Secrets of the Treasure King

by Terry Ambrose

  Mancini watched her face for several seconds before he took a deep breath and walked off in a huff. Heather kept her arms wrapped around herself as she watched Mancini leave, and when Mancini disappeared through the door, his heart sank. Now what did he do? Maybe Marquetta was right. The truth was the only way.

  “Look, Ms. Sanna. You seem to be very level-headed.”

  “Gavin’s okay. He just doesn’t always understand boundaries.”

  “Right. Boundaries.” Rick hesitated. “That’s my problem. I have a daughter. She’s eleven. And she doesn’t always understand boundaries either.”

  “It’s a hard age,” Heather said, then forced a smile.

  Why couldn’t he just say it? Get it over with? “You don’t understand,” he stammered and took a deep breath. “The problem is…”

  Mancini’s voice bellowed from inside The Treasure King. “Hey, you! Come back here!”

  “Alex!” Rick yelled, then nearly knocked Heather over as he rushed past her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Alex

  I PUSH THROUGH the open doorway, slam the door closed behind me, and stand with my back pressed against it. The man pounds his fist on the door. Each time, it feels like he’s getting madder and madder. It won’t be long before he breaks it down. My heart feels like it’s gonna explode.

  “Open the door you little brat! Who are you?”

  My phone pings. Someone’s texting me? Now? Are you kidding?

  The man hits the door again. Holy crap. I never thought I’d get caught. I look at the text. It’s from Marquetta.

  —people coming. Find a place to hide. Run for it when your dad distracts them.

  My dad knows I’m here? Oh, man, he’s gonna ground me for a month. Unless the guy out in the hall kills me first.

  There’s a super loud noise. The door pushes against me, but it holds. I think the guy rammed it with his shoulder. I have to do something. The only escape routes are the bathroom and a closet. The guy hits the door with his shoulder again. It almost gave way that time. What am I gonna do?

  I rush into the bathroom. There’s no way out. It’s the same with the closet. There’s not even an air vent big enough for me to crawl through. I take another look around the room and stop when I get to the hanging picture frame on the wall. But it’s not a picture in the frame. It’s a map. Could that be Captain Carroll’s treasure map?

  The door shakes again and the man yells at me. “When I get in there, you’re dead!”

  It won’t be long now. The door can’t hold forever. I pull out my phone. Take a picture of the map. Run back to the door and press my back against it.

  “When I get my hands on you, kid, you’ll wish you never saw this boat!” There’s another huge thud.

  I do the only thing I can. Dial 9-1-1. I jump at the next huge thud. A couple more times and the door’s gonna give.

  When the operator answers I don’t even hear what she says, I just start yelling.

  “Help! I’m trapped on The Treasure King and there’s a man who’s trying to hurt me!”

  Another slam against the door. It’s so loud I can’t hear the operator’s question.

  “Seaside Cove Marina! Tell Chief Cunningham Alex needs help on The Treasure King!”

  Then, I hear another voice. It’s the woman who was arguing with the guy before.

  “Gavin! Stop it. What are you doing?”

  “There’s a kid in there. I’m trying to get her out.”

  “Her? It’s a girl?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t get a close look. But she had a ponytail.”

  “So you thought you’d coax her out by scaring her to death? Brilliant, Gavin. Just brilliant. You can be such an idiot. Back up. I’ll handle this.”

  There’s a gentle knock on the door. It’s followed by the woman’s voice. “You can come out now.”

  No way. But I can’t stay in here forever. And now that I’ve called 9-1-1, Chief Cunningham will be here soon. I’ll be safe once he gets here.

  “Alex. Open this door.”

  Oh, crap. It’s my dad. He’s using his stern voice, the one where he wants me to think he’s not mad, but I know he’s so angry he has to hold it all in. I am so dead. There’s no way to avoid what’s coming. I’m gonna be grounded until college for this. And then there’s another voice. They’re all talking at once, but the new voice isn’t Chief Cunningham like I expected. It’s Deputy Baker.

  She’ll get me out of here! I reach for the doorknob. Wrap my fingers around it. And then someone pounds on the door with their fist. “This is the Seaside Cove Police! You’re trespassing. Open this door and come out with your hands up.”

  Forget grounded. I’m totally going to jail.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Rick

  WHAT A MESS, thought Rick. Everyone in this little hallway was ticked off. At least Mancini was now directing his anger at Deputy Baker, not Alex. Of course, that was only irritating Baker more—a fact Rick was sure he’d hear about until Adam took over—and then things would get worse.

  If only he hadn’t gone home first. He’d have made it onto the boat, retrieved Alex, and escaped before anyone became the wiser. Now, there would be a heavy price to pay for Alex’s impulsiveness. He sighed as he watched his daughter standing there looking frightened and holding her hands in the air.

  “What’s your name?” Baker demanded.

  “Alex…Atwood.”

  Baker pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

  “Really?” Rick exploded. “She’s eleven. Not a hardened criminal.”

  “Back off, Mr. Atwood, or I’ll take you in for obstruction.”

  Mancini snickered. His body language exuded self-satisfaction in spades. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

  “You’re going to cuff an eleven-year-old?” Heather blurted. “Give me a break.”

  “You won’t need those. She understands she’s in the wrong.” Rick’s heart broke as he looked sympathetically at his frightened little girl. “Don’t you, Alex?”

  She looked down at the floor and muttered, “Yes, Daddy.”

  “I don’t care what she claims to understand, Mr. Atwood. I warned you about this before. You did not heed my warning, so I’m placing her under arrest for trespassing, breaking-and-entering, and interfering in a police investigation. Obviously, you haven’t taught her a child should not be butting into official police business. When I get done with her, she’ll understand it perfectly.”

  Rick’s blood boiled at Baker’s little tirade. He was not going to let the deputy treat his daughter however she wanted, not while he stood by helplessly.

  “Hope you’ve got a smaller pair of cuffs,” Mancini said with a smirk.“I’m checking the room to see if she stole anything.”

  “Stop right there, Mr. Mancini,” Baker snapped. “You will enter that room when I can go in with you and not a moment before, or I’ll arrest you for entering a crime scene.” She stared directly at Alex. “Where’s the key you used?”

  Alex pointed to a spot just inside the door. A small keyring lay on the floor. “I dropped them when he started pounding on the door. I got scared.”

  Rick’s heart broke at how Alex’s voice shook. He’d never seen her so afraid, and right now all he saw was a scared child with two bullies towering over her.

  “Young lady, I’m going to handcuff you and read you your rights. Since your father’s here…” Baker’s irritation was obvious as she stood over Alex. “He’ll be a witness to your arrest.”

  “Deputy, there’s no need to arrest her,” Rick said. “I’ll take her home and keep her out of your way.”

  “Back off, Baker.”

  Everyone turned to see who was behind the authoritative voice. Baker’s jaw clenched and her breathing quickened. Her voice was tight when she said, “Chief.”

  Rick stood to one side as Adam strode forward. He gave Rick a cursory nod, then pushed past the two crew members. Not quite sure
what Adam intended to do, Rick decided to wait. He knew Adam to be fair, and to have a soft spot for Alex. He could only hope for the best.

  “Everybody stand down,” Adam said firmly. “Mr. Mancini, since you’ve alleged this young lady may have stolen something, we’re going to need you to be with us when we search the room.”

  “You can’t do that!” Mancini snapped.

  “I’m the chief of police. I’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure everyone gets a fair shake.” Adam paused, looked directly at Mancini, then Deputy Baker. “Everyone. Baker, you will conduct the search with either Mr. Mancini or Ms. Sanna present. There will only be one person allowed at a time and the one who is not in the room is to remain here, in this hallway, until the search has been completed. Am I clear?”

  Baker squared her shoulders and pointed at Alex. “What about her?”

  “I will escort her home. Rick, you will continue working with Baker. You will be with the person who is not in the room.”

  “Got it.”

  “Chief, I object. This working with civilians is ridiculous. You can see that it leads to chaos and mistakes. This isn’t a parking ticket, it’s a murder investigation.”

  “Objection noted, Baker. Do your job.”

  “I’m trying to, but if I have to babysit…”

  “Baker, enough. You can talk to me later. Right now we have to deal with the situation we have in front of us. Like it or not.”

  Baker huffed, but focused her attention on Mancini. “Come with me.” She turned and entered the captain’s quarters with Mancini on her heels.

  Rick placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You and I are going to have a talk when I get home.” He looked at Adam, and said, “Thank you. I’m glad you showed up when you did.”

  “You have no idea how lucky you are.” Adam looked down at Alex. “Or you. Come with me, munchkin. You’re going to be under house arrest for a while.”

  As Adam guided Alex toward the door, she asked, “Does this mean I’m gonna have a criminal record?”

  “That depends,” Adam said.

  “On what?”

  “On whether I have to use handcuffs on you or not. Now march before I change my mind.”

  Rick breathed a sigh of relief as Alex left with Adam behind her. He trusted Adam and was positive he wouldn’t let anything happen to Alex. Rick stood next to Heather watching the search inside the cabin.

  Mancini was busy rummaging around while Deputy Baker watched. From the scowl on her face, the deputy looked as though she’d about had enough. Heather was leaning against the wall, her arms folded in front of her, and rolling her eyes.

  “You think this is a waste?” Rick asked.

  “I know it is. Your daughter couldn’t have stolen anything. She was wearing a tee shirt and leggings. Gavin’s being a jerk. Maybe I should say, he’s just being himself. Do you mind if I go get a few things done? I’ve got work to do.”

  “Sorry, but you’ll have to wait until your coworker is satisfied my daughter didn’t steal the silverware or something.”

  Heather rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. Hurry it up, Gavin.”

  Rick kept an eye on Mancini as he flung open the closet door. He grunted, then began pushing hangers aside.

  “Mr. Mancini, I’m tired of this,” the deputy huffed. “What exactly are you looking for?”

  There was a long pause, during which Mancini avoided looking at Deputy Baker and the tension built. Finally, he said, “I’m satisfied. Lock it up.”

  The deputy followed Mancini into the hallway and looked at Heather. “What about you, Ms. Sanna? Do you feel a need to inspect the room?”

  “I’m good.” She regarded Mancini, then indicated Rick with a upward tilt of her chin. “I already told him, Gavin’s just being a jerk.”

  Without a word, the deputy locked the door and dropped the entire key ring into a plastic baggie. “This room is still a crime scene. We may need to do an additional search.”

  “I told you there’s nothing missing,” Mancini said. “You can’t make it a crime scene just because you want to.”

  “You’re the one who made it one when you claimed that little girl might have stolen something. I don’t want there to be any question.” Deputy Baker slipped the plastic baggie and key into a pouch on her utility belt and looked at the two crew members. “I especially don’t want some unauthorized person entering the room, taking something, and then blaming it on a child. The room remains a crime scene until the chief or I declare it otherwise.”

  Rick couldn’t figure out Deputy Baker. On the one hand, she’d appeared ready to lock Alex up, but now she was protecting her?

  “I take it you’re done for now?” Heather asked.

  Deputy Baker scratched out a note in her notepad. “For the time being.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Alex

  MARCH 27

  Hey Journal,

  I got busted on The Treasure King! I am so bummed out. After Chief Cunningham got me off the boat, he took me up to the park where Marquetta was waiting for us. At first she hugged me and held me real tight, then she started to chew me out. Chief Cunningham didn’t say a lot, but he did tell us I could be tried in juvenile court.

  This totally sucks, Journal. There was nobody around when I snuck on the boat, I totally should have been able to get on and off without being seen. And then those stupid crew members came back. The man is like totally insane. At least he was slow! Ha ha. If he’d have been faster I wouldn’t have made it into the captain’s quarters and found the map. The map! I’ve gotta look at that after I finish. I tried to tell Marquetta about it, but she was super upset and said she didn’t want to hear any more talk about Captain Carroll or the boat or even Deputy Baker.

  This sucks. I was just trying to help. You’d think Deputy Baker would get that, but she’s treating me like I’m the criminal. I don’t wanna be a criminal, Journal. The cops get mean and it’s super stressful ‘cause you don’t know if you’re going to jail or how long you’ll be there.

  What nobody gets is I wasn’t trying to steal anything! I just wanted to find the evidence. Now I’m like grounded and stuck in my room until my dad gets home. Then he’ll give me the speech about being impulsive and irrational. I’ve totally heard it before. The thing is, I gotta do things my way. Right? That’s what he and Marquetta are always telling me. I guess that only applies when they approve of what I’m gonna do.

  Marquetta didn’t take away my phone or my computer. Not yet, anyways. First, I’m gonna look at the photo of the map from Captain Carroll’s wall. If I need someone on the outside to help, I might be able to get Sasha. We‘re gonna have to be super careful to keep everything on the down low. I don’t want her to get busted, too.

  Bye for now,

  Alex

  I open the picture I took in the captain’s quarters on my phone. It’s definitely a map. And it shows Seaside Cove. But that’s only a small part of it. There’s a bunch of marks going down the coast. When I zoom in, I can see that each one of those little marks looks like a wrecked ship. Some of them have names, but a lot of them don’t. There must be at least a hundred little marks on the map. Maybe more.

  This is gonna take some time ‘cause of how many wrecks there are. Maybe it would be better if I transfered the photo to my laptop? It’s worth a try. I drop it on the computer’s desktop and open the file. The map’s a lot easier to read now.

  Some of the locations are marked with more than one shipwreck. This is totally awesome. But where’s the San Manuel? It’s supposed to be off the coast of Seaside Cove. I start north of San Francisco and read the names. There’s Celia, Northland, Catania, and so many more it’s making my eyes cross. When I get down to Southern California, I see a little island off of Long Beach has a bunch of wrecks. There are even a few Spanish ships listed—Santa Marta, San Pedro, San Sebastian.

  My eyes are super tired, and I’ve gotten through most of the list. But there was no mention of the San Manuel. Do
es that mean it doesn’t exist? Maybe Captain Carroll was running a scam and that’s what got him killed!

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Rick

  WITH ALEX UNDER Chief Cunningham’s control, Mancini still grumbling about not having access to the captain’s quarters, and Deputy Baker obviously unhappy over the entire incident, Rick and the deputy disembarked The Treasure King. They met on the dock, not far from the boat. The tightness in Baker’s cheeks telegraphed her frustration, and Rick did not have high expectations for how this conversation might go.

  The planks creaked beneath Rick’s feet, its old wood, worn and weathered, still sturdy. Joe Gray had once told him the dock’s flexibility, the give and take Rick heard and felt now, were the reason it was still standing. As he waited for the barrage he expected from Baker, Rick wondered how long he’d be able to stay calm.

  “Your child is a menace to this investigation.”

  “Deputy Baker, I’m sorry about Alex. We’d given her specific instructions to stay clear of The Treasure King. I’ll deal with her appropriately.”

  Baker’s cheeks, which were now tinged with pink, puckered. “Your daughter, Mr. Atwood, not only put herself in danger, but also this investigation. I cannot work with someone I can’t trust. And obviously, no matter how good you might be at this sort of thing, you are still an amateur and your daughter is not controllable. I’ll be talking to the chief about having you removed from the case. I see no point in continuing this discussion.”

  “It’s not that easy,” Rick said. “Alex made a mistake, sure. But, her mistake does not mean you should be working this investigation alone. There are still witnesses to interview. For instance, have you talked to Will Shelley? He portrays himself as a mediator, but the others see him differently. They say he caused more problems than he fixed. And his alibi is that he was in San Ladron visiting his niece on the night of the murder. We should be verifying that.”

  “And what would Mr. Shelley’s motive have been, Mr. Atwood? He was angry over too many sea days? Or he didn’t like the food? This is why working with a civilian is a very bad idea. You people have no idea of proper investigative procedures. You think you can just run around, accuse people of a crime, and they’ll confess.”