Cal shrugged. “Jeez, Morgan. We’ve known Luke since we were kids and he was always a good guy. A few years in the military probably hasn’t changed that. Are you sure you aren’t letting your emotions get in the way of your better judgment?”
Morgan bristled. “I just think we need to be really careful.”
“I know you’re still hurt about the way he left, but I think he was doing what he thought was best for you,” Cal said.
“Yeah, he seems like he really is on our side,” Fiona added.
“Well, we’ll see. I know we can trust each other and anything else … well.” Morgan shrugged, looking at the little box that Jolene had set on the breakfast bar island in front of her.
“Forget about Luke. Let’s open this thing up and see what’s inside.
###
Jolene pushed the box toward Morgan. “Go ahead.”
Morgan stared at it. It wasn’t very big, not much bigger than a couple of decks of cards.
“It doesn’t look like it could hold much of a treasure.” Fiona sounded disappointed.
“You can say that again. I was wondering if there might be more in the holes,” Morgan said. “I mean a tiny box like this hardly seems worth all the trouble we’ve had with these pirate guys and everything.”
“Are you going to open it and find out, or what?” Jolene’s fingers drummed on the counter.
Morgan looked at the front. This one didn’t have a lock like the last one, it had a button. Morgan pressed it and the lid flew open. Her stomach dropped—the box was empty except for a brittle piece of paper.
Fiona, Jolene, Cal and Celeste bent their heads over the box to look inside.
“That’s it?” Jolene scrunched up her face.
“Maybe this one has a false bottom too?” Fiona crouched down so that the bottom of the box was eye level.
Morgan carefully picked out the piece of paper and laid it on the island in front of her. The faded swirly writing was similar to that in the journal.
You’ll find the key you seek beneath the tree we vowed our love.
“Oh geez, another cryptic clue. What the heck does that mean?” Jolene blew out a breath strong enough to cause her wavy bangs to puff out.
“I don’t know. What tree do you think it means?” Fiona asked.
“Who knows? That tree could be long gone by now—the note was written almost three hundred years ago,” Morgan pointed out.
Fiona picked up the box, inspecting it from all angles. “I don’t think there’s any hidden compartment in this one. Geez, what a letdown.”
“Yeah, I knew all this pirate stuff was silly,” Morgan added.
“Well, I guess it gives us something to think about,” Cal said. “In the meantime, I’m going to setup camp in the spare bedroom.”
“What?” Morgan scrunched her eyebrows at him. “Are you being stalked by one of your girlfriends and need to hide out here?”
Everyone giggled. Cal was known for being a ladies man but he often had a couple of girls going at the same time which sometimes got dangerous for him.
“No, Miss smarty pants. I’m staying here until you guys are out of danger. I don’t want to leave you guys alone to get attacked again.”
“And Jake is staying too. In fact, he should be here any minute,” Fiona added.
Morgan pursed her lips. Normally she would argue. As the oldest Blackmoore, she felt like she could take care of her sisters by herself, but her common sense prevailed. They’d already been attacked and broken into. Having two strong guys here couldn’t hurt.
“Okay. Thanks.” She smiled at Cal.
“Come on, I’ll help you pick out a room.” Celeste stood up. The house had twelve bedrooms. Some were closed off, but they still had quite a few guest rooms for Cal to choose from.
Morgan suppressed a yawn. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go upstairs and read or something. Maybe I’ll get an inspiration about what “the tree we vowed our love” means.”
“Let’s hope so,” Fiona said. “I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for pirates for much longer.”
Morgan nodded. “Or worrying about finding dead guys on the cliff.”
Chapter Sixteen
Morgan was surprised that she’d slept so well the night before. She hated to admit it, but knowing that Cal and Jake were in the house and Luke had an army of men watching them made her feel secure.
Too bad she hadn’t come up with any ideas about what the writing on the paper meant.
“I think today is going to be a good day,” Fiona said as she opened the door to Sticks and Stones.
“Well, no one tried to break in and no dead bodies appeared on the cliff, so it’s already shaping up to be pretty good in my eyes,” Morgan replied as she turned the sign on the door to “Open”.
“I have something for you.” Fiona rummaged in her jewelry case, coming up with a pendant on a chain. The stone was a rich honey brown, shaded from dark to light.
Morgan held her hand out and the gemstone sparked as one sister handed it to another.
“It’s tiger’s eye.” Fiona said. “It will help protect you.”
Morgan narrowed her eyes at the stone. A week ago she might have scoffed at the idea of a rock protecting her against anything, but after seeing Jolene’s wound heal so quickly and the odd things that had been happening, she didn’t know what to think anymore. She fastened the necklace around her neck as she looked out the back window of the shop.
“Hopefully I won’t need to be protected.”
Fiona shrugged. “Better safe, than sorry.”
Morgan pursed her lips as she looked into the forest behind the shop. The birds hopped between branches, squirrels scurried around on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something white streak by.
Was that who she thought it was?
She opened the window and poked her head out.
“What are you doing?” Fiona asked.
“You won’t believe who I thought I just saw.”
“In the woods? Who would be there? Oh wait … you don’t mean?”
“Yep, it’s her.”
Morgan stared at Belladonna who sat at the bottom of the ancient oak tree, staring back at her. This wasn’t the first time the cat had shown up here and Morgan had no idea how she even knew the way. Granted, it was only about a mile from their house, but Morgan’s stomach clenched at the thought of the cat running around in traffic.
Fiona came to the window. “I don’t know what gets into her.”
“Who knows?” Morgan shrugged. “I guess we should bring her inside. At least we can make sure she gets a ride home with us and isn’t out wandering the streets.”
Morgan went out through the back door of the cottage. Belladonna had started digging under the tree and scooted away from Morgan when she tried to pick her up.
“Belladonna, come.”
The cat ignored her.
“Want a treat?”
Belladonna dug even faster.
“You know cats don’t fall for that stuff.” Fiona said. “What is she digging for?”
“I have no idea. Probably a mouse or something.”
“Mew!” The cat glanced back at them then returned to digging.
“Well, it’s an old tree ...”
Morgan didn’t hear the rest of the sentence. She was busy looking up at the initials carved in the tree. Her heart jerked as if someone had zapped it with electricity.
You’ll find the key you seek beneath the tree we vowed our love.
“This is it!” Morgan’s mind whirled. Did they have any shovels here?
“Huh?” Fiona frowned at her.
“This is the tree from the clue in the box. Look at the initials.” She pointed upwards and Fiona bent her head back.
“IB and MB. Do you think that’s Isaiah Blackmoore?”
Morgan nodded. “Yep. This land has been in our family for generations. In fact, I think we owned all of it around here at one time.” Morg
an grabbed a hoe and trowel they used for putting flowers in the front garden from the side of the cottage.
“Here you use the hoe to loosen stuff up. I’ll dig with the trowel.” Morgan handed the hoe to Fiona.
Belladonna sat back and watched the sister’s dig. They fell into a rhythm, Fiona churning up the dirt and Morgan digging around after her.
Morgan was just starting to wonder if they should close the shop when her trowel scraped against metal.
“I’ve got something!”
She reached into the hole, her stomach flipping as her fingers slid over cold metal. She brushed away the dirt to reveal gleaming silver.
“What is it?” Fiona had squatted beside her.
“I think it’s a box.” Morgan wiggled the corner and it slid out of the dirt.
She held it up, feeling slightly disappointed. The box was small—smaller than the last one. It fit in the palm of her hand and was only about an inch high. The finish looked like a match to the last box, finely detailed silver in a flower pattern.
“That’s kind of small. What’s in it?” Fiona asked.
Morgan looked at the front. It had a push clasp, similar to the other box. She felt a stab of disappointment. The box was too small for any real treasure.
She pressed the clasp and the box popped open as if the hinges were just oiled yesterday. Morgan stared at the contents.
An old skeleton key sat gleaming on a blue velvet lining.
“A key?” Fiona asked.
“I wonder what it goes to?”
“I hope it’s something good, this treasure hunt is getting tedious.”
Morgan nodded. Maybe her ancestor had a warped sense of humor and all these clues led to nothing … or maybe the treasure had been taken years ago. But if it was, why would the treasure hunters be so keen to find it? They must have something pretty solid to think the treasure was still around.
Morgan felt the hairs on the back her neck stand up, her heart lurched. In her excitement of figuring out the clue, she’d forgotten that the treasure hunters could be watching.
“We better get inside,” she said glancing around. “They could be watching us and we don’t want them to know we dug up another clue.”
“Right,” Fiona said as they quickly shoved the dirt back into place, then scurried in the back door, leaving the trowel and hoe leaning against the cottage. Belladonna squeaked through in between their feet and found a sunny spot to curl up and sleep in.
The girls stood in the center of the shop looking at the shiny key that lay flat in the palm of Morgan’s hand.
“I wonder what it goes to?” Morgan asked.
“I hope it’s something good, this treasure hunt is getting tedious.”
“The logical place to look would be—”
Morgan was interrupted by the sound of the door being jerked open. The girls swiveled their heads toward the door and Morgan’s stomach dropped when she saw a giant of a man standing inside the door way.
“I’ll take that,” The giant said as he turned the shop sign to “Closed” and slammed the door shut.
Morgan closed her hand and took a step backwards as the man lunged for the key. Her heart pounded as he advanced on them, backing the girls further into the shop.
“Hand it over and I won’t have to hurt ‘ya.” His harsh, angry voice sent chills up Morgan’s spine.
“No,” she said.
His eyebrows shot up and his face turned red, then he lurched forward grabbing for her arm.
Some of Celeste’s quick moves must have worn off on her because Morgan shot her elbow out at the exact right moment and it connected with his nose making a sickening crunching sound.
Blood spurted out of the giant’s nose and his hands flew up to cover it. He bent forward at the waist, stumbled and stepped on Belladonna’s tail.
Belladonna screeched and flew through the air, landing on his back with her claws fully extended.
He let out a wail, flailing with one hand toward his back as he straightened up. Morgan saw Belladonna slide down his back, leaving a trail of claw marks. He spun around, reaching for the cat.
“Damn cat!”
Belladonna flew up to the top of the bookcase and sat there hissing and spitting at him. Out of the corner of her eye, Morgan could see Fiona grappling behind her, her hands flailing around the display where she kept her geodes. Her right hand found the largest one which was about twice the size of a candlepin bowling ball.
The giant turned his attention back toward the girls. His face was twisted in anger as he closed the distance between them quicker than seemed humanly possible.
His arm shot out toward Morgan. Her heart lurched in her chest as his large hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. She tried to struggle, but that only made it worse, her vision started to fade. Pin pricks of stars floated in front of her eyes as she watched Fiona smash the geode right into the giant’s face.
He went down with a crash and lay still on the floor.
Morgan sucked in a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Fiona stared at her.
“Yeah.” Her voice sounded raspy and her fingers flew to her throat which felt raw.
“We better tie him up in case he wakes up before I can call Luke,” Morgan said, thankful she had put Luke’s card in her pocket this morning before work.
Fiona ripped open a drawer and pulled out some twine. “I hope he’s not dead.” She looked at him uncertainly.
Morgan bent over the still body. Belladonna hopped onto his stomach and sat there.
“He’s breathing. He’s not dead.” Morgan held her hand out for the twine. She had no idea how to tie someone up to restrain them but she’d have to do her best.
“Help me flip him over, then we can tie his arms behind him.”
The girls got on one side and pried him over on to his back. Morgan caught a glimpse of Fiona’s wrist as they pushed him over and her heartbeat quickened. The stones on Fiona’s bracelet were glowing.
“Look at your bracelet!”
Fiona looked down. “What the heck? It’s never done that before.”
The girls were staring down at the bracelet when the door to their shop jerked open a second time.
Chapter Seventeen
Morgan’ss heart jolted and she ripped her gaze away from the bracelet, bracing herself for another fight.
“Luke!”
“What happened? Are you okay?”
Luke was at her side in a second, his green eyes clouded with concern.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice still a little raspy. Then she motioned toward the giant on the floor. ‘This guy must be one of those treasure hunters.”
“Your throat—it’s all red. Did he hurt you?” Luke put his hand tenderly on her neck to inspect it. Morgan’s pulse quickened, a warm glow spreading throughout her body.
Her hand flew up to her throat on instinct. “He tried to strangle me, but I’m okay.”
Luke stared at her for a few seconds more, and then narrowed his eyes at the guy on the floor.
“What did he want?”
Morgan caught Fiona’s glance and knew her sister was right. It was time to tell Luke everything.
“Remember the box we dug up yesterday?” Morgan asked as Luke opened the door, making hand motions apparently to someone outside.
“Yes.” He glanced at her while he held the door open for three guys who got busy tying up the giant.
“It only had a piece of paper in it, but that paper was a clue,” Fiona added.
“A clue that led us to the giant tree out back. We dug around and found this.” Morgan opened her fist to show him the key.
“What does it go to?” Luke asked.
“We don’t know.” Morgan flipped the key over. “We’ve been going on some sort of treasure hunt. First we found a passage in this old journal we had in the attic. That led us to an old box that had a map in it. We followed the map and dug the holes yesterday, which had another box where the clue
was to dig under the tree here.”
Luke raised his eyebrows at her. “And the dead pirate in your yard. What do you know about him?”
“Nothing,” Morgan said. “Well, except that Overton said he was found with a manifest from a ship called the Ocean’s Revenge that was supposedly captained by some relative of ours. That’s why we went to look in the journal in the attic in the first place.”
Luke nodded. “Is there anything else I should know?”
Morgan shook her head.
“Well, there is one thing … maybe two,” Fiona interjected. “Morgan and Celeste were attacked the other day.”
“Yeah, I saw that. Celeste has a mean karate kick.”
“So, you were there,” Morgan said.
“Yep, we’ve been here watching things for a while.” Luke stepped aside to let the men drag the giant outside. “What was the other thing?”
“Oh, I think Fiona is talking about the boats, right?” Morgan cocked an eyebrow at her sister.
“Yep. A customer said she saw boats going back and forth in the water around the entrance to the cove at two in the morning,” Fiona explained.
Luke frowned. “Have you seen the boats? How many nights did they do this?”
“We haven’t seen them.” Morgan looked at Fiona. “I think it was only one night, right?”
Fiona nodded. “As far as I know.”
Luke rubbed his chin. “They were probably trolling for sunken treasure.”
“That’s what Jake said!”
Luke nodded. “Sometimes pirates would sink their ships on purpose in an out of the way place so no one else would get the treasure. They would come back and retrieve it later. The treasure hunters were looking for a sunken ship … but if they haven’t come back that probably means they didn’t find any evidence of one.”
“So then why are they still bugging us?” Fiona asked.
“They didn’t find any evidence in the water. But they sure do think there is something in this area, so now they are going to focus on the land.”
2 Dead & Buried Page 9
