Authors: Leighann Dobbs
Deadly Intentions (23 page)
“Wait.” Celeste lifted a brow at her. “You went to the storage unit alone?”
Jolene grimaced. She hadn’t told anyone about her trip to the storage unit and how she’d been attacked. “Yeah, I guess I probably shouldn’t have done that. But at least I didn’t get captured there.”
“No, but you almost were,” Mateo cut in.
Jolene blinked at him. “How’d you know that?”
“Who do you think got you out of it?” He winked at her.
“Oh.” Jolene chewed her bottom lip. So she really
had
seen Mateo in town—he had been looking out for her after all.
“Thanks,” she said. “I still don’t get how they could have grabbed me, though. They used some kind of weird rock—it looked like a geode but it made me terribly weak. I couldn’t fight back. And what happened to that picture, anyway?”
“The geode is something we need to be careful of. Bly had them specially fitted to sap all your energy. The problem is they’re kind of bulky, so he can’t use them everywhere. But, for trying to capture someone they work pretty well.” Mateo turned to Jolene. “As you found out. As far as the picture goes, well … let’s just say if one of those guys has it, he won’t be showing it to anyone. Ever.”
Morgan raised a brow at Mateo then looked down at the obsidian amulet. “I wonder if these amulets would counteract the geode?”
Mateo pressed his lips together. “I’m not sure. The amulets absorb energy, right?”
Morgan nodded.
“The geodes suck out energy, so the amulet probably wouldn’t counteract them.”
“Good point,” Jolene said, then narrowed her eyes at Mateo. “So, if you stopped them from grabbing me at the storage unit, how come you let them grab me at the college?”
Mateo’s eyes flashed. “I can’t be everywhere. Watching over you is like a full time job. The day you were snatched, I was on Fury Rock with Bly. I’d infiltrated it about a year ago to try to get Johanna out, so I couldn’t spend too much time away from there.”
Johanna smiled at Mateo. “It made my life a lot easier.”
Morgan turned to her mother. “Mom, I don’t understand why you never contacted us.”
Johanna’s eyes clouded. “It tore me up not to, but I couldn’t. It was too dangerous. I knew your gifts would get more powerful and I couldn’t risk bringing Bly’s attention to you. Once he kidnapped me, I realized it was better for you girls if I just submitted to what he wanted instead of fighting him off. Of course, little did I know he was already watching you, and when my power dried up, he came for you anyway. But by then I was too weak to fight.”
Jolene’s heart twisted and she shot Morgan an angry glance. “Of course you were, Mom. We know you did what you did for us.”
“I did send one little message, though.” Johanna reached into her pocket and took out two tiny heart shaped pictures … the exact size of the locket Jolene wore on her neck.
Jolene gasped and her hands went up to the necklace. “You mean this really is your locket?”
Johanna nodded and Jolene remembered how Mateo had ripped it from her throat, and then how the mysterious black cat had returned it with the vial of the red liquid. She turned to Mateo. “You took the locket, but how did you—”
Mateo shook his head, cutting her off. “I have my ways.”
“So, all that time he was draining your energy to make it into some kind of elixir that his minions would drink?” Jake asked Johanna.
“Yep. And that’s what he had in store for Jolene, too.”
“But now he has no one, or at least not that we know of,” Mateo said.
“I guess that’s one thing in our favor,” Morgan added. “He won’t be able to use any elixirs to boost the power of his underlings. And meanwhile
we’re
getting stronger.”
“But what about that guy Barnes?” Celeste asked. “Did his boat blowing up have anything to do with this?”
“As a matter of fact, it did. And it helped us solve a case,” Jake answered. “Bly doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, so it seems. He had a small time crook, Edwin James, grab Johanna from the cliff.”
“That figures,” Luke said. “Most of the big-wigs hire others to do the dirty work.”
Jake nodded. “The Noquitt police brought James in and, my sources tell me, it was pretty easy to get him to spill his guts. Apparently, Barnes was out fishing the night Johanna got grabbed. He took the photo from his fishing boat and was blackmailing James with it. Poor Barnes only got one payment, though, before James killed him and dumped him in the ocean. His boat was supposed to be blown up back then, but somehow that didn’t happen until James went back to cover his tracks recently.
Somehow, Barnes’ bones made their way into Jeb’s lobster traps. Jeb’s cousin was actually the one to find them—he’s kind of shady and has apparently been pilfering Jeb’s traps for years. Except this time instead of lobsters, he got human bones! Word travels fast across the criminal element in this town and somehow James found out and went and cut the trap lines so no one would pull up more of Barnes’ bones. Then he must have gone back and blown up the boat.”
“But why go to all that trouble now?” Celeste asked. “That all happened seven years ago.”
“Apparently, James was scared stiff of Bly finding out he screwed up by having a witness to Johanna’s abduction and was afraid of what Bly would do to him if he found out. He was afraid Barnes’ bones surfacing now would launch an investigation and it would all come out. That’s why he talked to the police. He’s so scared of Bly that he gave up the information as a trade for protection.”
“And it almost worked,” Cal said. “Except he missed one bone.”
“Yep,” Jake nodded. “The one Jeb found in his lobster trap.”
“So the whole thing with his traps had nothing to do with Gordy Ellis and the feud?” Fiona asked.
“Nope, I already talked to them and they shook hands and buried the hatchet on that old family feud, hopefully for good.”
“Wow, that’s great news!”
“And I also solved another case, too.” Jolene smiled. “That’s why I was at the college. Gail was taking cooking lessons—not having an affair. She wanted it to be a surprise for Steve, which explains all the secrecy. She confessed and they’re happier than two clams in a clamshell … and eating much better, too.”
Everyone laughed, then Celeste’s face turned serious. She turned to Jolene.
“So, what exactly happened to you in Bly’s compound?”
Jolene told them about her cell and how she thought Mateo was one of Bly’s minions up until the very end. She described the chair and how Bly wanted to make the elixir from her paranormal powers. She left out the part about the black cat and her locket, but finished up by describing how Mateo had tricked Bly by monkeying with the chair so they could incapacitate Bly and grab Johanna to make their escape.
“… And that’s when we met up with you guys in the tunnels,” Jolene said to her sisters, then narrowed her eyes at Luke. “But where were
you
then? We only ran into Eliza, Morgan, Fiona and Celeste. You guys weren’t there.”
Luke told her about the energy shield and how they’d gotten separated. “We didn’t know where the girls had gone so we figured the best way to find out was to get one of us captured and hope that Bly would lead us to you. Then the others would follow and jump out to help at the right time.”
“Wow, that was pretty dangerous.” Morgan’s eyes softened as she looked at Luke. “You could have ended up like Eliza.”
Jolene’s heart pinched thinking about her aunt. “I wish we could have gotten to know her better.”
“She was wonderful,” Johanna said. “We were very close at one time. Everyone thought she left Noquitt because she was bored here, but that wasn’t true. She had to leave because there was so much paranormal power here between your father, her and me, that it would have attracted a lot of attention. We felt it was safer for you girls if she left. She gave up her home and we should never forget that she did that for
us
.”
Jolene ran over and hugged Johanna. “We won’t, Mom. But I think I speak for everyone when I say the most important thing is that we have you home with us. Let’s just chill out and enjoy that … and work on getting you better.”
“That would be lovely, dear,” Johanna said. Her voice was light, but by the way she looked out the window toward the dark wooded area at the edge of their property, Jolene could tell her mother was wondering the same thing she was—how long would it be before Bly struck again.
***
The old woman stood just inside the thickly wooded edge of the Blackmoore property, looking toward the house, her face hidden by the wide hood of the black cloak she wore. At her feet, a jet-black cat with ice-blue eyes lazily washed its face.
From her vantage point, she could see the figures of the Blackmoore family and friends gathered in one room. Her keen ears could hear the murmur of conversation and occasional outburst of laughter but she couldn’t make out the words that were being said.
A smile played along her lips as she watched from her hiding spot—all was at it should be … at least for now.
She’d done her part and now, maybe, her weary old bones could rest. She turned and faded into the darkness of the woods, the cat following along closely behind her.
***
Ten days later …
Jolene sat on the porch looking down at the lavender-colored envelope she held in her hands. It was addressed to her and her sisters and, even though it had no return address, she knew who it was from.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes as she rocked back and forth in the white wicker chair, taking care not to knock over the bottle of beer that sat next to her bare feet. A cool breeze fluttered across the back of her neck, giving her a moment of relief from the hot summer day.
She tapped the edge of the envelope against her lips.
Should she open it before her sisters came home?
Her curiosity won out. She slid a fingernail under the flap. The scent of lavender wafted out and she closed her eyes before taking out the neatly-penned letter. A single tear slid down her cheek as she read:
Dear Girls,
If you are reading this now, it means I’m dead. Please don’t be sad, it was all for a good cause. Just know that I always loved you girls and that’s why I did what I did. I’m sorry we won’t get to know each other better, and even though we can’t talk to one another, I’ll still be around in spirit.
You girls have an important job ahead of you now. The future rests on your shoulders and you must pick up where I left off. Enclosed you will find a map that may aid you in beating Bly to one of the relics that he desperately desires.
It’s up to you girls to carry on our cause,
Yours,
Eliza.
A piece of paper that had been folded up inside the letter fluttered to the ground and Jolene bent to pick it up. It was a map, but not of any place that she recognized. She turned it over but the other side was blank. Pressing her lips together, she re-read Eliza’s letter. There was no indication what exactly it was a map
to.
She sat back in the chair and took a sip of the beer. A purple dragonfly landed on the arm of her chair and she stared at it, mesmerized. She’d seen lots of dragonflies before, but never a purple one.
She sipped the beer and contemplated the map. She and her sisters would have to figure out what the map was for, of course. She wasn’t about to let Bly get any of the relics he wanted.
With a sigh, she folded the letter back into the envelope and got up from the chair. Her sisters would be home in a few hours. She’d show the letter to them then. In the meantime, she’d get on the computer and see if she could figure out what that map was to—maybe by the time they got home she’d be able to give them a destination for their next adventure.
The End.
***
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A Note From The Author
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
This is the fifth book in the Blackmoore sisters mystery series and I have a whole bunch more planned!
The setting for this book series is based on one of my favorite places in the world - Ogunquit Maine. Of course, I changed some of the geography around to suit my story, and changed the name of the town to Noquitt but the basics are there. Anyone familiar with Ogunquit will recognize some of the landmarks I have in the book.
The house the sisters live in sits at the very end of Perkins Cove and I was always fascinated with it as a kid. Of course, back then it was a mysterious, creepy old house that was privately owned and I was dying to go in there. I’m sure it must have had an attic stuffed full of antiques just like in the book!
Today, it’s been all modernized and updated—I think you can even rent it out for a summer vacation. In the book the house looks different and it’s also set high up on a cliff (you’ll see why in a later book) where in real life it’s not. I’ve also made the house much older to suit my story.
Also, if you like this book, you might like my Mystic Notch series which is set in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and filled with magic and cats. I have an excerpt from the first book “Ghostly Paws” at the end of this book.
This book has been through many edits with several people and even some software programs, but since nothing is infallible (even the software programs) you might catch a spelling error or mistake and, if you do, I sure would appreciate it if you let me know - you can contact me at