Stone
Kara and I were together non-stop since the moment I kicked Kevin out of her life and out of the lives of Estelle, Frank and Jason. If they were going to be terrorized at least, they knew now who was really behind it. They didn’t have to play nice with Kevin Potter.
Kara and I went out to the island again and this time, her searching was focused on several different areas.
“So the coin was here.” She’d mapped and outcropping of trees where she’d found the first evidence of treasure. And then we started digging. Well, I did a lot of the digging.
She checked her map, checked a notebook, and recalibrated things I had no idea what they were.
“Here, here, let’s move one yard over this way.” So I did and after a day of what seemed like useless effort, I hit something solid.
“Stone, this is it this is it!”
My shovel hit something and Kara joined in. Was this it? Was this an actual chest of gold buried in the sand? We were about three feet down, and the actual chest was smaller than you’d see in some pirate movie. And as I freed it from the sand it was clear it wasn’t a chest at all.
Instead, it was a lead case with several latches. She pried off the top of the case and looked at the contents.
“Is this your gold?” I asked Kara.
“We’ll see.” There were no locks, just a hinge that kept the lid on. It took Kara a little bit of work, but she opened the case.
Kara’s eyes were sparkling and intense. Whatever was in the case was a jackpot.
“Is it gold?”
“No.” Kara handed the case to me and lifted out her treasure. It looked like a cloth or rag of some kind.
“That’s not exactly going to save your island, Kara.”
“Oh yes, it is.” She opened up the cloth and clearly printed on both sides was another map.
“The map my dad left me was a map to this. Not to Henry Ross’s Treasure. Henry Ross’s treasure isn’t here. Well not in this spot anyway.”
“How did that survive for all this time.”
“It’s rag paper, not paper like we know, it’s cotton and linen. No acid. So it survived.” She was in her own world. She was talking to me but in her own world.
“Are we done digging for today?” She was muttering to herself, and it was crazy cute. But crazy for sure.
‘Yes, I have a lot to decipher.”
“Alright then.” We went back to the shack which had now become my favorite place, and I took a load off while she spread out her map.
“So why didn’t your dad ever find this?”
“Well, the coin was the first clue for me that it was off the beach. My dad kept looking on the beach when he did look. He didn’t have the benefit of the first map either. So really it all was a stab in the dark for him. The coin confirmed that the tree line was where to go. I lined that up with Dad’s map and there we go!”
“Your dad had no idea about this second map?”
“No, all along he thought he was giving me the map to the treasure. I think, based on his random digging that he really thought it might be in the sand, but what he needed was to go inland. Such as it is, there’s not much inland, but that’s what the Ross Island Pirates did, they fled into the trees and buried this,” she waved her now second pirate map at me. I worried a little that all she was ever going to find were maps. But whatever, I’d dig where she told me.
“So can you decipher it?”
“I can. Well, I think I can, but it’s not easy. They use trees and buildings that aren’t in existence. But if we look at the orientation of the island I can still figure it out.”
I fished in the ocean for dinner, and she kept studying her map. It was a damn near perfect day as far as I could tell.
I was good with the charcoal grill. As the sun set on the island, I had food ready for Kara.
“You need to step away from this for a minute and eat. You’re going to need energy. Looks like we have a lot of digging in our future.”
“But if I could just figure out what these meant...” She pointed and scratched her head at different symbols on the paper.
“Later.” I picked her up over my shoulder and took her outside.
“What the heck?”
“We’re eating dinner out on the beach.” I had set up two folding chairs. It was damned romantic. Except romance was not what was putting color in Kara’s cheeks.
We ate, but it was clear she was thinking about the maps inside.
“So, talk it out. What does your new map tell you?” I wasn’t going to get her to eat, sleep, or anything else unless she could decipher her latest clue.
“The map is a mess. There are x-marks all over the center of the island.”
“So that just means that they buried a lot, not one big chest.”
“What?”
“You said they were running away right? The pirates.”
“Yes.”
“Well, they leave the beach cause that’s where the Navy will show up first, and they go in the woods.”
“Yes.”
“And they all bury shit. You’ve got what? Maybe one-hundred people with various loot. They just all did their best to hide what they couldn’t carry.”
“That’s it. That has to be it.” And then her face fell.
“What’s wrong, you have your answer.”
“I have less than a month. There’s no way I can dig up an entire island.”
“You were hoping for one place?”
“Yes, I was hoping for one place. If there was one place, maybe I could focus my effort. But this way? What if it’s another goose chase just like my fathers?” Kara’s joy at finding the new map was now mixed with despair.
The hope she had seemed fading, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.
“It would take an army to dig up this island.” She looked out to the horizon. There wasn’t anything I could think of to say that would change her mood. And as much as I wanted to take her in my arms sometimes you just have to let a person have their space.
Kara needed her space, and I needed to find her an army.
Kara
It took me days to really decode the new map. But Stone had it right. The map indicated that whatever was out there on Ross Island was scattered. I could dig twenty holes in the ground and not find a thing, or each one could have a small token. There was potentially one bigger bit of loot, Captain Henry’s, but if that were true, it could be buried deeper than the rest. Caroline would have buried that one and she would have had to have help. This, of course, was all speculation on my part. I thought I was reading the new map right, but I could be so wrong that it was a joke.
The situation was out of hand, and my plans were unraveling. It had taken us two weeks to find that map, and I was spending hours making sure I knew where to dig. If I was wrong, we’d dig in hundreds of places, and it would be for nothing.
The good news, I thought, was that Kevin had faded into the background. Waiting to take away the land. That’s when he showed up at my door. Stone was gassing up the boat, and I was pouring over my maps for the next day out, and there he was.
He knocked on the screen door of the apartment.
“Hello, Kevin. We’re still a week out.” I wasn’t going to give up, but it was looking like he’d take away everything we had all worked for on Gold Cross.
“Your boyfriend around?”
“Stone isn’t here right now.”
“Good, you may want to get the locks changed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, once I found out he was a Great Wolf biker I did a little checking. I thought you might be interested in what I found out.”
“What?”
“You might want to check your email. I sent you an article that you should find very interesting. Your Stone is a criminal. Actually already did some time. And he’s on the run, I think for murder.”
“What?”
Behind Kevin was Stone. He heard the whole thing.
“Why don’t you get out of here Potter?”
“Why don’t you turn yourself in? Looks like authorities in Michigan are hunting for you. I wondered why you didn’t have your cut on like your friend Walker. Now I know. They probably kicked you out eh? Not good to have a murderer in the club.”
Stone didn’t respond to Kevin, but I started to panic.
“What’s he talking about. Is this true? What he’s saying?” I hadn’t pushed Stone about his past. I’d accepted his help, his love, and his story that he wasn’t dangerous. That I was safe with him, and now Kevin was shaking my faith in all of it.
“It’s not like he says.” Which wasn’t exactly a denial? I felt sick and naïve. I’d trusted someone, had done things with him that I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing a month ago, and he was playing me. I didn’t say it because Kevin was there, enjoying the scene, but my gold, he was after that. It had to be that.
“Sounds real convincing. Good choice on your first time Kara. Excellent work.” Kevin laughed and headed down the stairs. He’d done his damage.
“Kara it’s not exactly like he said.” I opened the screen and was in his face.
“Not exactly? Are you on the run for murder? I mean how not exactly? You’ve already been in prison? You said I was safe with you. What were you in prison for?”
“Juvie, not prison.”
“Oh, okay for what?”
“Stealing.”
“Great, so I’ve given you an actual map to steal from me. Perfect.” I was mad and hurt all at the same time. And more than anything else I felt stupid. I’d let lust for Stone cloud my thoughts.
“I would never hurt you. Never.” I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t believe him. Murder? Was I in danger? Not once had I ever felt that I was. But he didn’t deny it. He was a wanted man. I was sick.
“Just get out of here. I don’t want to see you right now. I feel like a fool.”
And he made a step toward me. I stepped back. I was feeling scared and vulnerable. I needed to harden my heart fast.
Stone didn’t say another word. He put his head down and turned away. I didn’t watch him go.
At that moment, I didn’t want to see him ever again. And I also wanted him to take me in his arms. It was a fucking nightmare.
A nightmare that would get worse the next day.
“Where’s Stone’s bike?” I asked Jason, trying to sound casual.
“Well, he said you wanted him gone so I finished it up for him, and he rolled out.” I’d gone from mad as hell, afraid that he was there, to scared that he had gone, in an instant.
“Really? Uh, he said he left you a note on the boat.”
“What?”
“Yeah, the boat is still down there. What happened between you two?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” And I didn’t. My heart hurt that he’d left. I told him to leave but the idea that I didn’t have a clue how to find him made my heart hurt. That I’d probably never see him again made it all real. And I hated it.
But dammit he was a bad man. I’d looked up what Kevin told me to and confirmed an awful story. I’d looked at several news articles online.
Stone was a suspect in a murder in Michigan. He was a real biker and one who may have killed a man. The news articles painted a picture of a scary man who’d been violent, in a violent motorcycle club, and who was on the run. On the run straight to my bed, it appeared.
But still I had questions. He’d said it wasn’t exactly like Kevin had said. And now he was gone.
His boat, however, was not. He’d left it at Pontiac’s Pier. I walked down to the boat and on the counter was the note that Jason said would be there.
I opened the envelope and read it. Funny. I’d never seen his handwriting before. It’s weird what you notice when you feel like you’re watching your life unfold and you can’t control it.
Kara,
I am sorry that I didn’t tell you my real story. I am on the run. That’s true. If you and I ever cross paths again, I’ll tell you why. Just know that the news coverage isn’t what it appears. You told me to go, and I understand. I wasn’t supposed to stay here as long as I did anyway. But you were too hard for me to say goodbye to. I will keep in my heart the gift you gave me by trusting me. In return, I’m going to leave the boat here. Use the Cobalt to find what you need. Just bring it over to Cutter’s when you don’t need it anymore. They’ll take care of it. Again, I’m sorry that I hurt you. You’re fucking perfect, and I was lucky you let me love you. Even if it was only for a short while. I’ll never forget it no matter where I roll.
Stone
Stone was gone. And he’d left me the boat. I started to cry. Why hadn’t I just listened to him once? Let him explain? Maybe what he said would have changed my mind.
I’d never know. I felt like I’d given my heart to a person who I misjudged completely. I really was a stupid 21-year-old, not quite, woman. I’d been blinded. Even though I still wished, I could see him one last time. Ask him about all the stories I’d read. But I didn’t have that luxury.
I had less than a week to find what I needed, or Kevin Potter was going to take it from me. Along with the Pontiac’s bar and Jason’s shop.
My search was now as desperate as my father’s, and everything was riding on it.