Heavenly Honeymoon (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 15) (11 page)

“I’m happy to help support the cause. I think a shelter is a wonderful idea. And the food you’ve all provided. Let’s just say that it’s the best I’ve had.”

Jimbo smiled. “Thank you. We try.”

“Is Malik a chef as well?” I asked, hoping Jimbo wouldn’t find my question odd.

“No. Malik teaches scuba to the resort guests.”

“I’d love to learn to dive,” I commented, even though I was already a certified diver. Asking about a class would give me a good excuse to track the man down to speak to him. “Do you happen to have his contact information handy?”

Jimbo jotted a phone number down on a napkin. “You can usually reach him here. He has had some kind of project that he has been working on lately, so if he doesn’t pick up go ahead and call him again. He is horrible about returning messages.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll give him a call tomorrow.”

I returned to Zak with the food, taking the long way around  so I could pass close to where I’d last seen Toad and Candy to check on the couple. They were both seated on the blanket Candy had brought and seemed to be enjoying a humorous conversation, based on the smiles on both their faces.

Chalk one up for new love.

“What’s all that?” Zak asked when I set the box of sweets down on the blanket. I have to confess I ate the shrimp kabob I’d meant to bring back for Zak as I was walking back from the dessert tent.

“A bunch of delicious-looking cakes and cookies. I spoke to Jimbo.”

I explained about Malik and my plan to speak to him about scuba lessons.

“If you’re going to take scuba lessons from this man I’m going with you,” Zak insisted.

“I wasn’t necessarily going to take lessons, I just figured calling about them would be a good excuse to talk to him.”

“Either way, I’m going. If this man did kill Ricardo, I don’t want you alone with him.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll leave him a message that we’re both interested in lessons. Maybe we can try to meet him tomorrow afternoon. I need to bring doughnuts to Toad, and I promised Alex I’d hike up to the old chapel with her in the morning.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I told Scooter we could go surfing if the storm holds off for another day. Let’s try to meet back at the house at around one.”

Zak and I settled in as the movie started. I tried to focus on the story on the screen, but all I could think about were the clues rambling around in my brain. Park had said he’d found out about the salvage operation from the man who taught him to dive. Jimbo had just told me his cousin taught scuba to resort guests. The man I’d seen in the hallway had to have been Malik. The odds of there being three people on the island who looked like the man in the hallway was too huge even to consider.

I was trying to figure out what that might mean when I saw movement in the corner of my eye.

“I’m going to run to get another one of those shrimp kabobs,” I whispered to Zak. “Do you want to try one?”

“Yeah, okay. Bring back a couple. Do you need some money?”

“I have some. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

I got up and headed toward the edge of the crowd, where I had seen a man who I was pretty sure was Malik pass by. It took me a few minutes to pick up his trail, but eventually I saw him heading away from the beach, where almost everyone in town was gathered, and into the dense foliage of the interior. I knew it was going to be impossible to follow him through the darkness and was preparing to turn around to head back to Zak when I saw another figure step out from behind a clump of bushes. As I watched the pair greet each other, I suddenly realized there was another suspect to consider.

The next morning Alex and I headed up the narrow, rocky path that promised to take us from the beach to the top of the bluff where the chapel looked out over the sea. I had Charlie on a leash to ensure that he wouldn’t take off chasing any of the wildlife that populated the island as we wound our way up the side of the cliff. There were a few clouds in the distance, but the sky overhead was clear. It seemed the rumors of a storm were wrong; it looked like it was going to be another glorious day.

“I think we may have underestimated the time it would take to get to the top,” Alex commented when we were halfway up the steep, narrow path. “Maybe we shouldn’t have told Zak we’d be home by one.”

“The downhill trip will be quicker. I’m sure we’ll be fine. If it starts to get to be too late we can call Zak to let him know we got hung up. It certainly is beautiful up here.” I stopped to look out over the endless expanse of water. There were hundreds of seagulls circling overhead as they searched for their morning meal. The sea looked calm from our vantage point, but I knew that the section of shore we towered over was home to some of the largest waves on the island.

“What exactly did you learn about the church?” I asked as we both took a moment to enjoy the view.

“There were English settlers on the island in the eighteenth century. They didn’t stay long—only a few decades, as far as the man who wrote the book could tell—but while they were here they built a few permanent structures, including the chapel.”

“Why did they stay for such a short time?” I wondered as we continued up the trail.

“The English came to the island originally as survivors of a shipwreck. The natives who were here had boats, but nothing that would carry many people over a long distance, so the survivors settled in to wait for rescue. They lived here with the natives for fifty years or so until a hurricane wiped out all the island’s inhabitants. There’s a legend that a young couple hid in the church basement during the storm. They were the only survivors. When the hurricane was over they emerged and looked out over the calm sea. They thanked God for keeping them safe and promised to have many children to repopulate the island.”

“I guess that’s romantic in a depressing kind of way. What happened to the couple? Did they stay and repopulate the island?”

“The author of the book indicated that the tale of the two survivors was really more of a myth than the truth, but it’s a nice story and it seems the population did grow, and the island was repopulated. Oh, wow.”

We had just rounded a corner to reveal the fact that we’d made it to the top. It was breathtaking. Other than a graveyard and a small building that must be the chapel, the top of the bluff was totally clear. You could see for miles in every direction.

“Should we check out the chapel?” I asked. “It looks like the door is open.”

“Yes, let’s.” Alex smiled.

“Hello,” I called as we stepped inside the small structure. The building contained several rows of wooden pews, as well as a simple pulpit at the front of the room. There were no windows, but there was one overhead lamp that provided adequate light.

A robed man with a friendly face and a huge smile poked his head out from around a curtain that sectioned off one part of the building from the other. “Are you here for the service?”

“Service?” I asked.

“I hold a service here every Sunday,” the man answered. “Oftentimes it is just me and Scout, but there are times when a few brave souls will make the hike to join me.”

I looked at the small black dog that stood next to the man, who must have been in his sixties at least.

I looked at Alex. She nodded.

“Yes, I guess we are here for the service. Is it okay if Charlie stays?”

The man looked at Charlie. “Absolutely. Dogs bring the best energy. Scout and I discussed holding the service outside, if that is acceptable to you. It is such a beautiful morning.”

“Outside would be great.” I smiled. “You hold the service even when no one’s here?”

“I do it for them.” He nodded toward the well-kept cemetery. “All of these graves are over a hundred years old. Few bother to make the trip up the cliff to visit, so Scout and I make certain all the souls buried here have company at least once a week.”

“That’s really nice,” Alex commented.

“If you will follow me this way, we will begin.”

Alex and I followed the man back out into the sunshine.

“It really is a beautiful day,” I commented.

“For now.”

The short man seemed to have a well-rehearsed ritual, so Alex and I simply stood where he indicated we should and responded when asked to. We stood quietly and listened the rest of the time. Luckily, the service wasn’t more than thirty minutes long, so we had time to ask a few questions before we needed to head back.

“I’d like to learn more about the history of the chapel,” Alex said after the man indicated that the service was over. “It really is fascinating that it’s the only structure on the island to have survived the big hurricane that wiped everything else out.”

“The chapel was built on sacred ground. It is protected from the elements.”

“Sacred ground?” I asked.

The man smiled at me but did not respond.

“Can you tell us anything else about the chapel?” Alex asked.

“I really must get back down the hill,” the man responded. “You are welcome to have a look at the archives if you’d like. I’m sure you can find your answers there.”

“Archives?” I inquired.

“They are in the basement. Come, I will show you.”

The man showed us to an exterior door at the bottom of a set of steps situated below the foundation of the church. I opened the door and we stepped inside. It was cold and damp inside the underground room, which contained boxes filled with books and files. I looked around. There were a lot of boxes and all of them were covered with dust.

“There is a storm coming, so be sure to lock up when you leave.”

I turned to ask the man for more specific instructions but he was gone. “That’s odd. Did you see where he went?”

“No.” Alex shook her head.

I shrugged.

“What do you think all this stuff is?” I asked as I picked up a dusty old book that was written in Spanish.

“I don’t know. This stuff is really old. It looks like the documents date back to the time before the hurricane.”

Alex picked up a book and opened the cover. She began thumbing through the yellow pages. “This book contains a history of all the ships that were lost in the area between fifteen hundred and eighteen fifty. I had no idea there were so many.”

“I guess a lot of European settlers made the trip after the Americas were discovered, and I’m sure a good percentage of those were blown off course and ended up here. Are there any ships listed from 1764?” I asked.

“The boats are listed by half century rather than date, but there are several listed between 1750 and 1800.”

I tried to remember the name of the ship Park hoped to salvage. “Does it list the names of the ships?” I asked.

“Yes, in most cases. Are you looking for something specific?”

“
The Carolina
.”

Alex flipped through a few pages. “Here it is.” Alex began reading. “It was an English ship carrying a dowry. Why do you ask?”

“Someone told me the wreck had been found and that they planned to salvage it.”

Alex smiled. “I guess it would be fun to read about it. Can we stay for a while to see what we can find?”

I hesitated. The trip down the narrow path would be a lot quicker than the one up, but the man we’d met, whose name we hadn’t learned, had warned of the storm despite the abundant sunshine.

“For a little while, but we should keep an eye on the weather. It’s sunny now, but I imagine these storms can blow in pretty fast.”

Alex looked like a kid in a candy shop as she settled in with a stack of dusty old books. I wondered if Zak and I were doing the right thing to even consider moving her to Ashton Falls to be educated by a group of senior citizens. Granted, the seniors in question were all very intelligent and well-educated, and Alex really was exceptional. But she was only ten, and a stable home life was probably as important as anything for her healthy development into adulthood.

Alex was completely entranced, so I picked up a book and began to read about the various ships that had been reported lost in the area. Based on the number of ships that fell to either pirates or storms, I don’t think I would have wanted to set out across the ocean during that particular period in history. On the other hand, I supposed every period in time had its own inherent dangers.

“What was that?” Alex said quite a bit later. I’d become engrossed in the story of a ship that sank in the area hundreds of years ago and had completely lost track of time.

“I don’t know.” I set the book down. “It sounded like something hitting the side of the building. Stay here while I check it out.”

I opened the door and was greeted by a wall of wind and rain. The storm had arrived and we hadn’t even been aware of it.

“That was the wind blowing something against the side of the building. I’m afraid the storm snuck up on us. We’d better wait here until it passes,” I explained.

Alex looked concerned. “Do you think we’ll be okay?”

I made sure the door was shut tight, then sat down next to Alex. She was shaking like a leaf. She seemed to take most things in stride so I was surprised by her fear.

“Of course we’ll be fine.” I pulled her into my arms. “Didn’t you say this building survived that big hurricane?”

“Yeah. I did say that.”

“And this is just a little rain by comparison. Besides, the room we’re in is below ground level, making it extrasafe, and the man we met assured us the church is built on sacred ground and therefore protected.”

There was another loud bang as the wind blew another large object into the wall of the church facing the ocean. I had to admit it sounded like the building was going to come down on top of us.

Alex scooted closer as the wind whistled through a small crack in the wood surrounding the doorway.

“I should call Zak to let him know we’re okay,” I suggested. “He’s probably worried that the storm hit while we were hiking back.”

“Okay.” Alex scooted away slightly to give me room to dial.

The phone was dead. “I guess the storm has knocked out the signal.”

Alex began to shiver, even though it was balmy and not at all cold.

“Did you find more information about
The Carolina
?” I asked in an attempt to divert her attention from the sounds outside.

“Some.” Alex looked around nervously.

“It would be fun to find a treasure like that,” I commented.

Alex jumped. “Did you hear that? It sounded like the roof came off.”

“I don’t think it was the roof.”

Alex looked white.

“I bet the locals who found
The Carolina
are excited to see what they can pull off her,” I said, once again trying to distract her from the storm.

Alex let out the breath she had been holding and looked at me. “I don’t think they’ll find anything.
The Carolina
was found and salvaged over a hundred years ago. I’m afraid the men who think they found the treasure will be disappointed.”

“Yes, I guess they will. That’s really too bad. It seems like they went to a lot of trouble to attract investors to pay for the salvage operation.”

“It seems like they should have researched the history before they began,” Alex reasoned. “The information was right there in the book. I’m sure it can be found in other archives as well.”

“It does seem they should have researched the matter.”

Alex screamed as the entire building shook. The wind really was getting bad. I put my arm around Alex and pulled her close. “It’s okay,” I assured her.

I stroked her hair as she trembled in my arms.

“Have you always been afraid of storms?” I asked.

“Not always. When I was in the first grade there was a bad storm that destroyed part of the boarding school I was going to at the time. It was Christmas and most of the other girls were gone for the holiday. Part of the roof blew in and trapped me. I called for help, but no one came for hours. I was scared and alone. I’ve hated storms ever since.”

“Oh, honey.” I hugged her even tighter. “I’m so sorry. That never should have happened to you.”

Alex didn’t say anything, but I could feel her terror.

“How would you like to come to live with Zak and me this school year?”

I realized I might be premature in asking, but I hoped the conversation would distract her.

Alex pulled away slightly. She looked me in the eye. “Really?”

“We’ll need to get your parents’ permission first, but yeah, if they agree. Zak is going to arrange for you to attend the middle school in Ashton Falls for part of the day and then Phyllis and some of the others have agreed to homeschool you in the afternoons to fill in the gaps.”