A Touch of Gold (28 page)

Chapter 19

“W
e all have a stake in this,” Brad continued. “We need to find out the truth—not a convenient lie to cover up what really happened.”

He was glaring at me the whole time he spoke. He was accusing me without actually using my name. I didn’t care. He’d find out how wrong he was when we went out to the island.

Kevin had been wrong about the FBI. They were nowhere to be seen. Agent Brooks Walker with the SBI wanted to be part of the group going out to the island. In fact, he wanted the local police to stay out of it entirely. “This should be our case,” he said.

“The man’s been living out there for years and no one knew,” Walt reminded him. “You can’t come in here and take over our case.”

“He’s a suspect in our murder cases.” Chief Michaels piled on the logical reasons he should be allowed to continue with the case. “You can’t claim any jurisdiction here, Agent.”

“All right. It’s against my better judgment, but I guess you’re already involved,” Walker grumbled. “We’ll head out there first thing in the morning. Who has the coordinates for the island?”

They all looked at me. “Bunk’s men gave them to me when we got back to Duck. Whose boat are we going out on?”

“I don’t see any reason you should go out at all,” Walker told me. “You’re neither law enforcement nor an involved party. Give me the coordinates and we’ll take it from here.”

“I’m afraid not. I’m supposed to be bringing
you
out there. I don’t think Bunk will like it if you show up without me.”

There was some major griping, but I didn’t care. I was the one who found Bunk, and I was going back out there tomorrow. It probably wasn’t so much that I wanted to be part of the operation as I wanted to know whatever he could tell me about my father. If my grandfather had kept the knowledge that my dad was alive for all these years, I wasn’t sure I’d get any real answers from him. In case Bunk was dragged off to some federal prison, I wanted a chance to talk with him first.

When they finally accepted that they weren’t going without me, despite all their complaints and protests, Walker, Peabody and Chief Michaels handled it without further discussion.

“We’ll use a Coast Guard vessel,” Walker told everyone.

“We’ll be taking police boats,” Chief Michaels stated.

“We’ll be going out on the
Eleanore
,” Gramps said.

“That’s not a police boat, Horace,” Chief Michaels replied. “It has to be some law enforcement vessel. I’d go with the Coast Guard before taking a private boat out there.”

“You all go out on your boats, if you want.” Gramps stared steely-eyed at them. “Dae, and the location of the island, are going with me on the
Eleanore
. I don’t trust any of you to keep her safe.”

He gave Kevin a half smile. Kevin nodded in return. I assumed that meant he’d be going too. That was fine with me. I wasn’t looking forward to being the only civilian with the masses of law enforcement headed out there.

I kind of felt sorry for Bunk in all this. No doubt he’d brought all of it on himself. But I believed his story about what happened to Max. I believed he was Agnes’s father and wanted to help her, whatever else he’d done.

It was agreed that we’d all meet at the docks at six A.M. Gramps and Kevin could be there, Walker said, but couldn’t bring a weapon. Same thing for me.

“That’s it. I’ve had a big day.” I got to my feet. They might be there talking and planning all night. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Most of them stood and “Mayor-ed” me again—except for Brad, who nodded. Kevin smiled and stood up to kiss my cheek and say good night. Gramps walked me to the stairs.

“Good night, honey,” he said, hugging me. “Don’t worry about this. It’ll be okay.”

“Gramps, there’s something I have to ask you.”

“Yes?”

I noticed the sudden silence from the kitchen and knew I couldn’t say what was on my mind. It was better to wait until we could talk without a room full of people listening in. “It’ll keep. Good night.”

I
was awake long before my alarm went off at five thirty the next morning. I tried to imagine what the day would bring. Would Bunk deny what he’d told me when he was faced with it? Would he be arrested? It seemed there was so much that could go wrong.

I’d been right about everyone downstairs. I’d heard the group break up at around two A.M. I remembered the planning sessions Gramps held with his deputies from when I was a kid. Many of them took place around that same table. They planned and replanned—trying to account for every possible scenario. I wondered if they were ever surprised by what happened. Would they be surprised today?

I finally got tired of thinking about it, dressed in warm clothes and went downstairs. Gramps was already awake, drinking coffee and storing extra bullets for his gun in a jacket pocket.

“I thought they said no guns.” I made myself some tea and set bread to toast.

“Yeah, well, I’m not going in there with old Bunk Whitley’s hired guns and no weapon. I’m sure you’ll find Kevin will be carrying a little something too.”

I sat at the kitchen table and looked at the man who’d been everything to me my whole life. His features were creased with age, skin leathered by the hot sun and sea. I recalled how proud I was when he’d come to school to pick me up in the sheriff’s car. I’d never forget the things he’d said to keep me going after Mom died—even though he’d been hurting too.

But now I needed answers from him. Would he give them to me? “Gramps, Bunk told me a few other things about people in Duck.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily put a lot of stock into everything Bunk said, honey. He might be right about Agnes, but it strikes me that it’s something he knew you couldn’t ask her about without causing a fuss. He probably banked on that.”

“He told me my father was still alive.”

He didn’t stop cleaning his pistol. “And?”

“I want to know if it’s true.”

He glanced up at me. “What do you think?”

“I think I’d like a straight answer. Is he alive or not?”

He put the pistol into a shoulder holster that would be hidden by his jacket. “Do you believe I’d do anything that would hurt you in any way?”

“Gramps! Please! If you were a suspect in a murder case, I’d believe you were guilty by now.”

“Dae—” The phone rang and he went to answer it.

I felt like there were pins and needles sticking into every part of my body. I knew it wouldn’t be easy for Gramps to answer me. Clearly, it wasn’t. But his response so far made me think Bunk knew what he was talking about. Why would Gramps hide something like this from me?

When he came back, he said, “We have to go, Dae. There’s a problem with the Coast Guard boat. We’re going to have to pick up Walker and his men.”

“You haven’t answered my question.” I wouldn’t be put aside for Walker or anyone else.

“I know I haven’t, honey. I wish your mom was alive to answer this question for you. It’s not really my place.”

“You’re my only living relative—as far as I know. Can’t you answer this question?”

“I can.” He nodded. “But you aren’t going to like it.”

I braced myself. “It can’t be worse than not knowing.” “All right.” He pulled on his red plaid jacket. “We’ll talk in the truck on the way to the docks.”

“With Kevin?” Gramps didn’t own a truck and rarely drove anything but a golf cart. He had to mean that Kevin was coming for us. I knew he wouldn’t discuss this with him there. “No!”

“Dae, can’t we talk about this later? There’s a lot going on right now, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll wait here until you get back.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “You know everyone would just end up back here waiting for you.”

“Exactly. Maybe we could discuss this with all of them too.”

I saw a look on his face that I hadn’t seen since high school when I came home from the prom at one A.M. “You’re a stubborn woman, Dae O’Donnell.”

I didn’t disagree. “Did I get that from my mother—or my father?”

“Dae—your father
is
alive. At least he was last year when I saw him at the Coral Reef bar in Kill Devil Hills.”

I’d wanted to know—had demanded to know. But knowing floored me. “He’s alive? All these years I had a father? He didn’t die before I was born?”

His cell phone rang. “We have to go. I’ll tell you the rest later. I’m sorry for this. I guess I hoped it wouldn’t come up. I know you’re surprised.”

“Surprised doesn’t really cover it. All this time—why did you lie to me?”

“It was your mother’s story to tell, not mine. She planned to explain one day when you were old enough to understand. She would’ve too, if she’d lived. After she died, I didn’t know how to say it. Believe me, I would’ve told you when you were a child. But your mom felt different about it.”

His cell phone rang again, and there was an insistent knock on the front door.

“We have to go,” he said again. “This will have to wait. Don’t forget, this isn’t just about you. You represent Duck too. These people are counting on you.”

I needed some time—a long soak in a hot bath, maybe some donuts, definitely some ice cream. I needed to know the world hadn’t just turned upside down, that the people I’d always depended on hadn’t really kept this truth from me. But there wasn’t time since I needed to do my “duty.”

“Like I was counting on you to tell me the truth about my life, Gramps?” I yelled at him. “Who is he? I need a name. I’m not leaving here until I get a name.”

“Dae—”

“You owe me that much.”

His mouth became a grim line. “Danny Evans. His name is Danny Evans.”

“Thanks.” I picked up my jacket and walked outside.

“Everything okay?” Kevin asked when I walked past him.

“Just fine.”

 

 

D
anny Evans. I have a father. He isn’t dead, and his name is Danny Evans.

As the
Eleanore
made her way to the coordinates I’d given Gramps—the only thing I’d said to him since we’d left the house—the police boats followed like an armed escort through the dark Atlantic.

We’d picked up Walker and five of his men from the Coast Guard boat that had broken down right offshore. I could feel Walker’s embarrassment at having to be rescued from the dead vessel by a civilian.

There was no extra room on the
Eleanore
after that. I sat beside Kevin in the stern as the dark began to fade and dawn arrived, rosy and golden, on the horizon.

“You and your grandfather have a fight?” Kevin guessed as he shared coffee from his thermos with me.

“You could say that.” The clear light of morning picked out the men’s weary faces around us.

“Was it about going out to the island?”

“No. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“All right.” He put his arm around me, and I felt the hard metal edge of a gun under his blue winter vest.

“You brought a gun too.” I nodded. “Just like Gramps.”

“Old habits.” He shrugged. “We don’t know what we’re going into out here. That’s why your grandfather didn’t want you to come out alone.”

“Only you and he would consider being with a group of SBI agents followed by a dozen police officers as being alone.”

“Is there a problem between you and your grandfather?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.” I turned to him. “Could I move in with you?”

He choked on his coffee, then recovered. “This is a little sudden.”

“I know. But it’s not what you think. I need some time to myself. I could rent a room from you. You wouldn’t even know I was there.”

“That wouldn’t happen.” He kissed me lightly, then smiled. “You might as well tell me what’s going on.”

I told him the briefest details even though all of it wanted to burst out of me. I hoped the men around us couldn’t hear my tearful whispers. Kevin held me and didn’t speak until I was finished.