Page 71 of In the Pursuit of Haven
The notebook I’d been reading grew loose in my hands and slipped to the ground as I burrowed deeper into Jessie’s chest. I felt his heart beat steadily beneath my ear.
We’d moved back and forth from sitting on the couch to scooting in front of the computer, making notes and blurting out results. In our sleep-deprived state, we’d finally both ended up on the couch.
I swung my legs against his while he took turns flipping pages and playing with my hair. The soothing rhythm of his fingers lulled me to sleep.
The morning light was breaking through the window when his voice woke me up. “Hey beautiful… are you as smart as you look?”
I smiled against his chest. Now I knew he was trying to butter me up. “No, I don’t think so.” I was trying to edge out some deranged maniac out of billions of dollars, wasn’t I? But by now, I knew when Jessie was onto something exciting. “What did you find?” I asked.
“I just want to know what island we can cross off for Robert’s family cane,” he said.
I was all for that! Then we could focus on what wedidn’tknow. I forced my head from his chest, trying to take in Jessie with my blurry eyes. “Right? I can’t even figure out why Crabb would give those witch hunters the cane in the first place! Was it all about throwing aside their differences to revolt against the crown?”
His shrug bounced me up and against his arm, and I smiled in response. Despite how hard it was for us to communicate our feelings, I couldn’t help notice how in sync we worked together to solve these mysteries.
We’d missed our calling in life.
“What island do you think the cane came from?” I asked breathlessly.
“Misery island?” Jessie seemed unsure. “Those Corwinsdidlease it in 1662 and built ‘an elegant house’ there… according to Wiki, but no way Crabb gave them the cane!” Groaning, Jessie dropped the notebook to the floor to take me in both of his arms. “Your online library says the island was given to Robert Moulton. I think he works better.”
Ah yes, the famous Moulton. He’d been shipwrecked there for a full three days in the winter. That’s why the place had been dubbed Moulton’s Misery for a while. “But Robert inherited the cane,” I reminded him, “not Moulton’s family.”
“Then they stole it,” Jessie muttered.
He met my eyes and I drank in the velvety intensity I always found there when he turned passionate. Jessie showed this jaded, devil-may-care act to the world, but more than anybody, I knew my husband was a nerd like I was.
“Hear me out,” he said. “Moulton tried to stop Rebecca Nurse from getting executed in the witch trials. He testified that he never saw any demons throwing her victims over a wall.”
Wow. People got hung as the next witches for showing that kind of spine. “Brave man,” I said.
“He’s our guy, Roxy. Moulton was a shipbuilder; his son was a minister. I think Sheriff Corwin confiscated Moulton’s property after he got uppity in the witch trials.”
He grinned in sudden self-consciousness. He’d shown his brain again. Looking sheepish, he brushed a kiss across my forehead.
I held my breath. Speaking of witchery—I didn’t want to say or do anything to break this spell over us.
“Then again,” Jessie allowed, “… maybe I just don’t like Robert.”
And my husband didn’t even suspect half of what I’d thought that man had done. The Corwins were rotten to the core. I forced a smile. Either way, we could cross Misery off the list. I rose to my elbows to work my way to the map. “I think that means we got another one!”
Jessie caught me before I could get too far from him. “I like your enthusiasm,” he whispered against my cheek.
And I likedfinallyfeeling like a team. I laid my head back against his chest, letting him hold me, though all the while my suspicions against Robert ate away at my conscience. I was so mad at Jessie for keeping his secrets from me, and I hadn’t even touched what I’d found from Haven’s letters.
“Robert was the last one to see Matthew alive,” I finally confessed.
He stilled.
Yup, that was a mood killer.
“Do you think he murdered your uncle?” I asked in a rush. He’d already killed once. Was it too much of a stretch to think that he’d turned on Matthew too?
My head lifted against Jessie’s bicep when he shifted. “Matthew’s death was… an accident from what I heard.”
And Haven thought differently.I wasn’t sure how much of my suspicions to press on Jessie, and so I let it go. Haven had it right—the only way to figure out what happened to the love of her life was to find this treasure.
“I need to go back to the cemetery,” I said. “Find out what the secret is behind Reverend Cheever’s gravestone.”
