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“A jolly boat?”
“A boat used to carry crew ashore.”
“Ah.” Carlita snapped her fingers. “Because they couldn’t bring the big pirate ships close to shore, they used jolly boats.”
“To transport crew, supplies.”
“Treasure chests and gems,” she added.
Pete pulled up the photo of the ruts he’d taken with his cell phone. “Based on the shape, it would be about the right size. If it was a jolly boat, I’m guessing there might be more clues when we start digging around.”
“I think we should give it a rest,” Carlita said. “Disturbing much more of the ground might hinder whoever shows up to figure this out.”
“Agreed.” Pete helped his wife scoot back over the wall and exited after her, turning the spotlight off on his way out.
The couple reached the solid metal door and paused long enough for him to secure it with the new array of locks. Back upstairs, they trekked to his office.
Pete’s parrot, Gunner, greeted them. “Ahoy matey.”
“Ahoy Gunner.” Carlita grabbed a grape from the small fridge in the corner and fed it to him. “How’s the pirate’s life?”
The parrot puffed up his chest. “Yo ho, yo ho…a pirate’s life for me. I strut on my perch, watchin’ the pretty girls…the pirate’s life for me,” he sang.
Pete emptied his pocket, placing the gems on top of his desk. Carlita made her way over and picked one of them up. She ran her thumb over the top. Small bits of dirt fell off. The more she rubbed, the shinier the gem became.
“This could be an incredible find,” she said. “Imagine if hundreds, maybe even thousands, of these nuggets are sprinkled around waiting to be found.”
“After all these years.”
They finished cleaning them off, and Pete placed them inside his safe. “I need to head over to The Flying Gunner. A large group of developers booked the ship for an event today.”
“Flying Gunner,” the bird squawked.
“I’ll take Gunner with me,” Pete said. “What does your schedule look like?”
“Mercedes and I are gonna finish sorting through the last few boxes I have stored up in the apartment attic.” Carlita patted her purse. “After we’re done, I’ll grab some dinner on the way home.”
Pete smacked his lips. “From the restaurant? Lasagna, or fettuccine, sounds delicious,” he hinted.
“I’ll surprise you.” She bounced on the tips of her toes and kissed his lips. “I’m proud of you. You showed the patience of a saint with Elvira earlier.”
“She certainly knows how to push my buttons. Believe it or not, I understand what makes her tick, which helps put her antics and actions into perspective.”
“Money. Treasure. Something tells me she won’t waste a second trying to get someone over here to figure out what we have,” Carlita predicted.
“Without a doubt. I must admit I’m pleasantly surprised you and I found something.”
“Me too. Only time will tell if there is more.” Carlita parted ways with her husband in the parking lot, taking the shortcut to her old apartment, now occupied by Mercedes. She let herself into the lower-level hall and climbed the stairs.
The faint strains of classical music echoed. Carlita rapped loudly. The door flew open, and her daughter appeared. “Hey, Ma. I was getting ready to send you a text. I thought maybe you forgot about cleaning out the attic.”
“Nah. Pete and I got sidetracked.” Carlita started to tell her daughter what they’d found but caught herself. Although she trusted Mercedes implicitly to keep quiet, the find wasn’t hers to share. It was Pete’s. Instead, she told her they’d installed triple locks on the tunnel door.
“I wouldn’t put it past Elvira to sneak down there again.”
“All it would be is a hop, skip and a jump, seeing how our tunnels are all connected,” Carlita said. “Hopefully, three sets of locks will deter her.”
“We’ll see.” Mercedes rubbed her hands together. “Are you ready to get to work?”