by SL Beaumont
“What are you mixed up in now?” she gently admonished her friend.
“Are you okay?” Andy appeared at Anna’s side, looking concerned. James cracked the door to the bar slightly and peered through.
“Yeah, although I think I skinned my knee and my neck really hurts from where that guy grabbed it,” Stephanie said, continuing to gently prod her collarbone.
“What?” James asked through gritted teeth, looking back across the room at her.
“Let me see,” Matt said. He helped her take her coat off. She pulled down the shoulder of her jumper and twisting her head she could make out finger marks. Matt gently squeezed her shoulder and collarbone. She took a sharp intake of breath. ”Sorry,” he murmured. “It’s just bruised, Steph. You’d get worse on the rugby field.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, wonder why I don’t play?”
He laughed and helped her slip her arms back into her overcoat. The weight in her pocket banged against her leg. Matt raised his eyebrows at her.
“So what was that all about?” James asked from the doorway. “And don’t tell me nothing, because there are still two other guys sitting at the bar looking very out of place, as though waiting for someone.”
She glanced at Matt, who shrugged.
“Okay—short version. The treasure map is real and it was used by your grandfather to hide something that Alex is looking for,” she said.
“The key that you had at my place?” James began.
Stephanie nodded. “All part of it. Turns out it opens the door into that circular room in the base of the keep that we were just in. And there was something hidden in that room.” She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the little velvet bag.
“No way,” Anna said. “What’s inside?”
“I haven’t had time to look,” she replied, gently pulling open the drawstring. She carefully tipped the contents onto the top of a nearby box. A tarnished cigarette tin fell out, its contents rattling slightly. The tin had a faded picture of a sailor’s head, a life ring and the sea and the words ‘Player’s Navy Cut cigarettes’ emblazoned on it.
“I remember Grandpa keeping his cigarettes in tins like that before he gave up smoking,” James said looking over.
Stephanie carefully prised open the lid. They all gasped. Nestled on a piece of black velvet was a necklace of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The reds, blues and greens were vibrant and the diamonds twinkled in the dim light of the storeroom. Stephanie picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy. The coloured stones were each the size of a pound coin cast in an elaborate setting interspersed with the smaller diamonds. A pair of matching clip-on earrings fell into the tin as she lifted the necklace.
She looked at the others, momentarily speechless.
“Wow,” Anna breathed.
“Jeez, Steph, you were right.” Matt was the first to speak. “How much is something like that worth?”
“I have no idea,” she replied.
“Thousands, if it’s real,” Anna said.
Stephanie handed the necklace to Anna to examine and lifted out the earrings. They were a drop setting with one of each type of stone from the necklace decreasing in size from a large sapphire at the top to a small diamond at the bottom. On impulse, Stephanie tucked her hair behind her ears and clipped one of the earrings onto her earlobe. “How does it look?” she asked.
“Stunning,” Matt said, grinning.
At the same time James murmured, “Beautiful.” Stephanie blushed, because James wasn’t looking at the earring, he was looking directly into her eyes.
Matt scowled. “Put the other one on and I’ll take a photo so you can see.”
Stephanie posed as he took a photo and then sent it to her phone. She carefully placed the earrings and necklace back into the tin. As an afterthought she lifted the velvet cushion out of the tin, being careful not to let the jewellery slip off. Underneath was a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it, her excitement mounting. Written in elegant capitals in black ink was 492N357E.
She frowned and handed the piece of paper to Matt, who showed it to Andy. He shook his head. “James?”
“Is Michael still here? I want to show this to him,” Stephanie asked.
James nodded.
“I’ll go and get him,” Andy said, slipping out of the storeroom and into the bar. They heard him exchange a joke with one of the barman.
Anna slipped her arm around Stephanie’s waist. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
Stephanie returned her hug and smiled. “Yeah. I didn’t know you were going to be here for New Year’s Eve.”
“We finished filming early so I drove down to surprise you all,” Anna replied. “But once again, you surprised me.”
Andy returned a moment later with Michael. James stayed guarding the door.
“Steph—what happened at the castle? I didn’t see you come into the pub?” Michael asked looking around the room.
“Long story—but there is a tunnel from the castle to the Smuggler’s,” she replied, grinning.
“No way,” he replied. “How cool is that?”
“And,” she said, his enthusiasm contagious. “I found the treasure.” She pointed to the cigarette tin. He stepped forward as she opened the lid to reveal the necklace and earrings.
“Holy crap,” he exclaimed. His face broke into a grin. “You were right.”
“Hey—we need to move. Like, right now,” James said. “Those two guys are questioning Joe at the bar and pointing back here.” You three—go back out and stall them. We’ll slip out this way,” James said, indicating a door leading out to the rear of the pub.
Andy nodded. “Meet at the café in half an hour. Back entrance.” Andy picked up a box of beer bottles and headed back towards the bar.
Stephanie nodded as raised voices could be heard coming from the bar. She closed the tin and slipped it back into the little bag and into her pocket.
“Let’s go.” James ushered Stephanie and Matt through the back door.
“Hey, careful, pal,” they heard Andy exclaim. “The bathrooms are that way, not back here.”
“Where is she?” a voice demanded.
“Who?” they heard Andy reply, stalling for time.
“Quickly,” James said.
Together James, Stephanie and Matt ran around the side of the pub and through the car park. They heard shouts behind them.
“Quick, down here,” Matt said, leading them down an alley between two shops.
They slipped through a back gate into the next street, their feet sliding occasionally on the icy ground, but they managed to put some distance between themselves and the men. The voices were fading, as though they had gone in the opposite direction.
“We need to get across the high street without being seen if we are going to get to the café,” James said.
“Let’s run to the green and cross behind the museum, less likely to be seen in the streetlights,” Matt suggested.
Stephanie shrugged. They knew the village better than she did. She would follow their lead. She slipped her hand into James’s and together they ran parallel with the main street keeping to the grass where possible until they reached a side street leading up to the village green. Apart from the occasional car, there was no sign of life. The trees surrounding the green were strung with lights, and a large Christmas tree held centre stage, illuminated with hundreds of colourful twinkling lights and a dusting of snow. Stephanie wished she had time to stop and admire it, but she kept to the shadows.
“How are we going to get past the church? It’s all open in front?” she asked. “And before you suggest it, I am not going anywhere near that graveyard at night.”
They leaned against the wall of the museum, assessing their options and catching their breath.
“I know,” James said. “My car is just a little further on. I’ll run to it and try to draw them out and get them to follow me and you two can sneak into the café.”
“I don’
t know,” Stephanie replied. “Sounds a little dangerous. What if they catch you?”
“They won’t. I know the roads around here like the back of my hand,” James replied. “Wish me luck.” He quickly kissed Stephanie on the lips and before she could react he slipped away into the shadows. Stephanie felt her cheeks redden as she heard Matt mutter something about Knox being a cheeky bastard. They watched as James crouched beside a parked car about a hundred metres away and carefully made his way along the road, using the cars as cover until he suddenly stood up and ran for his.
Seconds later, the engine of James’s car roared to life. Two men stood up from their hiding place across the road in front of the Post Office. One ran towards James as the other got into a car directly opposite and gunned the engine. James pulled out just before the first man reached him. The second car did a U-turn and paused to pick up his companion. They followed James, at speed.
“Come on.” Stephanie and Matt ran as quickly as they could on the slippery road, past the church towards the café. Slipping through the car park at the side, they rounded the back of the old building. Andy was standing with the door open, waiting for them. Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed Matt inside. Andy locked the door behind them.
“Here, we’ve got the heater on,” he said. “Coffee?” They nodded gratefully and crowded in front of the heater to warm up. “I’ve closed the shutters as well as the blinds, so no one should realise that we are here.”
Ten minutes later they had warmed up and were sitting at a table with their hands wrapped around steaming lattes. The little tin lay open in the centre of the table.
“What are you going to do with this?” Anna asked, fingering the necklace.
“Show Dad first thing in the morning and I am sure that DI Marks will be most interested. I don’t know how old it is or if it’s on a stolen list anywhere, but it has to be at least pre-war,” Stephanie replied. She looked at her watch.
A quiet knock at the back door made them jump. Andy went to see who it was and returned with James.
“Managed to lose them on River Road,” James said, gratefully accepting Andy’s offer of coffee. He stood in front of the heater rubbing his hands together.
“It won’t take them long to realise and they’ll be back in the village looking for us,” Matt said.
James glared at him. “What? No thank you for clearing the way for you two to get here safely?”
Matt glared back at him. “I am sure we could have made it without the heroics.”
Stephanie laid a hand on his arm. “Stop,” she said. To James, she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
James nodded and settled himself on a barstool. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments.
“Okay—so I am going to give this to my dad in the morning and contact Marks. Are you okay with that?” she asked James.
“It’s not up to him, Steph,” Matt interjected.
“Actually, it kinda is. The map is half his and the jewellery was put there by his grandfather,” Stephanie said.
“Yeah, but it was probably stolen,” Matt replied.
“Maybe not. Charles was paid in valuables by people trying to escape from Europe at the start of the war. We know that from Sophie’s diary,” Stephanie replied.
“Yeah, well, why hide this particular piece of jewellery, then?” Matt asked.
Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you think James?”
James tore his murderous glare away from Matt and softened it as he answered Stephanie. “I agree. Let’s get your dad involved. Grandpa is too far gone most of the time to remember anything much.”
“That’s decided then,” she said. “Now we just need to work out how to get home tonight. Grandma’s Fiat is still parked up at the castle so we’ll need someone to take us back up there to get it.”
“That’s going to be dangerous, with those men lurking. They have guns, remember,” Matt said.
“Maybe we should call the police?” Stephanie suggested.
“There’s only a couple in town tonight,” Andy replied. “And I heard at the pub that they have been called to a car smash out near the coast.”
Stephanie’s mobile chimed with an incoming message.
I want that tin and I have something that you will want. Ready to trade?
Stephanie stared at the screen of her mobile in disbelief, a sick feeling sweeping over her. She tapped the attachment icon. The screen filled with Toby’s frightened, tear-streaked face.
Chapter 26
11pm, New Year’s Eve
“No.” Stephanie gasped. “He can’t have.” She clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. Anna rushed to her side and gasped upon seeing the photo.
James and Andy looked up from the counter, as Matt reached across the table and held his hand out for the phone. “What is it, Steph?” Wordlessly she handed it to him. “The bastard,” he shouted, looking across the room to James.
“What have I done now?” James asked in a bored voice.
“Your brother has taken Toby in exchange for the tin we found.” Matt spat out the words. He took a deep breath, controlling his anger and said in a much quieter voice. “If I find out that you are any way involved I will kill you.”
James leapt to his feet. “No way. He can’t have.” He grabbed the phone out of Matt’s hand and shook his head in disbelief. He moved around to stand beside Stephanie and put his hand on her shoulder and handed her back the phone. She looked up at him with eyes that were brimming with tears.
“How does he know about the tin?” James asked. “The only people who know are in this room.”
“And Michael,” Andy said.
“Yeah, but Michael wouldn’t tell him. He has as much reason to hate Alex as anyone—he was nearly killed when he was run off the road back in the summer,” Stephanie replied.
There was a soft knock at the back door of the café. They all froze as Andy went to see who it was. He returned with Michael.
“I’ve got my car around...” He broke off as he registered them all staring at him.
“What?”
“Did you tell anyone about us finding the tin?” Stephanie asked.
Michael flushed. “Why?”
“Because Alex has kidnapped Toby in exchange for the tin and the only people who knew about it are in this room,” James replied, his voice steely.
Michael gasped and sank into a seat at the table, his head in his hands.
“What?” Stephanie asked.
Michael looked up, his face ashen. “I think I’ve been played. God, I am such an idiot. I should’ve known that she wouldn’t really be interested in me.”
“Who?” Stephanie asked, confused.
Michael closed his eyes briefly and exhaled. “Victoria.”
“Victoria. Why would you tell her?” Stephanie said.
Michael hung his head. “Because she was really interested in the treasure map and I couldn’t stop myself from bragging about what you found. Jeez, she must still be in contact with Alex.”
“Ya think?” James said, his voice raised.
“You need to reply to Alex,” Matt urged Stephanie.
Stephanie tapped reply on the phone with shaking hands.
OK. Where? Please don’t hurt him.
“Steph—what even started you looking for a treasure map? Andy asked.
“Michael had read David’s memoir to the end and it mentioned the treasure map,” she replied, juggling her mobile in her hand. “Come on, come on, reply,” she murmured.
“What made you go back and read it, Michael?” Andy persisted.
“Victoria suggested it one weekend when I was home…” Michael trailed off as Stephanie’s phone chimed with a reply.
Take the tin to The Smuggler’s Inn and wait for further instructions. No police.
They all looked at her. She looked at Matt and nodded. He pulled his jacket on.
“I have to take the tin to the Smuggler’s and wait,” she expl
ained.
“I’m coming with you,” James said.
“No way in hell,” Matt growled.
“I wasn’t asking you,” James said, looking at Stephanie.
She looked between the two and took a deep, steadying breath. “No—we’ll handle this, thanks.”
“Steph,” James began.
“I said no.” Her voice was cold and steely, as she stood up, pulling her overcoat on. “Anna, can you call the police and my parents? Come on, Matt.” Together they set off to the pub.
The Smuggler’s was even busier as midnight and the New Year approached. Stephanie stood at the bar and looked around expectantly. The front door banged and one of the men who had chased them earlier entered and walked straight up to her.
“Apparently I’m supposed to give you this and you will tell me where my little brother is?” she said, sliding the tin along the bar towards him.
Chapter 27
Midnight, New Year’s Eve
The beach was in darkness and the tide was coming in fast. A lone gull screeched a warning cry from high on the cliff. Panic threatened to overwhelm her. On the far side of the little bay, near the old lighthouse, Stephanie could make out two beams of light. She pointed them out to Matt and together they began to run, their feet sloshing through the water and their own flashlight beams bouncing in front of them.
Twice she stumbled in the uneven, shifting sand but both times she caught herself. Matt’s rugby fitness was paying off. He lengthened his stride and began racing ahead of her. Despite the wind, she heard a noise and glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, behind them she could see two more flashlights. The anger she had felt since receiving his message suddenly gave way to fear. They were being followed.
Nearing the lighthouse, she glimpsed a small speedboat on the shoreline on the far side of the rocks. The waves rolling onto the beach were rocking it from side to side. Stephanie thought she heard crying but the sound was discarded by the wind before she could locate it. It was probably only the gulls roosting in the cliffs, calling to one another.
