Chapter 12 #2
Grant was standing over her. “Getting close to being on the ground,” he told her. “And it’s about six a.m. in Florida. Would you like breakfast again, or dinner?”
She groaned softly and told him, “We have time to eat?”
“Miles Corey was just back here. Don’t worry; he had Jerry at the helm. He wanted to let us know that we’re about forty-five minutes out. When we land, Zach and Skye will be at the airport. We can head straight out to the beach house where our victim was found.”
“Wow. Breakfast or dinner. I’m not at all sure. Hmm. What are you having?”
“Omelet,” he told her. “Cheese and veggies, side of bacon and croissants. Of course, you could have croissants with dinner, too. Our microwave dinner offering is turkey with stuffing, potatoes—”
“I guess I’ll do breakfast, too,” she told him. “Get it all back on the time zone we’re in.”
“Got it! Oh, Miles has brewed coffee already. I’ll pop our food in the microwave and bring you a cup.”
She smiled at him. “That would be nice,” she assured him.
“By the way, Angela has let us know she’s made her way into a site on the dark web. They’re trying to trace it now—bounces all around the world, of course. But maybe, by the time we get down on the ground or finish out at Jonathan Trent’s beach house, they’ll have come up with something.”
“Maybe. One can hope.”
By the time she’d dragged herself to a sitting position, he’d gotten her a cup of coffee. She thanked him and hurriedly stood and walked to the table. “What can I do?”
“Grab some utensils!” he told her. “Oh, and the croissants—”
“Are in the bread box. Got ’em.”
In another minute, their microwaved meals were out, and they were set up at the table. Sleep had been good.
And breakfast was good. Even if it was her second breakfast in a row.
“You really think that St. Augustine is the ‘ancient city’ where the great mortal is receiving all her messages from the gods?” he asked.
“The curses on the tablets have been in English,” she reminded him. “Right?”
He nodded.
“And,” she told him, “I believe someone might have paid to get rid of Vincenzo Mero and George Maynard. Of course, Antonio Martinelli is dead because they apparently decided they needed a scapegoat. But once we started finding the curse tablets, they realized the law might be on to them anyway. Then, whoever is collecting the money and getting their crazy believers to do the deeds for him or her realized that you and I might be more trouble than they wanted—and killing law enforcement is something they’ve decided to do themselves for free. ”
“Quite possibly,” he agreed. “How’s your omelet?”
“A little better than filling.”
Grant laughed. “Well, plane food. And we left the land where food is famous.”
“I’m sure we’ll find something decent somewhere for dinner. Maybe we’ll eat back in St. Augustine at Brendan Cosby’s diner. I still think someone close to George Maynard had to be in on all this. Maybe someone who pretended to like him but in truth hated all that he stood for.”
“We have a zillion possibilities.”
“Yes, but because a man attacked us in Italy, we came up with some answers over there.”
“So, we need to get attacked again?” she asked.
“Nope. Now we need to get ahead of the game.”
Jerry popped his head in around the cockpit door. “Hey, folks, wanted to let you know. Seat belts on in ten minutes.”
“Great, Jerry, thanks. Time to pick up and strap in,” Grant told him.
Jerry laughed. “Thank you, guys! You’re very well-behaved passengers.”
“Oh? Are some in the group a pain in the butt?” Shelly asked.
“Nope. That’s why this is such a great gig!” Jerry told him. “See you on the ground!”
They cleaned up their breakfast utensils, both silent in thought.
Shelly headed back for the first row of seats, and Grant joined her, then set his hand on hers again where she rested it on the divider.
“Afraid of flying?” she teased.
“In this plane with you, Miles, and Jerry? May be the safest I feel anywhere!”
“Nice. Because on the ground …”
“We’ll be looking over our shoulders. But we won’t be alone. Zach, Skye, Perry, and all the force of some of the best possible law enforcement—local police, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Bureau itself—will be with us.”
“And we can hope that, among the idiots these people seem able to recruit, none has decent aim!”
“Yeah, we can hope for that, too,” Grant said. “And we are heading down to the ground now. I can see JAX out the window.”
They were on the ground in a matter of minutes. And since they were the only people on the plane beside Miles and Jerry, it was a matter of seconds to get their roller bags and head out. And as they walked to the front and out to the sunshine, they saw Zach and Skye waiting for them.
“Welcome home; we’re right out on the curb,” Zach told them, pointing to the car.
“Grant, you’re welcome to the front seat. It may be better ’cause you guys definitely have really long legs,” Skye said.
Grant grinned and noted that he and Zach were about the same height, close to six four.
He nodded and told her, “Take your seat in front. I know the area, but you two have already been to the beach house, so Zach can do the driving. That’s the great thing about these company SUVs—plenty of leg room in front and in back. ”
“We’re fine wherever!” Shelly assured her. “But I guess we should get right out there. But you two did look—”
“Of course, we did. We’ve spent time at the hospital, making sure Ainsley is doing all right. They have said that George is doing well, and they may start taking him off the coma meds today. But we’ve also hung around at Brendan Cosby’s place and with this woman, George’s closest neighbor, and …”
“And as of yet, we have little,” Zach said, shaking his head, not pleased. “And we’ve tried all of our … well, you know, our way of trying things.”
“Well, if there’s a chance we do find a curse tablet, Zach, if your hands are on it, we may get something,” Grant said.
Just as she could sometimes summon the dead, Shelly thought, Zach had a special touch, something that could tell him things.
“We will keep trying,” Zach said.
“I ‘saw’ a slaughter in the bay, a ton of death, men and women in the tribes who were here when the Spanish first came, but I’ve been frustrated when it comes to the recent past,” Skye told them. “I admit to being very frustrated.”
“We’re all frustrated. We can hope for more and keep reevaluating what we have. The thing is, we’ve got to break whatever is happening online. Because from everything we do know, his is …” Grant began.
“Something like a cult,” Shelly murmured.
“I guess. People are talked into believing in ancient gods and goddesses and into believing that if the gods accept the prayers, incantations, poems, or whatever, the person who is cursed deserves to die,” Grant said.
“Two-pronged. Those who want to buy a curse, and those poor idiots who are cajoled or threatened into believing that they need to obey a master, according to the man in custody—” Shelly began.
“The one who tried to kill you—and cursed you,” Skye suggested.
Shelly glanced at Grant. He’d been doing most of the reporting to Jackson and Angela and apparently the duo here, too.
“Yeah. That idiot,” she said. “He’s … really crazy! But …”
“But there’s a woman out there controlling things, or acting as the voice of whoever is controlling it all,” Grant said.
“Oh, we’ve also headed into the forensics department,” Shelly said.
“There’s a fellow there, Alan Barker, and he’s trying everything known to man in that department, looking for epithelia, fingerprints, evaluating the writing on the tablets …
you know, of course, I know you know that the writing is always in English.
“Which brings us back here. Another ‘ancient city,’” Shelly said.
“Well, almost here. But I personally think Jacksonville Beach is beautiful,” Zach said. “Jacksonville itself … well, it’s a big city. To me, St. Augustine has a lot more charm. But the beach out here has stunning mansions, some on the water, some just in—”
“We’re heading to a stunning mansion?” Shelly asked. “I got the idea—”
“We are going to a place that is more of a little beach shack, a little north of the incredible mansions in an area that is still largely grassland to the water. The house is rustic, a wooden structure, but a good one. I believe it’s survived its share of weather and done so well.
Two bedrooms, living area with a dining table, and a kitchen. ”
“There are still a few plots of land where there are no condos or mansions,” Grant said dryly. “I know the area. You’ve got the bay and the ocean. And like a lot of places in the state, it just grows and grows.”
It was true that while Jacksonville and St. Augustine weren’t far apart, Jacksonville definitely had more of the big city feel, Shelly thought as they drove.
And when they reached the coast and the bay, she saw many of the mansions to which they’d been referring, beautiful places almost on the water.
But they kept going. And she saw expanses of trees and grass, and soon they were moving down a dirt and gravel trail that led toward a small wooden structure.
The plants around the little house were wild and tangled with one another.
There were no concrete steps to the front door, just a patch of dirt and gravel as if it was the end of the road.
Well, it was the end of that little road.
“We’re here. Of course, the remains of the body are long gone,” Zach said.
“You have a key?”
“Don’t need a key. There’s no lock on the door,” Skye told them.
Zach parked, and they got out of the car, staring at the structure. “Well, hmm, if I was going to leave a curse tablet somewhere …” Shelly murmured.
“We’ve really searched the front of the place. And there are no steps where it might have been left, but …”
“The first one I found—the one at George Maynard’s—wasn’t lead at all, it was a stone,” Shelly murmured. “They can be extremely small and hidden against tree trunks, in flower beds, almost anywhere.”