by David Wood
“So, you never told me what you were doing here,” he said without preamble.
“I came here looking for you.” Avery bit her lip. “It’s about your father and his research.”
The color drained from Maddock’s face. He looked at her, nonplussed. It was an odd expression for a man who, minutes before, had bravely scaled a wall to rescue her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know much about his research, and he’s been dead for years.”
“Please.” She felt a lump forming in her throat. “I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. Could we, maybe, meet somewhere and discuss it, at least? It’s a long story and it might take a while to tell it.”
Maddock and Bones looked at one another, as if each were reading the other’s thoughts. Finally, Bones gave a shrug and nodded.
“All right,” Maddock said. “No promises, but you name the time and place and we’ll be there.”
Chapter 2
“Oh, come on.” Avery balled her fist and pounded the dashboard of her Ford Ranger. She found the loud thump satisfying. Not so satisfying was the hot air that continued to pour out of the vents. She supposed punching the dash wasn’t air conditioning repair 101, but it was her only option at the moment. She’d just have to roll down the windows and deal with it.
Springtime in Kidd’s Cross with no air. This would do wonders for her hair. Was she fated to look like a slob every time she and Maddock met?
Already imagining rivulets of sweat pouring down her back, she pulled into the parking lot of the Spinning Crab, narrowly missing a drunk college kid who reeled into her path. He shouted and gave her the finger, but froze when their eyes met.
Avery rolled down the window as she guided the little pickup into the nearest empty parking space.
“Let me guess,” she called to the dumbstruck young man. “You’re telling me I’m your number one professor.”
The boy grinned sheepishly.
“Sorry Miss Halsey. I guess I had a couple too many.”
“Don’t forget you’ve got an exam coming up. I think it would be a good idea for you to impress me, if you get my meaning.”
The young man nodded and hurried away amid the good-natured ribbing of his friends. Considering the quality of his academic performance so far this semester, Billy Dorne wasn’t likely to impress her or anyone else with his brilliance, but maybe the dunce would at least crack a book.
She killed the engine and checked her hair and makeup in the rear-view mirror. Not as bad as she’d feared. She just needed to get inside before she started sweating like a pig.
“All right, Avery,” she said to herself as she climbed out of her truck. “You know what’s at stake. Time to sell this baby.”
“Ave, what are you doing here?”
“Rodney, what a surprise.” Avery turned to face her ex-boyfriend and his idiot friends. Now, as ever, she wondered why she’d ever consented to a single date with the man, much less four months of dating. Actually, she knew why. She was a lonely girl working in a college full of academics with sticks shoved so far up their... Anyway, Rodney had been a distraction. He was handsome and uncomplicated.
He was also a bully. She hadn’t seen it at first but, once she spotted the signs, she put the brakes on the relationship. In her mind, it was over. Rodney, however, didn’t see it that way.
“You really shouldn’t be coming alone to a place like this,” he said, folding his thick arms across his chest and smirking. “Drunk guys everywhere. You never know when you might run into someone with bad intentions.” He grinned with pride, as if he’d made a brilliant joke. Behind him, his buddies, Carl, Doug, and Reggie, guffawed.
Don’t encourage the buffoon, she thought.
“I’m not alone. I’m actually meeting someone. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She tried to move past him, but Rodney blocked her way.
“Meeting somebody?” Rodney’s voice rose an octave as the idiot chorus behind him began to ooh like a bunch of twelve year-olds. “One of those Einsteins from your work? You’d be safer going in there alone.”
“It’s none of your business who I’m meeting. Now, get out of the way. I’ve got an appointment and you’re going to make me late.”
“Cancel it.” Rodney’s voice was suddenly cold. “Me and you should go somewhere and talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about. Now get out of my way.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but the frustration welled inside of her. She hated this feeling of helplessness. She couldn’t make Rodney move and she wasn’t about to leave. She couldn’t. This meeting was too important.
“Watch out Rod. She’ll call the cops on you, man,” Reggie crowed.
Avery hoped she wasn’t blushing. Rodney’s father was the sheriff of Bridge County, and his son used that relationship as a shield. Rodney worked as a bouncer at a local club and had abused his position too many times to count. He took pleasure in humiliating, and sometimes seriously injuring, bar patrons. Any other employee would have been terminated, even prosecuted, several times over for such conduct, but everyone tiptoed around Rodney.
Sick of standing there, she tried to brush past him, but he grabbed her by the arm and held her tight.
“Sorry we’re late.” The strong voice cut across the chatter, and everyone turned to look at the speaker. It was Dane Maddock, followed by Bones and Angel. He clearly understood what was happening. “Are we interrupting something?”
“Yeah, you are,” Rodney said, releasing his grip on Avery. He turned and looked down at Maddock, who stood a few inches shorter, and smirked. “Why don’t you step off?”
“I never miss an appointment,” Maddock said, stepping closer. “Give her your number. Maybe she’ll call you, but I doubt it.”
Avery tensed. She’d felt a momentary relief at Maddock and Bones’ arrival, but Rodney and his friends outnumbered her would-be rescuers, and they all loved to brawl.
“I’m not gonna tell you again.” Rodney thrust out his chest and took a step toward Maddock.
“Good. I’m getting tired of the sound of your voice.” If Maddock was at all fazed by Rodney, it didn’t show.
“Your breath is pretty stank, too,” Bones interjected. “I can smell you from over here.”
Tension crackled in the air. A few patrons had come out front to watch the inevitable fight. Avery’s eyes flitted from one man to the next, wondering who would throw the first punch.
Surprisingly, it was Angel.
Bones’ sister pushed her way past Reggie and held out her hand to Avery. “Let’s go inside.” She smiled and gave Avery a reassuring nod.
“Mind your business.” Doug, the third of Rodney’s cast of stooges, grabbed her roughly by the upper arm.
That was a mistake.
Faster than Avery would have thought possible, Angel lashed out, and Doug cried out in pain as she crushed the bridge of his nose with the back of her fist. His hands came up to protect his face, and she punched him in the gut, and followed with a knee to the groin. As he staggered a few steps, she kicked him in the side of the knee.
Everyone flew into action. Rodney reached for Maddock, who sidestepped and struck back with a barrage of crisp punches that sent the larger man reeling.
Reggie was slow to react, drawing back his fist just as Bones drove an overhand right into his temple. Reggie looked like a marionette whose strings had been cut as he flopped, rubber-legged, to the ground. Carl took one look at his fallen friend and ran.
Bones stepped over Reggie to help his sister, who had leaped onto Doug’s back and was choking him. Red-faced, Doug wobbled toward Bones, who smiled and delivered another one-punch knockout.
Angel rolled free as Doug slumped to the ground, and came up cursing.
“Damn you, Bones! That one was mine.” Her face, so beautiful only moments before, burned with a dark fury. “You’ve got to cut that out.”
“You should have finished him sooner,” Bones said, still smiling. Angel made an obscene gesture at him, and then they
turned toward Maddock.
“Quit playing with him, Maddock!” Bones called. “I’m hungry.”
Maddock was still peppering Rodney with punches and easily avoiding every attempt to take him down. Rodney’s face was a mask of red; he was bleeding from his nose, mouth, and from cuts above both eyes. Maddock winked at Bones as he ducked a wild punch, then struck Rodney on the chin so hard that Avery swore Rodney’s feet came off the ground.
His eyes rolling back in his head, Rodney fell into Bones’ arms. Bones slung Rodney over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and turned to Avery.
“Car or dumpster?”
It took her a minute to understand what he meant.
“That’s his truck over there.” She indicated a battered pickup truck on the other side of the lot.
Bones dumped the semi-conscious man into the bed of his own truck.
“Anyone else need a lift?” he called to Reggie and Doug, who had regained their feet but clearly wanted no part of him, Maddock, or even Angel. They cut a wide berth around the trio as they made their way to Rodney’s truck. Reggie fished the keys from Rodney’s pocket, and he and Doug climbed in and drove slowly away.
“Now that we got that out of the way,” Bones said, offering her his arm, “let’s eat. I worked up an appetite.”
Avery suppressed a grin as she hooked her arm in his and allowed him to escort her toward the entrance. She froze halfway there.
“We might have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Bones asked as Maddock and Angel fell in on either side of them. “Don’t tell me that anal probe is your boyfriend.”
“He is... I mean, he was. But it’s not that. His dad is the sheriff here.”
Maddock and Bones exchanged knowing looks.
“It’s cool,” Bones said.
“But he might make trouble for you. He’s the reason Rodney gets away with so much.”
“We don’t run from bullies,” Maddock said, “even ones who wear a badge. Besides, if we leave, that makes us look guilty. If daddy shows up, we’ll deal with it then.”
Maddock held the door for her and Angel, then stepped in and closed it in Bones’ face.
“They’re like kindergarteners sometimes,” Angel said, rolling her eyes.
“Well, they are men,” Avery said, eliciting a knowing chuckle from Angel. “I have to ask. Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“It’s sort of my profession,” Angel said. She looked a little embarrassed as she explained that she was a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and was, in fact, in line to fight for the bantamweight title.
“That’s awesome,” Avery said. “How did you wind up working with these two?”
“Oh, it’s just a little vacation for me.” Her eyes flitted toward Maddock, who stood talking with someone at the bar, and her face fell. “Besides,” she continued, her expression quickly back to normal, “I live to annoy my brother. He’s such a loser.”
“I heard that.” Bones had caught up with them. Ignoring the sign that read “Please Wait to Be Seated,” he sat down at a table with a view of the parking lot and flagged down the first waiter who passed by.
“Dos Equis for me and my friend, who’ll be back in a minute,” he nodded at Maddock’s empty chair. “Nothing for this girl,” he indicated Angel. “Indians can’t hold their liquor, you know.”
The young man looked thoroughly befuddled.
“Just kidding, bro. Get them whatever they like. Oh, and another thing.” Bones took out his wallet and handed the young man a twenty. “Keep an eye out for me. If any cops or angry dudes who look like they just got slapped around show up, let me know.”
Maddock came back, a grin on his face. Bones gave him a questioning look, but he shook his head. Avery wondered what he was up to, but that wasn’t her biggest concern.
They lapsed into an uneasy silence while they waited for their drinks. Maddock clearly wasn’t going to broach the subject, and Avery had been nervous enough without wondering when Rodney’s dad would show up. When her rum and coke arrived, she took a healthy gulp, hoping to find some liquid courage there. Maddock seemed like a good man, after all he’d saved her twice, but when she’d mentioned his father, his blue eyes had turned to ice. There was something cold and hard inside him that made her distinctly uncomfortable. She sighed. There was no help for it. He was her best hope.
“I guess,” she began, “we should get down to business.”
Chapter 3
“I’m all ears,” Maddock said. Truth was, he had a feeling he knew exactly what Avery wanted to discuss, and he wasn’t eager to talk about it.
“Like I said, it’s about your father’s research.”
Maddock kept his expression blank. “Right. You mentioned that earlier.”
“Specifically, Captain Kidd.” Avery must have seen something in his eyes because she hurried on. “Understand, I’m not some nut job or amateur treasure hunter. I’m an associate professor. I teach at the local community college. Captain Kidd is my area of professional interest.”
“Seems like an odd thing to build your profession around.”
“I have my reasons.” A shadow passed across her face, but it was gone as quickly as it arrived.
“What’s so weird about researching Captain Kidd?” Angel asked. “Isn’t it his treasure we’re searching for on the island?”
“We’re investigating the so-called Money Pit, that’s all.” Bones said. “We’re not necessarily looking for something Kidd left behind.”
“Kidd’s treasure is a legend,” Maddock said, “and a far-fetched one at that. He buried a few chests on an island down south but, other than that, there’s no reason to believe he had more to hide than that. If he had, he would have used it to bargain his way out of prison before they executed him.”
“I think that’s exactly what he did.” Avery’s gaze grew hard. “I’ve done extensive research on Kidd, much of it I’ve kept secret, and probably will continue to do so until I decide I can trust you. But believe me when I tell you I have evidence that he did, in fact, have a treasure of immense value, and he tried to use it to buy his freedom.”
“Didn’t work out for him, did it?” Bones took a swig of beer.
“No, but the important thing is, the treasure was real and quite valuable.”
“How do you know?” Maddock couldn’t keep the doubt from his voice.
“I told you, I’ve done extensive research, more than anyone who’s studied Kidd or the island.”
“That might be but, if you want my help, you’ve got to convince me.”
“Your father believed it.”
Maddock shifted in his chair. She was probably right, but that didn’t make it true.
“Did you know his father?” Angel asked.
Avery’s face reddened and she looked down at the table.
“He’s familiar to me. He and I followed the same trails in our research.”
“Dad enjoyed his pirate research, but it was a hobby, that’s all. I doubt he took it seriously.” Maddock took a long, cold drink of Dos Equis to cover the brief wave of sadness that washed over him. His parents, Hunter and Elizabeth Maddock, had died in an auto accident years before, and he still found it hard to talk about.
Avery sighed and brushed a stray lock of blonde hair out of her face. She looked down at her hands, eyes narrowed. When she looked up again, her expression was resolute.
“Captain Kidd hid clues, probably maps, in four sea chests. Your father owned one of these chests.”
Maddock raised an eyebrow.
“That’s true, or at least he believed it belonged to Kidd. We don’t have it anymore, though. He donated it to...”
“The New England Pirate Museum.” Avery completed the sentence. “I’ve already examined it.” She saw the confusion in Maddock’s eyes and hurried on. “I found a hidden compartment. Inside was a brass cylinder where a document could have been rolled up and hidden inside.”
“But it was empt
y?” Maddock asked.
“Afraid so.” Avery nodded. “I think your father found whatever was hidden inside before he donated the chest to the museum. In fact, I’m fairly certain of it.”
“What makes you so sure?” Maddock wanted to dismiss her claim out of hand, but his instincts told him she was reliable.
“Around the time he donated the chest to the museum, he wrote seeking permission to explore the island.” She paused, probably waiting for Maddock to object or question her, but he remained silent, so she went on. “He indicated that he had new evidence that could be authenticated if need be.”
“I guess they turned him down?” Angel asked.
“Yes. Around here, you have to throw a lot of cash around to get anywhere.” Bitterness cast a dark shadow across her face. Then, something seemed to click into place and she looked at Bones, eyes wide. “No offense intended toward your uncle.”
“Get real.” Bones waved the apology away. “We have no illusions about how Charlie does business.”
“Anyway,” Avery said, visibly relieved, “I don’t know if your father didn’t have the money or simply was unwilling to play the game.”
“Maybe a little of both.” Maddock shrugged. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I looked through my dad’s research shortly after he died, and there was nothing like what you’re talking about.”
Avery hesitated. “Could I examine his papers? Perhaps there’s something you missed. I mean, you probably weren’t searching for a clue to Captain Kidd’s treasure when you were going through them.”
Maddock considered that. Sorting through those books and papers would dredge up memories he’d buried long ago. Besides, while Avery was correct- he hadn’t been looking for anything in particular when he went through his father’s research, he was certain something like an authentic document from Kidd would have caught his eye.
“Captain Kidd’s sea chests hold the key to unlocking the secret of Oak Island. I’m certain of it.”
Maddock rested his chin on his fist, thinking it over.
“If need be, I’ll take you to the museum and show you the secret...” She froze, staring over Maddock’s shoulder.
