Dead Man Talking: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (The Happily Everlasting Series Book 1)

by Jana DeLeon

  Well, she could probably eliminate two people—herself and Dane. She had been on the opposite coast and Dane had access all day. No reason to sneak in during the middle of the night when you had been invited in through the front door.

  “Has there been anything lately that was out of the ordinary compared to the norm?” Zoe asked, trying another tactic. “Anyone a repeat? Anyone ask to come inside? Anyone get pushy or too nosy for your liking?”

  Sapphire scrunched her brow in concentration. “The cats!” she finally said. “They’ve been odd lately. Prowling around more than usual, knocking things off tables. I thought it was Cornelius causing it, but he’s usually in another room when they do it. I’ve discussed respect for my property with them several times in the last couple weeks, but they are ignoring me. I have yet to figure out why.”

  When Sapphire said she had discussed respect with the cats, Zoe knew she really meant it. As in, gathered them all in one room and had a mini board meeting. Zoe would be the first to admit that her aunt’s cats were trained better than she’d ever thought cats could be. Sapphire was convinced she could talk to them and that they understood everything she said. If only that were true and the cats could talk back, then maybe they could find out what had them spooked. Because that’s exactly what their behavior sounded like.

  “What about predators?” Zoe asked. “Bear, coyotes, skunk? Anything lurking around outside that could be bothering them?”

  “Those things are in the woods, sometimes closer than others, but the cats have never been bothered by wildlife before.”

  Okay. Nothing there, so time for another train of thought. “Do you have anything of value that someone might want to steal? Something outside of regular household stuff?”

  Sapphire shook her head. “I’m afraid I sold off all my diamonds to purchase my castle in France.”

  “You would have purchased a cat farm in Florida.”

  Sapphire smiled. “You know me too well. But I can’t think of anything worth breaking in for. All of my furniture is older but not old enough to be antique. Even the stuff that meets the criteria isn’t from a period or a craftsman that makes it worth risking prison over. The only thing of value, and that’s probably only to me, are the journals my ancestors kept.”

  Sapphire’s great-grandfather was a fisherman and one of the founding members of Everlasting. He had kept journals of his travels and of the building of the town. He was the one who’d commissioned the construction of the lighthouse. Several of Sapphire’s other ancient relatives had followed the same practice of recording their daily lives. Offhand, Zoe couldn’t think of any reason for someone to be interested in the journals, but she’d take a look at them tonight. It wasn’t as if she had anything else to go on.

  Sapphire looked so concerned that Zoe reached up and squeezed her arm. “Don’t worry about it. We’re going to figure this out.”

  “You have a life all the way across the country that you have to get back to.”

  “I’m not leaving here until I’m sure you’re safe.”

  Even if it meant the job she’d sacrificed the last six years for was at risk.

  Dane was storing his saws in the shed when she pulled up. He put the shiny new padlock in place and headed her direction.

  “I got both door locks replaced,” he said. “Figured it wouldn’t hurt to replace the padlock too.”

  Zoe nodded. “I really appreciate you doing this. I’m not sure I could have changed out the hardware myself, and calling someone else to do it sorta defeats the purpose when we don’t know who the bad guy is.”

  “You’re smart to be cautious. I don’t want to think that someone I know could be responsible for this, but it’s stupid to rule someone out just because you think you know them. Did you tell Sapphire what we found? Has she remembered anything?”

  Zoe’s shoulders slumped. The length of the day and the ground covered had finally caught up with her, and now she was about to do something she knew she shouldn’t do. “Can I tell you over something with alcohol in it? I’m beat.”

  “You do look exhausted, and I have never turned down an offer of alcohol.”

  They headed inside and Dane pointed to the living room. “Go sit down. I’ll grab the drinks.”

  She knew she should argue. After all, she was the host, so to speak, but being overwhelmed with too much useless information and not enough relevant data was taxing her already tired body and mind. She trudged into the living room and sank into her aunt’s recliner, then after a second of thought, grabbed the remote and lifted the leg rest. No sense in relaxing halfway.

  Dane came into the living room with a glass of wine for her and a beer for him and smiled when he saw her kicked back in the chair. “You weren’t lying about wanting to sit down.”

  She took a sip of the wine and sighed. “This has been one of the longest and most frustrating days of my life.”

  “I take it Sapphire wasn’t any help?” he asked as he sat on the couch.

  Zoe shook her head. “She still can’t remember and even if she could, unless she could identify whoever was here, what difference would it make?”

  “I guess we’d know for certain that someone was in the lighthouse. We’re operating off that assumption given the evidence, but we can’t be sure that was the case.”

  “Well, until I know different, I’m going to proceed as if there were an intruder. And since we don’t appear to have an easy way to figure out who it was, the next best thing is to figure out why they were here.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “It does, right? Except I asked Sapphire about valuables…anything that would be worth risking jail time to steal, but she can’t think of anything. There’s no family jewels, no secret Monets hidden in a closet somewhere. She has her money down at the credit union, not tucked away in a cool wall safe hidden behind a secret panel.”

  Dane smiled. “It sounds like you’ve covered all the bases. So what do we do now?”

  She knew it shouldn’t bother her, but his reference to “we” sent her right back to the past where the word meant something. Meant they were a couple. Suddenly, it felt as though the room were closing in on her and all she could see was Dane, getting closer and closer, taking up more space. This had been a mistake. She couldn’t “hang out” casually with the man she’d never lost feelings for, even if she hadn’t been aware of those unlost feelings until she’d set foot back in Everlasting.

  “There’s nothing we can do, at least not at the moment,” she said. “I’m too tired to think and you’ve got to go home to eat, shower, rest, and do whatever else it is you do when you’re not working.”

  He nodded and rose, sensing her dismissal. “Are you sure you’re all right staying here alone?”

  “With you changing the locks, I’m safer tonight than last night.”

  He pulled keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. “The larger two open the front and back door. The small key is for the padlock on the shed. I kept a set for myself…at least until I finish up the work. I hope that’s all right.”

  “Of course.”

  He took a card out of his wallet and handed it to her. “That’s my personal cell phone number. If you hear anything tonight or think of anything else I can do, call me.”

  She took the card and sighed. “I’m guessing you’re a better bet than local law enforcement. If they bothered to show up, they’d probably come with a handful of pennies.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they’d come out. But even driving at a decent clip, the lighthouse is at least ten minutes from town.” He grinned. “And the handful of pennies would probably slow him down even more because he’d be clutching them while he drove.”

  “Promise me you have a better weapon than ripped abs.”

  “I hunt, remember? And I bought the property just down the coast. I can be here armed and in appropriate clothing in a matter of minutes.”

  “You bought the old Miller place? The last time I saw it, one entire side had col
lapsed in.”

  He nodded. “It looks a little different now. Well, completely different, actually. What I really paid for was the land. I bulldozed the old house and built a new one. It’s small but perfect for me. It’s all about the view, right?”

  “That’s what they say.”

  “Maybe you can see it before you leave.”

  Her body flushed at the thought of being alone with Dane in his house. “Maybe so,” she managed.

  “I’ll lock up on my way out and turn on the front light. The weather report has changed again. No storms in the forecast tonight, so you should be okay as far as power is concerned. But if it goes out, call me. Until we figure out what’s going on here, I don’t want you sitting around in the dark, and I don’t want you going outside in the middle of the night alone to fire up the generator.”

  She hadn’t thought about the power outage since last night and wasn’t happy to be reminded about her fickle power source. All she could do was pray that the fall storms that seemed to blow in from the Atlantic every other day would give her a break until all this was sorted out and Sapphire was safely back in her home.

  “If I lose power and I’m awake to notice, I’ll call,” she said.

  “Good enough. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Same time.”

  She nodded and he headed out of the house, locking the door behind him. Zoe downed the rest of her wine and pushed herself out of the recliner. As tired as she was, she had things to do before going to bed. First, a long, hot shower. Then she was going to start going through everything in the lighthouse.

  Something inside had captured an intruder’s attention.

  And she was going to figure out what it was.

  Dane glanced in his rearview mirror as he pulled away from the lighthouse. He didn’t want to leave but couldn’t see that he had much choice in the matter. He couldn’t work all night, and Zoe would never agree to letting him stay even if she thought there was a credible threat to her safety. The reality was, Dane couldn’t be certain there wasn’t. Granted, she’d been all right the night before, but if word had gotten around that Sapphire was in the hospital, whoever had entered her house before might think it was a golden opportunity to try again, especially if he was unaware that Zoe was in residence.

  Still, his options were limited. The driveway to the lighthouse was narrow and could be easily seen from any of the windows facing it, so no sitting in his truck to keep watch. Short of lurking in the woods and fighting the mosquitoes all night, his only other option was to go home and hope she called if anything went south.

  Or…a thought occurred to him.

  He could head to the Magic Eight Ball and see if there was any local gossip about Sapphire or maybe other residents reporting prowlers. Plus, several of the old-timers were there drinking their retirement away every night. He could always tax their whiskey-laden memories and see if any of them knew of a reason someone would risk a go at the lighthouse.

  He turned his truck toward Main Street and cursed when he saw the line of cars circling like sharks for a parking space. The Cranberry Festival always brought a lot of people to Everlasting, but this year the tiny town seemed to be overflowing with cars and people and strollers and dogs. To those who preferred the normally quiet downtown area with its quaint shops and quirky owners, it was like an invasion of suburbia.

  He turned onto a side street and found a parking space. It would be easier and quicker to walk than to drive around in circles with everyone else. Logically, he knew that the festival brought much-needed cash flow into the town, but irrationally, he wished Everlasting would hit some sort of town lottery and cancel the entire thing.

  The Magic Eight Ball was a pool hall and bar that had been located at the end of Main Street since there had been a Main Street. Rumor had it that it had gone up right after the town hall and the church. At least Everlasting had its priorities straight. And the best part about the pool hall was that it wasn’t on the list of hot spots for festival attendees. The couples without children preferred the newer trendy bars located on the waterfront.

  The bar was filled with all the regulars, most of whom Dane had known his entire life. He made his way through the crowd, giving out an occasional hello or wave, and finally stepped up to the bar. Shorty, the owner and chief bartender, gave him a nod and pushed his usual beer across the counter.

  “Surprised to see you in here tonight,” Shorty said.

  “Why is that?” Dane had spent more than a few nights in the bar shooting the breeze with the owner and the old fishermen.

  “Heard your girlfriend was back in town. Thought you might have business elsewhere.”

  “Zoe hasn’t been my girlfriend for a very long time. The only reason I have ‘business’ with her is because she’s here to check on her aunt.”

  Shorty let out a guffaw. “Don’t get your back all up. I was just giving you some grief. I heard about Sapphire. How’s she doing?”

  “She’s going to be all right, but they’re keeping her in the hospital a few more days. Concussion.”

  “Sapphire was already crazy. How are they supposed to figure out when she’s better?”

  “X-rays, I suppose.”

  Shorty nodded. “Guess that works. Tell Zoe I’d love to say hello if she has the time.”

  “Will do.” Dane grabbed his beer and scanned the back of the bar and spotted two of the old fishermen he was looking for. He headed over, and they smiled when they saw him and pulled a chair up to their table.

  “I see you braved the festival crowd,” Monte Gallagher said. “A bit of a trial to get a beer around here the month of October.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Sam Chester said. “You live right behind the bar.”

  “Still gotta dodge ’em on the sidewalk,” Monte said.

  All three of them laughed.

  “I heard you’re doing work out at Sapphire’s place,” Monte said. “She got you building houses for all those cats?”

  “No,” Dane said. “She’s remodeling the lighthouse—bringing the kitchen and the bathrooms up to date.”

  Monte huffed. “Had the same bathroom since 1963. Still works fine.”

  “Ha. Tell that to the grout in your tub that retired in the ’80s,” Sam said. “One night, that tub is going to fall clean through the floor with you in it. They’re going to have to haul you off to the hospital naked as a jaybird.”

  Dane grimaced. “I can take a look at that for you when I’m done with Sapphire’s place.”

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have you take a look,” Monte said, “but I’m not doing no expensive renovation. If the water runs and the toilet flushes, then that’s all people need to be doing in a bathroom anyway.”

  Sam rolled his eyes and looked over at Dane. “My niece works at the hospital. She said Sapphire had a fall and is taking a couple days of vacation with them. Concussion, my niece says.”

  Dane nodded. “The doctor said she’s going to be all right, but that’s why I came in tonight. I was hoping to ask you guys something.”

  “If it’s doctoring advice you’re after,” Monte said, “my cure for everything is right there in that glass.” He pointed to his whiskey.

  “I’ll leave the doctoring advice to the doctors. This is more personal. Zoe is in town to see to her aunt, and she thinks someone broke into Sapphire’s house and that’s why she fell…coming down the stairs in the dark to see what was going on.”

  “What the hell is the girl talking about?” Monte asked. “Sapphire’s older than Sam here, and his first fishing trip was when Moses parted the Red Sea.”

  “Unfortunately, there’s good reason for Zoe to think that,” Dane said and explained about the nightclothes and finding the penlight and the Mace. “The problem is, Sapphire can’t remember and there’s no guarantee she ever will. And even if she could remember that she heard someone in her house, it still doesn’t mean she’d know why they were there.”

  “And you think we’d know?”
Sam said. “You sure you weren’t hitting the whiskey before you walked in here? We don’t know anything about thieving. The only crime we’re involved in is drinking too much and maybe a little commenting on women, but that’s not illegal. At least most times it’s not.”

  “You might not know about thieving but you do know all the local gossip,” Dane said.

  “That’s probably true enough,” Monte said. “So what kind of gossip are you looking for?”

  “Sapphire doesn’t really have anything of value,” Dane said. “At least, not something worth driving out all that way and risking jail over. But with the Cranberry Festival going on, I got to thinking that maybe there was some legend about the lighthouse…like buried treasure. Something worth the risk to break into her house.”

  “Buried treasure, huh?” Monte mused. “Plenty of those tales in these parts, but I can’t say as I’ve heard any specific to the lighthouse.”

  Sam frowned. “What about the magic stone?”

  Monte’s eyes widened. “I haven’t heard that yarn since I was a boy. Even if someone still remembered that story, surely they wouldn’t take it as the gospel.”

  Sam shrugged. “A fool is born every minute.”

  “These days, more than one,” Monte said.

  “So is anyone going to tell me the story?” Dane asked.

  “Don’t see what it could hurt,” Sam said. “The stone was said to come from Wales from the time of King Arthur. It had been touched by Merlin himself and had magical properties. It disappeared for over a thousand years, then was rumored to have been found and smuggled out of England by a group of colonists who thought the stone would bring them good fortune in America.”

  Monte nodded. “But the colonists’ ship was attacked by pirates and the stone disappeared along with a chest of gold coins. You know those coins as the Princess Gold.”

  Dane stared. “But those were found here decades ago. Some of them are in a museum in Portland.”

  “But the stone was never found,” Sam said. “The legend says one of the colonists hid it in his pocket. The pirates threw them off the ship, but despite a raging storm, they made it to shore.”