Wade wanted to laugh. Harper was laying it on thick.
“Keep talkin’,” she said in such a way it sounding like she said tawk-en instead of talking.
Wade took a seat near the bar so he could listen.
“What does the mademoiselle wish for me to converse about?”
Harper gave a little shiver and sighed. Wade had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
“Tell me what you’re doing here in an itty-bitty little place like Shadows Landing. I bet it’s something real interestin’ like.”
“I’m looking for a treasure like you,” Jules purred in his French accent. Wade probably drew blood from biting his lip to stop the laughter on that line.
“Aren’t you a sweet talker? There’s a lot of treasure in Shadows Landing. It’s said Anne Bonny even hid some here.”
“I didn’t know the history of this place. I’m in Charleston looking for the lost treasure of Black Law. I believe he was known to hide out here.”
“Sugar, everyone hid out here.” Harper laughed. “But I’ve never heard of a lost treasure before. Tell me more.” Harper leaned over the bar and rested her head on her hands. Her elbows on the bar top helped plump up her cleavage as she batted her eyelashes at him.
“It’s said that Black Law had a ship heavy with gold when it went down somewhere off the coast. And I am going to find it. Maybe I’ll even give you a piece of gold.”
“Wow, ain’t that somethin’?” Something sounded more like sump-thin and Wade had to hide a laugh under a cough.
Both of them turned to him. “Hey, can I get a beer?”
“Here,” Harper snapped as she shoved a bottle of beer at him. Wade got up and grabbed the bottle.
“Thanks,” he said as he headed back to his table and pulled out his phone.
“How do you even go about finding treasure in that great big ocean?” Harper asked, her accent suddenly back.
“I got a lead and that’s all I can say. You have to know who you can trust when you’re hunting treasure. It’s very dangerous. A man died because he was hunting Black Law’s treasure the other day. I’m sure you heard about it.”
Wade wasn’t laughing anymore and neither was Harper.
“Yes, I did hear that. I didn’t know he was hunting Black Law’s treasure like you are.”
“Oui.” Jules puffed himself up. “But I am not afraid. I will find the treasure and become even more famous than I already am.”
“How did Leon know about Black Law?” Harper asked, her voice suddenly serious.
“Why do you care? How did you know his name was Leon?” Jules asked, now suspicious.
Harper rolled her eyes and Wade knew the niceties were over. For once he wasn’t going to stop her. Harper’s arm shot out across the bar, grabbed Jules’s hair at the top of his head, and slammed his head down onto the bar.
“Putain!” Jules cursed.
“I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing it’s not nice,” Harper said, not the least bit upset by the bleeding man cussing at her. “Now, how did you and Leon find out about Black Law?”
“Why do you care?” Jules spat.
“Do you want your head smashed again?”
“Non,” Jules said as he stuffed a bar napkin up his bleeding nose.
“Then answer the damn question or I’ll break a bottle over your head next.”
“Leon is scum. Was scum. A bottom feeder. He stole from everyone. So, we stole from him. We followed him, and one night when he was out, we raided his office. We found the reports he had on Black Law and decided we’d one-up him and find it first.”
“Who is we?”
“Me and my associates. Why do you want to know? Are you a hunter, too?”
Harper shook her head. “If Leon was a bottom feeder who stole, then where do you think he found out about Black Law?”
“Stole it from someone.”
“So, aren’t you stealing from the person who originally found all the information out?”
Jules shrugged. “It’s worth it to stick it to Leon.”
“But Leon is dead so you and your associates can back off. Understand?” Harper threatened.
“No way. This could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.” Jules tried to struggle from her grasp, but Harper wasn’t done with him. She pulled her hand back and slammed a punch into his face that sent Jules falling off the back of his stool.
“Who’s the thieving scum now? Get out of my bar.”
Jules scrambled up and ran to the door before turning around. “I’ll have you arrested!”
Harper shrugged. “Won’t be the first time or the last.”
Jules flung the door open and ran.
17
“Hot diggity! It’s a song.”
Darcy’s head shot up from Black Law’s diary they had found hidden in his home. “What’s a song?”
“He Loves Me So.
Skeeter was practically bursting with excitement. “I found an article in the paper from a year before Timothy died that said a Jonathan White asked a Catherine Marsden to marry him at the Shadows Landing Harvest Festival while the band played “He Loves Me So.”
“If I shall perish, it was Black Law who captured Samuel, William, and me. His ship rides low and lower shall it ride.” Darcy repeated the clue. “We know that means the ship had treasure on it.
“No amount of gold, silver or gems will save me. We know this is telling the family what kind of treasure was on the ship. To my family, I shall miss thee, but I leave one last gift. The last gift is his clue to the ship’s location. As the snake’s tail sounds, which is Rattlesnake Shoal offshore. You spin me like a dancing master. I don’t know what this means yet,” Darcy sighed with frustration. “But, we now know ‘He Loves Me So’ is a song. Why is that important?”
“We need to find the lyrics,” Skeeter said as he headed straight to the vault. “There’s a music book in here from the 1700s.”
Darcy’s phone pinged with an incoming text from Wade: Jules just left. He and his associates know about the treasure. They found out by breaking into Leon’s office and stealing info. Leon was killed because he was hunting the treasure. Are you safe?”
Darcy looked to Skeeter who was carefully turning some very old pages in a book. “Are we safe here?”
Skeeter didn’t answer. He just pulled up his overly baggy untucked shirt to reveal a very large hunting knife strapped to his waist.
Yes, we’re safe. Who were his associates? Darcy typed.
We think Jules’s team. Wade replied.
“Our time is running out. Other hunters know about Black Law’s treasure.”
“No worries,” Skeeter said with a sigh. “The lyrics are meaningless to the hunt. See for yourself.”
Darcy looked over his shoulder to read the song. It was meaningless. There were no lyrics. It was an instrumental piece; just sheet music. She felt her whole body deflate. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either. But it has to be it. This song is the only thing that makes sense.”
“Can you play the piano?” Skeeter asked.
“Not really.”
“Gator can, well, he used to be able. Then he lost a finger or two, and it just doesn’t sound right now. The timing is all off.”
“What are you doing?” Darcy asked as Skeeter gently placed the book in a flannel shirt.
“If people are after this, I ain’t gonna make it easy to find. Besides, we need someone to play it on the piano to see if the clue is in the notes or the timing.” Darcy stared as Skeeter placed the book in the waistband of his pants at the small of his back and dropped his baggy shirt over it.
“Did you find anything?” Skeeter asked.
“I’m reading Black Law’s diary. I think I have an idea where he hid the emerald he brought back with him from the sunken ship. He also talked about a nearby shoal, so the treasure has to be in that area. But that’s a really big area. If worse comes to worst, I can start a grid search of the a
rea, but that will tip everyone off real fast, and soon I’ll be just another boat in the middle of twenty other hunters.”
“Here ya go,” Skeeter said, peeling off another flannel shirt he was wearing over his baggy T-shirt. “I brought extras.”
Well, what the hell. She’d already stolen one clue so why not steal another? Especially when Jules and probably Cash and Hugo were hot on her tail after Leon somehow stole her research. She was dealing with a den of thieves trying to find a pirate’s treasure. The irony wasn’t lost on her.
Darcy stuffed the carefully wrapped book down the front of her waistband and pulled her shirt out and over it. “Let’s go and find someone who can play the piano.”
“Do you play the piano?” Darcy asked Wade as he and Granger met her back at his house to get ready for Leon’s memorial service at Hunters Bay Bar.
“No, do you, Grange?”
“Sorry,” Granger replied. “But Miss Ruby does.”
“That’s right. She used to teach piano. I forgot about that,” Wade said over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen for some beers.
“Do you have any questions about tonight?” Darcy asked as Granger messed with the buttons on his short-sleeved button-up shirt. Darcy smacked his hand away as he tried to button up more. “I’m telling you the younger hunters, especially ones who look like you, wear their shirts half unbuttoned.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Granger complained.
“Your chest and abs are ridiculous. Ridiculously hot. Trust me. Leave the shirt open and flirt with the hordes of women who will be drooling at your chest. If you don’t, it will be suspicious.”
Granger grimaced and Wade laughed.
“Did I miss something?” Darcy asked before gasping. “Oh my gosh, you’re gay?”
“No, I’m not gay,” Granger mumbled. “I just can’t stand women who throw themselves at me.”
Wade was laughing hard now, and Darcy thought it was strange. She’d never heard a guy say that before. At least the hunters she hung out with didn’t.
“See,” Wade said as he handed them all beers, “Granger is rather popular, but in college, he gave in to the fawning a lot.”
“And learned my lesson,” Granger grumbled.
“What lesson?” Darcy asked as Granger’s jaw tighten, and she was really curious, but also felt bad for prying.
“After a fun night with a girl I didn’t expect to see again, six weeks later she told me she was pregnant. Turns out she was lying, but I didn’t find out until I was in a car accident that made playing football impossible. I told her I wasn’t going to go pro, not that I ever was. But in her mind, I was going places, and she wanted a free ride along the way. That’s when she told me she wasn’t really pregnant.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.” Darcy wished she could prove to Granger that not all women were like that.
“Don’t feel too sorry for him,” Wade said with a shake of his head. “The cold, standoffish jerk bit works for a lot of women. He just makes sure they know there will never be a future with him.”
“Can arrogance be added into that?” Darcy asked, and Granger crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow. “Perfect! You will be a smashing success tonight. You just have to brag a little and pretend to enjoy the fawning and you’ll fit right in.”
“I got the background story you sent. Thank you,” Granger said and grabbed his mirrored shades and slipped them on. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Wade and Darcy walked into the bar first. It was on the water with two stories of large back decks with fans suspended from the beams and drinks flowing. They made their way through the front door and straight to the deck Cash Olweck reserved for hunters.
Wade smiled to himself. Jules was telling people he got the broken nose fighting off a shark. And while the Frenchman was more skin than muscle, his shirt was open halfway to his waist. So were many others for that matter, so Granger would fit in perfectly.
“Darcy! I’m surprised to see you here,” a handsome man in his late thirties said with a smile and beer in hand. “Here, take this. Goodness knows you need it.”
“And why would I need it, Cash?” Darcy asked with annoyance.
“To loosen that treasure between your legs. It probably has cobwebs at this point. I can give it good stretching if you’d finally let me.”
Wade saw red. Cash completely cut him out as he looped an arm around Darcy and pulled her against his mostly open shirt. If you’re only going to button the two bottom buttons, what’s the point of even buttoning it?
“I’d rather have sex with a porcupine, but luckily I have something way better. Cash, meet Wade. Wade, this dickhead is Cash Olweck.”
“At least you’re talking about my dick.” Cash winked at her before holding out his hand for Wade. “So you finally thawed the ice queen. What’s your secret?”
“I’m not an asshole,” Wade said between gritted teeth. “And you’ll take your hand off Darcy, or I’ll remove it myself.”
“Is that so?” Cash asked, straightening up. He realized he fell several inches shorter and a good thirty pounds of muscle lighter than Wade and dropped the tough guy attitude. “Well, it must be what I thought—one hell of a treasure.”
Cash sauntered off and Wade let out a long breath. “These are your friends?”
“No.” Darcy shook her head. “These are all colleagues and rivals. No one is a friend here. They’re all out to one-up each other, but part of that is pretending to be friends so they can brag. Nobody else is willing to listen to their crap for very long.”
That would be horrible. Wade’s colleagues were like brothers to him. They made their way to the bar, and he ordered a beer as Granger walked in. People eyed him and Wade saw a dark-haired, muscular man walk up to him.
“That’s Hugo Lopez. He runs Tesoro, Inc. It’s his own company and not corporate-sponsored like Cash and Jules are. He found a boat with Mexican gold on it about five years ago so he’s able to be completely self-financed,” Darcy told him as she sipped her beer.
“Don’t I know you?” Wade heard a French-accented voice ask from behind him.
“I don’t think so. I would remember a Frenchman with a black eye and cracked nose,” Wade said, before holding out his hand. “I’m Wade. I’m here with Darcy. Do you know her?”
Jules would have snorted elegantly, but his damaged nose made it sound more like a wheezing pig snorting. “Darcy and I go way back, don’t we?”
“Sure do. What happened to you, Jules?” Darcy asked as she touched his nose gently.
“I was diving and a darn shark got curious. Rammed my mask only to discover I wasn’t edible. I scared him off.”
“Goodness. I swim these waters every day and always worry about sharks. I’ve had some close calls myself. Where were you diving?” Wade asked, trying to put him at ease so he wouldn’t remember seeing him in Shadows Landing.
“A mile or so from the shore,” Jules said vaguely.
“Hope you found what you were looking for.”
“Not yet, but I will soon. What are you doing in town, Darcy? The guys were all surprised you came. After all, we read in the paper the police think you murdered Leon.”
Darcy laughed and smiled. “As if everyone here didn’t want to kill Leon.” Then she let her smile slip. “But I am being investigated.”
“I heard you made a claim in court this morning, too.” Jules looked around and then called out to Hugo who joined them with Granger. Hugo was built like Wade, but more compactly. “I was telling Darcy you told me she made a claim this morning. Pretty hardcore for someone being investigated by the police,” Jules told the group.
“Hugo, this is my friend, Wade,” Darcy said, introducing them. The hunters all reminded Wade of sharks circling. Cash was closing back in and Jules was leaning forward as several others took noticeable steps toward her.
“And this is Granger. I just met him. He’s an amateur but knew Leon.”
“Sorr
y,” Cash said as if joking as he gave up the pretense of talking nearby and joined the group. “So you made a claim?”
“Yes, I found an old rowboat in the river. Nothing major, just neat.”
“That’s not all you found,” Hugo said softly. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t she be okay?” Jules asked.
“Someone dropped explosives out there while she was diving. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you, Hugo. I didn’t know anyone knew,” Darcy said. Wade could hear the slight suspicion in Darcy’s voice and wondered if Hugo did, too.
“Small community. I hear lots of things.”
“What have you heard about Leon’s murder?” Darcy asked with a smirk. “Think I killed him like the police do?”
Hugo, Cash, and Jules laughed.
“No,” Hugo said.
“I don’t know about that. I could see it,” Cash said a little more seriously that Wade had hoped for.
Darcy didn’t seem upset, though. She just rolled her eyes.
“I know I’m not a pro, but even I’ve heard about you,” Granger said to Jules, “threatening to cut off Leon’s head. And Hugo grabbing him by the neck and threatening him.” Granger chuckled as he turned to Cash. “And we all know it was probably Leon who pulled that fake relic trick on you.”
“Your point?” Hugo asked, no longer sounding nice.
“My point is from what I’m hearing everyone had a reason to kill him. The question is who had the balls to actually do it?”
18
Darcy held her breath. Granger had said it jokingly, but no one was laughing. Wade slipped a hand around her waist and gently squeezed the top of her hip, letting her know he had her back. Darcy leaned into him as everyone suddenly got thirsty and took a drink.
Jules held out his glass of wine. “Leon was a son of a whore, but he was one of us. To Leon.”
The others all lifted their glasses and toasted the man they all had motives to kill.
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