“I’m staying,” she stated. “I won’t leave you both here without some sort of backup. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself,” she stated. “Oh, and Clarissa would kick my ass for letting Tori get hurt.”
She laughed.
“You’re probably right.”
“Who’s Clarissa?” asked Beckett. He’d heard her name before, but never asked. Since he was finding himself more and more enthralled with Claire, he wanted to know everything about her life.
“That’s our ‘balls to the wall’ mother,” Claire stated. “She’d eat her own young to keep Tori safe. She’s her favorite.”
The woman laughed more. “That’s only because you five have run her ragged. I do what she says.”
“Ass kisser,” teased Claire.
While the humor was a welcomed break, Julian knew that they still had to deal with the situation at hand. There were three of them signed on. He needed to know what kind of man his employee was.
“Well, Beckett?” Julian asked, as he waited for his answer. He was the only one not talking.
Beckett Rand knew this was a tough situation.
It would be easier to leave, but then he recalled how Claire felt in his arms, the way her lips tasted, and he was compelled to risk it.
After all, she was trying to keep him safe. They’d just revealed something big, and Claire never ratted him out. In his mind, she’d earned that opportunity to prove she wasn’t going to betray him.
“I’m staying. What is it that we’re looking for?” he asked.
Tori got up to fetch the box that the Lamonts had left for them. Instead, she was nearly knocked over in Julian’s attempt to beat her to it.
“Not happening,” he muttered. “You know the rules. No carrying anything heavy!”
It made her grin. “Yes, babe,” she stated, letting him play expectant daddy.
“What’s that?” Claire asked.
“These are all the things that Chester Lamont found in his brother’s room after he went missing.”
Beckett had one more question before they began, “Are we going to search his room?”
“You can tonight,” Tori replied. “You’re staying in it.”
Claire didn’t like that idea at all. She wasn’t comfortable with knowing that Beckett, who couldn’t touch many things in the house, was trapped in a room that might hurt him.
Later, she’d suggest they switch.
She’d be safe.
Julian began pulling everything out of the box. Once it was all on the table, he looked at his team.
“Have at it.”
Claire grabbed a relatively new spiral bound notebook, figuring it was the safest. She looked up into Beckett’s troubled eyes, sharing sympathy before offering it to him.
Gratefully, he took it. When her hand found his knee, and she patted it, he relaxed.
Once more, she had his back and kept him safe. If he had to touch the old book or the first victim’s journal, who knew what would have happened?
Tori grabbed the older looking map. It was worn and beat up, but that called to her. Due to her military background, she could read one in her sleep.
Julian took the pile of photocopied journal pages that once belonged to Ralph Clarence.
Claire ended up with the very old dusty book.
“Okay, here are the things that may have led Jeffery to his death,” Julian stated. “Somewhere in here, he found something that got him killed.”
“We’re going to have to do leg work, aren’t we?” Beckett asked. “And a lot of it.”
“Yeah, this is the fun part. We have to start digging into his life. Hopefully, he put something here that will mean something to one of us. Then, we can get the next piece of the puzzle.”
“Well, there’s no time like the present,” Claire offered, opening her book.
Following suit, they all began working.
It was time to pull a dead man’s life apart.
No one spoke for the longest time.
Easily an hour had passed before Julian broke the silence, “I found something about our first missing person.”
They all looked over.
“What?” Tori asked, scooting closer to her husband to read over his shoulder.
“It appears that Ralph Clarence wanted to write a novel. That’s the only reason he took this on. He was tired of being a hack reporter for a local paper. He had visions of Hemmingway grandeur.”
They waited for him to continue.
“So, he bought the house with the intent to find the gold, get rich, write a book, and never have to work again.”
Okay, well that gave him insight into the man. It appeared that the greed tied to this house went back at least one hundred years.
“Is there a way we can dig up anything else on the other victims?” Beckett asked. “It was easier as a cop. This PI stuff is hard. It’s like doing everything with your hands tied behind your back.”
They laughed.
He was preaching to the choir on that one.
Tori pulled out her tablet. “House sales are public information. Give me a few minutes to get that for us.”
They let her work.
Meanwhile, they glanced down at her map as the search was running.
“Why is there a room circled?” asked Beckett.
They all focused on that.
“I think that’s the library,” stated Claire. “See how there’s not a second floor above it? I think that’s because the library takes up that half of the house.”
“So, it’s circled because?” Beckett began.
“Could it be because we found that empty secret spot in the library?” Tori asked. “We believe it was a book, maybe they were crossing off the items as they were found, only this time circling them.”
It could be.
The tablet beeped. “Okay, here’s your list,” stated Tori. “I started it with Ralph Clarence. He was the first owner one hundred years ago.”
“It was built then?” asked Julian.
She shook her head. “Records are sketchy before him. In rural areas like this, the census taker was some man at the feed station writing names down. It’s not going to be accurate. The only reason I found Ralph is because the historical society had him noted.”
They understood.
“Who’s next?”
“Then it looks like the title of the house was willed to his nephew, Tennessee Woodrow, but he didn’t inherit it right away. It sat in escrow for about five years until the man was declared dead.”
That made sense. There was one hundred years, but only six owners.
“After him is the only woman on our list. Maxine Alexzander inherited it when her husband bought it, and then passed away during the war. He went off to fight, and she held down the fort.”
“For how long?” asked Julian.
“It appears to not be all that long. She went missing two years after he died in battle.”
They all made notes in their phones.
“After she went missing, it sat abandoned until Cloverdale put it up for sale. The next owner was Warren Luther. He bought it in the nineteen sixties after the historical society couldn’t afford its upkeep anymore.”
“How long did he own it?”
Tori searched. “I found some newspaper articles. He was going to tear it down and rebuild it from the ground up, but he disappeared shortly after the newspaper ran the story.”
“It looks like he pissed off the spirits or possibly angered some humans.”
At that point, it was a toss-up.
“Okay, who’s next?” asked Beckett.
“Not that long ago, a Marshall Salvatore purchased it from a trust. He was going to restore it. He’s probably why we have a relatively up to date kitchen to sit in right now. He appeared to have it the longest.”
They waited for it, as Tori searched the databases.
“He bought it in the early eighties, and he went missing ten years into it.”
/> Julian whistled. “He survived the longest. Maybe there’s a reason why?”
“After his disappearance, the house sat abandoned for quite some time. Jeffery Lamont was the next to pick it up.”
Beckett didn’t get it. “All these disappearances spanned over a hundred years. There’s no way it’s the same person doing it. He or she would be Crypt Keeper old by now.”
They all agreed.
“So, we’re going to be looking at a family who wants that gold, or someone who learned about the previous killer,” Julian stated. “It won’t be one person.”
They all knew that would make it that much harder. They’d have to figure out when one lunatic ended his reign of terror, and the other one picked up his mission.
“Speaking of gold,” stated Claire, holding up the dusty old book from the box. “You might find this interesting.”
They studied the volume in her hand. It was small, leather bound, and looked valuable.
“I had it easy. Just by reading the title of this book, I can tell us more about what’s going on here. It seems that we’re indeed looking for gold, but not just any gold. It’s the Spanish kind.”
“Are we talking as in pirates and missing ships?” Beckett asked. He was aware that in this part of the United States, the Spanish conquistadores had once roamed freely, trying to find Natives and the fountain of youth.
“Yes,” she stated, trying not to get excited. It was hard not to think about how much fun this case was going to be. Already, Claire was super excited.
This beat the Navy hands down.
She passed the book around, but Beckett declined taking it from Julian. Little did he know that if he wanted to sic the boss on him that was a good way to do it.
That simple action told Julian and Tori so much. In fact, more than he realized it would. They shared a look.
Yeah, the man was skittish.
“I think that book will tell us lots,” Claire offered.
The more Beckett stared at the cover of the old book, the more it resonated with him. “Wait,” he stated, pulling out a piece of paper from the spiral notebook that had once been Jeffery Lamonts. “He left us a trail in his papers. I just saw it.”
‘I found it! I’m on my way to so much money that I can taste it! The Spanish gold is going to be mine because I own the map, the land, and the house. If it’s here, I’m going to put in my claim and make it mine. No longer will I be a slave to my stingy brother.
I just need to know where to find the next artifact, and I am set.’
“I got two things from that,” stated Julian. “One was that he, too, was greedy. The other thing is that he didn’t really love his brother all that much. It’s pretty clear how he felt.”
Tori agreed. “Think about it. Claire, if Julian gave you a quarter of a million dollars, what would you say about him?”
“That he was going to jail for bank robbery?” she teased.
It made him grin. “Yeah, ain’t that the truth. I have a sugar momma to pay the bills or this business wouldn’t be as successful as it is.”
Tori elbowed him. “We’re partners, so knock that off.”
Claire thought about it. “Seriously though, I wouldn’t call him stingy. I’d be singing his praises.”
“Yeah, me too,” stated Beckett. That was if his brother was still alive. There was so much guilt that he had been the one who caused his death.
“He might have been killed because of his greed too,” offered Tori. “At this point in the game, it’s a possibility.”
“Anything is,” offered Julian.
Claire picked up the book to stare at it. The more she did that, the more she realized something. “This binding has been repaired.”
They all moved closer.
“Where?” asked Julian.
She ran her finger over it and looked excited. “Right here,” she offered, looking up. “If you held real books more often, instead of only using a tablet, you might see it too.”
She had a point.
“Give me your pocket knife,” she stated, waiting with her palm out.
Julian dug it out of his pocket and handed it to his sister. “What are you going to do?” he asked curiously.
“I’m going to do a little surgery,” she replied. Just as she flipped it over in her hand to start cutting the seam, something fluttered out from the book.
Tori picked it up. “Oh, this is interesting.”
“What?” they all said together.
“We have a business card for a local psychic. Her name is Lady Elliana, and she has her cell number scrawled on the back.”
That was definitely interesting.
“This is getting weirder and weirder. What started as a simple missing person case now has a treasure hunt, in a house that’s killing people, and with a psychic in the mix. This is the oddest job I think I’ll ever have in my life,” Beckett admitted.
No one argued there.
Being private investigators meant they dealt with some of the more interesting cases. It had its good moments, and of course its bad--like any job would.
“We’ll add her to our list, Jules,” offered Tori. “We’ll head into town tomorrow and see what’s up with our friendly psychic.”
“Good luck,” muttered Beckett.
“Why?” Tori asked, wondering if he was being sarcastic. Was he judging her by the secret she shared?
“Well, she probably won’t be there.”
Again, they waited.
Grinning, he continued, “She’s psychic. She should see you coming a mile away. If she is there, then she sucks at her job. Then we’ll know she’s a fake.”
Julian laughed in relief as he held out his hand for a fist bump. “That’s a very good point,” he offered.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Claire was busily working on the seam. “I think I have it.”
Once she sliced through the leather, she used the knife to dig around underneath, doing as little damage as possible.
“Find anything?” Beckett asked, breathing down her neck.
Literally.
He smelled like cinnamon gum and it was making Claire dizzy.
“Yeah, there’s a piece of paper,” she stated, slipping it out. Once in her hand, she opened it up.
“What’s it say?” Tori asked, getting excited.
She held it out.
‘Wine cellar--four twenty five’
“Your guess is as good as mine as to the meaning,” Claire offered. “We can go down now and find out.”
Yeah, Julian wasn’t having that.
Not in this lifetime.
“Tomorrow will be soon enough. It’s been a long day. You two flew in, Tori and I had a long trip last night, and now this. How about we call it a day, grab some showers, and regroup until morning?”
That was more than okay with everyone.
“We can order dinner.”
They all looked around. Apparently, no one was really hungry.
“Tori and I will take the psychic, you and Beckett get to do the wine cellar,” Julian stated, dividing up the duties.
“Sounds good to me,” Beckett stated. The last place he wanted to be was with someone claiming to see the future. That just screamed bad news all around.
“We took the red bedroom at the end of the hall. There are a few others up there. Why don’t you pick which ones you want?” Julian offered.
They headed toward the door.
Then, something occurred to Claire.
“While you’re in town, can you grab some flashlights?” she asked.
“Yeah, we can,” stated Julian. “Why?”
“We’re going into that passageway we found in the living room tomorrow. We’ll need them to see.”
Beckett had forgotten that. There was probably a good reason why. He wasn’t looking forward to it, at all.
“No problem,” Tori stated. “We’ll grab them.”
Julian and Tori watched them go. When they were alone, they f
ocused on each other.
“Do you think there’s something between them?” he asked, suddenly worried about his sister. Julian really expected Beckett to spill the beans about his gift when Tori shared hers.
Yet, he didn’t.
That made him wonder how trustworthy the man was, and if he’d made a mistake in hiring him. They were a family and team. There was the distinct possibility that Beckett wouldn’t fit in after all, which sucked for all of them. Julian genuinely liked Beckett as a person and employee.
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Claire is smart. She just needs to break the man down. He’s still stubborn and feels like he knows best. She’ll get him handled, and soon.”
“You realize, that’s not really complimentary, honey. Men aren’t objects you manipulate or handle to get your way.”
Tori laughed.
“Yeah, you keep thinking that. You love when I ‘handle’ you.”
His wife had a very valid point.
Upstairs, he watched her peek into the different rooms. “Which are you taking?” he asked, hoping she took the green room. There was an adjoining room beside it, and that was where he planned on staying.
While he would rather have her closer, he wouldn’t bring it up. Beckett was a gentleman, and he wouldn’t go there. Definitely not with the boss’s sister.
He knew better.
“I like this one,” she said, choosing the room furthest from where he planned on sleeping.
Beckett took the leap of faith, hoping that the other room would ‘feel’ okay. What did he have to lose?
Oh yeah, only his life.
Sanity.
Job.
There was a very long list.
“If you need me, Claire, I’m right next door,” he stated, praying that she’d take him up on his offer, then he could be near her. For some reason, when she touched him there was peace.
Deep down, Beckett knew that should be reversed. He was the man, and should be offering her protection.
My how the mighty had fallen.
“I’ll be good, but thank you,” she said politely.
He had no doubt that she’d be fine. He was the one who was going to be in need of a babysitter.
Unthinkable Games (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 3) Page 11
