Bone Island 03 - Ghost Moon (16 page)

The service finished. She went to throw a rose on the grave, and others followed suit. Cutter Merlin’s coffin was carried into the mausoleum by representatives from the funeral home, Liam, David, Ted and Jonas.

The grave would be sealed later. People she knew, and people she didn’t know, came by to squeeze her hand and remark that Cutter had been an extraordinary human being. Jamie O’Hara was there, assuring his nephew and niece to take their time; he had others working, as they’d arranged for a good Irish sendoff for Cutter at O’Hara’s, a celebration of the life he had lived.

Alice and Esther Beckett came to her, supported by David and Liam.

“Oh, child! It was a wonderful service,” Alice said.

“Nonsense, my dear,” Esther told her. “Cutter was a blessed man, living all those years, and really living while he could. Too many old geezers—ah, well, hmm,
like Alice and myself!—have given up on adventure. You be proud of Cutter, and all that he did!”

“I am very proud,” Kelsey assured them.

“And you come see us, dear, promise?” Esther asked.

Alice took her hands. “Oh, Kelsey, dear! You are just beautiful, even more beautiful than your sainted mother, may she rest in peace. Thank God you’ve come home to us. Liam, didn’t I tell you once? I knew that Kelsey would come home to us. Remember, dear, we must never live for the past. Only for the present, and a bit for the future.”

Esther grinned wickedly. “Right now, I’m believing in the present. At my age, dear, one doesn’t count on a future.”

“Oh, Esther, we all pray you’ll be with us much, much longer!” Liam said.

She smacked him sharply on the arm. “A few good years, my boy. Then you’ll gracefully let me go. Now, you two young people come to see us, you hear? Where is my dear Betsy? She’ll see us home.”

Betsy was the woman working for them. She was young, kind, had glossy dark skin and spoke with a beautiful and melodic Bahamian accent. She gave Kelsey condolences and led her charges away, Liam assisting them over the ground of the cemetery.

More people came to offer their sympathy and welcome, Joe Richter among them. He frowned, taking her hands. “Kelsey, I’ve heard about that guitarist fellow being found dead on the property. You might want to
stay somewhere else while… Well, I just don’t know how safe that house is, young lady!”

“Why?” she asked him.

“Well—the fellow was dead, Kelsey!”

“I don’t know if I ever knew him, Mr. Richter. I doubt if it had anything to do with the house or me, really.”

He shook his head, unhappy. “It’s a strange place, Kelsey.”

She found herself remembering that he had said he hadn’t seen her grandfather in months while his secretary had said that he’d been out recently. She made a mental note to mention the fact to Liam.

It was right after Jamie O’Hara stopped by to give his condolences and kiss her cheek that she noticed Katie, David, Sean, Liam and Vanessa standing over by the Beckett mausoleum. They all seemed to be in the midst of a strange conversation, talking and yet not seeming to be looking at one another. It was bizarre, and she wanted to walk over, but others kept coming by, and she couldn’t be rude enough to ignore what seemed to be sincere sympathy.

Liam looked up, as if he knew she was watching him. He smiled and waved.

But they all looked so odd. As if they were talking to air.

It was a cemetery. Maybe they were talking to ghosts.

She thanked a stranger for his kind words and made her escape. But before she got across the cemetery to see them, she heard her name being called.

“Kelsey, Kelsey, my poor, dear girl!”

She turned around, stunned to see her partner, Avery Slater, tall, handsome, muscled and as well-dressed as ever, racing across the cemetery to her.

“Avery!” she managed.

He reached her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He drew back, studying her face. “My poor, poor, Kelsey. I’m sorry I’m late. But I’m here now. And I’ll stand by you. Everything is going to be all right, my love. He passed in the right time. He had a long life.”

“Avery. You’re here,” she said.

“Well, of course, I’m here. You’re my partner,” he said.

Kelsey noticed the group over by the Beckett mausoleum. They were all staring at her, and it looked as if they had received a group Botox injection, they appeared so surprised.

“Come on, you need to meet some of my old friends,” she told him. She remembered to hug him, then reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you. What you did was so sweet, so kind. But I’m really all right. Really, I’m all right. I do have friends here, Avery. Really good friends.”

“No!” he said, his dark eyes flashing. “I was by the Merlin house…your house. I saw all the crime tape. You may have friends, but now I’m here. The police wouldn’t let me near the property. They said a man was found dead on your beach today.”

“Yes, but…we don’t know what happened.”

“That house may be cursed!” he said.

“Avery, I don’t believe in houses being cursed.”

Liam reached them. He didn’t appear as stunned; he was still frowning, and obviously confused. He was followed by their entire contingent.

“You have a posse?” Avery whispered.

She began introductions. The group were wonderfully accepting and friendly—and obviously beyond curious and in awe. Well, Avery was beautiful. Simply beautiful, and because he was so perfectly sculpted, he looked rough and tough and rugged. There was no way she was going to make the announcement that she wasn’t sleeping with him to everyone close to her, that Avery was a dear friend and just that, and gay. Announcing his sexual preference was something she left to him, and he told those he chose to tell.

“So you came down to be with Kelsey now. That’s wonderful of you,” Katie said.

“She’s the best. She’s like a wife but with her own house, so I can go home if she gets in the mood to nag. And I watch out for her, of course. When we go out. You know, to bars and the like. Oh, not that she’s a boozer,” Avery said. He looked around the crowd and smiled at Liam. “So, you’re the cop. What’s going on with the body?”

“Too soon to know much. The crime-scene folk are still scouring the property, looking for any kind of murder weapon. There were a couple of break-ins at the house before Kelsey got here, but we’ve secured the house itself now. We’ll find out what happened,” Liam assured him. “Now, I believe, we should get over to O’Hara’s.”

“O’Hara’s?” Avery asked.

“My uncle’s friendly neighborhood pub,” Katie told Avery. “The reception.”

“Of course,” Avery said. He paused for a minute. “I have a car. Am I taking it?”

It was agreed that Avery could leave his car at the funeral home for the time being. Liam made the call, and then, in a group—since the other cars were parked legally around the cemetery—they began the four-block walk to O’Hara’s.

When they got there, another good family friend, Marty, had a group of his “pirate” friends playing together as a small band. They played quietly, and they mixed laments with sonnets and soft songs that seemed to fit the bill just right; they weren’t making the room fall apart, and yet, both the fact that it was a celebration of a good life and the mourning of a passing seemed to have been met perfectly.

Kelsey was sitting at the bar, Avery at her side, Sean telling her a story about Cutter giving drifters dollar bills and hamburgers, when Katie sidled into the chair next to her.

When the story was finished and Jamie had moved on, Katie whispered, “That is surely one of the most gorgeous men I have ever seen. This is really none of my business, but…well, yes, it is—Liam is a dear friend. Wait, he will be my cousin-in-law. Were you and Avery involved?”

Kelsey looked at her and smiled. “No. Never. I’m not his type.”

“And he’s not your type?” Katie asked.

Kelsey laughed. “No.”

Katie frowned and said softly, “He’s really—just the most stunning man I’ve ever seen.”

David had come up behind her and slipped his arms around her. “The most stunning?” he teased.

Katie winced. “Almost the most stunning,” she amended.

Kelsey decided to be merciful. “I’m not his orientation,” she said.

“Well, that is a relief!” David said.

Avery turned then, grinning. “Wish the guys I fell for thought I was the most gorgeous thing in the world,” he said.

“Hey, it’s none of our business,” David said.

“Oh, hell, yes, it is—we’re very nosy,” Katie said.

“Watch out—she’s already plotting,” David warned him. “Thinking of friends who would love to meet you.”

She wasn’t sure if Liam heard the remark or not, but he came up behind her then. “I have to go, but I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Can I go back to the house?” she asked him.

“She won’t be alone,” Avery assured him.

He glanced at Avery and tried to smile. It was a weak effort. “That’s great,” he said. “I know David and Katie and Sean and Vanessa and maybe some of the others can hang in for a while, too. My cousin and his group are editing a documentary on strange incidents around here, so they’re on their own schedules. Well, except for Katie, but she’s off tonight, anyway.”

“Whatever,” Avery said staunchly. “I won’t be leaving her.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I can leave today,” Liam said. He grimaced, meeting her eyes. “I do have to deal with Gary White. He was a drifter, but not an evil man, and every human being deserves justice. I will find out what happened to him.”

He looked awkward, as if he wanted to kiss her cheek or give her a hug but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. She stood up and put her arms around him. He held her close for a long minute. He lifted her chin and whispered softly, “Is it cool if I still hang around the house, too?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she assured him.

She watched Liam go. And she knew that to her mind, he was the most stunning and beautiful man she had ever known.

Liam was barely out of the bar before his phone rang. It was Katie.

She wasted no time.

“He’s gay,” she said.

He almost laughed out loud. He’d realized, when he’d seen the man and it had seemed that his entire body knotted with jealousy, that the way he felt about Kelsey had to include trust. If she’d been that close with someone in California, Kelsey would have told him. He hadn’t understood completely, but he was going to go on trust.

“Did you hear me? It’s all right, Liam. Oh, my God, though, I can think of so many friends for him!”

“Katie, whoa, calm down. He may be in a relationship in California already.”

“I didn’t want you to be worried.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“Like hell!” She laughed.

“Okay, I was a little worried. The guy could win in Olympic wrestling. But I’m glad he’s here, because he’ll hang tightly with her while everything is sorted out,” Liam said.

“Yeah? You think that finding Gary White’s body could have anything to do with Cutter Merlin, Kelsey or the Merlin house?” Katie asked.

“Let’s just say I believe…I don’t know what I believe. But I won’t stop until I find the truth. I’ve got to work, Katie. Hang in there for me, huh?”

“We’re all here,” she assured him.

He thanked her and hung up. He headed first to his office, sinking into his chair. The desk sergeant gave him slips with all the calls they had received from the local media, so he quickly wrote up a statement for what they knew thus far and set the desk sergeant to returning the calls with the information. It was a mistake to tell media “no comment.”

They would make up their own comments. And Key West was certainly small enough for everyone out there to know that the body of a local had been found on the Merlin property.

Liam’s first order of business was to find Chris Vargas. He and Gary White had been caught together seeking some small item to steal from the Merlin estate.

A walk down Duval Street and a few questions to old conchs and fresh water conchs might help him find out where Vargas had last been seen. Bartholomew, who had been pacing quietly beside him, said, “You know, she saw me today. Or she heard me… Felt me, at least.”

“What are you talking about?” Liam asked.

“Kelsey Donovan. She was rather breaking my heart at the cemetery. I touched her cheek. I whispered to her. She heard me,” Bartholomew said. “You should tell her that I exist.”

“Just like that. Hey…you sensed something at the cemetery. Don’t worry. It’s Bartholomew, the ghost of a pirate—”

“Good Lord, when will you stop saying that? I was a privateer,” Bartholomew interrupted, deeply aggravated. “Over and over again, I must explain this fact!”

“I’m sorry. Truly sorry,” Liam said, almost as aggravated. “You
look
like a pirate.”

“Then every man of my decade looked like a pirate, as well,” Bartholomew said.

“All right, so we associate the fashion of the era with pirates,” Liam said, distracted. “Bartholomew, I have a dead body on my hands. I think the fellow was murdered, because I don’t think he headed out to the Merlin property to die of natural causes or to commit suicide. We need to concentrate on the
murder.
”

“You don’t know that it was a murder. You don’t know that Cutter Merlin was murdered,” Bartholomew protested.

Liam stopped in the street and stared at him.

“All right, so…there is something going on at the house, and it certainly looks as if the fellow, Gary White, was murdered,” Bartholomew said. “But I think you’re overlooking someone who can really help you solve everything that’s going on.”

“Oh? Who?”

Bartholomew looked at him seriously. “Kelsey Donovan,” he said.

Liam paused, hands on his hips. “Okay, Bartholomew, when you think that she has actually seen you, we’ll bring her on the paranormal side. Otherwise, I can’t just ask her to go into a trance or something and connect with the ghosts of her dead grandfather, her mother—or Gary White!”

“She’ll see me soon enough,” Bartholomew assured him. “It would be easier if you just told her about me first, but…”

Liam groaned and kept walking. He realized a moment later that the
privateer
was no longer following him.