Treasure in Paradise Page 19

  “I never intended to work here for more than the few months it would take to earn bus fare west, but things happen, if you know what I mean. Guess it turned out okay though; I was here long enough to buy an old car to get around in, so no more buses for me.”

  “I’m not a fan of the bus myself. Hopefully your new ride will get you to where you want to go. What direction you heading?”

  “West. Don’t even have much of a destination in mind, just as long as it isn’t here. Can’t say I’ll miss the place. Hanging out with drunks all day gets old real fast. Worked the day shift yesterday and some guy was so smashed by five o’clock that he dumped his entire glass of beer on me. Luckily, I had a fresh shirt to put on.”

  Frank? No. He was such a nice guy, although he was sounding a bit less than nice at the moment. He had admitted to knowing Buck. Could they have teamed up?

  “Well, good luck with your venture.” The delivery driver set the invoice on the counter and reclined his hand truck in preparation to depart. “I’m sure Sully will miss you.”

  “He’ll survive.”

  After the deliveryman had gone I debated whether to continue on inside to speak to Frank or sneak out and regroup. I was leaning toward leaving and returning later when Frank’s phone rang.

  “Yeah?” Frank walked over to the bar with his phone to his ear, poured a shot of whiskey, and downed it. “No, I didn’t get it. A whole month of kissing up to the old guy and when I finally got him to talk, he sent me on a wild goose chase. I’m beginning to think Buck’s treasure really was the myth everyone said it was. Talk about a waste of time. Guess I’m headin’ out today. Managed to buy myself a car, so the traveling will be a lot faster than expected. It’s a junker, but it runs.”

  I watched as Frank poured himself yet another shot.

  “No. The deputy hasn’t figured out that I was the one who hit the guy, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time, which is why I’m heading out while I still can. I’ll call you when I get there.”

  Frank had killed Buck? I was trying to make sense of what I’d heard when I decided it was time for me to go. Unfortunately, I tripped over a discarded beer bottle, alerting Frank to my presence.

  “Who’s there?” Frank called after he downed the second shot.

  I stood perfectly still. I could feel my heart pounding as I waited for Frank to find me or not.

  He did.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Just saw the door open and stopped by to say hi, which I’ve done, so see ya.”

  “Hang on a minute. How long have you been standing here?”

  I tried for a light and airy tone, but I suspected the panic I felt was evident in my voice. “Not long. I just got here. Really. So like I said, I’ll be going.”

  Frank grabbed my arm. “What’s your hurry? You wanted to pay me a visit, so let’s visit. Want a drink?”

  “No thanks. I really have to go.”

  “Sorry, dear, but you ain’t going anywhere. I’m not sure if you heard anything, but I can’t take that chance.”

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Of course not. I’m just going to lock you in the walk-in refrigerator. Don’t worry. It’s cold but not freezing. Sully will be by in a bit to open up for the afternoon and will let you out, but I’ll be long gone by then.”

  “Wait.”

  Frank paused.

  I realized I needed to stall. I wasn’t sure what time Sully would be in, but I did know the less time in the refrigerator the better. “Maybe I will take that drink.”

  “Too late, sweetheart. Now move it.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I tried to free myself of his grasp while he pulled me toward the kitchen.

  “Like I said, I need time to get off the island, and I suspect your little visit may have to do with more than just a friendly stop-in. I wondered if you recognized me last night. I thought not, but I can see I was wrong.”

  Frank opened the door to the cooler.

  “Can you at least tell me what you were doing in the attic?”

  “I was looking for the map. I figured you knew that.”

  “I did. Sort of. What I don’t know is how you knew where to look. Did Max find it on the night you killed Buck and you waited to retrieve it for some reason?”

  “No, Max didn’t find it. And now I know there was nothing to find. I checked last night and the hiding spot was totally empty. I should have known Buck was full of baloney. Now get in there.”

  Frank shoved me inside. It didn’t seem that cold. Yet. I knew that would change.

  “The least you can do is tell me how you got hooked up with Buck.”

  “Now why should I do that?”

  I didn’t have an answer for him, but I still felt motivated to stall. I really didn’t want him to close that door. “Please? If I’m going to die in here, you may as well assuage my curiosity.”

  Frank tossed me a sweater. “You aren’t going to die. Sully will be here in an hour. But for reasons even I can’t explain, I like you, so I’ll tell you. Like I said when we met, Buck and I were friends. I took this job intending only to stay for a few months, but near the end Buck and I were chatting while he was helping clean up and he saw some guy come into the bar and went berserk. When I asked him about it, he said the man who’d just come in was a ghost. The guy didn’t look dead to me, but I played along and asked him whose ghost we were looking at. He said Max Hanford. He went on to tell me about the treasure map the man supposedly had, and that he’d died while looking for the treasure. Max only stayed for one drink and then left, but Buck and I devised a plan to track him down and make him tell us where the treasure was. Problem was, the guy got arrested, and the next thing we knew he was checked into the old folks’ home.”

  “Where you didn’t have access to him.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So you decided to volunteer at the home as a means of gaining access to Max.”

  “You’re a smart one. That’s exactly what I did, and it worked. It took a while, but eventually I was left unsupervised with the residents in the high-security unit.”

  “So you helped Buck break Max out of the home and then demanded he lead you to the treasure.”

  “Bingo. Problem was, when we got to the attic the guy had this blank stare on his face. He didn’t seem to remember where the treasure was, or even where he was. Buck and I tore the place apart looking for it, but there was nothing. The longer Buck looked, the madder he got. Eventually he grabbed Max’s cane out of his hand and threatened to hit him with it. I’m not sure what happened exactly, but the next thing I knew I had the cane in my hand and I smacked Buck with it. I didn’t mean to kill him. In fact, I was aiming for his arm, but he turned at the last minute. I grabbed Max and hightailed it out of there.”

  “And then you left him on the road.”

  “No. I took him back to the home and told everyone I found him on the road.”

  Okay, that at least made sense. Frank was a well-liked volunteer; no one would question his assertion that he’d found Max wandering around.

  “So why did you stay? Why not leave the island then?”

  Frank shrugged. “At the time I really thought Max knew where the map was, so I figured I’d hang out a while longer to see if I could get him to talk. No one knew Buck was dead. Everyone just thought he was off on some extended treasure hunt. I knew Garrett wasn’t coming home anytime soon, so I thought I had time. I didn’t know about you.”

  “And yesterday Max finally told you about the map?”

  “Yeah. He just blurted it out. It was the strangest thing. One minute he was talking nonsense about seagulls and turtle eggs and the next he was telling me the map was in the wall. ’Course, once I got to the house and went to the wall panel I realized it wasn’t ther
e. The whole thing was most likely a scam. What a waste. I could really use a treasure.”

  If Cuervo hadn’t found the map, chances were Frank would have. I had to wonder who’d accessed the map in the first place. It seemed as if neither Buck nor Frank knew what the map led to, and Max had been out of sorts since he’d been here. Or had he?

  “Did Max remember that you killed Buck?”

  “No. He didn’t remember that day at all. I tried to talk to him about it a few times, but he just looked at me blankly or reminded me that he didn’t like broccoli. Not that I’m in charge of the meals the residents receive, but I guess I was around often enough that he figured I could talk to the kitchen.”

  Frank started to close the door.

  “Wait. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid I do.”

  “Please. I’m really scared.” I looked frantically around the refrigerator. “What if Sully doesn’t show or he comes in late for some reason?”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Even if Sully is late, you’re wearing enough clothing to stay warm for quite some time. Now I really do need to get a move on. It’s been nice knowing you.”

  With that, he closed the door.

  The worst part wasn’t the cold, at least not yet; the worst part was the dark. I pulled out my cell, but there was no reception. At least I had some light until the battery died. I tried to jimmy open the door to no avail. Frank had locked it from the outside. I looked around, although I didn’t expect to find a means of escape. It was a refrigerator; there would be no reason to provide a back door or alternate escape route.

  I just hoped Sully wasn’t late for his shift. I wondered if he’d even come in to the kitchen when he first arrived. It was over three hours until the bar actually opened, so he wouldn’t have any reason to begin preparing the food that was served. I decided I’d bang on the door every fifteen minutes. If Sully didn’t open the refrigerator door for some other reason, surely he’d hear the banging.

  After my first moments of panic I decided to conserve my energy. I found a space near the door and sat down on the floor. I wrapped the sweater around me, and once I was settled, I turned off my phone. I wished now that I’d thought to make sure it was fully charged that morning, but in all the confusion I’d forgotten to plug it in the night before. Now less than 50 percent of the battery was left.

  My natural inclination as I sat in the cold dark chamber was to panic, but I knew that would do me no good. Frank was most likely correct. I probably wouldn’t freeze before Sully arrived to set me free, even if he didn’t find me until opening time. I needed a diversion, so I forced myself to calm my mind and think pleasant thoughts.

  I wondered how my dad was doing without Grandpa, the girls, and me. I was certain he was happy to have time alone with Rosalie, but we’d all lived together for quite some time. I wondered if he found the quiet welcome or depressing. Of course, given my mood swings in the weeks before we’d left to come East, I had to assume he was grateful for the break.

  I really had taken Jake’s death hard. Probably harder than anyone other than Hunter. I’d known Jake my whole life; in many ways he’d been like a second grandfather to me. When he’d died, a hole had been created in my heart that I didn’t think I could ever fill. I still thought about him from time to time. His kind smile and ornery nature was definitely a unique combination. I shed a few tears for Jake as I tried not to let my mind wander to thoughts of Hunter. I knew we were better off as friends, but there was a part of me that mourned for what might have been.

  I clicked on my phone. Had it really only been ten minutes? I stood up with my back to the wall and pounded on the door. “Sully!” I screamed as loudly as I could.

  I continued with this pattern for over an hour. I’d sit on the floor and ponder my life and then take a break to pound on the door and scream the name of the bar owner. I was glad I had my phone to track the passage of time. Otherwise, I feared I would have gone crazy from not knowing.

  When one hour turned to two I felt myself become drowsy. I knew it was best not to lose myself in sleep, but the air seemed stale and the urge to close my eyes was becoming stronger. Where was Sully anyway? The bar would open soon. Surely he must be on the premises by now to set up for a busy Saturday night.

  The more time that passed the harder I found it to breathe. Were refrigerators air tight? Probably. I stood up and pounded on the door. I knew I should conserve air but I had an overwhelming urge to hyperventilate. I glanced at my phone once again. If Sully didn’t show up until the time the bar actually opened I might not freeze but I’d probably suffocate.

  I curled myself into a fetal position and willed my breath to slow. I tried to focus on extending the time between breaths but that just made me want to breathe all the more. I tried not to panic but somehow panicking seemed to be the only logical response to the situation.

  I felt myself become more and more light headed. I was afraid I was going to pass out. I knew that I needed to stay awake but if I was going to suffocate maybe drifting into unconsciousness would be the best thing. I squeezed my eyes shut as tears streamed down my face. I tried not to think about how my death would affect my dad and the girls but somehow that was the only thought that dominated my mind. They say that when you die your life flashes before you but as I drifted into unconsciousness all I could see was Kyle. My heart ached with the knowledge that he would never know how very much he really meant to me.

  The next thing I knew the door opened and Sully gasped.

  “What are you doing here?”

  I tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn’t work. “Frank. You have to call Savage. Frank killed Buck.”

  The next thirty minutes were sort of a blur. Sully got me out of the refrigerator and wrapped me in a blanket. He called both Savage and Kyle, who came immediately. Savage was most interested in what I knew about where Frank had gone and what kind of car he’d been driving, while Kyle simply wanted to be sure I was okay. After a bit, Savage agreed it was best that Kyle take me home. He promised to keep us updated as the search for Frank progressed.

  “Better?” Kyle asked as he wrapped yet another blanket around me. It had been several hours since he’d brought me home, but I still was having a hard time staying warm.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  I tucked the blanket up to my chin.

  “It’s a good thing Sully showed up when he did. You really had very little air left.”

  “You know, I really don’t think Frank thought of that. I don’t think he wanted to kill me, just detain me. He even gave me a sweater.” I looked at the now fully charged phone in my hand. “I wonder if Savage has caught up with him yet.”

  “When I spoke to him he said he had the state police on it. He said he’d call if he heard anything. Frank had a head start, but unless he changed cars, the beater he was driving should be easy to find. I’m sure they’ll catch up with him eventually.”

  Echo was lying next to me with his head in my lap. He’d been with me the whole time since I’d been home. It was like he knew I’d appreciate the extra body heat.

  “How did your conversation with Garrett go?” Kyle wondered.

  “It went well. I wasn’t sure how all of this was going to affect him, but it seems like he’s gone from being depressed about his life to being hopeful about what the future might bring.”

  “How did he take the news that his father is alive?”

  “He was shocked, of course, but he seemed happy to have a chance to spend some time with the man he thought had been dead all these years. Garrett called Colin Walton about trying to arrange a visit and Colin agreed to pick him up and bring him to the island. When Garrett showed up, Max seemed to wake up as if from a deep sleep and he remembered everything. They called Savage, who wanted to get as much out of Max as he could in case he slipped away
again. Garrett told me that he’d have Savage call me when he got a chance.”

  I looked down at my phone, which had buzzed while I was speaking to Kyle. I frowned when I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway.

  “Tj Jensen.”

  “It’s Deputy Savage.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t recognize the number.”

  “I’m calling from one of the offices at the senior home. I wanted to let you know highway patrol just picked up Frank.”

  I smiled. “Good. I’m glad. How are things going with Garrett and Max?”

  “So far so good. Garrett seems like a new man all of a sudden, and Max remembers almost everything. I guess when he first came into town he went out to the house to check on the map. He said it was still in the wall where he’d left it all those years ago. He decided that was as good a place as any, so he left it there and went into town for a drink. He doesn’t remember anything after that. That’s the way the disease Max has works. One minute the person you’re speaking to can be detached from reality as we know it and the next he’s right there with you.”

  “It’ll be nice if his alertness hangs around for a while. Now that Garrett and Max have been reunited, it would be a shame if his father drifted away before they have a chance to really catch up on all the years they’ve missed.”

  “Colin has arranged for Garrett to move into the Gull Island Senior Home, so Max and Garrett can spend as much time together as they want. I really think that’s the best thing for him anyway.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “I told Garrett I’d arrange for someone to bring Blackbeard by for a visit. They don’t allow pets to live on the premises, but they do allow them to visit in the outdoor garden area.”

  I glanced at the bird, who appeared to be listening to my end of the conversation. I wondered what would happen to him in the long run. As far as I was concerned, he was welcome to stay with us as long as we were on the island, but I wasn’t sure he’d like the alpine climate of Paradise Lake.