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CHAPTER 1
Friday, June 16
There is magic in beginnings. Some beginnings come as a rite of passage, such as a graduation from college, the birth of a child, or a wedding day. Other beginnings start off more subtly, as nothing more than an ordinary moment that evolves into a crucial event that, in the end, helps define who you are and who you will become.
And then there are the beginnings that arrive on the heels of change. At times we welcome this change with joyful anticipation, while other times we fight to maintain that which we feel we've lost. Change can come in gentle waves that shepherd us into a new reality, or it can come in a tornado of destruction that tears apart everything we hold dear to our hearts.
My own new beginning occurred when I packed up two sisters, a grandpa, two very dear friends, four cats, and three dogs and traveled across the country to help an old friend of my father's renovate the oceanfront resort he'd been forced to sell. The Turtle Cove Resort, which consisted of a resident's home and twenty cabins nestled artfully on a long stretch of beach on the southeastern corner of Gull Island, had been in Garrett Hanford's family for four generations. Garrett was an only child who'd never married or had children of his own, so when his health began to fail he'd decided he had no choice other than to sell the property he was no longer capable of managing.
The problem was that the resort had fallen into disrepair, and the only buyers interested in the large slice of oceanfront land were developers who didn't care about the cabins because they planned to tear them down and build a new infrastructure from the ground up. Garrett didn't want to sell to those large corporations, so in spite of the fact that he wasn't likely to recover his investment, he'd decided to put some money into the resort and renovate the buildings prior to looking for a buyer who would maintain the integrity of the property he loved. When I learned Garrett had suffered a stroke and would need someone to oversee the renovations, I jumped at the chance to take a step away from a life that had undergone so many changes in the past few months that I no longer recognized it. What I didn't expect was that by agreeing to spend the summer on Gull Island, I would be trading one set of problems for another.
"Someone from the sheriff's office should be here in a few minutes," my best friend, Kyle Donovan, informed me as he joined me in the attic of the three-story house where the two of us, along with my two half-sisters Ashley and Gracie, my Grandpa Ben, and a dear friend, Stan Griffin, planned to live that summer.
I put my hand over my nose to help ward off the stench as I glanced at the partially decomposed body in the middle of the room. "What do you think happened to him?" Kyle's sandy blond hair had grown long over the past few months and touched his collar when he shrugged. "I'm sure the deputy who shows up will be able to tell us. It looks like he's been dead for a while."
"Two weeks at least," Stan, more commonly known as Doc, agreed. Doc was not only my grandfather, Ben Jensen's, best friend but also a retired coroner, so he knew what he was talking about. "I can't say for certain without a closer examination of the remains, but based on the fractures on the man's left temple, I'm going to say the cause of death was blunt force trauma delivered by a right-handed individual facing him." I grimaced. I didn't know exactly what I expected to find on my first day in over twenty
years at Turtle Cove Resort, but in spite of my reputation for having a nose for mysteries, I certainly didn't think I'd be thrust into a murder investigation before I'd even had a chance to unpack.
"Are you okay, Tj?" Kyle asked as Doc slipped on the latex gloves he carried in his wallet and took a closer look at the body.
"I'm fine now that my heart has stopped pounding." I looked around the dusty room.
"It's been such a long time since I was here, but everything looks exactly like I remember."
"You spent a lot of time in the attic as a kid?"
"Actually, I did."
Kyle frowned.
"It's not like it sounds." I laid my head on Kyle's shoulder as I silently gave thanks for the friend who'd not only helped me through the past couple of months, but who had willingly and enthusiastically given up his own life to follow me across the country for the summer. "Garrett didn't abuse me or anything. In fact, he was very nice to me despite the fact I was pretty horrible to him."
Kyle wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I can't imagine you being horrible to anyone."
"Believe it. It was the summer after my grandmother passed away. My dad had a conference that he had to attend in Charleston and he didn't want to leave me home alone with my grandpa since he already had his hands full running the resort. Normally my grandmother took charge of me when my dad was away, but after her passing Dad decided to bring me with him to Gull Island. I stayed with Garrett during the day while my dad went to meetings, although he did come back to the island each night. I was mad that I had to come on the trip when I really wanted to stay home, so I'm afraid I went out of my way to make everyone's life miserable. Partly by sequestering myself in the attic and refusing to participate in any of the fun Garrett had planned for me."
"I guess I see where Ashley get her angsty nature," Kyle teased.
"Very funny," I shot back, although I supposed Kyle had a point. I had behaved as badly the summer I'd spent on Gull Island as my sister Ashely had been since we'd left Paradise Lake. "Shouldn't the deputy be here by now?"
"It's hasn't been that long and it's not like this is an emergency," Kyle answered. "The man has been dead for quite some time, so a few more minutes won't matter."
"I wonder who he is."
"Buck Barnes," Doc said from behind us.
I turned and looked at Doc, who had completed his investigation and was standing over the body.
"You know him?"
"No. He had a business card in his shirt pocket."
"Business card? What sort of business was he in?"
"Treasure hunting."
Okay, that got my attention. "Treasure hunting, as in buried treasure?"
Doc shrugged. "I suppose. The card is the type printed on a computer. It simply has the man's name printed under the words 'treasure hunter.' There's a photo at the top and a small treasure chest in the corner, but that's it. The card doesn't even have a phone number or address."
"I wonder what a treasure hunter would be doing in Garrett's attic." I looked around the large room that was cluttered with discarded objects from generations past. It was obvious someone had been looking for something specific. Boxes had been upended to reveal the treasures that most likely only held value for the person who had stored them here.
"From where I'm standing, it looks like a lot of junk," Kyle said, mirroring my own thoughts. "Discarded clothing, old photo albums, an abandoned cane, various knickknacks that would only have sentimental value. I suppose there could have been something of value that was found and removed by whoever killed the treasure hunter."
I was about to respond when I heard a sound behind me. I turned to find a tall man with short dark hair dressed in a brown uniform standing in the doorway that led to the staircase. He frowned as he looked around the room, which had obviously been ransacked.
"My name is Deputy Savage. Are you Tj Jensen?"
"I am," I said.
"I see you solved the mystery of where Buck Barnes has been for the past eighteen days."
"Eighteen days? Garrett had his stroke almost six weeks ago. Any idea what Buck Barnes was doing up here when Garrett wasn't even on the island?"
Deputy Savage seemed to ignore my question as he bent down to take a closer look at the body. He pulled on gloves before carefully turning the head to one side. He must have been satisfied, or perhaps dissatisfied, by what he found, because he stood back up, tugged off his gloves, and looked directly at me. "When exactly did you arrive on the island?"
"Just a couple of hours ago. When we arrived at the Turtle Cove Resort we realized the front door had been left unlocked. Garrett had specifically told me that he'd locked the place up before he left, so we suspected there might have been a break-in. Kyle and I decided to take a look around while Doc and my grandpa helped my sisters unload the animals. When we came upstairs we found the body. Kyle asked Doc to come up and then he called you right away." The deputy looked at Doc. "You're a doctor?"
"Retired coroner."
"I see." The man turned back to me. "Where are your sisters and your grandfather now?"
"Walking the dogs."
Deputy Savage made a couple of notes on the clipboard he carried. "I'll need to verify with Garrett that you're authorized to be here, but given you have a key I'll take your word for it for the time being."
"Thank you. I have a number for the rehab facility Garrett was moved to. I can get it if you'd like."
"I'll get it before I leave. For now, I just need to see some ID."
Doc had warned us that the representative from the sheriff's office would want that, so we were all prepared, although I'd have rather walked on fire than show the photo on my driver's license to anyone. My hair appeared more red than auburn and more frizzy than curly, and rather than a welcoming smile there were lips peeled back in such a way as to provide the image of a woman who looked like she was on the verge of a very unladylike sneeze.
The deputy chuckled but didn't comment. "It says you live in Nevada?"
"I do. We all do."
"What brought you to our island?"
Now that, I realized, was a loaded question. In order to understand why I would pack up, in addition to myself, five people and seven animals and drive almost three thousand miles for a summer job that didn't really pay anything, you have to understand the upheaval my life had gone through during the past couple of months, but that, I was afraid, was a story for another day.
I looked at the deputy, who was waiting for my answer. "Garrett Hanford is a friend of my father. He needed someone to oversee the renovations he's planning for the resort, so I volunteered to stay here for the summer."
"And the others?"
"Friends and family who volunteered to help out."
"I heard Garrett was going to sell to one of those developers who've been hounding him for almost a decade. The man I spoke to told me he plans to tear everything down and start over, so why is he renovating?"
"He doesn't want to sell to the developer," I answered. "He plans to fix the place up and then look for a buyer who will leave the resort intact."
Deputy Savage raised an eyebrow before jotting something else down on his clipboard.
"Do you think that's important?" I asked.
"It might be."
"Do you care to elaborate?"
"No."
I guess I couldn't blame the guy. I wasn't a cop and I hadn't known Savage my whole life, like I knew the deputy back home. He had no reason to share what he knew with me, but I had an inquiring mind and I'd grown used to being kept in the loop, which simply meant if Savage wouldn't share, I'd have to do some snooping and figure it out for myself.
Deputy Savage walked around the room, making notes on his clipboard, while Doc, Kyle, and I stood off to the side. He asked a few additional questions as he worked, but mostly he just jotted down notes as he inspected the room. I wasn't sure what he was looking for, or whether or not he found it, but I did notice him frown just prior to the arrival of a giant bird that flew in through the open window, causing me to jump into the air as I let out a startled scream.
"Man overboard, man overboard," the bird, which I realized was a colorful parrot, repeated.
"There you are, you shifty bird," Savage growled at the newcomer. "I've had half the island looking for you."
"This is your bird?" I asked.
"Garrett's. After he had his stroke I came by to get the bird, but he managed to escape when I tried to transfer him into a carrier. I've been trying to catch the slippery impersonator ever since. He's been seen around town, but no one has been able to snag him."
"Garrett didn't mention that his bird was missing."
"He doesn't know. I figured he had enough to worry about without wondering if Blackbeard was okay. As far as Garrett knows, the bird has been staying with the local vet since he's been away." Savage looked at Kyle, who was closest to the window. "Close the window real quietlike before the sneaky beast flies back out."
Kyle did as he was asked, but I had the feeling the bird was quite happy to find people in his house. He'd perched atop the highest bookshelf and watched us as we talked.
"What did he mean by man overboard?" I wondered.
"He's a bird. I doubt he meant anything," Savage pointed out.
Deputy Savage walked across the room and knelt down next to a box which had been upended. He righted the box before picking up a discarded cane. He turned it over in his hands several times before setting it aside. He stood up, turned, and looked at me. "Garrett kept treats for Blackbeard in the storage area beneath the cage in the sunroom. Why don't you take the bird downstairs and get him settled? Just be sure the door is closed. I don't want him getting out again." Savage looked toward where Kyle and Doc were standing. "I need to look around a bit, if you don't mind waiting for me downstairs as well."
The three of us, along with Blackbeard, headed downstairs to wait. When Blackbeard saw his cage, he flew in through the open door and settled on his perch.
"Close the door, close the door."
I did as Blackbeard instructed. It appeared he was happy to be home. I gave the colorful bird one of the cookies the deputy had told me about and turned back toward Kyle, who was grinning at the turn of events.
"Looks like we can add a bird to our menagerie."
"Looks like," I agreed. "We'll have to keep an eye on the cats. As long as Blackbeard is in the cage he should be safe, but we'll need to watch him if we let him out. It sounds like there's a car in the drive."
Kyle and I returned to the front of the house, where Doc was speaking to a man who identified himself as working for the local mortuary. Doc showed him to the stairway that led to the attic and then rejoined Kyle and me.
Once Buck's body had been removed and Deputy Savage had gone, my entourage and I set to making our temporary house into a home while avoiding the attic completely. Doc, Kyle, and Grandpa began to unload the moving van we'd hired while my sisters, Ashley and Gracie, each picked out a bedroom. I decided it was best to call Garrett to let him know what was going on before he heard about it from anyone else.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the air temperature hovered in the mid-eighties. I grabbed a diet soda from the ice chest we'd used for the trip east and headed out onto the deck behind the house, which overlooked a sandy beach and the deep blue sea. As I dialed the phone I braced myself for Garrett's reaction. I expected him to be saddened by what had occurred, but instead of grief, the emotion I picked up on was anger.
"Dammit. I told Buck that his incessant hunt for the treasure was going to get him killed. The man had a head as thick as his waistline."
"Treasure?"
"Barkley's Treasure. Remember, I told you about it when you visited that summer."
I thought back to my time on the island and tried to remember what Garrett and I had talked about. "The man in the café in town," I remembered. "He interrupted our lunch to ask you about a map. I wondered what map and you told me a story about a pirate and his treasure. I thought the story was a fairytale. It was real?"
"My dad seemed to think it was real, but there are others who agree with the fairytale theory. The legend of Barkley's treasure has been around for more than a century, and while many have searched for it, as far as I know, no one has found it, but that doesn't mean it isn't real."
"So you think Buck was in your attic looking for treasure?"
"I think he was in the attic looking for a map. Chances are he shot off his mouth about the dang thing and someone followed him to the house."
"So there actually is a map hidden in your attic?"
"Not anymore. My mother destroyed it after my dad died."
"Why would your mom destroy a map that was supposed to lead to a treasure?"
"She blamed the map for both my grandfather's and my father's deaths. Some think that she acted rashly, but I don't blame her for doing what she did. I've seen what greed can do to a person. I tried to tell Buck that the map was long gone, but he thought I was holding out on him."
"So there's no map to find."
"'Fraid not."
I realized something wasn't adding up. I thought the resort had been in Garrett's family for four generations, but based on what he'd just told me it didn't sound like the men from whom he'd descended had devoted much time to building and running a resort. "If your grandfather and father were treasure hunters, who did you inherit the resort from?"
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Treasure in Paradise"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Kathi Daley.
Excerpted by permission of Henery Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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