Silence Is Golden (A Pet Psychic Mystery No. 3)

by Esposito, Shannon

  "That was you who ran me off the road on my bike? Real nice, you could have hurt Goldie, you know...wait—" I moved my attention from him to the wig in my hand. "Oh! That means..." The woman I saw walking up the stairs in his house... it was actually him. Then I remembered all the stuff under his bathroom sink. It was his, not Victoria's. And him answering the door in the silk robe. "I don't understand."

  Barnie stared at the wig in my hand, too. "What the hell, Eugene? You're gay?" he croaked.

  "No, I'm not gay, Barnie. Jesus, you think you'd know me better than that. I just enjoy women's clothes."

  "A crossdresser?"

  Cross dresser? His article! A piece slid into place. CD faux paus. Cross Dresser faux paus. Wow, was I way off course on that one.

  "Did Victoria know?" I could hear the pain in Big Barnie's voice.

  "Yeah, she knew. She just asked I be quiet about it so I didn't embarrass her. I rented cars to go to the club, that sort of thing."

  I groaned. Oh heavens. "Barnie, sorry to interrupt this little revelation, but I think Eugene has a much bigger secret." I glared up at him. "Did you really do it, Eugene? Kill your own wife?"

  His feet shifted around as he sighed. "I didn't mean to," he choked out. "I just wanted to stop her, but I was so full of rage. I couldn't take my foot off the gas pedal. It was like it wasn't even me driving." He sniffed.

  Is he crying? I knew the fact he was telling us this was bad news. He didn't plan on letting us leave this Mound alive. He was desperate now. He didn't know my sister was here, though. That was our advantage. I had to get the full story from him while I could. I knew this would be the only chance to learn the truth, while he was in the mood to confess.

  "You son of a—" Big Barnie stopped as Eugene leveled the gun right at his head. "Why?"

  "Victoria found the copper treasure map Uncle Renny told us about. It's real. He had it hidden in his attic the whole time. But, Victoria said she was going to give it to Jade. Take away our dream of finding the treasure. We had a huge fight about it. But, you knew that already, didn't you? You knew about the map." His voice was shaking. "When I followed you here to the Mound that night and saw you digging, I knew you somehow knew about the map, too. And that you figured out the treasure was buried here. So Victoria must have shown it to you. Why would she do that? Only one reason I can think of." He cocked the gun. "You both betrayed me."

  "You idiot!" Barnie roared. "Victoria was always faithful to you. Though you didn't deserve it. She didn't share anything with me. You want to know how I found out about the treasure being here? Fine. I found a letter in Uncle Renny's attic when I was helping Victoria clean. It was addressed to Jade, but I opened it anyway. Uncle Renny was leaving her the map and told her he'd already figured it out, and the Spanish gold's buried right here in this Mound. So, you see, I didn't even need to see the map. Renny said he was leaving it up to her what to do with it. He had kept silent about the treasure buried here all those years out of respect for their culture and for his daughter, Kimi. But, if they needed the money, use it."

  "What? Renny was Kimi's father?" Off the subject, I know. I couldn't help it. I was confused.

  "Yeah," Eugene scoffed. "Good ole Uncle Renny and Jade had a little fling way back. He never got over her. Josie never accepted Kimi as her half-sister, either."

  So that's why Kimi had such a strong dislike for Josie.

  "Speaking of Josie, you killed her, too, didn't you, Eugene?" Barnie's voice was calm, but I could feel the anger and grief rolling off him. We both waited for an answer.

  "Sure, why not?" Eugene's words shot forth like escaping prisoners hell bent on getting over the wall. "You want all the damned details? Why not? Yeah. I let her stay with me and the ungrateful little wench went snooping through my bedroom. She found the map. I heard her leave a message for you that she was bringing it over. I couldn't let her do that. The map's mine. Besides, it's evidence linking me to Victoria's death. I can't go to jail. You understand that right? I wouldn't survive."

  Big Barnie pushed himself up off the ground. Eugene backed up a few feet and growled, "Stay right there. I will shoot you."

  "I have no doubt," Barnie said sadly. "You've already proven you're a killer. But, Eugene, listen to me. This has to end. I came here tonight to make things right. You can't dig here. This here's sacred ground and there are consequences to disturbing it that you can't even dream of. Worse than prison."

  "What are you talking about?" Eugene scoffed. "You've never cared about digging in sacred ground. You just don't want me to find the treasure."

  Big Barnie held up his hands. "I'm trying to help you here, Eugene. You and me, we go way back. Beyond this stupid feud over treasure. Okay, I'm going to tell you something that's going to be hard to believe but try to keep an open mind." He glanced at me. "Remember that story in the paper about a ghost hunting team that claimed to see a black spirit dog with red eyes out here on the Mound?"

  "No."

  "I do." I gingerly pushed myself to stand beside Big Barnie, my head immediately letting me know that was a bad idea. I winced, fighting a spell of dizziness. "I was there and those folks, the ghost hunters, they aren't people who would make something like that up."

  "Yeah, well I wouldn't either." Barnie shook his head. "I've been tormented by that spirit dog ever since I started digging here. At first, it was just while I was here. But, last night it came to my home. I woke up, and it was standing over me in bed, those red eyes like fire, teeth white as all get out. It was so real. I could feel its hot breath on my face. I knew it could kill me, spirit or not, and it would if I didn't make amends and put right the damage I did when I disturbed the earth here."

  Eugene laughed. "That's a load of crap, Barnie. Nice try, though."

  Suddenly, on the slope behind Eugene, I saw movement. My breath caught. Red eyes flashed and then disappeared.

  "Holy heaven on a stick, Eugene," I whispered. "I think it's behind you."

  "Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that," he said. "Enough talk. Both of you, down on your knees."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  "What are you gonna do, shoot us?"

  "Yeah. I guess that's the plan. Good thing I have a shovel in my trunk."

  "Jesus, Eugene. What happened to you?" Barnie cried.

  I winced as my injured knee hit the hard ground. Sweat trickled down my sides as I stared at the gun. Where the heck is Willow? This would be a great time for her to knock Eugene off his feet.

  "Barnie?" I whispered, starting to panic. Then I saw it again. Two pinpoints of red, to the right of Eugene. Barnie turned his head in that direction. He saw it, too.

  A low growl cut through the thick air. It startled Eugene and as he stepped sideways, the gun went off. A flash of light. A crack that sent my ears ringing. Big Barnie jerked backwards. I felt a warm spray on my face and he fell with a thud.

  NO!

  Everything happened so quickly after that. Eugene's startled cry sounded muffled to my still-ringing ears. He stumbled back, falling and I watched the gun tumble down the slope. He tried to roll after it but something big and dark was suddenly blocking his path.

  The spirit dog!

  I stood, my legs giving way briefly as my injured knee buckled. I forced them to hold me up. Eugene lay face down in the mixture of crushed shells, leaves and pine needles. He was sobbing. The spirit dog leapt over him and stood in front of me. It was massive. It's head nearly level with mine. Huh. Big Barnie was right. I can feel the heat from his breath. And then...

  And then I felt a jolt of recognition.

  As I stared into the swirling depths of fire that were his eyes... I knew.

  "Zach?"

  He held my eyes for a moment and then, as car doors slammed and flashlight beams started pushing through the darkness, he simply disappeared.

  Boots crunched over the shells. Men yelled, "Police! Don't move!" The Mound suddenly swarmed with light and activity. I couldn't move. I felt frozen in the moment, unable to
comprehend what had just happened. It was too much to process.

  I felt someone take me into a soft embrace. "It's okay, Sis, you're safe."

  I pulled back and looked into Willow's worried eyes.

  "Sorry, I left you up here." She stroked the damp hair off my forehead. "I had to sneak away and call the police." She stroked my cheek. "You're bleeding?"

  I shook my head. "Not my blood." We watched, arm in arm as paramedics attended to the injured Barnie and officers placed Eugene under arrest.

  "He was here." Eugene screeched. "The spirit dog! He's real. Big. Red eyes. Teeth."

  "Come on." One of the officers shook his head as he led him down the hill. "We'll get you a psych eval."

  Will climbed the hill, his face pale in the artificial light as he approached us. He tried to smile. "We've got to stop meeting like this." He ran a hand over my arm and tilted my face to examine where Eugene's blood had sprayed me. "Are you hurt?"

  I shook my head. It pounded and I winced. I pointed to the dark wig on the ground. "That's Eugene's. He killed his wife and Josie." Why did my voice sound so far away?

  He glanced at the wig and motioned for another officer to come over. Then he nodded at Willow. "Why don't you go ahead and take her down to the ambulance to get checked out. I'll be down in a minute." He pressed a light kiss on my forehead. Something he would never do at a crime scene. He's worried. I must look real bad.

  As we walked down the soft earth, out to the road, I could hear Goldie barking in the car. Did she know it was over? Could she sense her mom's murderer had been caught? I suddenly had the urge to wrap my arms around her.

  I glanced up at Willow as she helped walk me around the fence. "Will you get Goldie?"

  "Sure." She squeezed my arm and led me through the gathering crowd to the ambulance. "You let them check you over. I'll get her."

  I sat on a gurney as gentle, capable hands moved over my body. Goldie rushed out the door as soon as Willow opened it and came bounding down the street to me. Her front paws landed on my chest. She began to lick my face and whine. The warmth of her tongue and spirit began to unthaw my emotions. Tears suddenly sprung up and ran down my face.

  "I'm here, girl," I whispered into her fur. I held on to her, burying my face into her neck. "I'm not going anywhere. It's all over."

  We gave Will our statements and then I convinced him I was in good enough shape to go rest in my own home. With a last kiss, worried look and a promise to check on me later, he tucked me into Willow's car.

  I turned to Willow as she drove us home. "There really was a black dog. Remember Zach, the guy Grandma Winters said sounded like Jinn?"

  "Yes?"

  "I'm pretty sure it was him. The dog. It was his eyes."

  Willow glanced sharply over at me. "From what I've heard about them, they can change shape. Darwin, you don't think he's in love with you, do you?"

  My face burned as I recalled the dreams I'd had about him or... with him. "I don't know. Maybe."

  "That would be very bad."

  "Why?"

  "Because one thing I do know is when Jinn fall in love, they become sort of a slave... bound to that person's desires, to help them out in their life. I think that's where the whole genie in a bottle and granting wishes myth came about."

  "Well, he's only half Jinn." But, even as I said it, I knew that didn't matter. He'd already proven how powerful he was. He could invade my dreams, for heaven sakes. But, a slave to my desires? A flash of being in his arms made me flush deeper. If this was true, this was bad. I had to get him out of my life somehow. But, even as I thought that, I felt a thread of disappointment. I pushed it away. No. He was nothing but trouble for me. And Will.

  "He knew about me being half water Elemental. He could tell." I rolled my head toward my sister to gauge her reaction. "And he knew about father."

  Her eyes slid to mine and then back to the road. "What about father?"

  "He knew that he broke the rules with mom, about magick and mortals not being allowed to mix in this dimension. He knew father is imprisoned... somewhere."

  Willow's mouth tightened. "Sounds like he's got more than a casual interest in you, Darwin."

  Goldie rested her head on the seat beside my head, Gator stuffed firmly in her mouth, and let out a deep sigh. As I turned to give her a cuddle, I saw Willow glance at me with definite fear in her eyes.

  "What?" I asked.

  "I'm going to stay with you a few extra days."

  I rolled my eyes. "Well, I'm glad. But, I hope it's not because you're worried about me. Everything's back to normal now and Zach's gone."

  "You don't know that for sure," she said. "Besides, you wouldn't know what normal was if it snuck up and bit you on the behind."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  I hugged my knees to my chest. The sand held a chill that leached through the blanket as day began to sink into evening. An empty picnic basket and a few empty wine bottles lay on the beach beside us. We had decided to celebrate on Willow's last evening here. Celebrate Victoria's and Josie's murders being solved, justice being served, new friendships forged, old secrets unburied and well, just life, really. Being alive. Being together.

  Big Barnie rested in a beach chair, his arm in a sling. Jade stood beside him, talking as they looked out at the Bay waters. No doubt trying to make sense of all that had happened in their little circle of family and friends.

  Willow followed my gaze. "Seems like those two have gotten past their differences."

  I nodded. "I think Barnie has made amends. He handed over Renny's letter to her, the one that said Renny was leaving the treasure map to her and Kimi. The police recovered the map from Eugene's house, and Jade's given it to the museum."

  "So, they're not going to dig up the Mound for the treasure?"

  "No. Not yet, anyway. The archeology department at the University has agreed to take on the project. They'll use ground penetrating radar to see if anything's there, but it may take years to get the permits to excavate. Anything they find will be of historical value and given to the museum, per Jade's request."

  "Guess everything's working out then."

  I leveled my gaze past Willow, toward 2nd Avenue. We were on the north side at Spa Beach, right across the street from where Victoria had lost her life. "I guess. Still a shame Victoria and Josie were killed over something that was buried almost 200 years ago."

  "Sure is."

  Frankie ambled up from the shoreline. "Why are you two looking so serious?" She grinned at us as she pulled her faux fox fur wrap tighter around her shoulders. Itty and Bitty were on her heels, trying to navigate the sand with their tiny paws. "We're supposed to be celebrating."

  "Just taking a moment to remember Victoria and Josie," I said, smiling up at my friend. Her red hair had been whipped around by the wind and stuck up every which way, and her eyes were shining. I patted the blanket next to me. A wave of gratitude rushed over me. "Have a seat."

  "Oh, I almost forgot," Kimi said from the other side of Willow. She dug through her bag and pulled out a small box. "This is for you, from me and mom."

  Willow took the offered box and opened it. "Oh, wow. Kimi, I can't... I can't accept this." She held the clay effigy urn once again. "This should be in a museum."

  "And it will be. One day." Kimi smiled gently at her. "It's been admired in private for a long time, a bit longer won't hurt."

  "I don't know what to say," Willow whispered. "Thank you." She gave Kimi a hug and then gently rewrapped the artifact. "I'll take good care of it."

  "Oh no, watch out," I said as Goldie came bounding toward us from down the beach, flinging sand, and dropped the soggy tennis ball at my feet. Will had been playing fetch with her for the past twenty minutes.

  "Guess she's done with me," Will said as he walked up behind her.

  "Okay, that's just nasty, girl." I grimaced, holding the ball between my thumb and middle finger. I tried to chuck it to my left, but it slipped from my fingers and headed straight into the w
ater, making a small plop. Goldie stared at it, her ears forward, then she looked back at me.

  "Sorry, girl. I'll get it." I went to push myself up but Goldie suddenly took off. Sand flew off her back feet as they dug in, her tail like a high flag behind her. She bounced right into the water. An audible gasp came from me and Frankie cheered.

  "Wahoo! You go, Goldie!" she yelled. "Hey, that's the first time she's gone back in the water, isn't it?"

  "Yes," I said, grinning. "Yes, it sure is."

  "I'll be."

  The gang, knowing the significance of the moment, began to whoop and holler as Goldie trotted back out of the water, her tail whipping back and forth, her head held high.

  Itty and Bitty circled her and yipped as she stood over us, dripping, with a silly grin and eyes sparkling. Will came around and sat behind me. I leaned back against him, feeling the sturdiness of his chest and arms as he wrapped them around me, and sighed with contentment as he pressed a kiss on top of my head.

  "You and that sunset are all the treasure I need," Will whispered in my ear.

  We all laughed as we watched Goldie roll around in the sand, her legs up in the air as she wiggled her rump back and forth, the other pups darting in to jump on her.

  There was a moment, as the sky softened from fluorescent orange hues to signal the day's end, and I watched Goldie play with Itty and Bitty, a moment the world seemed to pause and grow silent. And in that moment, on the wind, the words thank you were dropped into my ear. I glanced at Willow and Frankie. They didn't seem to hear anything.

  "You're welcome," I mouthed, just in case I really wasn't hearing things.

  "So," Willow turned to me, "think you can stay out of trouble until we come back for the wedding in August?"

  "I don't have a clue why you would ask me that," I said, feigning irritation.

  "I have to say, this has been an interesting visit. You sure you don't want to move back home to get away from all the crazy?"