“Oh, I think they know what he’s doing all right. I just think they’re ignoring it. Don’t call the government just yet. I need to have something to hold over his head. I’m convinced he knows more than he’s saying about the treasure map.”
“I think that, too,” El said. “But how are we gonna prove that?”
Sales’ lips formed into a line. “I’m not sure, but I’m just not convinced that he’ll tell you two anything much. Maybe I should take a crack at it.”
“Please don’t do that,” I pled with him. “Give us more time. If we don’t find out anything of much help in a few days, then you can go in there with guns blazing and ask your own questions.”
“Guns blazing—I think not, but I sure would like to know what his true involvement is in the information he’s releasing in that magazine of his. I don’t buy into the fact that he’s some dumb kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows full well the consequences of his actions. He was arrested by the government, after all.”
My hands went to my hips as I stared toward the ambulance that was just now loading Conner’s whimpering ass. About the same time, a car pulled up, and Anna left in it for the Underground Railroad.
“Isn’t someone supposed to ride with Conner?”
Sheriff Peterson made his way there as I continued to stand near Trooper Sales and we continued our conversation. “Seriously, though, what crime has that kid really committed? It’s hardly against the law to spread lies and gossip.”
“Unless it causes a disruption in East Tawas. At the very least, he’s inciting a riot. There was quite a scene last night at the State Dock.”
“What happened?”
“A group of tourists started jumping on yachts to check them for treasure. I spent half the night taking reports and arresting the offenders. I’ve had enough with this treasure already. I’m ready for business as usual.”
“I have to agree with you there, but I just don’t know what we can do to put a stop to this, unless we figure out who is behind it. I still believe that whoever killed Mildred had something to do with it. They might have also been responsible for Timothy’s death.”
He shook his head. “And what does that have to do with the treasure, if anything?”
“I don’t know, but someone has gone to a lot of trouble to convince the whole dang town that this treasure if for real. I’m wondering if all the treasure found thus far belongs to Elsie.”
“What treasure are you talking about here? Have you found something?”
“Yes, but I’m not ready to show it to you until I can be certain who’s responsible. I’ll keep in touch,” I promised Sales. I could tell he wanted to say more, but he let it drop.
Once Sales had left, I gave El a quick hug, thanking her for saving the day.
“Aww, it wasn’t all my doing. Those Hill boys sure did their share. If they hadn’t been here—”
“We’d be dead for sure,” I finished for her. “I sure hope that Chris will be okay.”
“I can’t imagine either of those boys being down for long, but I sure don’t envy Rosa Lee a bit. If my boy were doing some of the things her boys have, I wouldn’t sleep a wink at night. Not that I know where my son Stuart is these days.”
“It’s not like they’re criminals.”
“With their involvement with the Militia, there is no telling.” El laughed. “We shouldn’t really worry about them when we still have a case to solve, though. Or two, now. I could do without discovering more bodies is all I’m saying.”
I put an arm around El’s shoulders as we made our way back to the car, my mind a jumble of thoughts. It really bothered me that Conner had claimed he owned Anna, as if she weren’t even a person.
Chapter Sixteen
When El and I were settled back in the car, I stopped back to the cabin. “Why are we here?” El asked, inquisitive as always.
“After all the excitement with Anna and all, I wanted to check to see if the treasure we found was still where I hid it.”
El began to fret something fierce now. “Do you think Anna robbed us?”
“I don’t think so, no, but I just can’t know for sure. It’s worth a check.”
I screeched the car to a stop and ran inside with El breathing down my neck. The door swung open easily, and all I thought was that I must have left it open accidentally.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose up as we were suddenly facing down the barrel of the Cat Lady’s shotgun. “Take it easy, girls, and this will be painless. Unless you force me to shoot you, that is.”
I sure should have noticed the trail of mud that had clumped off the Cat Lady’s boots all the way though the house. The patio door was wide open, and a trembling Martha stood there. She was gnashing her teeth, her eyes wide. “Take it easy, Cat Lady,” Martha said. “No sense in getting trigger happy.”
“Names aren’t important here, the treasure is. Hand it over before things get ugly for you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I have no clue what you’re referring to. As you can see, we don’t have any treasure in our hands.”
The Cat Lady was having none of that. “I know you two have found treasure. I’ve seen you at every business on the map.”
I shrugged. “Since we don’t know who really is behind that treasure map, it’s safe to say that it’s a bunch of malarkey.”
“Sure, that’s what they all say. I found a necklace at KFC, so I know there’s more to it than you want to make me believe. I need this treasure to pay back the money I borrowed to fix up my house.”
“Sorry for your luck,” I spat. “Why would you do something like that when you hadn’t found anything yet?”
“I know you well enough, Agnes, to know that you’re not telling the whole truth. You don’t need the treasure as much as I do.”
“I never figured you for a crook capable of murdering us just so you can be on easy street.”
“Yeah,” El said. “I thought you liked living like you do.”
“I’m ready to live on easy street.”
This was going nowhere fast. “Look, we haven’t any treasure. Take a look around if you don’t believe me.”
“I’ll do that, but neither of you better make a move or blondie gets it,” she said, grabbing hold of Martha’s arm.
El and I stood there and watched the Cat Lady yank off couch cushions. She instructed Martha to overturn the sofa so that she could look underneath. They then moved toward our bedrooms, where she proceeded to tear up the rooms, from the sound of the racket.
El whispered to me, “What are we gonna do?”
“I’m not sure, but we can’t leave Martha. Maybe she’ll figure out we don’t have anything and just leave.”
“Are you sure she won’t find anything?”
“Not a chance,” I assured her. I felt confident and knew the Cat Lady just wasn’t capable of figuring out where I had stuffed the goods, but it occurred to me to convince her I just might know whom the jewelry really belonged to.
The Cat Lady snarled as she pounded her feet back into the living room. “Just tell me where it is and I’ll leave.”
“I don’t have any treasure. We never found anything,” I lied. “Elsie Bradford’s jewelry was stolen. Has it ever occurred to you that it’s Elsie’s jewelry you found and not some elusive treasure?”
She shook her head. “Not a chance. Quit stalling, or else.”
I stepped forward. “Or else what?”
She pointed her gun at me. “I’m not afraid to shoot you.”
“And I’m not afraid of dying,” I retorted, despite the gasps emitted from Martha and Eleanor.
Eleanor’s body blocked me, and she shouted, “You’ll have to kill me first before you get a chance to harm a hair on Agnes’s head.”
The Cat Lady gasped, exasperated. “Don’t do this, El. Why are you sticking up for the likes of her,” she said, pointing a bony finger toward me.
“Now, that’s not fair. Agnes is a good person.”
<
br /> “From the way she talks to you, I’d never know that.”
My back stiffened, but El continued to back me up. “That’s just how we communicate. Sure, it sounds harsh to some people, but that’s how friends talk to each other sometimes. Before Aggie moved to town, I was so lonely, but now—now I have someone to hang around. We have so much fun investigating crimes, too.”
The Cat Lady put her shotgun down and let out a hard breath. “I know you’re right. I’m sorry to be threatening you all this way, but I really need to pay back that loan, and I don’t know what to do.”
El moved away, and for some dang reason, I felt bad for the Cat Lady. “We don’t blame you, but you do know that you just can’t be threatening folks this way. I’d hate to see you thrown in jail,” I said.
“Y-You’re not planning to call the cops, are you?”
I knew I should.
I really should, but I simply smiled and said, “Of course not! We’ve all just gone kind of crazy over this treasure, but I blame that tabloid for inciting us all, not you.”
“So you never really found any treasure then?”
“No,” I lied, but the real truth was that I had no idea if what we had found was real or not. I’d report the truth when we found out who really killed Mildred, so I just had to ask, “Do you know who killed Mildred?”
“I thought you had, but I don’t think that way anymore.” Her face lit up. “Maybe her son Timothy did the deed.”
I grimaced, not sure if I should tell the Cat Lady or not, but then Eleanor blurted it out, “He’s dead, murdered just like his mother. We think that whoever killed Mildred also killed Timothy.”
“I see. Do you have any ideas who might have done that?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “I think the kid running that tabloid knows more than he’s saying, but we’ve questioned him, and I’m just not sure.”
“He’s only sixteen,” El added.
“And that means what?” the Cat Lady choked out. “Age doesn’t matter a bit. Otherwise, juvenile detention centers wouldn’t be filled like they are,” she suggested. I nodded in agreement. “Let me at the kid.” She patted her shotgun. “I’ll introduce him to my little friend, and I bet he’ll start talking.”
I had to laugh at that. “I don’t think that’s the way to go. Plus, his folks wouldn’t even let us in the door if we tried to get in there fully armed.”
The Cat Lady set her shotgun down and sat down at the table. “Do you have anything to wet the whistle with? All this talk of treasure and murder has made me thirsty. I have some moonshine back at home, but I didn’t bring anything with me.”
I shot El a look, and she suggested, “How about iced tea?”
“Iced tea? What kind of bar keepers are you, anyway?”
“You do know this isn’t a bar, right?”
“Sure, but I also know you girls have something stronger than iced tea.”
Martha made way and rustled through the cupboards, coming back with a pint of vodka. “I think this will be more to your liking.”
The Cat Lady slapped the table and laughed. “Now we’re talking.”
I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer. “Isn’t it kinda early?”
“Speak for yourself. It’s always drinking time for me.”
The thought of an inebriated Cat Lady and a loaded shotgun in close proximity had me worried, but I just smiled. Martha handed me a shot. “I think we could all use a shot,” she said with a wink.
Not wanting to be an odd duck, I downed a shot with the girls. When the harsh vodka burned a path down my throat, I forced a smile. “That’s gone straight to my head,” I admitted.
“Aggie has always been a lightweight,” El added. “She can’t even handle your moonshine, Cat Lady.”
Martha smiled at that. “Oh, I had no idea you were in the liquor business, Cat Lady.”
“I use dandelions, actually. It makes for a bitter brew, but it’s strong as hades.”
I screwed up my face. “Way too harsh for my palate, I’m afraid. It gave me quite the stomach upset.” I silently prayed I wasn’t insulting the woman.
She slapped Martha on the back, who then winced, but she played along, and a smile split her face. “My mom has never been that much of a drinker. We called her a tea teetotaler.
Cat Lady laughed at that. “Good one, but seriously, I can’t say I blame her, as most folks can’t handle my brew. I used to sell it back in the day, but ole Sheriff Peterson warned me to cool it. He said that a few folks in town got quite sick, and he’d hate for me to get sued.”
Sued was only the half of it. I was lucky to have survived ingesting her moonshine.
We continued to joke about the moonshine, but I knew it was time to get the Cat Lady out of here so I could assure myself that the jewelry we found was indeed still here. I could tell from her unsteady gait that I couldn’t let her leave, though. Not that I even knew how she had gotten here in the first place, since there weren’t any cars in the driveway.
Martha made us all burgers, and we ate like we were starved. I was so happy that we had found a way to defuse the situation with the Cat Lady. I didn’t think of her as dangerous, but after staring down the barrel of her firearm, I wondered. I mean, was she capable of actually killing someone if they stood in the way of what she wanted and us? Who in their right mind would loan her the money for something she hadn’t even found yet? There had to be someone behind this treasure, but who?
I led the Cat Lady into my bedroom, and after I made my bed for her, she crawled in and was asleep and snoring so quickly that I had wondered if she had been walking in her sleep. I sure wished I could fall asleep that quick. As I looked around my room, I saw that the Cat Lady had really made a mess of the place. Clothes had been yanked from my closet and thrown to the floor. All my dresser drawers had been yanked open, and the contents were on the floor. Apparently, the Cat Lady was quite desperate, and that in itself was reason to pause. Sure, we had talked her out of gunning us down, but what about the next time?
When I came out of my room, Martha was sitting at the table, and I had to ask her how she had gotten there. “So if neither your car nor the Cat Lady’s is here, how did you get here?”
“Oh, she insisted we park the wagon down the road a spell. We made our way via the beach.”
“With a shotgun in hand? I’m surprised someone didn’t call the cops on you.”
She smiled, her eyes bright and glazed over. “For the most part, it didn’t look like anyone was around. Maybe everyone in town is off looking for treasure.”
“At this point, nothing would surprise me.” Then I informed Martha how Conner took Anna hostage and what happened at his house.
She yawned. “Sounds like you had an eventful day. Go ahead and crash on the couch,” Martha said. “I’m sacking out on a lawn chair.”
“Please bring it inside, though. I want to make sure this place is locked up tight this time around. I don’t want to wake up to any surprises.”
Martha grabbed a lawn chair and brought it inside, and before I nodded off, I made damn sure to lock up.
Chapter Seventeen
When I finally stumbled off the sofa and into the bathroom, it was nearly noon. On the way back, the Cat Lady was nowhere to be found. Martha was out on the deck, sunning herself, but Eleanor hovered nearby and asked, “Did you check for the treasure we found yet?”
“I had forgotten all about that.”
I pulled out the loose floorboard and grabbed the cloth bag I had stored the jewels in. For some reason, they didn’t look as impressive now, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they did belong to Elsie Bradford. “We need to stop by Elsie’s and see if any of the jewels we found are hers.”
El pouted then, fingering the fabric of the yellow shorts she wore. “I sure hope not. I was hoping that we had really found treasure.”
“Me, too, but it just might not be in the cards for us. If it doesn’t belong to Elsie, we’ll have it appraised. It’
s the only way we’ll know for sure if it’s real.”
I showered and dressed in lavender cropped pants with a white blouse, slipping my feet into white tennis shoes. I much preferred my sandals, but El and I had been so busy of late that they had begun to pain my toes something fierce.
Martha sauntered inside wearing little more than a white string bikini. Her eyes widened when she saw the jewelry on the counter. “Wow, you found more of the treasure?”
“The jury is still out on that one. Elsie Bradford told us that her nephew had stolen her jewelry, so it might just belong to her. That’s why we’re heading there now—to ask her.”
“Well, I’m going to tag along just in case. I mean, you two need a bodyguard or something, just in case those are the real deal.”
El and I waited in the Cadillac for Martha to change, and she sprinted from the house wearing a yellow cat suit with white sky-high heels. When she hopped in the backseat, I just had to say, “And to think I thought you had changed your ways.”
She puffed up her chest and let out a snort of a laugh. “That’s funny, Mother. It’s not like I’m heading in to work today.”
“Maybe if you dressed like that, you’d actually sell the Butler Mansion,” El suggested with a wink.
She waved a hand. “If I did that, I would be out of a job. Plus, the owner had a change of heart about selling the mansion.”
I couldn’t believe that. “But I thought the actress, Sara Knoxville, owned the mansion since her father was murdered there?”
“She does, but since all this talk of treasure surfaced, her Hollywood friends are dying to vacation in East Tawas to check out the place.”
“That’s all we need is a bunch of Hollywood parties in town,” I spat out grumpily.
El shot me a look. “Speak for yourself. Hopefully Brad Pitt will show up.”
I shook my head, as if the notion was just too ludicrous. “Wishful thinking, but I highly doubt we’d be invited to any parties given at the Butler Mansion.”
“Well, we did solve the case of Herman Butler’s murder,” El reminded me.
I roared toward Elsie’s house and said, “I know that, El, but—”
Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 05 - Treasure in Tawas Page 15