“How do you figure that?” Jolene’s forehead pleated as she looked at her sister.
“Well, he was the one that told Celeste to look near Shorty’s homestead. If he hadn’t done that, we would have never found the pink ring or met Emma. And if that never happened, we might never have gotten Emma to trust us with the letters.”
Jolene nodded. “True, I guess he did help our cause.”
“Seems like he and Sheriff Kane would have gotten along just fine,” Cal said. “Did they ever find Kane?”
Emma shook her head. “Nope. Just like that FBI guy said, he must have gotten wind of what was going on and high-tailed it out of here.”
“That explains why Buzz and Gordy saw him loading his car with boxes and head out on the highway when I had them tailing him,” Luke said. “Too bad I didn’t know what he was really up to or I could have had them stop him.”
“What was he doing with all those guns, anyway?” Fiona asked.
Luke shrugged. “Turns out he was selling them to militant groups … illegally of course. He was using his connections in law enforcement to get used guns cheap and selling them to the groups for a profit. It can be quite lucrative.”
“No doubt,” Cal said. “And he had the perfect place to store them—in the old gold mines.”
“Yep, the railway carts were still there and he could stockpile the guns inside the mine and then when he made a sale, he used the carts to move them out to trucks waiting at the entrance of the mine,” Luke added.
“So, was Dixie really making up all the stuff about Kane trying to close the hotel?” Morgan asked.
“Well, not everything,” Jake said. “When I finally handed her over to Deputy—I mean Sheriff—Styles I found out that Kane really was trying to drive her out. Just as we suspected, he didn’t want people anywhere near the mines and, even though the hotel was far away, it was on the one road that led to them. Guess he figured his operation would be safer if no one was on that road to see his comings and goings.”
“But she did make up the part about the rezoning meeting,” Luke added. “She used that as an alibi. Of course if we’d double-checked that we might have suspected she was up to something sooner.”
“But she seemed so nice,” Celeste said. “I felt sorry for her … we even wanted to invest some money in the hotel!”
“Unfortunately her mamma had a big influence on her.” Emma’s face hardened and her eyes got a faraway look. “Dixie’s mother was my second cousin … or something like that. Anyway, she was an angry, bitter person and for some reason she hated my father. I never got the real story, but somehow she got my grandparents to turn against my father.”
Jolene’s heart tugged at the sad look on Emma’s face.
“She carried a lot of bitterness and hatred her whole life. I guess it just ate away at her and she ended up going over the edge. She was obsessed with getting back what she thought was rightfully hers” Emma said. “I guess she meant the necklace and whatever else was stolen in the robberies.”
“Ironically, she would have gotten it anyway,” Luke answered. “My employers return any treasure recovered to the rightful owners provided they have indisputable evidence.”
Jolene narrowed her eyes at Luke. “Well, if that’s the case, won’t the necklace go to Emma, now? Or at least to the other descendants of the Vanderbeek woman?”
Luke smiled. “Yes it will. In fact, I’ve already looked into it and it appears Emma is the only direct descendant left. I’ve talked to my boss and he’s arranging it so you get the necklace.”
Jolene felt her heart swell as she looked at Emma. “Emma, that necklace is worth millions!”
Emma smiled. “Well I can’t say I have much use for millions—I’ll probably donate most of it to the local animal shelter. Money don’t mean much to me. I’m more grateful that you girls found out the truth about my family and found this.” Emma held up the little diary they’d found hidden in the old grave marker.
“There’s one thing that bugs me,” Morgan said. “Why didn’t Lily ever look for the treasure?”
Emma tapped the diary on her hand. “In here it says she hated that treasure for everything it caused her. She didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“Did she say Deke forced her to marry him?” Fiona asked.
“In a way,” Emma replied. “She really felt she had no other choice. Deke had promised to make life miserable for her if she refused. And she was pregnant. Of course, she didn’t let Deke know about that. She suspected he was the robber all along, but after she married him she found out he was for sure.”
“So she took the key and handed it down to her granddaughter.” Fiona said it more as a statement than a question.
“Yes. And she made sure Deke would never enjoy the treasure,” Emma said grimly.
“With the wolfsbane she grew in her garden?” Morgan raised a brow at Emma.
Emma nodded. “She did what she had to do.”
“Well everything seems to be much clearer now.” Celeste pursed her lips. “Except the part about Mateo being a guest at the hotel and showing up in the mine.”
“I guess he was the one asking about us in the bar,” Jolene said. “Unless that was another thing that Kyle made up. But I still think it’s strange that he’d be at the hotel and not let us know. I mean why all the mystery?”
“Yeah, and he sure cleared out of there fast,” Fiona said. “I would have liked to have thanked him for his help, but he was gone before we got back … almost like he was never there in the first place … like some sort of ghost.”
“He sure is mysterious,” Morgan added. “But don’t worry, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again.”
“Well, now that I’ve read the diary, I think it really belongs back in here.” Emma squatted down beside the headstone, now firmly set in place, and pulled open a hidden drawer, just like the one in the original marker. She slid the diary in, then slipped the key from the chain on her neck and added that. Cal bent down and added the paper that held the key to decoding the symbols.
“Well, I guess that’s it, then.” Celeste patted the top of the headstone and turned to walk away. “Rest in peace, Shorty. Our job here is done.”
Jolene picked up Belladonna’s carrier eliciting an angry meow from the cat and followed them to the cars that were parked several feet away at the edge of the cemetery.
They bid Emma good-bye and Jolene loaded Belladonna into the Escalade, and then piled in with her sisters while the Luke and Jake took the Jeep.
Jolene settled into the back seat as Fiona, who had wrestled the keys from Morgan on the way out of the hotel, drove away from the ghost town.
“Well this was certainly an interesting trip.” Morgan twisted in the passenger seat to face Jolene and Celeste in the back.
“That’s for sure,” Celeste answered.
Jolene saw Morgan’s eyes narrow as they drifted to her throat and her hands flew up there instinctively. She felt the cold metal of the necklace she was wearing—a silver heart shaped locket with a garnet stone.
“Where did you get that?” Morgan’s brows creased in a V as she reached out to touch the locket.
“I found Belladonna batting it around in the room when I was packing this morning,” Jolene said, a strange feeling taking root in her stomach as she leaned forward in her seat to let Morgan inspect the locket. “It must have been in the suitcase, I guess.”
Jolene saw a shadow passed over Morgan’s eyes. “That’s just like the one Mom always wore.”
“It is?” Jolene frowned down at the locket. She’d been a self-absorbed teenager when her mother died and hadn’t noticed the jewelry she wore. Well, not consciously anyway, but that explained why the locket had seemed so familiar when she first saw it.
Celeste leaned forward to look at the necklace and Jolene heard her sharp intake of breath. She saw Fiona angle the rear-view mirror so that she could get a look at it too. “It is!” both sisters said at once.
<
br /> “But that’s impossible.” Morgan's voice trembled. “She was wearing it when …”
Morgan's voice trailed off and Jolene’s stomach twisted. Her mother had jumped to her death from the cliffs outside their seaside home, and if she’d been wearing this necklace ... well, it would have been smashed on the rocks or lying at the bottom of the ocean.
“Well, there are probably plenty of lockets that look like it. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” Fiona said.
“Right, of course.” The relief was evident in Morgan’s eyes.
“Yeah, it couldn’t be the same locket … that would just be too weird,” Celeste said.
Right. It was just a strange coincidence, Jolene thought as she sank back into her seat and tried to squelch the nervousness that lapped at her stomach.
As she stared out at the passing desert scenery, she tried to convince herself there was no reason to get nervous over a crazy coincidence.
And she might have succeeded too, except there was just one problem … she didn’t believe in coincidences.
The end.
***
Want more Blackmoore Sister’s adventures? Buy the rest of the books in the series For Your Kindle:
Dead Wrong (Book 1)
Dead & Buried (Book 2)
Dead Tide (Book 3)
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About The Author
Leighann Dobbs discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty. When she’s not reading, gardening or selling antiques, she likes to write romance and cozy mystery novels and novelettes which are perfect for the busy person on the go.
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More Books By Leighann Dobbs:
Lexy Baker
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Killer Cupcakes
Dying For Danish
Murder, Money and Marzipan
3 Bodies and a Biscotti
Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys
Bake, Battle & Roll
Wedded Blintz
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Blackmoore Sisters
Cozy Mystery Series
* * *
Dead Wrong
Dead & Buried
Dead Tide
-------
Dobbs “Fancytales”
Regency Romance Fairytales Series
* * *
Something In Red
Snow White and the Seven Rogues
Dancing On Glass
The Beast of Edenmaine
-------
Contemporary
Romance
* * *
Sweet Escapes
Reluctant Romance
A Note From The Author
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. This is the fourth book in the Blackmoore sisters mystery series and I have a whole bunch more planned!
The setting for this book is a fictional old west Ghost town. Dead Water doesn’t exist in real life (only my imagination). I created it after doing research on various ‘real-life’ ghost towns, so if some of it sounds familiar, that might be why.
The first three books in the series are based on one of my favorite places in the world - Ogunquit Maine. Of course, I changed some of the geography around to suit my story, and changed the name of the town to Noquitt but the basics are there. Anyone familiar with Ogunquit will recognize some of the landmarks I have in the book.
Also, if you like cozy mysteries, you might like my book “Brownies, Bodies & Bad Guys” which is part of my Lexy Baker cozy mystery series. I have an excerpt from it at the end of this book.
This book has been through many edits with several people and even some software programs, but since nothing is infallible (even the software programs) you might catch a spelling error or mistake and, if you do, I sure would appreciate it if you let me know - you can contact me at [email protected].
Oh, and I love to connect with my readers so please do visit me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leighanndobbsbooks or at my website http://www.leighanndobbs.com.
Are you signed up to get notifications of my latest releases and special contests? Go to: http://www.leighanndobbs.com/newsletter and enter your email address to signup - I promise never to share it and I only send emails every couple of weeks so I won’t fill up your inbox.
***
Excerpt From Brownies, Bodies and Bad Guys:
Lexy sat at one of the cafe tables next to the picture window in her bakery, The Cup and Cake, admiring how the princess cut center stone of her engagement ring sparkled in the midmorning sunlight. She sighed with contentment, holding her hand up and turning the ring this way and that as she marveled at the rainbow of colors that emerged when it caught the light at different angles.
Her thoughts drifted to her fiance, Jack Perillo. Tall, hunky and handsome, her heart still skipped a beat when he walked in the room even though they’d been dating for over a year. Lexy had met Jack, a police detective in their small town, when she’d been accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend. She’d been proven innocent, of course, and she and Jack had been seeing each other ever since. And now they were getting married.
Movement on the other side of the street caught her attention, pulling her away from her thoughts. Her eyes widened in surprise—it was Jack! What was he doing here?
Lexy felt a zing in her stomach. Jack wasn’t alone. Lexy’s eyes narrowed as she craned her neck to get a better look. He was with a woman. A tall, leggy blonde who was clinging to him like tissue paper clings to panty hose.
Lexy stood up pressing closer to the window, her joy in the ring all but forgotten. Her heart constricted when she saw how the leggy blonde was pawing at Jack, giggling up into his face. Who the hell was she? They looked very familiar with each other. Clearly Jack knew her … and it seemed he knew her well.
Jack and the blonde started to walk down the street, out of view. Lexy pushed herself away from the window, stumbling over a chair in her haste to get to the doorway. She spun around, righting the chair, then turned, sprinting toward the door.
She reached out for the handle, jerking back in surprise as the door came racing toward her, almost smacking her in the face.
Standing in the doorway was her grandmother, Mona Baker, or Nans as Lexy called her. But instead of her usual cheery appearance, Nans looked distraught. Lexy could see lines of anxiety creasing her face and her normally sparkly green eyes were dark with worry.
Lexy’s stomach sank. “Nans, what’s the matter?”
“Lexy, come quick,” Nans said, putting her hand on Lexy’s elbow and dragging her out the door. “Ruth’s been arrested!”
###
“Arrested? For what?” Lexy asked, as Nans propelled her down the street toward her car.
“Nunzio Bartolli was found dead. They think Ruth might have something to do with it!”
Lexy wrinkled her brow. Ruth was one of Nans’s best friends. They both lived at the retirement center in town and along with two of their other friends, Ida and Helen, they amused themselves by playing amateur detective solving various crimes and mysteries. The older women were full of spunk and could be a handful, but Lexy had a hard time believing any of them would be involved in a murder. They thrived on solving murders, not committing them.
“What? How would Ruth even know him?” Lexy opened the door to her VW beetle and slipped into the driver’s seat as Nans buckled up in the passenger seat.
“Nunzio was a resident at t
he Brook Ridge Retirement Center.”
Lexy raised her brows. “He was? I heard he had ties to organized crime.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. He seemed like a nice man.” Nans shrugged, then waved her hand. “Now let’s get a move on!”
Lexy pulled out into the street, glancing over at the area where she had seen Jack. She slowed down as she drove by, craning her neck to look down the side street where she thought they had gone, but they were nowhere to be seen.
“Can you speed it up? Ruth needs us.” Nans fidgeted in the passenger seat.
“Right. Sorry.” Lexy felt a pang of guilt. Of course, helping Ruth was more important than finding out what Jack was up to. It was probably nothing but her overactive imagination anyway. Lexy decided to push the leggy blonde from her mind and focus on Ruth.
“So what happened?”
“I’m not really sure. Ida said the police knocked on Ruth’s door early this morning and took her in,” Nans said, then turned sharply in her seat. “We should call Jack and see if he can help her. Why didn’t I think of that before?”
Lexy’s stomach clenched at the sound of her fiance’s name. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to call Jack right now, especially with the image of him and the blonde fresh in her mind. Should she confront him or let it slide?
If it was innocent, which it probably was, she’d just make a fool out of herself by confronting him. It was probably a good idea to let some time pass before she talked to him. Lexy was afraid her impulsive nature might cause her to blurt something out she might regret later.
“Hopefully, he’ll be at the station. I should call Cassie back at the bakery though, and tell her I’ve gone out for a while. She’ll probably be wondering where I disappeared to.” Lexy picked up her cell phone just as she pulled into the parking lot at the police station.
4 Buried Secrets Page 13
