Page 38 of First Street (Harbor View Cozy Fantasy #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Ocean

This was like one of those cheesy horror movies her dad used to land bit parts in. Only this wasn’t fake blood and bad lighting. That was a real gun.

The smart move would have been to grab her mom, bolt down the hall, and out the front door. Any normal person would have done that.

But then Jo showed up. She appeared behind the stranger like she owned the place, one hand parked on her hip. And just like that, the panic in Ocean’s chest loosened. If Jo was here, she wasn’t scared. Not really.

“Who is she?” Jo asked, her tone cool and sharp.

“Yeah, good question. Who are you?” Ocean echoed.

“Elara Vance,” her mom said before the woman could answer. There was no tension in her voice. None. Obviously, Mom was seeing Jo too. “She was the assistant to Thea Ainsworth, who owned this desk. Or at least that’s what she told me, which was probably a lie.”

“That was the truth,” Elara replied, her voice steady, serious.

“She came here under the pretense of buying this desk.”

“I did,” Elara shot back. “But I really just want what you stole out of it.”

“Stole?” Ocean blurted, outrage cutting through her voice.

“Hand it over,” the woman snapped.

“That desk and everything in it is mine ,” Jo announced, her tone daring anyone to disagree.

“Oh, this came from the Fourth Street house,” Ocean said quickly, glancing at her mom. “All the furniture Grandma had downstairs came from there. This was Jo’s desk. That’s why Grandma put it in this room.”

“You two talk too much.” Elara motioned the gun at them. “Give me that bag.”

“She wants my locket?” Jo asked, incredulous. “Impossible!”

“I’m sorry, but there was no locket in there. I don’t know what they did with it.” Ocean waved the bag in front of her. “Only this.”

“You’re talking nonsense,” Elara snapped. “I don’t care about any locket. Give it to me now.”

“Did you break into the barn that night and kill my mother?” Skye asked.

“What do you think this is? True Confessions?”

“You’re pointing a gun at us, so you might as well answer.”

“That was an accident. Your mother saw me, but then she slipped and fell.”

Jo let out a sharp laugh, tilting her head. “Oh, sure. Because people always slip and fall in barns while you’re skulking around in the dark. Try again, sweetie.”

“What’s in there, anyway?” Skye asked Ocean.

“You won’t believe it.”

“Butter my biscuits,” Jo exclaimed, staring at the bag. She let out a low whistle. “Don’t tell me the Romanov diamonds were in there.”

“Diamonds?” Skye shot her a look.

Elara jerked her head around. “Who are you talking to?”

Skye ignored her, keeping her eyes fixed on the ghost.

Jo stepped closer, her voice dropping into a smoky, conspiratorial tone.

“Back in 1916, when the noises of revolution were rumbling in Russia, the royal family started secretly shipping out gold and jewels. The war was raging in Europe, and whole crates of the stuff disappeared in transit. My father, smooth-talker that he was, somehow ended up with a portion of the Romanov treasure. Said it was payment for favors rendered, though in my book it smelled more like theft with a smile.”

“These really are diamonds?” Ocean asked. “And you put family diamonds in the desk?”

Jo snorted. “No, doll. I put my locket in that desk. Some crazy fool must have put it in there after I was gone. Wrong hiding place, wrong century.”

“You people are insane,” Elara snapped, though her voice had a nervous edge to it now.

Skye didn’t flinch. “Tell me something. What made you think there was anything of value in that desk? And why would you pull a gun on us when, for all you know, there was nothing in there, at all?”

“Because she told me,” Elara shot back. “Thea Ainsworth even showed me the diamonds once. Nine of them, big as marbles, in that same bag. We’d gone to the bank in New York to get some document out of her safe deposit box.

Later, she mentioned that she’d emptied the box.

I didn’t think anything of it. But when she was losing her mind and I was caring for her, she kept saying it over and over.

The diamonds are in the desk. Make sure you get the diamonds from the desk . ”

“That’s still my desk,” Jo said, her voice louder than the other woman. “Which means the diamonds stay with the desk. Especially since somebody walked off with my locket.”

Elara’s voice rose, sharp with conviction. “I was the one who stayed for her. I was the one who took care of her for years when no one else would. She wanted me to have them. They’re mine.”

“And you think you’re going to get away with this? Stealing the diamonds and then shooting us?” Skye demanded.

“It doesn’t have to come to that,” Elara said quickly.

“We’re going to report you.”

“Trust me,” the woman scoffed. “With what they’re worth, I’ll go where no authority will ever find me. So now, last chance. Give me?—”

It unfolded in slow motion.

The attack came from behind. One moment, Elara was holding the gun steady. Then Jo was there, sweeping in with impossible force. The pistol flew from the woman’s grip, tumbling end over end through the air, catching a flash of light before it clattered to the floor.

Elara staggered forward as Jo shoved her down hard onto the bed with surprising strength.

Ocean dove, her hand closing around the weapon. By the time she scrambled upright, her mother was already on top of Elara, pressing a knee into her back, holding her down.

“Call 911, hon,” Skye said, then changed her mind. “Actually, never mind that. Call Arthur.”

“Good work, Jo!” Ocean said.

“Who is Jo?” Elara screamed in frustration.

Jo planted her hands on her hips, chin tilted in full defiance. “Your worst nightmare, sugar. And the trouble with nightmares? They stick around, the same as ghosts.”