Spooky Hijinks (3 page)

Curtis went out and came back with an SD memory card that he inserted into his computer. He worked on the computer for a while, trying to fix the grainy images until they looked clearer. Finally, he said, “This is the best I can do.”

I went over to the computer and frowned when I saw it was Robert Miller, a local teenage thug. “He’s just a kid,” I said.

Curt moved for the door. “Yup, but when you steal from the Hills, it doesn’t matter your age. We’re heading over to that punk’s place, and he better hand over our guns, or else.”

I was getting more and more nervous about what might happen now. “We should accompany you,” I suggested.

“Gramms, don’t be stupid. It’s too dangerous. I’m calling my husband.”

“Give me a chance at least. I’ll take a run over to Robert’s place, but if the guns aren’t there, you can make that call, okay?”

“Gramms,” Sophia said, “that’s a little nuts. I mean, let them handle their own business, but either way, if those guns are not found, the police need to be called.” She sighed as she added, “But even if you find the guns, there’s still the matter of Curt’s leg. He was shot, and someone has to be accountable for that.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Curtis said.

“She’s right. If we get the guns back, all we’d have to do then is call the police and report that Curt was shot.” When Curtis and Curt still didn’t seem convinced, I said, “You really need to call in the sheriff at some point. It’s not time to go off half-cocked and retaliate on your own. I can only see things going wrong if you go over there right now. That’s why we’ll go.”

“Have you lost your mind, Gramms? Don’t you see Curt’s leg? If this Robert stole those guns and shot Curt, what would they do to you?”

My shoulders slumped. “Yes, but Robert is just a kid, and his mother, Vivian, is friends with your mother. She might just listen to reason about her son.”

“That doesn’t sound safe, no matter whom my mother might know.”

Curt and Curtis Hill spoke quietly amongst themselves and then Curtis said, “Okay, go ahead, and we’ll back you up.”

I stared over to Curt. “Your brother looks indisposed right now.”

“I meant the other men from the militia.”

“Sophia, stay here until I get back.”

“Not a chance. I’m going along.”

That’s the last thing I wanted. “No, you’re not.”

“I insist, or I’m calling my husband right now,” Sophia threatened.

I grumbled as Eleanor and I shuffled toward the door, with Sophia following us. When we were back in the car and I was backing up, Eleanor gasped. “Are you nuts, Agnes? If Robert stole all of those guns, it’s not safe to go on over there. Please say that you were kidding and that we’re really not going.”

“I could call my son to accompany us.”

“Yeah, you could, but he works for the FBI, and if they find out where those guns came from, Curtis and Curt Hill would be locked up for sure. You know as well as I do what they have over at their place, even makings of explosives, no doubt.”

“The Michigan Militia doesn’t hurt anyone, and you know it. They just use that at their camp for training purposes.”

“Except that if anyone ever gets their hands on it, who knows what might happen.”

“She’s right,” Sophia said.

I drove over to Robert Miller’s place, where he lived with his mother. When we rolled up the driveway, the place looked very quiet, but Eleanor and I got out anyway, making our way for the door. I knocked a few times, and my ghostly companion Caroline appeared. Luckily, Sophia did stay in the car, playing lookout.

“What are we doing here?” Caroline asked.

“We’re looking for stolen guns.”

“Oh, okay. I’m outta here.” She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“If I said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Caroline is useless when trouble is near.” Eleanor now pounded the door until an aggravated Vivian answered.

“What are you doing knocking on my door? I already donated to the mission.”

I shook my head. “Oh, and what mission would this be, the reform school mission for your son, Robert?”

“Or boot camp. He’d be a welcome addition,” Eleanor added with a chuckle.

“You have three seconds to tell me why you’re here before I slam the door in your face.”

“Fine, is your son here? I have a friend who spotted him on a game camera over at their place.”

“If he just gives back what he took from over there, we’ll happily leave and never even call the police,” Eleanor said.

“My son isn’t a thief,” Vivian said with a narrowing of her eyes.

“Hey, it’s common knowledge that your boy has been to juvenile detention.” I said.

“Who is this friend, anyway? It seems strange that you showed up and not them.”

“That’s just what I’m trying to stop, them from coming over. I’m much nicer than they’ll be, I assure you.”

“Well, my son isn’t here, and he’s never brought anything into this house. I would’ve known it if he had.”

Smelling the alcohol that wafted from her breath, I highly doubted that statement. “Don’t you have a shed?”

“Fine. I’ll show you just how wrong you are.” She threw on a jacket and waltzed out and into the fenced backyard. She held the gate open for us to enter, and she unlocked her shed, throwing open the doors, and revealing a stock load of weapons. “Oh, my,” she said. “I swear I didn’t know.”

“This looks like the missing items. I should call my friends and have them pick up their stolen goods.”

Vivian’s bottom lip trembled. “Go ahead. The sooner this stuff is out of here, the better.”

“There’s a man who has been shot,” I informed her. “We really need to speak to your son about that.”

“I-I don’t know where exactly he is at the moment, but I assure you that my son simply isn’t capable of doing anything like that.”

“Fine for now, but we’ll be back,” I said.

She ran back into the house, and I called Curtis and Curt to come over and retrieve their weapons. Eleanor and I danced to keep our toes from freezing. “This was the quickest case I’ve ever been part of,” Eleanor said.

“This was hardly a case at all,” I said.

When I heard the roar of trucks, I knew Curtis had arrived. Curtis made his way into the backyard and began hauling the guns out of the shed and into his truck.

“I can’t thank you enough,” he said.

“Any way to help out you boys,” I said. “But you would do well to not take those weapons back to your place. Curt needs medical attention, and you promised to call the police and report a robbery and that your brother was shot, remember?”

“Why can’t you take on the case? That way we can find out who shot Curt without involving the law. I’ll take Curt to Saginaw to get checked out, I swear.”

“That’s not part of the deal.”

“I know, but it’s the best choice, and you know it.”

“But what good would that do?”

“I don’t believe for a second that we’re the only ones hit. If you find out who shot Curt, you’ll be able to uncover whoever stole our guns and just what they are up to.”

Thinking about this gave me a stomachache. “This sounds dangerous.”

“We’ll help you out if need be, but I trust that you and Eleanor can handle asking questions, at least.”

“We can, but I’ll first have to convince Sophia of that. There’s no telling how she’ll react.”

“Do your best, Agnes.”

Eleanor and I left directly afterward, heading to East Tawas after we dropped off Sophia back home. I felt better than I had earlier. Things could have gone much worse than they had, and I was just happy that everything had turned out okay. The last thing any of us needed to worry about was missing guns floating around and no idea when they might pop up. It would have made it nearly impossible to keep from Sheriff Peterson.

              
Chapter Two

Eleanor and I were at Diversion’s Tea House enjoying a chia tea latte. I smiled as my fiancé, Andrew Hart, and Eleanor’s fiancé, Mr. Wilson, who pushed his rolling walker along, joined us.

“What have you girls been up to today?” Andrew asked.

“I’d rather plead the fifth amendment, if you don’t mind,” I replied.

He cocked a brow. “That bad?”

“It could have been, but luckily, everything worked out surprisingly well.”

“Now, that is a surprise. So no huge case, then?”

“It wasn’t a case at all.”

“Great to know. I’d hate for a crime spree to happen this close to Christmas.”

Andrew went over and ordered his tea, coming back with two cups. He set one down for Mr. Wilson, who gingerly drank the fragrant tea. “So what’s our plans for tonight? I heard Elsie Bradford is holding her annual Christmas card party,” Mr. Wilson said.

“Remind me why this would differ from her regular card parties?” I asked.

Eleanor snickered. “Spiked lemonade either way.”

“Is that tonight, Wilson?”

“Yes, didn’t you get the call via the phone tree?”

“You mean the phone tree that Eleanor and I have been excluded from?” I frowned. “Remind me again why you’re included, but we’re not?”

“Tarnation, woman, why you asking me for?”

“We’re probably not invited,” I said, frowning at my latte that had grown cold.

Eleanor rubbed her hands together. “That’s even better. We’ll be party crashers.”

“Fine, I’m all for that. Don’t you dare tell Elsie and warn her either, Wilson.”

“Who do you take me for, a turncoat? I’m marrying into your family, don’t forget.”

I smiled. Yes, he was in a way, since he’d be marrying Eleanor. “I know, but I’m not sure when that would be?”

“Well, since Christmas is fast approaching, we had better get a move on with our plans,” Mr. Wilson said. “Just imagine getting married under the glow of the stars overhead.”

“Where exactly do you think we’re getting married? It’s too darned cold outside in December, you know.”

“I heard through the grapevine that your daughter, Martha, has taken up residency at the Tawas Point Lighthouse in the Lightkeeper program,” Mr. Wilson said.

“But that place isn’t open now,” I said. “It closed on the
fifth of December.”

“Yes, but they have repairs that need to be done during the off-time.”

Martha doing repairs at the lighthouse? I so had to see this firsthand. “Looks like that’s where we’re heading next.”

* * *

After finishing our tea, Eleanor, Andrew, Mr. Wilson and I piled into the Cadillac, heading back to US 23, and before long, we were on Tawas Beach Road, enjoying the scenic view. There were large and small beach houses, the better of them within the Tawas Beach Club, where Jack Winston lived with his son Henry—a big time writer, although not many people knew that since he plays it down.

“I wonder if Jack Winston will be at the card party tonight.”

“Most likely, Agnes, seeing as how he’s dating Elsie Bradford.”

I shook my head. “I still can’t believe that one. Here he was dating all younger women, and then we found out he was paying them to hang out with him.”

“Well, he certainly was a show off, but these days, he has eyes only for Elsie.” Eleanor smiled.

“There’s someone for everyone,” Andrew exclaimed. “It’s nice to know she’s giving the old boy a chance after all these years.”

“And after they had a brief affair years ago. I just never thought Jack had it in him, but I must admit that I may have been wrong about him.”

“That goes for me, too, Agnes,” Eleanor said. “But I can’t wait until I see them interact with each other. Then I’ll truly be a believer.”

As we entered the state park, we passed the booth that was manned during season, but not off-season. It didn’t matter, since Eleanor always bought the Michigan State Parks and Recreation passport, which had the special P on the plate sticker.

The road was quite bumpy now, and I nearly gasped at the view of the lake. It never got old, but when the car stopped in the parking lot nearest the lighthouse, I pulled my coat around me as we got out. It was always coldest near the lake, with the wind blowing off the water.

We bobbed along the pathway that led to the lighthouse, and luckily, Martha was standing at the door, her hand fanned out over her brow, until she finally smiled, greeting us. “What brings you old folks way out here?”

“Why, Martha, since when do you call us old folks?”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I like to push your buttons.”

I shivered. “Can we come inside, or are you waiting until we turn into frozen statues?”

“Of course, sorry.” She strode into the lighthouse and took her coat and boots off. I gave Martha a hard stare. She wore baggy jeans and a man’s oversized plaid shirt, with paint smeared on it.

“Wow, Martha,” I said as I pulled out my iPhone in a sneaky manner, snapping a photo when she least expected it. “Now I have the perfect blackmail photo,” I said with a snicker.

“Good one, Agnes. I’ve never seen Martha dressed so down before. All your catsuits in the wash?”

“How did you expect me to dress? I’m painting.”

“Whose shirt is that, anyway?” I asked, wondering who she had taken up with now.

“It was donated to me by the couple we took over for. It seems they didn’t want to see me ruin my good clothes. Besides, it’s getting a little too chilly to dress like that now. It’s so cold here.”

I glanced around the room and asked, “So, are you here ... alone?”

“Of course I am. I had someone who was supposed to be staying with me, but he was too chicken. It’s kind of eerie here at night.”

“Well, I can’t say I’d blame him. I heard this place is haunted,” Eleanor said. “Have you seen any ghosts?”

“I’ve had some weird feelings at times, but when I checked it out, it was nothing. I think people might just have made up those stories.”

I glanced over at a woman who strode by in a white Victorian dress. She merely nodded at me and disappeared through a wall.

“No ghosts, eh? They most likely don’t want to reveal themselves to you is all. Ghosts are like that sometimes,” I said.

“And Agnes should know, since she’s the ghost expert, but consider yourself lucky. I don’t much care if I ever see another ghost. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury since Agnes’s ghost, Caroline, decided to reveal herself to me.”