Lin moved closer.  She could see blood on the man’s face and chest.  Leonard.  She reached wildly for her phone, but when she shoved her hand into her pajama pocket, it was empty.  She let out a curse.

Lin leaned closer to the man and whispered his name.  As she reached her hand towards Leonard, cold air surrounded her and something caught her eye to the left.

The ghost.  His eyes were wide.  With a swoop of his arm, he pointed behind her.

Lin sensed movement.  She hit the ground and rolled to the side narrowly missing being struck from behind.  Leaping to her feet, she faced Bill Ward.  He held a knife in his hand.

“You.”  Lin sucked in a breath.  “You greedy monster.”

“Save it.”  Bill spat out the words and slowly circled preparing to lunge.

Having just arrived home, Viv stepped from the back door of the house and scanned the yard looking for her cousin.  “Lin?”

Lin yelled, never taking her eyes from Bill Ward and his silver knife.  “Stay inside, Viv.  Call the police.  Lock the door.”

Bill rushed at Lin holding the knife in his right hand like a spear.  Lin side-stepped to her left which made the force of the man’s swing less effective, the thrust of the knife less powerful.  She brought her right forearm up like a shield.  The knife grazed her arm.  Lin spun around and using the whole sole of her foot, she kicked Bill in the back of his leg.

Just as the man’s knee buckled, Nicky jumped up and chomped into Bill’s leg.  At the same moment, the dark gray cat leaped through the air from the top of the shed.  The snarling feline sank her claws into the man’s shoulders and her fangs bit into his neck.  Her back legs ripped through the assailant’s shirt and into his skin.

Bill screamed and lost his balance.  The knife fell from his hand and hit the ground with a thud.  While the cat and dog continued their attack, Lin kicked out and the blade scuttled across the lawn out of Bill’s reach.

Viv rushed off the deck and into the yard, wielding the fireplace poker like a spear.  Her chest heaving, Lin saw her cousin running towards Bill like a banshee.  She couldn’t help a tiny smile from spreading over her lips.

The letdown from the sudden release of adrenaline in her body caused an enormous flood of fatigue to wash over Lin.  Then she burst into tears.

Chapter 23

Lin, Jeff, Viv, and John sat in beach chairs overlooking the ocean.  Lin pushed her toes under the warm, soft white sand and rested her head against the chair back.  The four had spent an hour body-surfing and floating on the waves and were now warming themselves under the late June sun.  Viv had packed the cooler with roasted chicken, pasta salad, crusty Italian bread, and yogurt and fruit parfaits layered in little plastic cups.  It was a chance for everyone to relax and enjoy the warm, summer day after the strange events of the past few weeks.

“So, fill in the details for us.”  Jeff sipped from a can of seltzer.

Viv groaned.  “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.  I’m just glad it’s over and things can get back to normal.”

Lin sat up in her chair and adjusted her sunglasses.  “I’ll tell you about it.  Where should I start?”

“At the beginning.”  John smiled.  “I leave the island for a week and everything is solved when I get back.”

Lin stretched her legs out over the sand.  “Bill Ward was stealing from Hammond Landscaping for years.  His wife was the bookkeeper and she doctored the stats to make it seem that, over a few years time, the company was sliding into financial trouble.”

“How convenient that Bill Ward’s wife was a bookkeeper.”  John shook his head.

Lin continued.  “Recently the speed of the embezzling picked up.  Hammond was frantic about the rapid loss of money.  He’d been reading histories of the island for years and he believed the stories that said Sebastian Coffin had hidden valuables on his property.  If Greg could get his hands on those valuables then his financial troubles would have been over.”

Viv sighed.  “That’s when he started his pursuit of my house.”

“Leonard told the police that Greg talked to him about his concern that someone in the company was stealing from him,” Lin said.  “Greg always talked about the island stories and history with Leonard.  Leonard thought that looking for pirate’s treasure at Viv’s house was folly, but he humored Greg.”

Even though Viv had said she didn’t want to talk about the whole mess, she was drawn into the telling of the story.  “Greg told Leonard that he suspected Bill of embezzling.  Bill revealed to the police that he’d overheard Greg making accusations against him and that he had no choice but to kill Greg in order to silence him.  Bill used his scuba equipment to approach Greg’s boat in the water early that morning.  That way no one saw him on the docks.”

“I’m ashamed that I jumped to the idea that Leonard was the killer.”  Lin frowned.  “He came into town twice to tell me that Bill was stealing and that he’d probably killed Greg.  Leonard was trying to do the right thing and I just thought he was harassing me.”

Jeff reached over and took Lin’s hand.

Viv put on a sun hat.  “The night we heard noises outside and saw a man in the bushes, it was Leonard and Bill having a fight.  Leonard followed us home from town that evening.  He came to the house to try to tell Lin what he knew, but he saw Bill in the yard.  Bill was trying to break into the shed to hunt for the valuables Greg claimed were hidden there, but Leonard confronted him about the embezzling and the fight broke out.”

“Leonard pulled out a switchblade and Bill took off.  Leonard rang the doorbell, but we didn’t answer.  Turns out, he had a concussion from the fight.  He ended up collapsing in the bushes on the edge of Viv’s yard.”

“Leonard had been hiding out after the fight.  He knew Bill would try to kill him.  That last evening, Leonard returned to Viv’s house after trying to talk to me on the sidewalk.”  Lin rubbed her forehead.  “Bill had been hunting for Leonard since they fought the day before.  Bill tailed him to Viv’s and attacked him in the yard.  That’s when I went outside with the dog and found Leonard hurt behind the shed.”

“Lucky the animals were so determined to protect you.  They were a big help.”  Jeff squeezed Lin’s hand.  “But I think all the bending and squatting you’ve been doing in the gardens has strengthened your legs and made you quick and that helped you take Bill down.”

Lin nodded and then she chuckled thinking of Viv rushing out of the house with the fireplace poker.  “Well, if Nicky and Queenie hadn’t helped me, Viv would have taken care of Bill Ward single-handedly.”

“You bet I would have.”  Viv flexed her arm to show a muscle.

“Oh, and unfortunately, there was no treasure in the shed,” John told Jeff.

“We searched for hours.”  Viv removed the lunch items from the cooler.  “We didn’t even find a single coin.”  Viv served the chicken and pasta on paper plates and passed them around.  Everyone dug into the tasty meal and showered Viv with praise for the delicious lunch.

Lin balanced the plate on her lap and sipped from her water bottle.  She hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that they just hadn’t searched in the right place.

***

After returning from the beach, the guys said their goodbyes and headed off.  The girls showered and changed into comfortable clothes, made tea, and sat down in the living room.  Queenie and Nicky slept peacefully on cushions in the corner of the room.

The bulge in the wall near the fireplace had been repaired and repainted.  “The wall looks great,” Lin said.

Viv put her legs up on the ottoman.  “I’m happy with it.  I’d hire that guy again.  Hopefully I won’t need his skills any time soon.”