A Spirited Gift (24 page)

I did as he suggested, as best I could from the shore anyway. I was leery of jumping into the water unless I had to. There was no telling what all was beneath the surface, aside from a dead body.

“I don't see anything,” Kevin said again, coming back down the stairs. “I think your ghost might have some bad intel.”

“He's here, blast your hides! You're looking all wrong.” Rafe paced up and down the shoreline.

“Or you're all wrong,” I answered.

“Maybe he's being held down underwater with something,” Kevin said. “There's a lot of debris. I wouldn't go in there without some kind of safety equipment. We should call the fire department.”

“What will we tell them?” I worried the problem—and my lip. “I can't tell them a ghost told me to come here.”

“I don't know why.” Kevin shrugged. “People here believe in ghosts. I don't think they'd be that surprised.”

“Because I'm the mayor, and people know I have a gift—I find things. Shayla sees ghosts. Mrs. Anson in Southern Shores sees ghosts. Not me. I was really hoping Chief Michaels would be here and I could quietly creep away knowing Rafe was right.”

“One of you lily-livered cods jump in!” Rafe yelled, causing the bushes beside us to stir as though a strong wind had come up from the sound. “I'd do it myself, but it wouldn't do no good.”

“I left my cell phone in the truck,” Kevin said. “I'll call the fire department and tell them we saw something hazardous down here. We won't use your story. Then we'll know if your ghost is telling the truth.”

I looked back toward the water and saw something lying on top of the tire. It gleamed in the sunlight. I knew I'd seen it before. “Matthew's car key.” I called Kevin back, but he was already too far gone. “I guess you must be right,” I said to the pirate. “That's the key I found at the Blue Whale.”

“I told you so,” Rafe raved. “Now do you believe?”

But there was something else. I walked to the edge of the water, the toes of my shoes getting wet in the process. There was something stuck on the handle of the baby stroller.

I looked around for something to drag the stroller closer to me—even as I heard sirens coming from the direction of the fire station at the other end of Duck.

“What's that you have there?” Rafe came closer, angling to see what I was doing.

I found a stick of some sort—maybe a broken broom handle—and used it to snag the stroller. It took a few tries to get it close enough so I could grab it from the water.

I knew I shouldn't touch whatever was attached to the stroller handle, so I pushed with the stick, trying to see what it was. I reasoned that it could get lost when the fire department arrived. They would be looking for Matthew, not for debris that might have nothing to do with his death.

My chest felt cold as I brought it closer—it was a small gun. It didn't look real, more like a toy. But I knew it was lethal, probably the .22-caliber the police were looking for. I wasn't the sheriff's granddaughter for nothing.

“What did you find?” Kevin came back, cell phone in hand.

“A gun. Don't worry. I didn't touch it. It looks like whoever killed Matthew threw his keys and a gun in after him.”

“I'm sure the chief will give you a hard time for messing with the crime scene anyway,” he said. “I guess your pirate was right.”

Chapter 30

The cove had to be cordoned off with nets to make sure all the possible evidence was contained. Two police boats kept interested watercraft away from the scene. The fire and police departments worked with sheriff's deputies to pull the terrible, bloated body of Matthew Wright from the waters of the sound.

“Now tell me again how you knew the body was here,” Chief Michaels said, licking his small pencil in preparation of note taking. “What I've heard so far doesn't make much sense.”

“You know Dae finds things,” Gramps added, putting his arm around me. “There's no rhyme or reason for it. But we all know it happens. She saw the keys on the tire and recognized them as belonging to Mr. Wright.”

Chief Michaels nodded. “So you and Brickman were out for a stroll and saw the keys in the debris. Based on that, you used this broom handle to fish the gun out of the water. Does that about cover it?”

“The gun was stuck on the handle of the stroller,” I explained again. “I was standing here, thinking about Matthew, when I saw it.”

“Bag that stroller too, Scott,” Chief Michaels called out to Officer Randall, who was in the water. He was wearing protective gear, but the look on his face showed his distaste for the job.

The chief wouldn't let the fire department volunteers do anything but stand around after they got there with the gear. He said they weren't trained to do forensic evidence retrieval.

Sheriff Riley joined us, crouching down near the edge of the water for a minute before he turned back. “Don't look like any suicide I've ever seen. I'm sure he was remorseful for killing Mayor Foxx, though.”

“I don't think it was a suicide,” Chief Michaels said. “We got a call when we were back at the Blue Whale from a friend of Wright's that his car was up at Nag's Head. It was his car, all right. But he was right here in Duck. Maybe he was trying to get to the inn for the investigation.”

“Why didn't you call me?” the sheriff asked, sounding none too pleased. “I should be kept in the loop on this, Ronnie.”

“We can process a car, Tuck,” the chief said. “I'll let you know if we find anything we can use.”

It struck me as odd that Matthew's car keys were here in the water with him while his car was in Nag's Head. I decided not to mention it—at least not right then. I was sure they weren't done with us yet.

“What are
they
doing here?” The sheriff confirmed my suspicions. He glared at me and nodded to Kevin and Gramps.

“They found the body.” Chief Michaels filled him in on our story. “Want to question them?”

“Not right now,” the sheriff said. “Maybe later. But get'em off my crime scene, huh? No civilians.”

“
Your
crime scene?” Chief Michaels snorted. “I called you in to help with the questioning at the Blue Whale. Maybe you've forgotten that you're not out in the county, Tuck. This is Duck jurisdiction.”

“That makes this my case now too, Ronnie.” Sheriff Riley glared at us again. “All right. Get them out of
our
crime scene.”

I was happy to get out of there. They didn't have to tell me twice. I took Kevin's hand and we walked away from the water. Gramps didn't follow—maybe it was okay for him to stay, since he used to be Riley's boss.

Gramps hadn't even tried to talk to me about Danny. Apparently, he hadn't recognized him. I thought that was a good thing. It eased the knot in the pit of my stomach that came up when I thought about explaining everything to him. I didn't like keeping secrets from Gramps—but lately, there seemed to be a lot of them.

“Mayor?” Chief Michaels hailed me before Kevin and I got to the pickup in the parking lot. “If I could have a word or two in private.”

Kevin nodded and got in the pickup while the chief kind of nudged me into one of the park shelters. “You know, you've always been like a daughter to me. I always wanted a little girl, but Marjory and I were blessed with boys. I'm telling you this because I think you're in way over your head with Danny Evans.”

“I don't know what you mean,” I replied. “He was at that wreck Kevin and I helped out on. I felt sorry for him.”

“Tim told me he was staying at your shop. He's bad news, Dae. You need to put some distance between you and him. I don't like the thought of you getting mixed up with Danny.”

I put on my big mayor's smile. “I appreciate the thought, Chief, but—”

“I know who he is. Even more important, I know who he is to
you
. I don't think Horace recognized him back there. But
you
know, don't you?”

I shrugged, but my heart was pounding. I wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but it was better for me to deal with this than to have him go to Gramps. “I know he works at the Sailor's Dream and that his place was flooded. He had nowhere to go.”

“So you took him in.” The chief's brown eyes narrowed. “Why not take him home? Why take him to Missing Pieces and the Blue Whale?”

“It seemed easier at Missing Pieces because I met him there.” What kind of game was this? He obviously knew the truth—but he was still trying to decide if I knew that Danny was my father. “Kevin offered to let him stay at the Blue Whale. I thought he'd be more comfortable there.” I wasn't giving away anything either.

“You mean after you and Brickman went and got him out of the county lockup? Come on, Dae! How naïve do you think I am?”

I raised my chin and looked him in the eye. “That's right. I went to get him because Tim arrested him after I'd said he could stay at my shop. What's wrong with that?”

He nodded. “Okay. Have it your way. You know you can talk to me if you need to—if there's something you can't say to Horace. Whatever that may be.”

“And I appreciate that.”

He cleared his throat, brushed a blade of grass from his shiny black shoes and set off back to the crime scene.

“What was that all about?” Kevin asked when I climbed in the pickup.

“He knows that Danny is my father. Gramps didn't recognize him at the Blue Whale—but the chief did.”

“It's a very small town, Dae,” he said, starting the engine. “You've told me that before. Everyone knows everything.”

“Maybe. But why didn't I know, Kevin? They managed to keep my father a secret from me all these years.”

“I don't know.” He covered my hand with his. “I'm sure they thought they were protecting you from him. You have to admit, your father doesn't have the best reputation. And you're talking about lawmen. They tend to get more protective when someone they love gets involved with a criminal.”

“It just makes me wonder what else they know that I don't.”

“You should tell your grandfather, Dae. If you don't, you risk all of it blowing up in your face—like it would have at the inn if Horace had recognized Danny.”

“Well, he didn't recognize him. I think it's better this way. He'll only get upset, and we'll have another big fight. I'm not giving up being with my father because of things he did wrong in the past. And right now, I'm not really sure if Gramps is all that innocent either. He drove Danny away when my mom needed him. That might not make him a convicted felon—but it makes him wrong.”

There was a white SUV parked to the far right of us—almost in the bushes. I recognized the driver. Shawn Foxx. “What is he doing here?”

“Who?” Kevin followed my gaze. “Mayor Foxx's husband? Maybe he has a police radio.”

“Maybe.” I told him about Shawn's visit to the Blue Whale.

“I don't think it's unnatural for him to want to know what's going on,” Kevin said. “I'd be following the chief around if I knew he was looking for the person who killed my wife.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “Should we go and talk to him?”

“I don't think so,” Kevin answered. “Let's leave the poor guy alone. He has enough problems.”

We talked about Shawn a little more on the way back to the Blue Whale. Since Kevin didn't find Shawn's actions suspicious, I reserved judgment.

Kevin didn't press me any further about telling Gramps about Danny. I might have sounded hardheaded about my position. I just wanted a chance to get to know my father better before I decided if I should let him into my life and my heart. I wanted to know the truth about him without the outside interference.

Shayla was waiting for us at the Blue Whale. She and Kevin nodded to each other without speaking before he went inside.

“Is the ghost still bothering you?” she asked.

“Bothering her?” Rafe put in an appearance. “I'm helping her solve her lady friend's murder. I would hardly call that being a bother.”

Shayla rolled her expressive eyes. “I wasn't talking to you, blowhard. Dae, I think I can get rid of him for you, if you want me to. I found some old text and talked to my Aunt Marie in New Orleans. She thinks we can send him back.”

“Don't I get a bloody say in all this? You summoned me. I'm not some random spirit ye can call up and put back without so much as a by-your-leave.”

I listened to them bickering. I knew Kevin understood what was going on. I hoped no one else was listening, since it would be a weird conversation to hear on the outside. “I'd like to say something.”