A Spirited Gift

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he called out the door while I ran down the boardwalk as if Davy Jones himself were after me.

As I was running down the stairs into the parking lot, Rafe joined me again. “What a sniveling worm of a man that is! I can’t believe ye let him stay in your shop knowing the blackguard stole from you! What kind of man does that?”

“You’re a pirate. Or at least you were. Figure it out.” Once I reached Duck Road, I slowed my frantic pace. It was getting dark, but I figured Tim could stop me and tell me the curfew was in force if he wanted to. I wasn’t running all the way home. I needed a little time to take a few deep breaths and think about what Danny had said about him and my mother.

“Aye, at least I never pretended to be anything else,” Rafe continued. “That boyo is just waiting for the right moment to steal you blind. I can’t believe any relation of mine would be fooled by all that mucky sentiment.”

“And maybe you’re not as smart as you think,” I yelled back at him. “That man is my father.”

“Maybe so—but don’t trust him. He’s a scallywag, mark my words.”

I kept walking down the deserted road. There were no streetlights, no lights from stores or houses. Only the glow of candles and lanterns, from living room and kitchen windows, showed anything was out in the dark at all.

“Have you given any thought to who the ancestor of the magistrate could be?” he asked before we reached the house.

“I’ve been a little busy,” I replied. “And it’s going to take some research. Have you given any thought to who killed Sandi Foxx?”

He grunted at me and scratched his head. “Keeping up with you has been a job, girl. I haven’t worked so hard since I started my career at sea as a boson’s mate.”

“Then I guess we both have work to do.”

Chapter 21

I went inside where Gramps was waiting with supper at the candlelit table in the kitchen. “I’ve been wondering where you were,” he said, serving up stew that had been in the freezer. “There’s a curfew, you know. The mayor isn’t above the law and needs to set an example.”

“I know.”

“You’ve been at Missing Pieces, haven’t you? You always lose track of time when you’re there.”

“Yep.” I wished I could say more. It was a strain holding back the things I really wanted to ask him. But I needed time to sort through everything and figure out what to say to him.

“I suppose you heard that the ME has ruled Mayor Foxx’s death a murder,” he continued.

“Yeah. That’s going to be a mess.”

“It’ll be bad for Kevin, since it means all those people coming back again on his dime.”

I stopped pushing the stew around on my plate. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the county won’t want to pay for them to be at the Blue Whale, and it will likely take a while for Ronnie to question all of them. Big group.”

“Maybe the town can help. Kevin is too good-hearted to complain about it. I’m sure it will seem like another civic duty to him. But that’s not fair.”

“Good luck getting that past the town council.”

“We have an emergency fund,” I reminded him. “This seems like an emergency to me.”

“That will be depleted after the storm,” he said. “Besides, how will it look for the mayor to advocate giving money to her boyfriend?”

“You sound like Mad Dog.” I told him about what the mayor wannabe had said.

“He’s right.” Gramps shrugged. “You have to start thinking about your reputation if you’re going to run for reelection. You can’t just run around doing what you please and expect the people of Duck to look the other way.”

I wasn’t sure where all of this was coming from. Yes, Gramps had been sheriff for many years. Yes, he was a stickler for the rules. But now he was just being inflexible and judgmental. I didn’t like his tone—especially since it pertained to me.

“I’m not any different now than I was two years ago when the people of Duck voted me into office,” I reminded him. “I don’t see the problem.”

“The problem is Kevin. I like him, but the two of you should cool your heels on this relationship some. At least until after the election next year. You keeping clothes over there—showing up at all hours—this is a family community, Dae. People aren’t going to want their mayor to be carrying on this way.”

“Are you saying this because Sandi was having an affair?” I glared at him, all thought of eating leftover stew out of my mind. “Because it’s not the same thing. Kevin isn’t married. Neither am I. It’s not like he’s sneaking out of my house in the middle of the night with his clothes off.”

“There’s no reason to take that tone with me, young lady.” Gramps cleared his throat and pointed his spoon at me. “If you want to be mayor and serve your community, it takes some sacrifice. It took some sacrifice to be sheriff all those years. It didn’t just happen. My family had to be above reproach. The community looks to its leaders to be examples of the best.”

I got to my feet and in a hot moment, I shouted, “Like you wouldn’t let my mother be with the man she loved? Is that the kind of sacrifice you expect me to make?”