Maritime Caper (Coastal Fury Book 12), Matt Lincoln [good books to read for beginners TXT] 📗

“I can imagine,” Wallace chuckled.

“Can you tell me when this acquisition occurred?” I asked. “When was the house sold?”

“Oh, I’d say about a year ago,” Bauer mused, sticking out his lower lip as he tried to remember. “Construction went on for about six months.”

“Was it loud?” I asked. “Did anyone talk to the workers? What about the neighbors? Did they ever see anything?”

“The neighbors live across the bay,” Collins laughed, shaking his head. “And any sounds were probably drowned out by the water. It’s pretty rough in that area. No, the Hawthorne house is pretty well away from everything and everybody, and I always kind of got the sense that that was by design.”

“Understood,” I said with another nod. “Does it even have an address? Will it be difficult to find?”

“Oh, you’ll find it, alright,” Wallace assured me with a low laugh. “No real address, but you’ll find it. Even refurbished after the construction, it’s hard to miss. Just drive north along the shore, and you’ll get to it, eventually. You’ll know it when you see it, sticking out on that rock into the water.”

“Alright, then,” I said, my stomach churning a little in excitement at the thought.

This talk of an old pirate had me hopeful. Was it Grendel? Or was it a coincidence, just an old tall tale like Bauer and Collins thought? There was only one way to find out, and I decided that I would make a point to visit the Hawthorne house that day. I would make the time.

“We should get on down, then,” Wallace said, clapping his hands on his thighs and rising from behind Martha’s desk. “The forensics team might need some help, and I’m sure those people downstairs could use some corralling.”

“There are still people downstairs?” I asked, thinking back to the many shots that had rung out in the library. I was surprised that everyone hadn’t fled the building at the sound of them.

“Oh yeah, the whole building went on lockdown,” Bauer explained. “The security guard initiated it. Didn’t want the perps getting away.”

“I knew I liked that kid,” Wallace grinned. “He’ll make a good officer. Better than you lot.”

He winked playfully at Collins and Bauer and crossed over to open the door leading back into the hallway of offices.

We all headed downstairs on the elevator, and when we got to the lobby, there truly was chaos to behold. Tessa and some other officers were trying in vain to corral a mass of crying, terrified tourists and assure them that everything was okay now. Pierce, the intern, was cowering behind the front desk, gripping it until his knuckles were white, watching the scene unfold, while his boss, Martha, sat beside him on a stool, stony-faced and glassy-eyed.

“Alright, alright, alright!” Wallace hollered, holding up his hands and walking out into the crowd when we exited the elevator, his booming voice carrying through the whole area and over everyone else’s nervous talking. “Everybody, follow me out onto the front lawn here, and we’ll take all your statements. Then you can go on home, okay?”

This seemed to satisfy the nervous crowd, as Wallace emanated the kind of authority necessary to calm them, and slowly but surely, the tourists and police dispersed until it was only myself, Tessa, and the museum’s employees left in the front lobby area.

“Alright, then,” I said, turning to face Martha and Pierce as the remaining security guard and tour guides pressed against the walls. “We’ve been cleared to take you back to the bed-and-breakfast, Martha, and you’ll have a protective detail on you at all times. I spoke to Officer Collins myself, and I’m confident that he’ll take good care of you.”

“What about us?” Pierce asked, his face slack and his eyes now glassy like Martha’s.

“I think that everybody should just go home for a while,” I suggested, giving the room a weak smile. “It’s been a rough day, and let’s face it, nobody’s going to want to come back for a tour anytime soon. Let things die down for a while. The police will keep an eye on the museum and make sure everything’s alright. Everybody else, you deserve some rest after the day you’ve had.”

No one seemed to want to argue with this, and one by one, the museum employees gathered their things and left, until it was just Tessa, Martha, and me left in the lobby.

“Why don’t we go back to the bed-and-breakfast?” Tessa suggested. “Then Martha can get some rest, and you and I can catch up and see what our next move is.”

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. I’d already brought Tessa into the middle of a gunfight, and I wasn’t about to risk her any further. I opened my mouth to say something, but she stopped me, pressing a hand against my chest.

“I know that look,” she said dryly. “And no, you’re not ditching me. We’re in this thing together.”

I knew better than to try to argue, at least not then, and Martha did look like she was about to expire.

“Alright,” I said with a nod, meeting her eyes. “We’re in this together.”

21

Ethan

We took Tessa back to the bed-and-breakfast, with Officer Collins and his partner following close behind us in an undercover police car, where Paulina met us at the front desk.

“Oh, Martha, I heard!” the old woman cried when she saw us, scurrying out from behind the desk and spreading her arms wide to embrace her friend. “There, there, it’s alright. We’ll take good care of you.”

She patted Martha on the back as the other woman collapsed into her arms and then led her upstairs to her room, leaving Tessa and me alone at the foot of the stairs.

“Quite a morning, wasn’t it?” Tessa asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

“It’s not morning anymore,” I remarked, glancing down at my watch. It was edging on three in the afternoon already. It simultaneously felt like it should be far earlier and far later