Deadly Gift

  Aidan and Jeremy had gone out earlier to cut down a Christmas tree, which was now being set up in the parlor. Caer insisted that she was going to help decorate it.

  Everyone ended up getting involved. Cal and Marni came over, since they and Sean had decided to keep the business closed for a few more days, and Clara and Ted were in the parlor with everyone else. Amanda wasn’t even making them work as if they were indentured servants. While the younger men struggled with strings of lights—and Aidan said he’d done all the work, actually chopping down the tree, while Jeremy claimed he had done more than his share by paying for it—

  Sean came into the room bearing a tray of steaming cups.

  “Bridey’s Christmas concoction,” he announced. “Tea, sugar, whiskey and a touch of cream. Enjoy.”

  He lifted his cup. “To Bridey!”

  Around the room, the others scrambled for their own cups, then toasted.

  “In her honor, we’ll be happy,” Sean said. “She’s watching over us, I know, so we’ll decorate just as we always have, as if she were sitting in that corner with her knitting, telling us when something’s uneven.”

  “Hear, hear!” Kat managed, with only a glint of tears in her eyes.

  The doorbell rang while they were still at work on the tree. Zach told Clara to keep hanging tinsel and went to answer the door himself.

  It was the postman. He was carrying packages, along with the usual mail, and Zach carried everything into the parlor. Then, as he started to set them down, he froze.

  “What is it?” Sean asked.

  Zach held up a box that was no more than six inches square and bore Sean’s name. Written above the address, in Eddie’s big, identifiable style, were the words Sean, you old buzzard, do not open ’til Christmas.

  Marni let out a gasp.

  “What?” Amanda demanded.

  “It’s from Eddie,” Cal said.

  “Then he’s alive!” Marni said, a smile splitting her face.

  “No,” Zach corrected her. “I’m sorry, but he sent it before he went missing.”

  Sean stared at Zach, hope in his eyes.

  “Sean,” Zach said. “We found the mail receipt. But under the circumstances, I think you should open it now.”

  Sean sat down on the overstuffed chair nearest the tree. His hands were trembling as he worked at the outer wrapping.

  Zach stepped forward with a pocketknife.

  Under the brown wrapper, the box was covered in cartoon Christmas paper. Happy little dogs leaped about wearing Santa hats. Once again, there was a note. Sean, lost your eyesight? Do not open ’til Christmas.

  “Oh, Eddie,” Clara said softly.

  Sean tore into the wrapping with determination. Underneath there was a leather box that advertised Boston Beginnings. Sean lifted the lid.

  He gasped, then drew out the ornament from within.

  It was a coin, set into a frame of delicately worked gold. Sean held it up, staring.

  “English issue silver piece,” he said. “My God, look at the date. Seventeen-seventy-nine.”

  “He…he…found that treasure you two were always talking about,” Amanda said in awe.

  “He did. He really found it,” Sean breathed.

  “I believe he found it,” Zach said. “And then I think he moved it.”

  They all turned to stare at him. Zach wasn’t sure why he had spoken, except that Eddie’s gift had convinced him that something had to break, and throwing out information that would be bound to reach the killer’s ears could be just the way to do it.

  “He moved it? Where?” Sean demanded. “And where did he find it?”

  “He found it on Cow Cay,” Zach said. “I thought it was still there, but it’s not. When he took out his passenger that day, I think he let it slip that he had found the treasure there, which was what his killer wanted to know…. And I think the killer thought, as I did, that it was still on Cow Cay, so he killed Eddie and any chance of finding out where it really is. And because I didn’t know it had been moved, either, I had Gary Swipes guarding Cow Cay, and he ended up getting murdered for nothing.”

  The room was silent. They were all staring at him open-mouthed.

  Except Caer.

  And his brothers.

  “I’ll call the company, this Boston Beginnings,” Aidan said. He took the box from Sean and headed out of the room.

  “Where would he have taken it?” Sean asked. “If Eddie found it, what did he do with it?”

  “I think he hid it somewhere, and then he died with the secret,” Zach said.

  “Poor Eddie,” Marni said. “To find his treasure…and then…”

  Clara gasped, stood up and left the room. Tom hurriedly followed his wife.

  Aidan came back into the room a minute later. “I’m going to drive to Boston tomorrow. I spoke with the man who made the ornament. I’m not sure he can help, but I’ll go talk to him anyway. Maybe Eddie told him something.”

  “Right,” Zach said, and thanked him.

  “I need another drink,” Amanda said.

  “I’ll get you one,” Sean offered.

  “That’s all right. I’ll get it myself. And I’m not bothering with the tea this time, either. I’ll take my whiskey straight, thanks.”

  She wandered off to the kitchen.

  Cal cleared his throat. “Um, Sean. The flotilla. Are we…are we still going to go out?”

  “You bet. We’ll take out the Sea Maiden. In Bridey’s honor. And Eddie’s,” Sean said thickly.

  The room fell silent again, until finally Rowenna Flynn rose. “Well, shall we finish the tree?” she asked, breaking the tension.

  “Sure,” Jeremy said, and rose to join her.

  Sean stood and looked about to speak, but then, as if he couldn’t say a word, he just waved and headed out.

  “I think we’ll be going home,” Marni said. “Cal, I just feel…worn out all of a sudden.”

  “Sure. Whatever you say.” Cal went over and put a supportive arm around her shoulders.

  “Good night, then,” Marni said.

  They left, and then it was down to just the Flynns, Caer and Kat.

  “Turn some music on,” Aidan suggested.

  “Good idea,” Zach said.

  Kat shrugged unenthusiastically, but she went over and put on some Christmas music.

  “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was the first cut, and Zach thought it seemed somehow strange and out of place.

  “All right,” Aidan said, sitting down and starting to untangle a string of lights, “where could Eddie have hidden the treasure?” He turned to Zach. “Assuming you really think he took it off the island and weren’t just saying that to see who you could stir up.”

  “I really think so,” Zach said. “Eddie was leaving clues to where he found it, but he must have become nervous. Maybe someone was asking him too many questions, who knows? But I’m sure he moved it, and equally sure whoever killed him didn’t know that. Someone besides me had been digging out on Cow Cay.”

  “Of course. Eddie,” Kat said.

  Zach shook his head. “Someone else. The ground was freshly disturbed. The thing is, for the moment, the killer still thinks the treasure’s on the island. That’s why the guard was killed. Okay, the killer did away with Eddie, tried to get to Sean and tampered with the blueberries. The blueberry jars—only three of them—were tampered with here, either taken from the store and returned, or else the killer managed to tamper with them and then reseal them right in the store. I don’t think anyone was meant to die because of the blueberries, though.”

  “You’re losing me completely,” Kat said.

  Zach grinned at her. “It’s all right. I keep losing myself. But in a nutshell, I think the blueberries were a red herring.”

  “A red herring?” Rowenna repeated questioningly.

  “You don’t read enough mystery novels,” Jeremy teased her.

  “I know what it is, I don’t know what you mean,” Rowenna said.

 
“Whoever did away with Eddie and Gary Swipes is smart, and he knew he would be caught on the grocery store’s camera. He wanted the blueberries to be found so someone would check the tapes and he would be seen—seen wearing the disguise he wore when he went out to kill Eddie. That way, everyone starts looking for someone who doesn’t look anything like the killer really looks.”

  “In other words,” Aidan said, “the killer is someone close, someone Eddie and Sean would have recognized.” He paused, then asked, “Zach, who knew about the island being dug up when Gary Swipes was killed? Let’s go over it again.”

  “The family, basically. And the cops.”

  “The cops?” Kat said. “My God, you’re not suggesting that…”

  “We need to find out everything we can about Morrissey and the rest of the men working the case,” Aidan said.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Jeremy said to Aidan. “You can investigate the cops, and I’ll drive to Boston with Rowenna. You have the most friends in high places,” he reminded his brother.

  “Sounds good,” Zach said, and Aidan nodded his agreement.

  “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on my dad,” Kat said, then shivered. “She’s trying to seduce him, you know. Amanda, I mean. What if she’s trying to kill him…that way, since nothing else worked?”

  “I know you hate her, Kat,” Zach said, “but we don’t know that she’s the killer, so try to keep an open mind, okay?” He smiled, trying to cheer her up. “I’ll go over the Sea Maiden with a fine-tooth comb tomorrow,” he went on. “See if maybe Eddie left a clue to where he hid the treasure.”

  “I’ll keep reading his poems,” Caer said thoughtfully. When everyone but Zach turned to stare at her in confusion, she explained, “I found a bunch of silly poems that Eddie wrote. They’re pretty terrible, but I don’t think quality was the point. I think if I can put them together into one long poem, we’ll find a clue to where the treasure is.”

  “Well,” Kat said, and stood. “We have a plan.”

  That night, when the house fell silent, Zach headed to Caer’s room. When she opened the door, he glanced around quickly to make sure the door connecting her room to Sean’s was closed, then entered.

  “What?” she whispered.

  He didn’t speak. He just took her into his arms, and when she didn’t protest, he kissed her long and hard, all too aware that he had almost lost her. He kept his hold gentle, afraid to hurt her injured back.

  But she was so passionate in return that he forgot that she had just been in the hospital. They made love, struggling to remain silent, and then struggling not to laugh, almost as if they were high-school kids trying to keep it down out in the family car. They made love again, and when they finished, they were both breathless.

  “I almost lost you,” he told her.

  The happiness faded from her eyes. “You wouldn’t have lost me.”

  “Caer…you have to stay. You can’t go home.”

  She rolled away from him.

  “I have to go home.”

  He stroked the satin skin of her arm. “You can’t. We have to take the time to explore this—to explore us.”

  She rolled back into his embrace and stared at him. “Zach, don’t you understand? You know the truth. You’ve seen the truth.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She stared at him, then shook her head. “How can you even talk like this when there’s still a killer out there? We can’t talk about anything until he’s caught, Zach. We…just can’t.”

  “You’re still hiding something, aren’t you?”

  “I’m an open book.”

  “Caer, I’m falling in love with you. You’ve hypnotized me; charmed me. No, it’s more than that. You’re beneath my skin, in my soul, you’re…I don’t know what, but I know we can’t let what we have slip away. Don’t you feel it?”

  “You don’t know how I feel?” she whispered.

  “Then it’s easy,” he told her gently. “Just tell me whatever it is you’re hiding.”

  “I have told you. I really am an open book. You just have to read the pages and believe,” she said, and then, because she couldn’t bear to talk anymore—to dream anymore—she curled against him again, the softness of her hair brushing his flesh, the whisper of her kiss light against his lips.

  When dawn came, he rose, dressed and slipped back to his own room.

  He paused in the hallway, looking out the window.

  Birds.

  There had never been more of them. They were covering the trees as thickly as leaves in summer. So many of them.

  As he stared out the window, they let out a horrible cry and, in one violent mass, rose from their perches and soared, a blanket of black to hide the rising sun.

  Eight o’clock came quickly, and with it, a call from Morrissey.

  “They’ve found a body. It’s with the M.E. in Providence, and we need a family member to identify it. They think they’ve found Eddie.”

  Zach flinched inwardly. “If it’s Eddie, he’s been in the water more than a week. What makes them think they’ve got the right man?”

  “The remains of a tattoo are visible on the upper left arm. It says Sea Maiden.”

  18

  Sean was grim, his face set, as they discussed the possibility that Eddie’s body had been found. Sean wanted to go, felt he should be the one to make the identification, but at the same time he dreaded going and didn’t want to do it.

  He had accepted Eddie’s death slowly over the days since his disappearance, and he would be glad to know the truth, if the corpse was indeed Eddie’s, but he also knew that then all hope would be lost.

  It was a painful emotional tangle.

  “I should go,” Sean said. “He was my friend, my partner.”

  “You shouldn’t go for that exact reason. I’ve already told Morrissey that I’ll go.”

  “Do they know the cause of death?” Sean’s voice was hollow.

  “Apparently, nicks on an exposed rib indicate that he was stabbed.”

  “A knife. Someone threw a knife at Jorey and hit Caer,” Sean said, then looked up at Zach, his eyes betraying an uncharacteristic vulnerability.

  “I should send Kat away,” he said.

  “Sean, a bulldozer couldn’t get Kat out of here any more than I could get you to leave. If we could just find some clue…We need to find the killer. It’s the only way any of you will ever be safe.”

  “Amanda?” Sean said as if unwillingly.

  “I don’t know. I do believe it’s someone in your household. Not Kat and not Caer—Kat would die for you, and Caer wasn’t here when everything began. She didn’t even know any of us until you were taken ill.”

  Sean stared at him angrily. “Bridey is dead. I guess that exonerates her.”

  Zach knew the other man’s anger wasn’t directed at him. Sean just didn’t want to believe that anyone close to him could be guilty of murder.

  “No, not Bridey,” Zach agreed dryly.

  Sean stared at him, his eyes suddenly burning. “What about Morrissey?”

  “He’s a cop.”

  “So?” Sean leaned forward. “He knew everything everyone was up to. And who better to hide evidence than a cop?”

  “Yes, a cop knows how to hide evidence better than anyone else. But I’m not convinced. Morrissey knew what was going on with you and Eddie and your hunt for Nigel Bridgewater’s treasure. Besides, anyone knows enough to wear gloves to avoid leaving prints, and that the sea, especially in winter, with the currents, is a great place to toss a body. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. As to the attack on Jorey…I don’t think that was planned. Stealing a knife from the kitchen when the pub was crowded and no one was watching…that was an act of improvisation, and luckily no one was badly hurt.” He shuddered, remembering how afraid he’d been that he was about to lose Caer. “Listen, I’m going to go identify Eddie, and I want you to stick with Caer and Kat—and Amanda, unless she has other plans. I was going to
check out the Sea Maiden again myself today, so you three have to do that now. See if anything is amiss or if you can find anything that looks like a clue to where Eddie might have taken the treasure. No one knows her like you do, Sean.”

  “No one but Eddie.” Sean sighed. “She was his love. He knew her backwards and forwards. But yeah, so do I. So do I.”

  “Good. Jeremy and Rowenna are heading to Boston to talk to the man Eddie ordered the ornament from, and Aidan is checking into a few things himself. I want the rest of you to stick together. I don’t think you’ll be in any danger in a group. Oh, and eat out.”

  “Now you think Clara is the murderer?” Sean asked dryly.

  “I think Clara was manipulated—made to look as if she were guilty—and that means someone could try it again. Besides, I haven’t ruled anyone out yet.”

  “Including Morrissey?”

  “Including Morrissey. Aidan is on that one. You just make sure not to leave the others’ sides. You four stick close together.”

  “Zach, I swear. I’ll keep the other three in my sight all day, every hour.”

  When Zach left Sean, he found Jeremy and Rowenna ready to leave for Boston. Aidan had already headed out to find a patch of private territory far from the house and all possible suspects where he could call his contacts.

  Zach decided to eat something before he left. He found Caer and Kat already in the breakfast room. Caer’s eyes met his, a wealth of sadness and resignation in them.

  “Well, this sucks,” Kat said, settling into a chair with her cup of coffee. “Dad said she’s coming.”

  “I take it she means Amanda?” Zach asked Caer, taking a bite of a Danish.

  “She does,” Caer agreed.

  “Well, just ignore her. She’ll probably go sit in the cabin in a huff anyway. I want you two to go over the Sea Maiden with Sean. Sorry,” he said, smiling at Caer, “but you’ll have to check out Eddie’s poetry another time.” His tone grew firmer. “And be careful. Make sure you have your cell phones. If anything weird happens, anything at all, call me or call Aidan.”