Fortunate Harbor (39 page)

Gold coins glistened at her feet.

“Look at that.” Wanda was the first to speak. “Is that what a fortune looks like?”

“If only I’d figured this out weeks ago.” Dana sounded on the verge of tears.

Tracy knew what she meant. If Dana had found her brother’s treasure sooner, her relationship with Pete wouldn’t have had time to blossom, and she wouldn’t have opened herself up to betrayal.

“Scoop it up,” Tracy said. “Let’s put it back in what’s left of the box.”

“Krugerrands,” Dana said, squatting beside the lockbox. “Each one an ounce of pure gold, and worth whatever gold’s worth on the market on any given day.”

“Give a good guess,” Wanda said. “Some of us have no reason to know those kinds of things.”

“Lizzie dreams about owning one of these someday.” Dana’s voice sounded choked. “Close to a thousand dollars each, I think.”

Wanda whistled. “There must be hundreds of them here.”

“Seven hundred and ninety, to be exact,” said a man’s voice from behind them. “Unless Fargo pocketed some before he put them there, which he probably did.”

Tracy whirled around to see CJ blocking the path. CJ, as she had never seen him, dressed in dark clothing with a gun held casually in front of him.

“CJ!” She narrowed her eyes. “So you’re exactly what everybody said you were.”

“Just a businessman, and the coins you’re so generously stacking belong to me.”

“They belonged to Fargo Carlsen,” Dana said, getting to her feet.

“Sorry, but they never did. When my life started going south, I converted as many of
my
assets to Krugerrands as I could. Hard to do without raising any red flags, but I managed.”

Tracy was furious. “How did you think you could get away with this?”

“Simple. It was Fargo’s job to drive here with me and bury the coins. He was the one who told me about this property in the first place, and since the Feds already had their eye on me, we agreed he would bury the money under the foundation for the air conditioner at the last cottage—the one Miss Turner moved into, as a matter of fact. In the meantime, I made sure that even if I went to prison, you’d keep the property. I assumed you wouldn’t find a way to sell it for a while, although I had no idea I’d get the kind of sentence I did.”

“Too bad it didn’t stick,” Tracy said.

That seemed to pass right over CJ’s head. “Of course I came here with him to make sure it got done right. Then I had Fargo watched to make sure he didn’t come back a week or two later and steal the coins himself. Apparently the people watching him weren’t worth what I paid them.”

“That seems pretty risky,” Tracy said. “He could have taken the money and run.”

“But he didn’t run. He kept working for me, and there were no sudden signs of wealth. Besides, I knew a lot about old Fargo, and he knew I did. I told him when I came back to find
it, if the money wasn’t waiting where it was supposed to be, I would turn him in to the cops for any number of things. I figured that would keep it safe awhile. Of course, as soon as I was sure I was really going down, I did turn him in. That prevented him from coming back once I went to prison. I knew he wasn’t going to tell anybody what he’d done for me. Just one more illegal act he’d have to serve time for. I fell down, though. I didn’t stop him from getting the word to his sister.” He gestured toward Dana. “That’s who you are, right? But I guess I lucked out on that score. You found it for me.”

“Why didn’t you just leave when you didn’t find it where he buried it?” Tracy demanded.

“I figured he’d moved it. There were no signs it was in his possession, like I said. I figured he’d moved it right after we buried it, and he was just waiting for the right moment to grab it and run. So I was pretty sure it was here somewhere.”

“You really are something. Coming here. Lying your way onto my sofa. Turning in Edward Statler, who’s probably a saint compared to you. Sponging off Henrietta.”

“Quiet, TK.” CJ smiled a little. “As a matter of fact, seeing you again was a nice bonus. You’re all grown-up now. I kind of like you this way.”

“What are you planning to do now?” Dana asked.

Tracy admired how calm Dana sounded, not at all as if her entire world was collapsing.

“I’m going to take the money, and I’m going to leave,” CJ said, waving the gun as he spoke. “And none of you are going to say a word, because there’s something going on with your friend here, right? I heard enough a little earlier to know that. You’re running from something, and I’m betting it has to do with that little girl of yours, Dana. The one who doesn’t seem to know
who her father is. There’s got to be a story there. And I’ll be happy to tell everything I know if anybody tries to turn me in.”

“It was never your money,” Tracy said. “You ripped off your investors. I bet not one bit of this is honest money.”

“Surprisingly, some of it is. But I was sure I wasn’t going to be able to convince anybody of that. So I took care of myself, and now I have a nice little nest egg, so I can start over. Do you know how tricky it is to extradite somebody from some of our South American neighbors? And how cheaply I can live like royalty?”

“I wish you’d just gone there first,” Tracy said.

“You could come with me.” CJ smiled a little more. “You liked having everything you ever wanted. You were happy. We could start over.”

Her expression must have been the answer he needed. He nodded. “Got it. Solo act, then.” He motioned with the barrel of his gun. “Now, all of you work together like good friends and fill that box. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Doubtful,” said a man’s voice.

Before CJ could whirl to face him, Pete stepped out of the shadows and hit CJ in the back of the neck with a thick branch. He slumped forward and didn’t move.

Pete stepped around him and lifted CJ’s gun from the ground. He examined it a moment, then moved past the women and over to the shoreline. He heaved the gun into the water, and it made ripples well into the bay beyond.

“Somebody see if he still has a pulse,” Pete said.

Tracy was the first to reach CJ. She put trembling fingers against the side of his neck. CJ’s pulse was strong and steady enough. “He does.”

“That’s what I hoped for.” Pete looked around, and his gaze rested at last on Dana. “You okay?”

She just stared at him.

“You know who I am?”

She gave a curt nod.

“Obviously that works both ways.”

That time she didn’t nod. She just waited.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Pete said. “Everybody listen carefully. I want this over with before he wakes up, because I don’t want to hit him again. We’re going to pick up every one of those coins, and then they’re going into my SUV. Dana, I’ll give you my keys. It’s newer than your car, and in a lot better condition, plus CJ won’t be looking for it. We’ll throw your suitcases in, too, then you’re going to get Lizzie, and you’re going wherever you think you need to. I won’t be following. If you want to leave my car somewhere and buy something nobody can trace, you have my cell number. I’ll pick it up wherever you tell me to. In the meantime, if you’ll give me your keys, I’m heading off in your car. If CJ comes looking, it’s me he’ll find.”

“Why?” Dana moved closer so she could see his expression in the near darkness.

He met her eyes. “I was lead investigator on the Greenwald case, and it haunted me. I couldn’t find peace until I had all the pieces. I have them now. I thought you were Isabel Carlsen, but I had to be sure. And while I grew more certain, I also realized the truth. The important one. Ivy Greenwald’s been laid to rest, and Lizzie Turner deserves a mother who loves her. I don’t know all the details, but I can make some good guesses about how you’ve managed all these years. You could say I’m just going with the spirit of the law this time.”

“We’ll be running the rest of our lives.”

“No reason. CJ isn’t going to be looking for you. You know
too much about him now. He won’t want you talking to the cops. And how could he prove this money belongs to him? He’s not supposed to have any money.”

“What about your colleagues?”

“I’m the last one from Grand Forks who couldn’t stop looking. Someday maybe I’ll tell the right people that I finally tracked down Isabel Carlsen through her brother’s mail from prison—”

“That’s how you found me?”

“I had to do some fast talking, but yeah, that’s how I found you. I’ll let people know you had nothing to add to what we already knew, and I’ve laid the case to rest.”

“Could it be that easy?”

He hesitated. Then he touched her hair, just for a moment. “Has it ever been easy?”

They shared a long look. Uncomfortable, Tracy glanced at the other women. Wanda knelt and began throwing coins in the lockbox. In a minute Tracy was helping, and so was Janya.

Tracy stood when all the coins had been returned to the box. “Are we just going to leave CJ like this?”

Pete stepped away from Dana, but reluctantly. “He’ll be coming around any moment. We’d better get moving.”

Pete took the box and led the way. Tracy brought up the rear. She took one more look at CJ, who was beginning to moan softly, then she followed the others out to the road.

Pete handed Dana his keys, then he helped Wanda and Janya transfer the suitcases to his SUV. Dana took her own keys out of her purse and held them out without a word. He took them and nodded.

She looked at each of the women and ended with Tracy. “A case could be made that this money belongs to you,” she said.

Tracy thought about the past two years, all the things she had lost and gained, and she smiled a little. “You know, there’s only one treasure that matters here. Take care of Lizzie, and tell her we love her.”

Eyes glittering with tears Dana nodded. She took one last look at Pete, then she stepped up into the driver’s seat of his SUV. In a moment she was gone.

“Just like that,” Wanda said. “Gone for good. Dana. Lizzie.” She paused. “All that money.”

Tracy put her arm around Wanda’s shoulders.

“I’m taking off,” Pete said.

Tracy had to ask. “Do you think you’ll ever see her again?”

His expression was unreadable. “She knows my number.”

“And if she calls you?”

“Maybe I’ll let you know.”

He got in Dana’s car, and in a minute he was gone, too.

“We will have to walk home,” Janya said.

Tracy started down the road.

“What about CJ?” Wanda asked.

“I’ll drive back and check in a little while.”

“You’re sure?”

Tracy thought about it. “No.”

“You will.” Janya sounded certain. “And I will come, too, but I will ask Rishi to accompany us.”

“And how will you explain that?”

“I will tell him you may have lost something on the path. And it will be true.”

“He’ll be gone,” Wanda said. “I’ve seen it before. Men like CJ always pick themselves up. He lost this round, but he’ll win another one down the road.”

That reminded Tracy of her conversation with Henrietta.
“I have to call Henrietta and tell her to have his suitcases waiting on the dock.”

“Will she not want to know why?” Janya asked.

“Let’s just say I think she’ll trust me on this.”

Tracy wasn’t given to self-pity, but she wondered if the entire summer would pass before she finally caught a break. First Marsh. Then CJ, followed all too closely by Dana and Pete. And now, the final weigh-in for Losing to Win. So, of course, who was the very last loser to step on the scale? Not just the last from the Naughty Nibblers, but the last of the entire competition? The one who would vault the Nibblers to a successful first place or cement the deal for Staff Affection?

“Tracy?” Kitty repeated, with a big smile. “Everybody’s waiting.”

“I have really, really been trying,” Tracy said. “No fast food, no chocolate. I work out every single day.”

“So get on the scale,” Mr. Moustache said from the sidelines. “Put those lost pounds where your mouth is.”

Tracy had neglected to mention a few second helpings, and an extra spoonful of dressing here and there for the boring salads she’d been consuming. And cheese. Cheese was too good
to give up entirely, and who wanted the anemic, rubbery, low-fat version?

“Okay,” she said, resigned, “but call off the lynch mob, okay? Because whatever this says, it’s going to be bad news for somebody.”

Kitty ignored her. “So, if Tracy has lost a grand total of ten pounds over the weeks of Losing to Win, then the Naughty Nibblers have a morning at the spa. Anybody taking bets?”

Tracy had to forestall that. She stepped up to the scale and refused, as usual, to look. Kitty waited until the digital display had finalized its verdict. Then she did her calculations.

“A total of eight pounds, folks. Tracy that’s very, very good work, and you should be proud. But that does give the victory to Staff Affection, our proud winners!”

Everybody cheered, even the Nibblers.

Tracy stepped off the scale and wondered where she could go to quietly hang her head. In the past three weeks she had tried so hard. Her clothes fit comfortably again, zippers zipping with ease. She no longer resorted to loose-fitting tops, and she even liked the way she looked in a bikini.

The problem was, she had won the battle but lost the war.

Lillian came up and put her arm around Tracy’s shoulders. “We’re really proud of you. You did so well overall, and it’s nobody’s fault we didn’t win first prize.”

“Do you suppose that’s what they tell the silver medalists at the Olympics?”

“I mean it. Those weren’t your two pounds to lose. Any one of us could have lost more and made the difference.”

“I’m thinking of every mouthful I ate that I shouldn’t have.”

Mr. Moustache approached, and Tracy steeled herself.

“You look good,” he said. “Do you feel good?”

“I’d feel better if we’d won.”

“You always show up. That’s half the battle. Take it from an old man. You just keep showing up, you’ll be fine.” He nodded before he walked away.

“That’s a huge compliment, coming from Roger,” Lillian said.

She went off to join some of the others, and Tracy gathered herself to congratulate the winners. That was when she saw Sylvia standing in the gym doorway. Looking right at her.

It really had been that kind of summer.

Tracy considered ignoring her, but in the end, she started in Sylvia’s direction.

“Something up with Bay?” Tracy asked. She couldn’t imagine any other reason the woman would be here.

“I want to talk to you.”

Tracy considered a short lesson in manners, but she supposed that if Sylvia hadn’t learned to ask politely for a favor by now, she never would.

She glanced at the clock. “I have some time right now.”

“Not here. Why don’t you walk me to my car?” Sylvia suggested.

Tracy liked that.
Car
meant Sylvia was leaving.

“Sure,” she said. “If you don’t mind waiting one minute.”

She took off before Sylvia could answer and burrowed into the crowd around Gladys. “You did great! I’m proud of you.”

Gladys gave her a quick hug. Tracy congratulated the others. When she turned, she half expected to see that the impatient Sylvia had left, but the other woman was still waiting.

They walked through the building in silence and out into heat shimmering in waves off the asphalt parking lot. Sylvia stopped on the sidewalk that ran in front of the center.

“I’m leaving town.”

Tracy waited for a rush of joy that didn’t come. And the reason was one boy, about to turn ten. “Not before this weekend, right? It’s Bay’s big birthday party tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“I know when my son’s party is.”

Tracy figured anything she said now could probably be used against her in a court of law.

“I’m leaving this afternoon,” Sylvia continued. “I have a job interview in San Diego on Monday. I want this job. I need to go now, study the community, look more closely at the firm so I’ll ask the right questions. I can’t wait until the party’s over.”

Tracy was having no luck finding her tongue.

Sylvia glanced at her. “You disapprove. It makes no difference to me. But I know Bay’s going to be disappointed, and no matter what you think, that does matter.”

“Apparently not enough.”

“I guess you’re right, because I’m going anyway.”

“So the point of this little conversation is…?”

“I know you don’t like me. You’ve had no reason to, so that’s sensible. But I want you to know something. I’ve tried. I really have. But when it comes right down to it, I just don’t have what it takes to be a mother. As a mother, I’m a great lawyer.”

“You
are
a mother, though.” Tracy thought about what Gladys had told her. “Even if you more or less got talked into it.”

“Do I strike you as the kind of person who allows accidents to happen?”

“You wanted Bay?”

“I thought I could cope with a job
and
a baby. Other people were doing it, and I’m more intelligent and hardworking than most of them. After I got pregnant I had second thoughts, and yes, Marsh did some fast talking to be sure it went forward. But
I’d made a deal, so I saw it through. I’m just good at deals and bad at motherhood.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“You probably wonder why Marsh put up with me this summer. Very likely it’s hard for you to see.”

“You could say that.”

“After my job ended, I figured this was as good a time as any to try to establish a relationship with Bay. I knew it would mean the world to him, and I owed him that. Marsh let me try, and that’s a measure of what a good guy he is. He knew it was important for our son.”

“Did it work?”

Sylvia assessed her. “Marsh let me try, yes, but I think he knew I wasn’t going to be a success. He’s a realistic man, and he knows me better than anyone in the world.”

“So why did he let you?”

“Bay has a lot of fantasies about mothers. He’s always believed if he could just get my attention, everything would be perfect. I’m sorry to say that now he knows that’s not true. I’m not his fantasy mom, not even when I’m trying my best.”

“Are you saying Marsh allowed you to stay so Bay could watch you fail?”

“Nothing that direct. I’m sure Marsh hoped he was wrong. But he knew if he wasn’t, Bay would end the summer with a more realistic view. And that’s the way it turned out.”

“Leaving before his party is a huge dose of realism, Sylvia. Maybe more than anybody needs.”

“I talked to Bay, told him what was going on. He told me to go.” She paused, and when she spoke again, there was just a trace of emotion in her voice. “He meant it.”

Tracy couldn’t find anything to say to that.

“Bay and I will be friends one day,” Sylvia said. “When he’s an adult and I know how to talk to him. When we have things in common. I can see he’s a great boy. I just don’t have anything to add to his life.” She paused, and clearly she didn’t want to admit the next part. “Not as much as you do.”

“Me?”

“I know you and Marsh haven’t seen each other in weeks. I know I’m the cause. I can’t say I’m sorry. When I arrived, I had a different vision of my future, and you weren’t in it.” She held up her hand when Tracy tried to speak. “But you should understand one thing. Marsh only put up with my being here for Bay’s sake. Our relationship ended years ago, and there’s no resurrecting it. He was very clear about that, and having me around has been hard on him when he wanted to be with you. I am sorry for that, because he deserves better.”

Tracy wasn’t sure what surprised her the most. That Sylvia was capable of being sorry about anything. That Sylvia was talking about Marsh as if their relationship really was over and had been for a long time. Or that Sylvia was talking to her about Marsh and Bay period.

Tracy tried to put what she’d heard into words, to be sure she understood. “You know, it sounds like you’re trying to tell me it’s open season on Marsh and Bay again, and you won’t be standing in my way. But what makes you think it’s that easy? You’re finished with them, so now it’s my turn?”

“There’s just one thing you need to remember. This has never been about me or you. It’s always been about Bay. Marsh tried to do what was right for our son. That’s all. And somehow, I think you understand what that means. Better than I ever did.”

Sylvia checked her watch. “I have to go if I’m going to catch
my plane in time. As for Bay’s having a big celebration tomorrow… It’s going to be a lot for Marsh to handle alone.”

Tracy heard the request loud and clear. “Sorry, I’m not invited, and I won’t be in town. I’ll be in Palm Beach.”

“That’s too bad. Bay would enjoy your company.”

Sylvia looked Tracy straight in the eye. “I’m not proud of myself. In case it’s not clear, I’m trying to do the best for my son.” She paused, looking pained, but she continued. “And for Marsh. He loves you, you know, but he had to put a vulnerable nine-year-old first.”

Sylvia had said
love,
a word lawyers didn’t normally bounce around. Now the word was bouncing inside Tracy’s head.

“I really do have to go,” Sylvia said. “I think you and I are going to be seeing each other in years to come. Next time we do, let’s start over, shall we?”

She left before Tracy could answer, which was a good thing. Because Tracy had no idea what to say to that.

By three on Saturday afternoon Tracy was finished with her packing. She was looking forward to getting out of town and trying to fit in with Henrietta’s guests.

She and her neighbors had received an unexpected windfall. A closer search of the ground beneath what would forever after be called the “heaven tree” had turned up four Krugerrands that hadn’t made it back into the lockbox. Tracy had given one to each of the women, including Alice, who put hers into Olivia’s college fund.

She’d planned to buy a new wardrobe with her own. Her Florida purchases had come from discount stores and were not exactly what was expected at Henrietta’s. In the end, though, she paid off the credit card bill that CJ had so unhelpfully be
queathed her and put the rest in the bank, in case Pete mailed her a time sheet for his final weeks of labor. She found enough in her closet that was relatively trendy and decided that anybody who looked down on her wardrobe would be somebody just like she herself had once been, before her world fell apart. That was somebody she really didn’t care to know.

CJ wouldn’t be at the party. She, Rishi and Janya had immediately driven back to Fortunate Harbor, but CJ was gone, and although Tracy later drove up and down the road looking for any sign of his car, she found nothing. She didn’t know if he’d gone in search of Dana or not. If he had, he’d certainly gotten a huge surprise.

His suitcases were now in storage at the yacht club, courtesy of Henrietta. CJ had never come back for them, and Tracy figured he never would. He had no reason to show his face in Florida again. She hadn’t checked with her California friends to see if he was in the news there, and she didn’t plan to. She was finished with CJ Craimer forever.

As she wheeled her suitcase to the car, Bay’s dilemma haunted her. Maybe the boy had told Sylvia she could leave, but she doubted that, deep inside, he’d been happy about it. Resigned, perhaps. More realistic after a difficult summer. Newly mature, even somewhat aware that the grown-ups in his life were far from perfect.

But Bay was turning ten today. A two-digit birthday. The first real prelude to becoming a teenager. And Bay would be some teenager. It was going to take two parents to keep the kid in line. Unfortunately for him, Sylvia was planning to wait for the finished product.

Tracy had bought Bay a present, two passes to his favorite movie theater and coupons for popcorn and soft drinks, but
now she wasn’t sure what to do with them. She hadn’t given the envelope to him at the rec center, because that would have been a clear sign of favoritism. She’d considered mailing it, but since he was only five minutes away, that seemed silly. She’d considered dropping it off on the porch in the wee hours of morning, but that seemed cowardly.

Now she debated. Finally she went back into the house for the gift, as well as the envelope containing the booklet on identity theft that Marsh had left for her. Two excuses seemed best.

Back outside, she turned over the envelope to make sure the booklet was inside. The booklet slid out, and from its folds, so did something else. An envelope had lodged inside, only she’d never opened the booklet, so she hadn’t realized it.

She tore it open and read the note. She left the booklet on the table, put the colorful envelope with the coupons on the front passenger seat of her Bimmer and decided she would drop it off on the way out of town. Maybe seeing Marsh would be awkward, but this was about Bay. And she wanted Bay to know she cared.

By the time she drove up to the old Cracker house, the party was just getting started. She figured that was good. With the ruckus, she could avoid Marsh, grab Bay, press the envelope into his hand and a kiss on top of his head, and leave. Surely something would turn out well this summer, and she hoped this would be it.

Parents in gas guzzlers and hybrids were disgorging a multitude of boys into the melee, and she had to wait until a parking spot was freed up in order to get out. She could smell charcoal heating and something smoking on the grill. She guessed hot dogs and hamburgers, and wondered how much luck Marsh would have getting the kids to eat anything green to go along with them.