A Touch of Gold (20 page)

“I don’t have an answer for you, girls.” Gramps hugged both of them again. “I hope we’ll have some real evidence soon. I know it’s hard not understanding.”

“Mr. Meacham ate dinner at our house.” Celia shuddered. “All the time he was plotting to kill Dad.”

“You’re letting your imagination go wild,” Gramps said. “Wait for the evidence. Until we have everything, we don’t know the truth.”

“Is she awake?” Not that I wasn’t sympathetic to Vicky and Celia’s emotional states, but I could feel the pull from the coin in my pocket. I needed to know what Agnes was talking about at the house yesterday.

“Yes,” Vicky said. “She’s not too bad for someone who almost died in a fire. A few burns and some smoke inhalation—she’s tough. I thought we’d never convince her to stay here last night.”

“She’s a Banker born and bred.” Gramps smiled. “May we see her?”

“It’s all right with us.” Celia bit her lip and glanced at her sister. “She threw us out a few minutes ago. She said we’re making too big a fuss. She’s never liked anyone taking care of her. Maybe you could talk to her, Sheriff O’Donnell. She might listen to you.”

“Lord knows she won’t listen to us,” Vicky added.

“It’s only Horace now, girls,” he said. “I’ll be glad to have a word with her. And I’ll be careful not to fuss.”

“That would be wonderful!” Celia said. “Sorry about calling you sheriff. Old habits and everything. You were the sheriff while we were growing up. I guess you’ll always be the sheriff to us. Whatever you can do to help with Mom. We’d like to be in there to hear what the doctor has to say when he comes.”

“I’ll be careful.” Gramps hugged them again, and we all turned to go into Agnes’s room.

We silently decided to let Gramps go in first since he’d known Agnes the longest. “Aggie?” He knocked gently and leaned his head around the door. “It’s me—Horace. Mind if I come in?”

The patient inside stirred on the bed in the shadowed room. “Horace? Is that you? Please come in.”

Gramps gave us all a look—
so far so good
. He started into the room, and the rest of us followed, with Celia and Vicky bringing up the rear.

“You brought flowers!” Agnes exclaimed. “How nice. And Dae, you’re here too. And that nice man from the Blue Whale. It’s wonderful to see all of you.”

When we were in the room and the door was closed, I felt a twinge of frustration. This wasn’t the way I’d planned it. I wanted to speak to Agnes alone about the gold coin she’d given me.

“How are you feeling?” Gramps made small talk with her.

She frowned at her daughters, who were cowering in one corner. “You brought them back in with you? How could you?”

Neither girl spoke, but Gramps patted Agnes’s bandaged hand where it rested on the bed. “Now, you know these girls want what’s best for you. I don’t know what the feud’s about, but this isn’t a good time to be fighting over anything.”

“Easy for you to say.” She sniffed. “You’re not a prisoner in this death trap they call a hospital.”

“I hear you might be going home,” Gramps said. “I think that’s some good news. Celia and Vicky were worried about you. You gave us all a fright.”

“And I’d be dead if it wasn’t for
him
.” She pointed at Kevin. “How can I ever repay you for what you did for me? I thought my time was up when I was on the roof.”

Kevin shrugged. “No thanks necessary. We were doing our job, Mrs. Caudle.”

“Thank heaven!” Celia called out, then put her hands over her mouth. “Sorry, Mom.”

Despite this touching family tableau, I was wondering if there was any possibility that all of them would leave so I could get on with talking to Agnes.

I know it was a little cold—my only excuse was the pressure I felt from the information I’d seen when I touched the gold coin. It made me nervous and a little irritable. Not my usual cheerful self. And I realized it was my own fault—if I’d considered the problem sooner, I would’ve come alone.

Gramps brought Celia and Vicky to Agnes’s bedside, where they all hugged. Kevin joined me near the window where I was skulking. “Are you going to ask about the gold?” he whispered.

I glanced around like a nervous cat in a new home. “I can’t. Not with everyone here. I need a few minutes alone with her.”

“Maybe I can help with that.”

I didn’t have a chance to ask how before he wandered close to the bed again. What could he possibly say or do that would make everyone leave?

“Is there anywhere around here to get a good cup of coffee?” he asked Celia. He smiled at her—I can’t describe it, but if he’d given
me
that smile and asked me to go out and find a whale for him to ride, I would’ve tried to do it.

“Sure.” Celia giggled a little. “I’d be glad to.”

“I went to get the coffee this morning,” Vicky reminded her. “I think I could show him better than you.”

“For heaven’s sake,” Agnes intervened, “why don’t you both take him to get some coffee—my treat.”

I was amazed that both the girls were willing and eager to go with Kevin. He held out an arm to each of them. They giggled again and latched on to him like fish on a hook. Gramps seemed to catch on right away and suggested that he’d like coffee too. It made me feel guilty that I hadn’t told him about the gold coin Agnes had given me.

I needed to have a talk with him later about everything that had happened so we were back on an even keel with each other. I didn’t like things this way. I enjoyed having Kevin to talk to—but he wasn’t Gramps.

Kevin looked at me as he walked out with the girls, his gaze shifting to Agnes. I nodded. I wondered if he could teach me to smile that way. It could certainly come in handy. Did they teach that in the FBI, or was that something he’d learned on his own?

The door closed behind them, and without waiting for me to speak, Agnes said, “Okay, Dae. You can ask me what you need to now. I know why you’re here.”

“I didn’t know if you remembered.” I stood beside her bed, and she touched my hand.

“Of course I remember. I was in a fire. I’m not senile!”

She smiled and her eyes welled with tears. “I wish you could hold my hands and tell me where to find everything I lost. Maybe I could get it all back.”

I squeezed her unbandaged hand a little. “I wish I could do that too, Agnes. I lie awake at night and wonder if there was something I could’ve done to stop what happened to Max. I’m so sorry about everything.”

“I know you are. You’ve always been a good friend. Max thought the world of you. Remember that time you helped him find the old compass he’d lost? He was so amazed at what you could do.” She studied my face for a few seconds. “That’s why I told you about the gold.”

“What did you mean about it causing all of your problems?”

She pleated the pale green sheet between her fingers and looked away. “Three years ago—when I had to have that open-heart surgery—do you remember?”

I nodded. “Of course. I helped keep the bakery open while you were in the hospital. Max wouldn’t let me help him at the museum, but he said I could sell cookies.”

She laughed a little at the memory. “He always took great pride in that little museum. I know you know it was his life. Not that he didn’t love me and the girls—but the museum was his heart.”

I agreed silently, not trusting myself to speak without crying.

“We didn’t have the money for the surgery, Dae. We sure didn’t have insurance. I had resigned myself to dying—and I was all right with it. I felt like Max and I had made our choices. It was too late to get all maudlin about it. Max felt differently.”

“Then you found this gold?” I laid the coin on the bed beside her.

“Not found.” She stared at it. “Max got it from someone. There was a whole chest of it. I’m not sure who gave it to him. He never told me. I thought it was a godsend, and I agreed to have the surgery. But I was wrong. It was a curse.”

“How so?”

“Max changed. He started going out at odd hours of the night—no explanation. At first I thought it was another woman. I don’t expect you to understand, Dae, but when a man and woman go through something like one of them being very ill, it can take a toll on the relationship. That made sense to me. I decided to follow him and confront him with my knowledge. I wanted to make things right.”

“But it wasn’t another woman?”

“No. It was a man.” She smiled, tears in her eyes. “Not
that
way either! It was a fisherman—ordinary looking, ratty clothes. Max met him at one of the local bars. He took Max out on his boat, and they didn’t get back until after two A.M.”

“What did he say when you confronted him?”

“I’ll never forget the way he looked or how he reacted. He got real quiet—like he was scared that I knew about it. He made me promise never to say anything to anyone unless I wanted him to die. He said we’d be taken care of as long as he kept quiet.”

I was completely mystified by her story. “Are you saying that you think the person who gave Max the gold blew up the museum?”

“Yes. I couldn’t say anything. I was too afraid. I’m sorry, Dae. I thought he might come after me. I was worried about the girls too. Then I found out yesterday when he set my house on fire that it didn’t matter if I kept quiet. He wanted me dead too.”

I thought about the older man I’d seen in my vision after touching the coin she gave me. The man I’d seen was too frail to go around blowing up buildings and setting houses on fire. Maybe someone who worked for him had done the dirty work. “You keep referring to a man. Do you know for sure that it’s a man?”

“Max always referred to him as a man. I guess that’s why I do it. I don’t know what happened with Max. I can’t believe he’d tell anyone the secret he was keeping. He certainly never told me. He was so terrified of what would happen. The only thing I can think is that he somehow gave it away without realizing it.” She stopped and put her bandaged hand to her face. “I don’t know what to do now. I’ll have to leave Duck. I’d be glad to give back the rest of the gold if he’d leave me alone.”

I didn’t know what to say. I comforted her as best I could in the situation. She didn’t want to tell her daughters for fear one of them might unknowingly give it away. She couldn’t tell the police without fear of further reprisal.

What was the secret that Max had died for? What could be that important? And was Sam Meacham somehow involved in all of it? Maybe he’d died for his knowledge of whatever it was.

Later, when the girls came back with Kevin and Gramps, the doctor was right behind, shooing all of us out of the room. He seemed hopeful that Agnes would be released later today, but I wasn’t sure that was such a great idea. They could all be on a hit list.

“I’m sure she’s upset,” Gramps said while we waited in the truck for Kevin to fill the gas tank at a busy station. “But that’s not the same as someone trying to kill her, Dae. People get paranoid sometimes when scary things happen. They even make up stories to protect themselves.”

“You think Agnes made up all of this?” I took the gold coin from my pocket. “This is real, Gramps. She got this from someone. Whoever set her house on fire could be ready to do something else if she comes home.”

“She can stay with me,” Kevin said as he got back in the truck. “She’ll be safe that way.”

I wasn’t sure about that. “What if that person finds out she’s at the Blue Whale? And let’s face it—the chances are pretty good. You’ll all be in danger.”

“Possibly.” He headed back out into traffic. “But I have two things going for me that she doesn’t—an extremely good security system and experience protecting people in trouble. I think I can handle it.”

What could I say? It still didn’t sound like a good idea to me, but I couldn’t say so without casting doubts on his abilities. “What about the man I saw in my vision? He has to be involved. It was his gold. He gave it to Max. Maybe we can find him and rough him up a little until he agrees to leave them alone.”

“I like that idea,” Kevin said, “but how do we look for him? It sounds like you’d either have to hold hands with every fisherman in the area or touch every fishing boat. Are you up for that?”

“I don’t like
that
idea.” Gramps frowned at him. “You know interfering in a police investigation can be dangerous—not to mention illegal.”

“It’s not a police investigation yet,” I countered. “Chief Michaels doesn’t know about any of it.”

“A good reason to tell him as soon as possible. You know I’m right, Kevin. Back me up on this.”

“I know.” Kevin grinned. “But it’s contagious.”

“What?” I asked, not liking the look on his face.

“Playing private detective. Maybe I should find out about getting a license.” He sobered when he looked at me. “Your grandfather is right, Dae. We should tell the chief about all of this and let him take care of it.”

I ignored both of them, annoyed with their verdict. “I guess I don’t have much choice. But if Chief Michaels feels like the case is closed with Sam’s death, will you help?”

“We’ll see,” Gramps promised in the same tone he’d always used to put off doing things he didn’t want to do.

We got back to Duck finally, and Kevin dropped us both off at the Duck Shoppe’s parking lot. I promised to let him know what Chief Michaels said when I could get in touch with him.

“I’d like a promise that you won’t try to do any of this without me,” he added.

“I’d like snow for Christmas this year,” I joked, “but we don’t always get what we want.”

“Then I’m headed over to the sheriff’s office before I go back for that delivery of wineglasses at the Blue Whale.”

“No! Okay. I won’t do anything even if I happen to touch the right fisherman or boat. I’ll call you first.”

Fortunately, Gramps had already gone on to meet his friend at the Coffee House so he didn’t hear the conversation. I would never have heard the end of it if he had. Kevin took me at my word, and he kissed me before he left.