A Watery Death (A Missing Pieces Mystery Book 7) (24 page)
Read A Watery Death (A Missing Pieces Mystery Book 7) Online
Authors: Joyce Lavene,Jim Lavene
Tags: #Paranormal Mystery
There was no lightning or thunder that night. Even the sound was calm despite the rain. The lights were off on the boardwalk—probably a glitch of some kind—they happened often. I could still see the sandbar from the lights at Wild Stallions. Inside, people were laughing and enjoying themselves. I was glad I wasn’t with them.
I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw someone on the sandbar. Then I thought it was Cathi, waiting for her lover. But the figure was too small, too thin, to be Cathi. It made me wonder if someone had lost a child.
Swinging down from the boardwalk, I walked carefully along the edge of the sandbar until I reached the figure. Her white hair was blown wildly by the breeze, and her feet were bare. I’d never seen Mrs. Euly Stanley so disheveled.
“Mrs. Stanley?”
“Oh.” She looked up at me. “Dae. It’s you.”
“How did you get down here? Do you need help getting back up on the boardwalk?”
I knew she couldn’t even weigh a hundred pounds. Her dress was damp from the water. I couldn’t tell what color it was in the dim light. Maybe I could get her back up by myself. If not there were plenty of able bodies in the restaurant.
“No. I’m fine.” She smiled. “I won’t be here for long anyway. I’m leaving tonight.”
“Where are you going?” Had she hit her head or something?
“I’m going with the only man I’ve ever loved. You remember the story I told you. The one thing I left out was his name—Tovi.” She chuckled. “All this time, and he still remembers me, even though I don’t look a thing like I used to. He still loves me too. I’m going to swim with him. I’m ready.”
I didn’t want to be the one to tell her that he was with Cathi. What had Tovi said to her? Or had she imagined it out of her past? Mrs. Stanley was never the imaginative dreamer who might be standing on the sandbar waiting for her merman lover to appear.
I was at a loss to know what to do.
“Oh. I brought this with me.” She held up the gold-handled cane she used to get around with. “You should take it with you, Dae. I’m sure it will answer questions about Captain Lucky and his unfortunate fate, both for you and the medical examiner.”
I took it from her, and immediately years of experience flooded through me beginning with where the cane had been made. It also showed me Captain Lucky’s death.
“I’m so sorry that it came to it,” she said. “He was a lovely man but exceptionally greedy. I asked him to destroy the pictures he had of Tovi and his sister. He laughed at me. I wouldn’t let him expose them. So when he turned to go back to the Andalusia, I gave him a whack on the head. He fell into the water. Tovi pulled him out, but it was too late. That was when I asked him to take me with him. I can’t tell you what a joyous moment it was when he said yes.”
“You killed Captain Lucky?” I was having a tough time imagining it, even though I had clearly seen what had happened from the cane. “How did you get him back to the ship and make everything so wet?”
“Tovi took him. He’d do anything for me. I opened the windows in the stateroom, and Tovi and his sister splashed gallons of water inside. It seemed a fitting end for Captain Lucky.”
There was a splash close beside us, and Tovi’s face appeared in the water.
“Are you ready, Euly?”
She held out her hand to him. “I’ve waited all my life for you.”
“Maybe you should think about this.” I tried to caution.
But it was too late. She jumped into the water, and it closed over her head. I started to dive in after her when I saw Tovi with her in his arms. I couldn’t keep my mouth from hanging open.
“Goodbye, Dae.” She waved to me. “Always follow your heart.”
Those were the last words she spoke to me. With a powerful flick of his beautiful blue and orange tail, Tovi and Mrs. Euly Stanley were gone.
Epilogue
It was a month after Mrs. Stanley disappeared that we held her memorial on the sandbar. We did a short memorial for Captain Lucky, but he was from Portsmouth, Virginia and his body had been shipped there for his official funeral.
Mrs. Stanley had been well-organized about her passing. Everything the police needed to know was clearly identified and written down for them. Her affairs were in order, even down to the memorial she wanted on the sandbar and her final bequest to the town.
Only ten people could stand on the sandbar at one time, but hundreds were on the boardwalk, leaning over the rail, and seated on the wood stairs that led down to the water.
Mrs. Stanley’s daughter, Evelyn, had come back home for the memorial. She was clearly embarrassed by her mother’s death and confession to murder. She’d brought her husband and son with her. It was the first time in years that Evelyn had come to visit her mother.
At a signal from Chris Slayton, I began to read from the memorial speech I’d written for her.
“We’re here today to honor one of the true Bankers, Mrs. Euly Stanley. Her last wish was that we would install this sign on the sandbar.”
Chris held it up. It was a small image of a smiling mermaid. Beside it were the words—“
Mer-Safe Haven
.”
Everyone applauded.
“Mrs. Stanley left the town a yearly endowment to make sure that mermaids and mermen aren’t persecuted here in Duck. We honor her memory today by placing her sign here and blowing the coral horn to make sure all seafolk know they have safe passage.”
Tess had gone home to Minnesota after Tovi and Lilly had left Duck, but she’d come back for the memorial when I asked her to blow the horn. She took a deep breath and blew hard into it. The sound was deep and low, echoing around us, making everyone present shiver when they heard it.
After she’d blown into it, Mark Samson took possession of the coral horn. Captain Lucky had no relatives that we could find to pass it down to, so I used my rights as the person who’d paid for it to donate it to the museum.
A storm was coming up at the horizon. The sky was dark, and the winds were making the swells on the Currituck Sound larger. I suggested that we all adjourn for drinks at Wild Stallions to honor Mrs. Stanley. The crowd began slowly moving in that direction.
Cathi waited for me to climb off the sandbar. Her eyes were misty as she looked out at the water.
“I’m sorry he didn’t take you with him,” I said when we were alone.
“They’ll be back, Dae.” She smiled. “I understand his love for Mrs. Stanley. Next time, I’ll go with them too.”
She didn’t go toward Wild Stallions, instead leaving the boardwalk, heading home.
There was a large splash. I turned my head quickly, not in time to see what could have caused it. But there were blue, gold, and orange scales on the sign post which hadn’t been put in the sand yet.
I heard the sound of laughter in the distance and went to join Kevin and my friends for a drink.
About the Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write bestselling mystery together. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications.
Pseudonyms include J.J. Cook, Ellie Grant, Joye Ames and Elyssa Henry
They live in rural North Carolina with their family, their rescue animals, Quincy - cat, Stan Lee - cat and Rudi - dog. They enjoy photography, watercolor, gardening and long drives
Visit them at
www.joyceandjimlavene.com
www.Facebook.com/JoyceandJimLavene
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
Amazon Author Central Page:
http://amazon.com/author/jlavene
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