused. “Why not? You’re mad at me.”

  “Mad, yes. But I’m mad at you because I love you. I love you, and you put yourself in danger. Do you have any idea what it did to me to hear you scream? I don’t think I’ve started breathing yet. I love you so much it hurts just to think of you down here by yourself. I should have been with you.”

  Tears streamed down her face as he pulled her against his chest. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” she heard him repeating for her ears only.

  “What’s going on?” Tinsley asked.

  “We have the pork,” Edie said.

  Shhhh!

  “What’d we miss?” Edie whispered.

  “Wade lost his temper because he loves Darcy, and she was in danger and he wasn’t here to protect her,” Ridge recapped.

  “Well, does she love him?” Tinsley asked with a sweet sigh.

  “Of course I love him,” Darcy called out before Wade crushed his lips to hers for a quick kiss. “I think I loved you before I even met you. I was yours the second you wrapped your tuxedo jacket around me.”

  Wade framed her face with his hands as his friends and family cheered. “We do everything together from now on, okay? I can’t lose you right after I finally found you.”

  “You won’t get rid of me that easily. I fear you’re stuck with me,” Darcy laughed. She was euphoric now as she kissed him. Because for once in her life she knew, without a doubt, she was in the right place with the right person at the right time.

>   28

  Wade wanted to be mad at himself for just blurting out that he loved Darcy. He’d planned a romantic date to tell her, but with her in his arms telling him that she loved him too, he didn’t care about perfection anymore. He cared only for her.

  His lips met hers, and the kiss they shared held all their emotions: fear, relief, love, and hope. Wade took a deep breath as he pulled away and looked down on Darcy’s face. He felt whole. He felt loved. He also understood the stupid little smile Gavin had worn after meeting Ellery because Wade didn’t need to see a mirror to know he had the same look on his face right now.

  “This is very romantic,” Granger said as he joined them. “But we need to get you someplace safe.”

  “No way,” Darcy said as Wade dropped his hands from her face. Darcy walked over to Tinsley and Edie and grabbed the two pulled-pork barbecue sandwiches and headed over to Bubba. “They want the treasure, and we already know they’ll kill for it. Now it’s an all-out race to who gets to it first.”

  “And who can keep it,” Wade added. The smile Darcy sent him made him feel ten feet tall. They were on the same page. “We need to get to the archives.”

  “I’m glad I got back early then,” the classy lady said. “I’m Suze Bell. This is my husband, Clark. You know Maggie, and this is my son, Gage.”

  “Thank you for coming home early,” Darcy said as she pinched off a bite and threw it toward Bubba. “Good Bubba.”

  Turtle slowly released the tail and Gator sat up and then climbed off as Darcy pinched another piece and tossed it toward the water. Bubba ran after it and then turned and looked back at her. “Good Bubba,” Darcy said, tossing another piece. She followed Bubba toward the water, telling him what a good boy he was until she threw the last bit of sandwich into the water. Bubba gulped it down as Darcy walked back to them.

  “You’re like a gator whisperer,” Gator said reverently.

  “He doesn’t do that for me, and he loves my apple pie,” Miss Ruby complained after finally making it to the cemetery just as everyone was headed back to the church.

  “Where y’all going now?” Miss Winnie asked with a huff.

  “The DOSL archives,” Suze told her. “Let’s go, everyone!”

  Wade took Darcy’s hand as they fell in line behind the Bell family.

  “Miss Ruby, would you like a lift?” Ryker asked as Miss Ruby struggled her way back up the small incline.

  “Can you get your car down here?” Miss Ruby asked and then squeaked as Ryker scooped her up in his arms. “Oh my.”

  Wade turned to get Miss Winnie when Ridge picked her up. Miss Winnie gently kicked her dangling feet and smiled so widely it outshone the sun. “Ruby, I think we should make some apple pies for these strong, fine young men.”

  “You read my mind, Win. They are worthy of apple pie,” Miss Ruby called out over Ryker’s wide shoulders.

  “Are they talking about apple pie or something else?” Darcy asked, and Wade laughed. He held her hand in his as they walked to the DOSL building and they debated if they were really discussing pie.

  Wade and Darcy stood silently while Suze unlocked the old doors to the Daughters of Shadows Landing. No one spoke as the heavy lock tumbled and Suze pushed the doors wide.

  “What exactly are we looking for?” Suze asked, waiting for everyone, including Reverend Winston and Nurse Sadie, to file in. Once inside, she closed and bolted the doors. Ryker and Ridge put down Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie, who winked at them.

  “We need The English Dancing Master. I remember we used a copy of it back in high school to learn some old-time dance steps,” Miss Winnie answered for Darcy.

  “I think we have lots of those,” Suze answered as she motioned for everyone to follow them.

  Wade felt Darcy’s grip tighten on his hand as they headed for the massive library on the second floor.

  “The whole top floor is a library. We keep everything that could possibly be considered historically important,” Suze told them as she walked up the stairs. “It used to be organized by year, but when I took over the presidency I organized it by author, and Gage was dear enough to help me with a computer program to search for what you need. Now we can use a computer to type in the author, title, or year to find it. Here we go.”

  * * *

  Suze opened two double doors and flipped on a switch. Darcy looked up at fifteen-foot ceilings that had bookshelves from floor to ceiling filled with books. The room took up almost the entire second floor.

  Books were on tables covered by large glass boxes. Books on walls, on free-standing bookcases, and there were even fireproof shelves eight feet long by six feet tall that were locked up. This was going to be impossible to find, computer system or not.

  “English Dancing Master . . .” Suze said slowly as she typed it into a laptop that stood on a podium in the center of the room. “Oh dear.”

  Darcy’s stomach flipped. “What?” She nervously held her breath, afraid of both hearing the news and missing the news.

  “There are eighteen editions. Which edition do you need?”

  Darcy looked to Wade and back to Miss Winnie. “I don’t know. We need to find the steps to a song titled ‘He Loves Me So.’”

  Darcy heard a chorus of ohs as the Faulkners connected the name of the song to the clue they’d all read the first day together under the church.

  “Everyone take a volume.” Darcy looked over Suze’s shoulder. “Where are they?”

  “Follow me!” The troop followed behind Suze, talking excitedly about how the clue was deciphered. “Here we go. This whole row.”

  Darcy stepped forward and looked at them. They were all in protective covers to keep them safe. She pulled the last one out and saw the date. It was after Timothy had died. She hurriedly went through them until she reached the first one dated prior to 1719.

  “Okay, all of them up to this one.”

  People stepped forward and one at a time took an edition.

  “There are two big research tables right over here that you all can work at,” Suze called out.

  “Last one’s ours.” Wade took the sixteenth edition and carried it to the table.

  * * *

  Darcy and Wade sat shoulder-to-shoulder, thigh-to-thigh as they slowly and carefully turned the pages of the book published in 1716. The room was quiet until Harper and Tinsley sighed. “Nothing in the first edition.”

  “Same with the second,” said Trent.

  “No song by that name in the third,” Ridge added.

  Darcy tried not to be distracted as edition after edition yielded nothing that would help them.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find something,” Wade said as he turned the next page.

  “Stop!” Darcy yelled. The entire library went quiet.

  “I’m sorry,” Wade said with confusion clear in his voice.

  “He loves me . . .”

  “And I do love you,” Wade said as Darcy began to laugh. “I was trying to be encouraging.”

  Darcy leaned over, and in a quick and loud smack, she kissed his lips. “And I love you. But it’s the song! You found it.”

  Darcy and Wade looked down at the book, and there were the steps to the treasure. “We need a map!” Wade called out as everyone went scattering.

  “Maps, maps, maps,” Suze muttered as she raced across the library. “Over here!”

  En masse, they all followed Suze to a massive drawer. She pulled it out and thumbed through it. “Here! Charles Town map from 1715.”

  She pulled out the giant map that was at least four feet by three feet and protected in a plastic sleeve. Wade took it from her as Darcy carried the book with the steps to the nearest table.

  “Does anyone have a dry erase pen that we could write on the plastic with?” Darcy asked, and Suze shouted she’d get it.

  “Which steps would it be?” Miss Winnie asked.

  “What do you mean?” Darcy looked down at the book and then saw it. There were two steps to learn.

  “D
o you follow the male or female steps?”

  “We can mark them both on the map,” Wade suggested.

  “I think we should do that, but I think it’s going to be the male steps. Timothy would have learned those.” Darcy wasn’t positive, and it was only a gut reaction, but she felt confident in it.

  “Here,” Suze called out as the crowd parted for her.

  “I’ll read and you map?” Darcy was very good at reading maps, but Wade did this every day. He knew every inch of the waters in this area.

  “Give me the first line.”

  Darcy began to read and Wade began to mark. They marked O’s for girls and X’s for boys. The pattern was a simple one. Bow to your partners, promenade, take hands and skip three steps, and so on. One line at a time they marked it out. And then there was the final line. “Spin your partner one full turn, stopping as you face the far end of the dance floor. Take her right hand in yours, step back, and bow over it.”

  “X marks the spot,” Wade whispered as he put the last mark on the map at the same spot as the O.” Wade met her eyes and Darcy didn’t dare breathe. They had the best lead she’d ever discovered. Now all that was left was . . .

  “Well, are we going or not?” Miss Ruby’s question broke the silence as everyone let out their collective breaths and started talking at once.

  A sharp whistle pierced the air and the room fell quiet.

  “Thank you, Ryker.” Wade turned to Kord and Granger. “We have a security issue. They’re going to be watching us.”

  “The way I see it is we either all go and keep you safe in numbers or we create a diversion and send you out alone.” Granger paused and placed his hand on his hips.

  Darcy didn’t let him finish. “But if we’re all out there, and I don’t find anything, it will tell them about where it is. It could take months to grid out the area and find it.”