Pickups and Pirates (Southern Relics Cozy Mysteries Book 3)

by Bella Falls

  “Who’s here?” Charli asked, helping Auggie out by placing her finger on the cotton swab tip to hold it in place.

  “Dr. Simons wrote the book A Pirate’s Life for She, which focused on the known female pirates in history, including Ann Bonnet,” explained our professor. “He’s a bit of an expert, and I’m sure Rissa reached out to him while doing her research. I myself prefer to find primary sources rather than books that site sources I can’t see.”

  “What’s the difference?” Odie leaned against the table, moving it and causing the light to flicker.

  “Distance to history, my boy.” Auggie tugged on his arm to get him to stand beside her. “You can see a map in a book, pull it close to your face, and attempt to read as much as possible. Or you can stand over the actual parchment and see where the ink was fresher in some places than others. Where the illustrator did their best but missed some crucial detail. Or where someone created a hidden message. I know which one I’d choose.”

  “That’s amazing!” Rissa squealed, garnering the attention of the room. “Of course, I would be honored to meet with you. Yes, I’m sure you have information that could be invaluable to the museum. When were you…tomorrow morning? I could meet you tomorrow morning. Around nine? I will meet you then. And you have a good afternoon as well, Dr. Simons.” She hung up and jumped up and down.

  “I thought I taught you better than to go get crushes on the patriarchal professors.” Auggie shook her head.

  Rissa pouted. “It’s not a crush, it’s professional respect.”

  “And I’m the Queen of Neverland, but whatever. Can we get back to the stone and the map, please, before I die? Remember, I’m not a well woman.” Auggie faked as if she were fainting again.

  “Right.” Rissa returned to the map. “I’m going to sweep the stone over the whole thing to see if it flashes on anything else.”

  I gave up hope that the phenomenon would happen again when she reached the area to the right of the torn-out part. “Hey, move it up about half an inch,” I called out, pointing at what I thought I’d witnessed.

  “Oh my goodness, it’s words. And they’re written in the same handwriting as the first clue.” Rissa waved her free hand in the air, pointing at the desk. “Someone get some paper and write this down.”

  Turn South, West, East, North

  In which direction is the best?

  First, you have to find the key

  To use where’er the close may be

  Hidden inside with secrets locked

  With one guess wrong, all hope is blocked

  No way out to escape your doom

  Unless you know the sailor’s bloom

  After a couple of us repeated the lines out loud, most of us had the verses memorized. “It’s another riddle with a double meaning, I’ll bet,” I said, stifling a groan. “But with all that direction stuff, where in the world are we supposed to start?”

  “Maybe where that X is?” Dad suggested. “If your museum doesn’t have one from the right era, there’s a possibility we might somewhere back at our place.”

  I yawned, exhaustion hitting me all at once despite the new clue. “Where in the world would we be storing something like that?”

  “I’m sure we have something in our archives. It won’t take me that long,” Rissa volunteered like a little bunny with boundless energy.

  Crystal patted Odie on the arm. “If y’all don’t mind, it’s been a long day. We really should go look in on my store to see if there’s any damage, and one of us needs to drive our boat back. Catydid, are you gonna stay or do you want a ride?”

  My earth witch friend glanced at the map, at Rissa, and at me. “I know we’ve got sort of a lead, but I’m actually pretty tired.”

  “Me, too,” admitted Charli, leaning her head on Mason’s shoulder. “I’d like to eat a little something more and then go to bed. I feel like I could sleep for days.”

  “And Dad and I are their ride,” I volunteered.

  Disappointment killed Rissa’s enthusiasm. “Okay, I understand. I guess Auggie and I can do this together.”

  I drew in a hissing breath through my teeth. “Actually, I think it might be best if we take the map and the stone back with us to the house.”

  “You must be joking,” Auggie quipped. “They both belong in a more academic environment.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I agree with my daughter,” my father said in support. “If these items were normal historical antiquities, then I might agree. But they’re not, and our place is protected in ways you wouldn’t understand. Also, if I’m not mistaken, there was mention that the alarm system wasn’t working when we entered.”

  Rissa closed her mouth and frowned. “That’s right, I did notice that.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll bring everything back to you at eight in the morning so that we can try to match the spot of the X to the right map,” I proposed, smirking. “And then whoever’s here can meet Dr. Sexy Voice with you and see what he has to say.”

  “How am I going to explain a room full of you?” Panic rose in her voice.

  Auggie glanced at the cotton swab, removing it with reluctance. “They’re volunteers with the museum who are helping you collect information for an updated exhibit. There, problem solved. The stuff goes back to the Jewell house, and we wait until we’re all rested. Now, for anybody else who’s riding back with Buck, I just need you to know one thing.”

  “What’s that?” I asked as the professor rolled up the map and placed it with care in a padded poster holder.

  “I’m riding shotgun.”

  Chapter Twelve

  While I pulled on my cowboy boots, I stared out the window of my bedroom in the big house. After we got back last night, I’d fully intended to sit down with Auggie in the new study room and try out the map and the stone again. But a full stomach of comfort food from Granny Jo plus the exhaustion from the hurricane and the treasure hunt wiped me out.

  The bed dipped as Luke sat down on it. Although he’d listened to the whole story of our adventure, his lack of invested response irked me. We could use his unique perspective from someone who’d lived during the Golden Age of piracy. Maybe he even met someone like “Gentleman” Jack Rackham or “Bonny” Ann Bonnet and might be able to interpret the clues faster? But his typical tight-lipped approach to life grated on my last nerve, and I kept my eyes trained out the window instead of facing him.

  “What’s wrong, cara?” he asked, laying a gentle hand against my back.

  I flinched away from his touch. “Don’t call me ‘dear’ in Italian if you’re gonna treat me like a practical stranger.”

  The bed shifted again as he scooted closer. His lips grazed the sensitive skin on my neck. “I don’t approach strangers like this.” Snaking his fingers around my waist, he tugged me closer.

  Luke knew all my weaknesses, especially how to distract me. My eyes closed as my body responded. For a brief moment, I sunk into his feather kisses, highly aware of the vulnerable position I allowed myself to be in with a vampire. My instinct to trust him would get me into a mess of trouble if my brain didn’t kick in soon.

  I wriggled out of his grasp and stood up, turning around to face him. “No, you’re not going to distract your way out of this. You need to tell me what bee’s gotten in your bonnet lately? Because I’m not going to put up with your silent distance again. I thought we’d gotten past that.”

  My boyfriend pushed himself off the bed and stood on the opposite side from me, his brow furrowing in frustration. “How am I distant? I’m staying in your family’s house despite how it makes me feel to be around all those ghosts. As soon as you got home yesterday evening, I spent the entire time with you. You fell asleep in my arms last night. So, tell me, how is any of that being distant?”

  His words made sense, and for a moment, I questioned my irritation. Except being by my side didn’t necessarily mean he was really there with me. “I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren’t there. Again. And
,” I continued, not giving him the chance to talk me out of my feelings, “yes, you were there right by my side in body. But don’t you think I know you? Your mind and true attention were miles away, and I want to know why.”

  Luke studied me with his eyes. Unlike me, he tended to consider his words with great care before speaking, but that stretch of silence always drove me crazy.

  “Well?” I demanded, a little bit of worry mixing with my growing anger. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

  He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath he didn’t need to take to live. “I should know better than to try to hide anything from you. Even if I think it’s for your own good, you’ll barge through my walls and drag me back into the light. One of the reasons I love you, cara.”

  “Pretty words, but you’re still avoiding the issue at hand.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “I haven’t been completely detached. I spent the whole time you were gone searching for that study. Based on my recollection of my only glimpse inside it, I think it’s important to find it again. The fact that this house and every last one of the spirits in it seemed determined to thwart my efforts…well, let’s just say I might have been a little frustrated last night.”

  My vampire boyfriend had spent hours ignoring family spirits in order to help in his own way. A little of the frost around my heart melted. “I’m sorry it’s not working out the way you’d like, and if it’s that difficult, then maybe you should just let it be. But I don’t know why you wouldn’t talk to me. We’re supposed to share things like that, but you like to get inside your head and clam up. That’s not gonna work with me, mister. Not if…” I trailed off.

  “Not if, what?” Luke pressed.

  I shook my head. “Never mind.” I couldn’t find the courage to question how we could live a long life together without the trust of open communication. Committing to forever with a vampire took on a whole new meaning, and I doubted counseling existed for couples like us.

  “Listen, I know I can brood from time to time. It might be the side effect of my long years, having too much time to think about and getting lost in my past,” he admitted, straightening the pillow on his side of the bed and pulling the sheets and quilt up.

  Following his lead, I smoothed out the covers on my side as well. “I might buy that if you had no one to talk to. But you do,” I pushed in a gentler voice. “And before I forget, thank you for trying to help in your own way.”

  I thought Luke might rush to me to hold me in a tight embrace, but he stayed planted. He stood in the same room as me with only the bed separating us. And yet, the gulf between us stretched far wider.

  “I need to get some breakfast if we’re going to get to the museum early enough,” I said, rushing to leave the suffocating atmosphere of the room.

  “Don’t go,” he exhaled in a soft plea. “Please.”

  My fingers gripped the doorknob. “Give me a reason not to. And that reason better be words, not physical distraction.”

  Gentle fingers brushed down my arm, and I allowed him to turn me to face him. “You’re right. I am caught up in my thoughts more than I should be, and I can’t help but think about how the past is coming back to haunt the present.” He risked caressing my cheek. “I have plenty of history. If any of it showed up now, it would devastate me if you got hurt by it.”

  I grasped his hand in mine. “Then maybe instead of hiding your past from me, you should share it. Stop letting just your burden and let me carry some of the load. If I know about what worries you, then I’ll be prepared.”

  “I wish it were that easy.” Luke pressed his forehead against mine. “But the thought of you knowing everything about me. All the dark crevices and shadows that I’ve lived in. If you knew it all, would you still want me?”

  “If you trusted me with all of you, I’d want you more,” I exhaled, lifting my head until my mouth hovered right in front of his in invitation.

  His lips crushed mine and his body pressed me into the wood of the door. We gave into the heated abandon of connected bliss, reveling in a moment where our differences evaporated, and all that was left was just us.

  Someone pounded on the door, its vibrations knocking me out of my haze of desire. “Butter bean, your breakfast is getting cold. And you know how your granny gets.”

  Luke backed away, pulling me away from the wooden barrier between me and my father. I held up a finger and listened long enough to make sure I heard Dad’s footsteps on the stairs.

  “This conversation is far from over,” I insisted, kissing my boyfriend on the cheek. “At least now I have an inkling of what’s going on in here.” I tapped the side of his head. “But you have to know, continuing to keep secrets from each other will breed problems like bunnies.”

  “How are problems like rabbits?” Luke asked, tilting his head in amusement.

  “You know. Bunnies like to…follow the call of nature. Which results in more bunnies that do the same, and before you know it, the whole yard is overrun with rabbits of all shapes and sizes.”

  He chuckled and planted his lips on mine for a chaste kiss. “I think I understand. When you and I have more time to be together, we’ll try not to make like rabbits.”

  I started to leave but stopped, his words still ringing in my ears. “You know, this whole metaphor is about opening up. Not about…” I pointed at the bed.

  Luke captured my hand and kissed my knuckles with a smile. “I know. It was a joke.”

  The ugly doubt in my stomach morphed into butterflies, and it took great effort to leave the privacy of the bedroom. In the hallway, Luke continued to manhandle me, making it hard to progress forward. Even though the scent of bacon beckoned me, I relished my boyfriend’s playful side. He chased me around the hallway, acting the part of the predator to perfection. Acting like a damsel in distress, I faked being scared of him even when I pressed my body closer. Instead of a sexy reward, he dug his fingers into my sides, torturing me until I couldn’t breathe from all the laughing.

  “Wait a minute.” Luke stopped tickling me. “Where did that door come from?”

  My giggles evaporated as I counted the entrances to the bedroom in the hallway. “The house probably adjusted itself to accommodate Charli and Mason since they crashed here last night. Or maybe it’s Auggie’s room.”

  Shoes clomped on the stairs. “It’s not our room and the professor slept downstairs in that new library,” Charli said, joining us outside the new space. “This house definitely has some interesting magic running through it.”

  “Who knows how many spells are still running after all the generations of Jewell’s have lived here. Are still living here,” I agreed.

  Luke let me go and tried the handle. The knob turned, but the door remained shut. He muttered something in a foreign language under his breath.

  “I love it when you speak Italian, even if it’s a curse word,” I teased, moving him out of the way. “Maybe it will recognize family.”

  With one twist, the door gave way under my touch, and I pushed it open, a little excited and a whole lot nervous about what we’d find behind it. The distinctive scent of old books assaulted my nose. Sticking my head through the opening, I tried to tell what waited for us.

  “What’s in there?” Charli whispered from behind me.

  My hand failed to find a light switch on the wall. “I don’t know yet. Hold on.” Although my stomach growled from a lack of breakfast, I used what little morning energy I possessed to spellcast a small ball of light.

  Dark wooden shelves were built in on three out of the four room walls with leather-bound books and papers stacked from floor to ceiling on them. A desk sat on the far wall with a chair tilted askew as if someone had just gotten up from it.

  Luke followed behind me. A satisfied smile spread on his face. “This is it. This is the room that the house allowed me to discover once before it disappeared again.”

  “You just needed a little Jewell with you,” I teased, pulling him with me to peruse th
rough the contents on the desk. With a little flick of my finger, I lit the half-burnt candle sitting in a brass holder to help us see.

  My vampire boyfriend sifted through the paper, scanning any writing he could find. He lifted a feathered quill in his fingers. “I remember using these to write. There’s a natural receptacle when you trim it that holds ink,” he explained, his voice full of nostalgia.

  “I’m not particularly a fan of that type of writing instrument after the last time we were here,” Charli uttered, pulling books off the shelf and flipping through them. “The script is hard to read.”

  Luke shrugged. “Not really once you get used to it. Oh, wow, this is interesting.”

  “What?” I stopped snooping through letters with wax seals on them.

  “The ink in the pot.” He dipped the end of the quill into it, pulling it out and running the tip across a blank page. “It’s still fresh even though this room looks like it hasn’t been used since whoever worked here left it for the last time.” With a couple of scratches, he wrote out what must have been his signature, even though I didn’t recognize an L or an M. Then again, people used to use a much fancier penmanship back in days of yore.

  I giggled at my thought as I picked up a piece of thick paper with folds still creasing it. The wax seal was larger in size than the others, but in this light, I couldn’t tell what the marking was. Picking up the candleholder, I held it close to illuminate the words but failed to only guess at some of the letters.

  “Okay, old man, what does this say?” I held it out for Luke to utilize his vast experience.

  His eyes scanned the page while he muttered what he read under his breath.

  “It’s a little hard to hear you, sweetie.” I nudged him with my arm, careful not to spill any hot candle wax on his skin.