undercurrents sometimes dragged me down like the cold Atlantic and didn’t want to let go.
I smiled thinking that Rafe was probably a good source of wisdom when it came to losing pieces of yourself. Wasn’t that what happened to him? Mary and his children had redeemed him, given him a lineage and legacy that he wouldn’t have had if he’d died on his ship at the hands of the British.
But I wasn’t a pirate, and I’d been brought up with a strong sense of right and wrong, duty and honor. I didn’t know if I could look the other way when the time came.
I went back down the secret stairs that led from the widow’s walk to my bedroom. Even though I was used to Rafe popping in and out now, I took a step back and gasped as a figure separated itself from the shadows in my room. “Kevin?”
He put his arms around me and we kissed in the darkness. “I missed you. I don’t ever want to argue with you again.”
I felt the same, but I wasn’t necessarily ready to let it go. “Is that something like an apology?”
“It’s whatever you want it to be. Do you feel like walking?”
Gramps was already in bed—probably having ended the discussion with the sheriff and the chief by volunteering my help with the gun. Kevin and I slipped out the front door without disturbing him and started down the dark, wet street.
“I know you were supposed to call me,” he began. “But I waited all day and you didn’t call.”
“I was busy with the Weather Channel thing and everything else.” I told him about what happened at the museum with the perfume bottle. “But I’m sorry I didn’t call. You were right. I should’ve admitted that my father stole from me. I just believe that anyone could be desperate enough to do it.”
He wrapped his arm around me as we walked down deserted Duck Road toward the center of town. “Maybe I was right—but so were you. That’s one of the reasons I gave up being in the FBI. It does make you see the worst in people. I came to Duck to see the best in people. But old habits die hard. I trust your father because you trust him. Let’s leave it at that unless something else happens. See? I’m learning to have faith.”
I hugged him hard. “I’m glad.” I admitted to being tired of lying and sneaking around where my father was concerned. “I’m going to talk to Gramps again too. I’m a grown woman. We have to work this out as adults. I’m going to see my father, and I’m going to tell him who I am. I’m sure we’ll all feel better when it’s over.”
“Good for you!”
The winds from the ocean and the Currituck Sound were screaming across the open spaces where there were no bushes or buildings to slow them down. We ran through those areas and ended up at the Curbside Bar and Grill. I was surprised to find it open so late.
But Cole and Molly Black, owners of the grill, were feeding whoever came in for free. The place was packed, of course, but Kevin and I managed to find a corner to drink some coffee and warm up.
“This whole thing with Rafe has turned into a bigger deal than I’d thought it would be,” I explained. “That perfume bottle really knocked me over this morning. I’m still amazed at how real those emotions can be.”
He took my hand, his face unusually serious. “I admit to having another reason for finding you besides apologizing,” he said. “I heard about the pistol this afternoon—and a crazy idea to have you get whatever information you could from holding the gun.”
I shrugged. “They haven’t asked yet. But I got that drift too.”
“Dae, don’t do it. The perfume bottle was nothing compared to the emotions of a killer pumped up with rage and jealousy. Not to mention the terror of a person being killed. Please promise me you won’t agree to this.”
“It sounds even worse when you put it like that,” I joked, but he didn’t return my smile.
I knew Kevin was overly cautious about these things. He was probably afraid of losing me like he had his FBI partner.
Not that the idea of losing myself completely wasn’t scary. Holding the perfume bottle almost made me forget who I was and where I belonged. I was so much a part of Mary that I wasn’t me anymore.
But I had to feel like I could control my gift—not the other way around. Otherwise I’d have to walk through life wearing gloves—literally. That just wasn’t me.
“You’ve already decided to help your grandfather, haven’t you?” Kevin asked, sitting back in his chair.
“No! I haven’t decided anything,” I replied. “I’d like to find out who killed Matthew and Sandi. This is my home town. I don’t want to think of it as the murder capitol of the Outer Banks. But I know there are risks. I feel them every day—every time I touch something with an emotional past.”
“You can’t let them bully you.”
“I won’t.”
“They need you—you can call the shots.”
I grinned. “You sound like Rafe. He was basically giving me the same advice while I was up on the widow’s walk. You know, I don’t think he’s as black as he’s painted. Well, not anymore anyway. He was definitely a scourge when he was younger.”
“Are you getting to be friends with him?”
“He’s more like some uncle who was in prison but you think he might have reformed, if that makes sense.”
“If talking to a ghost makes sense, anything is possible.” He smiled and kissed my hand. “Just be careful, Dae. Ask for help if you need it.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
Before we could say anything else, Cole Black came to the table and asked us for help. “I never expected so many people, Mayor Dae! Think you could give us a hand? Molly has that bad lumbago. I’m worried she might wear herself out.”
Cole and his wife had retired here a few years back, claiming they were looking for some relaxation—but they worked harder than most people half their ages.
“Sure!” I agreed. “We’d be glad to help. What do you need?”
“See those tables over there by the windows? Could you bus all of them and do some dishes?”
Chapter 40
“Well, that was interesting,” Kevin said when we were done cleaning up the restaurant. “If I’d known we were going to work in a kitchen, I would’ve stayed home and cleaned mine.”
I laughed at him and gave him a towel to dry his hands. We’d done several loads of dishes, pots and pans and silverware by hand. “But so many people were fed tonight. Isn’t it wonderful to see everyone pulling together?”
“Marvelous.” He flicked water at me.
I snapped my towel at him. Cole and Molly found us horsing around in the kitchen as they got ready to close up.
“You two remind me of us when we were young,” Cole said with an affectionate smile at his wife.
“Or that nice young couple who stop in every so often, right?” Molly shook her head. “Not that they were married, we’ve come to find out. I’d hate to live with that kind of guilt. His wife is dead now, you know. That young lady mayor at the Blue Whale. What a shame!”
“Shawn Foxx?” I asked sharply. “He ate dinner here with someone besides his wife?”
“Regularly,” Cole confided. “He was here the night of the storm. We didn’t even know that was his name until we saw his picture and heard his wife had been killed. It was a real surprise that the other woman wasn’t his wife. The two seemed very close.”
“What did his girlfriend look like?” I asked.
“Kind of tall,” Cole said. “A real looker too.”
“Never mind him—he thinks everyone looks tall and every woman under thirty is a real looker,” Molly added. “But it seems to me they were about the same height.”
“Did you ever hear him call her by name?” Kevin questioned.
“Nope. Like I said—we didn’t even know his name until we saw that his wife had been killed. But they tipped
