“Beverly told you, didn’t she?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Adam laughed. “Grandma, you know as well as I, this is a small town. Things get around fast. Bill knows people, just like Beverly obviously knows people. Never can keep a secret in Frederickport.”
“You’re right, which makes me even more concerned. Before this evening I imagine everyone in town is going to know the Missing Thorndike is sitting over at Marlow House, unprotected.”
“Last thing I heard, Danielle has a very secure wall safe.”
“And would that stop someone from holding her at gunpoint and demanding she open that safe? Oh, goodness gracious, look what happened to them all when they got on that plane!”
“Don’t get yourself all worked up. I suspect that necklace is going to be back in the safe deposit box by Monday.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I imagine those surveillance tapes are going to help them figure out what went wrong and fix it, and then Danielle can put the necklace back.”
“And if they don’t, I imagine everyone in Frederickport will be waiting for the bank to open on Monday so they can clear out their safe deposit boxes before the thief does!”
Eleven
After dropping his grandmother off at her home, Adam decided to take a drive over to Marlow House. He was curious to find out the latest news regarding the missing gold coins and assumed if anyone knew anything, it would have to be Danielle. After all, it was her gold. It could have been my gold, Adam told himself. But as he pulled the car away from his grandmother’s house and glanced back and saw Marie waving goodbye, he thought, Nahh, it would have never been mine.
Turning on the radio, he listened to the music as he drove toward Beach Drive. Just as he pulled up in front of Marlow House and parked his car, his phone rang. He turned off the radio and then the ignition before picking the phone up off his console. It was an incoming FaceTime call from Melony Jacobs.
Before answering the call, Adam quickly looked up into the rearview mirror and inspected his appearance, hastily using one hand to straighten his hair.
“Hey, Mel!” Adam said with a smile when he answered the call, holding the phone not quite an arm’s length from his face.
“Hi, Adam.” Melony’s face smiled out at him from the phone’s small screen. She appeared to glance around. “Hey, where are you?”
Adam laughed. “I’m in the car.”
“Oh my god, please tell me you aren’t driving!”
He laughed again. “No, I just parked the car. What’s up? You look terrific, by the way.”
She grinned back at him. “Thanks. I just wanted to let you know you’ll be seeing more of my face.”
He arched his brow. “Are we talking an increase in FaceTime calls, or are you coming for a visit?”
“I turned in my resignation two weeks ago. I’m moving back to Frederickport.” By her smile, it was obvious she was excited with the change.
Adam sat up straighter in the seat and looked into Melony’s face. “Are you serious?”
“Pretty serious considering I moved out of my place last week and moved into a motel. I needed to get things wrapped up before I take off for Oregon.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Adam asked.
“I didn’t want to say anything until I got everything square here. That’s why I told you I didn’t want to rent or sell Mom’s house.”
“So you’re moving into her place?” he asked.
She nodded. “For now. Not sure if I’ll stay there or sell it and get something smaller. But we’ll see.”
“What are you going to do about a job?”
“That’s one of the things I’ve been working on. When I arrive in Oregon today, I’ll be able to legally practice law in the state.”
“Today?”
“Portland, anyway. I probably won’t get into Frederickport until Tuesday morning.”
“Do you need a ride?” he offered. “I could pick you up tomorrow. No reason to stay over in Portland.”
“Thanks, Adam, but no. Dad’s law firm’s remaining files were transferred to storage in Portland, and I’m spending tomorrow sorting through what’s left of them. I don’t expect to go through everything, but it’s a start.”
Adam squinted his eyes and took a closer look at his cellphone’s screen. “Are you at the airport?”
Melony laughed. “I was wondering when you’d notice. Yes. My plane boards in a few minutes for Portland.”
Adam shook his head. “I can’t believe you never told me.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
Adam grinned. “You did.”
“How’s Ed?” she asked.
“Ed? Ahh…you mean since the hijacking?”
“I’ve talked to him a couple times in the last few weeks, and he sounded so down. That monster really messed up his head.”
“He seems okay. I get the feeling he’s not anxious to jump back into dating.”
“And those poor boys! To have to worry about their dad like that after losing their mom. I’d like to smack her good.”
“Well, I think she might be regretting her actions about now. Even with the plea deal she made, I understand she’s looking at something like five years. That can’t be easy for someone like her.”
“It should be longer,” Melony said angrily.
“Does the chief know about you moving back?”
“Yeah, I told him last week.”
You told him, but you didn’t tell me.
“Ed and I go back a long way.”
Not as long as us.
“I didn’t want to just pop back in town unannounced.”
“He never mentioned it,” Adam muttered under his breath, annoyed.
“What did you say?”
“I said he never mentioned it,” Adam said in a louder voice.
“I asked him not to say anything to anyone.” Melony paused a moment and glanced to her right. She then looked back to her phone. “I need to say goodbye, Adam. They just called our flight.”
“Where are you staying tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Adam could tell she was standing up.
“Call me when you land,” Adam told her.
“Okay. But I need to go.” She flashed him a smile.
“Fly safe!”
A knock came at the car window just as the iPhone screen froze. The FaceTime call had ended. Adam looked up. Chris stood outside his car, looking in the passenger window, wearing a grin and holding Hunny in his arms.
“I was wondering if you were going to sit in your car all afternoon,” Chris said when Adam got out of his vehicle.
“I was talking to Mel,” Adam explained as he slammed his car door shut. He noticed Chris’s vehicle parked in front of his. It hadn’t been there when Adam had pulled up.
“How is Mel?” Chris asked as he walked to Adam. Once on the sidewalk, the two men started toward Marlow House’s front gate.
“She’s moving to Frederickport—” Adam abruptly stopped talking when he noticed the front of Chris’s new car was smashed in. He let out a low whistle and walked toward the vehicle. “What happened?”
“Heather plowed into it yesterday. So what is this about Melony moving to Frederickport?”
Not answering Chris’s question, Adam stood over the smashed car hood, hands on hips, and shook his head. “Wow, she did a good job. How did she do this?”
“Ahh, you know Heather,” Chris said dismissively, waving his free hand as if to brush away the subject. “Easily distracted. So tell me about Melony.”
Adam looked up from Chris’s car and shrugged. Stepping away from the vehicle, he joined Chris on the sidewalk and the two men made their way toward Marlow House.
Before he answered the question, he glanced at the pit bull puppy squirming in Chris’s arms. She wanted desperately to greet Adam.
Adam reached over and scratched the puppy under the chin, yet
not before Hunny licked and playfully chewed his fingertips.
“You have a real killer there,” Adam said dryly.
Chris glanced down at the squirming pup. “You’re telling me. So what’s this about Melony?”
“I don’t know much. This is the first I’ve heard about it. She FaceTimed me a few minutes ago, announcing she was on her way to Oregon.”
“I bet you’re excited,” Danielle told Adam after he recounted his recent call from Melony. He sat with Chris and Danielle in the parlor. Walt stood nearby, a fact Adam was unaware of. He could smell Walt’s cigar, but assumed—as he always did—that it was just one of those odd smells an old house sometimes gets.
“Not sure how I feel about her telling the chief first,” Adam grumbled.
“Well, they are old friends,” she reminded him.
“And I’m not?” Adam snapped.
Danielle studied Adam and wondered, Perhaps Marie will be getting her wish after all, and Adam will settle down and start a family.
They continued to discuss Melony’s impending move to Frederickport when the conversation shifted to the missing gold coins.
“Grandma is not thrilled you’re keeping the Missing Thorndike here,” Adam told her.
“I can’t believe she already knows—wait a minute, what am I talking about? I’d be surprised if she didn’t know.” Danielle chuckled.
“I have to say I can’t blame Grandma,” Adam told her.
Danielle glanced over to Walt and smiled. She looked back to Adam and said, “I’ll be fine here. We have a perfectly good safe and locks on the doors.”
“Not to mention those security cameras of yours,” Adam muttered.
“Security cameras?” Danielle asked.
“Oh, come on, I know you have this house wired with cameras.” Adam glanced around the parlor, looking for signs of hidden cameras.
Danielle started to say something, yet decided not to. Settling back in her chair, she smiled and thought about that long-ago time when Adam had broken in to Marlow House. It was Walt who had caught Adam and Bill in the act, not some hidden cameras. Of course, Adam didn’t know that. Danielle also knew Adam believed her antique croquet set was rigged with some remote control device. She chose not to bring up that subject.
“Hidden cameras or not, I’m not thrilled with Danielle keeping the Missing Thorndike here,” Chris said.
Walt let out a sigh and shook his head. “You have no faith in me.” He took a puff off his cigar as he sat along the edge of the small parlor desk.
“July fourth is just around the corner—Marlow House’s first anniversary. Since you have the necklace here anyway, are you going to wear it again?” Adam asked.
Sitting on the sofa next to Chris, Danielle uncrossed and recrossed her legs, repositioning herself on the sofa as she stubbornly shook her head. “I told you before, I’m not having any sort of celebration this year.”
They all remained silent for a few minutes.
Adam was the first to speak. In a soft voice he said, “Don’t let Renton spoil everything.”
Walt spoke up. “Adam has a point. You said yourself you no longer believed the Missing Thorndike was responsible for Cheryl’s death. Same for the July fourth party.”
Danielle shrugged. “I would just feel strange celebrating the anniversary of the opening, knowing it was the anniversary of Cheryl’s death. Although…technically speaking, she was killed the next day.”
Adam let out a sigh. “I have my share of regrets about all of that. If Cheryl hadn’t come with me, maybe Renton would never have had the opportunity he did.”
Danielle looked over at Adam and smiled sadly. “Oh, let’s face it. Cheryl did exactly what she wanted to do. Looking back, she was really the only one who could have prevented it. But the fact is, maybe she actually saved my life.”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
“Renton had stolen from my aunt’s estate. Had Cheryl not stirred things up when she did, I might have eventually figured something out, approached Renton wrong, and gotten myself killed. Who knows?”
“If you will remember, you almost did get yourself killed,” Walt reminded her.
“Then maybe you should do this for Cheryl. Your cousin loved a good party.” Adam grinned.
“Considering all that we’ve gone through, maybe we deserve a good party just to celebrate surviving this past year,” Danielle said with a laugh.
“I’m always up for a party,” Chris said.
“With Melony here, I suppose that will keep Adam out of trouble,” Danielle teased.
Before Adam could respond, the doorbell rang. In the next moment Walt was by the parlor window, looking outside.
“It’s those G-men,” Walt told Chris and Danielle.
Danielle looked from Walt to Chris and then stood up. “I’ll get the door.”
After Danielle left the parlor, Walt by her side, Chris sat alone with Adam.
“So, Adam, what’s the deal with you and Melony?”
“Honestly? I’m not really sure. Since I saw her last, we’ve been keeping in touch on the phone. But she never said anything about quitting her job. She’s giving up good money in New York. I don’t see how she can make near as much in Oregon, especially in Frederickport. It’s not like she has any family money to fall back on. All Jolene left her was debt.”
“Money isn’t everything,” Chris reminded him.
Adam laughed. “Says the multibillionaire.”
Twelve
There was nowhere to park in front of Marlow House. Chief MacDonald recognized three of the vehicles in front of the bed and breakfast. Adam Nichols was parked between Chris’s vehicle and the dark sedan driven by Special Agents Wilson and Thomas. For a brief moment MacDonald entertained the idea of driving on and returning later, after Wilson and Thomas were gone. Instead, he made a U-turn and parked in front of Ian’s house.
Sitting in the backseat of MacDonald’s car was his youngest son, Evan, who waited for permission to unhook his seatbelt. Just as MacDonald got out of his car and made his way to the sidewalk, to let Evan out of the backseat, he heard someone calling his name. It was Lily. She was walking toward him from Ian’s house.
“Looks like they’re having a party over there,” MacDonald greeted her with a nod toward Marlow House as he opened his back door.
“Did you come to visit Ian and me?” Lily asked with a grin, now standing on the sidewalk. She leaned down and waved into the car at Evan, who remained sitting in his booster seat while wrestling with the latch on his seatbelt.
“I’m here to see Walt!” Evan announced when he climbed out of the car.
Lily grinned and then placed a finger across her lips and said in a hushed voice, “You don’t want to say that too loud; Ian might come out here at any moment.”
“Oh, sorry.” Evan blushed. He now stood on the sidewalk.
MacDonald slammed the car door shut. “I hope Ian doesn’t mind if I park here.”
Lily waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t be silly.” She glanced across the street. “But I am trying to figure out who the black car belongs to.”
“Agents Wilson and Thomas, I’m pretty sure,” MacDonald told her.
Lily looked back across the street at the dark sedan. “You mean those FBI guys?”
“Yes.”
“What are they doing here?”
“I assume to question Danielle about the missing coins.”
“That makes sense.” Lily then pointed across the street. “Did you see what happened to Chris’s car?”
Standing between Evan and Lily on the sidewalk, MacDonald looked across the street. He saw the smashed-in hood. “When did that happen?”
Evan spied an interesting bug along the edge of the sidewalk and knelt down to inspect it.
“Happened yesterday. It was parked where Adam’s is now. Heather was driving down the street and plowed into it. The official story, she was dodging a dog who ran in front of her car.”
“
Official story?” MacDonald asked.
Lily glanced briefly to Ian’s house to see if her boyfriend had come outside. She looked back to MacDonald and whispered, “Heather saw something on our roof.”
“And?”
“The kind of thing she and Dani and Chris—” Lily glanced down at Evan, who was still on his knees, paying no attention to their conversation “—and Evan sometimes sees.”
“A ghost?” MacDonald whispered.
“Either that or a leprechaun.”
“She’s in the parlor with those FBI agents,” Chris explained when he opened the front door and let MacDonald and Evan into the house.
MacDonald glanced to the closed parlor door. “How long have they been here?”
“About twenty minutes. Adam’s in the library. You want to go in there with us and wait, or are you going to barge in on them?” Chris asked.
“I’ll go in the library with you guys.”
“Where’s Walt?” Evan asked Chris.
“I’m pretty sure he’s in the parlor with Danielle,” Chris answered in a whisper.
Evan let out a disappointed sigh.
Chris reached out and rustled Evan’s hair. “But I understand there’s a puppy in the library that just loves little boys.”
Evan perked up. “Hunny’s here?”
Chris nodded. “In the library.”
Evan dashed off in front of them.
“Hi, Adam,” MacDonald greeted when he walked into the room. Adam waved from his place on the sofa. Evan was already on the floor, playing with Hunny. MacDonald glanced to Chris and asked, “Where’s all the guests? Joanne?”
“Joanne’s in the kitchen, and I know a couple of the guests said something about going up to their room and packing. I think one group went down for a final walk on the beach. According to Danielle, all the current guests will be leaving by tomorrow,” Chris explained.
“I guess you know Melony is moving back to town,” Adam said when MacDonald took a seat near the desk.
“Can Hunny and I go see Joanne?” Evan interrupted.
MacDonald looked down at his son. “It’s really cookies you’re after, right?”
The Ghost and the Leprechaun Page 7