Page 17 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

My stomach churned, threatening to empty. I was glad Caiyan had caught me before I’d eaten my share of the buffet. I’d left Marco in Nassau hours earlier. The box couldn’t be from him. He’d return next month. My stomach settled slightly as I stared at the chest.

Alex pushed it toward me. “The only caveat was that it be delivered to Miss Cloud on this date, at this location. My great-grandmother, filled with Scottish superstition, believed if she opened the chest, it would be the ruin of her family. It’s been passed down through generations until I, the last of my name, have the privilege of delivering the chest to you. Unfortunately, there isn’t a key.”

The rusty old lock looked its age. “Thank you.” I ran my fingers over worn leather strips that crisscrossed a sturdy wooden box. “What was the pirate’s name?”

“I don’t know. The name of the pirate remained a secret.” Alex’s smile broadened. “I believe my great-grandfather’s wealth came from a portion of the gold from the lost Spanish Fleet of 1715.”

Another wave of nausea slapped against my stomach lining. I glanced nervously at Jake.

“I’d like to stay while you open it. If you don’t mind.” Alex looked hopefully at me. “Generations of my family have fought to keep the chest safe during wars, sickness, family squabbles, and political corruption. I’d like to see what was so important that we risked our lives keeping it safe.”

Jake’s serious brown eyes locked on mine, his plate of food forgotten.

Somehow, Marco sent me this chest, and Jake knew it meant things didn’t go as planned. He reached up and interlocked his fingers with Angel’s. A move of comfort if the chest revealed the unexplainable. He gave me a slight nod.

“I guess that would be OK.” I pulled a bobby pin from my hair and held it out to Caiyan. “Can you open the lock, please?”

I glanced at Alex. “He has a knack for opening locks.”

Caiyan didn’t need the pin to open the lock. His gift included opening locks with the touch of his hands. But for the sake of Alex’s presence and any wedding guests who might be eavesdropping, he took the pin from me and jiggled it in the lock. When it tumbled open, he removed the lock. I reached up, and with a bit of force followed by a creak of hinges, opened the lid.

Three hundred years of dust puffed into the air like a toppled bottle of baby powder. Everyone coughed, and I waved at the air until the dust cleared. Inside was a yellowed envelope and one silver coin.

“That’s it?” Gertie leaned in to look at the coin. “One coin isn’t something I’d spend three hundred years protectin’.”

I picked up the letter, turned it over, and ran my finger across a red wax seal with the letters JS. I took a deep breath, broke the seal, and with trembling fingers opened the letter.

A drawing was scribbled on the parchment in the same way that someone would draw directions on a cocktail napkin. The only written word wasSea Storm. A torn piece of a news advertisement floated from the letter onto the floor.

Caiyan picked it up. “’Tis notice about the hanging of a pirate in 1718.” He paused. “Shite.”

“Show me.” I tried to act nonchalant, like it was an odd gift, but hiding my horror left me stony-faced and sounding robotic.

He hesitated, then slid the clipping onto the table in front of me. It was a notice of the hanging of Long John Silver. The drawing of the infamous Silver looked exactly like Marco. And he wasn’t wearing his key. My heart stopped beating for a full second.

“Which pirate?” Angel asked.

The color drained from Jake’s face.

Alex leaned over and read the name. “Long John Silver.”

“That’s an odd thing to keep in a treasure chest.” Not paying close attention to the drawing, Angel scooped up a forkful of potatoes. “Everyone knows Long John Silver was gibbeted and hung in the entrance of Nassau for weeks to warn others from piracy.”

I shot Gertie an angry look for leaving that information out of her recollection of Silver.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that part.” She looked down, suddenly interested in a spot on the tablecloth.

I snatched up the clipping. The date set for August 10, 1718, and details of the location of the hanging were typeset under the drawing. We only had one moon cycle to save him. I swallowed the swell of bile that rose in my throat.

“Why would the hanging of a pirate be kept locked away for so many years?” Alex looked down and sighed. “I was hoping for a treasure map or, at the very least, the revelation that we were part of some crusader’s bloodline. I’ve always felt this need to go on an adventure. Like Indiana Jones digging up artifacts instead of investing other people’s money.”

I was in the loophole. They wouldn’t know. Jake understood because he knew Marco stayed behind. And Gertie because I told her.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Tears pricked, threatened to spill. I blinked them back, pretending the dust had caused an allergic reaction.

Caiyan placed a hand on my shoulder, and his warmth soothed. I looked up at him and, somehow, he knew.

---