A Watery Death (A Missing Pieces Mystery Book 7) (8 page)

I couldn’t bring myself to do that and walked quickly out of the meeting room.

“What’s going on?” Kevin asked when he saw me.

“They want Gramps to take Chief Michaels’s place,” I said in a low voice. “I wish he would’ve turned them down.”

“Why? He was good at what he did. The town needs him right now.”

My eyes filled with tears that I brushed away. “I need him too. They should’ve tapped Tim. He could’ve done the job.”

He put his arm around me. “He’ll be okay, Dae. Don’t worry. And I’m sure Ronnie Michaels isn’t going to lie around in bed for very long either. It’ll be fine. Have some faith, like you’re always telling me.”

Gramps and the council came out of the meeting room. My grandfather’s gaze immediately came to rest on me across the room.

We would have discussed what we’d done at that point, but Chief Michaels’s doctors came into the visitors’ area at the same time.

“There’s good news and bad news,” the lead cardiologist said. “Chief Michaels survived a serious cardiac event. He’s going to need surgery, and I’m afraid, a long recovery time.”

There were many questions, but no one was surprised by the severity of the event. We were as prepared as we could be, even though I still would have argued the point about Gramps being police chief, if anyone would have listened.

We said goodnight a short time later. Gramps came home with Kevin and me in Kevin’s old pickup truck. Ladonna and Marjory stayed at the hospital, but a few of us agreed on a schedule so that they could have some time away.

It was a quiet ride for the first twenty minutes with me squished between Gramps and Kevin.

I wanted to say something, probably ask him not to take Chief Michaels’s place. The words just wouldn’t come.

Finally, Kevin broke the silence. “I’m not letting the two of you out of this truck until I know that everything is okay between you.”

Gramps chuckled. “I see a throw-down coming in your future, young man.”

“That’s okay,” he said. “Isn’t there something you want to say, Dae?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered.

“If you have something, spit it out,” Gramps said.

“All right.” I faced him. “I don’t think you should do this. If I could’ve voted, I would’ve voted against it. Tim should step in. He’s been there long enough to know what he’s doing.”

“Is this because you’re afraid for me or because you think Tim deserves the promotion?” Gramps questioned.

“Both,” I answered honestly. “Although I’m more worried about you getting hurt than about Tim getting a promotion. It’s been a long time since you carried a badge and a gun. Things have changed.”

“Things haven’t changed that much,” Kevin said. “Once you’ve done the job, you can go back to it any time.”

“But you’re not volunteering,” I mentioned hotly.

“No, I volunteered,” Gramps said. “I’ll be fine, Dae. I can handle this. I’m sorry you’re afraid for me, but nothing will happen.”

“Tell that to Captain Lucky,” I said. “It’s bad enough having a murder investigation right now, but it’s also prime beach season.”

“I don’t know what else to say.” Gramps shook his head as we rolled into our driveway.

I had completely forgotten about the naked man until that moment. So much had happened so quickly. I started to say something about it, but was afraid that Gramps and Kevin would just think I was throwing more roadblocks in the way.

“It’s a bad situation,” I said as Kevin parked the truck. “I don’t want it to get any worse.”

“It won’t, honey.” Gramps squeezed my hand before he got out of the pickup. “I’m going inside. It’s been a long day, and I have to be up early tomorrow. I’ll see you later, Kevin. Thanks for the ride.”

He walked slowly to the house. I watched him until he was inside and the door had closed behind him.

“This isn’t right,” I told Kevin. “I know there isn’t anything I can do about it, but I’m really worried about him.”

He took me in his arms and kissed me. “I understand, but Horace will be fine. That’s why they wanted him for the job. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows this town. You have to have some confidence in him.”

 “I hope so. If not, you’d probably be next on the interim police chief list. All the council members feel like Tim is too young and immature. He and I are the same age. That makes me question how they feel about me too.” I hugged him back and grabbed my bag. “Goodnight, Kevin. I’ll see you at the parade tomorrow.”

Mary Catherine wanted to hear all about it, of course, so we were up talking until well after midnight. She finally said goodnight and went up to her room, leaving Gramps and me in the kitchen.

“I hope you’ll feel better about this later.” He put the coffee cups into the dishwasher. “Give your grandfather a little credit here, honey. You know I’m as good as my word. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

I hugged him, closing my eyes, and prayed he was right. If I lost him, all my family would be gone. “I love you, Gramps. Please be careful.”

“When have I ever
not
been careful?” he asked with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “Let’s get to sleep. Big day tomorrow.”

I carefully took the cardboard with the gold and blue scales out of my pocket. They didn’t look as impressive after being in there all day—more like dried fish scales. I got undressed and got into bed with Treasure sleeping beside me. I thought about Chief Michaels, Gramps, and the naked man I’d left behind in the Duck Shoppes parking lot.

Once in a while, a few party people came to Duck and odd things of that nature happened. It didn’t really worry me about the naked man.

And Chief Michaels would be fine, I promised myself. Gramps would be too.

But the possible threat against him made me open the drawer to my bedside table and pull out my grandmother’s old watch.

I’d experimented with it before, finding that my gift for seeing people and their history behind the items I touched could extend to actually being in that past moment.

I wasn’t a real person when I was there—more a ghost-like figure—but it had been a way that I could meet my grandmother who’d died before I was born. She’d warned me at one of those meetings that, while it was possible to visit with loved ones in the past, I had to be careful, or I would become trapped in that past too.

That’s what had happened to her. All those years I’d thought she was dead, but instead she just never came back. I’d told Gramps about my meeting with Grandma Eleanore. He knew about the gift we shared and the consequences it could have. He’d asked me to promise him that I wouldn’t do it again.

I’d agreed—at that time.

It was different now. I’d tried various objects that had belonged to her, believing that I might be able to bring her back with me to my time. Nothing had worked. Her watch was still my best anchor to her, but our visits were always the same.

The watch was pretty and lightweight. I held it in my hands and closed my eyes to feel her presence. In a thought I was there, sitting at the same kitchen table that I’d just left, only forty years earlier.

“Oh my goodness, Dae. You startled the daylights out of me,” Grandma Eleanore said. “But it’s good to see you again. I have news. Can you stay for tea?”

Chapter Seven

I could tell the differences in the kitchen, things that had changed since I was a child. There was an old green stove with a percolator instead of a coffeemaker on the cabinet and wood paneling on the walls instead of the wallpaper with roses that my mother had put in.

“This is a good time for you to visit.” She made us both a cup of tea.

There were times when I went back that I was nothing more than a ghost and other times when it was like I was really there. I could feel, smell, and taste things. I didn’t know what the difference was. This was still new to me.

“I’m so happy to be here. It’s been a rough day in Duck.”

“I don’t know how long you’ll be here so I’d better get right to the point.” She put a cup of tea in front of me—fragrant jasmine.

I inhaled and closed my eyes. Grandma Eleanore was so like my mother, but my grandmother and I shared the gift that had bypassed her. If it hadn’t, I might have been able to visit her too. Wanting to see my mother again was a terrible yearning that lived in my soul after she’d abruptly died one evening when her car went off one of the bridges that joined Duck to the mainland.

It had happened after we’d had a bad quarrel while I was still in college. She’d left to go home early because of an approaching storm. No one had ever seen her again.

“What is it?” This place in time had become a haven for me. I didn’t like the idea that something could upset it.

“I believe I figured out a way for you to come back and visit with your mother.”

“How?”

“You know that you have to hold something that connects you to that person and the time.” She sat opposite me. “You’ve come back at times when you’ve seen your mother, but she can’t see you because she doesn’t have our gift.”

“Yes, I know that. What can make that different?” I was impatient for the answer because I knew she was right and the connection between us could be broken at any moment.

“There was a traveling psychic who came to town last week for a carnival. I believe he was the real thing. I spoke with him briefly, just to get a feel for him. Dae, if you came back at the moment when your mother met with him, I think he could bridge the gap between you. You could speak with her through him.”

I was amazed at the idea. “That would mean I could warn her not to go home the night that she died. She could still be alive in my time. You’re a genius, Grandma Eleanore!”

“You can’t do that. I just meant you could talk to her. You can’t try to change her fate. You don’t know what else will change if you do that.”

“I don’t care. Do you know how awful my life has been since the last thing we said to each other was in anger? I’ve had dreams since that day of her sitting in her car underwater, waiting for me to find her. I could stop all that.”

“At what risk? What are you willing to give up? It could be that your grandfather will be dead instead of your mother. It could be that she’d be alive but in a coma or crippled. We can go back in the past, darling, but we can’t change it.”

“Is that why you’re trapped in the past? I’ve tried my best to find that moment when we lost you, but I don’t have a lot of your possessions. What should I use to contact you during that time and bring you back?”

“You can’t bring me back either.” She smiled gently. “I wish you could. But even if I knew what possession you could use, I wouldn’t tell you. You can’t change things that happened before you were born. I made that mistake. Don’t you make it too.”

“How do you know that’s what trapped you in the past?”

“Let’s not waste our time on things we can’t do,” she said. “Your mother won a stuffed unicorn with a rainbow horn. I don’t know for sure that she kept it as an adult, but she was a great believer in saving everything. If you can find it, use it to contact her through the psychic. Be careful what you say. I love you, Dae.”

“Grandma—”

“You’re starting to fade. Tell your grandfather that I love him. Goodbye, darling.”

I came back to myself in my time, breathing as hard as if I’d run a marathon. My heart was pumping fast. I had a difficult time separating myself from the past.

Treasure softly cried out in his sleep and snuggled closer.

I was still in my bed, still clutching Grandma’s old watch. I realized that I was crying. I wanted to bring her back and find a way to talk to my mother. Sometimes it was all I could think about.

For years, I’d gone to séances with my friend, Shayla, as she attempted to contact my mother. None of them had worked. But maybe Grandma Eleanore was right and the traveling psychic could work as a conduit between me and my mother.

Shayla had moved back to her home in New Orleans. I had given up séances when I realized, by accident, that I could travel into the past holding an object that came from that time. I’d thought it was the way to be with my mother again.

Even though it was barely two a.m., I got up and went up to the attic to look for the rainbow unicorn. If there was a chance, I’d be willing to take it.

Gramps found me there two hours later. “What in the world are you doing up here? Have you been up all night?”

“I’ve been looking for something that belonged to Mom. A rainbow unicorn she got from a carnival when she was a kid. There was a psychic. Sound familiar? Do you have any idea where that could be?”

“I’m sorry, Dae. I don’t know what you mean.” He surveyed the crowded attic, most of which consisted of tumbled boxes, old clothes, and toys.

I told him about my visit with Grandma Eleanore.

He wasn’t happy about it. “I thought you said she told you it was dangerous to go into the past.”

“I don’t care. I have a chance to warn Mom about the day she died. How can I let that go?”

Gramps frowned. “I don’t know what to say, honey. But right now I have to get to work, and you have to go over to town hall to get everything set up. You have the parade schedule. If you aren’t there to get the cars and floats lined up, who will?”

Reluctantly, I agreed with him. I noticed he was wearing the dark blue Duck police officer’s uniform. It made him look completely different, more like when I was a child and he was the sheriff.

“You look nice,” I told him. “Be careful out there today. Do you have any idea who you’re going to tap to be temporary police officers?”

 “Cody volunteered. Reece wanted to as well, but they couldn’t both be away from the restaurant for full shifts. Mark Samson’s daughter, Diane, offered to help out. And Dale Fargo said he’d give us a hand. He’s only working part-time at the gambling ship.”

“You sure got them signed up fast since last night.”

“Email. And I don’t mess around when I have a promise to keep.”

“To Chief Michaels?”

He hugged me and whispered, “To my granddaughter. I promised her I’d stay safe.”

“I love you. Grandma Eleanore said to tell you that she loves you too.”

Gramps let me go as he looked away. “About that, Dae. I have a good thing going with Mary Catherine right now. She and I have a lot in common, and I think I might be in love with her.”