I drew my shoulders back and bellowed, “Story?’
“Yeah, it’s not like there really is a treasure in town. It’s just a made up story based on a legend, right?”
I kept silent for a moment. “Of course it’s just a story. If there were really a treasure in town, somebody would have found it already.”
His eyes widened. “Are you saying there really is a treasure?”
“Of course not!”
“I appreciate you gals stopping by. I now have enough material for tomorrow’s magazine. Jackhammers in the Walmart parking lot is too good not to use. And you say it really happened?”
“You need to stop this madness now! If I see so much as one more magazine published about this treasure map, I’ll call the Feds myself. When they find out you have a computer, you’ll be cooling it in juvenile hall until you’re eighteen.”
“Yeah,” El blabbered, “then you’ll be moved to the adult population, and you know what’ll happen then. You’ll be popular for a totally different reason.”
Chuck swallowed hard as I demanded, “I want the email address of the person who sent you that map. And you’re sure that you don’t know the person personally?”
“No, I swear. If I had thought there really was a treasure, I’d have never printed the map. I’d have looked for it myself,” he admitted as he jotted down the email address, handing it to me.
“I never said the treasure was real.”
“You sure didn’t, but you never said it wasn’t real either.”
It was my turn to swallow hard. “It’s just a story, like you said. Just cool it, kid, before you get yourself into trouble with the law.”
Chuck stared at me as he lit up a cigarette. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Come on, Aggie. I told you the kid wasn’t smart enough to know anything.”
“I’m plenty smart enough to know you old birds didn’t come down here to get me to stop publishing my tabloid. That treasure is real, all right.”
“What are you planning to do with that bit of information? You already made everyone in town believe the story was true.”
He rubbed the wiry whiskers on his chin. “Maybe it’s time for me to look for the treasure myself.”
I laughed. “Good luck, since the sheriff plans to tighten up security of all the places you listed on that map.”
“We’ll see. Again, I can’t thank you enough.”
I strutted away from Chuck before I gave in and yanked the goatee from his smug face. Once we were upstairs, I informed Chuck’s stepdad, Phil, that Chuck indeed had computers downstairs and had taken the password for the WIFI from a notebook. From the look in the man’s grey eyes, I was betting that Chuck would be in a heap of trouble.
I drove back to the cabin as El mused aloud. “We didn’t get much from ole Chuck, and now we may have just made it worse.”
“How can it possibly get worse now?”
“Now there’ll be one more person looking for the treasure.”
I had to shut off El, although I knew she was right. “We have an email address now. Maybe we should email whoever it is and find out what they know.”
“And why do you think they’d email us back at all?”
“Because whoever emailed that map likes attention. He or she likes that the whole town is responding to the map and searching for treasure.”
“If there really is treasure, that is.”
“Well, we found part of it.”
“We think we found some of it, but we have no idea if it’s real or not.”
“It sure was sparkly.”
“So are many knockoffs. We won’t know for sure unless we have the pieces appraised.”
I pulled up to the cabin, and noticed there was no Andrew. I had hoped he’d stop by so we could clear the air between us. I knew he wasn’t happy about me leaving today since I had just gotten home from the hospital, but if El and I don’t stay on the trail while it’s warm, we might never figure out who really killed Mildred. I wondered if he’d be mad at me forever or if we’d break up over my investigation of crimes. Tears crowded my eyes, but I sucked them in. I refused to cry over him. If that man couldn’t handle who I really am, then to heck with him.
El and I made way for the beach just in time to start roasting our own wieners, which were already stuck on the skewers.
“Did you find out anything?” Martha asked.
“Was Conner there?” Anna asked, tears in her eyes.
“Not sure. Three people took off and hid in the corner when we got there.”
She smiled weakly. “Sounds like that crowd. They want Chuck to be the fall guy.”
“Chuck told us he didn’t know where the map originated. He did give us an email address, though.”
“Do you believe him?” Martha asked, biting into her hotdog.
“It’s hard to tell, but I wonder if we made things worse by going there. I think he’s planning to hunt for the treasure himself now.”
Anna laughed. “I’d like to see that. Chuck doesn’t strike me as the type to leave his mother’s basement.”
“So what do you know about him?”
“Just that he got into trouble on the Internet, and he’s not supposed to be online until he’s eighteen.”
“He’s not following that rule at all, though, because he was playing Sky something on his computer when we got there.”
“Skyrim,” Anna corrected me.
“Whatever. Anyway, I’ve had enough for one night. I’m heading to bed.” I went back inside, leaving the girls to roast their hot dogs without me. I wondered if Chuck was telling the truth or if he was lying through his teeth. No time to think about it now, though, since I was so tired and missing Andrew so much. Maybe tomorrow I’d take the initiative and stop by and see him. Life was too short to keep bad feelings going between us.
Chapter Thirteen
I knocked on Andrew’s door at the Days Inn, balancing a drink carrier that held two coffees and an assortment of creamers from Tim Horton’s. I also had a bag of donuts clutched in the other hand.
I waited as footsteps approached the door, then there was the sound of a latch moving. Finally, the door opened to the rakishly handsome Andrew Hart, who, even at the age of seventy, could still turn heads. He was still in his pajamas. I glided inside and busied myself with the creamers, while he threw on a robe. I handed him a cup with a sly smile as I said, “I’m sorry I woke you.”
He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. “Are you now?”
I handed him the bag of donuts. “Yes, but I had hoped we could clear the air between us. I’d hate for us to keep being angry with one another.”
He sipped his coffee. “I agree. I meant to apologize the other day. I shouldn’t have walked out of the hospital that day, but I was so close to losing my cool with you.”
“I know, but you can’t keep doing that. Not if you want to keep seeing me, that is.”
He grumbled beneath his breath. “I know that, but I just worry about you sometimes. Damn, Agnes. You’re implicated in a murder. This is serious business.”
“Is that still going on? I had hoped—”
He cut in. “They’re still investigating. You haven’t found any possible suspects yet?”
“No, but Mildred’s son, Timothy, seems to be acting suspicious to me. He gave me a copy of the treasure map, which turned out to be the same one that that tabloid published. Incidentally, the person who publishes that rag magazine is a sixteen-year-old kid. He claims he was sent the map via an email, from an unidentified source.”
“I see. Anyone else of any interest?”
“As it turns out, a Mel Pifton showed up in town. He used to be involved with Mildred in the past, but he gave us a receipt claiming he was in Standish at the time of Mildred’s death, which I can’t prove until I can find a time of death.”
“I seem to recall you telling me that. Well, I’ll ask the sheriff on your behalf.” He put up a hand. “Let me handle this one for yo
u this time. You know how resistant the sheriff is about you asking him questions.”
“Yes, but what makes you think he’d tell you anything?”
“I’m your lawyer—or did you forget?”
“How could I forget a thing like that?”
“I’ll tell him that, as your lawyer, I have a right to know so I can properly defend you and El.”
I kneaded my hands. “I hope it doesn’t come to that. I mean, El and I on trial for Mildred’s murder.”
“Don’t worry about that right now, just get out there and find another suspect. Someone who would benefit from Mildred’s death.”
“Like her son,” I mused out loud. “El and I need to question him again, for sure. We saw him leaving KFC when we got there.” I then explained to Andrew what went down there.
He snickered. “That must have been a strange scene. I bet the sheriff was surprised you weren’t the ones tearing up the place.”
“Yes, but I don’t believe the sheriff thinks El and I are really involved in Mildred’s murder. He just has a job to do. I have been at odds with Trooper Sales ever since this whole thing began, though, which is bad since Sophia is due to pop out my great-grandchild anytime now.”
“You should probably stop by and check on her. I’m betting she could use a helping hand.”
“You’re probably right. I’ll swing by her place this morning, but I better stop and pick up Eleanor first or she’ll never forgive me.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll meet up with you later today.”
I finished up my donuts and coffee, gave Andrew a quick peck on his cheek, and left—giving El a quick call to let her know to be ready when I got there. I was relieved that Andrew and I seemed to have resolved things between us. My hope was that he’d think more logically in the future. There was just no way I’d quit investigating crimes, just like he wasn’t about to retire anytime soon from his attorney duties.
***
When I went back to the cabin, Eleanor joined me in the car. “Thanks for the heads-up, Aggie. I can’t wait to visit Sophia. I hope she has that baby soon.”
“I know. She sure looked miserable when we saw her at the hospital the other day.”
“False labor pains are the worst.”
I drove out of town and soon arrived at Trooper Sales and Sophia’s house in the country. He wasn’t currently home, and I had the strangest feeling something was wrong as my heart began to pound. I skidded to a stop, and when I got out, Shep, Trooper Sales’ dog, was barking up a storm and whining to get inside. He scratched at the door, and I raced there, but I found it locked. I looked through the window and spotted Sophia on the floor, grabbing her belly. I pulled out the key hidden in a rock in the landscape and used it to open the door.
Sophia was dressed in a nightgown, and she was lying in a large puddle of water. “Oh, thank God!” Sophia shouted. “My water broke—and then I slipped. I can’t get up. ”
I dialed 911 and helped Sophia up and into the bedroom. El’s face was contorted as she asked, “What do you want me to do, Aggie?”
“Boil some water and grab towels, as many as you can find.”
“Why water?”
“How would I know, but that’s what they do in the movies!”
El dodged off, while I tried to reassure Sophia that is was going to be okay. I helped her remove her underwear and position her legs open as a scream echoed in the room.
I turned to El and shouted, “Quit that screaming, Eleanor!”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to do.”
“Hey, you two. Focus on helping me get this—thing out of me!” Sophia choked out. She moaned loudly, and I instructed her to begin breathing exercises. “Oh God, this is hopeless. It was so much easier to do this breathing stuff when I was at Lamaze classes,” she cried. “I just wish Bill was here.”
“You heard her, call Trooper Sales, El.”
“Try to focus your breathing. Hopefully the ambulance will get here soon.”
She wailed, “It’s too late. I can feel the baby coming.”
That was so not happening. I wasn’t prepared to deliver my own great-grandchild! But it seemed the baby had a different idea because I took a look between Sophia’s legs, and sure enough, the head was crowning. “Push with the next contraction, honey!”
Sophia’s eyes protruded, and she gnashed her teeth together as she pushed. “Eleanor, help her.”
Eleanor went over and helped Sophia raise her back off the bed slightly as she pushed. Eleanor winced as Sophia gave her hand a tight squeeze.
“Hey, watch it, young lady. I have old bones.”
“Sorry.” She fell back, exhausted, until the next contractions began. With the next one, she pushed with all her might, but the head didn’t budge.
“Rest for a minute,” I told her. We have to get this baby out on the next push, okay?”
“Why the next one?” El asked.
“We’re not in a hospital, and I’m concerned about the baby. It’s not like we have forceps available.”
Sirens split the air, but I was too focused on Sophia to notice. The next contraction started, and she pushed with all her strength. Then, with a towel at the ready, I watched as the baby slipped out. I quickly wrapped the baby girl up, and El ran to the kitchen and came back with a turkey baster that I used to clear the baby’s air passages. As footsteps pounded through the house, the baby let out an earth-shattering cry, bringing tears to all of our eyes.
Trooper Sales stood in the doorway, dumbfounded, when I moved to allow the emergency responders to take over. They clamped the cord and allowed Trooper Sales to cut it—and even he had tears trickling down his face as he stroked Sophia’s cheek, muttering something about how happy he was that we were here. “I can’t believe I have a daughter,” he said.
“I don’t know what I would have done without Grams.”
“I shouldn’t have left you today.”
“It’s not your fault, Bill. How were you to know?”
Sophia and the baby were placed onto a gurney and rolled out, with Sales following close behind. El and I cleaned up the mess on the bed and did the laundry. It was the least we could do.
“Shoot. I better call Martha,” I said.
When I told my daughter the news, she squealed in delight, informing me she’d head straight to the hospital.
“Are we going to the hospital, too?” asked Eleanor, obviously excited at the thought of seeing the new baby again, and in a more relaxing setting.
I gave this some serious thought and then said, “Nope. I think the new family needs their time alone. I’m so glad Martha came back into our lives. It might just help Sophia and Martha’s relationship.” It wasn’t long ago that Martha had rolled back into town, and she’d been working hard to repair her relationship with not only me, but also her daughter, Sophia.
“Good point. I feel so happy right now. Helping Sophia deliver her baby was the best experience of my life.”
I smiled in agreement. “I feel the same way. I’d hate to think what would have happened if we hadn’t dropped by. I really need to thank Andrew for suggesting I check on Sophia.”
“Oh, is that where you snuck off to in such a hurry early this morning?” she asked with a wink.
“It wasn’t like that. I just needed to clear the air between us.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, I think so. He’s going to ask Sheriff Peterson for the time of Mildred’s death. Hopefully we can nail down a timeline. It just might exonerate us.”
“Since we haven’t been arrested, I think they know they don’t have much to go on.”
My lips turned up in a smile. “How right you are, El. Our clothing was clean as a whistle, and we’d have had some kind of blood splatter on them if we had done Mildred in, but I’d feel much better if we could question her son, Timothy. We need to grill him but good. Maybe we can crack him and he’ll tell us why he so readily gave us that map and what his involvement in the tre
asure hunt is really all about.”
“He just can’t be the one responsible for hiding treasure in East Tawas,” El protested.
“And why do you find that hard to believe, El? We saw him—”
“We saw him nothing. Just because he was at KFC doesn’t mean he was the one who hid the goods. We don’t even know if there was anything of any worth found. For all we know, the Cat Lady found a missing necklace in that trashcan that was dropped in there by mistake.”
“But a customer said she found it taped inside the receptacle,” I insisted.
“Hogwash. The only way we’ll know for sure is if the Cat Lady fesses up and shows us what she found.”
I shook my head at that. “No way is she gonna do that. We should just focus on Timothy.”
“Well, you had a look at Timothy. Does he look like a guy who’d be hiding real treasure all over town?” Before I could answer, she continued, “He looks like a guy who doesn’t have a dime to his name. Didn’t Elsie say he was down on his luck?”
“I don’t remember, but if he’s not involved, then who is?”
“I have no idea, but hopefully Elsie knows where this Timothy is so we can question him.”
El led the way to the car, and we left for Elsie’s house. As we rolled into the drive, we noticed there wasn’t a car in sight. We got out and approached the door and gave it a rap, waiting a few minutes before knocking louder. El’s brows met, and my heart thumped a little harder. “Maybe Elsie really isn’t home,” I said.
El wasn’t so easily convinced as she retorted, “I’m going around back to check it out.” I followed her around back, but Elsie’s car wasn’t parked there, either. I strolled over to the garage and gave the windows a quick wipe, pressing my face to the glass. Sure enough, Elsie’s car was parked inside. “She’s here, but I’ve never known Elsie to park her car in the garage. It’s usually parked up front.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, dead wrong. “This doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I’m with you on that, Aggie. Should we call the sheriff?”
“What on earth for?”
“Well, to check and see if she’s lying dead inside. Poor dear might have fallen or—”
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 05 - Treasure in Tawas Page 11