Chapter One A Grand Opening / Breaking and Entering
Chapter One
A Grand Opening / Breaking and Entering
Present Day: Memorial Day Weekend
A crowd of over a hundred onlookers, reporters from the local newspaper, and friends gathered along the dock.
Madison held a large pair of shears, and Lincoln’s hand was on a rope.
The group began to cheer with a countdown: “Five, four, three, two, one!” In unison, Madison cut the ribbon as Lincoln unveiled the new white sign with a steel-blue frame.
In the center was a modern, nautical logo, designed by Madison, announcing KIRBY’S MARINA.
As the spectators expressed their delight with whistles, hoots, and a muffled air horn, Charlie, Hannah, and Crusty tossed marina-logo baseball caps to the enthusiastic crowd.
“You gotta buy the next one!” Charlie shouted, with the biggest smile he could remember having.
Madison, Lincoln, Olivia, and Giada hugged almost everyone in the crowd.
Everyone except Viggo, who stood to the side with his arms folded.
He, too, had one of the biggest smiles he could remember.
He assured himself that he would get his hug at some point. He hoped.
The next night was the awards ceremony. The party was in full swing, with local musician Bobby Bandiera rousing the crowd.
Madison could not remember the last time she felt this happy.
She was truly part of this community. But her delight faltered when Detective Burton approached with a serious look on his face.
Lincoln noticed, too, and walked over to his sister.
“I have some bad news,” Burton said to the siblings.
“What is it?” Madison asked with great concern.
“The shed was robbed,” Burton announced.
“Robbed?” Lincoln looked incredulous. “What on earth could they take?”
Burton looked over his shoulder. Madison followed his gaze and saw Josh Hanover, the teenager who worked part-time at the marina. He was visibly shaken.
“Josh, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Madison asked, unnerved.
“I left my jacket there yesterday and went back to get it. That’s when I noticed the door was off its hinges. When I went inside, the first thing I saw was the empty space on the wall.”
“Empty space?” Lincoln was puzzled. “Wait, do you mean the map? Why would anyone steal that?”
Madison was confused, too. “Was anything else taken?”
Burton stepped forward. “I hate to pull you away from the reception, but I suggest we walk over and see if anything is missing.”
Madison took a deep breath. “Yes. Of course.”
Viggo had joined them when he first saw the look of concern on Madison’s face. He touched her arm. “I’ll go with you.”
From across the room, Hannah saw the commotion and came rushing over. “What’s going on?” she asked, out of breath.
Madison filled her in quickly. “We know they took the map that was hanging in the entrance, but we’re heading over there now to check what else they took.”
“Well, we’re going with you,” Hannah declared, looking around for her husband. She saw Charlie across the room, chatting with a few of his pals. She began to flap her arms and call out his name.
When Charlie noticed, he excused himself from the conversation and rushed to his wife. Hannah breathlessly gave him what little details she had.
“Someone stole the map! We’re going to the boat house now.”
“The what?” Charlie asked with a look of confusion on his face.
“The map!” Hannah slapped him on the arm.
“Oh, geez,” Charlie grumbled.
Burton motioned for them to walk with him to the dock, which was a few blocks away.
“I’m having trouble separating facts from folklore.” Madison sighed.
“You’re not alone. This area is a gold mine of stories and tales, especially when it comes to treasure,” Rob Burton responded.
“I grew up in Smuggler’s Cove and have heard everything, from giant water snake monsters devouring local clammers, to hidden treasures somewhere along the shore.
Then there were the shipwrecks off the coast that bred many tall tales. I’ve heard a multitude of iterations.”
Madison had to chuckle. “I am sure you have. And it seems like Uncle Kirby believed some of these tales, too.”
“Burton nodded. “Legend has it that both Captain Kidd and Blackbeard buried their treasures in various areas along the Jersey Shore’s inland waterways. The locations of these riches remain a mystery, and an obsession with many fortune seekers.”
“So, you think someone thought that map was real and would lead them to a hidden treasure?” Madison asked.
“Could be.”
As they neared the marina, Madison looked in the direction of the newly remodeled fishing shack that now served as a permanent food truck for Hannah’s clam rolls, and a small rental office for clamming and crabbing boats.
It would hopefully also serve as a gathering place where folks could come and trade fish tales and community news.
For the second time in a couple of months, the boat house was the site of a crime scene.
Her so-called inheritance from her uncle seemed to be rife with issues.
Madison was an inch from her initial desire to get rid of it.
She quieted her racing thoughts and focused on the friendships she developed.
They were certainly worth every ounce of aggravation the family project claimed. But now this? Another bad situation?
As they approached the dock, Madison recalled her first visit to the marina.
She had been wearing her usual white attire and white patent-leather stilettos.
The creosote planks were unforgiving, with just enough space between the gaps to pull on her 800-dollar shoes.
She went face-first into a mess of chum, clamshells, and other unidentifiable slime.
The white off-the-shoulder cocktail dress she was wearing now was even more inappropriate, but at least she was wise enough to remove her Louboutins.
They dangled from her fingers as she made her way barefoot down the dock.
With her free hand, she linked arms with the still-shaken Hannah.
Josh’s account was correct. The door had been jimmied and hung askew on its hinges. Burton stepped inside first, then gestured that it was safe to enter.
Nothing looked out of place, except for the blank wall where the old treasure map Madison had reframed once hung. She folded her arms. “Seriously? That old map?”
Burton shrugged. “As I said, lots of lore. There are dozens of rumors; there’s more than a handful of people who believe they’re true.”
She walked over to the cash drawer. “But they didn’t take any money. There’s at least two hundred dollars here.”
“Apparently they got what they came for.” Burton nodded to the empty wall.
“Do you really think that map was worth anything?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“They think it will lead them to something worth something,” Burton said dryly.
Madison shook her head. “A treasure? Really?” she asked.
Burton shrugged. “Like I said, legends and lore.”
Crusty stood outside on the dock and stared in disbelief. His eyes were watering, and he pulled his brand-new baseball cap down to cover them. Even the embroidered lettering that spelled out KIRBY’S seemed to frown. He made his way inside and began to apologize. “I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Madison placed her hand on his trembling, bony shoulder.
“I shoulda stayed around and kept an eye on the place,” he mumbled.
“No one expected you to,” Madison said kindly. “The place was locked up.”
“I shoulda known them scavengers would be back,” he hissed through the gap between his front teeth. “You gonna go after ’em, Chief?” Crusty insisted on referring to Burton as Chief, since the town was without one. Everyone believed it was only a matter of time before Burton got the promotion.
“I’ll get Viggo to check the CCTV to see who’s been in and out of the inlet.”
“They prob’ly went downriver.”
“We can ask some of the waterfront restaurants if they have any footage from their cameras,” Viggo responded.
Burton turned to Madison. “How much do you think the map is worth?”
She couldn’t help but let out a guffaw. “I suppose it depends on where it leads. But according to the historian at the Twin Lights museum, it isn’t worth any money itself. Just another old piece of parchment with a rudimentary drawing of the shoreline. He said it wasn’t to scale or accurate.”
“I’m telling ya, it’s them Farrell boys,” Crusty spat. He was referring to the surviving brothers of the dead body found tangled in the ropes under the dock a few months earlier.
“Do they have real jobs?” Madison asked curiously.
“If you can call petty larceny a job, I suppose so,” Burton said with a grunt.
“They have a salvage and diving business, but word around town is that the company is in financial trouble and they haven’t turned a profit in years.
Dennis, the oldest, is dead, and the bank’s been breathing down Mikey’s neck.
Maybe they’re looking for a windfall but it seems unlikely. ”
Madison stood silently. Should she put a claim into her insurance company? For what amount? The cost of hinges? A framed what? Pretend treasure map? No. She decided to suck it up, get the door fixed, and move on. But where? Pack it up after the summer and head back to the city?
For the past few weeks, she had spent time musing about her life.
She wasn’t sure of the exact moment, but at some point, she began to embrace the simple, easygoing lifestyle of Smuggler’s Cove.
Her appreciation for the scenery, and the connection with down-to-earth people, began chipping away at her hard shell.
Madison was comfortable here. A charming captain added to the magic of the coastal surroundings, and Madison discovered she had been reinventing herself once again. This time, it was voluntary. Not mandatory.
But now, another slap of reality: someone had invaded her sense of feeling grounded. Perhaps that was the riddle she had been wrestling with: could one truly be grounded on the Navesink River?