8 Tennyson

Tennyson didn’t know whose brilliant idea it had been to get up at the ass crack of dawn to paddle a rickety kayak to some secret shell island, but when he found out, there was going to be hell to pay.

Ronan and Everly were like a well-oiled machine, paddling in sync like they’d been partners for years, while Ten and Ezra, on the other hand, had been going around in circles for the last ten minutes.

“Looks like you could use a hand, Mr. Grimm,” Marco, the leader of the tour said, executing a perfect turn so that his kayak was alongside Ten’s.

“I need more than a hand. I need an entire rowing crew.” Why the hell couldn’t they have taken one of the nice power boats out here instead of using his own muscle power?

“I’ll paddle alongside and you can mimic my motions. Seems like your husband and daughter are already pros.” Marco pointed his oar at the pair.

Ten thought he could hear Everly laughing, which usually would warm his heart, but today made him grumpy. “Everly is having the time of her life. She’s gonna want a kayak of her own when we get home, just like she wanted a horse after we learned to ride in Deadwood last year.”

Marco laughed and held his oar in front of him. “We you a member of your high school drill team by chance?”

“I grew up in rural Kansas. There were no boys on the drill team, but I did know how to twirl a baton.” Some of Ten’s fondest childhood memories were being dared by Mary Margaret McKickle to twirl her baton with more precision than she had. Ten always won the dares.

“Ah, that’s perfect. Think of your oar as the baton, dip right and up, then dip left and up. Give it a try.”

Ten took a deep breath. He could do this. No, he would do this, so that he wouldn’t forever be a loser at sports. He dipped right, like Marco said, visualizing Mary Margaret’s shiny new baton in his mind and the kayak moved forward, slowly at first, but then began to pick up speed.

“That’s it!” Marco called from behind him. “You’ve got it now!”

“Yeah, so long as Jaws doesn’t come along and munch on my crunchy ass.” Ten shivered at the thought of a giant shark devouring him whole. There weren’t any great white’s in Florida, were there?

Paddling through his panic, Ten’s kayak came ashore several minutes later. He hoped out after Ezra, who’d wanted to play in the water, and barely had enough time to grab the kayak before it was swept out to sea. Ten didn’t want to think about how he would have gotten back to the mainland in that case. “Where the hell are we anyway?”

“This is Kice Island, part of the 10,000 Islands,” Marco said. “In addition to the shell seeker tours, we also offer birdwatching tours through mangroves on the other islands. I can give you more information when we get back to the dock.”

“Thanks,” Ten managed to grin at the guide. The absolute last thing he wanted to do on this vacation was to spend another early morning kayaking his ass through potentially shark-infested waters. He beached his kayak next to the others and pulled out his shell bag, slinging it over his right shoulder so it rested against his left hip. When he rejoined the group, Marco was giving a chat about not picking up shells that were occupied by other creatures.

“We have to look to see if anyone is home,” Aurora said, sounding proud of herself.

“That’s right. I have a saying to keep in mind about live shells. If there’s someone home, leave me alone. Let’s all say it.”

“If there’s someone home, leave me alone,” everyone, but Tennyson said.

“That’s what I wanted this morning, to be left alone in my cozy bed, but no, here I am with the sun barely above the horizon, with sore arms from paddling a stupid canoe and hungry sharks ready to eat my tasty ass.”

“I can attest to your ass being tasty,” Ronan whispered into his ear.

“Daddy, look!” Everly shouted from twenty feet down the beach. “I found a sand dollar!”

“Come on, grumpy pants, isn’t the smile on her face worth getting up at this hour?” Ronan took off down the beach.

Ten supposed it was worth it. He hustled up the beach to Everly, who was cradling her treasure in the cupped palms of her hand.

“Daddy, see!” She held the sand dollar up for Tennyson to see. “It’s a five-hole-keyhole sand dollar like we read about in my book.

When they had returned home from their first trip to Florida, Ten had bought Everly a field guide of Florida sea shells. She loved to go through it to see what kinds of treasures they could find on their next trip. “I love it. Do you want me to keep it safe in my shell bag?”

“Please.” Everly handed the sand dollar to Tennyson. “Do you want to explore with me?”

“I’ve got Ezzie,” Ronan said, pointing to their son, who was picking up shells and throwing them into the water.

“I would love that.” Ten gently set his daughter’s treasure into a protected section of his shell bag and set off down the beach with Everly. Shell piles were everywhere. He’d never seen so many in one place before.

“Marco said that not a lot of people come out here, so there’s lots of shells for people to find. What a cool job, huh? Helping people to find the shells of their dreams and paddling a kayak in the Gulf. It would be neat to have a job like that instead of talking to spirits, huh?”

Everly’s question surprised Ten. “I suppose it would be pretty peaceful if all we had to worry about was making sure tourists didn’t accidentally paddle all the way to Australia.”

Everly giggled. “I know you’re upset, Daddy. About Patrick Marsh.”

Ten sighed. All he’d wanted was to keep Everly out of one case, and it seemed he couldn’t even do that. “Did you overhear us talking or did your gift tell you.”

“It was Uncle Fitz. He leaks information like a runny nose. He’s very torn. He wants to catch Jillian’s killer, but wants to make Uncle Jace happy too. It’s a rocky road.”

“A rocky road?” Ten laughed. It certainly was that.

“Yeah, that means there are a lot of obstacles.” Everly sounded far older than her six years.

“I didn’t know that, thank you for telling me.” Ten had never mentioned that particular phrase before and couldn’t help but wonder where his daughter had picked it up.

“You’re welcome, Daddy. Ohhhh, look!” Everly ran forward a few feet and bent to pick something up. “Oh. My. God!”

Ten hurried to catch up with his daughter and saw that she was holding a pure white Florida Fighting Conch. “Oh, wow!”

“It’s perfect and there’s no one home.” Everly held up the shell to show Tennyson before she slipped it into her bag. “I know you don’t want me involved in the case, but…”

Ten shook his head. He should have known Everly would pop up with information somewhere on this trip. “But, what?”

“I met Miss Jillian on the plane. She told me that Uncle Fitz has her rings.”

Ten felt his eyes widen with surprise. “You spoke to Jillian? Did she tell you who killed her?”

“No, Daddy. She said how scared she was that night. Wrapping Christmas presents was her most favorite thing to do. Jillian made a fire, some cocoa, and put on her favorite Christmas music. Bling Crosby was her favorite. With a name like Bling, he’d be my favorite too.”

“You know the song, ‘White Christmas?’” Ten asked with a grin.

Everly nodded.

“That’s Bing Crosby.”

“It’s a very pretty song, but I’m glad we won’t have a white Christmas here in Florida.” Everly reached down to pick up another shell, which she put in her bag.

“Me too,” Ten agreed. He knelt and picked up a small shell with dark lines running down the sides of it. “Do you know what kind of shell this is?”

“Yup!” Everly chirped proudly. “It’s a lightning welk. You can tell because the lines look like bolts of lightning.”

“Right,” Ten said. “I remember now. We found some last February.”

Everly crossed her arms over her chest. “You knew that Daddy. I know you’re just pro-faster-nating with me.”

Ten laughed. “You’re right. I am procrastinating. We’re on vacation and it’s a few days until Christmas. Pardon me if I don’t want my six year old daughter talking to a murdered woman.”

Everly patted Ten’s shoulder. “I get where you’re coming from, but Jillian has missed the last ten Christmases with her family. She has two little nephews that she never got to meet. Wolfie reminds her of them with the way he laughs and loves Legos.”

Ten sighed. “Okay, little miss. What else did she tell you about the night she died?”

“Only that she heard a wicked loud bang and the next thing she knew a person dressed all in black was in her living room, pointing a gun at her. The person had on a ski mask and the only thing she saw was bright blue eyes like Patrick’s. Jillian said they were the same color as mine, blue with a bit of green mixed in.”

“You and Daddy have the most beautiful eyes. Are the eyes the only thing she remembered?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Jillian saw her grandmother waiting for her in the white light and ran to her. She hasn’t spent any time on this side since that night and doesn’t care if her killer is caught or not.”

“Good for her.” Ten has met far too many spirits who stayed caught up in their old lives, wasting years on revenge and retribution, when they could have been with family who loved and adored them. “Is that all you talked about?” He had a feeling Everly was holding something back.

“There’s one more thing. An important thing. Jillian was going to leave Patrick after Christmas. She had been to see a lawyer and wasn’t going to go home with Patrick after Christmas dinner at her parents’ house. It was a big house, Daddy. Bigger than the house we’re staying at here in Florida.”

“You’re saying Jillian’s parents were rich?”

Everly nodded. “Really rich. Jillian signed some papers and put them in a big yellow envelope. The killer took the papers and dropped them in the fireplace before they left the house and Patrick came downstairs.”

“That is a very important clue.” Ten hugged his daughter. “Is there any chance you know what kind of papers they were?”

“I saw the words will and power,” Everly said, reaching for another shell.

“Were they one word or two?”

“Two words and on different papers.”

“You’re amazing. You know that, right?” Ten asked.

“Yup! I’m the best. You and Dad really should talk to me more about your cases. I can help, Daddy.”

“I know you can, honey.” Ten thought about how many cases Everly had helped out with over the years. It broke his heart knowing she’d seen people come to violent ends. “Did you see Jillian die or did she tell you what she remembered from that night?”

“Both.” Everly looked down at her feet, as if she didn’t want Ten to see the look in her eyes. “It was awful.”

“That’s why Dad and I don’t want you working on our cases. You shouldn’t have to see these violent memories play out. It’s not fair that you always seem to see the worst of people.”

“That’s not true. I see a lot of good too. It’s just that the bad is more important. Did you know Uncle Jace gave lots of money to Toys for Tots when we went to the mall yesterday? Like lots of money. He also gave a big check to the women’s shelter and the food pantry. They’re gonna serve steak for Christmas dinner thanks to Jace and Fitz. All the kids who wouldn’t have a happy Christmas are gonna have one now. Uncle Jace did his part to help, now it’s my turn. I don’t have lots of money to buy toys, but I have a gift that can help people who got hurt. I have to use it, Daddy. I have to.” Everly wrapped her arms around Ten’s neck.

Ten held his daughter tight. He couldn’t push back on anything she’d said. Now that they knew Jillian had been to a lawyer and had signed papers, that might be able to narrow down who killed the young wife and why. Ronan always said that murder was usually committed for three reasons, revenge, money, and sex. There was no doubt in Ten’s mind that Jillian’s money, or rather the loss of it, was what likely got her killed, which of course pointed to only one suspect.

Patrick Marsh.