Beached by Micki Browning

Beached by Micki Browning

Author:Micki Browning [Browning, Micki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Shadow Mysteries
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00


* * *

When she reemerged, she wore sweats and a T-shirt and carried a half-full bottle of wine, two salvaged coffee mugs, and a water bottle for herself. The Adirondack chairs had been pulled into a circle.

Mer handed the wine bottle and mugs to Selkie. He poured a mug and then offered the bottle to the detective.

Talbot waved it away. "I'm still on duty." He locked eyes with Mer in warning as he took out his cellphone and selected a recorder app.

Settling into her chair, she drew a deep breath and winced. "I don't have proof for everything, but I've been piecing together this puzzle and I think it started in Cuba. With Oscar." Her hands trembled as she raised the water bottle and took a small sip while she gathered her thoughts. "He told me tonight that he had found proof to support that another ship had joined the 1733 fleet that left Havana and wrecked along the Florida Keys. A ship that local legend called the Thirteenth Galleon."

"Chase said it didn't exist," Talbot said.

Selkie glared at Talbot. "Don't interrupt."

She'd be grateful for Selkie's support if she didn't suspect his comment was more a dig at the detective than a show of support for her. "Oscar worked in a government archive. He said he'd found the coin, the manifest, and a note hidden in the binding of an old ship log. I never saw the note, but Oscar believes it points to the true clue."

"The coin?" Selkie asked.

Mer dug into her sweats pocket, and then unfolded a piece of paper. "The manifest." She looked at Talbot. "After Bart and Oscar fled, I went back to my car. This piece of paper was shoved into the window of my driver's door. It's the list that was stolen off my desk. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

The sloping Adirondack offered no respite for her aching ribs, but she was too tired to get out of the chair. "Oscar said he'd come to the Keys by boat. I think that boat belonged to Bart Kingston and that somehow Bart got hold of the coin and the manifest."

"And the note?"

"I have no idea how the note fits in—or if it still exists." Mer tilted her head back. The moon outlined a sky full of clouds. "There was a squall the night before Leroy and I pulled the drugs out of the water. They lost the bale and that's when Bart's scheme began to unravel."

"Wouldn't it be Oscar's scheme?" Talbot asked.

"I don't think so. Maybe originally, but Bart is definitely calling the shots now."

"And you know this how?"

"Oscar had been badly beaten." Images of his mangled hand and the sound of the gun striking his head sent a chill down her spine. "But he was too scared to try to escape. He told me they—whoever they are—believe the coin is the key. But that was false information that he'd fed them to throw them off the trail. He said that I was the key—"

Selkie slammed down his cup.



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