“I think you’ll find it is,” I told him. “I’m sorry you were worried about me.”
“I found her by the docks on Duck Road.” Tim cut in, adding his part of the story as though it had great significance. “I offered to take her to the hospital in case she needed female help.” He cleared his throat and nodded to convey his concerns.
The parking lot was starting to fill up around us and not with shoppers. “Can we take this inside?” I got all the way out of the car and closed the door. “Someone will call the TV station if we keep standing out here.”
Tim laughed. “Not that they’d come without another explosion and murder.”
The chief gave him a stern look of disapproval. “That’s disrespectful, Officer Mabry.”
“Sorry, Chief. I wasn’t thinking.” Tim hung his head.
“Doesn’t surprise me, boy.”
I shivered in the cold fog—Gramps, Tim and Kevin scrambled to offer me their jackets. While I was impressed at their chivalry, I took Gramps’s jacket with a smile at Kevin. He didn’t smile back. Yet another fence to mend.
We all walked upstairs together, me in the middle like some captured fugitive they were worried would disappear again. Nancy hugged me and offered me what I really needed—a cup of hot coffee. She came into my office, notebook in hand. There were already chairs set up to accommodate everyone.
I set the red box full of pirate gold on my big desk and sat down. No one had noticed or asked me about it. I decided not to mention it because it was part of another story for a later time.
With all my personal items around me, I felt better than I had since I left Duck that morning. This place, like Missing Pieces and my home, had become a safe haven for me. Yet another reason to run a good campaign against Mad Dog Wilson for my job as mayor.
Chief Michaels cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. He approached me and leaned in close. “You don’t need any female help, do you, Mayor?”
I assumed this was his way of asking me if I’d been molested. I guessed he and Tim found it hard to say the word “rape.” “I’m fine, Chief,” I assured him. “Please sit down and let me tell you what happened.”
I took a deep breath and started from the beginning—the explosion at the museum. The chief needed to know the background to understand how I’d ended up where I was—and where I’d been—today. No one interrupted as I told my story, with an emphasis on Roger and the ring I’d seen on his finger.
I left out the part about my father. I felt that was between me and Gramps right now. It wasn’t really pertinent to everything else.
Chief Michaels was the first person to react. He got to his feet and stared out the window behind me at the Currituck Sound. “I knew some of that. The part about the FBI getting Bunk out of here. I didn’t know he’d come back. I sure didn’t know Agnes was his daughter.”
“But you can understand why Bunk gave the gold to Max for her. He wanted to save her life,” I explained.
He snorted as he turned around. “Yeah. If you can believe a word out of his mouth. He’s done everything wrong a person can do—smuggling, theft, fraud, illegal bootleg—I don’t know why we’d think he couldn’t murder someone.”
“He wants to talk to you. I think he knows what happened to Max. He might be protecting someone.”
“You mean like his missing son or something?” Tim added with a loud guffaw.
The chief glared at him. “Bunk’s coming here?”
“No,” I answered. “He wants you to come out there with me.”
“I don’t know.” Chief Michaels sat back down. “He probably has something up his sleeve besides the truth. I think he’s hoodwinked you, Mayor.”
“Then why did he let me leave? He could’ve dumped me out in the ocean and no one would have known until I washed up like Sam.”
“Well, there’s no way to go out there today. The sheriff needs to be in on this. Maybe the FBI too, for that matter. I need to talk with them, and we’ll see what turns up.”
“As far as I can tell,” Tim added, “Bunk Whitley confessed to killing Sam Meacham. Walt Peabody needs to be in on this too, don’t you think, Chief?”
“You might be right. Give him a call. Maybe he’d like to come along on this wild goose chase too.” Chief Michaels nodded to me. “Glad you got back safely, Mayor. Next time you want to investigate one of my cases, let me know and I’ll deputize you.”
We both knew he was kidding. You couldn’t tell it from looking at his face, but he was quite a wit sometimes. He’d homed right in on Bunk being responsible for everything despite what I’d told him about Roger. I thought that was a mistake.
He and Tim left my office. Nancy followed them, probably figuring the public part of my adventure was over. She was right. There was still a lot to tackle, but the rest didn’t need to be in the town’s records.
Gramps glanced at his watch and pushed himself out of his chair. “Look at the time! I’ve got poker night and don’t have a chip or cookie in the house. I’ll see you at home later, Dae. See you, Kevin.”
I had a few fences to mend with Kevin, though I would’ve rather talked to Gramps about my father right now. But the secret had been there for all of my life, if what Bunk said was true. I supposed it could wait a little longer.
When we were alone in my closed office, I glanced at Kevin. He’d been very quiet through my tale and its ensuing discussion. “So what do you think?”
“I think you lied to me last night, then needlessly endangered yourself by leaving your cell phone at home so you wouldn’t have to talk to me. Not to mention going down to the docks to try and prove your theory without thinking about the consequences.”
“Oh. I guess that about sums it up.” My words were bright and aided by my larger-than-life mayor’s smile, but I felt kind of bad for doing all the things he’d just listed. Or maybe getting caught doing them. “Are you angry?”
“At you?” He shook his head. “At me, yes. I can’t believe you blindsided me. After all those years learning to tell the difference between someone lying and telling the truth, you’d think I’d know better.”
“So you’re really angry.”
“I would be if I wasn’t so damn relieved that you aren’t dead. I guess I’ll learn from this experience. Your grandfather told me you gave in too easily last night when I asked you to step back. Next time I’ll know better.”
I wasn’t sure whether or not to be glad that he wasn’t mad. All of that sounded pretty ominous. “I didn’t want to lie to you, Kevin.”
“I know. I’ve been there. I guess when I envision scenarios like amateurs getting caught snooping around and tossed into boats, the outcome I picture is usually not as good as this one.”
“I’m glad you understand.” I hoped that’s what he was saying anyway. If not, this might be a good time to change the subject. “I haven’t really eaten all day. Would you like to grab something at Wild Stallions?”
“I have to go back to the hotel for a delivery. After that, I’m free. Unless you want to eat there.”
I thought about the gold in the red box on my desk. “That might be a good idea actually. There’s one thing I left out of my tale to the chief.” I handed him the red box. “It’s Bunk Whitley’s gift to the new museum. I think the Blue Whale is a fitting place for it.”
He opened up the red box and stared at the gold for a minute. “This was a big part to leave out of the story, Dae. The chief might have to take this in as evidence.”
“Well, not today anyway. Can’t we put it in your safe for tonight and I’ll ask him about it tomorrow?”
He smiled and closed the box. “Yes we can, and I’ll ask him about it tomorrow.”
We walked out of my office and said good-bye to Nancy. “I guess that means you’re never going to trust me again, huh?”
He put his arm around my shoulder. “Not for a while.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good way to have a relationship.”
“I guess
that all depends. It might be the only way to have a relationship with you. Otherwise, you might not be here to have a relationship with. How does minestrone sound? I have a pot simmering on the stove.”
“It sounds good enough to forgive you for nicely calling me a liar. Let’s go.”
It was a strange feeling sitting across from Agnes and eating soup. Celia and Vicky talked about going shopping for new winter boots and asked how long it would be before the insurance money came through for their mother’s house.
I didn’t know if it was my responsibility to tell them about their heritage. I couldn’t prove that what Bunk had claimed was true. I didn’t even mention him or what had happened to me today. I listened to the women chatter, looking up to find Kevin’s gaze on me.
“What?” I put down my soup and reached for a cheese cube.
“How’s the soup?” he asked.
“Good. Very good.”
“Not quiche, though, huh?”
I glanced at Agnes and her daughters, who’d stopped their conversation to listen to ours. “I’m not much of a quiche eater. These cheese cubes are good too. Who made them?”
Celia laughed. “Happy cows in California via Harris Teeter, I think. I cut them.”
“You did a wonderful job,” I commended.
Agnes said, “I’m on my way to the historical society meeting. We’re talking about a place to put all the donations. I think Mildred Mason is donating her sister’s house to be the new museum. It would be called the Elizabeth Simpson Historical Museum.”
“That would be great,” I answered. “Max always hoped that would happen.”
“I’m sorry it had to take his death to bring it about.” She pushed aside the rest of her soup. “Still, I know you’re right. He’d be thrilled. I know the board will accept it without any problem. All we’ll have to do is fund-raise for the money to pay the taxes and upkeep. It’s a good deal.”
It was all I could do not to tell her about Bunk. But how would I explain it, and why would she believe it? Later, after the others were gone and Kevin and I were cleaning up, I mentioned my reluctance to share Bunk’s claims. “I think it was best not to mention it,” I said.
“I agree,” Kevin replied, reassuring me. “It’s terrible timing for Agnes, and there’s no proof. There may never be any proof, Dae. You might have to live with that secret.”
“I know.”
He took me home a short while later. I still wasn’t done thinking about everything I’d learned on the island. “There must be someway to prove Bunk is Agnes’s father.”
“Paternity tests,” he said. “If both of them were willing. But that opens a whole new can of worms. It wouldn’t really benefit Agnes to know that the man who raised her wasn’t her father. I don’t think that’s something you’d want to know either.”
“I suppose that’s true.” I thought about the questions screaming in my brain about my own father.
“Like knowing that her mother committed suicide because she and Bunk couldn’t be together, some information doesn’t serve the general good. In this case, it might be best to let the past stay buried.”
“I know you’re right.”
“But you want to clear Bunk of Max’s murder.”
“Yes, but only so we can find the real killer. You saw the way the chief went after Sam as a suspect. Now that he knows about Bunk, we may never know the truth.”
“You mean once he can prove that Bunk did anything. Confessing to you is one thing, Dae. Telling Chief Michaels is another. What’s going on here? Is there a party you forgot to tell me about?”
He’d started to pull into my driveway, but it was full of cars—police cars. One other car and a van were parked on the street.
“I don’t know. I know that’s the chief’s car, and I think that one belongs to Walt Peabody. I don’t know about the other ones.”
“I think you’ll find that black Ford belongs to the SBI. Probably Brooks Walker since he’s our local agent.” Kevin parked on the street.
“What do they want?” I wondered out loud.
He grinned as he took my hand. “They want to talk to you. I’m sure they all want reassurances about spending the time and money to go out to the island.”
“Great!”
“There might be an FBI agent too. Bunk was supposed to be in their federal program. They might want to know what happened. They might even want to pull him in for not going along with the plan.”
I wasn’t looking forward to talking with a group of law enforcement people tonight. I wanted to ask Gramps about my father, but not with an audience. Bad timing.
“That looks like the arson investigator’s van.” Kevin nodded at the white van with the Dare County seal on it. “I think I’ll go in with you.”
“I’m not worried about Brad, if that’s what you’re thinking. What’s he going to do? Arrest me in front of all these people?”
“He can’t arrest you at all, Dae. He can only investigate and give his findings to the chief. That’s one reason why it was inappropriate for him to talk to you about the case the way he did. I’m sure his superiors had something to say about it after your grandfather and I pointed it out to them.”
“Gramps said he was only fishing.”
“Yeah. Without much bait either. Come on. Let’s see what’s happening.”
We went inside together. The house smelled like coffee and conflicting aftershaves. The men were sitting around the kitchen table—until they saw me. They all got to their feet at that point.
“Mayor,” they said in unison.
Brad nodded but didn’t speak. I supposed he wasn’t happy that this new turn of events had messed up his theory about me killing Max and Sam. Gramps brought out another chair for Kevin. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. It was Cailey Fargo on the doorstep. She hugged me. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Dae. Everyone was worried about you.”
“Thanks. Come on in. The party is this way.”
“I knew Brad was all wrong when he told me he considered you a suspect,” she confided in a low voice. “I think he’s a little desperate to find someone to blame. It’s his first investigation, you know. I’m sure he’s worried about doing a good job. People get that way sometimes. He’s kind of wound real tight anyway, if you know what I mean.”
“I appreciate you telling me that. It means a lot.”
Gramps asked us both if we wanted coffee. I turned it down—Cailey took a cup. I sat between her and Kevin, with Brad brooding on the other side of the table. Once everyone was seated, filling our little kitchen, the discussion began.
“I want to say upfront that this whole thing is a waste of taxpayer money.” Brad fired the first salvo right across my bow. “I think we all know this is nothing but a ploy to take the heat off of someone right here in town who’s responsible for everything.”
Chapter 19
“We all have a stake in this,” Brad continued. “We need to find out the truth—not a convenient lie to cover up what really happened.”
He was glaring at me the whole time he spoke. He was accusing me without actually using my name. I didn’t care. He’d find out how wrong he was when we went out to the island.
Kevin had been wrong about the FBI. They were nowhere to be seen. Agent Brooks Walker with the SBI wanted to be part of the group going out to the island. In fact, he wanted the local police to stay out of it entirely. “This should be our case,” he said.
“The man’s been living out there for years and no one knew,” Walt reminded him. “You can’t come in here and take over our case.”
“He’s a suspect in our murder cases.” Chief Michaels piled on the logical reasons he should be allowed to continue with the case. “You can’t claim any jurisdiction here, Agent.”
“All right. It’s against my better judgment, but I guess you’re already involved,” Walker grumbled. “We’ll head out there first thing in the morning. Who has the coordinates for the island?”
They all l
ooked at me. “Bunk’s men gave them to me when we got back to Duck. Whose boat are we going out on?”
“I don’t see any reason you should go out at all,” Walker told me. “You’re neither law enforcement nor an involved party. Give me the coordinates and we’ll take it from here.”
“I’m afraid not. I’m supposed to be bringing you out there. I don’t think Bunk will like it if you show up without me.”
There was some major griping, but I didn’t care. I was the one who found Bunk, and I was going back out there tomorrow. It probably wasn’t so much that I wanted to be part of the operation as I wanted to know whatever he could tell me about my father. If my grandfather had kept the knowledge that my dad was alive for all these years, I wasn’t sure I’d get any real answers from him. In case Bunk was dragged off to some federal prison, I wanted a chance to talk with him first.
When they finally accepted that they weren’t going without me, despite all their complaints and protests, Walker, Peabody and Chief Michaels handled it without further discussion.
“We’ll use a Coast Guard vessel,” Walker told everyone.
“We’ll be taking police boats,” Chief Michaels stated.
“We’ll be going out on the Eleanore,” Gramps said.
“That’s not a police boat, Horace,” Chief Michaels replied. “It has to be some law enforcement vessel. I’d go with the Coast Guard before taking a private boat out there.”
“You all go out on your boats, if you want.” Gramps stared steely-eyed at them. “Dae, and the location of the island, are going with me on the Eleanore. I don’t trust any of you to keep her safe.”
He gave Kevin a half smile. Kevin nodded in return. I assumed that meant he’d be going too. That was fine with me. I wasn’t looking forward to being the only civilian with the masses of law enforcement headed out there.
I kind of felt sorry for Bunk in all this. No doubt he’d brought all of it on himself. But I believed his story about what happened to Max. I believed he was Agnes’s father and wanted to help her, whatever else he’d done.
A Touch of Gold Page 20
