Page 79 of Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse
The strains of country music filtered through the bar as they shared a companionable silence, both lost in their thoughts.Shea had left Pete at the lighthouse. Now Shea was trying to collect the fragments of her research.
“I found out the Rebecca that Jonathan Marks was researching was actually Hilliard’s daughter,” Shea said, watching Penny’s reaction closely because she wasn’t sure at this point whether she trusted anyone in Silvertown or Ontonagon.
Penny’s lips thinned. “Edna told you that?”
“Yes,” Shea replied. “It was Edna who told me, although there are no online records or anything to corroborate it.”
Penny nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. They wouldn’t have kept detailed records—not back then when these parts were just being inhabited by settlers. So that means Jonathan’s theory was probably correct.”
“You know about his theory?” Shea frowned, wondering why Penny hadn’t offered it up prior to this.
Penny adjusted the earring in her ear that was on its way to freedom. Pushing its hook back through the hole, she smoothed the side of her peppery-gray hair. “Pieces of it. Not much.”
Shea searched for the right questions and came up short. “I don’t know where to go from here. Did Jonathan have a journal, or notes, or keep his research in the cloud? Was he close to anyone around here, someone he might have confided in?”
Penny started folding a square cocktail napkin into an origami crane.
“Penny?” Shea raised a brow, sensing Penny was way too interested in the napkin.
Penny bent a wing into place, then pressed the crane flat against the bar. “Fine.” She lifted her eyes, and there was an admission in them that surprised Shea. She hefted a deep breath. “Jonathan and I were ... well, we were in a relationship.”
“I know.” Shea clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
Penny winced. “Marnie tell you? Well, Jonathan and I never really told anyone, but she’s as nosy as they come.”
Penny ran a fingernail along the seam in the back of the paper crane. “I’ve not spoken about my relationship with Jonathan because I feel if someone was willing to kill him over a ridiculously old history lesson, then they might be willing to do it again.” Sheepishness spread across Penny’s face. “I don’t want to be involved, Shea. I don’t have anyneedto be near this story.” There was a bitterness in her tone that Shea wanted to respect, and yet she couldn’t help but feel distrustful of Penny. Was she being completely forthright with Shea ... in anything she said?
“Penny, when I spoke to Mr. Fronell, he said the only person who had the right to talk about Rebecca was your father, Captain Gene. Edna was reticent to talk about her too, even though she finally did. Is it really because she’s still being blamed a century later for the downfall of Silvertown’s mining opportunities?” Shea gave a doubtful look to Penny. “What is it about this Rebecca that is so sacred that it’s your father’s ‘right’ to talk about her and no one else?”
Penny looked away and then turned and disappeared between the hanging doors that separated the bar from the kitchen.
Well, that went well. Shea reached for the paper crane and fiddled with it as she considered her next move. A few moments later, Penny returned, a cardboard box in her hands.
She plopped the box onto the bar in front of Shea. “Open it.”
Shea met Penny’s frank gaze, then slowly she unfolded the cardboard flaps. Inside were a pile of notes, newspaper clippings, a beat-up old book about Annabel’s Lighthouse, and a sheaf of dot matrix printed paper.
Penny pointed at the dot matrix papers. “Have a look at those.”
Shea pulled the first page from the box. It was a family tree of sorts, listing Penny’s name, her father’s, and those of relatives that branched off until showing the current generation and time.
“Now take a look at the next page,” Penny directed.
Shea flipped the page, reading aloud, “Your dad’s father was Timothy, who was born in 1932.”
“Keep going.”
“His father was Ralph.”
“And?” Penny led.
Shea leaned forward, unsure if she was reading it correctly. Her eyes shot up to Penny, and Penny’s face confirmed the truth. “Ralph was the son of Aaron Hilliard? Who is Aaron Hilliard?”
“Keep looking,” Penny urged. “Those are Jonathan’s notes. I don’t know where he found out all this stuff or if it’s even true.” She didn’t look pleased. In fact, she looked quite nervous.
Shea followed the hand-scribbled family tree. “Aaron is a half brother to Rebecca, and Rebecca is ... thedaughterof Annabel?” Shea couldn’t help the higher octave in her voice. “Why didn’t you just come out and tell me this at the very beginning? You’re Annabel’s great-great-great niece!”
Penny pursed her lips. “When Jonathan discovered that, that’s when things went wrong for him. I didn’t want the same to happen to anyone else. But you’re too deep into this now. After Pete’s accident, well, now it all just needs to end. I just want it to go away.”
