The Cursed

Porter had never been popular in Key West, despite the fact that he’d been the one to rid the island of pirates. Residents despised the man for his rigid rule; he was against alcohol and fun in general. Before his arrival, Key West had been claimed by individuals rather than nations, although at various times those individuals had been Spanish, British and American. Since it was only a small island, people mainly used it for fishing and birding, or as a stopover on a longer trip. Finally John Simonton had purchased the island from Juan Pablo Salas, who had owned it through a Spanish land grant. But everyone had lived reasonably happily together—until Porter clamped down.

 

He was an interesting man, strong and determined, and intent on providing what profit he could to the United States government—at least at first. Later he would be court-martialed for demanding Puerto Rico return one of his men, who’d been sent there to retrieve a treasure he believed belonged to the U.S.

 

Rumor was he also knew something about salvage, and what he didn’t know, his men did. One way or another, he managed to bring up most of the treasure of the Santa Elinora.

 

But there was a rumor, which arrived in Key West via Cuban fishermen, that the Santa Elinora had also carried a sea chest filled with gold and the jewels belonging to the mistress of a high ranking official in Cuba. The poor woman, after being discovered by the official’s wife, had faced a trumped-up charge of treason and been hanged.

 

The jewels the official had showered her with when he’d first been smitten were set to become gifts of atonement to the man’s wife. Among those jewels was a medallion known as the Zafiro de Seguridad, a huge sapphire set in gold and surrounded by a ring of diamonds and supposedly blessed by a priest to bring safety from all evil to those who wore it.

 

The book contained a drawing of the piece, which was beautiful and looked as if it would have fit right in with Britain’s crown jewels in their tower.

 

But though there were rumors about the chest, it hadn’t been on any official logs.

 

The rumor sprang up among the navy men assigned to Commodore Porter that he had found it and was keeping it at Fort Zachary Taylor.

 

Then, years later, rumors rose up again and claimed that it had been on the Wind and the Sea when it went down.

 

That was the age of salvage, and the locals had done their job well before the ship finally sank beneath the waves. So questions remained. Had the treasure been aboard the vessel when she’d gone down? Had it been salvaged and secretly stowed somewhere in Key West once again? Or had there ever even been such a treasure to begin with?

 

Hannah set that book down and picked up the other. Commodore Porter had reigned over Key West with a heavy hand. She’d known that. He’d basically hated the place, so there had been no love lost on either side.

 

There was nothing about the treasure, though.

 

Hannah closed that book, as well, and then remembered that Jose had told her about an article about the Discovery, the ship that had gone out in search of the remnants of the Santa Elinora and then gone down in a storm itself.

 

“Hey, you okay up there?” Kelsey called to her from downstairs.

 

“Yep, fine—just reading.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I’m coming down, though. I want to get on the computer.”

 

Hannah stood and put the books back. The sun was streaming heavily into the room. In the interest of preserving the air-conditioning, she walked over to the window to close the drapes. As she did so, the cat made a mewling sound.

 

“What’s up, Petrie?” she asked.

 

He was staring at the windows as if he were looking out. As if he had seen something there.

 

Hannah paused. She really hated it when he stared at things. He frequently saw the ghosts before she did. And sometimes he just stared when she didn’t see anything at all.

 

Animal instinct.

 

“Okay, Petrie. I’m looking.”

 

At first, she didn’t see him. If it hadn’t been for the cat, she wouldn’t have kept looking.

 

But she continued to search until, finally, she was certain she saw a man.

 

He must have moved slightly, or else the breeze shifted the branches of the big old banyan tree beyond the sidewalk, and that had drawn her attention. She still couldn’t see him clearly, though.

 

But he was there. Looking up, just watching.

 

“Kelsey!” she called.

 

She heard her cousin coming up the stairs. But by the time Kelsey reached her, a horde of bachelorette partyers—the bride was wearing a headband with a veil—was walking by, giggling.

 

Hannah blinked.

 

And the man was gone.

 

*

 

Liam had done his work well, getting his officers to cover the docks and, Dallas was certain, the whole of the island.

 

Five minutes after he’d dragged Billie Garcia out of the water and wrested the knife from him, there were officers on-site, ready to take him in.

 

Dallas said he’d be along as quickly as he could get changed. He also asked one of the officers to call Liam and tell him to put Garcia alone in an interrogation room after getting him dry clothing. He was to be watched but left to sweat for a while, wondering what was going to happen to him.

 

Once Billie was safely in a patrol car and being driven away, Dallas reached for his cell phone to make a call and then realized that it was as drenched as he was and didn’t work. He cursed the ruined phone as he drove quickly back to the Siren of the Sea.

 

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