Dead Tide (Blackmoore Sisters Romantic Cozy Mystery Series)
Page 8
Belladonna was already at the door, arching her back and hissing. Celeste shoved her aside and ripped the door open, her heart plummeting when she saw Overton standing on the other side, his fat knuckles raised toward the door in mid-knock.
“What do you want?” She glared at the sheriff.
He rocked back on his heels, a satisfied smirk spreading across his face as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
“I wouldn’t be so uppity if I were you.” He waved the paper in her face. “You and that dark haired sister of yours are suspects in a murder case and this here is a warrant to search the premises.”
Celeste’s heart skipped. “Murder? What murder?”
“Reinhardt Skinner.” Overton tried to push his way past her into the house, his foul breath assaulting her nose, the toothpick wiggling up and down between his lips as he stared at her with rheumy eyes.
Celeste barred his way by wedging her body in the door, her hip on one side and her arm stretched across to the other. “What? We didn’t kill Skinner—a dozen people saw me sitting with him when he died. And I tried to revive him!”
“Conveniently sitting with him when he was poisoned, you mean?” Overton raised a bushy brow at her.
“What? That’s ridiculous. You can’t get a search warrant on that flimsy evidence. You have no legitimate reason to suspect me or Morgan!”
Overton’s laugh chilled Celeste’s blood. “Actually, I have two. Skinner was poisoned with aconite … that’s a poison that comes from a plant. Wolfsbane. That plant is growing right out in your garden.”
He paused, jerking his head in the direction of Morgan’s herb garden. Celeste pressed her lips together. Was that the toxic plant Morgan had warned her against?
“And if that wasn’t enough,” Overton continued on, “We found your fingerprints, and those of your sister, all over Skinner’s office.”
Chapter Fourteen
Overton tried to push Celeste out of the way, but she held her ground. They were grappling in the doorway like a pair of angry lovers when Delphine Jones’ Toyota Camry skidded to a stop in the driveway.
Overton stopped battling Celeste and they both turned to see Delphine leap out of her car and run up the walkway. Her loose purple jacket flying out behind, her reminding Celeste of a super-hero come to save the day. How did she know to come here at the exact right time?
“You hold it right there Overton!” Delphine narrowed her eyes at the sheriff and received an unfriendly scowl in return.
Delphine was the area’s best lawyer and had helped the Blackmoore girls on several occasions, most of which involved Overton wrongly accusing them of something and trying to put them in jail. Delphine and Overton were arch-enemies, the feisty attorney never missed an opportunity to make him miserable.
“I have a warrant.” Overton held up the papers.
“Let me see that.” Delphine grabbed at them and Overton handed them over reluctantly.
Jake’s Suburban came racing into the driveway, stopping beside Delphine’s car. Morgan, Fiona and Jake tumbled out, charging up the steps to join them.
“Are you okay?” Morgan asked Celeste.
Celeste nodded. “What are you guys doing here?”
“I heard about the warrant being issued,” Jake said earning a venomous glare from Overton. “Fiona called Delphine and we got here as fast as we could.”
“There’s a problem with these.” Delphine looked up at Overton. “I’m afraid you’ll have to come back later with the proper papers.”
Overton frowned at the petite attorney. “What do you mean? Everything should be in order. I had judge Sanderson sign it and everything.”
“Yes, but he didn’t sign in the right place.” Delphine pointed to a spot on the paper.
“What? That’s just a technicality," Overton sputtered, his face turning red.
Delphine shrugged, handing the papers to him. “Well, we have to follow the letter of the law. I’m afraid you’ll have to get Sanderson to sign it properly before I can let you invade my clients’ home.”
Overton’s face twisted with anger as he grabbed the papers from Delphine. “Have it your way. But I will be back this afternoon and I will find the evidence I need.”
He fixed Celeste with an angry glare as he stormed down the steps and into his squad car where two of his uniformed officers had been waiting.
They watched him drive off then Delphine turned to Celeste. “What’s this about?”
Celeste puffed out her cheeks. “As usual, Overton wants to pin a murder on us. This time it’s Reinhardt Skinner, a historian we hired to look at one of the old journals we found in the attic.”
“He was murdered? What evidence does he have to tie it to you?”
“He was poisoned," Celeste said. “According to Overton, the killer used aconite.”
Morgan’s breath hitched. “Aconite? But that’s from the wolfsbane plant.”
“Yeah, and Overton said we have that in our garden.”
“We do," Morgan said. “It has certain medicinal properties, but if abused can be toxic.”
“So he got a search warrant based on the fact you have this plant growing in your garden? Is it uncommon?” Delphine swiveled her head between Celeste and Morgan.
“Not really,” Morgan said. “I mean not everyone would have it but I’m sure this isn’t the only place in Maine where the plant is growing.”
“That wasn’t the only thing," Celeste said. “He also found our fingerprints in Skinner’s office.”
Celeste saw realization spread across Morgan’s face. “From when we were there looking for the book?”
Celeste nodded.
“But that seems flimsy too," Morgan said. “We hired him so it makes perfect sense we would have been in his office.”
Celeste was glad she left off the part about how their trip to his office had been after he died.
“You’re right. Both of those are flimsy.” Delphine waved her arms like a purple bird. “But somehow Overton got a judge to sign off on a search warrant. I don’t doubt that he’s up to no good though—I’ve suspected that since he came to this town.”
“Me too,” Jake said.
“Well at least, you got rid of him for now.” Celeste looked at her watch. “But I wonder how long it will take for him to come back. He only needs to go across town to see the judge. He could be back in an hour.”
“Oh, he won’t be back today.” A sly smile spread across Delphine’s face. “I happen to know that Sanderson is playing golf all afternoon. He won’t be back in chambers until tomorrow morning.”
Celeste’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “That’s great. So we have the rest of the day. Although I don’t know what we need it for. We aren’t guilty of anything. But somehow I feel like Overton is going to find something to make us look guilty and we have to figure out what it is and make sure we don’t have it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back here first thing to make sure he doesn’t overstep his bounds and to counter any of his bogus findings," Delphine assured them.
“Well, thanks so much for coming. You’re a life saver.” Celeste hugged the other woman and they went through a round of good-byes before Delphine got into her Toyota and sped off.
Fiona turned to the others, her arms spread at her sides. “Now what do we do?”
Celeste puffed out her cheeks. “I guess the only thing we can do is go over what we know about Skinner and this whole treasure business so we’re prepared to deal with anything Overton may come up with.”
“We need this like a hole in the head, what with the pirates coming in three days.” Morgan glanced nervously toward the ocean.
“I wish I knew why Overton was so hell bent on pestering you guys," Jake said.
“Me too.” Celeste’s stomach churned and she remembered how hungry she was. “Let’s call Luke and Cal and see if we can get their input. I could use a snack while we are waiting for them. Anyone want some wheat grass juice
?”
Chapter Fifteen
No one else wanted wheat grass juice, so Celeste made some for herself and then filled a bucket with water to soak her feet which were black with the dirt from the cellar floor. She was relaxing on the front porch swing with her feet in the bucket when Cal’s mustang pulled into the driveway.
He looked comfortable in worn jeans and a half zipped faded blue hoodie over a navy blue tee shirt. The night was cool, but not cold. The ocean breeze ruffled his hair slightly as he walked up the porch steps. When he sat down on the swing beside her, Celeste felt a wave of relief spread over her. Cal always made things seem better when they were going wrong … and things were going very wrong right now.
“What’s with the feet?” He gestured toward the bucket.
“Oh, I had to go rescue Belladonna in the basement and I was barefoot. It’s a dirt floor down there and my feet were filthy. I’m trying to get them clean, but I think they might be turning into prunes by now.” She lifted one foot halfway out frowning at the puckered white skin.
Cal leaned over, grabbed her foot and wrapped it in the towel she’d had beside her on the swing just for that purpose. He rubbed it dry, then put it in his lap and massaged it gently, causing a flurry of strange tingly sensations to flood Celeste’s belly. Which was odd because she’d never felt this way before. Well, at least not with Cal. He was a friend, nothing more. Besides, he had way too many women on his plate as it was and she didn’t want to be just another notch. Her odd feelings were likely just a reaction to all this crazy stuff going on around them anyway.
She pulled her foot away, her heart crunching at the hurt look on his face.
“So what did you guys want to talk about?” he asked.
She took her other foot out of the bucket and grabbed the towel, rubbing the foot dry as she told him about Luke’s discovery that the pirates were going to come at low tide in three days.
“Yeah, I remember reading something about that. It will be the lowest it’s ever been, but why is that significant?”
Celeste shrugged. “I have no idea. All we can figure is that the treasure might be somewhere that you can only get to at the low tide.”
“Would the low tide expose some sort of beach or sandbar? You know, one that would be impossible to dig out when it was underwater?”
Celeste straightened in the seat. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’m not sure where one would be though—I’ve never seen an exposed beach or sandbar. The water all around here is over fifty feet deep. Do you think the tide could get lower than that?
“Don’t know. I’ve never really looked at the shore during low tide here. When I swim, I go to Noquitt beach, but you know how far the low tide goes out there—stands to reason the same would happen here.”
Celeste shook her head. “When we were little girls, we played near the water all the time and we never saw a sandbar. But maybe the tide was never anywhere near this low.”
“Right.” Cal studied her. “Did something else happen? You look really stressed.”
Celeste told Cal about Overton’s visit, her stomach sinking lower and lower as she relayed everything that happened. When she finished, she was practically in tears.
“I’m sure he’ll be coming here first thing tomorrow and we’ll have to deal with that while trying to figure out where the treasure is before the pirates get here.”
Cal put his arm around her, pulling her in close. His arm felt warm and comforting and a little more than just friendly.
“Don’t worry. Between all of us, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” His sapphire eyes studied hers, his free hand coming up to trace the line of her bottom lip causing her stomach to flip over.
“But what if he arrests us?” she whispered.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t," Cal said. Then he leaned in and the next thing she knew his lips were brushing hers.
Celeste felt like time had stopped. Her lips seemed to have a mind of their own as they reacted to Cal’s kiss by pressing closer against his. They surprised her by parting slightly and her tongue, which apparently had its own ideas, darted out to meet his.
She sighed and relaxed into the kiss, listening to the evening sound of crickets, smelling the clean scent of ocean breeze and tasting the spicy taste of Cal’s lips.
And then her brain kicked into gear. What was she doing? Cal was like a brother to her—although there was nothing brotherly about his kiss, or the way his hands were starting to explore her body. She had to admit, it wasn’t all that unpleasant. She realized it had been way too long since she’d dated anyone.
But, the last thing she needed right now was to get involved with someone—especially someone who had a “little black book” the size of the bible. She needed Cal as a friend more than anything. Plus she wasn’t interested in a short fling with anyone, and certainly not with someone as important to her as he was.
Her brain managed to get a signal through to her hand, which she discovered had somehow entangled itself in Cal’s hair, and she put her palm flat on his chest. She felt the warmth through his shirt … and hard muscle. She briefly wondered what the rest of him felt like but then common sense took over and she pushed harder with her palm.
Cal broke the kiss, looking at her with confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Celeste raised her brows. “Wrong? You kissed me.”
Cal smiled, leaning in for more. “Yes, and I plan to do it again.”
Celeste scrambled away from him. “I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“We’re friends. I don’t want to screw that up.”
Cal bit his lip, his eyes clouding over with something. Disappointment? He reached over and took her hand. “We could be more than friends …”
Celeste pulled her hand away and shot up out of the chair.
“I don’t think so. I’m not one of your disposable girlfriends. I would hope you would think more of me,” she said, then turned and ran into the house.
“Celeste wait," he called after her. “I do think more of you.”
She didn’t hear him. Her mind was whirling with emotions and questions. Part of her wanted to run as far away as her legs would take her but with everything going on here, she couldn’t let her sister’s down. She slowed her pace and stilled her mind, then headed for the informal living room. Her ears vaguely registered the sound of the front door opening behind her as she entered the room.
***
Luke, Jake and her three sisters were gathered in the informal living room. They lounged in the overstuffed chairs and on the sofa. Fiona had a piece of paper and a pencil and they looked like they had been busy formulating a plan at one time. Except now everyone was staring at her … or did it just feel that way?
“Is everything okay?” Morgan asked.
The heat crept up Celeste’s neck into her cheeks. “Yes. Fine. What’s going on?”
“I thought I heard someone yelling," Luke said.
“Oh, hi Luke. When did you get here?” Celeste asked trying to turn the focus of the conversation away from her.
“I’ve only been here a few minutes. Came in the kitchen door.”
Cal came into the room just then and Celeste skirted behind the chairs standing, arms crossed, next to the window on the other side of the room.
Celeste noticed her sisters ping-ponging their eyes between her and Cal and her cheeks got hotter.
“So, are you guys working on a plan?” She asked hoping to steer the conversation to something important.
“Well, the way I see it, we have two problems. Overton’s search tomorrow and the bigger problem of these treasure hunting pirates," Jake said.
“Whatever the pirates are after can only be accessed at this really low tide that is happening in three days," Luke said. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t actually come here sooner. My men have been able to get some more information from the guys we caught at the hotel and it’s worse than we thought.”
“They work for a particularly nasty fellow named Goldlinger." Luke took a deep breath. “We’ve tangled with him before and he’s not afraid to have his minions kill to get what he wants. I’m afraid they might come early and try to get you girls out of the way.”
“By out of the way, you mean kill us, right?” Jolene asked.
“Afraid so.”
“Wait a minute,” Jake said. “What did you say the guy’s name was?”
“Goldlinger.”
Jake pursed his lips. “When I worked for Overton, I used to eavesdrop outside his office. I knew he was up to something and I figured the more ammunition I had about him the better. I heard him addressing someone on the other end of the phone as Goldlinger—not once but several times.”
Celeste’s heart kicked. “You don’t think Overton is in on it with this Goldlinger guy?”
Jake shrugged. “It sure would explain a lot.”
“Yes, it would,” Morgan said. “Like why he’s always trying to put us in jail.”
“To get us out of the way,” Fiona added.
“And that might be why he’s so keen on getting this search warrant,” Cal said. “If he is in on it with Goldlinger, he might be trying to search the house for the journal or other clues.”
“Right." Jolene leaned forward in her chair, elbows on knees. “We know they have the notebook they took from Skinner’s and possibly the cypher key—the poetry book—but they probably don’t have all the pieces to piece together the location of this big find of Skinner’s”
“Ironically, they’re in the same boat as us,” Jake said. “We have the pieces they need and they have the pieces we need.”
“And Overton could be after those pieces," Celeste said. “He’s probably not even looking for anything to do with Skinners death—he’s coming to search the house for clues to the treasure.”