by Tonya Kappes
“I think this will work wonders for your skin tone.” I turned around and held the bottle out. “It’s a little too much SPF for me, so I thought you could use it.”
“Thanks. I have to go.” She forced a grin and took the bottle. “My father is making me groom the horse this morning while he meets with Teabody. He wants me out of sight. I appreciate your kindness, June.”
As she walked out of the room, the curtain separating the outside world blew in with a breeze.
Chapter Twelve
“What was that about?” Patience appeared on the bridge leading over the water to the villa. Her hands gripped the rope sides and each one of her steps was taken with caution. The bridge swayed back and forth. Little noises of fright escaped her lips.
“I’m not wasting any time. I wanted to talk to her about why she left the island.” I contemplated what she’d said about her father and how he didn’t like hearing of her relationship with Patrick.
“It does make her look awfully suspicious.” Patience amazed me. Sometimes she was so level headed and reasonable and other times not so much.
“Her father sent her to the mainland.” I grabbed my bag and flung it across my body. “Sitting in here all day isn’t going to help solve anything.”
I ran my hand down my bag. The key I’d gotten from Patience last night at the Loop was still in there.
“Now what?” Patience sounded defeated.
“We go look in Mr. Victor’s office.” I patted my bag.
“I can’t.” Her brows dipped. “I’ve got to clean some villas.”
“Well, Mr. Victor is gone to meet with the police which gives me access to the offices without having to worry about him being there.” I had a niggling suspicion I was going to find something very important. My gut told me I had to go and go now.
Rowl! Rowl! Mr. Prince Charming jumped up on his hind legs and scratched my bare wrist.
“My bracelet.” I hurried back over to the bedside table where I’d taken off my bracelet and clasped it back on.
When I turned back around, Patience was gone and the bridge was swinging back and forth over the water.
“Ready?” I asked Mr. Prince Charming. He swayed his tail in the air and danced his way across the bridge.
Before I followed him, I grabbed Madame Torres and stuck her in the bottom of my bag.
“No way,” she protested. “I thought these days were over. Long over.”
“I might need you.” I ignored her griping and headed out.
Instead of taking the beach all the way to the lodge, Mr. Prince Charming decided we would take the path that Gene had taken us on the first day we’d gotten there. It was a direct path to the lodge and there was no time to waste.
“You have to tell me what you did with it, Peter.” The voice was stern and belonged to Juliette. Between the palm trees, I could see that Juliette and Peter were sitting in the hammock.
“It’s Patrick’s and you can’t keep it,” Juliette said with a bite.
“Mine.” Peter’s voice was matter-of-fact. He had a grip on the chocolate milk bottle in his hand. “All mine. Daddy said.”
“But we are family now.” Juliette’s voice had turned gentle, almost mothering. “I’m going to take care of you. When we get home, I’ll take you to the water park. We can even go to the zoo and ride the train like you love to do. Please. Please give it back to me.”
A limb crunched under my step and Juliette’s head shot up. She looked at me with a savage fire. I stepped off the path and over a few fallen coconuts on my way over to them. The sun glistened in dots all over the sand and looked like the diamonds Madame Torres had floating in her glass ball.
“Good morning, June.” She forced a slight wave.
“How are you?” I stopped just shy of the hammock. Peter looked up at me. His eyes were red and his cheeks were tear stained.
“I’m fine.” She lifted her hand and rubbed Peter’s back. He jerked away from her. “Peter is having a hard time and I think it’s best we leave.”
“No. I want to stay. Find the treasure like my dad. Like my Patrick.” Peter pouted.
“All the people from my wedding talked to the police and decided to head back to the states. Unfortunately, if I can’t get Peter to agree to go and have to force him, he has to get sedated and I just don’t want to do that.” Her voice cracked. A tear fell from the corner of her eye. “Patrick never drugged Peter and now I’m all he has.”
“There is no other true family?” I asked. My heart broke for Peter.
“No. That’s why we were getting guardianship.” She frowned. “Now the guardianship goes to me.” She stood up. Peter took the opportunity to lie all the way down on the hammock.
She nodded for me to follow her.
“I don’t know how much more I can take,” she sobbed when we were a good distance away from Peter. She looked over my shoulder at him. “I love Peter, but I don’t know how to care for a grown man with special needs. I just followed Patrick’s lead. For the past year, Patrick has been holding down the business while I answered the phones for him after I’d drop Peter off at daycare.”
“You’ve done all you can do.” I knew my words wouldn’t comfort her, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. “When my dad died, I was young. But when my mom died it devastated me. It took me a long time to heal and I don’t have the issues that Peter has.” I ran my hand down her arm and squeezed her hand. “You have to have time to heal yourself. I’m sure it’s best for Peter to get back to his normal routine at home, so if you have to sedate him to get him home, it’s probably for the best.”
“Poor kid has had a black cloud following him for a year.” The sunlight hit her face perfectly, causing the tears to glisten like the diamonds.
This was about the fourth time the diamonds from my nightmare had popped up. My intuition was on high alert.
“What do you mean by black cloud?” I asked.
“First the only safe place he truly had, his home, burned down. His parents, who he knew kept him safe and secure, died. Don’t get me wrong.” She shuffled her feet and reached over to pick off a piece of the palm tree. “Patrick and Peter have,” she paused, “had, had a great time together. But Patrick didn’t want to be a dad or caregiver. We had our whole life in front of us. Now.” Her head dropped and bounced up and down as the sobs came again. “Not only do I have to come to grips that the love of my life has been killed, but now I’m the caregiver to Peter.”
I curled my arms around her and drew her into a hug.
“I’m so sorry.” I patted her back as she used my shoulder to cry on. “You are a strong woman that will be able to get through this. I’m sure Patrick had a plan and you know the plan. You are just going to have to execute the plan without him. Make his wishes come true.”
The warmth of the potion bottle in my bag warmed against my belly. My intuition told me that I needed to help her and Peter.
“You said he’s had a black cloud. You can bring him sunny skies.” I pulled away from her.
She wiped her tears with the palm of her hand. She forced a smile. The corners of her sad eyes dipped down. She nodded. The smile turned into a frown.
“You’re right.” She licked her lips. “I’m so thirsty.”
“Why don’t we get Peter and go have a drink in the lodge.” If I could get her in the lodge and seated with Peter, I could get a little potion in there to help them both and still have time to go into Mr. Victor’s office to look around. But time was wasting away.
“What is that?” Her eyes shot over my shoulder. “Get away from him!” She pushed past me.
Mr. Prince Charming had jumped up in Peter’s lap and was dragging his tail underneath Peter’s chin causing Peter to laugh and giggle. Mr. Prince Charming stuck his long tongue down the chocolate milk bottle and lapped up a big drink.
“Get!” she screamed and flailed toward my cat who scurried off.
“No!” Peter got out of the hammock and thrust his fists down
to the ground. The bottle flung to the ground and chocolate milk sprayed everywhere. “Kitty, kitty!” He ran in the direction where Mr. Prince Charming had run.
“Peter stop!” Juliette ran after him. “June, I’ll have to take a rain check on getting a drink!”
Juliette, Peter and Mr. Prince Charming ran after each other leaving me standing there. I looked at the lodge, and then back at them. Mr. Prince Charming could take care of himself. I had a feeling Peter could take better care of himself than Juliette could take care of herself.
My gut tugged. While I had the opportunity, I knew I had to go in the offices and find what my intuition was leading me to find.
Chapter Thirteen
The halls of the lodge were lit up by the sun streaming down the open hall. I looked at the photos down the hall a little closer than the first time Gene had showed us the office area. The first photo had to have been when Mr. Victor had first moved to the island. He was standing in front of the lodge with a small, pig-tailed, freckled-face redhead propped up on his shoulder. She was smiling ear-to-ear with a key dangling from her fingers. The same key that Patience had given me.
The next picture was the two of them with their first resort patrons. They both had on the same white suits only in smaller sizes. As the pictures progressed, so did their ages. The one thing I noticed was there was no other woman in the photos, no mother figure. Only women on vacations with their family. There was another photo of a young Violet sitting on the beach with a little boy. By the almond shape of the boy’s eyes, I could tell it was Patrick. I followed the photos until I found every single photo that Patrick was in.
There were a total of five photos in all. I wasn’t sure of the years or how old they were, but they’d gotten older as the photos had progressed. In the photo where Violet had taken on some puberty weight, was when Patrick had disappeared from the island photos. A couple of photos later, there was a picture of three people alongside a thinner Violet. One of them was Peter and the older couple who I assumed to be their parents. But no Patrick. My gut told me it was when Patrick was off to college because Violet still looked young, but her body had turned to that of a woman. Her breasts were bigger; her hips were more rounded.
Suddenly on the other side of the wall was when Gene had shown up. I wondered where he’d come from.
The answers had to be buried on this island somewhere. I sighed. Maybe Peter was right. But instead of treasure being buried on the island, it was the secrets that needed to be uncovered.
I took the key out of my bag and tried it in the door with Mr. Victor’s name on it. When it unlocked and I was inside, I was happy to see that Patience had done exactly what I’d asked her to do. Relief settled in my gut as I dug down in my bag and pulled out Madame Torres.
“Uncover the secrets held deep within the murder.” I put the key on the desk and ran my hand in a circular motion over her.
The insides of my familiar curled into a swirl of a vicious tornado. The rage and anger swelled up inside of her. Specks of white and orange bubbled up, sending the funnel cloud into a calm swirl.
The water cleared and a document floated, magnified by the glass. I touched the ball and the document expanded. The word adoption appeared in bold red letters followed up by a photo of a safe.
“Where is the safe?” I asked and looked around the room.
The room was made of teak wood. The desk was just a top with four legs that sat on a concrete floor over a woven rug. There wasn’t a file cabinet or any furniture other than that. The bamboo fan ticked in the silence.
The sound of footsteps came from the other side of the door and the handle turned. I grabbed Madame Torres and threw her in my bag. My hand grazed one of the books Ophelia had given me and I pulled it out. I sat on the floor cross-legged in front of the desk and looked at the book as if I were reading it while I waited for Mr. Victor to come back.
When Mr. Victor opened the door a strange cold expression was on his face.
“Ms. Heal.” He stopped.
My whole body tensed. My heart thumped against my rib cage.
He looked around. He swung the door and looked behind it.
“Are you needing something?” he asked and swept across the floor, sitting in the chair behind the desk.
I looked down at the book—it just so happened to be the myths and legends book Ophelia had given me.
“I was looking through this book about Tulip Island and wondered if the legend was true.” I waved the book in the air and rolled my eyes, playing off the false ideas of myths.
“Which myth would that be?” His brows rose.
“Um…” I glanced down at the book. “Buried treasure,” I read the headline.
A thunderbolt jagged through me. It was as though Ophelia had given me this book because she knew I was going to need it. My intuition went off like an alarm. Peter’s hand-drawn map was of treasure.
“Oh, June.” Mr. Victor threw his head back. A raspy chuckle escaped him. “You have a very active imagination and so does that book.” He gestured toward the book. “Ever since that book was published, Tulip Island has been flooded with people wanting to find this mysterious buried treasure.”
I gulped.
“Well, I was just thinking that maybe Patrick knew something about the treasure.” I shrugged. I put my book back in the bag and pushed myself up to standing. “But I guess you are right. I have a very active imagination.”
“I understand this has been a very stressful honeymoon.” He stood back up. His eyes hooded like a hawk. “Let me give you and Mr. Park a free week after all of this nonsense clears so you can enjoy the island fully.”
“Would you throw in a trip to the volcano?” There was no way I was ever going to come back to Tulip Island. Throwing in the ever-so-off-limits volcano was just my gut wanting to see his reaction.
“We’d be more than happy to throw in a trip to the volcano, but you can’t sue me if it. . .” He smacked his hands in the air. “Explodes,” the sarcasm dripped from his mouth.
“Thank you.” I scurried out of the office and back down the hall to the dining area.
Oscar and Officer Teabody were talking to Gene at a table next to the buffet. I slipped out without Oscar seeing me and planted myself in a beach chair. I knew better than to think that Ophelia had just-so-happened to throw in a book about myths and legends.
Chapter Fourteen
Figuring out what Madame Torres was trying to tell me about the adoption paper was last on my mind and I figured Mr. Victor had adopted Violet and Gene. There could be no other explanation to what was going on.
Apparently Juliette and Peter had put their differences aside. They were in the ocean. Peter was flipping and flopping with his snorkel gear on. He looked like a whale when he came up for air and shot the water out of the snorkel tube. Juliette held the shell bag as he put his treasures in it.
The waves were larger and seemed to be crashing with anger as they hit the shore. Over the roar of the sea, I could hear Juliette encouraging him to find more. Praising him for the good job he was doing. In all hopes of hope, she might’ve listened to my encouragement before my pesky cat had decided to drink from chocolate milk jug.
Mewl. The ornery cat appeared next to me. His tail dragged along the beach chair before he disappeared under it.
“You naughty cat.” I shut the book and sat on the edge of the chair. “You know you aren’t supposed to drink milk, much less chocolate.”
Mewl. He threw his leg up in the air. Sand went flying. He ignored it and began to clean himself.
For now I was safe. He was with me. It was also a good time to sneak into Peter’s villa and give him a little spell that I knew could help him get on a plane and get home safely. It was for the good of him and to help him move on with his life. Juliette was going to take care of him and that’s what mattered.
I quickly gathered my things before Juliette saw me and headed back toward the lodge. The path to the villas where the wedding party was
staying was to the left of the lodge while we were to the right.
When I passed the lodge, Oscar and Officer Teabody were still talking to Gene so I slipped past with Mr. Prince Charming leading the way. The path looked the same as mine and Oscar’s. It was sandy with palm trees on both sides shading the path. The breeze coming off the ocean had kicked up to more of a wind. I looked out beyond the path at the ocean and noticed the clouds in the distance were not like the fluffy cotton balls. They were dark with grey and black streaks.
“Good, boy.” I knew the villa he’d led me straight to was Peter’s and Patrick’s. “Let’s give Peter that spell.”
Mr. Prince Charming ran over the bridge. The sea underneath was not the calm sea from earlier but was splashing up against the bridge that led over to the villa. The villa was laid out exactly like ours and I knew the extra chocolate milks had to be in the refrigerator. I was right.
I opened it and inside the door it was filled with a couple rows to last Peter a full week. I put my bag on the floor and took out Madame Torres and then the generic potion bottle. I unscrewed the milk and uncorked the potion, dripping a little bit of it into the milk bottles.
After I secured the lids, I waved my hand over the bottles.
“Rest thee mind, calm the soul, love the hands that take you home.” I chanted a couple of times before I opened my eyes. The milk was bubbling inside of the bottle, which meant the potion took and I was able to help out not only Juliette, but also Peter.
Mr. Prince Charming paced back and forth between me and the villa bridge. Darkness had fallen over the ocean. The sound of the waves crashed against the shore.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I gathered my things and put the milk bottles back in the refrigerator. His tail pointed in the direction of the door. It was time for us to go. He had something on his radar.
