Thanksgiving by the Sea

by Kathi Daley

  Thanksgiving by the Sea

  A Haunting by the Sea Mystery

  by

  Kathi Daley

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Katherine Daley

  Version 1.0

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Haunting by the Sea

  Homecoming by the Sea

  Secrets by the Sea

  Missing by the Sea

  Betrayal by the Sea

  Thanksgiving by the Sea

  Table of Contents

  Haunting by the Sea

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Up Next from Kathi Daley Books

  Preview: The Mystery Before Christmas

  Chapter 1

  Friday, November 16

  You know what they say about the best-laid plans?

  I was on my way to a weekend getaway with Trevor Johnson, one of my two best friends, when I got a call from Officer Woody Baker. Woody was a good guy who’d helped me out on more than one occasion, so when he asked for my help in tracking down the man who’d shot a local social worker, I didn’t feel I could turn him down in spite of the fact that Trevor and I were still trying to recover from the worst cruise in history. Well, maybe not the worst in history; I did remember the Titanic. But while our cruise may not have been quite as bad as that history-making cruise gone wrong, it definitely wasn’t the relaxing time I’d been promised by my other best friend, Mackenzie Reynolds, and her new guy friend, Ty Matthews. Not only had I run into a ghost on my second night aboard, but the ship had been hijacked, and other passengers had ended up dead before the nightmare at sea was over as well.

  “My name is Amanda Parker. Officer Baker sent me,” I said to the woman at the front desk of the hospital. “I’m here to meet Carmen Rosewood.”

  The woman looked down at her log. “Yes. Ms. Rosewood is waiting for you. Just take the elevator to the second floor and then make a left. Trinity Rosewood is in room 202.”

  Offering the woman a look of thanks, I headed toward the elevator. I really doubted, due to the unique circumstance, that I’d be able to help Woody accomplish what he hoped, but I knew I needed to try.

  “Carmen Rosewood?” I asked the dark-haired woman sitting next to the hospital bed currently occupied by Trinity Rosewood.

  “Yes.” The woman nodded. “You must be Amanda Parker.”

  “I am. I’m sorry about your sister.”

  A tear rolled down the woman’s face. “Who would do this to Trinity? She’s a good person who spent her life helping others. This whole thing makes no sense.”

  I offered the woman a gentle smile. “I know. I’m sorry.” I glanced at the woman currently hooked up to a variety of monitors and machines. “Has there been any change?”

  Carmen slowly shook her head. “According to the doctor, all we can do is wait. Either Trinity will fight to live or she won’t. There really isn’t anything more the doctors can do at this point.”

  “I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Trinity, but Woody assures me she is a fighter.”

  Carmen offered me a tiny smile. “She is. If anyone can survive this, it will be Trinity.” She glanced away from her sister and toward me. “I’m not sure why Officer Baker wanted you to spend time with Trinity, but he asked me to allow you to sit with her for a while, and I agreed.” She stood up. “If you are some sort of a psychic or healer, please do everything you can. I’ll be in the waiting room. You can just come and get me when you are finished.”

  “Thank you. I won’t be long.”

  Sitting in the chair Carmen had just vacated, I realized all I could do at this point was to open my mind and wait. Woody is a fantastic cop who doesn’t normally need help to do his job, but the shooting in question took place after dark in the driveway of the woman’s home, and no one had seen who’d pulled the trigger except for the woman herself. The problem was that Trinity was in a coma and couldn’t tell anyone what had happened. Given the fact that I could see and speak to ghosts, Woody hoped I might be able to communicate with her. I agreed to try, but ghosts were dead, and this woman was simply unconscious, so I really doubted it would work.

  “Trinity. Are you here?” I asked in a gentle voice. “Can you hear me?”

  There was no response. I looked at the monitors which seemed to be beeping along steadily. Trinity looked to be at peace. She didn’t appear to be close to death. I honestly doubted that I would be able to connect with her. Deciding to see if my alter ego Alyson was around, I silently called out to her. She appeared.

  “Can you sense her?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  “No,” the half of me that existed in spirit form replied. “The woman is still very much alive. Her essence has not separated from her body. I guess that is a good thing, but I’m not sure there is a lot you and I can do at this point.”

  I nodded. “I thought as much, but I had to try. I’m going to wait here for a few minutes just in case we’re wrong and Trinity is trying to reach out to us.”

  Alyson disappeared, and I reached out and took the woman’s hand in my own. “My name is Amanda. I’m not sure if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m here to help you. I can’t stay long, but I will be back tomorrow. If you can find a way to communicate with me, I want you to know that you don’t have to be afraid of me. I only want to help.”

  Trinity didn’t move, but I sensed that my message had been received. I stood and walked out into the waiting room.

  “So?” Carmen asked.

  “Your sister is at peace. She is strong. I didn’t sense distress. I wasn’t able to speak with her directly today, so I’d like to come back tomorrow. Honestly, I’m not sure I can do anything to help Trinity, but I’d like to try.”

  “Yes. Of course. Please feel free to come back any time. Officer Baker didn’t go into any detail, but he did say that you have a unique gift and might be able to help.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Once I returned to my car, I called Woody from my cell.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “Trinity is very much alive and is not even close to separating from her spirit. I do plan to return tomorrow and try again, but at this point, I think we are going to need another way to identify the person who shot her.”

  I could hear Woody breathing, but he didn’t answer right away. Eventually, he spoke. “Yeah. I’ve been working on it, but I’m not really getting anywhere. I don’t suppose you’d like to grab some lunch and we could talk it through. At this point, I feel like I’ve hit a dead end.”

  “I’d be happy to talk it through with you. I’ll grab some sandwiches and meet you at your office. We can eat and chat in the conference room where we won’t be interrupted or overheard.”

  “Great. And thank you.”

  “Anytime.”

  Once I hung up with Woody, I called Trevor.

  “Any luck?” he asked.

  “No, but given the fact that I can see and speak to ghosts, that is a good thing. Alyson seemed to feel that at this poi
nt, the woman is well connected to her spirit. I’m going to head over and chat with Woody about the case. Do you want to come?”

  “Yeah. I’d like that. Do you want to meet at Woody’s office?”

  “That would be great. I’m going to pick up some sandwiches. I should be there in twenty minutes or so.”

  After I hung up with Trevor, I headed toward the deli. After our cruise from hell ended early, Trevor and I had decided to spend a few days touring the San Juan Islands while Mac and Ty went off on their own romantic holiday. Trevor and I had been skirting the friends versus something more than friends issue for a while now, and I was sorry we hadn’t had the chance to really explore our options. Not that I would have considered turning Woody down when he’d asked for my help, but it did seem that Trevor and I were destined to remain in the friend zone for all eternity. And maybe that was a good thing. Maybe taking our relationship to the next level would end in disaster. Trevor had been one of my best friends, along with Mac, since I’d first moved to Cutter’s Cove as a teenager in witness protection. He meant a lot to me. More than I’d even realized until I’d returned to Cutter’s Cove ten years after having left when witness protection ended. Was I really willing to risk that friendship by exploring a romance? I knew deep in my heart that once you crossed the line between friendship and romance, you could never really go back.

  “Two Italian subs and a veggie sub,” I said to the man behind the counter at the deli.

  “Coming right up.”

  Walking over to the cooler, I grabbed three sodas. The place was pretty deserted today, but I supposed it was because it was a weekday during the off-season when the town as a whole tended to be somewhat deserted.

  “Chips?” the man asked.

  “No. Just the sandwiches and these sodas.” I picked up the regional newspaper and an image of a man being shot flashed into my mind. Okay, that was odd. My superpower seemed to be to see and speak to ghosts so I could help them do whatever it was they needed to do to move on. I didn’t have premonitions. At least I hadn’t until now if that is even what was going on. Of course, I’d had prophetic dreams in the past. I supposed that flashes of insight were really nothing more than an extension of that. “I’ll take this newspaper as well,” I added.

  Once I paid the man, I headed toward Woody’s office. Trevor’s truck was already there.

  “I hope Italian subs are okay,” I offered a sandwich and soda to each man.

  “Sounds perfect to me,” Woody replied. “Are Mac and Ty coming as well?”

  “They are currently sequestered away at an undisclosed location getting their romance on,” Trevor said.

  “We can call or text if we need them, but let’s only bother them if we really need their help,” I suggested.

  “Sounds fine to me,” Woody said as he opened his soda. “I really want to thank the two of you for dropping everything to help out.”

  “We’re always happy to do what we can.” I opened the paper and turned to page two. I laid the paper on the table and pointed to a photo of a tall man dressed in a dark suit. “What can you tell me about this man?”

  Woody looked at the photo. “His name is Bryson Teller. He is an attorney specializing in family law and child custody. Why do you ask?”

  “While I was at the deli, I picked up the newspaper and had a flash of this man being shot.”

  Woody raised a brow. “Do you think it was a premonition?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I have had prophetic dreams in the past, but nothing like this. Whatever happened, if anything actually happened, is brand new. Still, given everything else, I do think we might want to take my flash seriously.”

  “I’ll call him,” Woody offered.

  Trevor and I waited while Woody looked up and then dialed the law office where the man worked. He was told that Bryson was in court, so he left a message.

  “I’m not sure what more I can do at this point,” he said after hanging up.

  “Where did the shooting take place?” Trevor asked.

  Furrowing my brow, I answered. “I’m not sure. The whole thing really caught me off guard, and I didn’t really pay much attention to the details. If it happens again, I’ll be ready, and I’ll try to notice the details.” I opened my soda. “Would Trinity and Bryson have worked together on the same cases?”

  “Sure,” Woody said. “As a social worker, Trinity’s job is to do whatever is in the best interest of the individuals in her care. Sometimes that means prosecuting others who wish to do harm to those she has been entrusted to protect, whether it be children, the elderly, or those who are unable to act as an advocate for themselves.”

  “I think we should take this flash seriously, especially given what happened to Trinity,” I said. “I know the man is in court, but there must be a way to get a message to him.”

  “I can try,” Woody said. “I’m just not sure what to say. My friend had a premonition that you might be shot at some unknown time in some unknown location probably isn’t going to cut it.”

  “Yeah. I guess we do need more information. Let’s see if we can find any current cases that Trinity and Bryson were working on together,” I suggested.

  Woody stood up. “I’m going to go into my office and make a few calls. I won’t be long if the two of you don’t mind waiting.”

  I glanced at Trevor. He shrugged.

  “Okay,” I said. “We can wait.”

  Woody picked up his sandwich and his soda and headed back toward his office.

  “I’m really sorry about this,” I said to Trevor. “Tracking down the person who shot a social worker in her driveway is not the relaxing getaway we talked about.”

  “It’s not a problem at all,” Trevor said. “If there is anything either of us can do to help Woody out, I think it is important to do so. It did occur to me that we might fit in some relaxation around helping Woody.”

  I leaned in just a bit. “Oh. What did you have in mind?”

  “I have a new recipe I’ve been wanting to try out. If you don’t mind being a guinea pig, I thought we could have dinner at my place.”

  “Well, I’m not sure how I feel about the guinea pig part, but I’m game. I’m sure whatever you make will be delicious. Are you still planning to take the weekend off?”

  “I am since I’d already planned to be off, and it is a slow time of the year, I figured we’d do what we could to help Woody but maybe work in some fun as well. There is a pub that recently opened down the coast that I’ve been wanting to try out. If we have time, maybe we can take a drive.”

  “Sounds fun.” I looked up when Woody returned to the room. “Well?”

  “Based on the conversation I had with Bryson’s assistant, he has three cases he is working on with Trinity. One case is a child custody case involving the maternal grandfather of seven-year-old twins and their stepdad. The biological mother named her husband as guardian of her daughters should anything happen to her, but apparently the woman’s father, the grandfather of the twins, is suing for custody.”

  “And the biological father?” I asked.

  “As far as I can tell, he is not now nor has he ever been in the picture, but I only received a brief summary and am waiting for more details about the case.”

  “Okay, what else are they working on?” I asked.

  “Trinity was working on a neglect case involving four children aged ten and under who were left alone much of the time while the parents were working or otherwise occupied. Apparently, she has tried working with the parents to rectify the situation, but two weeks ago, the oldest was trying to cook dinner for his siblings and set fire to the kitchen. Trinity and Bryson worked together to have the children removed from the home. The father was arrested after he picked them up from school without permission with the intent of taking them to stay with his brother who lives in Utah. It’s a pretty big mess.”

  “Sounds volatile enough to lead to someone going over the deep end. And the third one?” I asked.

 
; “The third case involves a fifteen-year-old boy named Devon Long, who has been in the foster care system since he was four. Both of his parents were sent to prison for armed robbery. The boy’s mother was released from prison early due to overcrowding and for good behavior. She has petitioned to have her son returned to her, but the foster parents are balking. When they accepted the child into their home for such a long-term assignment, they were concerned about becoming too attached, but they were told the boy’s parents would be in prison until after he turned eighteen, so having him returned to either parent wouldn’t be an issue.”

  “And now it is an issue.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what is the plan at this point?” I asked.

  “I’m going to speak to all three parties, and I plan to track Bryson down and speak to him personally. He is going to be in court until four, so I plan to catch up with him there.”

  Wadding up my sandwich wrapper, I tossed it in the trash. “Okay. It sounds as if you have that handled. I’m going to go by the hospital again tomorrow and try to connect with Trinity. I don’t have high hopes that I will be able to, but I’m willing to try. In the meantime, if you need anything, call or text. I’ll be around, but I may not be home, so just call my cell.”

  “I will, and thanks again. I’ll let you know how my interviews with the three people of interest go. When it comes to child custody, there is always the potential for a peaceful negotiation to turn volatile.”

  I stood up to leave when an image flashed through my mind. “I had another image,” I said aloud. “It was the same man I’d seen before being shot again, but this time I noticed the setting. He was standing on the stairs in front of the courthouse.”

  Woody frowned. “Maybe I’d better head over there now.”

  “Yeah. I think you should. This image was different than the last one. This one felt as if I was seeing it in real-time.”

  The woman who manned the front poked her head in through the door of the conference room where we were still talking. “There has been a shooting at the courthouse. A man is dead. All units in the area have been dispatched to respond.”