Authors: Judith E. French
"Nope." He pushed her toward the ladder at the
back of the skiff. "Just passed my Maryland State Police
psych test with flying colors."
"You're a Davis," she reminded him. "You don't believe in early marriage. You stay bachelors until you're
forty. You told me so yourself."
"Who said anything about getting married?"
"You didn't just propose to me?" she demanded as
he climbed the ladder onto the stern of the boat and
turned back to offer her his hand.
"Did I?" He pulled her out of the water onto the
deck, kissed her again, and lifted her in the air.
She laughed. "You've lost your mind. You live and
work on this island. I'm going to be a classical archaeologist. I'll spend four or five months a year in Greece.
I cannot live on Tawes."
"That's a minor problem." He put her down. "Is
there a towel around here anywhere?"
"Minor?" She retrieved one from a chair. It was
damp, and she guessed that he'd used it when he'd
gone swimming before she got up. In any case, it was a
towel. She wrapped it around her shoulders.
"Your career. It's not a big difference between us.
Not like religion or politics. And who said anything
about us getting married?" He tugged at the towel
playfully, but she wouldn't give it up. Buck contented
himself with drying his face on one corner.
"You did," she reminded him. "You proposed marriage to me not two minutes ago. Do you intend to
quit yourjob and follow me around the world?"
"No. I like it here. You do, too." He glanced at his
watch. "And it was more like four minutes ago." He
shook his wrist. "Good thing this watch is waterproof."
"So you do remember? And now you're trying to
back out of your proposal?"
He set her feet on the deck. "Are you telling me you
hate kids?"
"No, I didn't say anything about children, but-"
He interrupted her. "Did I throw my sunglasses in?"
"I hope you did. And I do like kids. I just don't know
how they fit into my life plan."
"Oh, that's right. You have a serious life plan."
"You're trying to evade the question." She spied the
glasses out of the corner of her eye, lying on the deck,
partially hidden behind the chair. "I think you did dive
in with your sunglasses on."
Buck peered over the side. "Hmm. I'd always thought
I'd want two or three. Kids, that is." He grinned at her.
"Guess I'll have to go in after the glasses."
She smiled with wicked satisfaction as he dove in
and spent the next ten minutes searching the bottom
for the glasses that she'd now propped on his deck
chair. She was about to confess when Buck's cell rang.
"Answer that, will you?"
"What?"
"Answer the damn phone."
She retrieved the cell from where it lay on top of a
tackle box. "Good morning," she said sweetly. "Tawes
Police Station. Abbie speaking. May l help you? Oh, hi."
Buck was climbing out of the water.
"Just a moment, Mr. McCready. Chief Davis is on another line, but he'll be right with you."
Dripping, Buck motioned toward the cell. "Give me
the phone."
She held it behind her. "What's the magic word?"
"Please give me the phone," he said between
clenched teeth as he unbuttoned his wet shirt and
shrugged out of it.
Abbie laughed and handed it to him. She went into
the cabin, looked around for a dry towel, but couldn't
find one. She wrapped a blanket around herself and
came back out onto the deck. He was still on the phone,
so she busied herself by spreading her soaking tee and
his brightly patterned shirt on top of the cabin to dry.
Sometime during the conversation, Buck found his
glasses, grimaced at her, and put them on. When he
ended the call, his mood had changed from teasing to
thoughtful.
"Bad news?"
"Weird." He motioned her toward the deck chair
and took the captain's seat at the wheel. "Forest said
he had a call from Peter Elderson first thing this
morning. Elderson is one of the attorneys for
Onicox-the realty company that wanted to build the
inarina."
"How is that weird?"
"Mr. Elderson wanted to share some information
about Robert Mellmore. He's the supposed heir to the
land, and the man who initiated the sale of the property to the realty people."
She waited, knowing Buck would finish what he'd
started once he found the right words.
"It seems Mr. Elderson advised Onicox not to go
through with the deal. He felt that there was too much
bad publicity and that the inhabitants of Tawes would
cause more delays and legal expenses than the project
was worth. He's suggested another property on the western shore of the bay that's just come on the
market-an area ripe for development and closer to
Washington."
"That's good, isn't it? Fantastic, if you don't want the
marina."
"True. It is. A lot of people will sleep easier tonight."
"But?" Something about Buck's expression told her
that there was a large but.
"Robert Mellmore."
"The heir. You're afraid he'll sell it to some other
buyer?"
Buck shook his head. "Not likely."
"Why?" Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me he's dead,
too?"
"Hardly. The man doesn't exist."
She stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean,
he doesn't exist? How can he not exist?"
"Elderson tried to reach him last week to arrange a
meeting. When something about Mellmore's excuses
for not coming to the office didn't ring true, Elderson
sent a courier to his home address. It turned out to be
an abandoned filling station. His place of business was
equally false. And the phone calls were routed
through an answering service."
"This sounds like something out of a spy movie."
"Doesn't it?" Buck took a bottle of spring water from
a cooler on the deck, opened it, and handed it to her.
"Elderson and his aide spent the better part of four
days chasing down Robert Mellmore's references."
She took a drink. The water was cool and refreshing. "Go on," she urged him. "I'm fascinated."
"To make a long story short, Mellmore appears to
be a solid citizen on paper. College, detailed employment records, Social Security number, passport, credit
cards, and bank accounts. But they're all imaginary. Fakes. The real Robert Mellmore was born at Johns
Hopkins on July 14, 1951 and died nineteen days later
without ever leaving the hospital."
"That makes no sense." She finger-combed her
damp hair. "Why would anybody-"
"It appears to be an elaborate hoax, an entire fictitious identity constructed for the purpose of-"
"Inheriting Thomas Sherwood's farm," Abbie supplied. "Whoever is behind this scheme would have
sold that property to Onicox Realty fora fortune."
"Exactly." Buck folded his arms over his chest. "And
it would have worked if Sherwood had legally inherited it from his grandfather, and if Forest McCready
hadn't put up such a legal battle to block the deal."
"But who's behind it? Not Elderson."
"Hardly. Elderson got suspicious and discovered the
truth. And it isn't anyone at Onicox. Forest says he
doesn't have a clue."
"How is that possible? To create a fictitious identity?
You'd have to break into public records and do away
with Robert Mellmore's death certificate. How would
you acquire a passport? Just getting a driver's license
in a new state is a hassle."
"Not really," he said. "Not if you are or know a topnotch computer wizard."
"I suppose anything's possible," she admitted.
"If the military can't keep their records intact, who
can?"
"It's unbelievable."
He nodded. "But it apparently happened."
"So, if there's no Robert Mellmore, he can't inherit
the land. Who is the heir? And if there isn't one, does
the property go to the State of Maryland?"
"Forest believes he can find a lawful heir, preferably
one who lives on Tawes and is part of the community. And he's certain a judge will appoint him executor of
the estate, now that Mellmore has vanished in a puff of
smoke."
Abbie nibbled at her lower lip. "Does this mean my
mother died for nothing? Or did whoever conjured
up this scenario engineer her death to keep her from
finding something on that site?"
Buck removed his glasses. "I wish I could tell you
that, hon."
"Will Forest let me keep digging? He has to. I can't
stop now."
"I don't see why not. Wait until I tell Daniel about
this." He reached for the phone.
She put her hand on his wrist. "Could this have something to do with whatever hush-hush thing is going on
with Daniel and Bailey? Why you felt you had to stand
guard over them last night?" After the reception, when
Buck had said he was following the newlyweds, he hadn't
told her why, only that it was a necessary precaution.
She hadn't pressed him for an explanation, probably
due to her three glasses of champagne. Or was it four?
Her father would definitely be unhappy. She'd left
him in Emma's capable hands, true, but Dad was conservative. She'd rather he didn't inquire into her sex
life; and when he did, she usually skirted the issue. It
wouldn't be so easy to placate him this morning. "How
long did you intend to stay-" The sound of Daniel's
boat motor interrupted her.
"Bailey's pulling anchor," Buck said. "I guess we'll
get that coffee."
Abbie waved. "I hope there are bagels. With cream
cheese."
"You eat more than any woman I know. Even more
than Emma, and that's saying a mouthful."
"Bad pun."
He grinned. "I thought so." He touched her shoul der. "No need to announce our engagement just yet.
Don't want to steal their thunder."
"What are you talking about? What engagement? I
did not agree to marry you."
"Hmm." He tilted his head. "I thought you agreed
to consider it."
"I did not." She dropped the blanket, went to the
cabin, and retrieved her wet T-shirt, which she pulled
on.
"You don't need to cover up for my sake. I like the
scenery."
"So you're such a pervert that you don't care if I
shock Bailey and Daniel?"
"Daniel's a good ole boy. He's not as easy to shock as
you think. But you can't change the subject. We were
discussing how many kids you wanted. That means you
intend to marry me. It's just a question of when."
"No, we weren't. And you're wrong. It wouldn't
work. You're a nice guy, but-"
"But what?"
"You're white."
"I am?" He looked down at his tanned and freckled
arm. Buck didn't have a lot of body hair, but a sprinkling
of golden hairs caught the sunlight. "You think that's
white? It looks more pink to me, maybe toast brown."
"You know what I mean. My dad expects me to
marry a Native American."
"Ha! So you admit that he expects you to get married." He folded his arms over his chest and peered
down at her. "It isn't your father. The trouble is, you
don't know if you have the stamina for such great sex
every night."
"No, that's not it."
"It wasn't great? I thought it was. Unless you were
faking it. Were you? When you pulled that feather out
of the pillow and-"
"That was you with the feather."
"Was it?"
"Buck, enough! Stop."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll consider that a definite maybe.
How do you feel about emeralds? I was never partial to
diamond rings."
"No ring. No kids. I will not marry you."
"A long engagement, then. That's the best. See if
you're fertile."
"You son of a bitch." She smacked his bare chest.
"Can't you be serious for one minute?"
"Now, now, Abbie, those are fighting words on
Tawes. My mother was-still is-an honorable lady."
"I don't know your mother. I don't want to know
your mother. I can't marry you."
"But you want to. You're considering it. Admit it."
He winked. "And you'll love my mother. She's one of a
kind." He looked at his arm again. "Maybe I need to
consider wearing a summer uniform. I wouldn't want
to get too pale. Then you could call me a-"
She clamped a hand over his mouth. "Stop. Please."
"Will you think about it? Even a lady Indiana Jones
needs a home base."
"All right. I'll think about it. But the answer will still
be no."
He blew her a kiss. "Time will tell, lady. I'm irresistible when I put my mind to it."
Daniel brought the Grady White alongside the skiff
and tossed a line. Buck caught it and handed it to Abbie. Daniel cut the engine, and Buck used a gaff to
keep the two boats from colliding. Buck held it steady
as Bailey came out of the cabin holding a cup of coffee.
"Breakfast anyone?" Daniel offered.
"I'd love some," Buck answered. "But Abbie's not
hungry."
She climbed up on the gunwale and stepped across to the Grady White. "Push off and leave him," she said
to Daniel. "He doesn't deserve coffee or breakfast."
Bailey laughed.
Abbie could smell sausage and cinnamon rolls. "What
have you got in there?" she demanded. "A bakery?"
"They're just those frozen things, but they look
good." Bailey handed Abbie the cup. "Careful. It's hot.
Come below. I've got juice and scrambled eggs too."
After the two women entered the galley, Buck motioned to Daniel. "Any word from your contact?" he
asked in a low voice.
Daniel shook his head. "If I know Lucas, he'll wait a
few days. Try to make me sweat."
"Let me know if you hear anything."
"I will."
Buck beckoned him with a finger. Daniel stepped
over onto the smaller boat, and the two men walked
back to the stern.
"What's up?" Daniel asked.
"I just had a call from Forest. You'll never believe this."
Buck told him what McCready had said. Daniel
didn't interrupt. Buck finished by saying, "So the question is who and why?"
"The why's got to be money, but it took a lot of
nerve to try something like this. Obviously, it's someone who knows his way around the Internet."