A Touch of Gold

“Sorry, Chief. I wasn’t thinking.” Tim hung his head.

“Doesn’t surprise me, boy.”

I shivered in the cold fog—Gramps, Tim and Kevin scrambled to offer me their jackets. While I was impressed at their chivalry, I took Gramps’s jacket with a smile at Kevin. He didn’t smile back. Yet another fence to mend.

We all walked upstairs together, me in the middle like some captured fugitive they were worried would disappear again. Nancy hugged me and offered me what I really needed—a cup of hot coffee. She came into my office, notebook in hand. There were already chairs set up to accommodate everyone.

I set the red box full of pirate gold on my big desk and sat down. No one had noticed or asked me about it. I decided not to mention it because it was part of another story for a later time.

With all my personal items around me, I felt better than I had since I left Duck that morning. This place, like Missing Pieces and my home, had become a safe haven for me. Yet another reason to run a good campaign against Mad Dog Wilson for my job as mayor.

Chief Michaels cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. He approached me and leaned in close. “You don’t need any female help, do you, Mayor?”

I assumed this was his way of asking me if I’d been molested. I guessed he and Tim found it hard to say the word “rape.” “I’m fine, Chief,” I assured him. “Please sit down and let me tell you what happened.”

I took a deep breath and started from the beginning—the explosion at the museum. The chief needed to know the background to understand how I’d ended up where I was—and where I’d been—today. No one interrupted as I told my story, with an emphasis on Roger and the ring I’d seen on his finger.

I left out the part about my father. I felt that was between me and Gramps right now. It wasn’t really pertinent to everything else.

Chief Michaels was the first person to react. He got to his feet and stared out the window behind me at the Currituck Sound. “I knew some of that. The part about the FBI getting Bunk out of here. I didn’t know he’d come back. I sure didn’t know Agnes was his daughter.”

“But you can understand why Bunk gave the gold to Max for her. He wanted to save her life,” I explained.

He snorted as he turned around. “Yeah. If you can believe a word out of his mouth. He’s done everything wrong a person can do—smuggling, theft, fraud, illegal bootleg—I don’t know why we’d think he couldn’t murder someone.”

“He wants to talk to you. I think he knows what happened to Max. He might be protecting someone.”

“You mean like his missing son or something?” Tim added with a loud guffaw.

The chief glared at him. “Bunk’s coming here?”

“No,” I answered. “He wants you to come out there with me.”

“I don’t know.” Chief Michaels sat back down. “He probably has something up his sleeve besides the truth. I think he’s hoodwinked you, Mayor.”

“Then why did he let me leave? He could’ve dumped me out in the ocean and no one would have known until I washed up like Sam.”

“Well, there’s no way to go out there today. The sheriff needs to be in on this. Maybe the FBI too, for that matter. I need to talk with them, and we’ll see what turns up.”

“As far as I can tell,” Tim added, “Bunk Whitley confessed to killing Sam Meacham. Walt Peabody needs to be in on this too, don’t you think, Chief?”

“You might be right. Give him a call. Maybe he’d like to come along on this wild goose chase too.” Chief Michaels nodded to me. “Glad you got back safely, Mayor. Next time you want to investigate one of my cases, let me know and I’ll deputize you.”

We both knew he was kidding. You couldn’t tell it from looking at his face, but he was quite a wit sometimes. He’d homed right in on Bunk being responsible for everything despite what I’d told him about Roger. I thought that was a mistake.

He and Tim left my office. Nancy followed them, probably figuring the public part of my adventure was over. She was right. There was still a lot to tackle, but the rest didn’t need to be in the town’s records.

Gramps glanced at his watch and pushed himself out of his chair. “Look at the time! I’ve got poker night and don’t have a chip or cookie in the house. I’ll see you at home later, Dae. See you, Kevin.”

I had a few fences to mend with Kevin, though I would’ve rather talked to Gramps about my father right now. But the secret had been there for all of my life, if what Bunk said was true. I supposed it could wait a little longer.

When we were alone in my closed office, I glanced at Kevin. He’d been very quiet through my tale and its ensuing discussion. “So what do you think?”

“I think you lied to me last night, then needlessly endangered yourself by leaving your cell phone at home so you wouldn’t have to talk to me. Not to mention going down to the docks to try and prove your theory without thinking about the consequences.”

“Oh. I guess that about sums it up.” My words were bright and aided by my larger-than-life mayor’s smile, but I felt kind of bad for doing all the things he’d just listed. Or maybe getting caught doing them. “Are you angry?”

“At you?” He shook his head. “At me, yes. I can’t believe you blindsided me. After all those years learning to tell the difference between someone lying and telling the truth, you’d think I’d know better.”

“So you’re really angry.”

“I would be if I wasn’t so damn relieved that you aren’t dead. I guess I’ll learn from this experience. Your grandfather told me you gave in too easily last night when I asked you to step back. Next time I’ll know better.”

I wasn’t sure whether or not to be glad that he wasn’t mad. All of that sounded pretty ominous. “I didn’t want to lie to you, Kevin.”

“I know. I’ve been there. I guess when I envision scenarios like amateurs getting caught snooping around and tossed into boats, the outcome I picture is usually not as good as this one.”

“I’m glad you understand.” I hoped that’s what he was saying anyway. If not, this might be a good time to change the subject. “I haven’t really eaten all day. Would you like to grab something at Wild Stallions?”

“I have to go back to the hotel for a delivery. After that, I’m free. Unless you want to eat there.”

I thought about the gold in the red box on my desk. “That might be a good idea actually. There’s one thing I left out of my tale to the chief.” I handed him the red box. “It’s Bunk Whitley’s gift to the new museum. I think the Blue Whale is a fitting place for it.”

He opened up the red box and stared at the gold for a minute. “This was a big part to leave out of the story, Dae. The chief might have to take this in as evidence.”

“Well, not today anyway. Can’t we put it in your safe for tonight and I’ll ask him about it tomorrow?”

He smiled and closed the box. “Yes we can, and I’ll ask him about it tomorrow.”

We walked out of my office and said good-bye to Nancy. “I guess that means you’re never going to trust me again, huh?”

He put his arm around my shoulder. “Not for a while.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good way to have a relationship.”

“I guess that all depends. It might be the only way to have a relationship with you. Otherwise, you might not be here to have a relationship with. How does minestrone sound? I have a pot simmering on the stove.”

“It sounds good enough to forgive you for nicely calling me a liar. Let’s go.”

It was a strange feeling sitting across from Agnes and eating soup. Celia and Vicky talked about going shopping for new winter boots and asked how long it would be before the insurance money came through for their mother’s house.

I didn’t know if it was my responsibility to tell them about their heritage. I couldn’t prove that what Bunk had claimed was true. I didn’t even mention him or what had happened to me today. I listened to the women chatter, looking up to find Kevin’s gaze on me.