by K P Stafford
Once they made their way through the last bit of undergrowth, they were on the main property. Even though it had grown up and not been cared for, they stood and admired how beautiful it must have been at one time. Moss covered most of the outbuildings, making them blend into the surrounding woods. It was a wonder the place could even still be seen from the air.
As they approached the main doors to the home, Jake noticed one of them was slightly ajar. He inspected it and assured everyone it had been like that for years. That was a relief. For one thing, they didn’t have to break in, but it was also a relief knowing that no one else had been out there snooping around recently. If this estate had anything to do with town secrets and the item Shirley had had in her possession, it was likely the killer was looking for it too, if he was even aware of its existence. Jake opened the door and stepped inside. Charlie rummaged through his backpack and pulled out several flashlights. “Good thinking. I can’t believe I left mine in the car.” Lexi said as she took one of the lights.
Charlie laughed, “I’ve been exploring more than you guys. I try to prepare for dark places.”
The main entrance was dark, but huge and open. Some natural light came in through the windows. It reminded Lexi of mansions she’d seen in old movies, complete with a gigantic double staircase that led up to the second floor. They decided to stick together, since it was their first time going inside, and to remain on the first floor.
Everything in the home was still intact, albeit covered with dirt and years of grime. There were also bird and bat droppings in several areas indicating that wildlife had used the place as a refuge. That also meant they needed to watch out for snakes. The fall temperatures were much cooler, but that didn’t mean they had all gone into hibernation, and with an infestation of rats, it could be a regular buffet for snakes to find their meals.
The kitchen was located at the back of the house. Pots and pans were still on the countertops, like someone had been in the process of cooking a meal and then just disappeared. There was a small staircase, just off the kitchen that led up to the second floor. Probably intended for the kitchen staff, so they didn’t have to haul food through the foyer to the main staircase. Under the staircase, tucked into a small alcove in the corner, was a small door, most likely a storage space. Lexi turned to everyone, “This is odd. This door has a really old lock on it. It looks almost like the Cryptex.”
Charlie pulled out a rag and began wiping the grime off of the old lock. They stared at it in silence for a few seconds before Peyton finally spoke. “That’s the same markings we’ve found in those files and on the Cryptex.”
Lexi’s phone beeped. She let out a laugh as a way to break the tension, and pulled the phone out to look at the screen. She stopped laughing when she read the message. “Grams is missing. We need to get back to town.”
CHAPTER 26
Lexi and Peyton headed straight to Crystal Scents. John was still there with Ms. Jensen. “What happened?” She asked as she closed the door behind her.
Ms. Jensen came over and took one of her hands. “Oh dear. I don’t even know. She got a phone call and said she had to leave, but she wouldn’t tell me who it was or what it was about. I didn’t ask too much. I mean, she gets calls all the time and leaves the shop. That was hours ago and now no one knows where she’s at. That’s just not like her. She’s never gone for more than an hour, and if she is, she always calls and lets me know.”
Lexi led the distraught woman over to the sofa. “Ms. Jensen, have a seat. I’m sure it’s all going to be okay. We will find her. She’s stubborn and resourceful.”
“I know she is, but I can’t shake the feeling that this has something to do with Shirley’s death and that awful thing she had hidden all these years. I can’t figure out why they’d take Velda though. She doesn’t know anything. Well not any more than the rest of us.”
Lexi looked up at John. A look of anguish was written across his face. She had a feeling he knew Ms. Jensen was right about Grams being taken because of the Cryptex. She also had the strange feeling that he’d given it to her for safe keeping. If that was true, she hadn’t been safe at all. Who would know she had it? She thought back to the night of the meeting at Grams’ house. Most of the original descendants were there. They all knew about the object now, and they all knew someone was searching for old town secrets. It had to be one of them. But who?
Lexi knew she and John had to speak privately so she asked Peyton to stay with Ms. Jensen while they went to the office to check on some things.
Jake said he’d start making phone calls to see if anyone he knew had seen Grams. Charlie told Peyton he would go wait for Paisley to get out of school and then bring her into town.
John and Lexi arrived at the office and noticed a piece of paper taped to the door. That wasn’t unusual. A lot of times people would leave notes about picking up some produce or they stopped by to leave some goodies. Lexi pulled the note off the door and tucked it under her arm so she could unlock the door.
John went straight to the coffee machine. He normally didn’t have coffee this late in the day, but he was upset. Lexi didn’t want him to feel like she was on the attack, but she had to ask him some questions. “John, does Grams have the Cryptex? Is that where you went that day, to give it to her?”
He turned around slowly. “Yes. I knew she would keep it safe. Unfortunately, I didn’t know it would put her in danger. No one else knows she has it.”
“Well, we don’t know if she’s in danger. There could be a logical explanation for her disappearance. Maybe her cell phone is dead.” Lexi said as she opened the note that had been tucked under her arm.
“I hope you’re right. We’re old and forget to charge all of these new fangled devices.”
Lexi’s heart sank looking at the note. She sat down in a chair and stared at the words. “Well, we’re both wrong. The killer does have her and demands we give them the Cryptex in exchange for Grams.”
John rushed over and looked at the note. “My heavens. This can’t be happening.”
“Well, I suggest we give it to them.”
“I don’t know where it is, and your grandmother would die before she let such a heinous person have those secrets.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. And without that cursed thing, we have no leverage. We can’t give them what we don’t have.”
“I’ll go call the sheriff. We need to report this.”
Movement at the window caught Lexi’s attention. She looked up to see Bobby peeking inside. She waved at him and tried her best to smile. She didn’t want him to feel unwelcome, knowing he wasn’t used to being around so many new people, but her heart was aching for her grandmother, and her mind was racing with what to do. He had an inquisitive look on his face, so she motioned for him to come on in.
He slowly walked to the door and pulled it open. “Hey there.” Lexi said as he stepped through the door. “Is something wrong?”
He opened his jacket and pulled some books out. “I don’t know if you can use these. They belong to my Nanna, and she’d have my hide if’n she knew I took them, but the markings on the outside look like the ones I saw on your desk that day I was in here with Charlie.” He walked over to the desk and laid them in front of Lexi. They were extremely old. The leather was dried and cracking, but he was right, she could make out some of the symbols on the cover. She opened the book on top, the first entries were dated from the middle 1700s. Cryptic Cove had been established by then and was over fifty years old. She skimmed a few pages until she ran across the name Danforth and stopped to read the entries in detail. The Danforth who’d helped to build Cryptic Cove had been the son of the Danforth who’d played a huge role in the Salem Witch Trials. Unfortunately, he’d been accused of practicing black magic. The town had rebelled against him.
She glanced up at Bobby, who was still standing in front of the desk. “Can you leave these with me, or do you need to get them back to your Nanna.”
“Well,” he took i
n a breath, “She would be mad, but if I explain to her that you’re fighting a bad guy she might understand.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.” A thought popped into her head. “I know what we can do. Since Charlie knows the people up there at the camp, I can have him visit your Nanna and go through these with her. She may know some more of the backstory. How’s that sound?”
“I like that idea. My Nanna sure likes Charlie. I think she’d be okay with that.”
“That sounds like a plan. But, before you go, would you like a cup of hot chocolate, and maybe a donut?”
“Yes ma’am, that would be great.”
She fixed him a cup of cocoa to go and a little goodie bag. As soon as he left, she called Peyton and explained what she had read in the old journals from the mining town. It didn’t help her find Grams or give any clue as to who had taken her, but at least now they knew what the killer may be after…an old man’s black magic.
CHAPTER 27
John was beside himself with worry. For the first time since she’d met him and been reunited with her family, she saw how much he loved her. He would never overstep his boundary and still had great respect for Lexi’s late grandfather, but there was no denying he was in love with her grandmother.
Lexi told him to go to Grams’ house and wait by the phone there, in case the kidnapper called to make an exchange. He wasn’t much use to her in his present state of mind. He was trying to hold it together and had always been a rock of reserve in this town, but this hurt him deeply.
She called Jake and explained everything to him. He was tied up with some insurance matters, but would be by as soon as he was done. Lexi wracked her brain and knew she couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, so she headed down to the Magistrate’s office to talk to Mavis Clark. She used to be one of the last people Lexi even wanted to speak to, but she knew Mavis loved this town, was aware of the old town secrets and had made amends with Grams. In a strange way, they had become close friends. With new information about the estate and the Danforth who had lived there, maybe she could put two and two together. At least she’d have a new starting point of where to look into town records and old real estate papers. Luckily, Lexi had photocopied a few pages from the journals little Bobby had shown her, so they had some reference points.
One name kept popping up, but they couldn’t pinpoint it to anyone in town. Lexi thanked Mavis for her time and headed back to the office to wait on Jake. While she waited, she decided to check some of her old skip-trace resources for old medical records, marriage records, whatever she could find. Once again it felt like grasping at straws.
She typed in the name Osborne, the one that had been in the town records but disappeared after a certain date. She assumed they’d all died off without any children or family members. As she started reading through some of the files, something dawned on her. They were driven out of Cryptic Cove.
She kept going through file after file until finally, Bingo! There was the missing link. Her heart jolted. She couldn’t believe who the descendent was. It wasn’t one of their suspects, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.
She grabbed the phone and made a quick call to Marcus Finche, the town coroner and amateur forensics guy. She asked him to look at some specific files and get back with her. In the meantime, she was headed out to confront the person she believed was the Danforth descendent. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to dig up such horrible things from the past. On the other hand, she didn’t really want to know how someone could be so evil. All she wanted was to get Grams back safely and put this crazy mess behind them. She still had a wedding to plan, although at this point, it looked like it would be postponed indefinitely.
CHAPTER 28
Lexi headed to the library knowing it would be closed, but her gut told her there were secrets still hidden in some of those files, and she intended to find out what they were. Breaking and entering wasn’t the right thing to do, but sometimes, in dire circumstances, it was necessary.
She pulled around to the back of the library and saw Ms. Jensen approaching the back door. She quickly got out of her car and walked towards her. The older woman spun around, a look of guilt on her face. “Ms. Jensen, what are you doing here?” Lexi asked.
She stammered her words out, “I— well.” In a moment of defiance, she raised her head and looked Lexi square in the eyes. “There are files still in the library, some I didn’t take before my retirement. I know they contain secrets and I intend to find them.”
“I’m here for the same reason. It’s illegal for us to break in. I’m willing to take the chance and get in trouble for it, but you don’t need to be involved in it. Let me do this, okay?”
She pulled her hand out of her pocket and jangled a key, “Oh, there’s no need to break in. I still have a key.” A mischievous glint lit up her eyes.
“Ms. Jensen, I never would have pegged you for the type to keep something like that.”
“Well, I have some of that intuition stuff too. Something told me a long time ago that I needed to have access.”
“Then let’s get in there and find those files.” Lexi held her flashlight up. “I have my flashlight. It’s come in handy a lot in my life.”
“Wow, that looks nice and sturdy.”
“John gave it to me when I started working for him.”
“Is that the one you conked ole Bernie Copeland with?”
“It is.”
“I’m glad you have it. There should be some light from the windows still shining into the basement, but it won’t be much. I think I know exactly where to look, if Decatur hasn’t discovered where I had some of the files stashed. There shouldn’t have been any need for her to go into the old basement.”
Ms. Jensen unlocked the door and they quickly stepped inside. Lexi didn’t want to tell her that she had doubts about Mrs. Williams not rummaging through the whole library, so she didn’t say anything. She clicked on the flashlight so they could see their way down the dark hall with Ms. Jensen leading the way. She stopped in front of an old door. “This is it. This thing used to stick so bad. I bet it’s even worse now.”
Lexi stepped up, “Let me do it then.” She grabbed the knob, turned it and gave it a good shove, almost falling when it flung open like it had been greased. “Oh crap!” She gasped, louder than she intended. She looked back at Ms. Jensen. “Apparently it’s been fixed.”
Ms. Jensen walked through the open door and started heading down the stairs. “That means she’s been down here snooping around. Shine the light for me. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Lexi shined the light down the stairs and followed behind her. Suddenly she stopped. “Do you hear that? It sounds like someone shuffling around.”
Lexi listened and heard it, too. She pulled out the taser gun that Jake had gotten her. “Let me go first. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Ms. Jensen smiled looking at the taser. “You come prepared.”
“Not as prepared as I should be.” Lexi told her, knowing she should stop and call John to come check this out, but since she was already there, she might as well do it. It was probably a rat anyway. A big rat, by the sounds of it.
They eased their way down. The noise stopped. Ms. Jensen pointed to the direction she last heard the noise. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Lexi pointed the light towards where her companion was pointing. Ms. Jensen gasped when she saw the face. She rushed past Lexi. “Oh my lands, Velda. Who on earth has tied you up down here? We’ve been so worried about you. Thank God you’re alright.” She said as she pulled the gag away from Grams’ mouth.
“That woman is completely crazy!” Grams spat the words out, exasperated.
They began untying her. “Who did this, Grams?” Lexi asked as she got the last of the ropes loose.
“Decatur Williams. And when I get my hands on her, I’m going to wring her scrawny little neck!”
“Where is she now?”
Grams smoothe
d back her hair, always concerned about her appearance. “She’s headed to the house, to get that Cryptex. I didn’t want to tell her where it was, but she threatened to hurt everyone I love. I couldn’t take the chance, so I told her I had it hidden, hoping she’d go look and give me a chance to escape. She’s crazy as a loon and just as dangerous as she is nuts.”
“It’s okay Grams. John is there, in case the kidnapper called your home phone.”
“We have to get to him. She will kill him if she doesn’t get that cursed contraption. She’s already killed two people over it, Lexi. We have to get to John.”
“I’ll go, you stay with Ms. Jensen I can call John on my way and warn him.”
They all headed up the stairs as Lexi pulled out her cellphone. Decatur already had a good head start. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail. Lexi pushed the end button and then punched the quick dial for Jake. Hopefully, he could get there before she did. She prayed it wasn’t too late.
* * *
As Lexi pulled into the driveway everything seemed ominous and quiet. She parked the car and went around to the backdoor. When she entered the kitchen, she could hear someone rummaging through another room, throwing things around. She saw John lying on the floor with several large drops of blood next to his head. She eased over and checked his pulse. He was still alive. She listened to the sound of the ransacking to determine which room the noise was coming from. If she could sneak in, she might be able to attack from behind. She sucked in a deep breath and headed towards the living room. She peeked in and saw Decatur Williams yanking books from the bookshelf, muttering under her breath. If she could just make it across the room before the woman turned around and spotted her, she could tackle her like a linebacker would in a football game.
