Page 27
Story: Corpse at Captain's Seat
Ellery was already peering through the peephole, and sure enough, the tiny figure at the end of the convex lens was Jack. The miniature Jack smoothed his hair, the only indication he felt any nervousness about meeting Ellery’s old posse.
“It’s okay. It’s Jack.”
“He doesn’t have a key?” Somehow Chelsea managed to sound both surprised and skeptical.
“Yeah, he does. He’s just being...”
Jack. Careful and courteous in front of Ellery’s friends, in case they didn’t know—in case Ellery didn’t want them to know—the full scope of their relationship.
Ellery switched off the alarm, pulled back the wooden bolt, and opened the door. Before the space between door and frame was more than a few inches wide, Watson flew out and leaped into Jack’s arms. Jack grunted.
Arms full of ecstatically wriggling puppy, Jack stood on the front stoop in a haze of yellow light. His sun-streaked brown hair was ruffled and his green-blue eyes were quizzical. He smiled at Ellery, then his gaze traveled to Ellery’s companions, and his brows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting a welcoming committee—”
Ellery cut him off with a kiss. Jack hung onto Watson with one arm and wrapped the other around Ellery, kissing him back. Jack’s mouth smiled against Ellery’s.
Watson began to wriggle free. He jumped down and circled Ellery and Jack, barking.
Ellery and Jack drew apart, and Ellery said, “Everybody, this is Jack.”
“I should hope so!” Chelsea said, and everyone laughed. Introductions were made, Jack dutifully repeating names and committing faces to memory.
Ellery watched his friends smiling and shaking hands as they sized up Jack.
He knew what they were thinking—or at least part of what they were thinking. Jack was so completely different from anyone Ellery had ever dated, let alone from Brandon and Todd. Granted, they would consider that to be in Jack’s favor.
“I didn’t think there was any chance you’d make it back tonight,” Ellery told Jack.
Jack’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. “I told you I planned on driving out.”
“You did, yeah, and I’m so glad to see you. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat something.”
“Did you—?”
Jack read his mind without trouble. “There’s no sign that Dolph made it onto the island.”
There was a whole lot going unsaid there, but Ellery left it alone. There would be time to talk when they went upstairs.
He said instead, “Why don’t you guys go ahead and have your drinks in the library. I’ll fix Jack a plate and we’ll join you in a couple of minutes.”
Ellery’s guests filed off to the library, and Ellery set about microwaving the plate of food he’d saved for Jack just in case.
“We just had a scare,” he informed Jack as they waited for the food to heat. “The door to the passage in the library was open.”
Jack’s brows drew together. “Open?”
“I’m sure the workmen left it that way, but it definitely—”
“Did you double-check with Tony Brambilla?”
“At this time of night? There’s absolutely no indication anyone entered the house. Well, I mean, except for the four people I invited.”
Jack threw a cursory look at the clock on the wall, and grimaced. It was just after midnight. They both knew the good people of Pirate’s Cove rolled up the cobblestones early this time of year.
Ellery added, “I’ll double-check tomorrow, but workmen have been leaving lights on and doors unlocked and windows open since renovations began. It’s just with everything else going on, it was a little...startling.”
“I bet.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91