Page 52 of In the Pursuit of Haven
Two envelopes slipped from the recesses of the notebook, and one landed with a thud against the desk. There was something heavy in it. Swiping it up, I saw the front was addressed to Haven in Matthew’s writing.
I’d half expected that he’d died before he could get another letter to her, and there were two more?
Eagerness swept through me as I opened the first one. A silver chain attached to a thick red pendant was coiled at the bottom of the envelope like a serpent. My eyes widened as I realized what I was seeing. The Crabb family’s infamous pirate locket.
Reeling it gently into my hand, I realized that the jewelry really was as big as Haven’s illustration on her mystery board. It covered my palm and was made mostly of clear red glass. The back of the locket was missing, though the workmanship was like nothing I’d seen, with intricate silver worked through with rubies.
The museum would kill for something like this.
Haven just had the front half of this artifact, and yes, that loopy silver “S” definitely looked like a snake. Tiny rubies were sprinkled randomly over the locket’s surface—five of them, like Haven had noted in her sticky notes. The part where “nine” should be written must be on the part of the locket that was broken off.
Jessie said his father suspected Haven of stealing it. Was that why he’d come to help me pack up Haven’s things? Had he been looking for this? My fingers tightened over the chain as I tugged out the letter that had come with it.
“Haven,
“My love, you have news for me? Well, I have some for you too! And it’s good. I know what to look for now. We were so blind before. I know what nine means! Can you believe it? This changes everything. I found out more than I can write, but I’ll tell you in person soon because guess what? I’m coming home in under a week, and I can’t wait to get you into my arms again!
“We sent Leon home ahead of us, but Robert is with me and he’s keeping me in one piece. Tell Felicity that I’m getting her man back to her, even if her grumpy bear is getting a little hard to handle nowadays. I think he misses her. I miss you too!
“I’m giving you the other half of this locket, so that you know I’m returning to you to collect it again. You can’t get rid of me. You mean far more to me than this treasure, and I promise I’ll never leave you again. We will always be a team.
“Your Matthew”
I gulped. So much potential and life had been claimed by the ocean. Everything had gone down with them, including Haven’s heart.
A creak on the ladder made me swivel in my chair. Jessie pushed into the secret room, glancing around. “What is this?”
I jerked in surprise. This was self-explanatory… unfortunately. I hid the locket in my fist. Matthew’s letter to Haven floated from my lap to Jessie’s feet.
He picked it up and scanned over Matthew’s heartfelt words. He ran his tongue over his lips. “Well, this explains a few things.”
Did he mean his uncle’s name on the deed of my aunt’s properties or something else? “What?”
His eyes narrowed on me in a sarcastic look. We each had our secrets apparently. “And here I thought you were hurt when you didn’t answer my knocks.”
I groaned. He’d better not have knocked down Haven’s door. “I could’ve been asleep.”
“But you weren’t.” He circled the room, examining all the things that I’d already perused. “What are you up to?” he asked.
I needed to do damage control and stat. “These are Haven’s personal things. You shouldn’t even be here.”
His gaze moved from the mystery board. There was no way he could’ve missed his picture in the middle of all that. Or what it said about him dying.
“Where’s the locket?” he asked.
I glared. “Is that why you came here?” I asked. “You didn’t care about helping pack up Haven’s things. You just wanted the locket.”
“It’s my family’s,” he said. He was already focused on my closed fist. “You might as well give it back.”
I wasn’t going to let it go. “It belongs to Haven. What happened to your half?”
“At the bottom of the ocean with my uncle’s body probably.” He straightened. “You want to know what nine means?”
He’d caught that in the letter, had he? That information should’ve died with Matthew… unless his uncle had somehow gotten word to his family. “What’s it mean?” The question came out far more breathlessly than I’d wanted.
“I knew it,” he said. “You’re following these clues. Is that why you were at the cemetery earlier?”
Turnabout was fair play. “So what if I am?” I asked. “According to you, going after this is perfectly safe, so if I happen to beat you to this treasure, what’s it to you?”
